We had some very nice weather this weekend in Tokyo so Roomie and I took a stroll through Hibiya Koen (Hibiya Park). One of my favorite things about Tokyo is the quantity and quality of parks in the city. However, the last time we were at a park in Tokyo, we were accosted by this man. This park outing had a much more pleasant ending, as we stumbled upon a Global Festival. Japan Global Fest 2009 to be exact. The festival was packed with tons of booths from around the world. Everyone was very friendly and overall, it was a great atmosphere. The global food didn't hurt either. We started the fest off with Banana/Chocolate Samosas with a Chai Tea and ended with Sri Lankin Curry with Fried Noodles. (That sign in the background says "Suri Ranka Kare with Furaido Nu-doru" in Katakana) 
Sadly the Vietnamese food booth ran out of coffee, but they did have some funny looking Banh Mi. I decided to pass but didn't come away completely empty handed. I bought this lovely Vietnamese nose flute. I'm not sure if this instrument was totally made up by Japanese people because I have never seen this ever in my life, which really is a shame because I feel like I could have made a nice career out of it.
This past Saturday, I heard there was a sale at the Christian Louboutin store in the Meatpacking and decided I needed to torture myself - sounds fun, right?. As I walked solemnly around the Meatpacking District, I stumbled upon a food tasting event that totally cheered me up. Tastes From the Meatpacking District Through Chelsea featured 26 restaurants from around the neighborhood. For $40, you can taste 6 booths while also enjoying live music and the wonderful New York sunshine. So how was the food? I don't know. I'm on a tight budget these days, so $40 for 6 bites of food seemed a little steep. (Yes, this coming from the same girl who, 5 minutes earlier tried to justify buying 4-inch patent leather Loubis for $600 - ON SALE)Fret not! I did
n't walk away completely empty handed. I was given a free sample of LU chocolate cookies and purchased some tasty ginger lemonade for a more reasonable $2 from The Simple Kitchen. It was the perfect beverage for the warm day. The Chelsea/Meatpacking food scene has more of a reputation of flash and glamour vs. taste and substance, but I think that is slowly changing. The Red Cat, Cookshop and Spice Market are great restaurants. The Chelsea Market, home to the Food Network, offers gourmet food o
n the go, perfect for a Hudson River Park picnic. Kind of like the San Francisco Ferry Building of the East.I'll finish this post by saying that Chelsea is home to the best cupcakes in New York: Billy's Bakery. Crumbs cupcakes are too ostentatious. Magnolia's are overshadowed by their Banana Pudding. Buttercup is a close second, but they don't frost my cupcakes while lip synching to Madonna and I think we can all agree that that is the secret to a good cupcake.
