Arts and Entertainment

On our recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City, John and I stayed at the ParkRoyal Hotel where staying at Orchid Club Level was well worth it. Orchid Club level included free transportation to/from the airport, breakfast, afternoon tea, evening cocktails, and laundry for up to four garments per day. Our main reason for the stopover in Ho Chi Minh City, which many still call Saigon, was to revisit the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels.

There are many interesting places to visit in Vietnam and one of the most colorful places is the Cao Dai temple not far from Saigon. Cao Dai is a religion that was founded in southern Vietnam in 1926 mixing ideas from many other religions. Cao Dai draws upon ideas from Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. Its saints includes such diverse figures as the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo and Sun Yat-sen.

Cookbooks are one of the most popular selling genres and now people can turn to the internet for recipes plus we all have family recipes. But, the best way to learn a new recipe is to take a cooking class. John and I have enjoyed cooking classes in several countries and we always learn more than something new to cook. When John and I were in Seoul, Korea, we took a cooking class at O’ngo Food Communications.

Nicaragua is the new Central American hot spot. Costa Rica has been done, so now people are looking for a new tropical adventure that is unspoiled. Nicaragua has a coast on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans offering visitors beaches, rainforest, history, colorful culture and adventure.

John and I arrived in Nicaragua late in the afternoon and so we stayed at the Las Mercedes Best Western Hotel which is across from the airport. The hotel provides free transportation but it is walkable from the airport. Ometepe Island, located in Lake Nicaragua, is one of the world’s largest freshwater islands. The island was formed thousands of years ago when sand accumulated creating an isthmus between the two volcanoes. Only the Conception Volcano is active.