Chuc Mung Nam Moi!  Happy New Year! It is new year's day in the lunar new year - the year of the Ox.  The TET holiday is wonderful.  It has been fun and really interesting to see and learn about a holiday so different from any of our own.  Having another week off of school doesn't hurt either.

     So Tet has been described to me as many of our holidays rolled into one - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years... It is a time of true celebration and time with family.  Today, at the end of New Year's Eve and preparations for Tet, you could walk down the middle of the street for five minutes and not have to move.  The streets are deserted!  Everyone had returned to the countryside or is home with family.  We have had to prepare for even all of the grocery stores closing for three days. People are especially happy and smiley, and moving a little more easily amidst the city chaos that is a part of our lives every day. In many ways, it is a very lovely holiday.

     Gifts are exchanged for Tet.  People give each other flowers (more about them in a bit) produce, baskets of food, and "lucky money" in special little red envelopes.  That's about it.  It is so practical and makes sense.  Workers are allowed Tet bonuses by law. We gave  our cleaning lady an additional months salary, which is standard fare.  

     The big flower market in Phu My Hung was actually right behind our building.  (Photos to follow.)  This was a good thing during the day, but loud at night.  (We smiled at each other last night at the silence of it.)

    The flowers in all of the flower markets are breathtakingly beautiful.

     Maeve learned to wish everyone a happy new year in Vietnamese.  That has been a big hit.  She also got to celebrate International Day at school.  We came prepared with Walmart bandanas and socks and a 4th of July dress.

 Here's Maeve in the parade of Americans.  : )

It was so fun to see all of the kids in their traditional country dress after seeing them in uniforms every day.  They all looked so different.  I laid eyes on clothing I had never laid eyes on before in my life!  (Like traditional Philipino shirts and outfits from Malaysia).  OK, the confession is that we did not really have international day as a middle school, so I snuck my math students out to watch the "parade of nations".  The whole international day idea is something I was really looking forward to and couldn't resist.

     Little American posers at International Day.  It was really fun to sample all of the foods from different countries.  One bite from the food at the Japanese table sent me whooshing back to high school and my stay in Japan.

    The flower market near our house was impressive.  Here are dragon fruit plants.

Here we are setting out to check out the flower market after school one evening. We dined on Vietnamese spring rolls and cotton candy.

It is the year of the ox, so you see statues of them everywhere.  It was fun to go in here, the deserted amusement park directly behind our apartment.  They used the space for the flower market and accompanying diversions, but did not use the ferris wheel, etc.  (Looking at the state of them, I'm not sure they could ever be used again.)  

     We saw water puppets here, like the ones that we saw at the history museum.  (I think it may have been the same troupe.)  Yes, they are puppets that are in water.  This one is my favorite.

A cool picture of the troupe as they take their bows, in water, at the end.

A twilight view of the market behind our apartment.

    We also headed downtown for the Tet decorations and flower markets there.  They were impressive!  I also noticed how uncommercial they were.  Huge main thoroughfares shut down and mostly decorations of flowers, plants, statues, and other "arrangements" were everywhere.  There were a few drink and ice cream vendors, but not the miles of chatchkas and stupid souvenirs you would have seen in the US at something like this.  Charles reminded me that it was probably all carefully groomed and chosen by the government.  Pepsico Vietnam was involved.

    Maeve and pineapple plants...

   The downtown flower market.  Flowers as far as the eye can see...  The air glowed yellow.

More downtown decorations.

I have never seen such orchids in my life.

This was one of my favorite downtown decorations - hugh yellow flowers suspended above the main thoroughfare in a giant net.

These plants look right out of a Dr. Suess book and make me nervous for some reason.  (???)

Dragon fruit plants and sunflowers at the downtown flower market.

     So one of the amazing things is that people come to the flower markets and buy these huge,  gorgeous plants. There were very few cut flowers at all.  There were some smaller pepper plants and cacti, but most of the plants are quite substantial.  Then, of course, people need to get the plants home....on scooters of course!  Here is a couple with their four hugh plants, venturing home for a happy Tet.

     Christmas decorations shared space with Maeve's Tet contributions.  

Small paper lanterns we bought at the flower market.

These yellow flowers are EVERYWHERE, including the girls beds.

    I went to our school's version of a New Year's party at colleagues' very cool rooftop apartment in the next building.  It was fun to sit on the outside patio in the cool breeze (by my standards - I had a tank top on still) and welcome in the new lunar year.

     Grandma and Aunt Jen's Christmas Packages made it just in time for Tet! Who says you can't have another Christmas tree?  (Especially a magic crystal Christmas Tree. Thanks, you guys.)

      Thanks to Diana Butcavage who sent her Christmas card that made it here, no problem!  Basically the rule of thumb seems to be about two to three months for packages to arrive.  Thanks to Diana, I now know that regular letters and cards only seem to take about 10 days to two weeks.  Good to know, especially if you were thinking about sending us a letter or card.  (Not so subliminal, eh?)

     Chuc Mung Nam Moi to you!  We hope you are well and can find a little of the flowers, peace, warmth, and joy, maybe even lucky money of the Tet holiday in your life this week.  Don't be a stranger.

Holidays

     We have returned from our journeys!  Yes, a little early.  We had some wonderful family time,  certain adventures, and learned oodles about ourselves and traveling as a family.  I am so proud of the girls - they are getting so much older and were great travelers, not always in the most comfortable of circumstances.  

     Paradise Resort was a little bit cabin, a little bit camp.  The older French guy who runs the place with his Vietnamese wife is quite a character - very welcoming and charming.  He had a little bit of Grandma Riley in him and looked more like my dad than anyone else we have seen in Vietnam.  The girls ran to embrace him. It was funny.

