Greetings all!
One of the things that is different for us here in Hong Kong is that we don't get to celebrate the same holidays as in the US. While all of you were enjoying a nice, long weekend for Labor Day, I was over here working. And working long hours I might add! I was more than a little jealous of my friends back home.
Well, we finally got to celebrate a long weekend here in Hong Kong. There were two holidays that were recently celebrated. The first is Mid-Autumn Festival. This festival is also known as the Moon Festival or Chinese Lantern Festival. It is a lunar festival that is typically celebrated during the full moon close to the Autumnal equinox. The celebration dates back over 3000 years! Today the festival is celebrated by eating Mooncakes, spending time with family, lantern displays and fire dragon dances. Mooncakes are HUGE here.
Ever since we arrived in Hong Kong, stores were taking pre-orders for mooncakes and everybody has their favorite kind. Most mooncakes are round or square, about 2 inches across and 1 inch thick. They are typically filled with red bean or lotus seed paste, or egg yolks. They are very dense and very heavy. A single mooncake is about 1000 calories - yikes! Zack and I tried a few different kinds and I would say a little goes a long way. Kind of like fruitcake for most people (except I actually really like good fruitcake). They even make frozen ones for dogs:
We had the opportunity to go to Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island over the weekend to see the Lantern Festival. This was really neat. We went in the afternoon so we could see the lanterns before it got dark and then waited for it to get dark so we could see them all lit up. The centerpiece of the festival was a large round lantern with lights of many colors that were constantly changing. Zack thought it looked like the Heat Miser's head and I think he's right!
The park was full of people trying to get pictures of all the lanterns. It made it challenging to take pictures without getting strangers in your pictures!
Monday, October 1st was National Day. National Day is a Chinese holiday that marks the day that the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. This holiday is recognized by large fireworks displays across the country. In Hong Kong, they have fireworks barges in Victoria Harbor so that people can see the fireworks from Hong Kong Island as well as Kowloon. Many restaurants along the waterfront and in the high rise buildings offer special dinners so that you can enjoy a nice meal and have a front row seat for the fireworks - as opposed to standing around with hordes of people. This is what Zack and I chose to do. We went to a place not far from our apartment and got a nice table on the sidewalk. This allowed us to enjoy the show and have a nice glass of wine at the same time.
The fireworks were spectacular! The pictures just don't do it justice.
We've got some fun events coming up. Next Saturday we are going to the Star Street Gourmet and Wine Walk. This is an artist's neighborhood full of galleries, shops, restaurants and bars that will be providing samples of lovely wines and their specialty dishes. Even better, it's for a good cause as some of the proceeds will go to Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong.
We also signed up for a Cantonese cooking class later this month. It's an all day class that also includes a tour of the local food markets. We will learn proper wok cooking techniques and how to cook "not greasy food with oil". Some of the dishes we will make are Honk Kong Fried Rice with BBQ pork, shrimp and spring onion and Singaporean stir fry rice noodles. YUM!! This woman offers a lot of different classes, including Dim Sum, but we decided we wanted to start off with the basics and hopefully learn how to recreate some of the tasty dishes we are having here when we get back home.
I also wanted to give a big shout out to my friend Julie back in New Jersey. Yesterday, we got a big Halloween care package from her that included fun size Butterfingers (my favorite), malted milk balls, M&M's, goldfish crackers and a bunch of fun Halloween decorations. Our apartment is now very festively decorated! Thank you so much!!!
Until next time.
Love,
Carla
One of the things that is different for us here in Hong Kong is that we don't get to celebrate the same holidays as in the US. While all of you were enjoying a nice, long weekend for Labor Day, I was over here working. And working long hours I might add! I was more than a little jealous of my friends back home.
Well, we finally got to celebrate a long weekend here in Hong Kong. There were two holidays that were recently celebrated. The first is Mid-Autumn Festival. This festival is also known as the Moon Festival or Chinese Lantern Festival. It is a lunar festival that is typically celebrated during the full moon close to the Autumnal equinox. The celebration dates back over 3000 years! Today the festival is celebrated by eating Mooncakes, spending time with family, lantern displays and fire dragon dances. Mooncakes are HUGE here.
Ever since we arrived in Hong Kong, stores were taking pre-orders for mooncakes and everybody has their favorite kind. Most mooncakes are round or square, about 2 inches across and 1 inch thick. They are typically filled with red bean or lotus seed paste, or egg yolks. They are very dense and very heavy. A single mooncake is about 1000 calories - yikes! Zack and I tried a few different kinds and I would say a little goes a long way. Kind of like fruitcake for most people (except I actually really like good fruitcake). They even make frozen ones for dogs:
We had the opportunity to go to Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island over the weekend to see the Lantern Festival. This was really neat. We went in the afternoon so we could see the lanterns before it got dark and then waited for it to get dark so we could see them all lit up. The centerpiece of the festival was a large round lantern with lights of many colors that were constantly changing. Zack thought it looked like the Heat Miser's head and I think he's right!
The park was full of people trying to get pictures of all the lanterns. It made it challenging to take pictures without getting strangers in your pictures!
Here are a few pictures of the festival.
 |
| You could even see the full moon! |
Monday, October 1st was National Day. National Day is a Chinese holiday that marks the day that the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. This holiday is recognized by large fireworks displays across the country. In Hong Kong, they have fireworks barges in Victoria Harbor so that people can see the fireworks from Hong Kong Island as well as Kowloon. Many restaurants along the waterfront and in the high rise buildings offer special dinners so that you can enjoy a nice meal and have a front row seat for the fireworks - as opposed to standing around with hordes of people. This is what Zack and I chose to do. We went to a place not far from our apartment and got a nice table on the sidewalk. This allowed us to enjoy the show and have a nice glass of wine at the same time.
 |
| The crowds gathering for the show |
The fireworks were spectacular! The pictures just don't do it justice.
We've got some fun events coming up. Next Saturday we are going to the Star Street Gourmet and Wine Walk. This is an artist's neighborhood full of galleries, shops, restaurants and bars that will be providing samples of lovely wines and their specialty dishes. Even better, it's for a good cause as some of the proceeds will go to Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong.
We also signed up for a Cantonese cooking class later this month. It's an all day class that also includes a tour of the local food markets. We will learn proper wok cooking techniques and how to cook "not greasy food with oil". Some of the dishes we will make are Honk Kong Fried Rice with BBQ pork, shrimp and spring onion and Singaporean stir fry rice noodles. YUM!! This woman offers a lot of different classes, including Dim Sum, but we decided we wanted to start off with the basics and hopefully learn how to recreate some of the tasty dishes we are having here when we get back home.
I also wanted to give a big shout out to my friend Julie back in New Jersey. Yesterday, we got a big Halloween care package from her that included fun size Butterfingers (my favorite), malted milk balls, M&M's, goldfish crackers and a bunch of fun Halloween decorations. Our apartment is now very festively decorated! Thank you so much!!!
Until next time.
Love,
Carla
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