Tết tết tết tết đến rồi - tết tết tết tết đến rồi - tết tết tết tết đến rồi
- tết đến trong tim mọi người
Okay that was a Vietnamese new years song. I like it a lot since I sang that one when I was kiddo’ and every time I heard the song I knew it was going to be spring soon(When I was younger I made a countdown to my birthday when I heard this song). I don’t have any plans today and since it’s a weekday, we can’t do a family gathering(actually we did it last week) and celebrate. But my dad just made some food… HAHAHA !!! It’s Chili con carne … The most UNASIAN food ever !!! XD
Oh ….And there’s a New years party in the weekend so I’m looking forward to have some fun ^^.
My dad had made his own countdown and he loves tet/vietnamese new year !
He even made this ! – at spring these flowers are seen everywhere in Asia’- I guess he miss the home of his childhood’.
- Today is the last day of the year of the tiger and in Vietnam, 2011 is the cat’s year but in the Chinese calendar it’s the year of the rabbit. I was told it was a pronounce mistake because when you say “rabbit” in Chinese it sounds like “cat” in Vietnamese.. but then I tried out Google translate and only when it’s a “wildcat”(a synonym to rabbit/hare) it sounds like cat in Vietnamese.
Ohh Yeah ! You guys know the legend about the Chinese zodiac?!
I LOVE THAT STORY!!’ I used to read it as a bedtime story cuz’ it is classique*
A folk story tells that Cat and Rat were the worst swimmers in the animal kingdom. Although they were poor swimmers, they were both quite intelligent. To get to the meeting called by the Jade Emperor, they had to cross a river to reach the meeting place. The Jade Emperor had also decreed that the years on the calendar would be named for each animal as they arrived to the meeting. Cat and rat decided that the best and fastest way to cross the river was to hop on the back of Ox. Ox, being naïve and good-natured, agreed to carry them both across. Midway across the river, rat pushed cat into the water. Then as Ox neared the other side of the river, Rat jumped ahead and reached the shore first. So he claimed first place in the competition and the zodiac.
Following closely behind was strong Ox who was named the 2nd animal in the zodiac. After Ox, came Tiger, panting, while explaining to the Jade Emperor how difficult it was to cross the river with the heavy currents pushing it downstream all the time. But with its powerful strength, Tiger made to shore and was named the 3rd animal in the cycle.
Suddenly, from a distance came a thumping sound, and the Rabbit arrived. It explained how it crossed the river: by jumping from one stone to another in a nimble fashion. Halfway through, it almost lost the race but the Rabbit was lucky enough to grab hold of a floating log that later washed him to shore. For that, it became the 4th animal in the Zodiac cycle. Coming in 5th place was the Flying Dragon. Of course, the Jade Emperor was deeply curious as to why a swift flying creature such as the Dragon should fail to reach first place. The mighty Dragon explained that he had to stop and make rain to help all the people and creatures of the earth, and therefore he was held back. Then, on his way to the finish, he saw a little helpless Rabbit clinging onto a log so he did a good deed and gave a puff of breath to the poor creature so that it could land on the shore. The Jade Emperor was very pleased with the actions of the Dragon, and he was added into the zodiac cycle. As soon as he had done so, a galloping sound was heard, and the Horse appeared. Hidden on the Horse's hoof was the Snake, whose sudden appearance gave the Horse a fright, thus making it fall back and giving the Snake the 6th spot, while the Horse placed 7th.
Not long after that, a little distance away, the Goat, Monkey, and Rooster came to the shore. These three creatures helped each other to get to where they are. The Rooster spotted a raft, and took the other two animals with it. Together, the Goat and the Monkey cleared the weeds, tugged and pulled and finally got the raft to the shore. Because of their combined efforts, the Emperor was very pleased and promptly named the Goat as the 8th creature, the Monkey as the 9th, and the Rooster the 10th.
The 11th animal was the Dog. Although he was supposed to be the best swimmer, he could not resist the temptation to play a little longer in the river. Though his explanation for being late was because he needed a good bath after a long spell. For that, he almost didn't make it to finish line. Just as the Jade Emperor was about to call it a day, an oink and squeal was heard from a little Pig. The Pig got hungry during the race, promptly stopped for a feast and then fell asleep. After the nap, the Pig continued the race and was named the 12th animal of the zodiac cycle. The Cat finished as thirteenth place and did not make it in the zodiac.
Source of story
Just remembered it by now ^^: – My new years resolution is to make my parents less worried, less stressed and that I will provide full support to my family - especially my siblings. When they need me the most I’m always gone – I ‘m too selfish! and I want to be a better person!
2011 is going to be though year, but we have survived so far’. 2009 gave us the biggest knockout ever and by so far’, and it can only get better.
A couple of days ago I wrote this to the
Vietnamese t-shirt designer ANH OI!’s Facebook
and he did actually reply me ^^! so I just wanted to share this as a reminder to myself.
Hey ! New year = new start'. If your new years resolution didn’t work out, then make a new one for Chinese new year ;) Just call the time between NY and CNY a trial ^^;
Oh yeah – then there’s the red envelope… and as usual … I always do a pathetic attempt to give it back to the person I got it from … but if not succeeded…
I give it to my parents
