On the 23rd day of the 12th month of the Vietnamese lunar calendar (4 days ago on 26 January), the Vietnamese prayed to the Kitchen God (Ông Táo) with offerings of sugarcanes, fruits and chicken, so that he can ascend to the heavens and make a favourable report of the family when he meets the Jade Emperor. Some of the prayer items are shown below:
 Prayer Chicken |  Mandarin Oranges |
Due to the unforgiving cold weather, the peach blossoms (hoa đào) have suffered. (Read 'Cold ruins peach blossom harvest' here). So I can show you the rather unspectacular sight of a rather bald pink peach blossom tree. Apologies for the fuzzy image of the hoa đào flower up close, but you may be just able to make out how it looks from the flowers in the background of the picture on the right.
 Pink peach blossom (hoa đào) tree |  Close-up view of hoa đào |
The Vietnamese government has declared that the period from 31 January to 7 February 2011 will be official holidays for Tết. Tết falls on 3 February, and coincides with the Chinese Lunar New Year this year.
Already the Vietnamese people are returning in droves to their home towns, leading to massive traffic jams everywhere. You can see motorcyclists with all kinds of bulky items on their bikes - pots of kumquat, hoa đào, large boxes, etc. Everyone is going back home to attend the important reunion dinner on the eve of Tết.
If you are travelling to Vietnam during this time, be prepared to pay expensive prices for food in upmarket restaurants. Most shops will be closed during this time. For 31st January and 1st February, banks will also keep some of the branches open for basic transactions.
Our next destinations will be Malaysia and Singapore. So stay tuned.
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