Vietnamese

Bo De Tinh Tam Chay is so serene it can transport you to a meditative state. The sound of trickling water flows through the dining room, a peaceful backing-track that blocks out the occasional clangs and whirs that erupt from the kitchen. A forest of fake bamboo surrounds the dining area, and Buddhist statues are placed throughout the room The Westminster restaurant is not reserved about its Buddhism (the restaurant's name derived from the sacred Bodhi tree, and Buddhist brochures and texts are strategically stationed near the doors)

Arcadia city election officials have spent the last week trying to minimize the confusion from a Chinese translation error on the all-mail ballot for the city's general municipal election in April. The ballot, mailed to residents this month, provided instructions in four languages. English, Vietnamese and Spanish speakers read that they should "vote for no more than two" of the five candidates for City Council. In Chinese, the instructions read: "Vote for no more than three.

Feb. 28, 2010 Position No. 6096 : Black to play and win. From the game Elena Sedina-Michael Hoffman, Gibraltar 2010. Solution to Position No. 6095: Black wins neatly with 1 . . . Nf2+ 2 Kh2 Ng4+! 3 hxg4 Qh6+ 4 Kg3 Re3 mate. Or, if 3 Kh1, then 3 . . . Qxg1+ 4 Kxg1 Re1 mate. The Aeroflot Open, arguably the strongest open tournament ever, ended Feb. 19 in Moscow. The field of 80 included 75 grandmasters. The surprising winner of 21,000 Euros (about $28,000) for first place was 18-year-old Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, who scored an undefeated 7-2. His success followed his tie for first place in the Moscow Open, another GM-heavy tournament, a day before the start of the Aeroflot Open.

In Hanoi, soup is a way of life - the connective tissue of Vietnamese culture. With noodles, herbs and sinew, it strings together twisting streets and varied lifestyles. Here the bones, crumpled napkins and squeezed limes that litter the ground beneath tiny plastic tables are symbols of a good meal and a life well lived. I came here in early December largely because of Hanoi's growing reputation as a culinary capital. In 2010, the website Sherman's Travel ( www.shermanstravel.com )

A few years ago, Faye Jonason received a call from a Vietnamese couple from Roseville, Calif., who asked if she had a photo of their wedding. The couple were married at one of the "tent cities" erected at Camp Pendleton that housed tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees after the war. Jonason, the Marine base's museum division officer, rummaged through her archives and found a black-and-white photo of a young, smiling bride in a white dress kneeling...

In his review of Neil Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie" Peter Arnett wrote that "58,000 Americans and hundreds of Vietnamese died in an attempt to achieve political and military ends that history is showing were always probably unattainable." Hundreds of Vietnamese? Someone didn't edit his work. The number of Vietnamese dead was closer to 1 million. MICHAEL BARBA PICO RIVERA Editor's note: According to sources at The Times, there is no agreed upon estimated number of Vietnamese deaths; statistics vary from 250,000 to 430,000 killed between 1965 and 1974.

The last time Daniel Dien Luong saw his father was through the fence of a former army barracks in southern Vietnam more than 30 years ago. His father was being held prisoner by the Communist government, which had arrested thousands of former military personnel to be "re-educated" after the Vietnam War. The 13-year-old rode his bike two hours to visit his father every Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. They waved at each other from afar as armed...

Re "One Vietnam Vet Who's Glad He Went," April 27: It gives me a good feeling to read Jerry Hicks' column about his good experience in Vietnam. He made friends there instead of the usual bad experience involving killings. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese don't have this experience. Because of the presence of Americans, more bombs were dropped onto their land than in World War II and more than 1 million of their dear ones are dead or missing. U.S. Sen. John McCain finds "closure" of his Vietnam experience.

The Venice Film Festival plans to show a censored Vietnamese short film this week despite the absence of official permission to screen it outside of Vietnam. The 20-minute film, "Khi toi 20" (When I Am 20), is about a teenage couple whose love story is told in the confines of a room with a low ceiling until one day the boy leaves, raising the question: Has he outgrown the space, or the relationship? Because of the censorship, the film will be shown Wednesday using a DVD sent during the selection phase rather than an official copy, the film festival said Monday in a statement.

A group of angry protesters held a rally in Garden Grove on Sunday to denounce the former premier of South Vietnam for returning on a mission of peace to the Communist country he fled nearly 30 years ago. "Nguyen Cao Ky is no longer in our hearts," Chanh Huu Nguyen, general secretary of the Government of Free Vietnam and a protest organizer, said of Ky's trip to Southeast Asia, where he has been feted by government officials for the last three weeks.

