Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Let the first prize roll!Sometimes I think I was a Chinese princess in my previous life. I find that I easily adapt to anything Chinese (from their food to their tons of traditions). Graduating from a school at the University Belt where lots of Tsinoys (colloquial term for members of the Filipino Chinese community) study, I was exposed to how the Tsinoys live. Having been trained at a Chinese hospital, I was exposed not only to their traditions but also to their language. Di ba Ahia Kenji? It is not surprising therefore that I celebrate two New Years and the Mooncake Festival.
The Chinese celebrate the Mooncake festival on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month marking the end of the harvest season when the moon is at its brightest and fullest. The origin of this festival have several versions. Here in the Philippines, the Tsinoys celebrate it as a thanksgiving for the family's abundant "harvest". Families get together and burn incense sticks at the Buddhist temples then have a feast thereafter. The mooncake of course is a must in the celebration. These mooncakes are also given to relatives and friends for abundance and to foster better ties. Tsinoys also play a game of 6 dices - the dices are thrown in a bowl and the more fours you get, the higher the prize. Some lucky combinations also get prizes. Traditionally, the prizes they give away are mooncakes but to make things more exciting, families give money or gifts.
This year, the Mooncake Festival fell on October 6. Although I got several mooncakes from friends, we have yet to celebrate it this coming Wednesday at the hospital. I am looking forward to playing the dice game (and the eating part syempre) but I am so not looking forward to the prizes I will be taking home with me after the celebration. I have never been very good at "taking chances" and I do not think I will ever be good at it so I won't delude myself into believing that I will be taking home the biggest prize. I will be going there prepared of course - with a plastic bag. Who knows, maybe I can collect a dozen of Coke in cans. Ugghhh!
The Chinese celebrate the Mooncake festival on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month marking the end of the harvest season when the moon is at its brightest and fullest. The origin of this festival have several versions. Here in the Philippines, the Tsinoys celebrate it as a thanksgiving for the family's abundant "harvest". Families get together and burn incense sticks at the Buddhist temples then have a feast thereafter. The mooncake of course is a must in the celebration. These mooncakes are also given to relatives and friends for abundance and to foster better ties. Tsinoys also play a game of 6 dices - the dices are thrown in a bowl and the more fours you get, the higher the prize. Some lucky combinations also get prizes. Traditionally, the prizes they give away are mooncakes but to make things more exciting, families give money or gifts.
This year, the Mooncake Festival fell on October 6. Although I got several mooncakes from friends, we have yet to celebrate it this coming Wednesday at the hospital. I am looking forward to playing the dice game (and the eating part syempre) but I am so not looking forward to the prizes I will be taking home with me after the celebration. I have never been very good at "taking chances" and I do not think I will ever be good at it so I won't delude myself into believing that I will be taking home the biggest prize. I will be going there prepared of course - with a plastic bag. Who knows, maybe I can collect a dozen of Coke in cans. Ugghhh!
Posted by nikki:: 10/24/2006 01:09:00 AM
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