GLIMPSE THUY BIEU VILLAGE 2 DAYS / 1 NIGHT

– The first day: Our private car will pick you up at Phu Bai airport, receive room, relax and enjoy VietNamese Green Teapot combine Foot massage. You have dinner on boat and feel Perfume river by night.

– The second day: After enjoy breakfast, you will ride a bicycle to visit Thuy Bieu village, Voi Re Temple with our staff. You have lunch at Pomelo restaurant with Asian set menu. Check-out at 12.00am.

* Package Include:     

– 1 night in Superior River View Room for 2 persons.

– Complementary 1 breakfast for 2 persons.

– Complementary 1 lunch for 2 persons with Asian set menu.

– Complementary 1 dinner on the boat for 2 persons with Asian set menu.

– Complementary Bicycle tour visit  Thuy Bieu, Ho Quyen and Voi Re Temple with our staff.

– Complementary VietNamese Green Teapot.

– Complementary Foot  massage 30mins for 2 persons.

* Added Benefits:

– 10% discount for Spa service.

– 10% discount for laundry service.

– Complimentary welcome drinks and fruits in room.

– Complimentary use of bicycles and kayak boat.

– Complimentary shuttle boat to City centre everyday.

– Complimentary use of Fitness Center, Billiard, Games rooms, Kid club, Swimming Pools and Wireless internet.

Note:

– Upgrade to Deluxe River view: $15 for 1 night.

– Extended night: $70/night for 2 persons.

– Extra person: $50/package & $25/children.

Terms & Conditions:

– Above rates are included 10% Government Tax and 5% Service Charge.

– Children policy:  Free of charge for maximum 1 child under 3 years old. Children from 3 years old to 7 years old will be charged extra and shared the same bed with parents.

– Cancellation policy: If cancellation is made before 7 days prior to guest’s arrival will be no charge. In case of  No show or Cancellation after 7days prior to guest’s arrival, a penalty of 100% will apply.

– Non- consumed service will not be reimbursed

 For more information please contact us at:

Phone: (+84.54) 3978484 – (+84.54)3938302

Email: sales@hueriversideresort.com

KTCHEN GODS – THE GOD FOR ALL FAMILY

         The stove is considered the soul of the family. The Vietnamese believed that good stoves will guarantee peace in the family, while bad ones bring strife. The standing mud-covered brick stoves in a traditional Vietnamese kitchen are huge. They are built up from the floor against a wall of the kitchen and look something like altars and in fact, they are. The family stove, apart from its functional importance, was believed to house the Kitchen God, also called the Lord of the Hearth, one of the oldest gods worshipped in Vietnam.
Hang Ma is the street where sacred papers are sold and it entered its busy period around one month ago. The street is decorated in red and yellow, the colors of traditional sacred paper products. Today Ma street seem become more crowed with people.  They  are flocking the street and buy worship items for the Kitchen God’s day (23rd of the last month of lunar year).

         To prepare for the journey of Kitchen God to the Heaven,   the worship items are included: Votive, snacks, sweet cakes, fruit… Votives with paper carps, horses and clothing (hats, robes and boots),  are very important. Following the old  legend and still in some countryside homes, cooking occurs over clay tripods. Three stones were all that was needed to hold up the pot over the fire. Few people spend time thinking about the nature of the Kitchen Gods or the specific meaning of the items that are associated with them. The three Hearth Gods are represented at Tet by three hats and shops sell sets of three miniature paper hats: two men’s hats and one woman’s. These are burned as offerings to Ong Tao. The God will also need a new pair of boots to wear as he travels to Heaven. Two favorite gifts for the triad of household deities are gold and wine. In the central part of Vietnam, cooking tripods or blocks that make up the family hearth, even if they are still usable, are ritually discarded when the God leaves. One week later, new blocks will greet his return or the arrival of his replacement assigned by the Jade Emperor.

           Nowadays, Everything changes, people think that :Tran sao am vay(Life in the earth is same underworld). That’s why besides the traditional worship items, they burn modern funiture like: paper mobile, paper house, paper motorbike…

           After the Kitchen God has left, preparations one week ( from  23rd to 30th  of lunar month) for the New Year festivities begin. After the Kitchen God’s day People will clean and decorate their home with hoping removing old year and welcome New  year with good things for their families

* Bonus:  ORIGIN OF KINCHEN GODS

        In Vietnamese folklore, the Kitchen Gods (Vietnamese: Táo Quân) are spirits that inhabit the kitchen of every home. They are responsible for monitoring the daily affairs of the kitchen, until the last day of the lunar year in which they then travel to Heaven to give the Jade Emperor an annual report. There are three Kitchen Gods: Trọng Cao, Thị Nhi, and Phạm Lang. Originally normal people, the three became kitchen spirits by the magic of the Jade Emperor after hearing their tragic tale. In old Vietnamese kitchens, the traditional clay stove pot is supported by three posts, which represent the three Kitchen Gods.

