When I was in my early teens, my family would spend the summer holidays in Vietnam with my parents’ respective families. We would usually leave for Vietnam in December and return in early February in time for the start of school. In Vietnam people don’t usually celebrate the New Year according to the calendar year, but instead according to the sun's longitude and the moon's phases. Therefore, each year Chinese New Year falls on a different date, basically anywhere between January to February.
One of my fondest memories of my various visits to Vietnam was on the eve of Chinese New Year. The family would climb to the top of my uncle’s roof with sparklers and he would play ABBA's famous hit ‘Happy New Year’.
But instead of singing “Happy New Year”, my uncle and cousins would sing “Happy New New”. Although my uncle’s and cousins' English is fairly strong, they always seem to say (and on occasion sing) “Happy New New”. So every New Year’s Eve, I always catch myself smiling at the thought of my family in Vietnam singing “Happy New New”! It is now a tradition between Brendyn and I that instead of wishing each other a “Happy New Year” when the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, we wish each other a “Happy New New”!
What better way to welcome New Year than with my new found love flourless chocolate cake! So I have spent the first day of the year in style, I am enjoying a cup of tea with a raspberry flourless chocolate cupcake. I used the same flourless chocolate recipe for the flourless chocolate cake pops that I made and blogged about late last year. I simply added raspberries into the cake mixture and VOILA raspberry flourless chocolate cupcakes!
One of my fondest memories of my various visits to Vietnam was on the eve of Chinese New Year. The family would climb to the top of my uncle’s roof with sparklers and he would play ABBA's famous hit ‘Happy New Year’.
But instead of singing “Happy New Year”, my uncle and cousins would sing “Happy New New”. Although my uncle’s and cousins' English is fairly strong, they always seem to say (and on occasion sing) “Happy New New”. So every New Year’s Eve, I always catch myself smiling at the thought of my family in Vietnam singing “Happy New New”! It is now a tradition between Brendyn and I that instead of wishing each other a “Happy New Year” when the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, we wish each other a “Happy New New”!
What better way to welcome New Year than with my new found love flourless chocolate cake! So I have spent the first day of the year in style, I am enjoying a cup of tea with a raspberry flourless chocolate cupcake. I used the same flourless chocolate recipe for the flourless chocolate cake pops that I made and blogged about late last year. I simply added raspberries into the cake mixture and VOILA raspberry flourless chocolate cupcakes!
“Happy New New!"
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