Bill Baileys Vietnam - Season 1 Episode 01- Hoi An
#EnglishMovie #cdrama #drama #engsub #chinesedramaengsub #movieshortfull
#EnglishMovie #cdrama #drama #engsub #chinesedramaengsub #movieshortfull
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00I first came to Vietnam nearly 10 years ago and what strikes me now is what a
00:06place of contrast this is. I'm amazed by the pace and the scale of change but also
00:15some things like the endless green of the rice fields remain the same. This is a
00:22country that's surging ahead to meet the demands of a globalized world and a
00:27country that's still dealing with the legacy of its turbulent past. As Vietnam
00:33carefully navigates the path ahead so am I. As long as this road has no potholes
00:40I'm good to go. From the frenetic pace of urban life to the calm reflection of
00:47rural tranquility and all points in between I'm on a mission to delve deeper
00:54into this fascinating country.
00:59Vietnam. Of course it's a place of tea plantations, traffic, temples but then it's something else entirely.
01:08Come with me on an unusual unfiltered unforgettable adventure.
01:24My mind's off on a whole bunch of other tangents. I'm thinking about a sandwich I had in 1982.
01:30As this nation commemorates 50 years since the end of the war. So as soon as it's safe right?
01:36I'll explore this fertile land, ask the big questions. Am I in the right place?
01:41Embrace new experiences, even my own future. From them you are smart and tested.
01:48Is there any, you know, good news? Navigate tight spaces.
01:54I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get out.
01:56Make some new friends.
01:58Separated at first.
02:00This is a voyage of discovery, of strange encounters.
02:03This is your whole life in a plant.
02:05An enchanted stroll to one of the most fascinating places on earth.
02:11Welcome to Bill Bailey's Vietnam adventure.
02:14In this great nation, when it comes to exploring how the contrasts of old and new are balanced effortlessly together,
02:32together there's no better example than hoi an oh hi five oh oh photo photo yeah okay coming in
02:49oh blimey oh hang on oh wait a minute i'll be sucking into this somehow
02:54yeah all right okay then bye thanks thanks see ya look at me practically a local
03:08hoi an is a place where equilibrium is second nature between past and present
03:14calm and chaos craft and commerce all carried with the grace of someone who's done it all their life
03:20so i nearly went in then now as i navigate this country officially called the socialist republic
03:31of vietnam i will explore the big bustling cities of ho chi minh and hanoi and also get to the rural
03:38idylls of dalat and sapa plus coastal harlong bay but this place hoi an offers both and it felt to me
03:47like the perfect place to start my odyssey smack bang in the middle of vietnam's 3 200 kilometers
03:54of coastline hoi an has been linking the nation to the wider world one boatload at a time this whole
04:00coast used to be part of the maritime silk route where ships belonging to the portuguese the french
04:06the chinese and the japanese would come here to trade and head off around the world
04:10in towns like hoi an and nearby danang there's still a thriving fishing community and i want to
04:19find out what is uniquely vietnamese about this ancient port
04:26this is man thai beach where fishing isn't just an industry it's a way of life passed down through
04:32generation every morning before the tourists are up and about you can see fishing families take to the
04:38water as the sun rises i'm very taken by these round fishing boats which look more like giant floating
04:47rice bowls har is a fisher person from a small family business run by her mother and she's kindly
04:56showing me the ropes so this is like a family business going back generations
05:01uh she started to catch fish during the nine years old when you were nine years old what what are the
05:09sort of things that they catch what sort of fish they have a lot of fish and snails right and shrimp yeah yeah
05:24but it's just really right off the beach here so not far not sort of deep you see it is the same
05:31like the bird it's not so far yeah fishermen pull in their catch by casting circular nets off the shoreline
05:38or from one of these basket boats no small undertaking imagine it's you have to be you have to constantly
05:46fish all the time all the time because otherwise you're not making enough money to
05:50live you know so it's pretty relentless you need to do every day to make you and earn some more money
05:59modern versions of the basket boats are a mix of wood and fiberglass
06:03they remain a floating symbol of vietnamese independence this is bamboo
06:13right i mean on the face of it doesn't look like a particularly seaworthy vessel
06:19it being more of a bowl than a boat so the thing is about these boats they are quite ingenious
06:25during the french colonial rule the french imposed attacks on boats but the vietnamese got around that
