Vietnamese Tết Lunar New Year

I thought I would share my understanding of the Vietnamese Tết Lunar New Year from when we lived in Hanoi.

This year, 2023, Vietnam will be celebrating the year of the Cat. Even though China celebrates the new year on the same day, they have different traditions, and, in some years, the zodiac animals may differ. This year they will honor the year of the Rabbit.

The weeks leading up to Tết is an exceedingly busy time for the families as they prepare for the big day. But, the last week of the year, the excitement levels kick into another gear. On the 23rd of the 12th month of the lunar calendar, I witnessed countless people carrying clear plastic bags packed full of paper gifts, leaving their homes, and heading to the communal furnace outside each apartment block and burning it up. Why?

I asked my friend, and he told me his version of the Vietnamese festivities of bringing in the new lunar new year, also known as Tết Nguyên Đán. Tết traditionally starts building up on 23/12/2022 of the lunar calendar, precisely one week before the Lunar New Year’s Eve.

The week starts with families buying three goldfish (golden carp), usually found on every street corner or the back of motorbikes, as vendors drive along the streets selling to passersby needing fish to offer. They also head to their local paper merchant to purchase unique paper gifts.
We walked along the famous Hang Ma Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Where the locals buy anything from paper cell phones to shoes, designer handbags to iPads, and even washing machines, cars, houses, motorbikes, baths, and money, anything you can imagine but in the paper. Whatever they choose to buy, it’s all to be used as an offering to the Kitchen King known as Ong Tao. The residents burn incense in their homes, say prayers, and then leave offerings on their in-house altar before heading out with their paper gifts to burn their offerings in their nearest furnace in the hopes they will have good luck and prosperity in the new year. After they have burnt their offering, they take their three fish and release them into the nearest pond or river for the Kitchen God.

The story I have been told is that the Kitchen God goes to heaven riding on the carp, but not an ordinary carp, a special golden carp that can turn into a dragon. He goes to heaven to discuss each family’s situation with the Jade Emperor – The King of Heaven.

I had always wondered why I saw an enormous number of goldfish swimming around the lakes and rivers. It always seemed odd seeing the pop of orange as I would expect to see the common dull camouflaged version. Now I know why.

Vietnamese families prepare their houses for the coming new year by spring cleaning and polishing silver removing all the bad luck from the current year and being ready for a fresh start. They decorate their homes with kumquat trees, peach blossoms, chrysanthemums, and red gladiolas. They hold family meetings to resolve family feuds, ensuring the new year starts peacefully.

The main New Year’s Eve celebration will take place this year on Saturday, 21.01.2023. The families will attend festivals and watch the lion dancers perform. The lion symbolizes the removal of negative energies, as the lion is believed to bring good luck, health, and prosperity. They gift children with beautifully decorated envelopes filled with money. It’s called Lucky money, “lì-xì,” meaning gifts for good luck in the coming year. The money is given on the eve of the new year and can only be opened on New Year’s day. Then they celebrate as a family and watch fireworks displays.

Everything shuts down in the city for more than a week. It’s odd to see the bustling city become a ghost town with limited shops and restaurants open. After our first year, I learned I needed to stock up our fridge and cupboards with at least two weeks of food and drinking water to ensure we were not left with only rice to eat. It takes suppliers time to get back to work and restock the shops and return to normal.

Signing off Chúc Mừng Năm Mới on the 22 January 2023 ( Happy New Year’s Day)

#Vietnam – Lockdown July 2021

As the world continues battling massive outbreaks and new COVID 19 waves, Vietnam has had its first real struggle on containing the disease. They have put up an enormous fight to keep the numbers low, but it has been challenging, sending most parts of the country into total lockdown.

Sigh, thanks to the new lockdown rules, I was forced to cancel our upcoming social distance holiday. What do I mean by a social distance holiday? I rented a private villa with a private pool situated on the riverfront for hubby to fish away from others. We planned to take our food and drink, ensuring we did not have to go near other people or leave the villa for the duration of our stay. I even booked a private car from our ‘Eco Bubble’ where we haven’t had a Covid case. It seemed like a responsible holiday plan. Anyway, now we can’t travel between provinces and districts, resulting in another holiday cancellation. I am going to call it #covidholidaycancellationisthenewnorm. No point fighting it. All we need to do is buckle down and wait it out patiently.

