It’s a warm spring evening, and UPrep’s Annual Night Market is here once again. Boasting amazing food made by the APISU Affinity Group, Global Link performances, a UPrepMUN booth, performances by the speech and debate team and much more, the night market has something for everybody, and on the night of May 1, I planned to take advantage of that to the fullest.
As I walked up to the ULab, I was met by English teacher Angie Yuan and a temporary tattoo booth. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There were dozens of tattoos to choose from, and my middle school education of Chinese came in handy when identifying tattoos of the characters for the four elements. I ended up choosing one of the longer tattoos with a saying rather than a singular character.
Yuan’s booth also had a table with paper where you could attempt Chinese calligraphy. While some of my character-identification skills remained, my ability to write calligraphy did not. The booth was a fun and interactive introduction to the market, and some of my friends still happily sport their temporary tattoos.
The food at the night market was simply amazing, I can not overhype this enough. I had some of the best, most flavorful food in a long time. From green onion pancakes to make-it-yourself Vietnamese fresh rolls, to mochi-donuts to handmade tanghulu, the market has everything you might want and everything you didn’t know you loved.
Fresh rolls are one of my favorite appetizers, and the DIY station brought an interactive twist to a yummy food. I first wet the rice paper in water, giving it that self-sticking texture that holds the roll together in all its yummy goodness. I then added some noodles, tofu, pork, lettuce and cucumber, but if those aren’t your jam, the station had quite a few more options for your roll. After that, I was taught how to wrap the roll, it was similar to a burrito but slightly stickier. Overall, it was a super fun experience, and my fresh roll was crisp and refreshing. If you want to elevate the experience with a spicy punch, the peanut sauce provided was delectable as well.
After that, I gathered some more food. The Beef Chow Fun booth had an amazing dish. It was so good I had to come back for seconds, and eventually thirds, when I realized they had run out. It was a soft, almost chewy mix of noodles and beef with the occasional crunchy bite that improved the experience. And even aside from the delectable texture, the flavor was smooth and just salty enough to elevate it to another level.
The Korean dishes booth had food for both sides of the aisle, spicy vs refreshing. Now, if you don’t have a stronger spice tolerance, I would not recommend the tteokbokki, but if you do, then I can not recommend it enough. It’s a warm, strong spice that lingers, juxtaposed by the very refreshing gimbap, a sushi-like roll.
I then popped down to grab some boba milk tea from the popular booth outside, as good as ever, the booth offered both caffeinated and non-caffeinated milk tea for those who didn’t want the caffeine buzz. I then continued on my sweet journey and picked up some tanghulu. Crunchy, sweet, and refreshing, it’s hard not to see why the whole tray disappeared in a matter of minutes.
As I finished eating and hanging out with friends, we gravitated to the ULab commons where Zoe Merchandani performed her award-winning speech for the market audience. Following that, the debate team simulated a debate about the future of nuclear energy in the United States. It was shortly after the performance when I was roped into performing a Finnish prom dance by the Global Link Finland team, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Finally, I ended the night off with a balloon-popping minigame. With nine darts and nine targets, I came in less than confident that I would be able to get the grand prize. I ended up not winning the grand prize, as I suspected, but I had hit five targets– just one short of the small prize. Throwing darts when you haven’t ever done it before is tough, who knew? All in all, my friends and I exited with one small prize and a much larger appreciation for those who know how to throw darts.
With how this year’s night market went, I can’t wait to see what next year’s will bring.
