i had a most uneventful mid-autumn festival. i hadn't even realised it was zhongqiu, until i rang home and my dad told me the kids were out with their lanterns. i want mooncake! i say plaintively. my pa says, aha, mummy has a surprise for you. shen me jing xi? i demand of my mother, who comes on at that point. she is confused and my pa admits guiltily that he had already told me there was to be a surprise. well, she says, we went to the bakkwa shop -- i interrupt at this point, aghast: you sent me bak kwa?! but it will never get past customs! as it turned out, it was not only bakkwa she bought me, but piggies-in-cages (which i do not like, they have an oily smell, without a sweet paste within to mitigate the crustiness, but my pa insisted because he says they are pretty) and mini mooncakes. mooncake chess sets, at that. they come in chess boxes, each mooncake is the size of a standard chinese chess piece, filled with lotus paste, and with the character for the different pieces on top. since there are 32 pieces in a set of chess, you could give each of your friends one, she tells me. i am glad she thinks i have 64 friends, but really, i don't get out that much. and even if i did she should have taken into account my gluttony.