Filipino Festival

By this point, you have all probably figured out that nothing motivates us more than food. One of our favorite things about living in Canberra is going to the local embassy sponsored events. A lot of them offer education about the country and ways to embrace the cultural heritage. That is good and all, I guess, but the real highlight is they always have a ton of delicious food. Up this time was the Embassy of the Philippines, which was having a Christmas celebration. 

Jackpot. Look at all those food stands.

The first stand we stopped at was selling Filipino style spaghetti. Not what we were expecting to see at all, so we bought some. Surprisingly, it was probably the best thing we ate all day. They put some kind of sweet sausage in the sauce, which makes it much sweeter tasting overall. Pretty darn good. Based on this and everything else we tried, we think Filipinos must have big sweet-tooths.

 Greg chowing down on some lobster-ball skewers.

For dessert we had a halo-halo, a traditional Filipino summertime drink. It's ice, cream, jackfruit, coconut, plantain, and sweet preserved beans and yam. Sounds like a strange combination, and well it kind of is. But it's really good, and just the thing you want on an ultra-hot day. It's also insanely sweet, so we were glad we only got one for the two of us.

Too much fun, Mom. I'm done.

On the way out were a couple of highly decorated display cars. Overall, this probably wasn't our favorite one we've been to, but we had a nice afternoon and ate until we were stuffed. So, really, mission accomplished.

And now for something completely different. We were at Babies R Us the other day stocking up on baby supplies when we came across this display. Australians (or maybe everyone, we're still not up on all the baby lingo) call these Jolly Jumpers. You put your baby in there and they are free to bounce and have a great time. However, this display makes it look like something horrible has happened. How did anyone think that this would make you want to buy their product!? Poor sad baby.