Friday the 13th...
...was actually full of good things, as at night it played host to Hoi An's monthly Full Moon Festival.
I stumbled out of the internet cafe last night in search of a bowl of cao lau, a Hoi An specialty that is not particularly kosher but exceptionally delicious. I've been a bit slack with the vegetarianism while I've been here, eating meat stock if not actual meat; I'll just have to eat a lot of masala thosai while I'm in India. My God, what a world I've created for myself in which eating thosai is penance.
Anyway, walking the streets I noticed an eerie lack of motorbikes, and an insistant throb from the foreshore. Investigating, I found signs designating the main streets "walking streets" - bicycles could be wheeled through but motos and cars were banned. The streets were lit up with string upon string of paper lanterns, glowing brightly against the faded paint of old villas. Kids were playing shuttlecock; teenage girls sat in rows on the curb and gossiped; and old men played a variation of chess with passers-by craning their necks and placing bets.
The water-front, usually dark at night, was lit by the stalls moved over from the market; the river itself was illuminated by hundreds of candles that people lit and then sent floating in coloured flower-shaped bowls. Young couples took boat rides down the river, and young kids bought balloons and popcorn from the vendors cycling their way slowly down the street.
A few stages were set up. One had Cham traditional singing, which is unfortunately just as atonal and nasal as every other sort of traditional singing. Another had a competition between two martial-arts groups, which was more of an exhibition than an actual match. The third and most spectacular was a musical staged on an extremely ornate wooden boat, which had been brought in a few days before and floated tethered to the bridge petulantly, anticipating its moment of glory.
The waterfront was lined with food vendors, fortuitously for my empty stomach - cao lau, all sorts of fried concoctions, White Rose dumplings (another Hoi An specialty - steamed rice-flour dumplings with shrimp and pork mince inside, shaped like flowers), Quang noodles, Hoanh Thanh dumplings, sticky peanut brittle, fruit.
All in all, an orgy for the senses. The next time the moon is full, I'll be somewhere in India. Wonder if there's any celebration there?
I stumbled out of the internet cafe last night in search of a bowl of cao lau, a Hoi An specialty that is not particularly kosher but exceptionally delicious. I've been a bit slack with the vegetarianism while I've been here, eating meat stock if not actual meat; I'll just have to eat a lot of masala thosai while I'm in India. My God, what a world I've created for myself in which eating thosai is penance.
Anyway, walking the streets I noticed an eerie lack of motorbikes, and an insistant throb from the foreshore. Investigating, I found signs designating the main streets "walking streets" - bicycles could be wheeled through but motos and cars were banned. The streets were lit up with string upon string of paper lanterns, glowing brightly against the faded paint of old villas. Kids were playing shuttlecock; teenage girls sat in rows on the curb and gossiped; and old men played a variation of chess with passers-by craning their necks and placing bets.
The water-front, usually dark at night, was lit by the stalls moved over from the market; the river itself was illuminated by hundreds of candles that people lit and then sent floating in coloured flower-shaped bowls. Young couples took boat rides down the river, and young kids bought balloons and popcorn from the vendors cycling their way slowly down the street.
A few stages were set up. One had Cham traditional singing, which is unfortunately just as atonal and nasal as every other sort of traditional singing. Another had a competition between two martial-arts groups, which was more of an exhibition than an actual match. The third and most spectacular was a musical staged on an extremely ornate wooden boat, which had been brought in a few days before and floated tethered to the bridge petulantly, anticipating its moment of glory.
The waterfront was lined with food vendors, fortuitously for my empty stomach - cao lau, all sorts of fried concoctions, White Rose dumplings (another Hoi An specialty - steamed rice-flour dumplings with shrimp and pork mince inside, shaped like flowers), Quang noodles, Hoanh Thanh dumplings, sticky peanut brittle, fruit.
All in all, an orgy for the senses. The next time the moon is full, I'll be somewhere in India. Wonder if there's any celebration there?
posted by Jess at 11:07 PM
1 Comments:
Oh Jess, and I was thinking of you as I gazed upon a glorious full moon on a humid tropical night in Bangalow. I just love a full moon and I love you.
Post a Comment
<< Home