A 20-hectare park along the Saigon River, stretching from Ba Son Bridge to the Saigon River Tunnel, was officially opened to the public on December 23. It consists of 13 main components, such as community spaces, playgrounds, bridges, pedestrian areas, parking lots, and restroom facilities.
The highlight of the Saigon River Riverside Park is the sunflower field with thousands of sunflowers. More than 15,000 sunflowers showcased their beauty on inauguration day. Around 20,000 sunflowers will bloom during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday in 2024.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Hoang Tung, chairman of the Thu Duc People’s Committee, emphasized that the park is a space promoting the cultural and historical values of the Thu Thiem area, reported the Tuoi Tre news site.
Church attracts visitors with fake snow
Over the past 10 years, Binh An Thuong Church in District 8, HCMC, has been equipped with two snowmaking machines to spray artificial snow onto its Christmas Crib, or Nativity Scene, during the Christmas season to attract Christians and visitors to the church.
Binh An Thuong was first built in 1954 as a small, thatch-roofed chapel. It was later rebuilt into a church, but was then destroyed during the wartime. In 1993, the church was rebuilt as it is now.
According to vnexpress.net, the fake snow, which is actually soapsuds, is made and sprayed from two machines hidden on the top of the Christmas Crib. The artificial snow is sprayed onto the Nativity Scene and the front part of the church from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. every evening, starting from early December until the end of the Christmas season.
Aside from fake snow and the Christmas Crib, the inside and outside parts of Binh An Thuong Church are beautifully decorated with a big Christmas tree, string lights, garlands, wreaths, Santa Claus figures, among others, enabling the church to lure a large number of not only Christians in the neighborhood, but also visitors from other districts of the city.
A septuagenarian cycles 40km a day
Phan Van Kinh, 75, who lives in Go Vap District, HCMC, often gets up at 4 a.m. to cycle some 40km every day. He has done so over the past 13 years. Apart from cycling, he also took time to run and play badminton.
Kinh told thanhnien.vn that many old people still pursue the habit of cycling to maintain their health. He follows their example, hoping that by doing so, he can impart the love of physical exercise for health to his spouse, children, grandchildren and relatives.
The U-80 man always has a toolbox fitted on the back seat of his bike. This is why he is dubbed the rescuer by other bikers, as he always tried to fix the bikes free of charge for those falling victims along his cycling routes with his teammates. If the bike breakdown is too critical for him to fix, he will phone to ask for the help of a professional repairer.
Kinh said one plays a sport for a few years probably because of their liking, for a decade because of their passion, and for a couple of decades because of their indispensable habit.
Oldest yoga practitioner recognized
Phan Thi Ngoc Cam, 78, a retired high school teacher living in Long Bien District, Hanoi, could swim when she was 65 years old. On December 3, at the age of 78, she was recognized by the Vietnam Record Association (VietKings) as the oldest woman to pose eight different floating yoga asanas and spin 80 rounds on water.
At 2:30 p.m. every day, Cam starts practicing aqua yoga at the swimming pool in the apartment building where she lives with her family. She told vnexpress.net that she has done so for eight years, adding that she began to learn practicing yoga in 2007 at the invitation of her eldest son. Later, thanks to her skills, she was invited to act as a yoga teacher.
In 2015, after moving to the current apartment building, Cam began to practice aqua yoga at the swimming pool of the building. Thanks to practicing regularly, her skills and her health improve wonderfully. She used to suffer from bone and joint pain when she was in her 50s; at present, all the pain has disappeared, and she could travel everywhere.
