A Wonderful Welcome to ITE HCMC 2014

Elisa Floating Restaurant

ITE HCMC 2014 is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Vietnam this year. I am one of the many people from around the world privileged to attend.

The Welcome Dinner was held this evening at the Elisa Floating Restaurant on the Saigon River in HCMC. This restaurant is a unique 4 storey timber structure in the shape of a large boat that stays at the one spot on the river.

On our arrival we went to the top deck to enjoy drinks and snacks before a few welcome speeches were made.

River Parade

We all then enjoyed the Ho Chi Minh City Lighting River Cruises Festival 2014. This was a colourful parade of boats on the Saigon River. All were lit up with different lighting techniques and they made a spectacular sight as the floated by us on the river. Some of the boats had the outlines of famous old buildings in HCMC, such as the Post Office and Opera House. The most spectacular boat was a floating stage, with large lit flowers decorating it. The dancers, singers and fireworks on it created a most wonderful experience.

The Welcome Dinner was served in the Elisa Floating Restaurant, with musicians playing traditional Vietnamese music as we ate.

I was impressed with the menu, where dish after dish was brought out for us to enjoy. They showcased the wonderful food that Vietenam has to offer. These included:

Crab Sausage

• Wrapped foods from 3 major regions of Vietnam (Fresh salad roll, Spring roll, Steamed rice sheet with grilled meat)
• Lotus stem salad with pork meat and shrimp
• Chicken soup with lotus seed
• Crab sausage
• Grilled duck breast with honey
• Seafood fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf
• Tea and lotus seed moon cake.

Vietnamese Traditional Music

ITE attracts delegates from around the world. I had the privilege of sitting on a table with delegates from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Welcome Dinner and River Parade were a most enjoyable introduction to ITE HCMC 2014.