Spring Rain

Mưa Xuân trên tuyết trắng
Thắm đượm tình quê hương.

Dâng hương xin tưởng nhớ...
Nguồn gốc tổ tiên nhà.

Literal English Translation version:
Spring rain on white snow
Overflowing with love from my motherland.

An offering of burning joss sticks...
An offering in remembrance of our ancestors.

Writer's Notes
Phần đầu được viết vào ngày mùng hai Tết Nhâm Thìn 2012.
Phần hai được bổ sung vào ngày mùng tám Tết.

Joyous New Year

白雪紅梅 baak syut hung mui
龍年飛喜 lung nin fei hei

Literal English Translation version:
White Snow Red Plum
Joyous Dragon Year.

Writer’s Notes
The above Chinese phonetic writing of Spring couplet was not originally planned. It just happened that those Cantonese sounding words came to mind while I was thinking of my two most favorite Cantonese opera performers, Lung Kim Sang 龍劍笙 and Mui Suet See 梅雪詩, as they celebrated their fifty year of collaboration this past December (2011).

Word playing on their stage name's surname, 梅 Mui and 龍 Lung respectively, the couplet is to depict the coming of spring heralded with blooming plum blossoms and the coming year of the dragon filled with joy.

Credits and/or Citations:
The above written verses incorporate the utilization of the online MDBG Chinese-English dictionary for Jyutping Cantonese romanization of Chinese characters.

Tet An Khang

Trong tiết trời lành lạnh của mùa Đông Bắc Mỹ, lòng người được sưởi ấm bởi không khí bình an ấm áp của cái Tết quê nhà. Thật hạnh phúc thay, dù không mai đào nở, nhìn hoa tuyết trắng rơi như nhìn thấy cả một mùa Xuân đang được ân cần chăm sóc và nuôi dưỡng từ lòng đất Mẹ.

An Khang - Good Health Greeting Created by Mei

Mến chúc tất cả một Năm Mới an khang và hạnh phúc.

Notes
Illustrated are Vietnamese verses taken from Winter to Spring couplet written in celebrating Lunar New Year 2012.

Credits and/or Citations:
The above Lunar New Year greeting design was created using Picnik (basic edits, text and stickers) with own scanned canvas.

Winter to Spring

Gió Đông lành lạnh thổi
Tuyết trắng đón Xuân về.

冷冷的風吹
laang laang dik fung ceoi
白雪等春來
baak syut dang ceon loi

Literal English Translation version:
Cold Winter wind
Snow welcoming Spring.

Writer’s Notes
The idea of writing Spring couplet initially started out just for fun; and yet, it somehow became a personal activity of things to do in celebrating Lunar New Year.

That said the writing process is an enjoyable experience. It always brings smiles to my face.

For the year’s theme, the multilingual thoughts came to mind minutes passed four o’clock in the morning of Friday, December 9, 2011. Those lines of verses were later written down, revised and completed in the early afternoon of the same day.

This year's couplet depicts a beautiful winter scene in which my family and I used to welcoming the Vietnamese "Tết" New Year here in the Northeast.

Credits and/or Citations:
The above written verses incorporate the utilization of the online MDBG Chinese-English dictionary for Jyutping Cantonese romanization of Chinese characters.

Togetherness

Sweet Glutinous Rice Dumplings Made by Mei :D

My very own creation of "chè trôi nước", glutinous rice balls filled with mung bean paste in sweet ginger sauce, in three varieties: tapioca pearls covered, rolled in sesame seeds and dried cranberry spotted, which I have enjoyed making them with Mom on the day approaching Lunar New Year.