I have something of an annual, once-a-year passion for mooncakes. Though I don’t eat mooncakes anymore, but I don’t know why I feel so happy buying them! It’s a perfect blend of the things that I love when I buy any product – meaningful, craftsmanship, and emotive. 

There’s something about the heritage surrounding the pastry which connects me to my ethnic and cultural roots. Every year, just partaking in the buying and gifting is really meaningful to me. As with most festivals, there’s a sense of family and kinship. The craftsmanship involved to making these handcrafted treats, is frankly, on it’s way towards extinction. Run-down traditional shops that look like an 80s time capsule, which still hand-make mooncakes are starting to feel more and more precious each year, as more and more of them disappear. I only buy from the real heritage shops that still make it by hand, now. Which makes hunting them down every year all the more fun. 

It’s an annual pilgrimage, a yearly indulgence, a once-a-year ritual that’s as grounding and wholesome as it is delightful and joyous. Every year without fail, I post a picture of the mooncake on Instagram. Every year, I write something about it (as I had done last year here on 200wad). 

Here’s to more years, more decades to come, to partake in this tradition.