Mid Autumn Fest

This year I was terribly late in getting our mooncakes for the festival.  When I went to our favourite vegetarian shop to buy some, they had nearly run out of stock! The salesman at the shop showed me his nearly empty shelves which housed a few tins of pandan mooncakes.  All other mooncakes with traditional fillings like lotus seed paste and red bean had been sold out.

Pretty purple tins containing Pandan Mooncakes

I asked the salesman whether I could have the tins
 for my collection but was told I had to buy them 
together with the mooncakes!

However, he assured me that all was not lost and pointed to another shelf where stood neat packs of small mooncakes, six in a pack, with mixed fillings.  He said that his customers this year had opted for the smaller size of mooncakes because at the end of the day, nobody really wanted to eat them as they were too sweet and fattening! So I ended up with two packs of small mooncakes and some moon biscuits and glad that this year we didn't have to spend a fortune on them!  Not being adventurous, I have never liked mooncakes with "modern" fillings such as coconut, durian, green tea, etc. which are often very expensive.

Six in a pack

What I find really fascinating about mooncakes are the Chinese characters on top.  They form part of an intricate design which makes one hesitant to cut open the cake to eat it!  I believe all the words have "good" meanings such as "longevity", "good luck" and "harmony".

The Mid Autumn Festival fell on 30th September this year and as everybody knows, is linked to the mythical moon goddess, Chang E.  The festival has become very commercialized in recent years and shopping malls everywhere have organised all kinds of events to celebrate the occasion.  Every year I wonder how many families still pray to the moon and every year I wonder whether we should continue to observe this age old Chinese tradition ... we're probably one of the few who still do, despite what people say about the moon being already conquered by man!  Well, when next year comes around, we'll ask ourselves the same question again and decide!

On the festival morning, I went to Phor Tay Temple to offer prayers and was surprised at the small number of people there.  I had thought that this being a special occasion many devotees would be going to the temple to pray.  The altar for Lord Buddha and Kuan Yin had been elaborately set up with various kinds of offerings, including mooncakes of course.  I asked the Head Nun whether I could take some pictures and she readily agreed.

Mooncakes, still in their packaging, are in the front row

Fortunately the weather was fine throughout the day and later in the evening at around 8 p.m., we set up our table of offerings to the moon outside our main door.  We kept it simple by offering only fruits and mooncakes and oh yes, "chien up" - a mixture of dried longan (for a good ending to one's life), sugar coated nuts (for longevity) and red dates (for a good year every year).  Incidentally, there was no sign of the moon in the sky!

May your Moon Festival be bright every year!