06:34by putting to sea in what is effectively a basket so these vessels became hugely popular up the coast
06:42because of their ingenuity because of the design but also because you could go fishing tax-free
06:53it's not a bad story i feel game to give one of these precarious floating thimbles a shot
06:59i confess while the locals make them look easy they do defy the principles of stability oh yeah i
07:05definitely got this okay i'm going out with my new friends to throw a fishing net out yeah yeah
07:11yeah sit down here yeah just down here yeah just there yeah all right oh nice
07:17okay let's go
07:30that wasn't supposed to happen whoa i'm soaked
07:40i thought you knew how to drive this i'm getting out was it a freak wave or did i just unbalance it
07:50i'm no sailor but the lack of a keel seems to be a major oversight either way i'm defeated it's not
07:57designed for an englishman maybe a welshman i thought that's what i might do you see i thought
08:04i might channel my welsh roots and be able to steer a coracle draw on my celtic dna but that didn't work
08:14out and uh i was just a bloke in a giant fruit basket spinning around in the surf much to the hilarity
08:24of the local fishing family at mantai beach the fisher folk employ time-honored techniques
08:32passed through generations used to bring in the fish but there's one technique that has my attention
08:38that is a little at odds with well fishing
08:44local monks are engaging in a practice of release what you might say is the opposite of catching in
08:50the spirit of buddhism and showing loving kindness to all beings including animals this group are
08:56throwing the fish back we released them out so release it yeah we bought them the light instead of go to
09:03restaurant if we release them so they have another oh i see everyone everyone in the money in the money
09:10and some other we represent people come out here and do the release so what did the fishermen think about
09:16this scene well they uh they just sell they don't mind they just sell to us or sell to the restaurant
09:23they they're making money either way right right it's a lovely thing it's a lovely sentiment you know
09:32these sort of group of buddhist monks they get together they have a whip round everyone chips in
09:39and they come to the market and they buy up a whole bowl of prawns and crabs and
09:44and just release them back into the sea to i guess the slightly baffled expressions of the fishermen
09:53you want to do what the idea that you know you just release these living things back into the wild
10:02so that they have a chance in the next life he said if you kill them that's it they're not going to ascend
10:08it's a lovely sentiment two sides of life here and somehow both make perfect sense it's a kind of
10:16balance that's oddly comforting and more inspiring than i expected man type beach is nestled right at
10:24the foot of sontra peninsula in danang not far from hoi an and it's right opposite a major fishing village
10:31where the cycle of life flows as it has for hundreds of years as the residents hunt for a
10:37seafood bargain after my unique fishing basket experience i'm following the produce from sea to
10:44market and this is no real refrigeration the food just goes straight here the local people the local
10:53restaurants the man time markets have been serving generations of people since the 18th century
11:00including this guy a refugee who has returned to his old stomping ground chef duk has agreed to show
11:06me around good morning hello how are you very well bill good see you welcome to the world of veggies
11:14i'm looking this is a pumpkin flowers i'm gonna i'm gonna stop them with prawns
11:20oh with ginger garlic and onion right pan seed them with olive oil and twisted lime juice sounds
11:27delicious love bites bill love bites all right one of my favorites great a restaurateur and local legend
11:36around these parts everyone knows chef duk and he's the perfect companion to learn about how these markets
11:42have changed over time this is a an extraordinary place hoya i love it it's my first time here
11:50oh yeah yeah it's it's i just love the atmosphere here it's great yeah for me it's a soulful place
11:57amazing the people i think the past also also give me the the the the energy to to to to
12:06just to live yeah yeah it feels that feels that there's a lot it's a place where lots of people
12:12have come over centuries you know to trade that's sort of history to it that's right hoi an was a the
12:19biggest trade port and back in the day so it's imagine all the european south asian they all conquered
12:27great here and i've imagined six seven hundred years ago it's the same thing it's just more italian
12:33drinking wine yeah cooking food and the chinese hanging out the japanese hanging out vietnamese
12:39chef duk spent many days as a little boy helping his mother to sell produce at the markets in a way
