Vietnamese Christmas tree

Vietnamese get very decorative for the new year's celebration. in the North (which is where Hanoi is) the main decoration for Tet(their lunar new year) is the kumquat tree. it needs to be carefully selected, bargained for, purchased, and safely transported home. Its many fruits symbolize the fertility and fruitfulness in the coming year.

the lunar new year

Tet is only a few days away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E1%BA%BFt
everything is looking very festive. and red

bats' hour

the sun sets around 6pm here in Hanoi. the temples' bells start ringing. about half an hour before the sunset the bats come out and zig zag the sky. they are different from "regular" bats. smaller. and kinda look like butterflies. the butterflies here look different too. kinda like bats.

hanoi hipsters

the house

the ride in

from riding my bicycle along the East River
to riding a scooter around the West Lake...