Moving Away From Mould and Moving Mould Away

 Mould, as it is spelled in the UK, mold in the USA.

I shall look at the three ways to find causes of mold. then the three way of preventing it. 

CAUSES OF MOLD

Put simply, mold comes from water, either from outside, or inside.

Mold From Outside

 If from outside, down from gutters and flat rooftops, sideways from  rain or plants, or upwards from wet or flooded ground. This is known as rising damp.

Rising Damp - prevention Damp Course

To prevent water from rising, about a food above ground in the wall is a horizontal dark line of what looks like slate or tar, called the damp proof course, shortened to the damp course.

 

Damp course in wall. Phot from Wikipedia.

That is an issue to be fixed by the owner of the property. That is you the house owner. Or the letting person, the landlord or the council, or the management team.

Mould from below the floor, in a concrete floor, can be treated by a waterproof  layer. 

Outside Moisture Prevention - Cavity Walls

Mould from the outside is usually prevented by cavity walls. Two layers of brickwork with an air gap between. Look at your window. If the sill is wide and your window from is set back from the wall that width shows you that you you have two layers of bricks with a gap, a cavity wall.

Measure with a damp meter, obtainable from builder's merchants or online. 

If you have a line of damp from above, a leaking gutter. If water all over, mor likely condensation. If above a radiator, from clothes drying on the radiator, or a leaking radiator. See the Wikipedia article. Some damp remedy companies say they can analyse your damp cause for free if you send them a photo. Nothing clever or magic about it, although you can get training and certification. You can check the cause and possible remedies for yourself.

Moisture to mould from inside from humans breathing

water vapor from cooking and showing, or water from washing and drying clothes indoors.

The tenant or landlord can provide a dehumidifier. If the landlord provides a dehumidifier and the tenant does not use it because they can't be bothered to empty it or don't want the noise, then the tenant should pay for any remedy for the moisture caused.

A good management company doing a three monthly check will check for mould, explain the cause of mould to the tenant, provide a dehumidifier and make it clear who is responsible for the problem.

A letting agent may also offer a management service. The agent's questionnaire for applicants may ask how many people will live in the property. The contract may specify that the landlord or letting agent must be informed if anybody not on the contract takes up residence. The landlord is legally obliged to check that extra people have the right to reside in the UK. If not the landlord can be fined a substantial amount.

In the 1960s to 1980s if a widow, a single elderly person. lives in a two bedroom flat and occupies the large bedroom, and entertains visitors on the patio, she does not create much moisture. Two or three decades later, a couple with four children, and the wife's visiting parents, all taking baths, washing bedding and clothes, making coffee, cooking in large saucepans, will create more humidity. If they move out the fifties style furniture, sofas and chairs with wooden legs, raised off the floor, and replace Louis IV style sideboards on wooden feet, and beds with space underneath, the new furniture does not have space for moisture to escape.

Pets Adding Moisture

Add four cats or two dogs, bowls of water for animals, washing the kitchen floor, dogs shaking off rain, and you have more moisture.

Some reasons for mold.

1 People don't realise what causes mold. If you have water, you will get mold. Black, prink whatever. It is pleasanter to remove water than to remove mold.

Mold problems have increased. We have double glazing instead of draughty windows. Heating. People from hot countries keep the heating on and turn their homes into a greenhouse. 

Overcrowding

Overcrowding means more moisture. A widow or couple produce less moisture than a family of two parents, four children, two grandparents, and three visitors, or a family meal or party every weekend, with friends staying over, and visitors from overseas. 

Pets

Also, I allowed tenants to have one cat. The female cat attracted a male from outside. The female had two kittens. With a month I had four cats, annoying their neighbours who were afraid of cats, and had vulnerable babies in prams or cost on the patio. Plus four more  living beings breathing.

Raincoats, rainhats, waterproof boots, umbrellas. all bring in rain, and cats and dogs with wet fur. Parties result in drinks spilled on the floor, cans of drink opened lying around. punch bowls, kettles blowing steam for coffee, coffee cups and glasses of water uncovered for hours. Fish tanks. Dog bowls with water. Leaking taps. Leaking pipes. Wet floors from overflowing baths and showers. Water under bath mats in the shower making mould. Shower curtains turning mouldy.

