Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Well, on Saturday I gave my best efforts to taking public transport to East Coast Park (a park area on the East Coast... of course....) but, despite getting to the right MRT station and navigating to the bus interchange, I waited there for a full hour and a quarter before realising that the first bus of the day wasn't due for yet another hour (2pm). So I alerted the other unfortuante people who hadn't bothered to read the sign and were queuing expectantly, and so we all walked off. I was tempted to take a taxi to the Park but with engagements in the evening, and it was starting to rain, I got back on the MRT and went back to the hostel!

So I'm not going to try and explain mid-autumn festival, it was a complex tale of people shooting down the suns and a hare on the moon desperately trying to make drugs that make you fly. But have a read here! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Anyway, one of the centrepieces is a march with lanterns, originating from Chinatown. One of the hostel girls had organised for some of us to meet and then walk to Chinatown and march with lanterns ourselves! So at 6pm, off we went...

Chinatown in the evening

The Five Stones Hostel team in front of the massive pineapple-lantern. I look of here because I am trying not to accentuate the fact that I was about a foot taller than... well, everyone!

The march was opened by the Minister for Culture and also some celebrities from Taiwan (?) but shortly we were walking around the streets of Chinatown in a huge horde, swinging the lanterns that Nicolette had so kindly provided with us!

Later, after the march, we had a bite to eat at an outdoor hawker centre and I introduced Marianne (a new arrival to the Hostel, also from England) to the joys of Fried Carrot Cake. While Nicolette tried to introduce the rest of us to the 'joys' of pig organ soup. Yes I did have a slither of stomach and it was quite tasty, but I won't be ordering it for myself any time soon!

Back at the Hostel, it was revealed that we had been bought some genuine, and expensive, mooncake to celebrate the occasion! We all settled down to enjoy the delicious delicacies (very expensive, especially when purchased from the Marriott hotel) including some of the smaller snow-skin mooncakes with a softer filling. Here, Nicolette and I show off the goods...

It was a lovely evening! And I was so pleased to be part of the celebration. What a great coincidence it was that I was here in Singapore for the festival. I seem to time these things well.