Happy Go KL was invited to Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur’s launch of their 2022 mooncake gift sets. For this Mid-Autumn festival, they are back with yet another creative collaboration with award-winning Malaysian fashion designer Melinda Looi.
This year, Melinda Looi puts a Peranakan twist into Grand Hyatt KL’s mooncake gifts. Her mid-autumn advent calendar idea, delivered in the shape of a solid sustainable wooden miniature replica of a Peranakan house named ‘The House of Shí Wǔ 十五之家’, is nothing short of genius. There is no doubt this mooncake set will be a hit with families. My 9-year-old twins loved the little house, as it offered a lovely element of surprise when they unboxed the little treasures it contains.
Mooncakes anyone?!
Aside from housing four of Grand Hyatt’s good classic mooncakes made with Shanghainese yam with single yolk, pure red bean, pure pandan and white lotus with a double yolk, it also contains other gems. They are carefully and exclusively curated by the designer herself and categorised under the themes of food, fun and flair.
More goodies!
The term ‘Shí Wǔ 十五’ or ‘fifteen’ represents the 15th day of the 8th month in the Chinese calendar when the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated. It is also the number of curated treasures hidden within the little house, which can be discovered for each of the 15 days leading up to the festival day.
The exterior of the house pays tribute to the timeless architecture and motifs that can commonly be seen in iconic Peranakan Straits Chinese homes around Malaysia. My children excitedly pointed out that it looked like places we have seen in Penang and Malacca!
Food, fun and flair
Under the ‘food’ theme, there are the mooncakes and selections of premium traditional teas that pair well with them, as well as traditional candies and fortune cookies. Under ‘fun’, there are little childhood playthings that will evoke a sense of nostalgia for those familiar with them, such as a colourful shuttlecock, a mini lantern and a mini keychain made in the likeness of a traditional wooden mooncake mould. For ‘flair’, you will discover beautiful limited edition lifestyle items.
I personally love the designer scarf that tells the Chinese folktale of the festival’s origins – Chang’e with her Jade Rabbit and husband Hou Yi who shoots down the nine suns – and also the pretty scented candle.
Melinda shared at the launch: “The idea of curating a bespoke advent calendar has always been in my wish list, thus I was over the moon when the concept and design received their best vote. ‘The House of Shí Wǔ 十五’ makes more than an exclusive gift since it can be repurposed as a refined ornament in one’s home, a little one’s traditional dollhouse or even a whimsical storage box for personal gems.”
General Manager of Grand Hyatt KL, Olivier Lenoir, elaborated: “We are fortunate to join forces with Melinda Looi once again for the opportunity to present to the market a seasonal collection that is ‘out-of-the-box’. More often than not, the authenticity and uniqueness of Peranakan culture is something that modern society tends to lose touch with over time, and thus it feels right to showcase its significance this Mid-Autumn for all of us to reminisce the timelessness of one of Malaysia’s oldest legacies.”
How to order
‘The House of Shí Wǔ 十五’ is available for pre-orders while stocks last at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur online store at a special Early Bird price of RM 288 nett (originally priced at RM 328 nett). Self-collection or delivery is available. You can also email the hotel here for bulk purchase enquiries.
The Mid-Autumn Set Menu
Attendees at the launch of ‘The House of Shí Wǔ 十五’ were also given a sneak peek into the exquisite Mid-Autumn Set Menu, that will soon be offered by Grand Hyatt KL’s Thirty8 restaurant from August 29 to September 11. You can taste beautiful fresh produce cooked in a manner that brings out their best tastes and textures, whilst enjoying the panoramic 360˚ view of Kuala Lumpur’s city skyline that the restaurant offers.
My personal favourites were the smoked duck breast with chilli garlic and vinegar, and the tiger grouper fillet with ginseng cordyceps flower and wolfberries, as these are classic dishes that Malaysian Chinese families usually enjoy at home during festival days. At the restaurant, they’re taken to another culinary level!
if you’d like to find out where to buy mooncakes this year in KL, have a look at our listicle here.
We were invited by Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur. As always, our opinion is honest and our own.
