Ruby Tuesday - Lantern Festival

It was a night filled with excitement and fun for the kids and parents who attended the school family gathering to mark the Lantern Festival recently. At the same time, I think it was a wonderful opportunity as all the kids get to experience a great taste of the traditional culture.

Among the activities lined up for the night were 24-season drums, lanterns procession, a lucky draw and not forgetting eating lots of glorious food.

The 24-season drums are used mainly in Chinese festivals, one of which is the Chinese New Year or Mid-Autumn Celebration.

The kids mesmerised the crowd with a superb performance of skills and coordination as they moved energetically to the rhythm of the drums, how cool is that!

My son and his friends gathered joyfully with their favourite lanterns parading around the school compound to mark this occasion. It was interesting to see those numerous lanterns in assorted sizes, shapes and even icons like Doeraemon, Ultraman, Spiderman and so on. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures during that night as I was too busy catching up with friends and savouring delicious food.

These days, sophisticated lanterns are equipped with battery operated which are perfect for toddlers but depending on the preferences of the kids, many older kids preferred candle lanterns.


Fun time : a group of kids posing for the camera with their favourite lanterns. Unfortunately, my son was camera shy and was always behind the camera. :(

The kids participated in lantern walk. They enjoyed the walk very much and many felt proud showing off their very own lantern on a walk around the school compound!


These cute lanterns provide a way for children to carry around candles safely


Hope everyone had an enjoyable Mooncake festival!


First Commenter - Donna

Mooncake Festival

As the mooncake festival approaches, the mooncake frenzy is gaining momentum again. The delightful Mooncake Festival falls on every 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar and this year, it falls on Oct 3rd. Incase you're not aware, mooncake is a Chinese pastry traditionally eaten during the Mooncake Festival.

I happened to pass by one of the popular bakeries in the city while on my way to work this morning. With many fanciful mooncakes available, eventually I succumbed to temptations and couldn't resist buying myself a box. The mooncakes used to cost much less, but now they are incredibly expensive. My kids have been craving for these sweet treats for weeks and not wanting to dissapoint them, I purchased a box to satisfy their sweet cravings. After all, it's only once a year you get to savour this sweet delicacies.

Just looking at these sinfully delicious mooncakes is enough to add extra inches to my waistline. And with age catching up, I only consumed moderate amounts of these sweet delights as they're notoriously high in sugar and fat.

Lotus paste flavour

Each year big commercial mooncake makers would introduce a wide array of flavours, including dragon fruit, mango, green tea, durian, honeydew, water chestnut, soya bean, chocolate and some names that I've never even heard of. Despite the endless choices available, nothing beats the traditional lotus paste flavour which usually hits the best-selling list yearly. It happens to be one of my hubby's favourite of all time too.

Most traditional mooncakes have an inscription on top consisting of the Chinese characters to symbolize "longevity" or "harmony".

This is pandan lotus. The aroma of pandan is there but it was way too sweet for my liking.

Golden Jade Light with 1 yolk
Some mooncakes may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in its center to symbolize the full moon. I prefer mooncakes with yolks which are undeniably tastier than the plain ones.


Pearly Jade Mooncake
My kids loved the pearly jade flavour. It looks pretty and it has a strong pandan flavour too. Unfortunately, the excessive sugar somewhat spoiled its flavour.


This is Moonlight shadow and it's a wonderful combination of chocolate and cheese filling. The result is delicious, delectable and surprisingly, not too sweet. It is so yummy that after having one piece, my kids find it hard to stop! I love this flavour too, so this was an excellent find. The mooncakes certainly go well with my favourite green tea of course.


Mooncakes usually come in tastefully designed boxes as these sweet treats make perfect gifts during the Mooncake festival season.

Have you savoured this year's mooncake and what's your favourite flavour?

First Commenter - Foong

Wordful/ Wordless Wednesday - Hungry Ghosts' Festival

It is the time of the year again where the Chinese community mainly Taoists and Buddhists observed the Hungry ghosts Festival. For those who have never heard of this festival, it is a popular tradition that is taken very seriously by most Chinese.

According to superstious beliefs, the gates of hell are opened during the 7th lunar chinese month allowing the hungry ghosts who then roam freely to seek food on Earth for 30 days. The main reason why most Chinese observe this festival is to pay special tribute to their dearly departed loved ones. They also feel that by offering food to the deceased appeases them and ward off bad luck and misfortune.

I've started hearing free entertainment with music blasting and dancing late into the night, courtesy of the Hungry Ghosts Society down the road from where I lived. I could not recall my mom ever telling us anything about what we could or couldn't do during hungry ghosts month because they weren't terribly superstitious about it. But then, we still fulfill this religious obligation annually to show respect and remembrance to our deceased anchestors.

I've heard numerous spooky ghost stories though but knock on wood, I've not encountered one before. I used to believe in them when I was a kid, and I could remember how thrilling yet convincing the stories were but that was a very long time ago. I don't believe in supernatural stuff in quite the same manner nowadays. I know there are some people who have encountered unexplainable phenomena and happenings in life but that doesn't mean to say that 'ghosts' are the cause. I'm sure all of these things had logical explanations behind them.

The festival is widely celebrated by the Chinese community in Penang. Temporary canopies and tents are widely set up on the streets. However, what really creeps me out is how the monks will sing spooky songs dedicated to the wandering spirits or ghosts during the prayer sessions.


Striking coloured flags were put up along the roads leading to the tents several days before the festival begins which normally serve two purposes. The ghosts can follow the flags to reach the festival and at the same time, the flags are also a landmark for devotees to visit the tents.


Food offerings to the hungry ghosts

These are giant sized dragon joss sticks burnt as offerings for the hungry ghosts.

These are 'hell money notes' and other items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods to be burnt so that the departed souls can enjoy these comforts in their afterlife. Some families also burn paper houses, televisions, cars to please their deceased anchestors.


After an offering has been burnt to the spirits, it is a taboo to step on the burnt area as it is believed to be an opening to the world of spirit and touching it might cause the person to be possessed.

Don't be surprised if you don't see many Chinese out at night for the next week or two.

First Commenter - Carver

Tong Yuen Festival

Today is Dong Zhi, which marks the Winter Solstice, according to the chinese calender. Dong Zhi is the time for family to get together to make tong yuen. Traditionally, Tong Yuen is served on special occasions such as during weddings and the winter solstice festival about 6 weeks before the Chinese New Year. This special occasion is widely celebrated by the Chinese community all around the globe where family and relatives would gather for reunion to mark this significant festivity.

Basically, Tong yuen is a Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour. Just like the past, my kids and I would gather with my mom and we would make the rice balls one by one from the glutinous dough prepared. If you're too lazy to roll the rice balls, the coloured balls can be easily obtained in wet markets or hypermarkets. Despite all these conveniences, nothing beats making it from scratch, with kids gathered together and helping out to learn the art of rolling tong yuen .

The whole affair can be a joyous and fun experience that they will remember always, and hopefully pass on to another generation. They enjoy doing it but will turn the whole house upside down with small piles of flour scattered on the floor, dough on the wall, colours on each other’s faces and practically everything else in the house. LOL!

There you go, a bowl of colourful Tong Yuen or Glutinous Rice Balls in Pandan flavoured ginger syrup. Some of the common used colours are white and pink but this year my mom create multiple colours which include green (extracted from pandan leaves), blue (extracted from blue pea flowers a.k.a bunga telang) and maroon (extracted from dragon fruit).

Hurray for Dong Zhi!