Moon"meat" Festival

Monday 27th
I'm about to meet my cousin so we can go down to my aunt's place and have a family gathering around a nice Taiwanese-style BBQ. It's been raining on and off for the past few days... what's new.
As I walked down the street of Taipei I can see smoke coming from different storefronts. Yes, even under the rain and cloudy night, people are still attached to their grilled meat. Although the full moon will not show up in the capital city the wet streets provide a fresh smell for celebration.

Around 11pm
I arrive in Hsinh Chu (新竹), supposedly Taiwan Silicon Valley, though during my several visits, I've never found anything that looked like Mountain View and its surroundings. One day I'll have to find out why it is Taiwan Silicon Valley.
My relatives are all busy around the fire as are all their neighbors and probably a lot of families on the island. Smokes everywhere, on the walkways, in the courtyards, on the beach, in the gardens and even on street roads. Pork, chicken, chicken feet, tofu, clams, oysters, mushrooms, young bamboo sticks... it's all you can eat... food sizzling on homemade, "quick & dirty" fashion BBQ grills. It's bonfire night on the far-eastern island.

But as bright as the moon can ever be, where's the mooncake? Traditionally, during the Mooncake Festical, you have to eat mooncakes. As for the few memories I have from about 20 years ago, this is what the celebration was all about. Actually you do see the mooncakes, they are actually sold everywhere prior to the festivities. You buy a lot and you offer them to your relatives, your coworkers, your clients, your friends, your teacher as a customary gesture. And they come with so many differents flavors it will take forever to taste them all. I heard that some are also made of gold and that they are edible... Aren't we nuts?!

It just seems that the BBQ has somehow taken over the mooncake. However the main idea hasn't really changed. It's still a good excuse to gather around, chat under a clear night, have random friends coming over for a mall piece of juicy grilled meat... taking a break from everyday life and just enjoying the food.

Tuesday 28th - evening
It's the actual holiday. We didn't succeed in BBQing everything from last night. So it's second round and the moon is watching us with its huge round face.