Chapter Twenty-Four: Daegu Food Expo

So, this weekend, I ended up at the less-than-thrilling Daegu Food Tour Expo. There were some nice carved gourds, but that was probably the highlight of the day. It was more exciting to me that I was on any adventure at all... and here's how it started:

On Friday night, Chris talked me into going to Commune, where, as it turned out, there was no pub-quiz going on. While I normally have a one-drink-max policy, I was talked into staying out for a few.

I enjoyed a nice pint of OB, which is roughly on par with Rolling Rock.

And then I apparently made friends with this guy here, Zhian. I have not really done much to make friends with other Westerners, so this was a big event. I talked to strangers and exchanged e-mail addresses with Zhian. He reminds me of my friends from Long Island or Smith. He wears huge glasses and cuffs his jeans. Clearly, we were meant to be friends. On Saturday, he e-mailed me to invite me to an International Food Festival he was going to with some friends. We met up outside of Commune yesterday in the daylight and took a cab with two of his Korean friends to this food expo. On the way inside, Zhian joked, "Wouldn't it be funny if this were one of those things where you only get to look at the food and not eat it?"
Ha ha... oh wait.

There was very little in the way of food to be consumed, most was to be looked at. But, at least some was exceedingly pretty! There were a bunch of carved gourds. Anyone else completely in awe of the idea of carving watermelons as anything other than bowls for fruit salad? We believe that the two side peacocks were carved out of radishes.

More radish/watermelon mixed media. Yes, they did glue a face to that mermaid.

Beautifully Asian.

In addition to pretty gourds, there were pretty cocktails--which also could not be consumed.

Wintery themed gourds.

This was my favorite! It's a wat-o-lantern! I cannot explain the beauty of the glow coming from inside this watermelon rose. It makes me really tempted to make a watermelon jack-o-lantern for Halloween next year.

Simple but beautiful.

Korean pride! The ingenuity astounds me.

Beautiful flower and it looks like the pumpkin in the background carefully had those words removed and then pushed back in, amazing!

Oh right, the food. It was frustrating and difficult to get to. Not much in the way of international and... not all that much food to begin with. But this was an interesting kebab place. We had expected there to be a lot of free food at little stands. Instead, you had to pay for it, there wasn't that much of it, and most of it you could just get on any street downtown.

When I first came upon this, I thought. "Ah yes, this is where we stick children behind tables with cakes and tell them not to eat them? It's just like Birthday Party day at school!" After much pondering aloud and noting differences in the cakes, we determined it must have been a children's cake decorating contest. Why they had to sit behind the cakes, I still don't understand.

A sea of small children in chefs hats listening to somebody speak. Also, none of them are messy at all, which I don't understand. Did they decorate the cakes somewhere else? Were they wearing different clothes?

The judges? I assume.

We left the expo, feeling defeated and still looking for good cheap food.
Well, at least we got balloons out of it.

Balloon jousting.

Little balloon Zhian.
We took a cab back into downtown and got the spiciest chicken I've ever had. I was laughed at by Zhian's Korean friends because I would take a bite, then sit with my mouth open contemplating how to put out the fire that was burning from my lips to my stomach.
Nevertheless, an excellent Sunday afternoon was had by all. Also, I think this means that I found hipsters in Daegu, Korea. Who needs Williamsburg?