Veggie Food Fest 2015 and a Game of "Spot the Tacos"

Warm and sunny today.  Seemed like a nice afternoon to see what was available at the vegetarian/vegan festival in Yoyogi Park.

I headed up the street after church, but got distracted along the way. By a man with fluffy cats!

 
I have no idea how he gets them to just lay like that, especially while surrounded by Japanese women squealing "kawaiiiiiii!" ("cuuuuuuute!") and snapping close-ups. Maybe they're coming down from a catnip high? (The cats, I mean.) I counted ten of them in there, and not one of them could be bothered to do much more than raise their heads occasionally. But it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, after all.

Moving on...

I made my way down to the festival grounds, and wandered past a couple dozen booths of vegetarian dishes, as well as vendors selling organic veggies, "raw" desserts, packaged foods, and non-food items like organic cotton clothing.

   
And entertainment, too, of course.

The tomato guy eventually launched into a series of songs,
but the lyrics consisted mostly of just listing names of different fruits and vegetables...

   
Before settling on what I wanted for lunch, though, I realized that there appeared to be even more booths a few meters away.  Little did I know, it was an entirely different festival.

   
I explored a bit...
 

Oh yes, they're all real.

   
Thinking I had maybe doubled my lunch options, I explored the Indonesian food stalls. Turns out, Indonesian food is pretty popular.

  
 
If the food stalls at international food festivals in Japan are to be believed, tacos are a staple in any country's cuisine.

Ah...sombreros, cacti, and tacos. Exactly what comes to mind when I think of Indonesia.

  
Bonus points if you can spot the tacos here, too:

  
 
But I've never had Indonesian food before, and the more I looked around, the less confidence I had that I would be able to pick something I'd like. I chickened out and went back to the veggie festival to grab something to eat.

I was in luck!  I found grilled vegetables (my favorite), complete with a selection of hot salsas. Veggie paradise for me!

Green pepper, eggplant, zucchini, naga-negi (Japanese long onion), red bell pepper, tomato, and onion.
And I couldn't resist adding a little extra-hot "salsa from hell" (top left, and below).

    

  
  
But I still had room for more! So I made my way back over towards "Indonesia" and found some extra-long french fries. Not gonna lie: I ate every single one of these.

   
Finally full, and with just the right amount of heartburn from the salsa, I made my way back to the train station and headed home.