4 Fantastic Ways to Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival This September

It’s that time of the year again, where delicious mooncakes with all kinds of fillings are passed around and little children can be seen walking around the neighbourhood, each holding a glowing lantern shaped as their favourite animal. All the signs that Mid-Autumn festival has arrived! This festival is originally observed by Chinese and Vietnamese to celebrate the full moon harvest and it goes by many names: Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival and Lantern Festival.

In Malaysia, we have created many different ways to celebrate this festival together. Here are four ways you can enjoy the festivities in style!

Make your own lantern at Kwai Chai Hong

Image by malaymail @ Mukhriz Hazim

Formerly known for being a den of gamblers where the famous ‘Dragon Tiger Clan’ gathered, this quaint little street in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur is now one of the latest hippest places to hang out at. The shop lots here have been beautifully restored, retaining its old charm while giving the whole street a clean and safe vibe. Great for Instagrammable moments too!

Art and community events are frequently held here and this month features a whole lot of them! The Recycled Lantern Creative Workshop on 14 September is suitable for anyone age 10 and up. Learn how to go green while celebrating a cultural tradition, by creatively transforming recyclable items into pretty lanterns! If you’re a parent with kids to entertain over the weekend, spend quality time with them here as the whole family gets to have a great hands-on lesson on craft and history. There will also be a Mosaic Art Workshop held on the same day. Pre-event registration to get tickets are required and can cost about RM70 - RM80 per person. For more information of both events and to register, click here to visit their official website.

Be a mooncake competition judge

Image by W Kuala Lumpur @ malaysiantatler

Okay so it's not an official competition, but we do know that hotel chains have an unspoken competition among each other to see who can top the previous year’s mooncake designs, flavour, and packaging. You get to be the judge because you’re the one buying what looks best to you! So pop by 1Utama shopping mall, Mid Valley or Pavillion Shopping anytime before the 12th of September and check out what’s available or contact the following hotels directly to purchase.

Here are our top three picks: 

Handmade mooncakes at InterContinental Kuala Lumpur

Handmade by Chef Lo Tian Sion’s skilled hands, this year’s collection features the Almond Baked Skin Mooncake - a flower-shaped mooncake with pandan, almond, cream cheese salted yolk and chestnut, and four creations wrapped in a delicate snowskin of different flavours:  Pomegranate Snow Skin with Teo Chew Yam Paste and Single Yolk, Green Tea Paste with Tiramisu, Butterfly Pea Flower Snow Skin with Bird’s Nest, and Durian Snow Skin Mooncake with Salted Caramel Chocolate. They even have a set for kids! Available flavours include Cherry Jelly, Chocolate and Raisin; Green Bean with Chocolate Chip; and Custard with Oreo. More information here. 

The Leather Box by Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara

Image by prestigeonline

A must-try creation by Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara is the Dragon Fruit with Blueberry Truffle. Just the very mention of it makes our mouths water. What a delightful combination of fresh fruit flavours, a mastermind of Chef Leong Weng Heng. Other flavours include Musang King wrapped in a pillow-light snow skin, Black Charcoal with a generous filling of cheese, the Coffee Paste with rich Butter Cream, and Pumpkin with a mild touch of Chocolate Truffle. We especially love the vibrant-coloured leather box that these mooncakes can be purchased in. It is versatile too! You can use it as a wine box or a place to store your jewelry. 

The Trendiest Mooncakes by W Hotel Kuala Lumpur

This modern hotel chain sure knows how to get the town talking! Trust them to come up with the brilliant idea of partnering with renowned local fashion designer, Melindo Looi to create the coolest holographic neon packaging for a truly fashionable Mid-Autumn table array. The mooncake design itself is kept to a minimal, and they’ve also balanced out the experience by keeping to classic flavours this year. 

Have a once-a-year mooncake-themed high tea

Image by diineout

If you’re planning on rocking up to a hotel to bring home a mooncake set, you might as well make time for a leisurely afternoon high tea. Here are some places to enjoy this festive delicacy with a nice pot of tea. 

Thirty8, Grand Hyatt is putting on Mid-Autumn inspired afternoon tea that is only available for four days starting on 10 September to 13 September 2019 (3pm to 5pm). The menu features a fusion of eastern and western flavours: Pandan Bird's Nest Drink, assorted mooncakes, Bergamot-Yuzu Madeleine, Pumpkin Dumpling and Taro Glutinous Rice among other items. Remember to make a reservation beforehand. More information here. 

Between 1 August to 30 September, you can look forward to having traditional baked mooncake favourites as part of the afternoon high tea set at The Lounge, Hilton Kuala Lumpur. Reminisce childhood memories as you bite into the Baked White Lotus Paste mooncake and indulge in a few helpings of the Baked Pandan Paste with Single Yolk mooncake. More information here. 

Meanwhile, Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant, Hilton Petaling Jaya proudly presents their Jade Rabbit Series Set, available until 22 September. It includes traditional and snow skin mooncakes, complemented by handmade la mien, macarons with peanut fillings, muffins, and a selection of Hong Kong-style dim sum treats. Dining is all day for this one. More information here. 

Celebrate Mid-Autumn with our neighbours

By that we mean the neighbouring country of Singapore, because they too know how to throw a party! Singapore’s iconic Gardens By The Bay is set to blow your mind with its surreal lightscapes and lantern installations following the season’s motifs from now till 15 September. You’ll need a lantern route map for this one, as really isn’t difficult to get lost in the garden’s mesmerizing display of floating lanterns stretching over 120m. Also featured is their very first giant revolving lantern! There are cultural performances lined up between Wednesdays to Sundays to give the best to the weekend crowd, and plenty of activities for the whole family to get involved in - including a Chinese calligraphy workshop and a mass lantern walk! Don’t worry about showing up empty handed, they promise to give out free LED fabric lanterns to those who participate. More info here. 

You won’t be coming to Singapore just for this of course, we’re just saying that its a great opportunity for a weekend getaway because our ongoing Mayflower Online Travel Fair offers flights and hotel bookings for Singapore (and other destinations) at incredible discounts that almost make it a free flight! Check out the full list of destinations here and make the most of the festive season. 

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Sarah Lim