Over the past month, my new favorite food porn site has become foodspotting.com. Unlike other food sites that just post pictures of food without telling you where they are from, foodspotting keeps a restaurant database of every photo entered. So if you see something that you absolutely have to try, the restaurant information is right there with the photo (called a “sighting”).
Another thing that sets foodspotting apart for other food sites is that the photo is the review. Users are able to post comments with their food photos, but the site operates on the assumption that everything posted tastes good. If you didn’t like it, then most likely, you wouldn’t take the time to take a picture of it and upload it to the site. Essentially, the site doesn’t bother with negative reviews. If you don’t like something, don’t post it.
If you are unsure of how good a dish that someone posted is, there are two rating systems (aside for posting comments) that users can use to voice their opinions. The first is called a “Want”. As the name suggests, when you see something that you want to try, you “Want” it. Users are able to Want as many dishes as they please.
The second rating system on Foodspotting is called a “Nom”. A Nom is meant to signify that you have tried that dish, and liked it. These are awarded to users based on reputation points which are earned through participation on the site. The more active you are, the more reputation points you have, and the more Noms you have. Once you have a Nom, you can now use it to vote for a sighting that you like.
A recent addition to Foodspotting that has set it head and shoulders above other food rating sites is a partnership with location based application FourSquare. So now when you upload a sighting, Foodspotting will not only check you in on FourSquare at the restaurant where you spotted that dish, but will also post a link to your sighting.
What’s in the works for Foodspotting?
It’s hard to believe that Foodspotting is only in it’s alpha stage of it’s development. In my opinion, it’s already better than most other food p0rn sites I’ve visited. The main thing currently in the works is the Foodspotting iPhone app. I have been fortunate enough to get in on the alpha testing of the app.
Currently, the primary function of the app is just for uploading sightings. (See my gallery on Metromix for step by step details) You are able to take pictures, input dish details, and where you spotted it. However, the app developers say that the completed app will have the ability to search the Foodspotting restaurant database to find restaurant sightings near your current location. Not only will you be able to see what is on the menu at a restaurant before you go there, but you will be able to see what the food looks like before you even order it.
As for the rest of the site, they have recently added “following”, which enables you to keep track of your favorite spotters, restaurants and even dishes. The app developers have informed me that alpha development will continue through January with features like related dishes & experts in the works. They have also told me that they are targeting for having a full beta up and running for their official launch in March at South by Southwest.
From what I have seen so far, and what the developers have told me, Foodspotting is going to be a fantastic application. Drawing from my food service background, I can foresee Foodspotting becoming one of the big food based social media sites that every restaurant will want to keep track of. It’s easy to use, and, unlike text heavy sites like Yelp, users get an immediate sense of what the food is like. It’s a cliche because it’s true, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: The Lonely Shepard by Zamfir from the Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack
My most recent Metromix gallery has probably been my most personal to date. Since it is the Christmas season, I was feeling nostalgic, so I thought it might be interesting to revisit some of the restaurants that my family frequented when I was growing up. This idea really struck a nerve with my family. They were quick to offer up suggestions to add to my list. Through out my week long shoot, they were constantly saying to me, “Hey, remember that one place we used to go to?” or “You remember that time when we were at…”
By far, Boulevard Saimin was the most emotion inducing place that I visited. They say that food can be one of the strongest triggers for long forgotten memories, and I experienced this first hand.
Mitsu-Ken was another memory inducing place. As soon as I stood in line to place my order, I remembered back in high school when me and my football buddies hung out in front until the person at the counter told us that our football coach just called and told us to get back to school before the first bell rang.
Well, enough of my rambling. You’ll be able to see the rest of my gallery and read other little stories from the past as I revisit some of my favorite childhood eateries and see how they have changed through out the years. Enjoy!
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: Fly like an Eagle by Steve Miller Band
It’s Monday, and as I mentioned in yesterday’s entry, today is my first post on the Fresh From The Grill blog on Metromix.com. What would the topic for my first Grilled Cornbread post be? How to make grilled cornbread of course! Well, it’s not just that. I preface the post with an explanation of how we came up with the name Grilled Cornbread. So, head over to Metromix to find out about the origins of GCb LLP, and see my favorite cornbread recipe.
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: Billy Jean by Michael Jackson
Needless to say, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands since my accident back in April. If I’m not at physical therapy, a doctor’s appointment or putting in light duty time at the American Cancer Society, I’ve spent my time networking. The fruit of that networking has resulted in me joining a group called Grilled Cornbread LLP. As a group, we have been lending out collective expertise in social media to groups who are looking to build an online presence. So far, a lot of what we have done have been on a non profit basis, but we are starting to reap the benefits of the connections that we are making. One of which is a partnership with Metromix.com.
