balboa park international food fest

(thanks to c. hansen for photo above)
as i was biking downtown on saturday to meet jay (unfortunately the petco park lawn seats were sold out, so we just grabbed a slice of pizza at ciro's) and swung by balboa park, it seemed more crowded than usual. then i remembered the international food festival was going on over by the international cottages. the area was packed with people and several food tents representing various countries. unfortunately the lines were pretty huge, so i grabbed a combo plate at the phillippines tent (big surprise, i know) comprised of small portions of pancit, rice, lumpia and chicken adobo. while the plate could have been bigger, it was only $6, and pretty tasty.

while i was in line, this guy was raving to his girlfriend about how good the palestinean falafel was - the best he'd had. that was my first pick too, but the line was too intimidating. maybe next year.

speaking of balboa park, we're looking forward to the bi-annual c-note art event, where you can score some pretty good art from the park's art institute students for either $100, $200 or $300. you do have to fish through some crap though... but i guess we all have our own tastes. it helps to get there early - there's often a substantial line before it opens, and if you've spotted a piece of art you like during the preview, it might be gone by the time you get to it, which happened to us last time. but don't despair - more art is brought out each time a piece is taken off the wall. and don't take it off the wall unless you really want it - it's yours once you do.