CNY decorations in Hanoi

I absolutely love this time of the year (although with each passing year the excitement seems to have wand a little). I could feel the festivity of the season, weeks before CNY because there’s rows of stalls set up selling mandarin oranges, flowers and other CNY stuffs at Kepong. Red lanterns are everywhere. *very ang and very ong! Traffic jam also everywhere coz people just always do shopping the last minutes. I for one love to go so supermarkets the last few days before CNY just to get the ‘duk duk qiang’ feel :P.

Real peach blossom for sale

I can’t even forget about CNY when i was in Hanoi. You see, they are also celebrating CNY but they call it Tets Festival and trust me their celebration is no less grand or auspicious than ours. Streets were lively, jam packed with people purchasing new clothes and groceries for preparations. The beautiful flower market caught my eyes. Lovely colourful fresh picked flowers were for sale. Locals buzzing here and there, picking out the perfect kumquat tree, pussy willow and peach blossom tree for the celebration.

Pretty not?

Like i said, it’s the time of year to usher in joy, luck and prosperity. Even in Hanoi, you could gather how important CNY is.

Colourful wussy pillow in abundance

However, it’s also the time to master the art of cringing when the sam gu luk po (aunties) pinch your face and tell you that you’ve grown up or even worst grown wide. If you’ve lived pass all those then it’s time to suffer the “ei Ah Beng/Ah Lian, when you get married har? Not young liao wor”. *muahahahahaha!

Whatever it is, i wish everyone a prosperous Rat Year ahead. Get lots of $$$ angpaus.

Gong Xi Fatt Cai!