Chinese Lantern Festival

As part of the celebration for the Year of the Pig, a Chinese lantern festival was held in the Auckland Domain. This area is also the home of the Auckland War Memorial Museum and Wintergarden. 

On Friday evening, 2/15/19, I took the train to Grafton and then walked over to the grounds. It was only about 10 minutes away from the train station. Jeanne had planned to come with me, but again, her knee was acting up and she decided, wisely I think, to let it rest. 

The festival is open each night this weekend until 10:30 so the lanterns can be seen in all their splendor. I just didn't want to stay out that late. I think my pictures taken in the sunlight are nice enough. 

As I was leaving the domain about 7 pm, I realized that arriving and leaving early had been a good idea. There were hordes of people arriving as I was leaving. That place was about to become a zoo. 

Here is my album of pictures and a couple of shaky videos. 

 This is the War Museum. It houses plenty of items unrelated to war as well, thank goodness.

 Displays were set up in practically every nook and cranny on the grounds. 

This dog display, while very handsome, reminded me what it must be like for kids to walk up to a large dog.  

 You'll see that many of the trees in this area are hung with lanterns.

Whether it is a county fair in Michigan that's going on, or a lantern festival in Auckland, food is one of the big draws for the crowds. Who doesn't like to eat afterall? The literature I saw stated that there were close to 100 food vendors hoping to cash in on the hungry dinner crowds. 

I was hoping that at least some of the foods offered might be ones that you don't normally see at the Chinese takeaway places that are so common here. In that, I was somewhat disappointed. Most of the food was very mainstream. Chinese mainstream of course. I think they were offering those things that the greatest number of people are accustomed to. Things like sweet and sour chicken/beef/pork, or chicken/beef/pork with vegetables.

However, I did manage to find a few things I hadn't tried before. This next section of the post shares my dinner with you. 

 I got excited when I saw this sign. I don't know which foodie on TV or You Tube first did a segment on stinky tofu that I saw, but they definitely piqued my interest and I wanted to try it now. Five bucks. I didn't have much to lose if it turned out to be horrendous. 

 Here it is. I asked for a spicy sauce to go with it. As you can see, they didn't stint on the peppers. It had been fried on a very hot griddle. the surface of the tofu was crunchy in fact due to the level of searing. I started by carefully smelling my serving, ready to be offended, but there was no stink to this stinky tofu. Hmm, I thought, this won't be so bad. 

My first bite was acceptable too. I liked the crunchy outside and soft inside. The sauce was excellent, good and spicy, but not unpleasantly so. It was only after I chewed on my bite a while that I became aware that this stuff was indeed aptly named. The stinky part does not hit you if you simply smell it. It does not taste stinky either. In my opinion, the stinky part rises up through the back of your mouth and enters your nasal passages from that direction. I did not find the experience pleasant. It wasn't horrible, but it sure wasn't good. Words like fart, sewer, and swamp muck came to mind. I did finish one piece, just so I could say that I gave it my best shot. Then I put the rest of it away for Jeanne and Allie to try when I got home.  

They added 'dirty cow barn' to the list of flavor descriptors. One small bite was enough for them.    

My next stop was more like it. My duck bun was delicious 

 I was near a stage at this point so I took my bun and headed toward it. The video below was shot as I stood and ate. The one-handed phone hold and the wind conspired to make this shake more than I like. 
And I wish I knew what they were saying...

tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y74SOCRX9Y&feature=youtu.be

 I don't think I've ever showed you a picture of the police over here. They don't normally carry guns.  

Some laws here are a bit stricter. For example, I can't carry a pocket knife at all times like I did for years at home. Knives are certainly allowed on a picnic because cutting food may be necessary, or if you are engaged in a job that requires the opening of boxes, knives are allowed. But to carry one on your person because you may discover a use for it during the course of the day is Not allowed. Not even little pocket knives with a two inch blade. I find that disappointing. 

 It's getting busy. I may leave soon, but I'm thirsty and need some dessert to finish off my meal. 

Oh man, that was the best drink I've had in a very long time. 

 These might be good.

 They were. Freshly deep-fried with sweet durian filling. I'll take two of these home to the ladies for sure. 

The arrow is pointing the way out. Just before I left though, I stopped to watch this... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgauI8aqB2Y

I walked back to Grafton Station. When the train arrived, I found that it was standing room only in every car of the six car train. There were about 20 of us waiting on the platform and I just barely fit into one of the cars. The doors tried to close behind me but hit my backpack and rebounded. A guy next to me told me he'd mash my backpack flatter for me and then the doors closed. It would have been impossible to fall down because of the tightness of the pack. 

The crowd was due to a game being held in Kingsland. That was just two stops away. The crowd disappeared then and I found a seat for the rest of the ride home.   -djf