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!