Origins

        Trọng Cao and Thị Nhi were husband and wife. One day they quarreled, and Trọng Cao threw his wife out of the house. Thị Nhi still loved her husband but had no choice but to obey. She set off on a journey and eventually found a nice man, Phạm Lang, and they eventually married. Trọng Cao was filled with remorse, waited for his wife’s return, until he could wait no more. He set out in search for her, but eventually ran out of food. He had to beg for food. One day he knocked on a door, and found, to his surprise, his (former) wife. Remembering her love for her first husband and moved by his presence, she invited him inside and fed him. Phạm Lang was then heard coming home. Thị Nhi could not be seen with another man inside the house, so she had Trọng Cao hide in a straw of hay. Phạm Lang lit the hay on fire in order to create fertilizer. Trọng Cao dared not move so that he may preserve his wife’s virtue, and so accepted his fate. Thị Nhi could not save her first husband, and did not want to tell the truth, lest she be branded an infidel, and so she jumped into the fire. Phạm Lang, unable to comprehend why his wife jumped in the fire, decided to jump into the fire with her. The Jade Emperor heard this tale, and was moved, and so used his power to bind the three souls to become the spirits of the kitchen.

SYMBOLS AND ITEMS OF TET

Cay Neu

          A bamboo pole (New Year’s Tree) stripped of its leaves except for a tuft on top. Red paper decorates the tree which is planted outside the house during the Tet holidays. It is supposed to ward off the evil spirits during absence of the Spirit of the Hearth who leaves the family at this time to visit the palace of the Jade Emperor.

Vietnamese Peach Blossoms

           According to Vietnamese legend, once upon a time, in the East of the Soc Son Mountain, North Vietnam, existed a gigantic peach tree. The tree was so huge that its shadow extended through out a large area of land. Up on the tree, lived two powerful deities, Tra and Uat Luy. They protected the people of the land in the surrounding areas from the devils. The devils were so afraid of these two deities that even the sight of the peach tree haunted them.

          However, at the end of every Lunar year, these two deities had to fly back to heaven for an annual meeting with the Jade Emperor. During this time, the devils took advantage of this opportunity to harass the peaceful inhabitants. To fight the battle against these devils, people came up with the ideas of display a branch of the Peachtree in the house to scare away the devils. Since then it becomes a custom of the North Vietnamese to have a branch of a Peachtree during Tet season to protect themselves against the Satan soldiers. Who doesn’t have Peachtree can draw the figures of the two deities, Tra and Uat Luy, on red paper, and display them in front of the house.

Hoa Mai (Apricot blossom)

       Hoa Mai are popular in the south region of Vietnam because of the warm weather. Cay Mai (tree) is a small, yellow flowering plant that is used for decoration during Tet with the meanings of prosperity and well-being for the family.

The Fruits

          Coconuts, papayas, mangoes, watermelons, pineapples, bananas, oranges, Asian apples, grapefruits are the favorites fruits during this special holiday season. They are usually placed on altars first for the gods and ancestors. After these gods and ancestors spiritually consuming the fruits, humans are then allowed to eat them. These fruits symbolize good fortune, and the colors of red and orange represents joyfulness.

Fire Crackers

          Besides the cheerful sound to welcome and celebrate Tet Season, many people believe that fire crackers are also used to scare the unholy spirits away.

Snacks

       Prunes, dried watermelon seeds, teas, mut (dried fruits) are the favorite snack during Tet. Note: Tea are served along with these snacks.

Kumquat Tree

    Use as decoration because the tree assures a fruitful and prosperous year.

Banh Chung

         A type of rice cake with beans and pork, covered with banana leaves; a favorite for this holiday. Banh Chung represents the Earth, since we used to believe that the Earth has a squared shape, and the meat and beans in the middle of Banh Chung represent the different kinds of people on Earth. Banh Chung at Tet symbolizes the love and respects for parents. Please read “The origins of Banh Chung” for more details.

Xin Xăm

           After Giao Thua, the last day of the lunar calendar year, many Buddhists go to their favorite pagoda to pray for a good year and to get a fortune reading for the whole year. Each person will get a chance to shake the tube that contains reading sticks, until one stick falls out of the tube. In the case that many sticks drop out of the tube, that person will have to repeat the process. Afterward, usually the monks will translate the meanings of the reading.

Releasing of a Carp

         A mythology that the Kitchen god goes to heaven by riding on the back of a carp. Some people still respect this belief by releasing a carp in a pond or river.