A Farmer and Some Moon Cakes

This past Saturday Clif's work hosted family day.  There were tractors, free dinner* and games for the kiddies so we loaded up our kiddo and headed out. 

First stop was the door prize table. MJ scored a truck that looked suspiciously like a character from the movie Cars. Copyright infringement???  Maybe they got a bargain at the local copy market?

Clif and I got a bag of goodies. I taste tested most of the items.
Here is a quick review:
Puppet: Fishy flavored Styrofoam.
Mystery Candy: It looked liked chocolate covered carmel or toffee on the packaging. It was spit out.
Kitty Sticks: Prawn flavored mini-bread sticks.  Not too bad. 
USA Green "Pers": Dried and/or baked and seasoned peas, probably the best thing I tasted, still not good.

I chose not to try the pork-in-a-bag or the chocolate sucker. China loves to put meat in bags, but for some reason I have no desire to eat meat that has been vacuum sealed with a cartoon pig on the label.

We also got Moon Cakes in honor of Mid-Autumn festival coming up in October.  If you want to learn more about it you can go here: Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival
Moon cakes are basically small round cakes with a filling.  I have been told the filling varies depending on where you are in China.  Traditional to this area is sweetened red bean paste. 

Fancy packaging is popular here.  China does not skimp on good quality boxes for packaging.

 

 

 

 

 

Clif says, "Tastes like Fig Newton." And yes, Clif did eat something with bean in it!

MJ was welcomed with celebrity status.  Clif's co-workers have been earger to meet MJ.  Something about a Western baby draws a crowd.  What is the first thing they say you may be thinking?
1. How old is she? (Side note: Many Chinese babies do not leave the house for a month or longer.)
2. Who is taking care of your wife? (Side side note: Most Chinese have a family member move in with them to take care of the baby while the wife recovers for the first month and then continues to care for the child when the wife returns to work.  Clif has even been scolded for not hiring someone to take care of me)

The night's main attraction was skits put on by each of the groups in Clif's building.

As the night progress I noticed Clif was about the only ISE who got roped into performing.  Even though he failed to attend most of the practices, I would say he made a pretty good farmer, even if his head was a smidge too big for his hat.

MJ Clif and I were getting tired so we ended the night with a family photo-op. 

*We opted for the Western option, spaghetti with mashed potatoes, which is better than the typical western food items Clif has encounter at work i.e. cake wrapped in bread.