Asian Food Fest 2010

Last Saturday morning we were "getting ready to get ready," sipping strong Kroger French Roast coffee (it's a dollar cheaper on the can than Columbian) and watching Fox19 on TV.  We had no plans for the day other than stopping at the bank before 5 o'clock. Our ears perked up at the report of the day's events:  Asian Food Fest 2010, free admission, free parking, free entertainment, food from all over Asia, and just a few miles away at Kolping Center.  The plan is set:  bank first, then swing by the festival.

We headed out around 2 p.m., travelling along a residential street called Niagara to avoid the congestion typical of Colerain Ave.  Suddenly a Colerain Township police car came flying down the narrow street with sirens & lights going.  Hmm, wonder what's up?  There is always some kind of drama within earshot, but we found out later that this turned out to be 4 people shot, two of them dead.  Our kids know that you can't walk to Northgate Mall without getting jumped.  And Northgate Mall is going through foreclosure.  Welcome to slum-burbia!  But at that moment the biggest threat to us was the sky.  A silent stroke of lightning etched the horizon as I exited the bank after appeasing the bank with another monthly mortgage payment.  The atmosphere is muggy and heavy for so early in the season.

Minutes later we pulled in to the spacious parking lot of Kolping Center, cruised past an ongoing softball game, and parked in one of the many handicap slots near the shelter/building.  The paved walkways were wheelchair-friendly; the grassy area that held the various food booths was not to hard for me to push over.  There were a few known restaurants represented but most of the booths seemed to represent countries or regions of Asia.  We selected a chicken paad thai and a Korean meal and found a table under the spacious shelter.  Oh, I forgot to mention there was a light drizzle going, so much for a good hair day.

Under the shelter a demonstration of a martial art called akkido was beginning.  According to the old sensei, the main feature of akkido is to use your opponents momentum against him.  Not much striking or kicking, lots of spinning and flipping.  Check out the pics.

After the akkido demo, there was a group of kids that did the dragon dance.

Apparently dragons eat dollars.  After all, this festival is helping to raise money for Haiti.

Do you still have all your fingers, Marcy?

Dragons also go for peaches on a red plate.  Good luck?

The dragon crew posed for photos with anyone who wanted.  This young lady was one of the volunteers who made sure we had fun.  In fact, several people asked us if we were having fun.  The answer was yes!  We're already looking forward to the 2nd annual Asian Food Festival.