2011 Cleveland Asian Festival

CLEVELAND – Yes, the title is compliments of Seth McFarlane and Family Guy, which my buddies and I quote religiously, appropriately and (always) conniving-ly. And since blogging’s taken over my life, a series I am ashamed to admit I’ve not had time to keep up with, nor any television for that matter.

Seems bloggers don’t have time for TV [ Jeff Bullas’ 29 Reasons Why You Should Be Blogging and Not Watching Television ].

Pretty crazy, almost seamless transition: blogging is so pervasive you are no longer merely a spectator of news and the media — you become a part of it. Call it positioning, inserting yourself into the here and now: it’s pretty ubiquitous. I’m fascinated by the concept of how social media and the digital age has led to the convergence of multiple industries across media channels, especially in PR and inbound marketing.

But anyway, it was beautiful today. So an old friend, mentor and fellow alum of Baldwin-Wallace College and I headed out to the Cleveland Asian Festival on the East side. She went last year but I wasn’t able to go (think I was out of town). She mentioned there were a bit more vendors/tents up this year (CLE PRogress duude!), and the event was held just on Saturday rather than through the weekend.

The aromas wafting through the air, vendors, flea markets and people-watching reminded me of home (Southern/Northern California, Vegas, Rochester, NY) — and it felt great. Nostalgia kicking in again.

Being raised in an eclectic household, specifically Filipino and Hispanic-Italian, and growing up traveling essentially made nutrition a huge part of my life. I love to cook –and many of my closest friends, family and colleagues are also requisite foodies. My theory on fitness: balance sustainable, organic and a minimalist (support local farmers!) diet, allowing the occasional indulgences, with an active (or in some cases, hyperactive) lifestyle.

Presto.

Upon arriving, we naturally wove our way over to the food area. Beginning with steamed pork and mushroom dumplings (siu mai) — arguably one of my favorites from the evening — we progressed to chicken skewers, egg rolls and sesame taro puffs, which are notoriously doughy, but sweet (and filling).

And nooo, I don’t know these things off the top of my head lol (biological parents I never knew were Vietnamese and purportedly Caucasian). In fact, friends often roast me for being a banana (yellow on the outside, white on the inside). C’est la vie…

The heat was sweltering (finally some sun!), so we cooled off with a concept I hadn’t heard of until today called Früt. It reminded me of Red Mango out in Vegas/California: a Korean take on nonfat, all-natural, gluten-free yogurt with probiotics and no artificial sweeteners [ Yelp review here >>http://bit.ly/mMk1eT ].

Apropos, she went with Classic, an iced lemonade, and I got one called Terrach, which had strawberries, blueberries and lemon in a raspberry/blackberry base. It was as refreshing and tasty as gelato (Italian ice), a pleasant surprise.

Before turning in, we also stopped by the indoor pavilion/bazaar of specialty shops, where I couldn’t pass up spring rolls with Thai peanut sauce for $2.99 to take home…

All in all a good day.