Moon Cake Festival

Moon Cake festival is just few days away, Chinatown has been bustling with products of festival related merchandise like moon cakes of various shapes (square or circle), tastes (lotus seed, red bean paste, ginseng, durian, multi-nuts...) and colors (purple, pink, yellow, brown, green...)

The history of moon cake:

Long long ago, China was in revolt against the Mongols. Chu Yuen-chang, and his senior deputy, Liu Po-wen, discussed battle plan and developes a secret moon cake strategy to take a certain walled city held by the Mongol enemy.

Liu dressed up as a Taoist priest and entered the besieged city bearing moon cake. He distributed these to the city's populace. When the time for the year's Chung Chiu festival arrived, people opened their cakes and found hidden messages advising them to coordinate their uprising with the troops outside.
Thus, the emperor-to-be ingeniously took the city and his throne.

Moon cake of course, became even more famous.

Now, of course many will take it as a festive season to feast, and because of that night will be a full moon night, elders like to think of it as a day of reunion, a day when all family members will come together for dinner.

Children after dinner will carry the lantern and walk around the neighbourhood.

Traditionally lanterns are made of paper and bamboo sticks lighted with a stick of candle inside.

But now, lanterns comes in shapes of blown up dolls lighted with a light-bulb, most of it comes with music.

The new ones will of course be safer for children, but I find the tradition ones to be prettier, especially with the little flame flickering in it. And when by "accident" the lantern caught fire, I have an excuse to buy new one.







This Winnie the Pooh lantern is a product from Disney. Cost S$7.
Crazy right?











I walked around Chinatown looking at the lanterns, most of them are selling S$7. One elderly stall owner told me that this year the production is lower, almost couldn't get lanterns to sell.


I bought a Barney lantern for Ally, she loved it so much couldn't let go of it. Even Isabel cannot hold it for more than a minute. If Isabel trys to snatch and run with it, Ally will chase and pull her hair when she catches up with her.