Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Tet VN 2009- Vietnamese New Year 2009. Chuc Mung Nam Moi- Happy New Year

Photobucket



Tet in Vietnam celebrates the lunar new year. Early in the morning Thao and I go out shopping

for Tet...







Photobucket



So many beautiful flowers for sale on every street.







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket



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! :)







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket



We bought some of these long red flowers, which opened perfectly for the new year.





Photobucket



Many kinds of vases for sale, to put on the family altar.







Photobucket



2009 is the year of the Ox.







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket







Photobucket



The peach tree with pink blossoms is the most recognized symbol of Tet.







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket



Look so nice.







Photobucket





Lottt of rubbish in Tet days. Here you can see a tree that was thrown away, because it bloomed too early before Tet!







Photobucket



The small orange tree is the other famous "Tetmas Tree"

Just make sure you do not eat the oranges, they are soooo sour!!







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket



Lady is selling live chickens. Thao wanted to buy one but she was afraid of killing it.







Photobucket



Many kinds of dried fruit







Photobucket



This is one of the fruits that make up the typical altar display during Tet.







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket



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.







Photobucket



Many families fly the Vietnam flag during Tet. Oopps something wrong, Cheo or Treo ?:)







Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket





Photobucket



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.







Photobucket



So, finally we got everything for Tet altar that every family does. Pink tree, green banana, big yellow fruit, orange, cake, wine....







Photobucket



Ok, celebrate Vietnamese New Year and Xmas :)







Photobucket



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!







Photobucket



The red flowers that we bought, and a Tetmas Tree with some lucky money.







Photobucket



We also brought this orange tree... As you can image, the taxi on the way to the house was

very full!







Photobucket



Nephew in new suit that we bought him. He looks so cute.







Photobucket



Wow, baby gangster :))







Photobucket



Bring "Pink friend" come too;))







Photobucket



The family altar decorated for Tet







Photobucket



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.







Photobucket



Thao's dad, niece (from sister #2) and nephew (from sister #4).







Photobucket



Thao's Mum and nephew.







Photobucket





Photobucket





Neighbor lil boy.







Photobucket



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!!!







Photobucket





Photobucket





A big breakfast that Thao made.







Photobucket



Visiting the newborn niece, with her big sister "Chi Chip"







Photobucket



Sleeping child.







Photobucket





Thao gets some practice...







Photobucket



The Tet Twins







Photobucket





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...







Photobucket





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.







Photobucket



The sticky rice cakes taste great when they are fried, good for breakfast.







Photobucket





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!







Photobucket



Visiting Thao's uncle with Tet gifts. I look like one of the cows!







Photobucket





Beans in the garden.







Photobucket



Big Pig House :)







Photobucket



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.





Photobucket



I played some volleyball the day before, but today I could only practice because of the

championship games.







Photobucket





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!



.