Full moon before CNY

I woke up at five. Needed the washroom, but what pulled me out of bed was the light. It was coming in at a different angle, not the usual street lamp glow. This light was cooler, cleaner. I looked out the window and there it was, a brilliant moon hanging low in the sky. The full moon. The last full moon before Chinese New Year.

I went downstairs with the camera, wanting to see it properly from outside the house. No clouds, no haze. Just a clean, round moon, and the moonlight making the night brighter than usual. According to the almanac, the exact moment of full moon, when it would be perfectly round and 100 percent illuminated, was at 6.09 am. I was already wide awake by then, so I waited it out.

This is the result at that exact moment. A photograph of the full moon on the 15th day of the Chinese 12th lunar month. In two days it will be Li Chun, or Jip Chun to us Penang Hokkien folk; and in 14 days time, it shall be Chinese New Year.