Wedding

We had a great time at a family wedding back in Sydney looking over the magnificant harbour. With one very cute flower girl!

95th birthday

My fantastic Grandma turned 95 yesterday and we went out for lunch to celebrate.

things people carry on motorcycles #4

Just because it's been a long time since we've had some of these and they are still amazing at times...
This guy is carrying a special tree for Tet (Vietnamese New Year) - you can see many people riding around town with similar sized trees strapped to the back of their bikes!)
We were stuck in the traffic jam (not unusual), and I noticed this man's nice ceramic pot - it probably weighs 20-30kg. And next to him someone taking their hat stand home. I have yet to photograph the guys who carry 10 or so of these silver stands on the back of their bikes.
I think this guy is carrying sugar cane, which will go to the market and be cut up and eaten, or pressed for sugar cane juice (very very sweet!)

Special occasion posters

There are new posters for almost every occasion.
Here are some from the recent 80th celebration of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the 65th anniversary of the Vietnamese Army.

Vietnamese wedding #2

We were invited to the wedding of one of the staff at Greg's hospital. It was held in his home province of Bắc Ninh (about 30 km from Hà Nội). It is the former capital of Vietnam (in the 1000s) and the birth place of one if its most famous kings, Lý Thái Tổ. This time the wedding was held over 3 days. We attended the first day, the groom's party and met his family. We then managed to gate-crash the bride's separate party, which is held on the same day. Then the next day the couple come together and the families celebrate together. (This happened to be on a monday which meant we weren't able to go back for the second day).
Vietnamese wedding days are chosen for various reasons such as luck, matching dates and years of the couple and the families and so may not be on the weekend.
Bánh phu thê (the cake below wrapped in banana leaves) is a specialty of Bắc Ninh and is literally called a "husband and wife" cake (from the original chinese language). It is made from rice or tapioca flour and gelatin and filled with mung bean paste. Not quite like wedding cake!