The Rocks Aroma Festival

I know, I know, this is a late and overdue post.

In July, The Rocks held the infamous Aroma Festival, famous for its foods, coffee, and atmosphere. I'll be honest in saying that this was the first time I'd ever gone to this event, and I wasn't sure what to expect.

One thing I didn't anticipate were the excessive crowds that were present. I didn't quite capture it in this photo, but there were far too many people.

There were intense crowds and endless lines for food, and to say that it dampened the atmosphere a little bit is soft-serving it. People, people everywhere. It soon grew to be slightly uncomfortable after a while, and just generally difficult to navigate (especially with a camera slung around my neck).

But the aromas were definitely mouth-watering. Witnessing the talented chefs conjure up dishes of delicious-smelling odours and how quickly they worked was incredible.

And of course, a few niche skills were on show. One that really impressed me was the coffee artist (James Patrick) who stunned us all by creating this amazing display.

Made entirely out of coffee!!

And, as always, the Rocks were bustling with the Markets that they regularly have on the weekends.

Except there were much greater crowds that usual, this time round.

But I guess in a sense it adds to the atmosphere. 

Free samples, everywhere.

With a nice stroll around the Markets (definitely ought a scope-out if you've never seen it before) and stopping casually at various niche markets (you'll rarely find some of these things anywhere else), I managed to take a few more photos in an attempt to capture the atmosphere. 

Dat glass

The weather that day was a bit under par. High amounts of winds blew across the Quay and brought chilly winds in. Even as we huddled along in our thick coats and woolly hats and scarves, we found ourselves inside the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA).

Ahh, it's been a while.

The new exhibition features a lot of technology, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was quite a lot more interactive, which is one of my favourite types of art.

This massive screen was controlled by Kinetic technology. You could soar through the sky and in-between the mountains.

One thing that I was drawn to was the anechoic chamber room that they had as a part of the installation. They would close the door on you and you would sit there for up to four minutes, with no sounds but your own.

I entered with my brother and began the four most silent minutes of my life.

You start to notice a lot more sounds, it's true. Every internal gurgle and the sounds of you swallowing. Even breathing and all the rustles of your clothes make an impression on you. The sounds of others are gone and to replace them are the sounds of self.

Needless to say, once we emerged from our little bubble of four-minute silence, everything around us seemed deafeningly loud. It was quite a radical change to realise how loud things actually are. We started to notice all the chitter-chatter and talking and murbling of the people around us -- all the sounds that we had grown accustomed to over our lives of growing up in a bustling city full of people.

Anyway, other cool mentions: An artwork involving the Occulus Rift. My brother had a go, though I passed because #glassesproblems. 

Interactive technology such as this is really taking a big step forward in recent times. With Kinect, with Wii, and with other movement-based player-controlled technologies such as the Occulus, we really are emerging into a new era of technology, and it's really exciting.

Okay, enough technology speel.

With time to spare before our dinner reservation, we waited a good deal of time to buy a Gozleme.

And finally it was time to check out the restaurant.

We'd heard really great things about this place before, the Lowenbrau Keller, which is a German restaurant. Legitimately German, where the waitresses and waiters have a fluent German-tongue.

With recommendations of their Schlachtplatte, which was 'Lowenbrau's Selection of Bavarian Specialities'. We purchased two dishes, which was already enough to fill all four of us (my parents, my brother, and myself).

Their Menu writes that this selection includes: sausages, chicken schnitzel, meat loaf, and roast pork belly, served with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, braised red cabbage, bread dumpling, and bier gravy. It also included a roasted pork knuckle if you purchased two.

The Roasted Pork Knuckle is apparently the must-have dish at this place.

Pork knuckle in the middle

The food was good, I'll admit, but perhaps a bit too meaty for my liking. It was a big load of food to consume and I felt a bit over-done by the end of it all.

It also seemed to be dosed slightly excessively in salt, which was off-putting. Some of the components were a bit of a hit-or-miss for myself.

Though, some parts were heaps great!

And I guess I have to concede in saying that the Pork Knuckle is a must-try. It's very unique and isn't like anything I've had before. Whether I'd go back to that restaurant for another meal or not is a 'maybe', but it was a nice change in cuisine! I don't eat German food very often, myself.

And, of course, no German meal would be complete without a big mug/jug of German beer.

We ended the day early and left, with the cool weather hot on our tracks.

Aroma Festival was fun, it was. It was a nice day out, but I can't say it was the most pleasant. To be completely honest, I would have much rathered go somewhere else, but it was an experience none-the-less. At least now I can say that I've been at least once, and I know what it's all about.

So, it's worth a check-out sometime in your life, but perhaps not a regular annual thing. And it probably won't take up more than a few hours of your day.

Ironically, despite it being centered on coffee, I abstained from a cup the entire day. Hmm.