Let's Japan Fair!

So Sunday was the NYC Japan Fair, and because I do love a good cultural fair, I was there.

It's always fun to pretend I'm a different ethnicity (or, in the case of the Filipino Day fair, my actual ethnicity) and then be like, "Yeah! Whoo! Go Japan! Let's do it! I'm wearing a headband!" while speaking in Japanese gibberish, enjoying food and t-shirts and stuff to buy and samples and whatnot... but I have to say, this was a rather disappointing "fair."

In fact, I'd be hard pressed to call it that at all. It was a one-block segment of a multi-block street fair (the generic kind where you can buy watermelon and scarves and fried dough and junk). Just a single block! So... kind of a small fair.

We arrived at the exact moment it got crazy crowded (so in that way, it was reminiscent of Japan), and there wasn't much to do except snake up the booths on one side, snake down the booths on the other, and get the heck out.

There was a karate demonstration (and later music), but you couldn't see anything. There was a lot of food, but I wasn't hungry and the lines were insane. There were small boxes of chocolate soy milk, and I got one of those (though it tastes chalky when warm), and there was nothing worth buying... except this.


When I saw that one of the food booths was decorated with these little balloon dolls of a smiling bald guy, I didn't know what it was about (later learned he's the mascot for Marukome, maker of miso products), but I knew I wanted one.

And so I got it.

Dream fulfilled, and I can call this fair a success. Go Japan! You're number one!