Post Steemit meet-up: First time in an Indian Restaurant and..............belly dancers????
Cheers to Steemit Cebu!
The 7th Steemit Cebu meet-up was held yesterday in Marisse Patisserie, Lahug. It was such a success, the number of people who showed up truly increased in compared to the last one. The organizers seemed really busy as well! I got to meet Steemit members that came all the way from Lapu-lapu. I have really bad memory and I'm not good at spotting people, so I asked them to approach me instead, it's a bit hard to miss the blue hair.
newbie orientation
@ninyea holding the orientation for new steemians
Cultural Appropriation
Fast forward to after the event finished, my fellow Steemians and I decided to catch dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant called Bollywood Tandoor near Foodland in Banilad. I know I've had curry a million times, but I've never had proper Indian food, so it was something new. I honestly didn't know what it was I was consuming except for the knowledge of it being chicken, as for the name of the meal, I am ignorant (worry not, I researched the menu when I got home to check).
I apologize for the lack of food photographs, I was too busy eating them. What took me aback the most was the Belly Dancing performance. I don't mean it being something bad or anything, but belly dancing is Arabian. I didn't really expect it in an Indian setting. I know it might not be a big deal for other people, but my parents spent almost half their lives in the UAE and I got to experience life there as well.
I'm just sensitive about cultural appropriation because the first thing that came into my mind is maybe the owner of the restaurant is exploiting Belly Dancing as just another "gig". Also it completely destroys the authenticity. I've also never heard of an Indian restaurant serving pork, but they had pork curry and pork sausage. There food was great, but it would have been better for my first time in an indian restaurant and not be...plagued by the photos of indian celebrities as I walk in to the restaurant proper. It was sort of amusing, but generally just confused me. You guys can try it out for yourselves though.
It was a fun night, thanks for having me guys! @jassennassaj @ninyea @itinerantph @josejirafa @maimaimaichan @fernwehninja @gratefulayn @iamqueenlevita @japh , etc.
Indians are very much into belly dancing ad well.. I mean i can twll atleast from the Bollywood movies. We also had an international indian dancer in Southwestern , she used to belly dance with fire. I think its part of their apcukture as well..
This is one of my favorite indian restos by the way, did u guys try the mutton Biryani ? Its orgasmic.
I did try to do research and most of the roots was from Arabia. I think it's because their cultures are pretty similar as well. I saw how fit they were and I really am contemplating getting belly dancing lessons hahahahah. I wanna try other restaurants but there's not much indian restaurants in Cebu, we can go on a food trip some time soon! :D
glad to hang out with you anniza :*