If you frequent this blog, you’ll know that I am already a regular contributor to Metromix.com. On Friday, Grilled Cornbread LLP started managing a blog on Metromix that we are calling “Fresh From The Grill.” There are seven members of Grilled Cornbread, so each of us have taken a day to blog about pretty much anything that we want pertaining to our adventures as a group or individually. Even though our Metromix blog is barely a week old, we’ve already written posts about The Owl City & Mae concert at Pipeline Cafe, and the Twoliday Party at Oceans 808. You can expect to see more from the Cornbreads.
As for me, my first post will be tomorrow, so be sure to check out Metromix!
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: No One by Alicia Keys
My latest Metromix gallery was posted yesterday. It was the first (well second if you count my Pearl Kai gallery) of my new project for Metromix. Prior to my joining Metromix’s team of freelance writers, all of their contributors lived in town. I am currently the only person on staff who lives towards the west side of the island. As such, West Oahu became sort of my coverage territory. That and the fact that the townie writers didn’t want to have to travel to my side of the island to do reviews when there are plenty of eateries worth checking out in town.
When it was time for me to pitch my next gallery idea to my editor, I decided that I start heading west. There was a lot of coverage in the Honolulu side of the island, but if you lived in the Honolulu area, chances are you have no idea what is outside of the five mile radius of town. *cough*Melissa*cough*
My editor loved the idea of seeing what good eats there are to be found in West Oahu, and off I went. The one discovery that I was stoked about while doing this gallery was Jufran banana sauce. I’m actually annoyed that my Filipino family members never told me about this stuff… it’s that good! It should be available in any Asian market. If you can get you hands on some of this stuff, give it a try. You won’t regret it. Anywho, here it is, my Waipahu Grinds gallery.
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: The Wizard & I by Idina Menzel
When I was in Las Vegas for the Blog World Expo in October, I learned one of the basics of attending conferences. That most conferences don’t feed attendees, and if food is available, then it is likely cost you an arm and a leg. Thankfully, Fatburger was there for the rescue. Unlike other exhibitors who had their booths set up, Fatburger had their Winnebago parked at the back of the exhibit hall. The Fat Burger Winnebago with the words “We Want BFFs (Big Fat Friends)” painted on the side made their ‘Booth’ impossible to miss. They were giving out hamburger, onion rings, and milk shake samples through out the day, but their biggest draw was the XXX Challenge that they held twice a day.
The XXX Challenge is available at any Fatburger location, and involves patrons attempting to eat the 24 ounce XXXL Burger in one sitting. There’s no time limit. you just keep eating until you’re done, or can’t eat anymore. Among the many who were up to the challenge at Blog World were Chris Noble of Cause Media Group, the Locker Gnome Chris Pirillo, Mark Tafoya of the Culinary Media Network, and of course, myself. Hey, It was a free meal, and how often does one get the opportunity to eat a 24 ounce hamburger? Well, pretty often if there’s a Fatburger near by, but unfortunately for me, they haven’t crossed the pacific to Hawaii yet.
However, over the two day Blog World Expo, the star of the XXX Challenge was Maria Sass, the only woman who finished the XXXL burger. As she finished the last bite of her burger, the large crowed who had gathered roared their approval. Good Job Maria!
As for the taste of the burger, I have to say that it was without a doubt one of the best hamburgers that I’ve ever had. I’m glad that there wasn’t a time limit on the challenge because although I was trying to eat it at a slightly fast pace, I was still able to enjoy it. The only complaint that I have about Fatburger (other than the fact that there aren’t any in Hawaii) is that how the hell can you call your self “Fat”burger when you don’t have any “Fat” t-shirts? As a prize for finishing the challenge, every entrant gets a Fatburger t-shirt. The problem is that the largest size they have is an extra large. Let me tell you that more than half of the people who finished their XXXL burger would not be able to fit into an extra large t-shirt. How many skinny people do you know who can eat a 24 ounce hamburger? Regardless, I eagerly await the first Fatburger to open in Hawaii. It’s 4:20 in Hawaii, and it’s time for a Fatburger! *Hint Hint Wink Wink Nudge Nudge*
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: Ken Lee from Bulgarian Idol (Damn You Two Beer Queers for getting this stuck in my head!)
It’s been a particularly busy couple of weeks for me. After coming back from Blog World, I went straight into getting ready for the [re]Think Hawaii and Tedx Honolulu Conferences. Although I enjoyed the sessions and networking, I approached the end of the week slightly brain fried. Thankfully, I had just the thing lined up for the weekend.
