Mid-Autumn Festival

You don't need anyone to remind you that the Mid-Autumn festival (known as Mooncake Festival) is approaching. You can read from newspaper or visit shopping mall, you will notice many places are promoting mooncake and lanterns. This year (2010) Mid-Autumn festival is on 22 September 2010 which is also the 15th day of the eighth month in Chinese Lunar calendar.

My childhood memories about Mid-Autumn festival were fantastic. I still remember I stayed at a terrace house which Chinese were the majority community. Almost every night during the festive month, a group of friends and I were taking our colourful and lighted lanterns and walk around the neighbourhood, we chit chat while we walking, we loved visiting dark alley, the colourful lanterns lighted the alley and we were having fun chasing away cats there. I really missed those fun times. 

I still remember I have a special made lantern with a shape of a butterfly, it has two rollers that I could push on the ground. When pushed, "ring ring" sound would came out and the wing of the butterfly will start flapping up and down, like flying, the body which made up by two colourful cylinders will start turning... it was very pretty. However, nowadays, I couldn't find this type of lanterns anymore. Most of the lanterns that sell in shopping mall are the hand carry type. Worse, some made by plastic and run on batteries. It has lost the true meaning of lanterns festival.

Nowadays, it is no longer safe to walk alone outside the road. Parents are worry about the safety of their children because many crime cases had happen. You cannot see children carrying lighted lantern walking around the neighbourhood anymore. Many children confined within their house while playing with their lanterns. The time that you could see group of children walking around with their lanterns is a history of the past.

Another thing I like about Mid-Autumn is mooncake made with traditional pure lotus paste with single yolk (even better with double yolk). Every year, I am sure buy a few boxes and enjoy this wonderful time with my family. Recently, I notice the many new type of mooncake in the market. It has wide variety and many flavours. From the newspaper promotion, you can see many hotels coming out with so many type of tastes. It is beyond imagination, I have picked out a few new taste in the newspaper that I want to share with you:

Dried shrimp lotus paste

Butter skin pandan lotus paste

Mango Lotus Paste

Spirulina Lotus Paste

Avocado with custard

Durian paste

Ping Pie Bird's nest with custard

Blueberry cheese

Yam cinkgo paste

Snow skill chocolate whiskey

Mango cheese paste

Green tea

Espresso chestnut

Pumpkin paste

Strawberry, blueberry, orange snow skin

Royal mocha and milt tea

Mint Almond Chocolate

Sweet purple potato paste ....  wow ... the list can go on....

Nevertheless, after said all these ...I still prefer the traditional made lotus paste with egg yolk mookcake. It is still the best. Nothing can be replaced.