Flashback: London Mela 2015

 We were really intrigued by the long line of people waiting at the Falooda stand, so me and Nina went to see what all the fuss was about...

It was beautiful, but odd - milk flavoured ice-cream, thin strips of rice noodle, a type of seed and dyed pink cream - was surprisingly tasty to begin with, but was too big a portion even for me and Nina to share, but look at the COLOUR OF IT!

 Nina and I were tempted...

 So we did it!

I love the end of Summer. When you've still got the long, sunny days, that are just ever so slightly cooler and crisper as you head into Autumn. It's one of the reasons September is my favourite month (aside from it being my birthday month too...)
One of my favourite end-of-Summer celebrations is Zee London Mela. It's an annual Asian food and outdoor festival in Gunnersbury Park. For years, my Mum and I have loved going - it's colourful, filled with activities, live music and the smell of amazing food.
This year, however, we were hit with a bit of an unwanted surprise. In the past, London Mela has always had free entry. This year, we had to pay around 7 quid EACH just to get in. I was outraged! It was such a shock to me, my mum and our friends, not to mention the other dozen people who had just turned up. The fact that entry was so expensive put me in a bit of an angry mood, but I thought to myself, the food and the rides (there's a funfair) and the smells have to be worth it. And they pretty much were.
As much as I love London Mela, the food and rides still cost money, so the fact that entry was so expensive, I no longer felt that the festival was quite worth it. The trick is, go later in the day, when food stalls start to drop their prices. And there are some stalls (e.g. Rubicon, where me and my friend Nina got a fabulous "beach" photo taken of ourselves for free at their booth) that give free samples, but overall, this unfortunately was not my best Mela experience. Having said that, I'm not going to lie, the food, is GOOD (Be careful what you choose though, cos Nina and my Mum got some amazing stuff, whereas I didnt choose the most interesting meal...)

London Mela is a lovely day out with your friends and family (especially if it's sunny - I'm lucky that my only Mela experiences have been sunny!) But be warned - if that entry fee makes its way back next year, I may have to kick up a fuss...!