This is How I Spent My Tet Holiday!

I've never realized or quite understood the importance of the Tet Holiday (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) while living in the States. However, I was able to witness first-hand the impact of this special holiday on the whole country. I rarely celebrated Tet in the US while in Ohio and while in Cali, only did so on the 1st of the Lunar New Year. I was fortunate enough that my company gave us 11 paid days off for Tet, which was this past Saturday, February 17th!

I started my Tet celebration by taking a 2 hour motorbike ride to the deep countryside last Wednesday, Feb. 14th, after work. I was headed to my Aunt's (Dad's oldest sister) house in Long Khanh. She's the oldest on my Dad's side and the only female sibling. She has been a widow for 20 or 25 years (my memory is failing me) and has 7 living children (2 have passed away). Between my Aunt's 7 kids, she has 16 grandkids. Those 16 are from only 5 kids, as one of my cousins is a Priest and another is bedridden due to a stroke years ago (more of a testament to how strong my aunt has been all these years!). We were there to celebrate Tet but also there to acknowledge the anniversary of my Uncle's passing. Here's pretty much how I spent my two days there:

Wednesday night: Ate a ton of food:


Thursday: Biked almost 20 Kilometers to my cousin's house (burnt off all those needed calories) to see his fish and shrimp farm, sugar cane and banana trees. At night we ate another huge Tet meal and then gambled (a traditional thing to do during Tet)! We played "Lotto" which is very similar to Bingo. I won the first game but was shut out the rest of the night.
Friday: Woke up at 4am to attend Mass! Attending the last service for the year is just as important as the first service for the year. Shortly after eating breakfast, I hopped on a bus for my trip back to my Grandparents house for Tet, which was on Saturday.

On Friday night, my aunts, uncles, and cousins stayed up to bring in the New Year at 12 Midnight. We brought in the New Year first by praying and then everyone (starting from youngest to oldest) began to wish and greet the eldest a Happy New Year. It was quite informal yet still very formal in the way it was done. Here's an example of a Happy New Year greeting; "Mom/Dad, I wish you a happy and successful New Year...If I have done anything to displease you in the previous year, please forgive me as I will do my best to be a good son/daughter to you in the New Year." After the greetings we hit the sack.

Pic of my cousin wishing my Grandfather a Happy New Year:


Saturday: Woke up early to attend the first Mass of the year, however luckily this service was at 8am, definitely more manageable than 4am! At about 11am the older people handed out red envelopes w/ lucky money in it to the younger/single people! After that we had a New Year's Feast with over 50 family members!

Good Eats!


Great Peeps!


At night I headed to the Airport in Saigon to pick up my friends who were coming to Vietnam for the first time. Lee, Linda and Neil sure picked an excellent time to visit and to experience the Country. Over the next 5 days and 4 nights, all of us (including my two cousins, Ly and Lan) toured the following 3 cities in Vietnam: Da Nang, Hoi An, and Hue.

We didn't do too much site seeing in Da Nang, as we only stayed overnight there. Hoi An was special because it is a very old city, also known as the Lantern City. We visited places such as My Son Holy City, the Japanese Bridge Pagoda, Phuoc Kien House, the Ngu Hanh Son or better known as the Marble Mountain. Hue was especially nice because we were able to see all of the old Vietnamese Emperor's palaces and "Forbidden City". We also got to dress up in traditional Emperor's wardrobe! Another special attraction was visiting the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in La Vang or Duc Me La Vang, which is well over 200 years old with unlimitless flowing bins of Holy Water!

Beginning our Tour in Da Nang:


Lee, Neil, and I at Marble Mountain and some future Ohio Sigma Lions:


At the top of Hai Van Pass w/ my cousin Lan:


My subjects, in my Kingdom!


Although my friends thoroughly enjoyed themselves on the tour, I believe the icing on the cake for them was visiting my distant-distant cousin's fish farm on Friday. He's a distant cousin as follows: His Great-Grandfather and my Great-Grandfather are first cousins! At any rate, we took about a 40-minute car ride to the river where my cousin has a houseboat with a fish farm. When we got there he showed us the fish that live under his boathouse and proceeded to fetch us fresh fish by jumping into the river (under his boat) with a fish net. While his family prepared the meal he then took us on a boat ride up the Dong Nai River -- what a spectacular site! Afterwards, we delighted our taste buds w/ freshly marinated and steamed fish spring rolls! MMMM!

My cousins getting ready to dive in to catch some fish!



Boating along the Dong Nai River w/ Lee, Linda, Neil, and my cousin Khanh:


Later that Friday night, we returned to my Grandparents house for Lee, Linda, and Neil's last family dinner in Vietnam before departing back to Ohio and Hong Kong. It was another tasty dinner that capped off a fantastic week of bringing in the New Year with my family and good friends!

My Family along w/ Lee, Linda, and Neil...End of a great Tet Holiday!


Chuc Mung Nam Moi! HAPPY NEW YEAR!