September 6, 2010
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Taiwanfest 2010
J and I went to the 2nd Taiwanfest the other weekend. It was interesting. But there didn’t seem to be enough food stalls with Taiwanese cooking. I think the food court had 2 stalls that sold Chinese food, 1 western style food, 1 bubble tea, 1 oyster and 1 dessert type place. No noodles, dumplings and so many dishes that I had hoped would represent a typical night market scene. I wonder if maybe the costs are getting prohibitive for the vendors and organizers.
We attended a couple of food exhibits. The one on food carving that was quite interesting.
A pleasant surprise was the music. I’ve always enjoyed live music. We caught a couple of bands although I had no idea what they were singing.
This is a band called Aphasia and I think Double-X. The song I caught had a bit of a 60ish flavor to it and at times the singer sounded like Jim Morrison but moved like Jim Kerr (Simple Minds). It’s odd to listen to just the music but not understanding the lyrics at all. We only caught a bit of their act.
Matzka was another band that played in the evening. This one was another unique act - aboriginal singers with a strong reggae influence. They were quite interesting.
We also watched Kou Chou Ching, a Taiwanese rap group. I think they might have been missing one band member. But they put on a very energetic set and really tried to engage the audience. If I remember, they had a song about water pollution, aboriginal rights and emphasized an independent Taiwan. I was pretty impressed with them and even got one of their CDs. Of course I don't understand Mandarin.
sound check...
Comments (24)
Cool
Thanks for sharing.
where's the food?!
The food carving was very colourful indeed, especially the last one; were there any food stalls serving street food, such as noodles, etc?
@NVPhotography - you're welcome.
@CurryPuffy - no major food stalls, just a small handful - that was the biggest disappointment.
@Made2Order - there wasn't much food there - a big disappointment.
That doesn't sound like a Taiwanfest with so little food! The fruit craving looks very Thai - that's a popular craft here, too. Not only have you impressed me with your suit knowledge but a reference to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds - wow!
Love the food carvings. The music I could do without
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@christao408 - one of the chefs saw us taking pictures and gave us their business card hoping to lure us to Taiwan. I also thought the food carvings were more Thai as well. I'm afraid though the reference to Jim Morrison (Doors) would have gone over most people's head.
@Fatcat723 - you would have enjoyed the food carvings, they even "raffled" some of them off for the audience. The last picture of the food carving (watermelon with heart shape) is actually lit from the inside.
Cool! Awesome food/fruit carvings!
Where are da food photos?!
I visited a very VERY small music festival this past weekend too.
It wasn't very exciting, but it was fun to wander about a bit,
people watching and such. I do enjoy having the time to just
stand and watch ineresting people go by.
Have a great week,
*~matthew~*
@oxyGENE_08 - yeah, it was interesting. A few folks got to take them home.
@yang1815 - there wasn't a lot of food stalls - a major disappointment.
@bleuzeus - festivals are always interesting, maybe you need to be part of one and shake things up a bit.
@ElusiveWords - wtf kind of Taiwanfest is this?!
I've been wondering about these festivals...
Do they need special permit to sell food there?
If so, that might be why the food people are deterred.
@Wangium - I'm not really sure, I wish they would bring a bit of the night market flavor over here. This is only the second festival so maybe they are going through some growing pains.
Muuuuusic- any idea where to get the taiwanese rap groups music, or at least aa sample? I haven't got any indie Taiwanese music, and I'd like to expand.
@secade - I'm not an expert but you might want to start here...
http://taiwanfest.ca/events/2010-telus-taiwanfest/toronto/programs/umusiclive is the link to the program this year.
http://www.straight.com/article-341735/vancouver/rocking-free-world
http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/upfront/2010/08/james-keast-talks-taiwan/
Dear Matt: Life has distracted me, but I want you to know that I take note via email feed from xanga and read your notes when possible. One about your dad earlier this year brought to mind many thoughts, but my own world was just too distracting, sorry for the silence.
So, I'll take the Carving Chef for $500...well, for nothing (and he can wear nothing, if he's in good shape).
But is there much of a Taiwanese emigre community in Toronto? So many seemed to go to the States...
Happy autumn, Matt.
--markb
gosh!
@mbpasadena - Mark!!!! you're still around!!! When you stopped updating your LJ blog I sort of thought you stopped writing. I hope things are going well in your world. The carving chef seems to be a shy, young lad. I'm not sure how big the Taiwanese community is in Toronto. I'm sure it's getting dwarfed by a lot of folks from China now. But they do seem intent on maintaining their own identity which I appreciate.
Music is truly an international language and I am glad you enjoyed the performance by Kou Chou Ching (as i did as well!)
Though you didn't understand Mandarin, they still successfully conveyed their message on Taiwan independence
What night were you there??? I was there on Friday...and yes, the food stalls were very disappointing! But then I'm spoiled, cause Felix's mom makes me very yummy Taiwanese food!
@brooklyn2028 - we were there on Saturday and was hoping for some really good food. Oh it must be nice being spoiled like that!
just got back from holiday in taiwan myself. didn't attend any taiwanfest but had an awesome time just the same. great food, great people. would love to go back someday.
@rudyhou - oh that sounds like a great vacation!
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