B: It’s good to hear that. We wish you pleasant weather in the coming days. In Hanoi we are in the hottest part of summer with the highest possible temperature at 38 DC. In Vietnam’s central region the temperature is higher. But there should be an interval from the baking hot weather in about two weeks, and there will be a lot of rain to cool it down. The temperature will gradually reduce by the end of the summer in August.

Motorbike drivers wear sun-proof clothes to protect themselves from baking sunshine

A: Soumya emailed us reception reports for several programs in June on the frequency of 7280 khz and 9730 khz. He told us: “I am personally interested in foreign policy and external affairs. So I take very great interest in all those foreign policy related items that you cover in the programs. So far Vietnam's foreign policy approaches are very impressive and significant and VOV covers these developments excellently. Successful foreign policy has improved Vietnam's image around the world, and it is quite obvious that it has directly aided the Vietnamese economic and development goals.”

B: Listening to the program on June 14, he was interested in a report about the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Soumya wrote: “In India, President Ho Chi Minh is highly respected, and I am personally very happy that this museum will be able to protect the items now. The museum is taking a great initiative to collect historic memorabilia from the people and it is impressive that people are gladly donating such important items associated with the President. I hope I can visit the museum someday and see, especially the photograph collection of this museum. Probably they should make a website and share the collection online, like other major museums.”

Ho Chi Minh Museum at the President Ho Chi Minh relic site in Hanoi

A: The museum has a website at www.baotanghochiminh.vn (spell the word baotang) in Vietnamese and English. It features groups of photos, documents, and items about President HCM’s career. The museum is a huge source of information about the President as well as Vietnam’s revolution. If you can visit Vietnam one day, we’ll surely take you to the HCM Museum at the HCM President Relic Site in Hanoi. Until then you can visit the museum’s website to see its photo collections and exhibits.

B: The report on Vietnam and Hanoi's cuisine diversity on June 18 was also very informative, Soumya said. “I’m aware of Vietnamese cuisine from several TV shows and of course VOV programs that I have come across in the past. I know that even US President Barack Obama enjoyed Vietnamese food in his recent trip to Vietnam.”

A: I think Vietnamese and Indian cuisine are similar in some seasoning recipes. India’s culinary reputation for spiciness comes largely from chili peppers. Within a Vietnamese meal, we usually have many dishes with different tastes like hot, sour, sweet, and salty accompanied by a variety of ingredients. Fishes, shrimps, pork, beef, and chicken are always cooked with vegetables so as to diminish the fatty and oily level or neutralize the cold and hot essence of the materials. For example we cook clams and oysters with ginger, lemon grass, and chili.

B: If you think you want to try Vietnamese dishes one day, go to the Food Delight segment on VOV’s website www.vovworld.vn to get a recipe. Thank you for your feedback as well as your technical notes of VOV’s transmission in your place. We’re glad to know that the reception quality was very good for the 1600 UTC and 1900 UTC broadcasts. The 9730 kHz from 1900 UTC is often troubled by strong interference from China Radio International but the 7280 kHz is well heard at the same time.

A: From Indonesia, Pak Ning Tjang emailed us to share his feeling of the time as the year 2016 had almost passed half away and next month will be the 7th month of the year of the monkey.

B: Yeah time flies so fast. But the good news is VOV is still on shortwave, there are still many shortwave enthusiasts, and we are happy to receive regular reports from you. We’ve checked your reception report for the program on June 18^th, 2016, between 1000 to 1027 UTC using 9840 khz.

A: You’ve noted down all major contents of the news bulletins, the Saturday report about Vietnam’s cuisine and most delicious dishes and Hanoi, one of the best city for foods recommended by the daily Telegraph.

B: Richard Nowak in the US often emails us right after listening to our program and he didn’t miss a chance to write us even though he was on a trip. Richard wrote: “I enjoyed tonight’s show from a hotel room in New Orleans listening with a Sony ICF-SW7600GR portable with the built in telescopic whip. I’m here on a work trip. Reception was very good with SINPO at 45344.”

A: The Letterbox was one of his favorite shows on VOV. He said it was great and had an interesting segment on stamp collecting. A nice song “Summer Dreams” was played. A National Radio Listeners Club was mentioned and a listener from Australia. On June 27^th he listened to VOV at his home using his 1941 Hallicrafters SX-28 hooked up to an indoor active loop antenna. He said the reception quality on 12005 khz from 1:00 to 1:27 UTC was good and rated SINPO at all 4s.

B: Richard wrote: “The wonderful Sunday Show had an interesting segment on paper making and using paper handicrafts for writing, historical records, home decor and the paper crafts being resident and durable. The paper handicrafts show was very enjoyable with interesting interviews. A lovely traditional song with a female singer and beautiful string instruments finished the show. I also enjoyed Saturday night’s show with the nice music segment.”

A: Debakamal Hazarika of India’s Universal DX Club told us that he listened to VOV’s program on June 25 at 16:30 UTC on the frequency of 7280khz. He wrote: “I listened to your edition of 'Weekend Music Show'. On this program you introduced us Vietnamese singer My Linh and played some wonderful songs by her. All the songs played in today's show were fantastic and I enjoyed them a lot.”

B: We’ve checked our reception report and issued a QSL card to confirm it. We hope you’ll receive it soon. From India, Neelakandan reported listening to VOV on June 3^rd on 12005 khz. Listening with a Tecsun PL-660, digital portable receiver, he rated SINPO at 35433 and remarked an a fair signal with deep QSB.

A: Neelakandan commented “This service is primarily to North America, but audible here in India fairly well and I enjoy listening to your service which is informative, to know more about Vietnam and its relations with the world. Keep it up.”

B: This week we also acknowledge letters from Mark Fridl of the US, Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Risto Happonen of Finland, Andy Martynyuk of Russia, Muneer K.P of the UAE, Abdur Razzak of Bangladesh, and Hivendu Paul, President of  India’s Metali Listeners’ Club.

A: Thank you all so much for listening to VOV and sending us feedback. We’ll verify your reception reports and we hope you’ll get them soon. Remember that you can listen to us again at anytime on our website vovworld.vn.

B: We welcome your feedback at our station: English Section, Overseas Service, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Good bye until next time.