COMMENTARY, Aug 25 — It’s time for mooncakes, if you haven’t already noticed.

It's a little over two weeks till the Mid-Autumn Festival and as usual, we’ve been inundated with a plethora of mooncakes from various bakeries and hotels. (Sometimes I wonder if no one appreciates the simplicity of a basic red bean paste mooncake anymore.)

Some of us have had a trying few weeks so perhaps a simple wish is in order first: May we all be in the pink of health as we celebrate the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

Of course, the colour pink makes me think of pink champagne - which, believe it or not, is a flavour of mooncake (albeit a snowskin version). And this is far from the strangest one.

There was, infamously, the nasi lemak mooncake a few years ago that was all the rage. Coffee aficionados can decide between a kopi O mooncake or a double espresso one. Fruity and boozy flavours abound with apple vodka and yuzu shochu.

In fact, there are even Marmite-flavoured mooncakes these days. (Though our friends Down Under might vote for a Vegemite-flavoured mooncake instead; honestly, who’s to say they haven’t created one already?)

The conventional side of me wishes we could all just go back to basics. Is there anything more soothing than straightforward baked and snowskin mooncakes with white lotus paste, without any odd ingredient stuffed inside to sell them for a higher price point?

Of course, as mentioned earlier, my favourite would still be the old school red bean paste mooncakes, made the traditional way. With a thick and not-too-sweet filling the romantic shade of midnight, who can resist?

But even traditionalists have to catch up with the changing times: my colleague Khang Yi recently wrote about how Jalan Ipoh's Fook Pan Food Industries, led by an octogenarian couple, are now making chocolate mooncakes.

They still craft these by hand, however, the way they have been doing since they started back in the 1970s. Now that is dedication to their craft, admirable and inspiring.

For the Mid-Autumn Festival isn’t all about mooncakes, despite how the numerous pop-up stalls that have mushroomed everywhere, from shopping malls to street fairs, might make you think otherwise.

Part of that inducement might be how the mooncakes are dressed. No, I don’t mean whether the (hopefully) thin exterior is baked or snowskin, but the boxes, bags and what-not the mooncakes come in.

If "manners maketh man”, then perhaps it’s the packaging that makes an appealing mooncake? Some are colourful whilst others are more minimalist. Many appear to be feats of architectural wonders; marvels of construction.

You have mooncake boxes that look like tiffin carriers, origami mysteries and even an ornate armoire. Who can resist exclaiming, "Open sesame!” and then taking a peek inside?

Part of the surprise is uncovering the flavours. With so many different mooncakes, expect a rainbow platter of tastes and colours. Yet let’s not get too gluttonous, greedy for the next dopamine rush.

Instead, when slicing into a mooncake, we offer a tiny prayer for blessings to come. For let’s not forget the true meaning of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

As it does every year, the festival falls on the 15th day of the eight month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It’s harvest time. The autumnal moon is full and bright.

And so it is with the shape of the mooncakes, round like a full moon (though we have square mooncakes too, and those shaped like loaves.) The roundness of the salted egg yolk nestled within promises a full life.

Isn’t that all we desire? A well-rounded purpose and the fullness of life?

If there’s anything the recent pandemic has taught us, it’s that everything we used to take for granted is ephemeral; here today, gone tomorrow.

We learn what’s truly dear to our hearts and what is mere chatter; we discern between signal and noise.

Yet as we transition to what feels like the old normal again, it’s easy to let these precious epiphanies slip our mind.

Let’s not forget. That is why every year, when the autumn moon is full, and we share these rich and sweet treats with each other, we are reminding ourselves of what we truly desire: a well-rounded purpose and the fullness of life - and to connect with those who matter as we experience this.

For more slice-of-life stories, visit lifeforbeginners.com.