baby moon, rice and daun palas

is it still the same, i wonder? days when i see those wooden houses over that side at the kampung being decorated with blinking colorful lights and little oil lamps on a bamboo stick in the courtyard...

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days when the night before, the old man will announce the sighting of the baby moon, days when the morning tele, instead of showing some popular disney cartoon on a holiday morning, shows the morning prayers instead? days when it always happen in the first 2 months of the year rather than at the other end of the year like recently?

time passes by, things change, people change. even the recipe for the ketupat changes... so does the way people remember the purpose of it all...

selamat Eid uL-Fitr

a night, or rather, morning, at the park.

extreme exhaustion. back from the wonderful outing at the Penang National Park, i have been spending the rest of the day looking through and doing all the usual works on the pictures i snapped. it was already past midnight. meaning... the mooncake festival have just passed...

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there was this great and yummy piece of cloud over the clear sky. the bright and round mr. moon shone majestically through the cumulus. the curvy formation of the cloudlets (yes, cute word) were so similar to waves i saw at the beach. it was, majestic and serenely, beautiful...

so what else? i guess i have to delay my bedtime for a few moments. so i headed to a park nearby, set up everything and just had, some fun.

the park is quite big, easily accomodate 3 to 4 football fields. it was, fitting to the hour, deserted and quiet. wearing just slippers, i could feel the wet and cool grass as i was walking to the center trying to find the most open spot.

i was not entirely alone though. i could hear a faint chatting sound. i figured that the sound should be coming from one of the shaded (by the street lamps) seats. the recent uncertainty on the local political situation does somehow worry me that i might not be safe being in such a place at such a time though.

so first up, the reason i was there at the first place...

my eyes were heavy. but i was there, and the thoughts of coming back another day just to shoot the park itself, not a refreshing idea for the sleepy state i was in. or was it? it was a cool night, fortunately. guess i'll hang around a bit. look at the time: almost 3 am. great. i will be having a sleepy monday a work for sure!

can i play? better not. i might get stuck :D

well actually i think i have a fetish for night shots. well, its a different world, aint it?

by the time i was almost finished, the passing by police patrol car that had been circling the area came to a sudden halt, quickly (and roughly) reversed for a few meters, and pointed the spotlight at my direction. as we (i supposed) exchanged stares from a distance, there was this sudden silence, and the only sound we could hear was that 'croak' of the frog. about half a minute later the car drove away, convinced that i'm not someone they need to be suspicious of. smart choice... well, not the first time i encounter the police on my outings such as this. i'll enlighten you on it some other day...

a UFO passing by. sorry, not interested. keep away from my sky please. trying to snap some pics here man!

care to join me for an outing next time?

the whole set of peace can be found here

and mr. moon, he came by...

kinda mysterious, him. while most are out and about, happily welcoming the coolness of the night, he is always there. watching. doesnt make a sound or making himself too imposing to be noticed. yet, he is there. only those who know and wiling to, can find him. and many greet him. even so, he never make a sound, and as ever, never had any expression. he is just there...

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there are tales about him, or associated with him. to me, and many, all others will not matter come this sunday ~ his special day. yet, he won't have any expression to show. never did, and ever will be. those who see with their hearts may think, he will be very glad, that, as if its his birthday, everyone that remembers him toast to him, and most importantly, associate him with that specially made red-bean-filled little cake...

the fact is, the moment i'm writing without any real idea of when the day of the festival is going to be. hence, just now i (panicky) went hunting for some of those brown cakes. and not too surprised to find that even these brown buddies come in different fillings already.

cute? as traditional as they may seem, they are also nicely labeled...

for some reason, despite all the fancy varieties of moon cakes nowadays, i just find the type that i used to know, best suit me. the round and brown, red bean filled, moon cake. with a skin a lil bit oily and shiny. that distinct burnt smell. the aroma from the ingredients and the oily coat... and i can't find any!

so care to take a lil' bit of your time and greet that fella come sunday night? he is there always, perhaps watching us and has been keeping us safe, sung our bedtime song, eased our broken hearts and inspiring people everywhere...

see more mooncakes here