issue 19// vol 47

life & style // no. 15

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» The Year of the Ox is just around the corner!

Udeshi Seneviratne
Staff Illustrator

 

ebruary 12 marks the Year of the Ox and a new

beginning for 2021. Ever since migrating from
Vietnam for school, I have sadly missed a lot of Lunar
New Year (Tét) celebrations. Despite that, I always feel
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approach the occasion.

As a reminder to myself, | wanted to list a few
traditions that make me love Tét that could also provide
you with a mini glimpse into how we celebrate the New
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The food is primarily why (if Iam completely
honest)

New Year’s is my excuse to indulge in special delicacies
and sneakily convince my mom to make the most
time-consuming dishes. A dish that takes over six
hours to make and only gets better the more hours you
let it marinate is the egg and pork stew. This dish is
usually eaten year-round but tends to be made for the
Lunar New Year or events that require offerings to your
ancestors. Special cakes are also made during Tét, called
Banh Chung and Banh Teét. These are traditional rice
cakes that can take days to finish and are beautifully

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complete the flavourful dishes.

Little bursts of flavour, dried sweets

As someone with a sweet tooth, I adore the candied
fruits this occasion brings. Traditionally, each house you
visit during New Yeat’s will have an intricately decorated
platter of candied or dried fruits. Basically, any fruit you
can think of can be dried and added to this platter. How
marvelous is that? The best ones in my opinion are dried
coconut and candied soursop. The tiny treats displayed
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if you also enjoy them!

Gorgeous flower displays

Flowers are a HUGE deal for New Year's. Yearly, there is a
whole walking strip located in the city centre dedicated
to putting flowers in meticulously vibrant sculptures

for our viewing. I still have embarrassing pictures of my
younger self taken on this road, as the whole city pours
to the strip for their annual family photo shoot. Flowers
are also important to have in homes. I miss going with
my parents to the flower markets a few days before the
New Year to bring home these yellow little bloomers
called Ochna Integerrima (Hoa mai) home. It is believed

to be auspicious and lucky to have your tree bloom
yellow on New Year’s Day.

Mirra side ma pelea

Lunar New Year is considered the time for family and
rest. This is the time to visit your loved ones or friends
you have not seen in years. New Year's is the best
felqe-tsles Tm Reee mK RON ae Cem VIER dato om (elt rei cm Deu Tet=4
our holidays, we would get together with all of our
cousins to play card games, board games, or walk around
the neighbourhood and receive lucky money, which is
saa rlocm Omen myn mele wham

Free money!

Lucky money (or li xi) is given to kids by adults you visit
and “wish.” Generally, you will have a script ready for
what you will be “wishing” people for in the new year,
and once you recite your script in the cutest manner,
you get a red envelope of MONEY! While it made every
child giddy to receive money on the day, today most
Vietnamese in their twenties do not know where their
accumulated funds have gone. Ask anyone and they will
tell you the same, I promise.

Due to the pandemic, our Tét will be a little different this
year. However, I look forward to celebrating this glorious
holiday with my family again!

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