Thursday, November 03, 2005

Halloween, Chinese Style



Chinese parents don't celebrate Halloween. They do not go to the store and buy bags of chocolates for all the cute little kiddies that come Trick or Treating. They do not carve a pumpkin into a Jack O' Lantern to decorate the porch.

Allright, so at least not my parents. That is, until my brother and I needed to fit in and begged and whined for them to pleeeeeease do Halloween stuff like all the other families in the neighborhood. Soon enough, my mom was helping us carve pumpkins and get ready to go out Trick or Treating. (Don't trip, all of the pumpkin seeds were of course saved for roasting) All of the candy was, of course, the cheap kind 'cause ain't no way they'd be spending money on the good stuff like Snickers or Kit Kats. Sometimes, they'd even get crap from the cupboards to give out like these red and gold foil wrapped Garden-brand coconut candies that Chinese families put out at Chinese New Year. No one ever eats them so my folks will almost always have a huge jar of these that they save for "just in case" occasions, like Halloween or the times when they brew bitter herbal tea for us and we need something sweet to take away the bitterness. I always felt sorry for those Trick or Treaters that came to our house.


This little thing needs some sun

I was up at my folks house in the Bay Area for Halloween and though they don't do the Halloween thing anymore 'cause me and my bro are all grown up (they turn off the porch lights to keep the kiddies away!), they still have a jar of these red and gold treats stored in the cupboard! For old times sake, I unwrapped and ate one of the pasty-peach colored coconutty hard candies--God knows how old it was--and remembered why no one ever fought over these at Chinese New Year. Ummm, they're just not that good. But they made for a nice trip down memory lane and some really good laughs!

5 comments:

e d b m said...

so funny. on monday, i was thinking about the fobby jolly ranchers. while i was out trick or treating in my plastic mask with one rubber band strap and vinyl outfit, my mom was dishing these and white rabbit candy out. (i was Tom and my sister was Jerry. i think my mom got it at montgomery ward for like $13 each, and we wore that for 3 years in a row. so traumatic.) i was like mom, get the real $h!t!

e d b m said...

oh yeah, i'd pick haw flakes (san tza bang) over these anyday.

Daily Gluttony said...

Djjewelz,

I assure you that those candies will last you a decade--save them for a future halloween! ha ha

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Dylan,

OMG, that's so funny that you guys were T & J for 3 years in a row! Cracks me up! Yeah, when I was in nursery school, I was the only kid that didn't bring a costume 'cause my mom didn't know what Halloween was. So the teacher had to call my mom and tell her. NExt thing you know my mom shows up at my class with a vinyl and plastic mask Snow White costume. Sad, but too funny!

Passionate Eater said...

Ha ha! I love your post!

I actually think kids like getting things like haw flakes, coffee candies, tamarind candies, and lychee jellies instead of teeth-rotting chocolate bars and SweetTarts . . . Well, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Daily Gluttony said...

Passionate Eater,

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Funny, now that I'm older, I think I'd actually prefer getting stuff like Haw Flakes! (Although I don't think I will ever like these coconutty things!)