The Asian Cultural Experience

Today the family traveled out to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for the Asian Cultural Experience. It was a really cool adventure as expected. I only learned about the event through a Flickr group I’m a member of, the Atlanta Flickr Group. Ironically, however, I didn’t get to see any of them at the show. They all showed up early and burned out before the show got started. We arrived just in time for the “Lion’s Dance” event, which was rich with martial arts and the dragon dance. I’ve never been to the garden before, so we took some time to walk around a bit. As hot as it was, that didn’t last long. We were looking for shade (and I some food). As it was a cultural experience, I wanted to try some foods I’ve never tried before. I got fed from the good people of Laos. I also ate some purple dessert rice from an unknown country. The Lao Green Papaya Salad was something to behold. The smell kept Amy from getting within 20 feet of me. I asked for it to be hot, and I got what I asked for. It still burns. It was hard getting the first bite down – every time. However, moments after I had swallowed, I found myself wanting more. Difficult to explain. Suffice it to say, it was probably some of the most vile of foods put in my mouth (I’ve had kimshee) and I ate it all. I’d probably eat it again if given the opportunity. Some sort of addiction, I guess. I also had some extra-sticky rice with some unmentionable sausage too. The purple dessert rice was just that. I don’t know how else to describe it. Amy nor Balthazar were interested in eating anything I selected. Whimps. More for me. And I didn’t get sick! As the day progressed, Amy and Balthazar got a bit overheated. Amy has a tendancy to do this, and Balthazar is just little. I was still doing well, but we took off to seek out some A/C. So it was an experience on many different levels. We didn’t buy much of anything from the retailers, which is very unusual. We just enjoyed the entertainment and people-watching. I’ll be keeping my ears open for more Atlanta Botanical Garden events such as this. Click on the picture above for pictures from the event.