New moon on Monday…

Nope…there will not be a new moon on Monday, not yet but there will be a full moon tonight as it’s the 15th of the 8th month on the Chinese lunar calendar which means that it is the Mooncake Festival today.

I noticed that my regular mini-supermarket near my house had not brought in a lot of those mooncakes made in West Malaysia this year, the obvious reasons being the economic slowdown and also the astronomical prices. I had a peep at ONE and I saw RM13.50 on the price tag. No, thank you!

But to keep the tradition alive, I bought the Foochow Mooncake Festival biscuits that I have loved ever since I was a child…

They range from RM3.50 to RM4.00 a packet but most of them are not halal as they contain lard (mengandungi lemak babi). They used to be square (and were more fragrant) but this particular brand is round or circular in shape and thus may symbolise the moon better…

We do have our own locally-produced mooncakes but needless to say, they are not as nice as those from the popular West Malaysian producers like Tai Thong or Baker’s Cottage and what have you. But what they lack in quality, they certainly make up for it in the pricing. These small ones are only RM2.50 for four…

…with kacang hijau (green bean) paste…

Then we have these regular-sized Made-in-Sarikei ones at only RM7.50 for four…

I felt they were very nice – maybe not as nice as the ultra-expensive ones but I actually liked them a lot…

They even have a nicer packing these days – no longer the red paper with gold lettering that we used to see in the past. I did see a few of those in the shop…but I did not get any of that type. The “pek tau sar” (white bean paste) inside these that I had bought tasted very good…

…and at less than RM2.00 each, I could see no cause to complain.

I really wonder who in their right mind would go and buy mooncakes at over RM10.00 each and around RM50.00 a box, not that they are THAT irresistably delicious. I certainly can think of a lot of nicer things that I can go and enjoy with that kind of money.

Anyway, a Happy Mooncake Festival to one and all…

P.S.:
There is a lantern extravaganza going on right now here in Sibu – what they call the 1st Borneo Lantern Festival, being held in conjunction with the Mooncake or Lantern Festival. Anybody interested can drop by rubberseeds’ blog to have a look at his beautiful photos. Just click the link HERE.