In the red city, the year draws to a close ―― A Ho Chi Minh year-end tale of gifts and fèves

In Vietnam, year-end begins with the sight of the city turning red

Just like in Japan, it's also the season for gift-giving. In supermarkets and department stores, lavishly designed special-edition packages are displayed in the most eye-catching spots, and each company's "chance to show off their skills" appears here and there. Every year, carefully selected gifts are handed out to the company's staff as well. You carry home a big box that feels like it must weigh a good 3 kilograms. This is the end of the year.

I wonder if that moment of opening and eating it together as a family is what lifts the mood of the year-end and New Year season? Come to think of it, we had that in Japan too. Back in the Showa era, when my father came home with whiskey and beer he'd received, if a cute cookie tin happened to be mixed in among them, that alone was enough to make me go "wow!" and feel my spirits soar. My older sister would carefully peel off the sticker stuck tightly to the tin and open the lid for me. A sweet fragrance, and beautiful sweets that were clearly different from the usual. Inside that gift box was packed a little festival for a child. The year-end town, too, gradually takes on the colors of the New Year. At the housing complex in the neighborhood, the residents were putting up the decorations one by one. The fresh-cut tree piled with artificial flowers gradually turns into something like a whole different plant.

So much of it, packed on so densely you almost wonder — isn't this a bit too much? Regardless, they decorate abundantly. That's just the feeling of the New Year, and simply gazing at the sight of it brings a smile to your face.

In the vacant lot, the children are practicing their dance moves. Maybe it's a lion-dance kind of performance they'll show off at New Year's. The end-of-year mood is really picking up.

Into that Vietnamese year-end atmosphere, I tried slipping in just a tiny bit of a different culture. What I prepared as a treat for the staff was a cake salé with a fève tucked inside.

In France, they put a small figurine inside the Galette des Rois, but of course that isn't something familiar here. On top of that, making a pie is really exhausting for me... so I made a simple savory delicatessen cake instead.

But with just a game of "There's only one—a lucky charm hidden inside. Come on, pick one!", it seems to be universal: once I'd explained it all, everyone was chattering away excitedly as they picked out their cakes. And then, on the count of "Ready, go!", we cracked open the cakes and searched for the doll.

⚫️ There it is~ The zodiac horse fève! As it turned out, Mr. Chuong was the one who drew the lucky piece. It's different from the official French way of doing things, but it's exciting in its own right. Onto a box of gift confectionery, memories of Japan's Shōwa era are layered, and into that a little game of French origin slips in. Cultures blend together and gradually become part of the town's scenery... perhaps. Ho Chi Minh City is turning red, and once again the New Year is drawing near. Expat Life Ranking