gimme all the festival food please

somehow, in between all of the wedding planning the girls and i managed to squeeze in at least one visit to california adventure to check out all of the lunar new year festivities.  it also happened to be the day before super bowl:

as we headed back towards the pier, we spotted this sign and decided to swing through to see what kind of fun freebie we could score.

on that day, they were giving away these little framable posters.  luckily, our backpacks were just big enough to put them in without creasing, and then we headed off in search of food.

by the pier, there was a stage set up for filming various segments of ESPN super bowl coverage.

first things first: secure the sip & savor pass.  these are a must, because you get a number of tabs to use at the various kiosks and it always ends up being cheaper than buying the tasting plates individually.

pro tip:  scope out the menu first and then just order everything you want at the kiosk that has the shortest line.  they can take the order even if you're getting items from several different kiosks, and then all you have to do is hold on to your receipt and show it at the pickup lines to grab your grub.  also, we learned that you don't even have to buy the pass at the front (which often has a long line).  the kiosks will sell the pass to you.  easy peasy!

we found a fairly short line to order food here, and so we skimmed through the menu and snapped off all six tabs from our pass as we placed our order.

the old lady was most excited to try the garlic noodles, and sure enough - they were delicious.

as was the shrimp fried rice (my choice):

and the bulgogi (the bean's).

as we enjoyed our food, we found ourselves in a prime spot for mulan's lunar new year procession.

we headed back here to find the boba that the girls wanted to try, and ran into a couple of old friends:

and as we passed the espn stage again, they were broadcasting a live sports center segment.

we stopped at two more kiosks to pick up the last of our festival food:

this was the char siu pork bao, always a solid choice.

the mickey-shaped macaron filled with ube buttercream and creme fraiche.  not my jam, but the girls liked it.

and this was for the old lady - spicy three-cup chicken served with jasmine rice.  the bean and i don't do well with spice.  wusses.

it was a short but sweet visit, and we were happy to have been able to make it at all given the other things we were getting ready for.  and besides, even just a few hours of disney magic is better than none at all.