The Mooncake Dice-Game Reunion - and How the Game Works

- September 18, 2015, Saturday

- My high school classmate Dwight had the wild idea of having a high-school class reunion during this special season for the Southern-Chinese diasporic community. On the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar (which falls on the 27th of September this year in the Gregorian calendar,) the Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, or fondly called the "Mooncake Festival." Traditionally, people who celebrate this festival appreciate the roundness of the moon, and celebrate this festival with their families. (As for us, having a class reunion is a manifestation of "celebrating with family.") People also eat sweet bean-filled "mooncakes," with various folktales or legends as to how the tradition of eating mooncakes started.

We're in 304.

Dwight spelled his own name wrong. LOL.

Dwight the organizer, and Toni our senior-year class leader

- Our class had a major catching up session during dinner at Binondo's Royal Sharksfin Seafood Restaurant, since we haven't been together for a long time. Our last (Christmas) reunion was way back in 2011, and not everyone gets to talk to everyone on a regular basis. We realized that while there were some little changes here and there, like interests or occupations, many of us did not change a whole lot - including me. Honestly, it felt like high school all over again.

- We had cold cuts, garlic shrimp, Chinese fried chicken, steamed fish, vegetables with fish and squid, sauced pork with buns, wintermelon soup, stir-fried Chinese noodles, and white almond jelly for dessert.

Kim Carmela, Erlyn, and Genevieve.

"Class photo" with plenty of absentees..

- Nellie also surprised the September birthday people with a nice little cake. Since Erlyn and I were the only people who had birthdays in September during dinner, we each got to take home half of the cake. (The cake was the earliest birthday surprise I had this year; am hoping for more nice surprises though. Heehee.)

I was wishing.

Blow!!

My friends and the cake.

I am the selfie king. I took selfies before it was cool.

- After dinner was the most exciting (and stressful) part of the night - the dice game Aside from eating mooncakes, Southern Chinese people also celebrate this auspicious festival with playing the mooncake dice game. No one really knows how this game started, but it is said that this game originated from scholars who invented the game as a way to express their desire to top the civil service exams. Another version states hat generals invented the game to prevent them from being homesick.

Dwight setting up the table.

Dwight distributing the prize guide.

- The dice game required 6 dice, one bowl, and prizes that rank from first to sixth prize. Everyone takes turns in rolling the dice, and the game only ends when there are no more prizes left. Because of this, it is possible to have more than 1 prize. (Example, a person wins a prize this round, and during the second rotation/round, the same person can win another prize, depending on the dice combination that appears on the bowl.) The game can be harder if it was to be done in a tournament manner, such as in bigger dice-game events.

- Traditionally, the prizes are mooncakes of varying sizes and fillings (ex. the first prize would be the biggest mooncake with plenty of salted yolks and lotus seeds inside.) These days, people commonly give usual items as prizes, from appliances, to grocery items, and my favorite - cash. The prizes would correspond to the combination of the 6 dice after a player rolls them in the bowl. Also, the amount of prizes will decrease as the level prize increases (ex. more people can have the chance to win the 6th prize as more, but smaller, items are assigned as the 6th prize, while there is only one first/grand prize and can only be won by one person.) However, when a person rolls a combination, but no more prizes are left for that prize/combination, the person won't be able to get a prize anymore. (Example, 10 items are designated as the 6th prize, but all 10 items were already taken by earlier 6th prize winners, during the earlier rounds, then the next person who rolls out a 6th-prize dice combination won't be able to get a prize anymore, as there are no more items left for that prize.)

- As can be seen in the guide below, players who roll a dice combination with one "4," and with the other 5 dice not showing any other prize-worthy combinations (ex. 4-of-a-kind, or 1-2-3-4-5-6,) can get one of the items designated as the 6th prize. Those with two 4s, can win one of the items designated as the 5th prize, and so on. The combinations highlighted in red are the first-place combinations. Since only one person can win the first or grand prize, everyone waits until the end of the game before giving the grand prize. This is because the grand prize has its own "hierarchy" of combinations. Example, if a person rolls out a combination with four 4s, the four 4s would win the person the grand prize, in theory. However, if during the later rounds, another player rolls out a combination with, for example, a 6-of-a-kind, then the latter person would have rolled a "higher" combination that beats the four 4s. The highest among the first prize combinations would be the one with six 4s. If a person rolls out six 4s, then the person automatically gets the grand prize, since no other dice combination is higher than that. (And again, the game doesn't stop when one wins the grand prize, but the game stops when all the prizes are won by the players.)    

A dice-combination guide. 

- Since this game is based on luck, it might take too long before someone gets the higher prizes. In this case, some people agree on "demoting" the higher prizes, so there will be more chances of people getting them (and to end the game more quickly, especially when the venue of the game is in a restaurant or other places with closing hours.) Fortunately, we were able to end on time since the higher prizes were won by my other former classmates.

People checking if the dice combination rolled out is prize-worthy.

Everyone in intense concentration. Everyone wants moolah.

Selfie with everyone else; they don't seem to know I'm doing this.

Genevieve's turn.

- As a tradition, the grand-prize winner either breaks the bowl where the dice were rolled as a symbol of spreading the winner's good luck. (We could not do this since the restaurant owns the bowl we used.) Other people also let the winner take home the 6-dice set used during the game as a souvenir. Others may do both.

- I did not win the grand prize, but as cheesy as it sounds, being in that small reunion was already a version of the grand prize for me (but yes, the grand prize money in the large red envelope would have made the night better,) since I spent priceless moments with nice people I haven't seen in a long time, with Nellie's surprise to me and Erlyn (and supposedly our other September birthday boys and girls who weren't present) as the night's cherry on top. Small events like these mean more and more as the years go by. (Oh, the woes of getting older.)