APAN Hanoi 30th Meeting Social Program

Conference registration price already includes access to social events. However, if you wish to bring additional guests admission will be at 30USD/person.

Social event: Water Puppetry Show

Venue :	Vietnam National Puppetry Theatre, 361 Truong Chinh street, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi
Date :	Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Time :	18:30pm

Introduction: Water puppetry is a unique art form created by the people in the Red River Delta. It was initiated out of the struggle against flooding and irrigation work in service of agricultural production. The uniqueness of water puppetry is the use of water surface as a stage for puppets to play and act. The manipulation room also popularly called puppet room or water pavilion is rigged up over a pond or a lake with balanced architectural style in the shape of a communal house in rural Vietnam. The manipulation room and the stage are decorated with flags, banners, palanquins and gates with votive objects, like a miniature communal house with beautiful dreamy scenery and curved roofs reflecting in water. Through water puppet plays, viewers feel the nuance of village festivals which here and there reflect their simple dreams for life. They dream for a lucky, happy and peaceful life. Traditional water puppetry has long been imbued with national identity from sweet graceful countryside atmosphere to industriousness, indomitableness and courage of the people in defending their homeland against invaders. It is both secular and close and sacred. It's a symbol of dreams of the Vietnamese people and is an art very familiar and close to farmers for centuries.

Gala Dinner

Venue :	West Lake Lotus Restaurant, 614 Lac Long Quan street, Tay Ho, Hanoi
Date :	Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Time :	18:30pm

Introduction: Nestled by a lotus pond near West Lake, Sen (Lotus) Restaurant is the ideal enclave for nature and food lovers alike. The owner has designed the restaurant to overcome the narrow lanes of the area, giving the space a good view of West Lake. Inside the two terracotta-roofed villas, the wooden furniture, Vietnamese paintings and vases of lotus evoke the feeling of an ancient house of the Orient.

The Buffet reception at the restaurant is a great combination of more than 200 traditional Vietnamese foods and international cusines that you do not need to go to other restaurants to look for any other Vietnamese foods. Traditional dishes such as thenem sen (lotus rolls), cha ca (grilled fish), bun cha (grilled pork with noodles) or banh duc look particularly tempting.