12:44they are his spiritual home this amazing lady i know all these women oh you know everybody i know
12:49coconut lady i know the flowers one i know the spices one i know the noodles one i know yeah all those
12:54ladies i bet they all know you as well yeah for 20 years 21 years i've been shopping here you know and
13:02now they've taught me a lot how they how to cook with a local specialty duk has invited me to his
13:08restaurant in hoi an and i'm already salivating in anticipation these markets are a sensory ambush with
13:17smells coming at you in all directions especially the fresh aroma of fish but
13:24this guy won't be getting thrown back in the sea today it's too late for him the last one the last
13:29mohican bill wow look at that this is the snapper the golden snapper beautiful
13:38this is how red it is oh right it's super slimy yeah that's why the you need slime yeah you want slimy
13:46fresh fresh fish smell this smells of the sea smells like ocean yeah she's the eyes it's beautiful it's
13:56clear we're gonna make some signature wow ginger garlic and onion honey lime juice chili oh honey sounds
14:07amazing yeah it's clear i'm in the presence of a master having left vietnam as a war refugee
14:14chef duk has returned a culinary artist i was out of vietnam for 20 years so i'm learning from all
14:21corners of the world for a good 11 years and this is amazing chaos it strikes me that you're drawing on
14:32lots of different elements here that come from your experiences of traveling around the world i'll get to
14:38support the local fresh here yeah homegrown home catch super super fresh and it sort of increases
14:46your kind of enjoyment of it it activates your taste buds you are very orgasmic in the way that's how i
14:54love to cook that's how i sort of make people happy and to make people happy and the same time
15:00turn them uh turn them on turn them on get them sexually in charged charge them up you smell the
15:07sense is important you smell the flavor you hear i'm looking forward to this dinner with you mate
15:17my new friend duck has left a big impression on me there's a calm quiet strength about him he's sending
15:23me off to learn as much as i can about being vietnamese hoi an style to discover the sights sounds
15:30and history that lured him home as i navigate these old streets it's easy to see why this smaller vietnamese
15:38city known for its well preserved ancient town is a unesco world heritage site and one of the town's
15:45most famous attractions from the past is still going strong this is one of the great places in vietnam
15:51for tailoring and in the 1500s hoi an was known as silk road by the sea lots of people coming here
15:59lots of traders lots of merchants so it's quite a cosmopolitan place even back then people wanted
16:06fancy suits made and these days you can pop out for a banh mi and come back with a bespoke suit
16:12in my case i want some new threads for my dinner with duke my wife told me that most men look like
16:18james bond in a suit when she said most men i don't think she meant me but it was worth a shot my word
16:29you want to have a lot of something here that is proper yeah yeah i think elton john's been here
16:36already yeah i mean now we're talking it's a little bit too flash for me these days i mean i might
16:43have worn that in my younger days but yeah i mean i think if i was maybe working as a sort of a matador
16:53maybe yeah but handmade tailoring is an art the tailors work so fast you half expect the suit to be
17:00done before they finish measuring you i'm getting fitted up for something fancy this plate how long
17:06has this place been here we are the first tailor in hoi an right wow so how many people how many people
17:15work here then uh it's 100 taylor yeah we employ them wow yeah it must be really busy then it's like
17:26people working non-stop here yeah we are uh small the local people right we're supporting a lot for them
17:36yeah training them and then help them have a layer good lead there are around three million textile
17:46workers in vietnam i'm learning while the tools may have modernized the rhythm of the textile trade is the
17:52same as it ever was i've ordered a suit and i'm excited the tailors of hoi an have rightly become
18:00globally renowned and their industry is helping to turbo charge the vietnamese economy and attract
18:08record levels of foreign investment but what i find so heartening is that something that requires such
18:14a degree of artisanship and craft can still have a place in today's fast-paced globalized world
18:24heading out of town from the bustle of hoi an i fancied a breather and i found the perfect place
18:36high on the hill just outside danang is a majestic beauty who i need to have a word with
18:44it's an amazing temple pagoda complex up here beautiful bonsai trees everywhere and
18:54the lady buddha standing here under the shadow of sontra mountain is here to protect the fishermen
