I’ve lapsed and let my hair down!

Hi there,

Today is a very special day. It is the mid-autumn festival which falls on the 15th of the 8th lunar moon. The Chinese celebrate this festival every year with moon cakes and lanterns.

I remember in my childhood, all the children on the street where I used to live, would gather together in the large compound of the clan association building and we would walk around with our little lanterns of different colors and shapes. There were shapes of birds, chickens, fish, rabbit, dragon, dragonfly,etc. The lanterns were lit by candles placed inside them and we used to hold them by the bamboo stick on which the lanterns were hung.

Sometimes if one of us was not careful when we were walking or fooling around, the lantern caught fire and that was the end of the lantern, much to the despair of the child whose lantern it was. The mooncakes then were simple and there was limited flavors although the shape was the same, round.

Nowadays the variety is enormous and we are spoilt for choice. There are even cheese mooncakes, lotus paste moon cakes with single or double egg yolk, mixed nuts, chocolate mooncakes, mooncakes with chestnut and wolfberry fillings, etc.  etc…. How not to give in to temptation?

So you must have an inkling of what I mean when I say I lapsed this evening and a few days prior to this day. Shhh….shhhh….. I’ve been nibbling on mooncakes, trying out the various fillings and this evening, after a full day’s attendance at a computer bootcamp, my significant other and I went to a restaurant outside of town and we had a sumptious dinner of fish maw soup and one and a half kg of mud crabs cooked in salted eggs. The crabs were so delicious that I had to lick my fingers clean! The soup went down so very smoothly and the rice was smothered in the delicious crab gravy. Sigh! It was really good and I just couldn’t help myself! I’m replete! Won’t be surprised if the scales tip the other way tomorrow and I find myself at least a few pounds heavier! Oh ! Oh!

But, ooh, that was a superb dinner! The restaurant was just a simple coffee shop and its extension, a shed that was three times the size of the coffeeshop, house more than 100 customers at one time. There are usually two sittings. In one corner are the cooler boxes containing different types of fish and the acquariums that have different types of shellfish, prawns, etc. The crabs were in large plastic crates.

Every table had an order of crabs, cooked in different styles, depending on the diners’ palette.

Why is this day special for me? There are a few legends linked to this auspicious day. My favourite one is the one told to me by my grandmother. I was actually named by my grandaunt. My Chinese name is Chang Er. I was named after the beautiful lady who flew to the moon after she swallowed the elixir of eternal life, to prevent her emperor husband from taking it so that the people would not be forever subjected to his tyranny. To this day, the Chinese believe that she is still living in the moon.

Another story, which is very sad, is that of the cowherd and his wife who was actually a celestial being. Their union was forbidden and as punishment, the lovers were separated and could only meet on this day when the galaxy or milky way formed a bridge between Heaven and Earth. Such a romantic but sad story.

Yet another is that the people suffering under the yoke of tyranny, were given moon cakes in which messages to rebel were hidden. This led to a successful uprising.

Throughout the years, this day has been an auspicious day for marriages. In fact the eighth lunar month is a favourite month for nuptials. So when you have a few invitations to the wedding banquets, can you blame weight watchers if they forgo their weightloss program for this month?

However, all is not lost because we can make up for it by exercising more, and also eating in moderation, even at the banquets, although the food is delicious and mouth-watering. As for me, I will have to walk faster in the mornings during my nine-hole round of golf’ and run up and down the stairs in my home a few more times. That should whittle away some of the extra pounds that I’ve inevitably put on this month! By next month before the next festival comes along, I would have lost some weight. Hopefully, if you are in my shoes, you will lose weight too by going the extra mile. 

To weight loss!

Peggy