Mooncakes for Mid-Autumn

Today is the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. It's the Mid-Autumn Festival. I'm not big on eating mooncakes since it's simply a ton of calories, and that sticky mushy taste isn't appealing to my tastebuds. Eiooow. I'm thankful that nobody would buy boxes of mooncakes for us because it's really not appreciated in this home. 

I still buy a few boxes here and there for people who like it. But this year, I needed to seek out vegetarian and halal options for mooncakes (from Delcie's and Fairmont Hotel) that could also cater to a low-sugar and gluten-free preferences. Oooof, yeah, people shifted diets for health or out of necessity, which is a good thing. 

One standard-sized 200-gram mooncake is like... 900 calories. I'll just round it up to 1000 calories. *gulp Most of us would cut up a regular-sized mooncake into eight small pieces to share with people. That one tiny piece is more than enough for anyone. Even a smaller 60-g snowskin version offers 100-calories to choke you up. Uggggh. Never mind the calories, it's the flavors of the mooncakes that I cannot fully appreciate.

The brands, clients and friends still gave me some mooncakes. I couldn't control what brands and clients chose; I've no guilt re-gifting the ones given by brands and clients, and some acquaintances since it's really a perfunctory gesture. However, the ones gifted by friends always mean a little more, and carry genuine well-wishes. So I try to have a bite of each mooncake. I have no preferences over whichever bakeries that produce the mooncakes. They're all the same to me. 

The smart friends went for the low-sugar options, or simply gifted me ONE BIG MOONCAKE or TWO SMALL MOONCAKES. They're so very clever. Hahahaha. I certainly do not mind a bite of one mooncake. That's an excellent call. Two regular-sized mooncakes from each person would be wayyy too much already. 

I didn't just carelessly give these gifts away. I shared them and did taste some of these mooncakes. I don't have a preference for traditional baked mooncakes or the snowskin versions with different fillings. I'm not very into either anyway. While fun and colorful with interesting flavors, they're just... ...  sugar-laden lor. A nibble or two of a mooncake will do. That doesn't mean a nibble or two of ten mooncakes. Just two mooncakes would suffice. 

This year, I tasted three mooncakes — a regular-sized traditional baked version (from Raffles Hotel), a traditional baked black Owa coffee with lotus paste and melon seeds (Mandai Rainforest Resort), and a mini-sized snowskin of whisky and lapsang souchong truffle (from Raffles Hotel, gifted thoughtfully in a pair). I didn't eat all of them in one sitting, obviously. I still have some frozen in the freezer. LOL

Minced Meat Noodles

I didn't realize that the brand 'Macpherson Minced Meat Noodles' is 'famous'. Well, I'm not a fan of bak chor mee per se, so I don't particularly care about it. I ate at this one because it was convenient and the husband was curious about it. 

Apparently, all the stalls named 'Macpherson Minced Meat Noodles' aren't the same. They're not franchises or related to one another. The OG Uncle Yap's stall is now in Potong Pasir Block 136. But I can tell you that stall's version isn't nice. I bravely tried it thrice and it truly sucked, even for a regular plate. The meat really really stank, and the ratio of sauces was terrible. 

I very much prefer the iteration across the road done by Uncle Yap's disciple at the corner of Tai Thong Crescent. I kinda eat bak chor mee as minced meat kway teow, 'dry, white white'. LOL That's non-negotiable. I wouldn't eat it if it's drenched in sauces. So when I eat it like this, I'm not bothered about vinegar or type of chilli of whatever. I can taste all the flavors clearly. I know this is a caloric bomb, with all the grease and very little protein. So I don't eat it that often. 

Now that kway teow. That day, the kway teow came brown. Walao. NO. DUNWAN. When I said that I wanted 'white-white', I mean it — no sauces, no vinegar, no ketchup, no gravy, nothing. I dislike those flavors. I emphasized on white-white. So when the bowl of kway teow came back with a bit of sauce, I promptly went back to the stall, paid a $1 to get another bowl of white-white kway teow.

Do I like this brand's bak chor kway teow? No. I prefer the flavors at Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodles. The soup offered is much better too. 

'If You're Feeling Sinister' :: The 30th Anniversary!

I really didn't mind catching Belle and Sebastian again. They last played in Singapore in this same venue in February 2015. I saw that show. That was 11 years ago. Tonight, many of us came to watch the band. It was a like a reunion show in all sense. Many of the friends brought their grown children along; that was too cute. 

Tonight, the band celebrates 30 years of 'If You're Feeling Sinister' (1996). They played the entire album! And a few more well-loved songs. The band members have all visibly aged. They have still got that consummate professionalism going on. The easy songs full of emotions, the familiar melodies and the practiced craft of everyone shone through. 

The band began super promptly. In fact, at 7.27pm, the house lights dimmed and a short little clip came up. The band was on stage and began with 'The Stars of Track and Field' at 7.30pm right on time! Of course they did 'The Fox in the Snow'. The album held so many great songs. But this is my singular favorite from the album. I now have a little floofy fox (more like a dingo) by my side too, with no snow. Heh. The band's songs held so many winter memories too. I mean, Glasgow is cold. Scotland is cold. 

There was no intermission, but after playing 'If You're Feeling Sinister' in its entirety, the band took a super short break to get out of 1996 before settling into the second part of the night — playing nostalgic favorites. Stuart Murdoch stepped down from the stage and walked into the audience, down a row, and up a ledge while the band did 'Dress Up in You' (from 'The Life Pursuit, 2006). Ahhh... showmanship. Loved it. 

I didn't know why the Esplanade ushers walked around with signs to indicate no photography or videos. That looked a little dumb for an indie gig. I can't believe the band's manager would issue that directive. I mean, people more or less adhered to it for the first few songs. But when the whole concert hall refused to sit down and stood up for the rest of the show, there was way to restrict photography and videos! What more when Stuart Murdoch came down to mingle, and more later on. 

Before the night ended, the band got a small crowd up to the stage to dance. It made for such a memorable show. The band sang the emo-ness of my youth. They accompanied me through many nights when I was so young and didn't know the ways of the world. The lyrics were like a balm to soothe my perturbed and disordered teenaged soul.

They didn't play 'Lazy Line Painter Jane' (from 'Push Barman to Open Old Wounds', 2005), but there were many good ones. Gosh. Where did the decades go? Ahhhh.... WHAT A NIGHT. It was absolutely lovely.