19:02to give them calm seas and to be the sort of guardian of the bay so this is the thing where
19:09was lady buddha when i was floundering in my basket boat busy i would suggest or perhaps it was outside her
19:16jurisdiction the lady buddha isn't just a statue she's a spiritual landmark and an icon and she sits
19:26alongside the impressive linung pagoda the site is considered a buddhist paradise on earth
19:35but if temples aren't your thing perhaps the zen residents will appeal
19:38a troop of macaques who've decided to up their foraging game have moved in
19:48these monkeys have found a good spot here it's obviously signs up everywhere saying don't feed
19:56the wildlife but people because they do you know they bring little snacks for them and the monkeys
20:00know that they're not stupid they're just hanging around here waiting for a an easy lunch you know
20:08why spend all day foraging when tourists will hand you a high protein snack they're pretty canny these
20:16monkeys when you study these monkeys you realize how genetically similar we are someone say i'm more
20:23similar than most these macaques are very sociable animals you know they they tend to live in troops
20:32family troops about sort of 50 or so and i reckon this is just one big family troop here
20:38they've staked out this territory for themselves you know no other family troops getting this gig
20:45no hooligans like the monkey mafia you've got this territory sewn up haven't you mate
21:00just don't chuck don't chuck the plastic mate let's put it in the bin
21:05like us a diet high in sugar and fat can lead them to all sorts of health problems like diabetes and
21:11heart issues but you can't tell them look a lovely leaf a tasty leaf yeah mate he's like forget it
21:21where's the good stuff look at that you want that don't even don't even insult me with that leaf
21:30have you got any cheesy ice cream for the record i did not feed any monkeys and if you come here
21:36neither should you while the da nang monkeys are tucking into fast food like seasoned city dwellers
21:45down the coast in hoi an time seems to have stood still this picturesque place is a living piece of
21:53history it's made up of over 1 000 timber framed buildings from the 1600s that are still in use today
22:01in what now seems like a fortunate turn of events an economic slowdown in the 19th century meant there
22:07was no money to update the town and all the old structures were left standing untouched including
22:14this impressive overpass right in the heart here of hoi an's old town is an architectural marvel this the
22:23japanese bridge was built in 1597 to connect the japanese community to the chinese community on the
22:31other side of the canal and it's an iconic landmark of vietnam it's deemed to be historically significant
22:37enough to have made it onto the money it's actually on the 20 000 dong note i mean there's uncle ho on
22:45one side as you'd imagine but on the other side there it is this is a reminder of the fact this place was
22:51once one of the most significant ports in southeast asia i mean they all came here the portuguese came
22:57in the 1500s bringing christianity and firearms a potent combo the dutch the british came here looking
23:05to buy silk and spice and ceramics and then the french came here with designs on the whole country
23:11and there's a huge amount of chinese influence here as well you can see it in the architectures
23:15they came here they built temples and assembly halls shop houses many of which are still here and today
23:22the japanese bridge is not much more than a tourist attraction but it's a reminder that this place was
23:29once an international crossroads of cultures
23:36in the old town this historical legacy is present everywhere you turn
23:42and you're often rewarded by a little off-piste curiosity
23:47oh yes it is this is a sort of cut down version of the boat i was in earlier on
23:52clearly a bit of residual bowl trauma much like chef duk searching for quality produce at the markets
23:59i'm reminded how much care goes into everything handmade here
24:04ah hi will this is your suit here this is it yes wow it's only been 48 hours since i was measured up
24:11but the tailors have worked their magic my suit is ready wonderful thank you so much i was going to
24:16try it on yes and you put it on and then come out all right okay denise is clearly waiting for me
24:25to transform into daniel craig and let's be honest it's going to be a long wait
24:33how look pretty good yeah so how can how you feel about it looks great feels really good yeah i love all
24:40the extra detail the beading and everything it's fantastic uh i want to say my i've tried to learn
24:48the vietnamese beautiful beautiful i'm gonna wear this to all sorts of things events yeah shows
25:00premieres yeah yeah award ceremonies yes the shops just got the shops in it i mean i've never taken it off
25:09hang on i just did my fashion walk hold on i almost look like i know what i'm doing
