Along the week, I am always looking for something to snap for #marketfriday. Sometimes, I do not have any but when I do spot any fair or market, I get a bit more excited knowing I have content for this community.
Just like this week! I stumbled upon a Mooncake Festival Fair in my local mall.
Mooncake Festival is actually a festival celebrated by Chinese all over the world. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th month in the lunar calendar. The sales promoter told me it is in the early part of September this year. Before the festival arrives, there will be some fairs in malls to promote mooncakes of different flavours and brands. Nowadays the mooncakes variety have expanded so much more. They have gotten more and more innovative so it is kind of interesting to watch and explore though I may not buy all of them.
This is the entrance to a small fair in the middle of a mall of Aeon Alpha Angle in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
However I noticed that there were lesser stalls this year compared to the previous years. Am not sure if businesses are just hard to sustain or they have not yet started their promotion. Hopefully it is the latter.
The mooncakes above are baked mooncakes which has many different fillings in them. There are also snowskin mooncakes which are non baked but chilled. It gives a more chewy texture, a bit similar to mochi and it is easier to make.
There are also ice cream mooncakes nowadays. I think these are quite pleasant. I always wanted to try from a local brand but I could not help myself to buy them because they are even pricier than the usual mooncakes.
Besides mooncakes, this fair also sells other things like simple snacks. This is because Chinese families love to gather and eat together during this festival as we watch the round full moon for this occasion.
They sell some instant coffees and other beverages too. This must have been the modern twist for this occasion. In the olden days, tea was the drink to be sipped to cut down the sweetness of the mooncake.
This is my favorite section of some drinks from Korea. Was surprised to find them here too.
Let me bring you nearer to look at the mooncakes. I used to be very attracted to mooncakes because of their boxes which can be sometimes rather fancy.
There has also been a price increase in mooncakes, I believe. It used to be more affordable but oh well, we are in this time of inflation.
This section sells the non-halal mooncakes meaning that there could be pork in the filling. This particular brand I know has pork ham and nuts combination as the filling.
This fair looks very spacious and their items are all neatly arranged so it was very nice to walk. My boys went on their own to fulfill their curiosity, especially my youngest who hasn't been to a mall or supermarket much in the last 2 years.
They also sell very beautiful and attractive lanterns for children. One of the practices for this festival is children can bring their lit lanterns to walk around the neighbourhood. It was such a hit thing for me when I was a child.
Haven't seen the more traditional lanterns around for sale but these are some digital ones with all sorts of characters of interest for the children. I am not buying any though because I DIY-ed two lanterns for my boys last year. They are still well kept and functioning well.
This is one I have not seen but read about before called天灯, sky lantern in Chinese. Maybe I should get one to have a closer look at it. Or maybe not.
What I meant by the traditional lanterns I am more familiar with is this type. The fair was decorated with them though.
As we walked further up, we saw some more affordable mooncakes with different colours.
My eldest son is a fan of a certain type of mooncake and he requested for one. So in the end I bought a white lotus mooncake for MYR13. This is considered very cheap for a mooncake.
