I know is spring time in Australia, but there is no reason why we can’t celebrate mid autumn festival (中秋節), especially when there is food involved, right? One of my favourite Chinese festivals has to be mid-autumn festival, and it falls on 22nd September this year. As you can see, I have blogged about it every year and of course there is no exception for this year. It is a very typical Chinese thing to do during the festival to have a reunion dinner with families or friends and share some mooncakes after meal over a cup of Chinese tea.

This year, ATFT has teamed up with Amyson again and 3 ATFT readers will be the lucky winners of these gorgeous ‘Over The Moon’ Mooncake deluxe boxes. Each box consists of four mooncakes inside with four different flavours – pumpkin taro, pandan with 1 yolk, jade custard, and macha red bean. Read on and find out how to win.

For those who never heard of mooncake, it is a Chinese pastry that traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is usually in round or rectangular shapes with a soft pastry skin while inside is a thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste and sometimes may contain a salted duck egg yolk inside.

But these days, mooncakes come in different shapes and sizes and flavours. Just go to Chinatown or Cabramatta this weekend and you will be overwhelmed by different types of mooncakes stacking up high in metal tins and some are in unique packaging like these by the brand Casahana (Hei Yue Tong 喜月堂). Each year they have some of the most beautiful packaging I’ve ever seen (Yes I am a sucker for pretty packaging), a three-tier box with drawers that can be used as jewelry box once you have finished the mooncakes, for instance. And they are also always pushing envelopes with new flavours each year, red yeast Japanese sweet potato and charcoal baked yam seems to be the new kids in the mooncake box.

Some mooncakes even shaped of a bunny! So cute! Kawaii…! But very limited stock I’ve been told, if you want to order, best to go to your local Asian supermarket to hunt them down as some limited edition may have to order in especially for you.
Source : http://www.atablefortwo.com.au/2010/09/03/mid-autumn-festival-%E4%B8%AD%E7%A7%8B%E7%AF%80-win-1-of-3-over-the-moon-mooncake-deluxe-box/comment-page-2/#comment-11888

Singapore’s Events highlights in 2010 include:

World Gourmet Summit

11 – 24 April 2010

The World Gourmet Summit is an international gastronomic extravaganza, an annual epicurean festival that showcases the intricate craftsmanship of prestigious chefs. Be dazzled by the arrival of a constellation of stars of the culinary world as they whip up delicious, delightful, delectable and desirable cuisine for discerning individuals who appreciate fine cuisine, great wines and unique dining experiences.

Singapore Arts Festival

14 May – 13 June 2010

The Singapore Arts Festival first began in 1977 as a national arts festival celebrating local arts activity of Singapore’s diverse communities. Over the last three decades, the Festival, organised by the National Arts Council, has helped to transform the city’s artistic landscape, turning it into one of Asia’s major cultural capitals. The Festival featured more than 2,500 artists from 26 countries in 2009, with plans to be even bigger and better for 2010.

Vesak Day

28 May 2010

Huge crowds assemble at Buddhist temples around the city, where monks chant sacred hymns and a large number of devotees set caged-birds free as a mark of respect to all living creatures in the world.

Great Singapore Sale

28 May – 25 July 2010

Boosting Singapore’s reputation as a shopping Mecca, this event gets bigger year after year, offering everything in retail on sale, from crazy bargains in luxury goods to discounted attractions, spa and beauty treatments.

Singapore River Festival

June 2010

The 10 annual day festival sees a host of events taking place along the river from bumboat parades to live music and aerial shows. One of the key highlights is the Dragon Boat Festival , with racing taking place from 18-20 June 2010.

Singapore Food Festival

July 2010

In a city where food is a passion and eating, a serious pastime, the Singapore Food Festival is a perfect time to dive into the ethnic melting pot that epitomises Singapore. Tuck into everything from curries, sushi and tapas to local dishes such as chilli crab.

Singapore Garden Festival

15 – 22 July 2010

Singapore celebrates its ‘Garden City’ status during July with the only show in the world to gather the world’s top award-winning garden and floral designers under one roof. After successful runs in 2006 and 2008, the Singapore Garden Festival 2010 will showcase the talents of the world’s gardening luminaries with highlights including the Singapore Orchid Show, garden fiesta and a vibrant garden marketplace, all taking place at the Suntec Singapore International Convention Centre.

Inaugural Youth Olympics

14 – 26 August

Singapore will make history in 2010 when it hosts the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. This 12-day event is expected to draw 3,200 athletes, aged between 14 and 18 years and 15,000 participants including athletes, officials, spectators and media.

Hungry Ghost Festival

September 2010

The seventh month is a time for Chinese to pay respects to deceased friends and relatives, preparing sumptuous meals with prayer ceremonies at homes and temples. The Hungry Ghost Festival lasts for a whole month, with food offered to the hungry ghosts every day.

Mid Autumn Festival

September 2010

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time when families gather to view the moon at its fullest and brightest. Not to be missed is mooncake – a sweet pastry traditionally filled with bean paste but increasingly sporting a variety of new fillings.

Singapore Grand Prix

September 2010

Singapore will host the FORMULA 1™SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX night race for the third consecutive year in 2010 – the first street and night race in Asia. In addition to the race event that takes place around the stunning 5.067 km Marina Bay circuit, Singapore’s Grand Prix Season includes a wide range of complimentary events and exhibitions making the GP Season one of the most exciting and vibrant times to visit the city.

Deepavali

October 2010

The Hindu Festival of Lights, or Deepavali, celebrates the triumph of good over evil, light over dark. Visit Little India to experience the spectacular Deepavali street decorations and lights, Indian cultural performances, the sweet smell of aromatic spices, garlands of jasmine flowers and traditional Indian sweet meats.

Singapore Sun Festival

29 October – 7 November 2010

A chance to enjoy the finer things in life with this integrated lifestyle event celebrating Music, Film, Visual Arts, Literature, Cuisine, Wine and Wellness.

Christmas in the Tropics

November – January 2010

One of Singapore’s most popular events for visitors spreads over two months at the end of the year as Orchard Road comes alive with the extravagant Christmas Light-Up and shopping malls get dressed in their festive best.

Source : http://etravel.org/places/asia/singapore/singapore-events-2010/

The Mid Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities, with a history of more than 2,000 years. In feudal times, Chinese emperors prayed to Heaven for a prosperous year. They chose the morning of the 15th day of the second lunar month to worship the sun and the evening of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month to hold a ceremony in praise of the moon. In the western district of Beijing is Yuetan Park, which originally was the Moon Temple. Every year the emperor would go there to offer a sacrifice to the moon.

The custom of worshipping the moon (called xi yue in Chinese) can be traced back to as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (21-11th century BC). In the Zhou Dynasty (11th century-256BC), people held ceremonies to greet winter and worship the moon whenever the mid-Autumn set in. It became prevalent in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) for the people to enjoy and worship the full moon. During the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), however, people sent round cakes to their relatives as gifts to express their best wishes for a family reunion. When it became dark, they would look up at the full silver moon or go sightseeing by the lakeside to celebrate the festival.

By the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration had become unprecedented popular, with the appearance of some special customs in different parts of the country, such as playing under the moon, burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting lanterns on towers, or performing fire dragon dances. Nowadays, while many customs of playing under the moon are no longer observed, the custom of enjoying the bright silver moon and eating mooncake remains an important part of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Whenever the festival comes, people tend to look up at the full silver moon and drink wine as a way to celebrate their happy life and to extend their best wishes to their relatives and friends far from home.

Source : http://www.womenofchina.cn/Lifestyle/Customs/206280.jsp