Tet in Vietnam celebrates the lunar new year. Early in the morning Thao and I go out shopping
for Tet...
So many beautiful flowers for sale on every street.
Here you can see my "pink friend" that I bought for a niece. It followed me everywhere
through the streets of Hanoi since Thao tied it to my pants! :)
We bought some of these long red flowers, which opened perfectly for the new year.
Many kinds of vases for sale, to put on the family altar.
2009 is the year of the Ox.
The peach tree with pink blossoms is the most recognized symbol of Tet.
Look so nice.
Lottt of rubbish in Tet days. Here you can see a tree that was thrown away, because it bloomed too early before Tet!
The small orange tree is the other famous "Tetmas Tree"
Just make sure you do not eat the oranges, they are soooo sour!!
Lady is selling live chickens. Thao wanted to buy one but she was afraid of killing it.
Many kinds of dried fruit
This is one of the fruits that make up the typical altar display during Tet.
During Tet, the custom is to give lucky money to younger children in these red envelopes.
I got some lucky money from Thao's parents too when I visited them during Tet.
Many families fly the Vietnam flag during Tet. Oopps something wrong, Cheo or Treo ?:)
Finished shopping, we got back to the apartment. Thao is burning pink tree, she told me that will make the tree fresh longer when you put it in the vase.
So, finally we got everything for Tet altar that every family does. Pink tree, green banana, big yellow fruit, orange, cake, wine....
Ok, celebrate Vietnamese New Year and Xmas :)
We spent almost a week at Thao's parents house during Tet.
Here is the walkway to her house, that we plan to decorate for the wedding!
The red flowers that we bought, and a Tetmas Tree with some lucky money.
We also brought this orange tree... As you can image, the taxi on the way to the house was
very full!
Nephew in new suit that we bought him. He looks so cute.
Wow, baby gangster :))
Bring "Pink friend" come too;))
The family altar decorated for Tet
At the living room. During Tet, the custom is to visit the houses of all your relatives and friends. So I woke up early
on the first day of the year and put on my new suit!
"Chúc mừng năm mới!"
It seemed like we visited half the town, but all of Thao's family was very nice and it was good
to meet everyone again.
Thao's dad, niece (from sister #2) and nephew (from sister #4).
Thao's Mum and nephew.
Neighbor lil boy.
The traditional food during Tet is chicken, baby bamboo soup, onions, pickled cabbage, and sticky rice cake wrapped in leaves ("banh chung" and "banh tet"). . . Cheerrrrrrr!!!
A big breakfast that Thao made.
Visiting the newborn niece, with her big sister "Chi Chip"
Sleeping child.
Thao gets some practice...
The Tet Twins
Front of the store. The kids are so cute, but the cutest is the lil girl in red. Thao said she loves the girl in red the most, coz she looks like "Mini old woman" just coz she has no front teeth, hahaha... Oh no, chi CHIP put down the gun please...
Here is the cook, drying her feet and her shoes. She likes to sitting next to the fire in the winter. Countryside girl!
Even though her parents house has a gas stove but they still keep this fire kitchen to cook Banh Chung - the traditional square sticky rice cake that you must have in Tet. Banh Chung only tastes good when cooked on the fire like this. We wanted to come early to see how to make Banh Chung and help cook it, but we got there late so everything is done already.
The sticky rice cakes taste great when they are fried, good for breakfast.
Roasted pork over coals. It tasted so good when cooked like that, but you have to be careful
and watch out for the pieces that Thao dropped in the fire!
Visiting Thao's uncle with Tet gifts. I look like one of the cows!
Beans in the garden.
Big Pig House :)
Here is Thao's mom in the middle playing volleyball with her team! It turns out that she is a really good player, and this was the championship match. Her friends on the team were school teachers, and retired now but still play sports every day.
I played some volleyball the day before, but today I could only practice because of the
championship games.
Here is our Tetmas Tree! When we got back to Ha Noi, all the flowers had bloomed and it looked great as Thao said it would if we burnt it a little bit!
It was good to experience Vietnam Tet, especially going back to Thao's hometown and staying
with her parents. I had a lot of fun visiting everyone, giving lucky money, saving lucky money, eating lots of good food, and of course learning more Vietnamese!
