Welcome, Year of the Pig!

30 Tet 1 — One of the flower shops at Bolsa and Magnolia Street corner on "30 TET," the day before the Vietnamese New Year of 2019. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

Titi Mary Tran/Nguoi-Viet English

Rain didn’t spoil the Tet tradition.

On the final day of the Year of the Chicken, last-minute shoppers in Little Saigon extended the shopping season to the final minutes to welcome the Lunar New year and the Year of the Pig in style.

Tet flowers – apricot blossoms, cherry blossoms, spring bulbs, gladiolas and such — extended beyond the curves onto the streets. Tet fruits and candies were on discount. Some people squatted to pick out the best -looking fruits. Others stood around a supermarket cart to choose Tet’s rice cakes: bánh chưng and bánh tét.

Last chance at traditional Vietnamese rice cakes – Banh Chung Banh Tet – on 30th Tet. (Photo: Titi Mary Tran)

There was no more time to bargain; both sellers and buyers knew that this was the last chance to have any traditional offerings for the ancestors. They had to make it home before the gods stopped by at the stroke of midnight.

And the last-minute Tet shopping turned the corner at the ABC supermarket on Bolsa Avenue and Magnolia Street into a spirited little piece of Vietnam homeland. The land to where one could taste, feel and be easily transported despite being in Orange County, United States.

Here’s a look at the last-minute preparations as they were.