Prior to [re]Think I was fortunate enough to be invited to an “Unplugged” weekend at the newly renovated Hotel Molokai by Aqua Hotel’s Director of Internet Strategy, Amber Watt (@Tiabla on twitter). Apparently Aqua had just arranged a Sales and Marketing agreement with Hotel Moloka’i, and part of their strategy to publicize the hotel on the internet was to invite a group of bloggers and then tell them that they are not allowed to connect to the internet. As an incentive to obeying the no internet rule (Even though broadband internet is available in every room. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment!), is that anyone caught breaking the rule must donate $100 to a local charity of their choice. Sounds like a counter productive idea, but it makes a lot of sense in a warped thinking kind of way.
While hanging out with my Travel blogger friend, Pam Mandel (@Nerdseyeview on twitter) last week, she posed an interesting question. “When did it become standard practice to carry around 10 lbs. of electronic equipment with us whenever we travel?” I had never thought of it before, but it’s true. When I went to Las Vegas for Blog World, I packed into my carry-on my MacBook, SLR camera, point-and-shoot camera, external flash, four lenses, a cradlepoint router, two battery packs, along with an extension cord, and miscellaneous laptop accessories. We bloggers and social media types are constantly jacked into the web. Whether it be through a desktop computer, laptop, or smart phone; everywhere we go, we are surrounded by wifi connections, broadband internet, and cellular signals. We are constantly sending and receiving cellular calls, text messages, e-mails, and tweets; all of which are multiplied exponentially when we attend any sort of tech or social media conference. For this reason, and this reason alone, an opportunity to unplug on the island of Moloka’i was immensely appealing after a week of conference sessions and networking both in person and on the net.
[re]Think and Tedx ended Thursday night with a rocking karaoke party hosted by Grilled Cornbread LLP at Karaoke Hut on Kapahulu avenue. Thankfully, I had booked an afternoon flight for the next day, so I had the luxury of sleeping in.
Now, I usually don’t like to bog down my blog post with negativity, but the hassle that I had with Island Air was ridiculous. As I walked into the terminal to check in for my flight, I send what should have been my last tweet of the weekend. However, when I got to the check-in desk, they told me that the flight was closed, which prompted me to tweet,
“Checked in 3 minutes, I repeat, 3 FRIGGIN MINUTES late, and Island Air gave away our seats. Island Air, YOU SUCK!!!!!”
I later found out that the airline had given away our seats (@Neenz, @Noe808 and mine) to employees who were commuting home after they finished work. Whether we were 3 minutes late, or arriving just before the plane was about to take off, we as paying customers should not have been bumped for commuting employees. After a good amount of complaining, and the threat of posting an unfavorable review on the internet, I was allowed to board the plane. Unfortunately, Neenz and Noe had to wait for the next flight. So already, my weekend was off to a crappy start. Thankfully, the flight was uneventful, and I thirty minutes later, I was in Molokai. Stepping off of the plane, I was instantly transported back to the summer before my 6th grade year.
This was not my first trip to Moloka’i. From age 12-14, I spent every summer camping out on the east side of Moloka’i, so I was very well acquainted with the island and local culture. It had been 17 years since I had step foot on Moloka’i, and I was happy to see that not much had changed. Amber picked me up from the airport, and I recounted some of my adolescent Moloka’i adventures during the car ride to the hotel (She is encouraging me to write about my time on the Friendly Isle). I made note of the few changes around town as we drove through Kaunakakai. The old video store had since closed and the building it was in replaced by small shops. From the looks of it, the old drive-in where I first discovered mixing Ketchup and Mustard for french fries, had been closed for a while. Less than a block away was the somewhat new looking Moloka’i Burger, and a small strip mall with a pizza parlor.
The thing that most surprised me was that the site of the old Midnight Inn was still vacant. The family who pretty much adopted me during the summer had taken me there several times as a youth. Their son Lani was married to one of the waitresses (whose name unfortunately escapes me, but I do remember them having a daughter named Precious). I think I was 13 (my second summer on Molokai) when the fire that closed the Midnight Inn occurred. I distinctly recall large billowing flames and a thick column of black smoke coming from the restaurant as I looked on from down the street. Amber said that she and others from the unplugged retreat group had toured downtown (which consists of only two blocks) earlier that day and noticed the burnt out building.
Amber and I arrived at the hotel, and fellow unplugged retreat attendees, Kaeo, Jill, and Ray (@KaeoKepani, @Eiko, and @Zenxacred) were there to greet me. It was then that they explained their brilliant activity, which they dubbed Twitter Rehab, that they devised to satisfy our tweeting urges (More on this later). I checked into my room and was pleasantly surprised to decor equal if not better to what you would find in any other three star hotel. Awaiting me in my room was a gift bag with assorted local goodies and information on the different activities available on the island.
