Festival

Last night was the Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival celebrating the full moon. There were lanterns all over the city and lots of people were out to look at the moon. It seemed to be a child-focused celebration. (Editing with new information: the Moon Festival is a family focused holiday because the full moon represents the fullness of a complete family.) Schools and some businesses were closed today. I had to take a picture of this little girl who was just too cute in her Chinese dress and Hello Kitty lantern.

A large part of the holiday is a once-a-year dessert appropriately named the Moon Cake. Erik had several flavors of Moon Cake at work, but I only had the traditional version pictured here. The yellow, egg center represents the full moon. It is hard to describe the flavor. The outside is similar to a pie crust and the texture of the inside is very thick, like fudge. The egg center is not a egg yolk, but is made of egg and tasted like the rest, sort of a combination of peanut and maple flavor. I am sure what you are imagining is not how it actually tastes, but we are unable to describe it better. The funny thing about the Moon Cake is the Chinese emphatically exclaim how sweet it is, but to us, it was barely sweet at all. (Editing: I learned the tan filling in the moon cake is ground lotus seeds, which explains why it tasted similar to peanut butter.)

The night was very enjoyable with happiness in the air.