Tet and flowers (the show)

Chuc mung nam moi! It's spring in the year of the buffalo (or ox if you're Chinese). Watermelons of all sizes are for sale everywhere for people to display in their homes - though none quite as these! They are part of the flower show in Nguyen Hue street in HCM City.

The show extends for 3+ city blocks with sections representing the north, centre and south of Vietnam. As a novitiate to Tet in Vietnam the show was quite stunning to my eyes. My more seasoned friends say it has been better in past years, and unfortunately the finanical difficulties of the world have bitten into the budget for the show a bit.

Bao and I joined the crowds late on Saturday afternoon and spent a leisurely time wandering through the displays before it got too dark.

The next evening - last day of the old Rat Year - we came back with Bao's friend Hiep with the intention of claiming a good place to view the midnight fireworks. We also got the chance to see the Lunar New Year lights in Le Loi street before claiming a vantage point around 10pm. The fireworks were pretty, but as an artistic display they didn't compare with Sydney's New Year fireworks.

But it was fun to be in Vietnam on this day. The people watching are very engaged - we all oohed and aahed and applauded in a way that I don't recall experiencing back in Australia. And another big difference is the patience and sense of fun with which everyone waited for 2 hours. Bao asked me whether I thought that Vietnamese people are peaceful - I had to agree. Everyone was good natured and when it was all over people dispersed in the same manner that they manage traffic jams and crushes. It all looks chaotic but somehow the 'dance' works and we all get where we want to! It was one of the events that has made Tet in Vietnam such an enjoyable time for me.