The same is true of this piece:

You see, I'm a sceptic when it comes to mooncakes! Most of the time, they are bloody awful. At best, they are "okay".

What type of mooncakes are you reminiscing about, from the olden days? Our indigenous version was the Suzhou-style, with crumby crusts. When we finally got to taste the Guangdong style (the "wet" version as we called it, as opposed to the dry version with crumbs falling off as you bite), we thought they were heavenly. I was always averse to the Five-Nut variety, as they invariably contained ham (I was a quasi-vegetarian from a young age, but I eat much more meat nowadays). I think my instinct was correct – most of the nuts in there were probably beyond their shelf life and the ham had gone stale, so they were deadly poisonous (carcinogenic). Red bean paste is a much better option. By the way, the worst filling was the kind with red and green strips, of a sweet taste but of unknown ingredient (they can be called UFOs – unidentified filling objects). Incidentally, UFO is better translated in Taiwan: 幽浮。

I wrote this last year, just after the Mid-Autumn Festival. I have changed the date of publishing to the day on which it was actually written...

其实，中秋跟其他节日不太一样，大家在地上热热闹闹的同时，举头所见恰恰是孤寂、郁悒的象征。这也就是为什么，思乡、思亲在这个日子尤甚。

我三岁的时候，正碰上文革如火如荼，父母在各自单位忙得不可开交。例如母亲的单位规定每人每天必须抄出一百张大字报。她练就了用钢笔的握法写毛笔字的绝活儿，目的是赶快写完，以便赶回去照顾我。

在我大病一场之后，父母认识到问题的严重性，于是商量了一下，决定把我送到老家奶奶那里，当时奶奶正在替我的伯父、姑姑“放养“我的堂姐姐们，有一大群，所以多我一个也无所谓。

我在老家一呆就是两年。这期间，父母来看过我两三次。第一次我还抱着幻想：他们是来接我的。后来，我意识到，这是持久战。

有一次，父亲出差，拢一下老家看看我。只呆一夜，第二天就要走。 当天晚上，父亲带我去澡堂洗澡。那可能是一个月圆夜。也可能不是。 奶奶家在一个类似于四合院的大院子里。从院子到马路是一条很窄、很短的巷子。

走到巷子里的时候，我抬头看到天上有一个很大的月亮。 我对爸爸说：“爸爸，今朝夜里厢咯月亮，穷大！”

看到今年的中秋月，想到了童年的这段往事。当时，我四岁，但直到今天，那段路、那个月亮，还深深印在我脑子里。还有父亲回应我的眼神：我的苦中作乐，他的痛和无奈。 现在回想起来，那个瞬间其实是一个永恒，就在那一瞬间，我周围的世界活起来了，包括那个月亮。