Dangers To Health From Mould

Asthma. Lung problems.

Why bother opening a window? People from hot countries like to live in warmth and wear light clothes. 

They sit on the floor with cushions against walls. Duvets and cushions and furniture and piles of clothes against walls prevent air from circulating. You need a gap so that the moisture can evaporate, and drying moisture. 

Better Sources of Heat

A widow was advised by a friend, to save money, don't heat the whole building, the whole room, just heat the person. Remedies are warm clothes, movable fan heaters, electric blankets on beds, electric blankets designed for use on sofas.

Remedies. 

Identify moisture by observation. How many people breathing in a room with closed windows. Open the window, or trickle vent. Fix or report leaking taps and pipes. Wipe up spills. Don't leave items in water overnight, such as dishes, clothes. Dry clothes outdoors rather than indoors. If not allowed, create a visual barrier. Dry clothes in the room or area nearest a window or where the repainting would be least. Run the extractor in the bathroom or kitchen. Cover cooking. Keep the lid down on toilets. Remove mould from under the toilet seat rim.

Use covered bedside water jugs, and jugs on dining tables. 

Check the water in walls using a water meter, which I have seen sold intermittently in LIDL and other shops for under twenty pounds.

I have experienced three types of mould. What causes mould? Water. Dripping from outside. Condensation inside.

Causes of Condensation  from Inside

What causes condensation inside. You do. Every person, adults and child, and animal, breathes out moisture all day and all night. If you have a dehumidifier you will be shocked at the amount of water it collects. A dehumidifier can be small for a small room, or larger and more expensive for a larger room.

A cheaper alternative us t open windows. In German and Europe it is usual to open windows to let the house breather or burg for half an hour every morning.

If you see condensation on your windows, it means open the windows of your bedroom. If you see condensation on your kitchen window, it means cover the saucepan with a lid and open the window. If you see mist on the mirror in the bathroom, it means open the window before during or after having a shower or bath or all three.

I first experienced mould when living in rented property in Singapore. Mould from overhead. Then in the home I owned in London, England. Mould from outside and inside. Then in my late parents' flat rented out in England.  Mould from below, under the damp course.

Let's start in Singapore. You can usually see where mould is coming from. Overhead we had mould in Singapore from the leaking roof of a top floor flat. And from rain outside.

The landlady called in decorators to paint the wall. The mould came back. Eventually she had to spend more money on the insertion of a damp proof netting to protect the wall from driving rain. The building repaired the windows, to make them seal better. That prevented water dropping down from heights above where we could reach.

UK Walls

Back in England we had mould in our outside wall in our bungalow. We moved a bookcase and there was black mould. 

This is one of the causes you can prevent. Keep furniture away from walls, to allow air to circulate. 

Ask AI

If you ask AI, you will get a succinct summary or causes and ways of preventing mould.

What can you do? Firs find out the causes of possible condensation. Go round every room in your home, and the outside. In the house check if we clothes are left outside the door, or dried over radiators. Check the bedrooms. Are the beds and wardrobes and units against the wall? 

Maybe there is mold which you cannot see. All the more reason for opening the windows, even when you don't see condensation. In any case, by the time you see condensation, damage has already been done. 

Invisible mold could be affecting your health.

Useful Websites

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers/understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-of-damp-and-mould-in-the-home--2

LANDLORDS' PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS WORLDWIDE - TASKS

 

1 LANDORD & OWNER EXPERIENCE

Whilst living overseas, renting in Singapore, I was a landlord in London.

What are the landlord's main problems?

1 Payment of rent - or lack of it. Unemployed tenant. Covid and self-employed worker.

2 Empty flats - insurance, dirt, leaks, vandalism, squatters, expenses of council tax and maintenance.

3 Children - damage and overcrowding.

4 Pets - damage to the flat, the common area, noise annoying neighbours. |New legislation says you cannot refuse to have pets for no good reason. A good reason would be that you are already bound to no pets by your own contract. You might be allergic to animal fur and feathers, as I am. A good tenant might be willing to have pets neutered and wormed and to take out insurance. 

