Moon Cake Festival !!

Moon cakes, lanterns, yams; enough said.

The Moon Cake Festival has got to be one of my favorite celebrations, among others. As its name suggests, the festivities revolve around the moon, and the mystical enchantment about it. However, naysayers have tried quashing my love for said festival by reasoning; Man has already conquered the moon by spearing into its crust with a flag, walked on or rather, bounced-due-to-zero-gravity on its surface even. The inexplicable respect and/or fear for the moon and its gods and whatnot are just an old wives’ tale.

I smile despite my annoyance, most the time. I think twice before my tongue slips out of my mouth like a juvenile. For me, it was never really about the moon’s rumored ethereal beings, it was just about how it is always a full moon on the day of the festival, and how it hangs in the black velvet sky, outshining its sparkly contenders –the stars- in all its blue-corn glory. More importantly, I love how it serves as an excuse for everyone in our extended family come together; to watch the children light –or in some cases, burn- their beautifully colored paper lanterns, to listen to the adults chatter over tea and to hold my grandma’s arm as we walked and she talked about how this celebration came to.

In fact, this was what went down during this year’s Moon Cake Festival. We had our dinner at a modest seafood restaurant –food was good, company was excellent. Afterwards, we headed over to an uncle’s house where the fun really began.

The kids readied their lanterns –of the Japanese kind and tinted plastic animals. As the adults prepared to chaperone, candles were lit and fixed into the lanterns. With Bingo the Jack Russell in tow, we started our delightful walk in the well-lit neighborhood. The young ones were concerned the light in their lantern would be put out, while some of the adults were more concerned for their safety –literally every house had a pet dog, and while we have a dog of our own, we weren’t very fond of the idea of one of the Doberman running loose. Walking through a strip of houses in the neighborhood which had at least one dog in one out of three houses, a cacophony of howls and barks erupted.

We hurried around the block and got back safe, but not before Bingo relieved himself, of course.

Back in the house, grapes were taken out from the refrigerator, moon cakes were cut and more tea was served. I can’t say the moon cakes were the best things my palate has come into contact with, but the company made up for it. My uncle popped in a Chinese movie which starred one of our favorite Asian actors, Donnie Yen while photo albums were brought out for reminiscing’s sake.

Maybe if non-believers had been present at one of my many Moon Cake Festival celebrations, they would understand my affection for the event better. Till then, more moon cakes for me!