Most Sunday I try to go out, do something, visit a new place or at least have a walk. Doesn't always work out as my OH might not feel like doing much(Sunday is his only day off)and then I can't be bothered to do anything by myself...Sad but true. One such Sunday though, I decided to visit the Int.Food Festival friends told me about.
Off I went on the metro, and as soon as I got there, I got the unnerving feeling that this event was not nearly as 'international' as advertised/I thought..In fact, in the 1,5 hour I was there, I didn't see any other foreigner and that includes the stall owners!I think the organizers might have got a bit over-excited calling this fair International...
The food was varied but it was a typical Chinese affair with lots of local foods, which one can get pretty much at every street so I was quite surprised that so many people were buying snacks,which they could get any day anyway but hey..It's China, I don't think I'll ever understand it:)
As usual, the Xinjiangnese food looked the most exotic but nothing I haven't seen in the local Muslim 'restaurants'. Admittedly, I struggled to find a stall offering something different AND which wasn't seafood or a fried scorpio - type thing. I'm not very adventurous with food but I'm don't stick to strictly Western food either(like some of my colleagues, believe it or not-it is possible not to eat Chinese food while living in China!). After walking around all the stalls, I finally decided to go for classic cone ice cream(in mango and melon flavour,mind you)and warm mango tofu, which you can see here. I like tofu, I like mango so why not?It was quite delicious:) I believe that I would have enjoyed this event much more if not for the unbelievable crowds, hot temperature and most noticeably, tonnes of rubbish lying all over the place even though there were plenty of large bins provided. You are bound to have mess with an event like that, snacks being given out in plastic trays and cups and al fresco 'dining' but the state of that street(right outside a huge shopping mall)was pretty shocking..All that plus the overbearing staring made the whole outing disappointing. That was definitely, what I call, an anti-China day, experienced by most, if not all, expats. Sometimes the locals and their customs are just too much. Nevertheless, I was pleased that I gave it a go and didn't spend the whole Sunday in front of the TV, like my OH did...