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Chúc Mừng Năm Mới

#thisisVietnam

Tết, also known as Vietnamese New Year, is the most important celebration in Vietnam.

For most expats living here (especially teachers), it means time off to travel around South East Asia, but for the locals, it means so much more - spring cleaning, family reunions, greetings, lucky money, lion dancing, flowers, traditional games...

While most of my friends and colleagues headed out to explore other countries, I finally welcomed my first guest and discovered a bit more of Southern Vietnam and its traditions.   

Here are some of my highlights:


   -Taking the city bus;
   -Getting a wonderful hair wash;
   -Seeing beautiful flower arrangements around HCMC (*picture on left);






   
   -Going to Phu Quoc for 3 days;
   -Staying in a cute bungalow directly on the beach;
   -Walking along the beach in the mornings;
   -Watching sunsets in the evenings;
   -Island hopping and snorkeling (*picture on left);
   -Swimming in pools and in the Gulf;

   -Exploring the Mekong by car, by foot, by boats (*picture on left) and by bicycle;









   -Relaxing for several hours at a luxurious spa, getting all kinds of treatments, such as a scrub, a massage, a facial, a hair wash and some nail care;
   -Watching a "cheesy" movie in Gold Class (*picture on left);
   -Attending an impressive show at the Opera House;
   -Watching the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team play on tv at some     pubs;




   -Spending time with friends (*picture on left);
   -Eating LOTS of food and drinking LOTS of juices and smoothies;
   -Getting a decent amount of work done for my online course;
   -And of course, working out at the gym and fitting in a couple runs.





Looks like a pretty well-balanced holiday, don't you think?

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!
Happy New Year!

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