25:18you gotta look and then you gotta look away so you gotta look into the camera
25:21not bad for a bloke who usually dresses like he's lost in a laundry basket
25:28supermodel moves the resemblance is uncanny hoi an i have arrived
25:34right that's enough of that
25:42hoi an's past is steeped in trade a melting pot of merchants from china japan and europe
25:49and just outside the old town they weren't only trading goods they were shaping them out of the earth
25:55into pottery shaping clay dates back over 500 years here and now one enthusiastic englishman
26:03is about to try his hand at it what could possibly go wrong hello
26:10my first time at the potter's wheel and nia and toy are guiding me through closer closer yeah wow
26:18oh yeah because you can touch here oh oh i see right oh okay now try and try to
26:24this is you can touch here okay yeah right okay this is the smallest stool i've ever sat on
26:32she like this all the time she's quite strict now what no
26:39these charming gigglers are part of the tanha pottery village one of the oldest in vietnam the
26:49clay we are using is from the nearby river and people in this region have been turning out bowls
26:54and plates since the 1500s and nothing much has really changed since then everything is still done
27:00by hand and foot oh this is analog not electric then no use uh old old woman power right it's all
27:09hands on deck oh you move your finger up inside yeah whoa i'll tell you what if it was my job to spin
27:15that wheel i guarantee my foot would have been encased in a pot by now i'm just mesmerized by that
27:20foot going around right okay now now what we're doing i'll put the pattern in oh right okay like this
27:32pottery here has mostly been a role exclusive to women as the men were tasked with seemingly more
27:38labor-intensive jobs with no motors just good old-fashioned leg power i reckon i'd take the field
27:44labor over this i don't mind spinning the can you tell her i don't mind spinning the wheel she can
27:49have a sit down and a break you want to try yeah no no i'm just saying i'll spin the wheel you don't
27:56have to do that have a cup of tea or something i'm told my instructor can make a hundred items a day
28:02and has been plying a trade for 40 years they should have wired that wheel up to the national
28:06grid that's sustainable energy right there but around here 40 years on the job is nothing this chap
28:14new is a fourth generation potter how long has this chap here been working on these pots
28:20years right when he was 18 yeah probably when he was 18 years old when he was 18 and now he
28:37are 88 it's 88 yeah you look good for 88 70 years 70 years in the career this is feeling like an
28:50important lesson in the secret to longevity he's still working at 88 that's a good age does he not
28:56feel he wants to maybe you know retire slow down a little bit or he likes working no but
29:02he feels tired he feels tired when he has nothing to do but he do these things you feel better yeah
29:19yeah i get that yeah i get that yeah i get that
29:26what's that he asked you how old are you how old am i yeah i don't know you can see if we can guess
29:33you go hang on absolutely exactly shake my hand don't let me hang in
29:52you got it absolutely bang on
29:54Oh, really?
29:56That's good, yeah.
29:58Aside from the flattery, what I love about this community is that age is no barrier to feeling useful.
30:04Okay. Come on.
30:06I hope that when I'm his age, I'll still be contributing to life like he is.
30:12Or at least be able to sit on a tiny stool.
30:15Pots. Lovely pots.
30:18Get your pots. Fresh off the potter's wheel.
30:22All of these bowls and crockery were used by local people for functional use.
30:27But then with the advent of plastic and aluminium, of course, the demand dropped way off.
30:32So now, really, they're making pottery for souvenirs, for tourists.
30:38But that doesn't mean to say there's any less worth in them.
30:42They're all made by hand. And they're all made with love.
30:47Whether you're a 16th century Dutch merchant or a 21st century comedian, the clay is the same, just moulded for a slightly different crowd, proving Vietnamese resilience yet again.
31:05Long before Vietnam, as we know it, there was the Champa civilization.
31:10Tucked away in the hills are the remnants of a kingdom of temple towers and mysterious ruins that whisper of a time before modern Vietnam.
31:20I've come to stand among them and feel the weight of centuries in the quiet.
31:25This is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the whole of Southeast Asia.
31:31This is the Mison temple complex. It was a political centre of the Champa kingdom.
31:38And it was built between the 4th and the 13th century.
31:41Hindu gods were worshipped in. Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva.
31:45It was a symbol of the power and the influence that the Champa civilization had and its connections with the world.
31:55Especially India and Indonesia.
