Chris Azure (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} garunya) wrote,@ 2009-01-26 01:57:00 |
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First Day of the Year
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới everyone! Or, if you prefer, 恭喜發財!
It's been another busy month, even though very little of it has involved work. It's been a fun one though.
Saw in the western New Year on the streets of Saigon, a big street party where snow spray canisters featured heavily. Then the next day we went off to Singapore for a few days. Singapore probably deserves a post of its own, which I'll do as soon as I get around to updating my photos. (Photos of the New Year celebration are already up here, however.)
After that it was one more week of work, and various end-of-year celebrations, including a little dinner party at my apartment (Nhu's cooking is amazing, and this was the first time she'd cooked for more than a couple of people before), and singing Radiohead live at a local pub's new live music night (which got a fair bit of applause.) Karaoke was also enjoyed, of course.
Lately it's all been the lead-up to Tết, which I've just seen in with Nhu's family. Lots of fun too, but on the days prior to the event, everyone starts acting crazy, especially while driving - doesn't matter whether the streets are crowded or quiet, you have to watch out at this time of year.
This is the first time I've been here during Tết, and it's really felt like the lunar celebration is the real end to the year. Never really felt that way in Hong Kong, despite my stepmother being Chinese, mainly because I didn't really bother to get involved, but here it's difficult not to get swept up in the New Year feeling, and it's certainly been rewarding to do so.
The celebration itself was lots of fun too, mostly involving lots of eating and drinking, and some playing games. Brought over a friend from work who had also been sticking around in Saigon for the holiday, and he seemed to enjoy it too. At midnight, I embarked upon a drive to a temple in District 5 at midnight with Nhu and her brother to pick up some extra large incense and cheer in the new year with some relatives. The combination of Monkey (Nhu), Dragon (me), and Rat (her brother) is an auspicious one, so hopefully we brought in the luck that everyone deserves.Back home now, and it's quiet, but there's a lot more activity than usual for this time of night. Tomorrow there's more stuff to do, I believe, but we'll get to that soon enough...
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới everyone! Or, if you prefer, 恭喜發財!
It's been another busy month, even though very little of it has involved work. It's been a fun one though.
Saw in the western New Year on the streets of Saigon, a big street party where snow spray canisters featured heavily. Then the next day we went off to Singapore for a few days. Singapore probably deserves a post of its own, which I'll do as soon as I get around to updating my photos. (Photos of the New Year celebration are already up here, however.)
After that it was one more week of work, and various end-of-year celebrations, including a little dinner party at my apartment (Nhu's cooking is amazing, and this was the first time she'd cooked for more than a couple of people before), and singing Radiohead live at a local pub's new live music night (which got a fair bit of applause.) Karaoke was also enjoyed, of course.
Lately it's all been the lead-up to Tết, which I've just seen in with Nhu's family. Lots of fun too, but on the days prior to the event, everyone starts acting crazy, especially while driving - doesn't matter whether the streets are crowded or quiet, you have to watch out at this time of year.
This is the first time I've been here during Tết, and it's really felt like the lunar celebration is the real end to the year. Never really felt that way in Hong Kong, despite my stepmother being Chinese, mainly because I didn't really bother to get involved, but here it's difficult not to get swept up in the New Year feeling, and it's certainly been rewarding to do so.
The celebration itself was lots of fun too, mostly involving lots of eating and drinking, and some playing games. Brought over a friend from work who had also been sticking around in Saigon for the holiday, and he seemed to enjoy it too. At midnight, I embarked upon a drive to a temple in District 5 at midnight with Nhu and her brother to pick up some extra large incense and cheer in the new year with some relatives. The combination of Monkey (Nhu), Dragon (me), and Rat (her brother) is an auspicious one, so hopefully we brought in the luck that everyone deserves.Back home now, and it's quiet, but there's a lot more activity than usual for this time of night. Tomorrow there's more stuff to do, I believe, but we'll get to that soon enough...