On the plus side, one tenant told me that after a neighbour got a cat, the mice problem ended. 

5 Noise

You can download an ap on a smart phone to check noise.

6 Tenants leaving tenancy early too early or too late

7 Mould

8 Equipment failure.

9 Furnished or unfurnished.

10 Gardening, garage doors, subsidence drains, storm damaging fences and patio doors.

Useful Websites

When the landlord came round and saw the skimpy curtains a few weeks later, he said, I wish you'd told me last month, I could have got them replaced. Now it's too late. Landlord's loss.

The moral is, make sure anything missing or broken is listed on the inventory and recorded in an email immediately. 

It's good for the tenant. And good for the landlord.

 LANDLORD'S problems

Protecting Building From Damage By Movers 

On moving in and out, tenants had to pay management to put protective baffling on the lifts and corridor floors and flat doorways. This is very sensible. 

As a landlord we should have this in the UK. Instead as a landlord, I suffered from complaints that the corridor carpets were ruined by tenants moving in out. 

I have tried to keep the flats fully furnished and not to allow furniture to be moved in and out.

Fire Safety & The Elderly

If you rent out to retirement age people, the advantage is that you don't have children creating noise and damage.

On the other hand, an elderly person might keep burning the toast and setting off the fire alarm.

They might fall over steps outdoors or in a hallway or stairwell and blame the owner or building management if a light bulb has not been fixed instantly. 

The solution to the light bulb problem is to stock replacement bulbs on the premises. The person in charge or changing light bulbs could be the resident porter, or another resident of the building, or the person reporting the problem could collect the key to the light bulb cupboard. 

A whatsapp group for residents could ensure another person provides a ladder, or person to ensure safety of the person changing the light bulb, and the protection of the cupboard from theft. 

Landlord problem - Leaks

In London we had a leaking heated towel rail in the bathroom. I tried two plumbers who were not available. 

I looked online and up popped an ad for a 24/7 service. They wanted about 90 pounds paid upfront, which I paid. They said the plumber was on another job half an hour away. I said ok. 2.30 pm. I go half hour postponement until 4.30 when it was dark. Then I was told the plumber agreed with the tenant to come back next morning. ok. I did not want to drive over in the dark and hang around. Later Sunday the towel rail burst sending water everywhere. The porter called the fire brigade who turned off the water and the electricity.

Next day the plumber arrived. He fitted a new towel rail and charged about nine hundred pounds.

He said that the radiators were on the same system and also likely to leak, and that would be about six thousand pounds. 

I called back the other two plumbers.

One said the towel rail was not on the radiator system but on a separate system which was turned off under the bath. 

The other one said that the towel rail on the hot water system should not have been stainless stell, which you identified by attaching a magnet. 

The original plumbing company would not tell me the maker or guarantee of the towel rail and said the guarantee was from their company. I would not let them do any more work for me because of their huge prices and unhelpfulness. The staff on the phone were very soothing and knowledgeable. But the plumber had not turned up in time. I then had to spend another thousand or so on replacing the wooden floor of the hall which was flooded, plus the disruption of time spent choosing flooring, pulling up the old damaged flooring, wait for concrete floor to dry, survey, choosing new flooring - I refused to have glue down flooring because I'd had that previously and when replaced, the carpet fitters said the wrong glue was used and instead of pulling up sheets, you had to chip off the stuck down panels inch by inch which took hours and cost me a lot. Glue could also be a fire risks.

Landlord problems - Fire Alarms and Extinguishers

After the New Year's Eve fire in Switzerland, I am now looking at supplying a fire alarm, fire extinguisher, and fire blanket. I am included to not get the fire blanket. Neither I nor any other amateur would be likely to risk getting close enough to put down a fire blanket.  Spraying powder or anything else from a distance is more likely to be done.

