Tet 08

The lunar new year is celebrated in many countries. In some you get holidays like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, while others is just noted on the calendar like Australia. However, there is a large Chinese community in Australia consisting of students and migrants so there tend to be many celebrations. I don’t recall ever going to one before I went to Vietnam, yet now I know that this is a special time for me, as I had spent lots of quality time with my friends. So this Tet I was concerned that I might not see anything when my friend from work suggested that we go to the Crown Casino to take a look at the celebrations.

I went by his place just after midday and it was unusually warm and sunny in Melbourne. This I thought was a good sign. We had to walk through Chinatown to get to the casino and it looked like it was buzzing. The first sounds of Chinese music graced my ears as we approached the corner where Chinatown meets Greek town and a crowd of people just appeared. I was surprised that so many people could fit into such a small area. On stage there were some graceful dancers swaying in time to the music which I found to be enchanting to watch. Suddenly I was startled as a burst of noise crackled behind me and smoke rose from the leftover shells of firecrackers. We decided that the show behind us was more entertaining so we moved towards it. Alas, so did all of Melbourne it seemed as I was pushed in every direction and motionless all at once. I was a statue in the street next to the dragons guarding the entrance to Chinatown. Eventually we got through the crowd and decided that we should go to the casino.

I found the air was quite festive as people where moving around chattering and laughing. Little children were building conical hats out of cardboard, painting faces, and building lanterns. As we got deeper into the festive zone, the smell of food reminded me that I was hungry. As we walked along I was looking for Vietnamese food, yet I could see Thai, Korean, Singaporean, Chinese, yet no Vietnamese. I decided that the Thai food looked the best, with my friend assuring me that this choice would not go wrong. We ate a papaya salad, similar to the green mango salad served in Vietnam. I felt it was close enough to the feeling I was searching for and dug in. I thought that I was celebrating Tet, at a Chinese festival, eating Thai food. We went back for the main course spicy basil chicken and green curry. Delicious, and was washed down with a Thai milk tea, think tea with milk and you would have got the taste .

To digest the food we went down the promenade and came across a little stage. I enjoyed watching the juggler, as he juggled balls and bottles. However, he blew me away when he was balancing and flipping a bottle and wooden spoon. I wonder how he did that. Next on show was an orchestra of Chinese instruments. I was moved by the music which had titles like peace and sounded very traditional to me.

The girl was singing was not Chinese yet her Chinese must have been good as at intervals in the song the Chinese parts of the audience would break into applause to show their admiration of her Chinese skills.

Next we watched a Chinese chef make 4096 noodles. I really enjoyed this presentation as both the mc and chef were cracking jokes everywhere.

Finally, I heard that there were going to be Vietnamese dance performance thought back to all the performances I had seen in Long Xuyen, wondering if they would be the same. I thought they were and I really was impressed with their costumes. I hadn’t seen an ao dai for so long and forgot how beautiful they are. The dancers performed a variety of songs, both traditional and modern. After the show, which I felt was too short, we went inside the casino to escape the heat and down a cold beer. Afterwards, we went browsing through the shopping corner and decided to go home. A different experience from the last few yet really enjoyable all the same.