32:02I mean, they're actually quite small.
32:05You know, they would have been quite dark in here.
32:10But we're talking, you know, a thousand years ago.
32:16They would have been prayer rooms, meditation rooms.
32:25But these, amazingly well preserved.
32:31It's amazing that it's survived largely unscathed over the centuries.
32:37I mean, it took a bit of a battering by American bombers during the war.
32:41But I guess it's a testament to the skill of the builders that what remains is still quite stunningly beautiful.
32:55And now it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
32:58But actually, there's still around 200,000 Cham people in Vietnam.
33:05So it's a kind of a link to a lost empire.
33:10And I guess a reminder of the shifting power of kingdoms and dynasties that characterize Vietnam's history.
33:22Oh, it's this beautiful butterfly.
33:25It's just waiting for it to land.
33:28In my travels, I'm often drawn to documenting little moments like this.
33:36A red spot Jezebel.
33:39A way to pull me into a time and a place.
33:42I'm just trying to photograph these butterflies.
33:45There's so many butterflies feeding on these flowers around here.
33:49What I love doing is, if you can just get a snap of them with the phone,
33:54then I can use that to draw them later on.
34:01If I can get really close to it, I'll be able to get a good shot.
34:08There we go. That's it.
34:13Brilliant. Got it.
34:15From ancient carvings and sacred towers, to a tranquil moment with a pencil and paper.
34:30I was writing a book about British birds.
34:32And I just...
34:36In fact, my wife encouraged me to do a couple of sketches.
34:40They came out okay.
34:43And so I've just been...
34:46I've been doing it ever since.
34:47I find it...
34:48I love it.
34:50I mean, this is beautiful.
34:53Apart from...
34:57Apart from this...
34:59Relentless chit-chat.
35:01Bikes.
35:02But of course, that's part of being here.
35:05You're always going to hear a motorbike or...
35:08You know, something.
35:10Even in a lovely spot like this.
35:12But this is a beautiful spot.
35:14Sitting on the edge of the rice fields.
35:17You know.
35:19It's very relaxing.
35:21This is probably just a little...
35:23I don't know.
35:25A little dwelling on the rice fields.
35:29And now it's a destination place.
35:30People will make the effort to come here.
35:32Because it's just so lovely.
35:34A little pause before trading pencils for chopsticks.
35:37In my reunion with Chef Duc.
35:39Which promises to be anything but ordinary.
35:44By day, Hoi An is all heritage and hustle.
35:47But by early evening, there's a buzz in the air.
35:50An anticipation of the night ahead.
35:52The Hoi River is one of the main attractions for tourists.
35:55Where they come to be swept up in the romance for the famous lantern ritual.
36:02Nice.
36:04My aim here is to get a boat and set off into the night.
36:08With a paper lantern or two that will light up on the dark water.
36:12In unison with the hundreds of others.
36:14Creating this dreamy spectacle.
36:17But this iconic tradition has been supersized into something a little overwhelming.
36:24I mean, it's just crowds of people taking mass selfies.
36:29There's people haggling to get on boats.
36:32Buying lanterns to float on the water.
36:35Street sellers, tour groups waving their flags.
36:39It's just absolute mayhem.
36:44But it's great though.
36:46It's kind of...
36:47Got real buzz about the boat.
36:50The release of lanterns is supposed to symbolize the sending of prayers for good fortune.
36:55It's also a way to honor ancestors and connect with the spiritual realm.
37:00Oh, it's pretty cutthroat, this boat business, isn't it?
37:03Blimey.
37:05But all that's a bit lost.
37:07All right. Let's...
37:09In trading terms, the supply and demand is a bit out of whack here.
37:13Too much demand and the magic, sadly, is cut adrift.
37:17We're haggling to get a boat.
37:19And the thing is, by the time we got a boat sorted, one of these guys just sold it to someone else.
37:25There's a massive queue of people.
37:27They've been waiting for ages to get on the boat.
37:28And then, of course, you know, I show up and they're like...
37:33Oh!
37:35How come you're getting in the queue?
37:37Oh!
37:39I'm getting grief from the boat owners, the bloke, selling the boats and all the people that have been queuing.
37:45This...
37:47This is quite stressful.
