Mid-Autumn Festival (and a quick night-out video)

Hi everyone. I realize it's been a while since I last posted so rather than wait for a big chunk of time or for inspiration to hit, I'll post mostly pictures from our recent adventure in Chinatown for the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Chinese Lantern Festival, or Mooncake Festival. Basically it's a celebration of the harvest moon at the autumnal equinox. Here is the web site for more information: http://www.chinatownfestivals.sg/

Before I get into that though, let me post a one-off. Ted and I had a date night recently and we went to the coolest place for drinks. We had to walk through an old church which is now a restaurant to get to the bar. The inside has these insanely high cathedral ceilings and it's gorgeous, but we weren't hungry. We were thirsty! The bar was all outside with fairly lights and couches and tables and this amazing sound system with speakers hidden in bushes. It was practically empty at 9 on a Friday. We enjoyed some drinks and then walked around the area called Dempsey Hill. We were looking for something fun to do. This is what we found:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5hrmpSbQ8g

By the way that song will forever be known as the Singapore Anthem to me because it is always on. Always.

Back to the subject though. We took the train to Chinatown with our lanterns in tow. Zoe had made two different lanterns at school. Ted had let the kids pick out other lanterns from one of the inexpensive shops in the neighborhood, too. These lanterns, however, required candles and therefore flames. It was very windy and kids are energetic. We finally broke down and registered for the event, paying something like $3 which earned us big lanterns and little electric lights to fit inside of them as well as some pretty pinwheels and some baked treats.

We gathered in a big vacant lot in Chinatown just before sunset. There were some musical performances and some guest appearances by Singapore's politicians, and then the lantern parade through the streets of Chinatown started. To the tune of "Gangnam Style" thank you very much. Here is that video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vRjmAzjJaQ

It was dark, the moon was full, the streets were crowded, the streetlights were. . . on? Ella expressed surprise for all of us when she asked why the lights were all left on if we were supposed to be celebrating the moon. Good question.

What follows is a whole chunk of pictures of us walking around in the parade and afterward. It was a lovely, hot, late Saturday night. First up, a picture of mooncake with its egg yolk representing the moon.