Last weekend, I bought some mooncakes home. Other than my son, none of my other kids were enthused by my acquisition of these traditional goodies. And these were not just ordinary mooncakes--they are modern-day mooncakes that I bought them from Raffles Hotel. These were snow-skinned (ping pei) with fanciful and special filling like Cognac or Mocca. They taste really good!
I have fond memories of the mooncake festival. When we were kids, eating mooncakes was a treat we all looked forward to. Dad used to buy these from the sundry shop and the mooncakes were wrapped simply in pink glazed paper. No fanciful fillings either--just the basic traditional lotus seeds (lin yong), red bean (tau sa), or lotus seeds with duck egg yolks.
I remember dad coming home, beaming a very broad smile, proud of being able to give us a special treat. And we stood in awe and excitement as he revealed the mooncakes and our lanterns (tung long). Ours were simple paper japanese lanterns; but during my brothers' (Tzong Ying and Tzong Meng) time; they had more fanciful ones. Theirs were made of bamboo frames wrapped in colourful transparent paper; and came in fanciful shapes such as butterflies, rabbits, aeroplanes, etc.
With lanterns and candles in hand, we eagerly awaited nightfall so we could wander around the compound around the teachers' quarters with our friends and neighbours. Carrying lit lanterns, we would shout in a chorus: "Tung Long, Tung Long...". It was fun! The full moon looked so round and beautiful.
Today, I wonder how many children know the legends behind the mooncake festival. For my kids, nephews and nieces, I would venture to tell the stories here.
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1 comment:
That's right! But I guess that's part of the fun--so that you get a new one the following year.
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