Satsuki Bazaar on Channing Way
One blue-sky Sunday in May. A section of Channing Way, between Shattuck and Fulton, was blocked. Two girls draped in summery garments danced to joyous Hawaiian tunes on a sunlit wooden stage, surrounded by a small crowd of both familiar spectators and curious passing pedestrians. The seductive smell of grill beef got caught in the wind here and there.
So it was the street front of the 61st annual Satsuki Bazaar and Arts Festival at the Berkeley Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temple on Channing Way. Inside the temple, a multitude of items displayed for silent auction held visitors’ footsteps, starting with orchids, matted photos and paintings, gift cards to sushi bars and diving lessons…
…to porcelain sets, stuffed toys, a wooden sculpture of Daruma, and Shichi Fukujin in a glass box.
But few things can attract everybody like food. The “dining hall” was packed to the door like a beehive overflowed with nectar.
Every few minutes there were tiny old ladies weaving among the crowd with big trays of musubi and sweets from the dining hall to the “bakery”, a front desk covered with homemade edible goods, baked, rolled, fried, pickled, and jarred.
We just couldn’t help it. The umeboshi (pickled plum) was going fast at $5 per small jar and $8 per big one. Mudpie hungrily grabbed onto two jelly jars, kumquat ($4) and persimmon-pineapple-apricot ($5), which have the exact same color. Then we started loading pastries into our bag…
First came the blueberry scone, which tasted like wet sand, but we paid only one buck for it, can’t complain.
Then there were little squares of mochi (and a lonely piece of brown banana cake). Each square cost a buck too (and they are about 20 times smaller than the scone), but none was as good as the mochi cubes in front of Cafe Hana. Pretty scrumptious lonely piece of brown banana cake though.
Now these are the real disappointment. The manju, mochi balls with red bean paste, looked so much better than they tasted. Is the yellow egg-shaped pastry dotted with poppy seed and filled with sweetened taro paste also a manju? Guess how much they were. $1.25 each. Sugar excess.
Fortunately the savory side is a greener pasture. The 2-dollar spam musubi hit the spot just right (processed meat always tastes so good after you reprocess it with sugar and soy sauce). The nori was mild, thick, and moist.
We top things off with a lustrous loco moco, a burger patty squatted on a bed of extremely moist short-grained rice, covered with a runny egg and a ladle of beef gravy. After one spoonful, Mudpie couldn’t stop thinking about it for the rest of the afternoon. The whole thing was like a peppery, creamy, rich butter boat. All for $5, and honestly it would be just as spoon-licking without the grilled meat.
And so I learned something new. At Vietnamese Buddhist pagodas, you can find only vegan food regardless of festive occasions or normal days. Here at a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple, there is plenty of meat, crackling and sizzling on one blue-sky Sunday in May.
61st Annual Satsuki Bazaar and Arts Festival, May 22-23, 2009
Berkeley Buddhist Temple
2121 Channing Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 841-1356
Update: I WON something in the silent auction: an adorable set of tea cups and tea bowls, notice the matching pairs with one tea cup slightly taller than the other. The visit was a success!
As a Newbie, I am always exploring online for articles that can benefit me. Thank you
1I’ll right away grab your rss feed as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
2Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say excellent blog!
3I have not checked in here for some time since I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
4Along with every little thing that appears to be building inside this specific subject matter, many of your perspectives are actually relatively radical. Nevertheless, I beg your pardon, because I can not give credence to your entire strategy, all be it exciting none the less. It appears to me that your remarks are actually not entirely rationalized and in actuality you are your self not really totally convinced of the argument. In any event I did take pleasure in looking at it.
5I view something really special in this website .
6I regard something really interesting about your blog so I bookmarked.
7I got good info from your blog
8Just want to say your article is as amazing. The clarity on your post is simply nice and that i can assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with imminent post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please keep up the rewarding work.
9This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
10I must point out my appreciation for your kindness in support of folks who need help with this important situation. Your personal commitment to passing the solution all over appears to be definitely effective and have truly permitted some individuals like me to realize their ambitions. Your new insightful instruction denotes a great deal to me and even more to my mates. Warm regards; from all of us.
11I believe this website holds some very fantastic information for everyone :D. “Believe those who are seeking the truth doubt those who find it.” by Andre Gide.
12Hi my family member! I wish to say that this post is amazing, great written and come with approximately all vital infos. I’d like to see more posts like this .
13I am curious to find out what blog system you have been working with? I’m having some minor security problems with my latest website and I’d like to find something more safe. Do you have any recommendations?
14Keep up the wonderful work, I read few articles on this site and I conceive that your web blog is very interesting and has circles of superb info .
15Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
16I have read some just right stuff here. Certainly value bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you put to make this type of fantastic informative site.
17I am glad to be one of several visitants on this outstanding internet site (:, appreciate it for posting.
18Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?
19You could definitely see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go after your heart.
20Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an e-mail. I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.
21Hello, you used to write fantastic, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your tremendous writings. Past few posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
22I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100 sure. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
23Hello, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you reduce it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any support is very much appreciated.
24Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
25It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
26I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.
27I conceive this internet site holds some rattling excellent info for everyone :D. “I like work it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” by Jerome K. Jerome.
28There are some interesting points in time in this article however I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There is some validity but I will take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBurner as effectively
29Hey, you used to write excellent, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past several posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
30Hey there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a wonderful job!
31This is really attention-grabbing, You are an excessively skilled blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to in search of extra of your fantastic post. Also, I have shared your site in my social networks!
32As I web site possessor I believe the content matter here is rattling wonderful , appreciate it for your efforts. You should keep it up forever! Good Luck.
33I want meeting useful info, this post has got me even more info! .
34We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done an impressive job and our whole community will be grateful to you.
35Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I’m very glad to see such wonderful info being shared freely out there.
36I consider something genuinely special in this internet site.
37We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with valuable info to work on. You have done a formidable job and our whole community will be thankful to you.
38After I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get four emails with the identical comment. Is there any method you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!
39Hey there I am so glad I found your website, I really found you by error, while I was researching on Aol for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a tremendous post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the superb work.
40Heya i am for the primary time here. I came across this board and I to find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I’m hoping to provide one thing again and aid others such as you helped me.
41Thanx for the effort, keep up the good work Great work, I am going to start a small Blog Engine course work using your site I hope you enjoy blogging with the popular BlogEngine.net.Thethoughts you express are really awesome. Hope you will right some more posts.
42Hi there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re using? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting provider at a reasonable price? Thanks, I appreciate it!
43I enjoy the efforts you have put in this, appreciate it for all the great content.
44I think this is one of the most significant info for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But wanna remark on some general things, The website style is perfect, the articles is really nice :D. Good job, cheers
45As soon as I detected this website I went on reddit to share some of the love with them.
46Some truly quality posts on this website , saved to fav.
47Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?
48You made some decent points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found most people will approve with your blog.
49Merely wanna admit that this is very beneficial, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
50