2012 Vietnamese Tet Festival @Sandown, Melbourne

As we all recover from the New Year celebrations... Festivities start to pick up again as we celebrate Tet (Vietnamese New Year) & Chinese New Year. 2012 welcomes the year of the Dragon.

The largest Tet Festival in Melbourne will be held on the 4th & 5th of February at Sandown Race Course.



What you can expect at the Sandown Tet Festival:
- Delicious food such as bot chien, pho, barbeque food, sugar cane drink
- Live entertainment. Usually there is an international singer that fronts the performance show. It hasn't been announced who this is yet - I will keep you posted. Previous performers have included Don Ho, Diem Lien, Tommy Ngo.
- Fun carnival rides such as the boat, the spinning planes
- You can try you luck with the cool games! See if you can take home a huge soft toy.

Past Tet festivals have attracted over 35,000 people. It is expected a bigger crowd will attend this year's Sandown Tet festival.

What does the year of the Dragon mean?
It is considered the year of good luck. In Chinese mythology, the dragon represents good fortune in health, wealth and longevity. The dragon is also a protector and is well respected and beloved by the Chinese people.

Watch out for Cmovie 'Saving General Yang' this year

One of the most anticipated movies this year is 'Saving General Yang'.

If you're not familiar with Chinese History, the Yang family are legendary and their legacy still lives on today. For generations the Yang family served as generals in the Song Dynasty, they protected borders and won battles. Known for their unflinching loyalty, honour and integrity - Their story has been immortalized in film and television for generations.

They Yang family were brilliant on the battle field, and because of this many people in court didn't like them and wanted to do everything in their power to harm them. The Emperor himself was insecure and had unwarranted fears that the Yang family would commit treason and steal his crown. He knew if they wanted his crown they could easily attain it. The Emperor always questioned and challenged the Yang family's loyalty.

The Yang legend began with Yang Ye, he had 8 sons who all whole heartedly served the emperor. The Yang family were ill fated and most of the men died in battle to protect their country, their emperor. The Yang family became a house full of widows. They were resilient and to they continued to serve the Emperor and carry on the family's legacy and became legendary women warriors. If you are interested in finding out more about the Yang family, definitely read up about them. I grew up with their story, it's hard to sum up their heroism in a few paragraphs.

Now, back to the film 'Saving General Yang'. What's so exciting about the film is the AMAZING cast! It's mighty impressive. Screen legend Adam Cheng will play General Yang Ye. The actors who will play his sons are Ekin Cheng,Wu Chun, Raymond Lam, Vic Zhou, Li Chen, Yu Bo, Fu Xinbo and Xu Fan. Joining the male ensemble is the beautiful Ady An as Princess Chai.

This film is directed by Ronny Yu, the director of the historic film 'Fearless' starring Jet Li. You can expect some epic battle scenes in this film - I'll even go out on the limb and say that they will rival or even trump the battle scenes in the film Red Cliff starring Tony Leung and Takeshi Kanishiro.

I just have this feeling that this film is going to be HUGE - a big critical and commercial success - Just look at the cast and director! What a great formula for success.

The film is slated to be released in Oct this year, so there is a bit of a wait. Definitely keep an eye out for this one!

Songs of the Week

New year, New songs! Here are some of my fave tracks for the week.

Kim Hyun Joong - Rainsim
Kpop artist Kim Hyun Joong performed a remake of Rain's Hit song 'Rainism' on KBS music festival. Rain put some hard choreography in this song and Kim Hyun Joong was able to perform it nicely. However, only Rain can own those dance moves. Check out the the performance. What do you of Kim Hyun Joong's version of RAINISM?


Davichi & T-ara - We were in Love
Two of the biggest kpop girl groups join forces for this power ballad. Love this track!


Jay Park - Star
Here is a nice r'n'b song from Jay Park! Enjoy!


Fairies - Hero
Here is an inspiring and KAWAII song from the jpop girl band Fairies

On SBS (Documentary) - Once Upon A Time in Cabramatta

Starting this Sunday at 8:30 on SBS, the documentary - 'Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta'

This in-depth 3 part documentary series explores the history of the Vietnamese community in Cabramatta, Sydney.

Here is the synopsis on the SBS website:

"Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta is the never before told story of Australia's first significant influx of migrants post White Australia policy. This groundbreaking documentary takes you behind the headlines of turbulent Cabramatta in the 80's and 90's as the Vietnamese people finally find their voice – speaking up to claim their rightful, democratic place in Australia against all odds.

Told by politicians, social historians, police and for the first time from the Vietnamese people themselves, these are the stories of a period that changed Australian migration forever."

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012 is HERE

Best wishes for 2012 everyone!

How were your NYE celebrations? Mine were great! I was in Melbourne CDB with my cousins. We watched the fireworks display in Alexandra Park. It was a buzzing atmosphere filled with laughter, glow sticks and live music. This year, the fireworks display was a bit different. Instead of using a variety of colors, the fireworks were mainly gold. For me, I prefer a choca block of colors because it makes the night sky so pretty.

The Arts Centre had a fireworks display but shockingly, it caught on fire from the fireworks. Check out my photos below. The flames from the top of the structure fell on to the building to cause more fires in the building. The flame grew and the crowds were gathering to witness this. It was scary. After 40 minutes, the flames were diminished by the firecrew. The crowds cheered the firecrew's efforts then disbanded.

That was an interesting way to start the new year - to watch an iconic building catch on fire.

How were your NYE celebrations? Did anything out of the ordinary happen? Love to hear from you.