37:52Perhaps I might just attach myself to a Korean bridal party.
37:55I just...
37:58Yeah, I'm with them. I'm just with the Korean trade delegation.
38:04Or just...
38:05If I just sat on a boat with a honeymoon couple, that'd be awkward, wouldn't it?
38:09They're just, like, taking selfies and I'm just sitting there like a sort of spanner at the other end of the boat.
38:15Like, don't mind me, you know, you carry on your lovely romantic moment.
38:21Right, okay, let's go.
38:23Excuse me.
38:24Sorry.
38:25Sorry, pardon me.
38:26I'll just get through there.
38:28Thank you very much.
38:29We're not actually going to get a boat, which kind of suits me, really.
38:32It's a bit touristy.
38:33It's not my thing.
38:35It's definitely a thing for some, getting swept up in this glittering display.
38:41But it's not for me.
38:42The lanterns didn't quite light up the night as I'd hoped.
38:45But thankfully, there's still one shining promise ahead.
38:48My friend Chef Duc is preparing something special.
38:51And I've been pondering many questions about his remarkable refugee story and return to Vietnam.
38:57As the sun goes down around me, I'm feeling the need to sharpen up my look, to step things up a notch, prepare for the evening's proceedings.
39:08As the lanterns flicker to life, the river seems to sparkle almost as much as my suit.
39:14And the smell of sizzling seafood fills the air.
39:17I must admit, I feel quite dapper.
39:21And there's a lot of people just looking a little scruffy.
39:26A little bit like I looked at earlier today.
39:28So now I know how I did look, and now I'm quite chuffed with this.
39:32I've already had many, many compliments about the suit, which is very gratifying.
39:37It's very true, isn't it?
39:38You put a suit on, you sort of carry yourself in a slightly, slightly better way.
39:45This is extraordinary, isn't it? It's amazing.
39:48Bustle.
39:49My throng of people taking selfies.
39:51I've never seen so many people take selfies.
39:54I think there's people taking selfies of people with other cameras.
39:58It's like a sort of meta-selfie.
40:00Just the right colour lanterns, people and boats on the canal.
40:06Fantastic.
40:07I'm in good spirits and feeling peckish.
40:09Good timing for my date with Chef Duke.
40:12Aha. Chef Duke.
40:14Mr. Bill.
40:16How are you?
40:17I'm well.
40:18I thought I'd make a bit of an effort.
40:20Well, you're looking dapper yourself.
40:22Thanks, man.
40:23Nice to see you again.
40:24Yeah, good to see you.
40:25Yeah, come on in.
40:26To Mango Mango.
40:28This impressive establishment is Mango Mango,
40:30one of three restaurants owned by Chef Duke in Hoi An.
40:36Here we go.
40:37Welcome to the hot kitchen.
40:41I'm going to show you what we talked about earlier,
40:44the sort of Vietnamese food, yeah?
40:46Yes.
40:47So I'm going to show you how to make a quickly mango ceviche, my way.
40:51OK.
40:52A bit of mango.
40:53This is the snapper from earlier on.
40:55That's right.
40:56Oh.
40:57Nowadays, big-name celebrities come for dinner here,
40:59but getting here hasn't been an easy road for Chef Duke.
41:02Where did you learn how to do this?
41:04Yeah, I mean, you've had quite an amazing life, really.
41:07I left Vietnam as a refugee when I was 16 years old.
41:10It's hard to avoid the war.
41:12It's still impacting people's lives,
41:14and it's such a big part of Duke's story.
41:16In the refugee camp, I learned how to cook.
41:20Right.
41:21You know, refugee food.
41:22Six months later, I was fostered to Texas,
41:25and I was brought in by a Mexican-American family.
41:29Right.
41:30Yeah, and then I actually studied engineering,
41:34and then after engineering for a while,
41:36I came back to Vietnam to see my family,
41:39and I was my own little shock.
41:42I couldn't speak Vietnamese to my family.
41:45Why was that?
41:46Because for nine and a half years in America,
41:49I didn't speak Vietnamese.
41:50Hearing my family, hugging my family,
41:52I couldn't tell them my story.
41:54I said, I want to hang out with you.
41:56I want to speak Vietnamese.