FINDING A NEW TENANT

DIY

Advantage

Advertise online for free or low cost.

Disadvantage

You could be inundated by time wasting replies and costly research into credit worthiness of people who turn out to have no income, to be bad payers, to have criminal records, bad references for damaging property, overcrowding and creating mould. Old tenant not leaving, so your prospective new tenant is lost or you cannot move back into your former home and take up a job or get married. 

Agencies

Management

Landlords' best practice

For landlords

1 Answer immediately. 

2 Fix problems quickly. 

3 Use check-a trade. 

4 Ask your local whatsapp group for reliable plumbers, electricians and other workers such as gardeners, fence builders, drain fixers.

The tenant is not a friend, but a business contact. 

Keep calm and carry on.

My family say,

 'It's not a problem, it's a task. Everything collapses after twenty years and needs replacing. That's what money is for.

Check reviews on Websites on tradespersons and businesses

checkatrade.com

tripadvisor.co.uk

Useful Websites on Fire Alarms

https://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/small-kitchen-fire-safety-bundle

£56.12 for smoke alarm, fire blanket and fire extinguisher (powder).

..................................

https://simplyextinguishers.co.uk/landlord-fire-safety-bundle

£46.79

.....................

Fire extinguisher and bracket 

£16.49 on ebay

.................................................

https://www.fireandsafetycentre.co.uk/collections/quantity-discount-available

£38.27 triple bundle

You might also want a carbon monoxide detector.

You can buy a combined smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm.

also check ebay, amazon, lidl and asda. costco uk and costco usa.

Mould - causes and cures - for home owners, landlords and tenants worldwide

 Most landlords and tenants don't worry about preventing mould until they experience black patches on white walls for the first time. 

Tenants complaints about musty smells, danger to their health. The tenants and landlord need to find a cure. A quick, immediate fix, with minimum disruptions.

Tenants are unhappy. If they move out, prospective tenants will not not take out a rental. The price for rental or sale may go down. The property management and owners then want to identify the cause, cure the problem and prevent it from recurring.

What are the causes of mould in a house or flat? 

Identifying the area of the problem

Look  - inside. 

Look at the four walls. And ceiling. 

Check Behind the furniture. 

Leave gaps to allow flow of air. No furniture aginast the wall. No duvets or cushions.

In the old days beds, chairs, sofas, side tables and wardrobes were on legs. This allowed air flow.

Beds

Head boards and the side of the bed should be away from the wall. A bed on legs, and with a slatted base, allows air flow.

Checks

Check Skirting board. 

Floor. 

Around the windows. 

Check living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, wardrobes.

You can see the damp inside. 

Windows

 You can see drips - on window handles. Or misted windows and mirrors.  

How often do you need to check? Every year, if letting. Every three months if managing. Every day if renting the property or living in it.

After or whilst using a dshower or bath, or just washing cothes and cleaning your teeth. 

In the kitchen when boiling a kettle or cooking a stew on the hob. 

Cleaning - cups of tea, coffee, hot and cold drinks, cans, any water without a lid, flower vases, toilets. 

Wipe water. Cover water 9eg lidded cups. Put down the toilet seat. 

Remove or reduce water sources. 

Put wet items outside or by open windows.

Reduce Water Use

Shorter showers instead of long baths. Water conpanies advise you to save water and to turn taps off while cleaning teeth. Only turn on the tap again to rinse your mouht and brush.

Check on return if you have been away on holday, or have a relative in hospital.

Wet items brought into the house - wet shoes, rain coats, umbrellas opened to dry out, dogs sahking themselves dry.  Vases of flowers which could be left near windows (although some instructions say avoid light which makes them bloom earlier and then die earlier).

In the olden days, when you had a glass of water by the bed at night, it came in a narrow neck continer with an upturned glass on top.

Or use a damp meter. which is cheap and can be bought from DIY shops, or online. When surveyors check walls, ask them which walls are dry or damp, and try to look at the reading.

