I think I have everything set up for tomorrow's S-cube Seminar. Everyone needing to be briefed has been briefed. AV (including simultaneous video feed into LT3)... check. Furniture set... check. Air-conditioning for the 2 venues... check. Ooh, heck! I forgot the gifts for the guests! Oh, well, something to put on my to-do list for tomorrow, then. I think the logistics are mostly ready. Hope the audience is too. *crosses fingers

It's the Mid-Autumn Festival and families have hit the parks and open areas to frolic on this brilliant moonlit night. Traditionally, the learned would sit outdoors to drink tea, admire the radiance of the fullest moon of the year, and be inspired to compose poetry. Nowadays, the outdoors is full of youthful pyromaniacs laying clusters of lighted candles in void decks and on concrete walkways while waving sparklers in their sweaty little paws. The younger ones carry lighted paper lanterns or the less traditonal inflated plastic lanterns powered by AA cells accompanied by a badly synthesized looping clip of music. It's a great excuse for a family outing, to have an after-dinner picnic under the stars, and share moon-cakes filled with sweet lotus-bean paste and sometimes one or more salted duck egg yolks for luck.

Wish I had brought my digi cam with me when I went to Mom-in-law's for dinner tonight. Her living-room window overlooks a small playground and a fitness park. Tonight, the scene was almost magical, with the flickering clusters of yellow-orange flames identifying different family groups, the smoke and the activity; and the best thing about it was that no one had organized any of it. Real families, having real fun on their own accord. Who says tradition is dead in Singapore?