The entire hotel is made up of a group of converted A-Frames. My room was in a section that connected two A-Frames, which was rather odd since it meant that one of my walls was slanted. With the exception of my one slanted wall, my room was very much to my liking. It had a king sized bed, walk in closet, a balcony overlooking the courtyard, and a kitchenette with small refrigerator, two burner electric stove, toaster, coffee maker and even stocked cupboards with plates, cups, wine glasses, knives, and utensils. I was very impressed. The only suggestion I would have for improving the room was getting rid of the armoire, and investing in flat panel TVs. The slanted wall forces the armoir toward the center of the room. Mounting the TVs to the wall would save on a lot of space.
I unpacked my bags (Yes, I am an un-packer. I can’t live out of a suitcase) which was relatively easy seeing as all I had was a duffel bag filled with beach clothes. One of the beautiful things about an unplugged weekend is that it’s easy to pack for. The only electronics I had with me was my camera, and my iPhone, which was on airplane mode essentially making it an iPod touch. Settled into my room, I headed the hotel’s restaurant, Hula Shores, for the welcome tweetup.
It may seem odd to have a tweetup on a island with almost no cellular coverage, but it was a fun time for all. In attendance were @melissa808, @travelsocial@pleasantholiday, @dreamybee, @Neenz, @Noe808, @GypsyRaven, @autkast, @zenxacred, @kaeokepani, @Eiko, and of course @Tiabla. We met Michael the General Manager of Hotel Moloka’i who was a gracious host. We all ordered tropical cocktails and enjoyed the excellent food prepared for us. I particularly enjoyed the Seared Ahi, and the Huli Huli Chicken was great. The chicken had a nice crispy skin with just enough char on it. Despite what you may think, carcinogens are good! As the evening progressed, a live band started playing. As the only bar on the island, Friday night at the Hula Shores is a hopping time. People were dancing and socializing, but not in a nightclub kind of way. These were just people having a good time.
The evening ended early (the bar closes at 10:30), so I went to check out Ray & Jill’s room which they told me had a loft. Sure enough it did, and I hit my head on one of the beams. Good times.
Surprisingly, I woke up early the next morning, so I decided that my first activity of the day would be seeking out one of the hammocks that I had heard about and do a little reading, something that I have neglected over the past few months. The stack of books on my desk was getting pretty dusty. However, once I lay in the hammock, I was out like a light. I was awakened an hour later by Kaeo, Ray and Jill on their way to breakfast, and a day at the pool. Apparently, Melissa also found me on the hammock earlier, but instead of waking me, she just took my picture, and posted it on her blog as soon as she got back to Honolulu.
While at breakfast, we all agreed that the best thing on the breakfast menu was Auntie’s Fried Rice. Filled with Bacon and Spam it’s filled with calories, and fat, and boy did it taste good!
As we finished breakfast, the others realized something that I have long known about. Time moves slower on Moloka’i. It sounds weird, but I promise you that if you visit this island, your perception of time slows to a crawl. One of the amazing side effects of being unplugged… Moloka’i Time. We were not concerned about making appointments or deadlines. Once we finished breakfast, the only place we had to be was the pool, which didn’t take long since the Hula Shores is right next to the pool. Neenz and Noe showed up to the pool at about noon, and the drinking began.
It didn’t take Neenz and Noe to discover “Moloka’i Time” just as the others did. After a while, I decided to put in more “Hammock Time” which only intensified the “Moloka’i Time” because I was only a sleep for an hour, but it felt like I was asleep for a day. I awoke to find that we had been occupying the same table for the entire day. If people left, others from our group would take it over. This worked out especially well because it meant that we had great seats for that night’s local entertainer Lono.
Just listening to him perform the sound check gave us all chicken skin. Our conversations stopped dead in its tracks, and we all turned to watch him. Kaeo had the quote of the night when he exclaimed, “That was only the sound check?” Lono captivated the crowd with his stories and mesmerizing slack key play.
Day three began with breakfast at the Hula Shores with Neenz, Noe and Cynthia (@Gypsyraven). It was then that serious conversation started about possibly staying another day. The topic had come up in passing the night before, but it was pretty must relegated to the, “wouldn’t it be cool” category. Neenz talked to Michael, and he offered us a VERY generous deal. As tempting as it was, we had to decline. We had lives to return to… Jobs, families, responsibilities. It just goes to go how good our stay was. On any vacation, there comes a point where you are ready to go home. To sleep in your own bed. This was obviously not the case. Everyone there had found what I was lucky enough to have discovered at age 12. Something which unfortunately, I had forgotten as an adult.
