We made a special trip to Tumbalong Park for this year's annual Japan Festival. I'd been to one a couple of years earlier and really enjoyed it, the food, people, and the arts and crafts stall they have set up. Unfortunately, a few things got in the way today (test driving cars at Rick Damelian and Pitt St Mall!), so we only managed to make it out to Darling Harbour at around 5.30 pm. Unfortunately it looked like all the stalls were closed, but the food stalls and performances were in full swing, and the whole park was filled with people. It was encouraging to see lots of people dressed in kimonos walking around, and certainly brings back memories of Japan.
When we saw the food offerings, including tataoki balls, yakisoba, fish balls, we were in heaven! They also did the "Irrashaimases" greeting! We only had eyes however, for the okonomiyaki, it had been so long between bites, but which stall? We let the crowd decide for us. We first encountered Colotako during our Haymarket exploration. They have branched out to include okonomiyakis in their offerings. There was a queue stretching back around 20m, so we went up to the front, bought our tickets, handed over our $7, and joined the queue. Like Japan, the Okonomiyakis were cooked in front of us, I spent a good 20 minutes watching them flip, chop and pour. Unlike Japan, there was only 1 choice. Our Okonomiyaki came with noodles, bacon, egg, cabbage, beef, smolthered with some delectable Japanese mayo, teriyaki sauce and of course the bonito flakes! It came piping hot and tasted absolutely divine. I MISS JAPAN!!!
Our hunger and curiosity satisfied, we settled down to enjoy some great performances including dancing and a lot of Japanese drumming. It was curious to see the different styles of the different regions and the pride and fitness the drummers show.
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