8 Asians

There are two weeks left before the first Southern California Asian night market in Pasadena, California. The night market is called 626 Night Market,  as 626 is the area code of the area. If you do not know already, the number 626 is usually symbolizes an area with many Asian Americans, Asian cuisines, etc. The founders of this night market are a couple—Johnny and Janet Hwang. They are both from Taiwan, and night markets are a cultural commodity in Taiwan.

Coming from Hong Kong, I could agree that night markets and street vendors are popular in many parts of Asia. I happened to listen to a Cantonese radio station AM 1430 in Los Angeles over the weekend talking about the types of food they will have at the market. The talk show hosts said that the night market will have many popular street foods from Taiwan and Hong Kong such as, stinky tofu, curry fish balls, Taiwanese sausages, boba drinks, roasted beef soup noodle, oyster pancakes, shaved ice…and many more. They will also have my favorite little egg waffles, a popular street snack from Hong Kong and takoyaki (squid balls)–a popular snack from Japan! Just thinking about all the food that they will be having at the night market is making me salivate! They will have a variety of popular street foods from Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

In my opinion, it is a really great idea to introduce this cultural idea and expose it to people in Los Angeles that have never experienced something like this before. This is an event that all age groups and all ethnicities can enjoy. Johnny Hwang said that this is an event that can help support first time entrepreneurs.

They will block off North Oakland Avenue between Colorado and Union and set up two rows of booths on both sides of the road. It is going to be a big event. I definitely cannot wait to check it out. Will you be going to this event if you are from the area?