The Middle Eastern dance festival

Don’t ask me why I go to these things, I think I tend to try and find things to occupy myself with on weekends. This weekend we decided to head to the "Middle Eastern Dance Festival" in Marrickville. On arrival we drove to realize that the carpark was full. I suppose this was a good sign. If there’s a crowd there must be something good here. While looking for parking we were excited that there was a "Turkish room" where they make you Turkish coffee and read your cup. We thought we should do this just for a laugh.

We drove out of the carpark onto the street looking for parking as I practically damage my car to pieces coming out of the carpark. We find a spot in some deserted alley way and park there. We quickly make our way to the festival.
We enter the gate to spot the markets straight-ahead. So we decide to quickly wander through the markets before we head to the actual Middle Eastern Dance Festival which is on the opposite end of this place. There isn’t much to see in the markets, just mainly food. This is when Oishii spots the organic foods and demands that we spot on the way back to buy some stuff.

We walk over to the Middle Eastern Dance Festival to spot about 15 stores with basically the same crap. They had the bellydancing belts, canes, bells and CD’s. I think because we have seen all of this in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul that we were over it. Besides we knew that we could get this stuff in Istanbul for 10 times cheaper. I was in great shock when I saw a bellydancing costume for almost $1 000. Who the hell pays that much for a bellydancing costume?

This is when we notice a sign reading "Turkish room" and decide to head over there once I paid a visit to the toilet. On my return from the toilet I spot Oishii looking at some stall. I grab her and were walking off as the girl sitting behind the stall starts screaming at me "What’s your name"? For a minute I thought it was the obsessed secretary from my Italian class yelling out at me. Who the hell questions on what your name is like that? This is when I realize the girl is actually my friend’s friend who works at SBS Radio. A few years back she called me up to do a live interview with her on radio. This was just before I started filming Deadman’s Creek and I remember telling her about the movie on air. I some how got convinced into going back to the radio to do another interview telling her how the filming went. This should be interesting….

After the brief chat we wandered over to the Turkish room to discover that it’s actually a bellydancing class and there isn’t any cushions or coffee like we imagined it. So we wander off in disgust. We decide that we have had enough in the half an hour we have been here so we wander back to the markets and question whether or not to have Gozleme before heading off. I decide that I don’t feel like it so Oishii decides to head into the organic food stall before heading out. I stand there waiting for her when a two-second job takes over 10 minutes. So I decide to head into the stall as well to find out what’s happening.

I arrive at the stall to spot Oishii in a queue ready to pay for a bag full of organic garlic. The woman behind the counter looks at us and asks "If we just gave her money"?. Because I wasn’t there I have no idea what’s happening. This is when Oishii turns around and says "No". The woman then turns around and says "Good, Because I wouldn’t have remembered it". Like what the ? Who on earth doesn’t remember someone giving them money like two seconds ago? What drugs is she smoking honestly?

This is when Oishii places the garlic on the scale to be weighed. Oishii then asks the woman how much it is for the organic garlic. The woman turns around and informs us that it’s $39 for a kilo. This is when I practically chock from shock. Meanwhile the disgusted look on Oishii’s face is seriously priceless. It was definitely a Kodak moment. I was waiting for her to stomp out of the stall without buying anything but instead she decides to put majority of the garlic back and only purchase 2 of them. The two garlic’s cost enough as it is. We walk out of the stall as I’m thinking who the hell buys garlic that costs $39 a kilo?