Mid-Autumn Festival Sunday 14th September 2008

The moon was full and round that night, swathed in a chiffon of clouds.

KT, PY and I were at a friend's apartment (a block across from ours) celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. We had Korean / Japanese / Chinese fusion hot pot (for the occasion, KT bought the hot pot "kit" - the hot pot pot :P and portable gas stove).

Afterwards, we were treated to Mei Sum's "bing pi" (snowy skinned) moon cakes of different flavours - blueberry, mango, and even mocha. I love bing pi moon cakes. :P

Back at our place, we have some mini lotus seed paste moon cakes - I made them!!! My parents bought over a moon cake mould knowing that I wanted to make some, with a recipe of Betty Yew's. First attempt proved successful, although the moon cake pattern wasn't well-defined. I could have added a little bit more flour to make the dough easier to mould and used a finer pastry brush to brush the egg wash.

KT and PY said that it tastes yummy ^_^

Mid-Autumn Festival Sunday 14th September 2008

Wall.E - One of the Most Meaningful Animated Movies in a Long While

Wall.E is another production of the geniuses at Pixar. I love the story-telling with the characters with minimal dialogue. It's not a "fluff" animation either; I had to think a bit to understand the storyline.

In a way, Wall.E reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki's animes - it relies more on visual impact and interpretation, and the environmental message is unmistakable.

The main character, Wall.E, is so lovable. I just couldn't stop crying throughout the film, even the funny parts were heart-wrenching.

I love the part where Wall.E gathers "junk" and carefully puts them away in his "home" as if they were treasures - Wall.E was going about his usual business of compacting junk and collecting trinkets when he came across a ring box, he opened it to reveal a ring, proceeded to throw away the ring, was instead fascinated by the box and put the box in his storage box for keeping.

I like it that Wall.E is portrayed to be a complex character, human-like, and yet, with a "mind" and "heart" of a child - simple and pure.

It's a story about love, the ability to feel, and the appreciation for the Earth on which we live.

Wall.E - One of the Most Meaningful Animated Movies in a Long While