Sunday, July 11, 2004

Nite it Up! Asian Night Market 2004

I guess with the success of the numerous cultural festivals (e.g. Taste of the Danforth, Corsa Italia Fiesta, etc.) across Toronto over the summer, sooner or later the Chinese community is bound to cash in. :) Tonight I went to check out the Asian Night Market (It's actually already been around for 3 years) at Metro Square with Anita and Ben.

It was absolutely crazy out there as most of the Asian population in northern Toronto showed up. Finding parking was ridiculous. I must have bumped into around 20 different people from various stages of life--former housemates, Waterloo friends, church friends, aunties/uncles and even my own brother. Jam-packed into the plaza's parking lot, there were various festivities/activities going on: a basketball tournament, a ball hockey tournament, cheesy 'Midway'-type games, stage performances like singing, dancing and even rapping. (It's hilarious seeing Chinese people act like 'chiggers'. If there were real rappers in the audience, they'd get their asses kicked. :lol:)

The best (or some say the worst...i'll get to that in a sec) part of the market was the food. We tried various types of food offered at the tents--Korean pancakes, curry beef/fish balls, teriyaki skewers, bubble tea, and sesame balls. However, the one thing that everyone will remember, whether you like it or not is the, is 'chow-tofu' (a.k.a. Stinky Tofu). For those who don't know, it's deep-fried fermented tofu that has this incredibly wretched smell. I can't begin to describe it, but as one person put it, "the smell is pungent and heavy, reminiscent of fish sauce, and seemed to greet us physically, like a hug from a musty bum." Many people walked through the crowd covering their faces and you could constantly hear people yell out, "It smells like sh*t." :) I guess you either love it or hate it 'cause amazingly, it's the one thing that everyone seems to line up for too. The line to get this stuff was around the corner, people must have had to wait about 20 mins just to get them. On this night, none of us were brave enough to try it. Maybe next year. That's a BIG maybe.

Anyway, time for bed. Actually shower first 'cause I STINK. :p

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