Fruit

STARFRUIT



All fruit tastes better in Vietnam. Not sure why...maybe it is the heat. I didn't even know some of these existed before I got to HCMC and now I don't know how I lived without them. Here are a few that we don't see often in the western hemisphere.

The link http://vietnam.sawadee.com/fruits.htm tells you a little bit about the fruits and has more types listed, but who wants to read about fruit? Come try them!Rambutan-

Persimmon- looks like a tomato but it is sweet and textured like an apple.

Lychee

Longan

Dragonfruit Plant

Inside Dragonfruit

Durian.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Everyone in Vietnam is out all night during the lunar new year. Whoa, whoa. Things are getting wild. Teenagers are out until one o'clock in the morning looking at....FLOWERS! And what's that they have there? FRUIT! They are eating FRUIT!

Flowers and fruit are a big part of the new year festival. There are so many people at the flower show every night, it is difficult to take pictures. There is a 15 minute wait for a photo standing next to the irises.

It is hard to imagine how overwhelmingly lovely the flowers are from individual pictures, but piece the below pictures together in your head and pretend they are all concentrated in an area the size of half of a football field.

Growing up in a semi-arid grassland climate really makes you appreciate everything green colorful.

Wedding

Adam's cousin and his fiance got married recently and they were so kind as to invite us, so we experienced a wedding Vietnamese-style. Weddings are my favorite celebrations and this one was a doozy! Here's how the evening went: 1. Arrival and picture taking. I am pretty sure that almost all pictures from the first half of the evening on every person's camera are of these two hams. One is Tho (Rabbit) our wild neighbor and the other is the sweet and beloved baby Hanh. 2. Lasers. Yes, lasers. The room goes pitch black and a Vietnamese Tom Jones comes on to announce the bride and groom, while red and green lasers flash around the room from the stage.

3. Choreographed bridesmaid dance. An absolute spectacle.

4. Choreographed dance with umbrellas.

5. Bride and Groom escorted in to building by 6 violinists. Girls with umbrellas and sparkling papers flying everywhere!

6.Ceremonial champagne pouring over tower of glasses and dry ice. If you can't see, you can watch them on the huge TV's set up around the room.

7. Fireworks!? Oh my gosh, they have fireworks! This is the best wedding ever!

8. Food and more picture taking. A seven course meal with waiters and waitresses that fill people's beer and pepsi glasses endlessly. A bit of Karaoke, of course, and then everyone seemed to rush out at once before the last dish was even served. So short, but so very sweet.

CORRECTION: Adam immediately pointed out that weddings are not my favorite celebrations. Massive celebrations in the street are my favorite. But weddings are really fun also.