41:58I want to eat Vietnamese.
41:59I want to be Vietnamese again.
42:01And ta-da!
42:03I have mango ceviche for you.
42:05Would you like to taste it?
42:07Yes.
42:08Yeah?
42:09Yes.
42:12Salud.
42:13Salud.
42:14Ceviche.
42:15Ceviche.
42:16Wept up in minutes,
42:17it doesn't get fresher than this.
42:19A signature mango-mango dish.
42:21Oh, that's really good.
42:23Remember that pumpkin flowers that we picked up earlier?
42:27Yeah, yeah.
42:28Would you like to try it?
42:29All right.
42:30We'll stir them with the beautiful chocolate prawn,
42:33ginger, garlic and onion, cilantro.
42:35Yeah.
42:36There we go.
42:37We're going to quickly put on the pan.
42:39Since returning to Hoi An,
42:41Chef Duk is embracing the fresh flavours
42:43and giving back to the community with his cooking.
42:45But he's here today because of his strength of character
42:48and adaptability,
42:50having survived a near-death experience as a child.
42:53And a lot of Vietnamese who live in the south
42:56was disagreeing with the policies back then.
43:00So they decide to exit us out of Vietnam by boat.
43:03Right.
43:04And by foot.
43:05And...
43:06The life was pretty hard for a lot of people in the south.
43:08My parents said there's no future for me,
43:10so they put me on the boat,
43:12say good luck and goodbye.
43:14Oh.
43:15And then luckily,
43:17I was inside that ice box.
43:20About yay big, yay long.
43:23Yeah.
43:24Lower.
43:25All packed in there like a sardine in the ice box
43:27for the first 12 hours.
43:29Oh.
43:30Frozen.
43:31My God.
43:32And luckily I made it out.
43:34Yeah.
43:35Luckily I made it out and after 12 hours later I came out
43:40and, you know, the elbow was frozen, my knee was frozen,
43:44all my joint was frozen.
43:45I was crawling around on the top of the boat like golem, you know?
43:48It's an amazing, amazing story, but you know what?
43:52It's a testament, isn't it, to determination.
43:57Working his way up from dish washing
43:59to running his restaurant empire,
44:01his appreciation for life is irresistible.
44:04We are the big mango family, Bill, by my side.
44:09I take care of them, they in terms of take care of me.
44:12Yeah.
44:13That's the nature of humans together.
44:14Yeah.
44:15Amazing.
44:16Yeah.
44:17You know that song that David Burns?
44:19Yeah.
44:20How did they get here?
44:21How did they get here?
44:22Yeah.
44:23Once in a lifetime.
44:24Once in a lifetime.
44:25That's my favorite song.
44:26I'm telling you, it's incredible how I get here.
44:28Okay.
44:29Shall we dig in?
44:30Yeah, let's do it.
44:32Hang on.
44:33Let's get the...
44:34It might be warm in there.
44:36That's all right.
44:37That's all right, we're brave enough.
44:38I think so.
44:39Cheers.
44:40Cheers.
44:47Mmm.
44:48Mmm.
44:49Oh.
44:50Mmm.
44:52That is...
44:53Terrific.
44:58Behind the razzle-dazzle of Hoi An, there's a strength that reveals itself in the smiles, the cooking and the sewing.
45:05An entrepreneurial zeal which is the real star of this place.
45:09I mean, never mind his terrific food, Chef Duke has had an extraordinary life.
45:14Despite all of that hardship, that turmoil, he's come through, he's emerged with something great.
45:24And in many ways, he's like an embodiment of the new Vietnam.
45:29Next time on Bill Bailey's Vietnam...
45:32Visitors who are afraid of narrow places don't even bother coming down here.
45:36Do you have this in a large?
45:38Big leg won't go.
45:39You can't hang about.
45:40Traffic wait for no man.
45:42It's bloody green, you n***er!
45:44You n***er!
46:14I hope you were able to drop out.
46:16UPPA
46:22Asaitu
46:24Asaitu
46:25Asaitu
46:27Asaitu
46:27Also
46:28I would've been to hope that the upcoming event on YouTube has res placed.
46:29Asaitu
46:31And
46:32Of
46:33Do
46:34Asaitu
Be the first to comment