We called a company which said they would do a free survey with no call out charge. The two men chcking were reluctant to let us look at the readings and kept saying that their boss would send us a report. However, the boss wanted a large sum to send the report, and several thousands to do the work, which he claimed involved pulling down the walls and replacing them. 

The management company said the walls had no problem. The damp was caused by condensation, caused by the tenants. 

Feel - inside the building

Or feel damp. Can you feel the water? The damp? Shower glass, shower curtains. Bathroom windows. Ceilings above radiators. 

upplyier, building supply stores, and online. About ten to 20 pounds or dollars.

Overhead

From Outside

Is the water coming down from the buildings roof (or leaking pipes overhead). If so you might see damp patches in the corners of the ceiling.

Or in from plants against the walls above the damp course. 

Or below the damp course, from water below. Making the skirting boards go rotten.

From Inside

Is the damp around a bed, bedding, or an item against a wall, clothes in a cupboard or wardrobe, or cushions or furniture such as bookcases against a wall? 

I have experiences mold from a leaking roof or gutters when being a tenant renting flats in Singapore. 

Who is responsible for organizing repairs and paying for repairs?

Plants Outside

Leaning against the wall. Rainwater on the leaves. (with insects flying in the windows. Important to pull curtains at night or when lights are on, to keep out insects, which in turn attract rodents. 

If children run around holding drinks, or eating cakes and biscuits in their hands, crumbs drop, or drinks spill. This attracts insects, which attract mice. The living mice, or their smell, attracts cats (domestic and wilk) and rats, which urinate, causing smell and damp.

Mice, cats, rats, pets, and pests, create damp from breathing,sweating, urinating. All of these have short life spans. They die, leaving smells, and a source of food for other creatures. And they breed.

Water Sources - Inside

Plants Indoors. Animals indoors. Humans indoors. People living in the building. Visiotrs, eg, parties, business meetings, social groups, committees.

A single widow with few visitors and open windows creates little moisture.

Sentis Court in Northwood, where my late parents lived, was sold as a retirement complex. It was sold only to buyers aged over 50. No children and no pets, so that it was quiet. No parties or gatherings in the gardens which were not a playground, but simply for access to th back, and landscaped to provide views or trees and flowers.  No businesses allowed. You could work from home, but no coming and going of visitors and strangers through the security doors.

Residents included an elderly widow in number 15. One person, sleeping in a large bedroom. Nobody in the spare room.

No mould. She entertained one lady in the afternoon, playing scrabble on her patio under the awning, serving tea outside. she could also play bridge with three visitors, again outside on the patio. 

What's more, Germans have a standard nationwide system of airing the house every morning, called burping the house, letting the air through.

Reult, no mould.

My parents lived for many years without mould. 

When the house was empty, during probate, the windows were shut for security. I did not know about the vents over the patio door, or that you needed to air a house. Curtains developed mould. 

I was executor for the will of an uncle. When the house was empty, again under probate, green mould grew in the water of one of the toilets, the second toilet, which was never used even when we went to check the house and dispose of the clothes, food, furniture, papers.

You flush the toilet every time you use it. But do you wipe dishes dry? Do you open the windows whilst showering? Do you open windows every morning and whenever you see mist on mirrors and windows? Do you leave wet shoes outside the door? Do you shake umbrellas dry, rather than drying them open inside the house? Do you cover the saucepan when boiling water with vegetables or cooking a stew? Do you leave coffee cups and glasses of water or other drinks in the home office, on the table after meals, all night after a family dinner or party? 

A Few Don'ts

Don't dry wet clothes over radiators. In the old days

A Few Does

Use a humidifier. 

If you are a tenant, buy one. If you are a landlord, buy one for the tenants. It is neded for every occupied bedroom.

If you let the house to one person, occupying one large bedroom, do they then use the spare bedroom for a relative to stay long term or permanently? Provide a hmidifier for each bedroom. Whatever the cost, repainting, with anti-mould paint, it is cheaper and less stressful than having ro repaint and re-carpet the entire room.

However, after Covid, more people re working from home.