   The view from our bungalow at Paradise Resort.

   Lesson #1:  The Waughs have decided that we are a flying family.  

The train ride to Nha Trang was an adventure indeed.  Packed to the gills with locals, the train car that reminded me more of New Jersey transit than Amtrak provided a long ride. We were told that we did not need to buy a ticket for Sophie so Charles and I juggled her on our  laps for seven hours.  Don't ask about the bathrooms- let's just say that Sophie mastered a pretty awesome stand on the toilet and squat.

   Lesson #2:  Buy a seat for Sophie.

    When we arrived in Nha Trang, there was not a car to meet us.  (Never did quite figure out what happened there.)  It was pouring buckets and my friend had explained how dangerous and far the trip was.  We decided to not risk it, and stayed in Nha Trang for the night.  Good choice.

    The next morning we set out for Doc Lech beach.  A long but very cool taxi ride.  It was wonderful to get out into the countryside and away from the din of HCMC.  We enjoyed the beach, the amazing shells.  

     Meals were fun - family style as we met people from around the world.  I especially enjoyed talking with a young Dutch couple traveling throughout Vietnam.  A pair of women were there from Finland and staying 10 days!  I felt badly for them.  They hadn't yet seen the sun when we arrived and it was what they were counting on most.

    Maeve loved swimming with her dad in the waves most:

What is your favorite part at the beach?  I asked her on paper.  Playing in the waves.

     

 Here's an intimate glimpse of Charles' and my laying in bed conversation...

     "You know honey, I used to lead two week trips in the middle of nowhere and not be phased at all by lack of clean water, not showering, and sleeping on the ground.  I think I am getting a little soft.  I want a hot shower, fluffy towels, and clean sheets."

     "Yep. You're getting soft."

     " And the beach would be gorgeous and wonderful if it were not for the trash, cow poo, and sharp shards of glass."

     "Oh, now you are just being a snob."

     Needless to say, with the chilly weather, and the feeling that any moment someone was going to get gashed, we headed back to Nha Trang on the third day.  Did I mention that we never had enough toilet paper at any point on our trip?

     Lesson #3:  Julie Waugh had now surpassed the time of great joy from roughing it and  adventure trips. 

Maeve and Charles share a spot of tea on our porch.  Although 70 degrees and cloudy was not the best beach weather, it was glorious after our life in sweaty Saigon.  We all actually donned long sleeves.

Some of Sophie's treasure from the beach were leftover Styrofoam floats from the fishermen at the local village.

The beach is breathtakingly beautiful, even on a cloudy day.

Maeve and Sophie loved jumping the ferocious waves in the South China Sea.

Sophie spent extensive time making sand creations.

The shells were abundant and incredible.  Many were unlike any I have ever seen, and I have never seen so many in one place in my life.  We have beautiful collection of them at home.

Sophie especially likes the coral pieces.

A local fisherman in a traditional Vietnamese basket boat.

A tropical storm in the Philippines made the ocean very rough.  Maeve did enjoy her first lessons from her dad about wave surfing and riding.  Sophie had a chance too, but did not last as long.  They were the roughest waves I had ever been in!

Coconuts right outside our bungalow.  

     After three days at Doc Lech, we went back to civilization and treated ourselves to a nicer hotel room for one night.  Nha Trang is a huge tourist destination in Vietnam with beautiful beaches right downtown.  We enjoyed the restaurant Louisianne, with western style food,  a pool, and beach side umbrellas and lounge chairs. It felt a little like Grandma Sundberg's Ocean Club. We ate there more than once.

     We ventured on cable cars over the ocean to Vinpearl resort - a very upscale resort but also aquarium, and small amusement park.  A couple of hours of good ol' tourist fun.  The cable car trip alone was awesome.  We enjoyed the family car bumper car session too.  The place was empty because it had rained all morning and was "chilly".  It was our best spur of the moment decision on the trip.

     

The view from our hotel room in Nha Trang.

Nha Trang rainbow.

The very cool aquarium on Vinpearl resort.  It had one of those moving conveyor belts that went through a large tank.  We got to see rays, sharks, and huge sea turtles up close.

Maeve the climber, at the Vinpearl kids play place.

View from the world's longest cable car ride over ocean.  This was a cool part of our trip.

     After unsuccessfully trying to secure plane tickets back to Saigon for us (It is a big travel season as we near Tet, the Lunar New Year and Vietnam's largest holiday.), we settled for the blue train.  It was much nicer and cleaner.  Maeve and Sophie loved the novelty of sleeping on the top bunk of the train.  That was until Maeve felt "trainsick" and had a hard time.  It would have been fine if I could have slept at all on a moving train.  Coming home to our own beds was a treat.

     Lesson #4:  The Waughs have decided that they are a flying family.

Top bunks on the improved train ride on the "blue train".

     In all, we had some good times. Cool weather, quiet and ocean, seeing new places. Was it the incredibly relaxing getaway I longed for?  Sorry.  But we are learning that living in a foreign country is often like that.  You are never quite sure what you are going to get.  We did get a good sense of what travel in Vietnam is like, and will make smarter decisions about our next trip.  (Flying within the country, for example, is not that expensive and we could probably budget for it.)

     We were also incredibly proud of the girls and what good travelers they are becoming.  If we were moving, be it train, taxi, or cable car, they were pretty happy.  We will work on their picky eating habits which provide a travel challenge. (And life challenge!)

      Tomorrow morning we head to the known fun place Dem Sen water park for a  last yahoo before we go back to routine on Monday.

     Happy New Year! One of my resolutions is to write more and keep up with this blog. Tan biet for now....