Happy New Year 2019 (Western New Year and Lunar New Year)

Hello 2019.  What a great year!  Just thinking of 2019 makes me so excited to write about it. So much traveling and I can hardly believe it's the end of 2020 and I'm writing about January 2019.

So with the Lunar New Year and the 2 weeks long celebration, the Western New Year looks like it is not celebrated very much at all.  They gave a very pretty firework show but seriously compared to the Lunar New Year 2 weeks long celebration the Western New Year needs a bit more happening to make it feel real! We gave everyone a little Western New Year celebration.  We made New Year hats and had food at our house and stayed up until midnight.  My family said finally for the first time they know how the Western New Year was celebrated.

One of our favorite American things to do is bowling in Vietnam.  It's so inexpensive compared to the US.  Like $5 per game.

 

The picture above is of a tamarind tree...a childhood memory of mine is climbing up a tamarind tree and getting those sweet and sour fruits (my mouth is salivating as I'm reminiscing) down to eat.  I don't dare climb them now, especially not in a dress.

The new year also brought on a pretty bad flood.  I don't know how these people make it from year to year with all the typhoons Vietnam gets.  We had a pretty good drainage system in our expat community but outside of our area there were a few areas that were pretty bad.

One warm day we decided to take a Grab (like an Uber) all the way to the top of the Son Tra mountain in Da Nang with my cousin Thuy.  We wore shorts and had no jacket and when we were on the top of the mountain with the wind chill factor we regretted our decision of not bringing a long sleeve shirt or jacket.  We were so cold.  What a view it was though and so beautifully ready for tourism!

We could see the city's skyline from the top of the mountain.  It was a beautiful way to see the sunset

 

 

When we first arrived in Vietnam one of my favorite things to do was to walk through, not the modern malls, but the markets.  The moment I walked into an open market in Vietnam and saw the rows of tailors sitting around waiting for work, I decided to start up a business.  I called it TailorMeMine.  Basically I take measurements, design, and make it come to life.  Conveniently next to these tailors are fabric stalls where you could pick the fabric pattern as well.  I was able to help a few friends and also my sisters designed and made some dresses and suits.  Labor was incredibly inexpensive; I always tip them a little more.  Pictures above are just some of the examples of dresses from TailorMeMine's shop.

What I missed most about Vietnam was going to the beach in January!  What a dream that was!

We loved being in the countryside as well.  Only a 2 hour drive away from the city where we were.  Every time we are there it makes me miss my grandma so very much.  Below is her grave.

My cousin's little boy is so adorable.  They call him Gift

Another thing we missed a lot was visiting the orphanage and playing with the kids there.  It was hard thinking about returning home.  I missed my home, my cars, my luxury, but I also feel like a big fish in Vietnam.  Everything we did was a novelty to the people and everything sparked a smile.  I remember bringing them some fresh milk and they thought it was amazing!  Most of those kids have only drunk shelf milk.  We brought more the next time and gifted my ukulele after seeing how much they loved it when I played it.  Such sweet kids. 

My aunt said you're going to miss your little garden and sure enough here I am thinking wow that little garden was pretty cute!

 

End of January meant Lunar New Year was coming!  The school I taught at asked me to sing and run the show since it's my last year.  It was cute and fun.  We had Dan and the kids play songs as well.  They showered us with gifts and made us feel so important and loved.

The Lunar New Year also meant I got to see my parents again.  They flew in from America with 2 suitcases of cereal for us!  Yes cereal! Cereal because it was so expensive in Vietnam. A box of cereal averages about $5 each and my parents were able to get them in the States for $1.99 each.  We were so grateful! True love right there!  Not to mention Fererro Rocher...dozens of it@@My fav!

 

The most famous person in our family in Vietnam was probably Dan.  Did I mention yet that he did not want to go back to America?!  He walks on the street of the countryside and kids follow him and want a picture.  My parents brought him his present (a 360 camera) and he tested it out here with these kids.

If it isn't for the lack of a nice warm shower I could spend all of my time in the countryside.  Fresh fruits I get to pick from the garden.  The warmth of the people and tons and tons of families.  Below is my aunt (my dad's sister Co Nam) making fresh noodles for us.

This was one of the fun things kids in the countryside do.  I remember this carriage ride:)  It was so fun to see my kids playing with it.  It's a leaf that has fallen off of a palm like tree.  Cay cau.

Imagine walking these rice fields as a soldier and then all of a sudden you get a different feeling.  Grateful for peace...

These were the rice fields my mom worked on once upon a time.  Brings back memories for her even more than for me.