Bad plants - 

Good Plants

Succulents

Inside Sources - Bulding Inhabitants

People breathing. If you read the indsturction on camping tents, they tell you that each adult (or child or pet) breathes out about a liter or water every night (and all day). In a tent when you wke up from one or two or three people sleeping in the tent, having shut the tent flap to keep out intruders, and for privacy, in the morning the tent is all wet. You have to open the flap for 15 minutes to half an hour to let it dry. And not sleep with the sleeping bag against the wall.

Summary

Check all rooms. Clear water, dampness and mould regularly.

Useful Websites

Where is it hot and where is it not? Hot in Singapore and the Philippines - how do you know the temperature there?

Breakages, Mould and More - What to watch for when travelling or leaving goods in storage

When travelling you have to guard against loss and breakage. Loss of goods. Loss of keys!

Keep photos and numbers of all keys. 

What could go wrong?

1 Books and papers deteriorate.

2 Clothes get holes from moths.

3 White clothes turn yellow.

4 Mould appears on walls.

5 Shoe heels disintegrate.

6 Handbags go mouldy. 

7 Fabric disintegrates. Handbag linings disintegrate. Cushions disintegrate.

Storage

Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware. Goods in storage can deteriorate. 

Tropics

So can goods in the tropics.

Mould

Move beds away from walls. Move bookshelves away from walls.

UK

 Or in cold countries and rainy countries like England, with condensation.

Remedies

Prevention is better than cure. Cheaper. Less time consuming. Less stress.

Prevention

1 You can take books back to temperate climates every 6 months and rotate them if you live part of the year in the tropics. 

Books can be restored but it is costly.

You can also buy photo albums with acid-free paper.

2 You can buy moth spray. Or bags of white pellets. Or wood discs with holes. Or bags of lavender to put in drawers and on hangers. They last about 3 months. If you have pets or babies crawling on the floor you might want to avoid the crumbly white pellets and opt for the wooden pieces instead.

3 Washing. Or dyeing.

4 Mould

First check no leaks from outside. No rising damp. If its condensation,you can paint with anti mould paint. Use tubs with sachets of water absorbent pellets. Or dehumidifying machines, which need to be emptied as they collect water. You may need one for each room but you can move them around with yourself. Open the windows! 

Vacuum clean carpets before they go into storage or before you leave a property empty. Ask the agent or relative checking on an empty house to spray moth repellent and carpet beetle killer.

Move boxes on floors to prevent termites. (We had termites under a box on the floor in the Beaumont in Singapore.)

Mould remover, Magiclean, sold in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

5 Keep your receipt for possible exchange, but the shop won't take them back after 6 months or a year. Don't leave your shoes in the cupboard. Wear them and enjoy them. Second hand shoes have less life left in them.

6 You could have them professionally cleaned if expensive. If cheap, either throw them away or wash them off. 

7 Sometimes the lining goes but you can save the outside of a garment or accessory. Other times it is the other way around. At very least, you may be able to save the buckles or zips. Some companies offer you money for items in any condition.

Cure

If you cannot find moth balls and insect repellent in your supermarket, you can find them online on Amazon.

Useful Websites

https://www.8days.sg/seeanddo/whatsbuzzing/how-did-womans-16k-worth-luxury-bags-clothes-turn-so-mouldy-after-1-year-storage-facility-755326

Mid-Autumn Festival Starts Sept 24 2018 but mooncakes are already on sale

Moon cake for the mid-autumn festival, with a delicious filling, usually sweet. The moon cake is round, like the shape of the full moon, and the small white boiled egg inside represents the moon.

Problem
When is it a good time to be in Singapore and other countries with large Chinese populations? I was vaguely wondering when the mid-Autumn festival would start. Like Christmas, it's a diet-breaking time of year. I love moon cakes.

Answer
Shangi-la Hotel in Singapore sent me news that they are selling moon cakes in advance of September 24th. Yes, that's the date of the Mid-Autumn festival this year, celebrated in China, Singapore and anywhere with a Chinese community.

