the cake in hong kong

...a friend once asked me to my face, "how the cake in Hong Kong?"

Does bad English carry on the wind to this place? Occasionally refashioned by a typhoon swept in from Taiwan or the Philippines, mistranslations, like fallen branches are everywhere to be tripped over.

So, Daniel, the cake in Hong Kong good.

No, actually not good. Not just good. They are the caricature of a cake in all its evil attributes: Hong Kong cake is superlative cake.

Last weekend was the mid-Autumn Moon Festival, celebrated by Chinese across the world. The mooncake is a pastry desert that is given and received as a gift to be shared. The secret ingredients of the mooncake were recently blown in the South China Morning Post; beef lard pastry crust, white lotus seed paste and salted duck eggs, three if you are lucky.

At the Paralympics closing dinner, which catered for 4000 guests, 20 000 mooncakes were ordered (and specially made to be 'healthy' for the athletes, although no confirmation could be made about what the new and improved 'light' versions contained). My dorm neighbour hinted at the farce of such an attempt when understating, "They are not very healthy". One mooncake (or one serve) is equivalent to 800 calories... that's alot. Right?

Anyway, health issues aside. I've had my few portions and have enjoyed the ritual of giving and receiving that they are part of. It must be the most expected gift this time of year, yet the expressions of delight on peoples faces show nothing of the boredom that must slip in.

I guess it is like Christmas... we always eat the fruitcake...