Power Outage Morning, Mooncakes and Mid-Autumn Festival Night

This morning I got up at 7:30 AM to finish up a few details before heading back home. Just when I was about to begin packing up, the electricity power went out. At first I thought that a light bulb had just burned out, just like the one in the bathroom did on Friday night. I was about to get a new bulb from the cabinet when Sam came up knocking on the door. So, it was not just a bulb. I then thought that may be the fuse switch had popped, so I went downstairs with Sam to check on the fuse panel. We tried the main switches a few times, but nothing happened. Sam suggested calling the electricity company. So I picked up the phone and called its emergency number. After a 15-minute wait on the phone, a voice came on and the moment I mentioned our location, the representative assured us that they were aware of the situation, and that the power would be restored by 11 AM. I was relieved that it was not just our house, but was concerned that this might delay my departure. I was uncomfortable leaving knowing that there was a problem. I would have to wait for the power to come back on first. So, I took my second shower of the day in the dark. After drying off, I started to pack my backpack and I began to feel warm without a fan. Half an hour went by and I began to sweat. Suddenly I heard a pipping sound from the security alarm. I went over to the control panel and saw the warning lights were going off and the normal lights came back on. I was glad that the electricity company restored the power so quickly. It was only 10 AM. They were an hour ahead of schedule. Bravo.

The ride back to New York was long, but tolerable. I arrived at the Bus Terminal at about 3 PM. We were half an hour behind schedule. But this is normal. I then had another long ride on the subway as the N train was again traveling on the local line. I got home at about 4 PM and immediately went out to Brooklyn's Chinatown to shop for next week's groceries.

There was the annual summer street fair on Fifth Avenue so our bus took a detour and I got off on Fourth Avenue.

Since it was Mid-Autumn Festival, Brooklyn's Chinatown was even more crowded than usual. You can hardly moved at some spots. I bought a few things and saw the boxes of mooncakes on sale. Some of the boxes were selling at $32.50, there were some at $24.50 and others for about $17 to $20. A box has 4 mooncakes. They are not big, at least not like the ones that I had as a kid. Compared to the ones on sale nowadays, the ones I had as a kid were huge. Those days are gone. May be it was to cut down cost and make it more affordable to many, or may be it was just not too healthy to consume a huge mooncake. I looked around a bit, comparing prices and brands, and finally settled on a box from the Hong Kong company, "Garden." Mainland Chinese brands are just too risky, I just don't trust their quality control, especially with all the news about their toys and powder milk. Olympic Games and space walks are one thing, industrial standards, controls and corporate/commercial ethics are another that are still sub-par by international standards.

I even got a nice carry bag for the box of mooncakes.

The mooncakes came in a tin box, just like the old days. However, I remember that in the late 60s mooncakes mostly came in cardboard boxes. I think companies started using tin boxes in the early 70s. Now some companies are reverting to cardboard boxes.

There are four in a box and contained in their individual sealed transparent plastic wrappers.

Here is the cake unwrapped in its plastic container. Why do we need this plastic container when we already have a sealed transparent wrapper. That's why the cake is much smaller than the ones we had as kids.

A slice of the cake has been cut. You can see the big yellow egg yoke. Nice, but don't tell my doctor.

I have made a pot of hot yasmine tea. One can't really enjoy a piece of mooncake without a cup of hot Chinese tea. Bon apetite.