Cannot use ng-repeat inside a directive's template - angularjs

Question

I cannot make my ng-repeat to work inside the directive template. It shows as "ngRepeat: day in days track by $index".
angular
.module('Auto')
.directive('calendar', CalendarDirective);
CalendarDirective.$inject = ['$interpolate'];
CalendarDirectiveController.$inject = ['$scope', '$rootScope', '$attrs', '$location'];
function CalendarDirective($interpolate) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: true,
template: $('#template-calendar').html(),
replace: true,
link: function(scope, element) {
var startSym = $interpolate.startSymbol();
var endSym = $interpolate.endSymbol();
var rawExp = element.html();
var transformedExp = rawExp.replace(/<#/g, startSym).replace(/#>/g, endSym);
var parsedExp = $interpolate(transformedExp);
scope.$watch(parsedExp, function(newValue) {
element.html(newValue);
});
},
controller: CalendarDirectiveController,
};
}
function CalendarDirectiveController($scope, $rootScope, $attrs, $location) {
$scope.monthText = moment().format('MM YYYY');
$scope.days = ['Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday', 'Saturday', 'Sunday'];
$scope.title = function () {
return 'Directive';
}
}
<script type="text/html" id="template-calendar">
<div>
<table>
<thead>
<tr ng-repeat="day in days track by $index">
<th><#day#></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
I'm currently out of ideas
Here is the plunker

Answer 1

$interpolateProvider already does the job, a.e.
angular.module('plunker', [], function($interpolateProvider) {
$interpolateProvider.startSymbol('<#');
$interpolateProvider.endSymbol('#>');
})
So you don't need a $watch inside a link.
function CalendarDirective($interpolate) {
return {
restrict: 'E',
scope: true,
template: $('#template-calendar').html(),
replace: true,
link: function(scope, element) {
// removed
},
controller: CalendarDirectiveController,
};
}
Plunker Demo