Sometimes ideas come at you and you can’t think where they came from or why they decided to show up but, what the hey, you figure you might as well go with them anyway. That is the story of our night picnic.

The Let’s Do Yum Cha food truck parks outside our local park every Sunday. Last weekend Madeleine slept extra late during her afternoon nap, so we figured she could have a late night and we’d head on over for a picnic in the dark.

It didn’t seem like that big a deal when I suggested it but, as our family was walking along the empty street by just the light of the street-lamps, bundled up to the nines against the icy autumn wind, with Madeleine exclaiming an astonished “Night! Night!” every few steps, the strangeness of the outing began to seep in.

Then as we turned into our friendly, much-used and oh-so-familiar park, it felt positively eerie. The park was not bathed in soft moonlight, nor lit by elegantly-placed garden lamps. It was a well of black and deeper black, the shifting leaves above alive with the wind and the squeak of fruit bats. A ring-tail possum ran ahead of us as we searched for a place in the grass to lay our rug. In the end, we chose a spot right next to the road, to take advantage of the nearby street light and avoid having to walk too far with our dumplings.

So, the Let’s Do Yum Cha food truck: think steamed dumplings and dim sum, pork buns and spring rolls. We bought about six different styles, because none of us is good at editing when it comes to food choices! It was super fresh and super delicious and I will definitely be stopping by this truck again, but next time I’ll do it in the day time… or take it back to my cosy and well-lit home.