I can’t say life has been any more interesting when we weren’t in total lockdown. Daily life has remained irritatingly dull and tedious, but at least comfortably safe in our little ‘Eco Bubble’ since the start of the pandemic. We always had the option to venture out if and when we chose. This new wave has been very different in that we are forced to stay indoors. Unfortunately, this time we can’t go anywhere due to stringent rules, blockades, permit paper requirements, and negative covid tests that make it virtually impossible to move between towns, cities and provinces.

Usually, I would rely on online shopping to acquire everything I could not source in my 1km radius. Quick instant online order and prompt delivery from Hanoi was undoubtedly a fast, efficient and painless way to shop. This option certainly made my life easier, having everything at my fingertips. It seems pointless driving around to the different shops and malls. If I can order online within a second, saving time and energy not having to rush between shops. Unfortunately, this time I can’t order anything due to the blockades, making it virtually impossible for the delivery companies to enter Eco Park.

Now, with nothing to do, I have to wait for my vaccine patiently. You can agree or agree to disagree and have your opinion on the jab, and perhaps the pandemic is a hoax or a conspiracy theory. Still, whatever you believe it is, Covid is not going anywhere. I can only hope the majority of the community complies and accepts the injection for the world to finally reach herd immunity and grasp back the lives we seem to have lost, no matter where we are in the world. Everyone is still feeling the effects and frustrations. I have placed my name on the waiting list, but it just doesn’t seem like I’m any closer to getting my injection. I guess I have a fairytale notion of what worldwide vaccination could mean for all of us. I hope it would mean we can finally be free again? Free to travel any which way, free to walk in the fresh air maskless, and freedom to have our lives return to normal. I know it seems like an unattainable dream at the moment, as many people are refusing the vaccine. It is a silly idea believing a vaccine could eventually lead us back to our beloved way of life!

I guess only time will tell how long it will take to reach normality. Perhaps we must accept and ultimately evolve and embrace the new normal with all the restrictions, partial or complete lockdowns that intermittently happen during the new #covid-19era for a few more years.

Stay safe, till next time, take care!

#Vietnam – MBI Sharing Electric Scooter

I finally mustered up the courage and tested out Ecoparks new addition of the MBI Sharing electric scooter. I know it must seem odd why I would need to muster up the courage to ride a scooter. Well, many years ago, hubby purchased a moped for me to navigate easily around Marbella. As good as the idea was, I did not realise how heavy and scary it would be riding alongside cars zooming past me. I felt unsafe and definitely preferred driving on four wheels or riding my feisty four-legged mare. The moped lasted a week before I convinced hubby to return it after a mini accident. I realised it was not for me.

The MBI Sharing scooter is an innovative concept for a convenient mode of public transport. A solo ride to socially distance while still navigating around the large community without having to purchase a bike and reduce unnecessary fumes into the atmosphere. A win-win! Fit’s perfectly into Ecoparks ethos of being a GREEN community.

To start, all I needed to do was download the MBI sharing App from the Google play store, then create an account. Once the account was open, I topped up my credit using my local Vietnamese visa card. Super easy!

Yay, I was ready to hire my bike! I looked at the map on my app to find the nearest station with available bikes. On arriving at the station, I scanned the bike QR code and unlocked my ride. MBI bike was easy to use, lightweight and straightforward. I made a trip around Aquabay and parked at my closest MBI parking space. Once parked, I return the bike on my app. The app then calculated my rental time and charged my account accordingly.

How cool would this concept be at most tourist hotspots? This fun, the easy ride could add another exciting element to one’s visit and help tourists navigate quickly to each attraction, reducing time wasted on foot but still keeping pollution levels down. They could even add a group tour ride with a guide, so no one misses a beat! #futureoftourism