Of Bonsai's and Mooncakes...

This morning we witnessed some of the most striking "baby trees" in East Coast mall in a Bonsai Competition. They were immaculately kept and stunned onlookers with their beauty and unique, ethereal air. Here are some photos of the images I liked best:

This last bonsai is my personal favourite, evoking images of a sculpture of a person leaning fully back in rhythm to a piece of classical music.

Later at night we went to Teluk Chempedak beach to join in the celebrations of the Chinese Mooncake Festival. (Incidentally, we have thus far received no less than 35 mooncakes in the last few weeks and we are just about sick of them!)

As soon as the Sun dipped below the horizon, the party started on the beach.

Scores of families, friends, and visitors thronged the beach to light their lanterns and candles in what provided a beautiful scene. As I chatted with a man from Kuala Lumpur (KL), he remarked how it was his first time to this area of Kuantan and described how different it was to KL. "In KL everyone is separate, but here all the families gather together," he remarked. "It's a very nice atmosphere."

Indeed, it was remarkably serene, with the excited chatter of children just a footnote to the occasion. I dug a hole and mounted some candles deep inside, as Lauren passed them to me one by one.

The camera flash helps to appreciate the depth of the hole, as it was getting a little breezy at times, a zephyr here and there easily blew out the flames which were too close to the surface. My wife began digging a design of her own and as I lighted the candles and placed them, it left a warm impression of our presence at the beach:

DFL representing the first letters of our names, Duncan, Fidelia, Lauren.