Thai Festival 2012

The Royal Thai Consulate General is holding a free Thai Festival in the heart of the Chicago Loop.  I stopped by the Thai Festival for some sustenance after handing in my first paper of the semester.  Not only did I want some savory Thai food to ease my grumbling belly, but I also wanted to say hello to my wonderful friend, Bee, who had coordinated the Thai Festival.  Authentic Thai cuisine is offered at a reasonable price and entertainment is scheduled throughout the entire day.  Shops offer vibrantly painted wood carvings, beautiful jewelry, and leather goods.  I was most impressed with the fruit carvings that were created live in the middle of the festival.  For all you office folks, the Thai Festival offers FREE Thai massages!  A perfect little treat for those who work at a computer all day.  The last day for the Thai Festival is tomorrow so swing by for great Thai food, entertainment, shopping, and even a fashion show.

U.S.Post Office – Loop Station

230 S. Dearborn St., Chicago

(At the corner of Dearborn and Adams)

September 20-21, 2012

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

A cooking show was scheduled in the afternoon, with a chef teaching the crowd how to make the famous Thai peanut sauce.

Panang, Dao, and Star of Siam are some of the restaurants participating in the festival.

Massaman curry, chicken panang, basil chicken, pad thai, and more!  Every popular Thai dish you can think of is offered at the festival. 

I opted for the Massaman Chicken from Dao with a side of pickled cucumbers on a bed of fluffy jasmine rice.  Only $5.00!  Delicious! 

Crab Rangoon.  I have a love-hate relationship with these little suckers.

Need some burr?  Thai Beer is available to wash down your amazing Thai lunch.

Live fruit carving can be seen all throughout the day.

The artist whittles away the fruit using a very thin pairing knife.

Stunning!  Roses carved out of a papaya fruit.

Gorgeous fruit carving created out of a watermelon.

Also made from a watermelon.

Peony carved from a honeydew.

Vegetables were even used to create flowers.

 

Miniature roses made from carrots.  The leaves were carved out of a cucumber.  Just amazing.

Can you believe this flower was made from an onion?

Beautiful Thai orchids were shipped directly from Thailand specifically for the festival.

The Thai orchids were magnificently weaved to create the tail of a peacock.

Need some retail therapy?

The festival is kid-friendly too!

Can you believe that these flowers were carved out of wood?

I loved the bright vibrant colors and the carefully painted gradient colors.

RAWR.

This one looks like a bad ass Mushu from the movie Mulan.

Croaking frogs! 

The festival is kid-friendly too!

Free Thai massages are even open to the public.  Just remember to tip! :)

In Thai, this type of massage is called "nuat phaen boran".  The masseuse places rhythmic static pressure on certain muscle groups for a deep massage.  My shoulders were extremely grateful.

 Pictured: Me and Bee.  Please disregard my disheveled appearance.  School was relentless.

Happy Thai Festival.

xoxo
Grace