Mid Autumn Festival (中秋节)

My first memory of this festival was back in my kampong days; e big group of cousins will congregate in the big badminton court in front of the house, each taking a paper lantern propped by any branch we can find. Candles were lit and placed all over.

It was then i realised how fun and exciting fire can be. Im no fire arsonist but i hold the same amazement cavemen had when they first discovered fire! hahaha.

Enough about fire! The government has been diligently educating us (e papmpered citizens) that it's wrong to play with fire and how badly we tortured the road sweepers after this festival.

Enough of the educational messages! As most Singaporeans know, Mid Autumn Festival is also termed as Lantern or Mooncake Festival. Various items synonymous with this festival include:

Mooncakes

It is the ONLY time mooncakes are highly sought after and everywhere you go, its mooncakes, mooncakes and more mooncakes for sale; round shaped, retangular shaped or flower shaped filled with lotus seed paste, yam paste, red bean paste, green tea, five kernels (nuts), chocolate or even champagne!

Phew...... Singaporeans (me inclusive) can really accept a wide range of variations in their food.

Lanterns

Next in line; Lanterns!! Long time ago, only paper lanterns were available. Kids then took great joy to find an excuse to burn them. It's fine to give a muffled scream when it happened and react sadly when daddy or mummy confronted us.

In the late 80s to early 90s, mummies and daddies finally realised their angelic children were not so cherubic after all; they developed battery operated lanterns.

This year, i saw a super heads-turning lantern; loaded with numerous colourful LED bulbs! It looked more like a toy to me! What are we going to expect next year? Hologram lanterns?!

Fireworks Sparklers! 

A subtle form of fireworks, it was the only consolation in the past when we could hear and see the REAL fireworks across the Singapore Straits (our neighbours in Malaysia were so lucky then).

Finally, the lightup at Chinatown was really quite a disappointment but this festival is not about how elaborate the lightup is but on companionship, whether it is with your family or friends.

Go and Enjoy this Festival with your Loved Ones!

Happy Mid-Autumn!