Look out for moon cakes in restaurants, supermarkets, ice cream parlours, airport shops, and online from the big sellers such as eBay, Amazon and the Chinese internet sites.

Toastmasters Clubs Festival Talks
In Singapore, I am offered a teeny slice of mooncake in the refreshment break at Toastmasters International clubs. I've had mooncakes at two or three of the English-language clubs. I expect the Mandarin-speaking clubs are equally keen.

If you go to a club, expect to hear a speech about the mid-Autumn Festival. Do some reserach in case you are asked to speak about it, or say how it is celebrated in your country, or the country you have just travelled from.

Buying Cakes
The moon cakes are at varied prices. Some of the shops sell you four in a presentation box for about £24. Mooncakes are often given as gifts to valued business customers, which is why those expensive stiff boxes with drawers and red tassels are found in shops all round the financial district.

I even went to a pop-up shop which was devoted entirely to moon cakes for the moon cake festival season.

Others will sell one mooncake for about 36.

One visitor from Taiwan said that in Taiwan you can buy mooncakes cheaper. Out of curiosity, I shall check nearer the date.

Cutting
Moon cakes are muffin sized, cut in up to 4, 8 or16 bite-size pieces, like a full-size cake. It looks small, but it's very dense and full of sugar and, I suppose fats, so you soon feel you've had enough. Most people have one, or sometimes two slices. Although, I would not say no, if somebody insisted.

That reminds me. I must look out for mooncakes at airports. I must also ask friends and family overseas to bring me some back. If you are en route from America or Australia via Asia, or have a colleague who is, ask them to look out for mooncakes.

You could make your own, which is apparently time-consuming. You also need to invest in a mould to stamp the pattern on top. Many Chinese households will have one. I bought one from a lady who was leaving Singapore for the USA. She had had it lost at the back of her cupboard for many years, until she started to pack up to move house.

Now the mould is lost somewhere at the back of a cupboard in our place in Singapore. Frankly, I think I shall buy a mooncake ready-made. Maybe from Taiwan, a neighbourhood supermarket, or a market.

Moon cakes are an acquired taste. I managed to acquire the taste quite quickly and now I'm an addict.

Flavours
The cakes come in lots of flavours. My favourites are anything nutty. Or like bean curd paste.

Egg Centre
You pay more for a salted preserved egg in the centre. You pay even more for a double egg centre.

Double yolk and lotus seed.

At first I felt aggrieved that my sweet centre had been taken over, like a cuckoo's eggs, by a salted egg.

Later, I could see the point. The sugary centre is overwhelming. A salted boiled egg adds some nutrition and enables you to eat more without it seeming too sickly.

Savoury Centres
For those you aren't keen on sweets, you can find savoury centres.

Unusual Cakes
Ice Cream
You can also get ice cream mooncakes. Again pricey. I went to one shop which had had a sign in the window.

When I went back later, they said the ice cream mooncakes are made to order. Because the products are going to melt in the heat, they are not on display (except as plaster models), and you have to order them to be made and delivered or collected at a precise time.

I like nuts, and lotus seeds.

But not savouries. I feel I've been cheated.

Suzhou style meat mooncake.



If you see a free taste at any shop, make sure you take a couple of crumbs of different flavours.

Shangri La Hotel
The Shangri-La hotel is where Trump stayed (in the exclusive wing, away from the crowds at the breakfast buffet which I described earlier).

We bought items from the small but well-stocked shop. If you are passing, enquire about the mooncakes.

The website told me that the items were up to 30% or more off the usual price for bulk orders. percent price off what? I had to sign in, but wait until the date when items were on order. The website  suggested I might like to buy a few hundred mooncakes. Presumably for somebody with Trump's budget. I wish.

I'll try Facebook next, or Amazon.

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.
For reservation and enquiries, please email dining.sls@shangri-la.com or call +65 6213 4473.

Expect celebrations and food in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam, and Chinese restaurants worldwide.

Useful Websites
https://www.facebook.com/mooncakesonline/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See my previous posts on mooncakes. See next post for DIY mooncakes.