Mid-Autumn Festival and a Happy Birthday

What do you do when your birthday happens to fall on Mid-Autumn Festival?  You eat mooncake as a birthday cake!

September the 12th was both Mid-Autumn Festival and Jess' birthday.  We celebrated a day early (to accommodate the holiday and add to the surprise) with a surprise birthday party at the Indian restaurant, Taste of India.  It was only the second surprise party that I've been a part of, and I had an important part to play:  get Jess to the restaurant.  I did a dry-run earlier in the day to get the bus route down (taking the bus in the wrong direction and ending up on the wrong side of Macau), and only noted in which direction the correct bus stop should be in.  When it was time for the real thing, I couldn't find the right bus stop!  After a bit of wandering, waiting, and running, Jess and I did get to the restaurant about half an hour late (sigh), but everything turned out fine in the end.  Jess was surprised, hurray!

 Jess got the Indian meal that she's been craving (and says the food was good as far as Indian cuisine goes - I had no idea).  She also got a homemade chocolate and banana cake that Chris (a colleague of ours - pictured below) made.  It was quite yummy.

Of course, there had to be mooncake at the event, so  we split one between the ten of us.  Sadly, I've discovered that mooncake isn't something I like.  My piece of mooncake was left untouched.  Actually, I've noticed that quite a few Chinese people don't like mooncake, either.  I think mooncake and fruitcake must be kin.

A sidenote here is that while we just celebrated mid-Autumn Festival, it still is not fall-like here.  The highs are in the 80s and the lows are in the high 70s.  It's very strange to see my friends in Beijing dressed in sweaters!  I have to say I'm liking the warmth...

Happy Autumn!