For her family, the Lunar New Year is not only an occasion for the family to gather and welcome the new year, but also a link to the roots, helping children and grandchildren to remember the good traditions of their ancestors.
Since studying abroad, working and getting married, Nguyen Thi Vinh (Thai name is Phanthira), in Min Buri district (Bangkok), has lived in Thailand for more than 10 years.
Her husband is Mr. Weerachai Thongbo (common name is Ton), a gentle guy from Issan (Northeastern Thailand). Since becoming a Vietnamese son-in-law, enjoying the dishes cooked by his wife, Mr. Ton loves Vietnamese food and learns to cook dishes from his wife’s hometown.
Ms. Vinh said: “Now my husband can cook a lot of Vietnamese dishes such as pho, braised fish, Vietnamese-style braised meat with potato soup… For a long time in my house, he was in charge of cooking.”
| Vinh and her husband cook and prepare for the New Year’s Eve tray. |
Notably, every time Tet comes, Mr. Ton is even more eager to go to the kitchen to help his wife produce traditional Vietnamese dishes so that the small family can have a moment together and enjoy the taste of Tet. Vietnam.
We visited Ms. Vinh’s family on the afternoon of the 29th of Tet. When we got to the door, we had just met the lady driving the car home. She said that because she is currently working for a Thai company, these days she still has to work normally. The work at the company is busy from morning to evening, every day at 8, 9 pm, so she does not have time to go shopping for Tet clothes.
She said: “Today, I have to leave work early so that I can run to the market to buy fruits and gifts to make a year-end meal.”
The market where Ms. Vinh took us to shop for Tet is no different from a typical people’s market in Hanoi, not big but full of goods. Because Thais do not celebrate the Lunar New Year, the atmosphere at the market, although bustling, is not much different from normal days. Fortunately, there are also some shops in the market that sell more Tet items to serve the Chinese and Vietnamese Thai communities.
At the fruit shop, Ms. Vinh chose a large watermelon with dark green skin, a large grapefruit wrapped in red cashew cloth, and apples, grapes, and citrus. After that, she rushed to the store selling votive paper, buying enough ceremonies for the year-end ceremony and New Year’s Eve.
“This bag is for worshiping the God of Wealth, and this bag is for New Year’s Eve,” she said, and continued to choose more incense, candles, and a set of red envelopes displayed on the outside of the store with red lanterns.