Inside Out & Back Again A Novel Thanhha Lai HarperCollins: 262 pp., $15.99, ages 8 and older The United States prides itself on being a melting pot, but the many immigrant stories that make up our uniquely American stew aren't always known and are even less frequently published by the mainstream press. Take Thanhha Lai, who, in her recent National Book Award winner, "Inside Out & Back Again," chronicles her family's move to the U.S. from her native Vietnam in 1975, shortly after the fall of Saigon.

It's 1922 and nothing much is up in Pasadena. Not among the orange groves, not along the leafy streets. Just as the little old ladies like it. But wait. Down in the Arroyo Seco, a crew has just started putting up some kind of stadium. On Pepper Street, Mallie Robinson's 3-year-old son may already be showing signs of amazing athleticism. Over at Polytechnic School, a tall 10-year-old named Julia McWilliams is developing the taste and aplomb that will make her America's best-known chef.

Here is a roundup of alleged cons, frauds and schemes to watch out for: Stolen credit cards — A Costa Mesa man has been convicted of identity theft and other federal crimes related to the theft of credit cards from Vietnamese immigrants living in Southern California. A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Hung Van Tieu, 62, of conspiracy, credit card fraud and identity theft. The charges carry a sentence of two to 32 years in federal prison. Tieu was part of a team of con men who called credit card companies in 2010-11, impersonated customers and asked for new cards to be mailed to addresses on file.

Hue Oi 9752 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove, (714) 534-3040. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays to Mondays (closed Tuesdays). Huong Giang to Go 14282 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove, (714) 531-1798. 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Huong Giang Restaurant and Deli 14564 Brookhurst St., Westminster, (714) 531-4930. 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Huong Vy 9372 Westminster Ave., Westminster, (714) 379-0900. 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Kim Hoa Hue 9813 Garvey Ave., El Monte, (626)

It's just before the dinner rush at Huong Giang, a central Vietnamese restaurant in Westminster's Little Saigon, and dozens of dim-sum-like dishes obscure our tabletop. Chopsticks eagerly reach for fat little shrimp-filled dumplings and impossibly tender rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves. We pass around silver dollar-size rice pancakes topped with pork cracklings and nibble on Vietnamese cold cuts swathed in freshly steamed rice noodle sheets as airy as chiffon. These small bites may have the feel of new wave dim sum or the latest Asian-influenced gastropub, but they belong to the legendary cuisine of central Vietnam -- the most sophisticated of the country's three major culinary regions -- whose capital city, Hue, enjoys the cachet of Paris, Rome or Shanghai among Vietnamese food lovers.

The Novice A Story of True Love Thich Nhat Hanh HarperOne: 147 pp., $23.99 The novel, as a storytelling device, begins with that white parchment of possibility, turns many tricks, reveals many truths and, in the best of hands, can exploit the very worst in humankind. Novels are fairly seditious undertakings. And that's why the very idea of a Zen novel sounds like either a comedy sketch or simply an improbable stretch. And yet that's what Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has done with his first novel, "The Novice: A Story of True Love.

Your article "Newspaper Office Hit by Arson Fire" (Sept. 28) about the arson fire at our office is well written and fair, but I must take exception to the remarks made by Westminster Councilman Frank Fry Jr. He is quoted as saying "there is a big split down there in Little Saigon over whether (the United States) should recognize Communist Vietnam or not. But I wouldn't be too concerned about it. If it had been the doctor's building, that would be different." This is not the first time he insulted the Vietnamese community by saying something stupid.

Two veterans of the South Vietnamese military will be buried side by side and with honors Saturday in the first graves of the new burial grounds for Vietnamese veterans at Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary. Hundreds from the Vietnamese American community are expected to attend a 1 p.m. inaugural memorial for the two. A coalition of Vietnamese war veterans purchased 300 adjoining parcels on a grassy field at the memorial park for their own armed forces cemetery.

Statewide, the work of the Citizens Redistricting Commission has sent politicians into a flurry. Some find themselves in the same district as a colleague and many others face the difficult prospect of running in unfamiliar turf. But this isn't the case in central Orange County. According to congressional district maps released Friday, Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez can rest relatively easy. Her new district encompasses most of Santa Ana, parts of Garden Grove, Anaheim, Westminster and Fullerton.

Five to try: Check out these Vietnamese restaurants recently reviewed in The Find. Huynh 's regional specialties include its excellent bun cha ha noi , northern Vietnam's favorite char-grilled street food - a combo of garlic-doused sliced pork topped with silver-dollar-size minced pork patties, splashed with a seasoned broth. 9500 Bolsa Ave., No. B, Westminster, (714) 531-7379. Diners at tiny Dat Thanh come for its nem nuong cuon - spring rolls that approach brilliance: ruddy pork patties branded by the grill, cucumber spears that snap with farmers-market freshness, dipping sauces derived from equal parts recipe and alchemy.