As Michael drove us to the airport, conversation circled around the topic of when would be our next “Unplugged Retreat.” As much as I enjoyed not following a schedule or making plans to go anywhere, a part of me regretted not going out and revisiting the places of my youth. I would have loved to once again seen Fegan’s Bay which was only accessible via boat or five mile hike and had Opihi the size of silver dollars. Or Morgan’s Point where a fish almost snapped my fishing rod when I was 14, or the unmarked graves I found while gathering apple-bananas in a valley on the east side of the island owned by the Naki family. Still, maybe it’s a good thing that I didn’t do all those things, because it gives me a reason to go back to the Friendly Isle, the place of my youth.
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: Moloka’i Slide by Ehukai which is appropriate since I think of Moloka’i every time I hear this song.
Despite being at Blog World, I was still able to put together another gallery for Metromix.com. The idea for this gallery came about when Melissa, another free-lance food writer, told me that Guy Fieri was going to Murphy’s Bar and Grill. This drew an immediate reaction from me. As I say in this most recent gallery, nothing against Murphy’s, but it is not a diner, a drive-in, or a dive. I quickly pitched the idea to my editor, and now, here it is. Enjoy the fatty goodness!
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: Youth of the Nation by P.O.D.
When I was in Las Vegas for Blog World, I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to see Beatles Love by Cirque du Soleil. I had wanted to see this show on previous trips, but $93.50 was a little steep, and those are for cheep seats! Best in the house seats will run you $150 each. However, I was fortunate enough to find out about a special Blog World deal in which Cirque du Soleil offered free tickets to bloggers in exchange for an “honest review on your blog, podcast“. At risk of sounding toady, I think that this was a brilliant idea! What better advertising could you get than reviews from bloggers, some of whom have a network of hundreds or even thousands of subscribers. So, thank you to Cirque du Soleil Social Media Manager, Jessica Berlin. Now on with the review.
The entire Beatles experience begins out side of the theater. The ceiling by the box office has a giant Union Jack, followed by the floor and ceiling leading into the concession area being lit up 70’s style and Beatles music plays over the sound system. By the time you get to your seat, you’re primed and ready for the show to start.
The show begins with the Abby Road song “Because”. Great song, but the performer’s entrance onto the stage feels painfully slow. The acrobats however show amazing strength and control as they slowly ascend ropes to their starting positions high above the stage. Just when you begin to feel fidgety due to lack of action, the music builds in tempo and performers literally explode through the stage floor to the song “Get Back”. You literally go into sensory overload. Music plays through speakers that are built into your seat, acrobats fly through the air, dancers are performing one stage. There was a point where I did not know where to look because I was afraid to miss anything.
One thing that I found particularly forward thinking my the show producers was the inclusion of hip hop dancers among the cast. It would have been very easy to for the producers to make the decision to stick with classical dancers or a dancing style indigenous to the era. Break dancers, poppers and b-boys are featured throughout the show with performances like a step routine to the Beatles classic “Lady Madonna” or in the show’s culmination, “Hey Jude.”
Hands down, the best part of the show for me was “Within You, Without You.” Now, I’ve never experienced an acid trip before, but someone on the development team of Love probably has. In my opinion, this part of the show makes it worth paying the extra money to sit in the lower level of the theater. It all starts with a giant parachute billowing out of the center of the stage like a blooming orchid. From there ushers come down the aisles, and begin to extend the parachute over the audience (They hint to this part at the very beginning of the show, and warn the crowd not to grab a hold of it.) The common reaction among the crowd as this happened can probably be best described as, “WTF.” I was in my seat under a giant piece of canvas beginning to feel ripped off (that is if I paid for my ticket that is), and wondering what was going on on the other side when the light show started.
The psychotropic music of “Within You, Without You” played as colored lights moved across the canvas overhead. Despite being warned not to touch it at the beginning of the performance, I couldn’t resist the urge reach out and touch the canvas. I began to experience what The Glenlivet Ambassador Rick Edwards would refer to as a “sensory hallucination coupled with deja vu.” Suddenly, I was 8 years old again playing with a flashlight under a sheet. I apologize for not being eloquent enough to accurately describe what it was like to be under the canvas, but take my word for it… If you’re going to see Love, be sure to get lower level seats. As you begin to space out under the canvas, (I distinctly remember turning to my neighbor and saying, “I want to come back and see this show stoned.”) the colors fade to dark, and the music transitions to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Your color-induced trip is now taken to the opposite extreme; from being surrounded by light to complete darkness. The only light coming from synchronized blinking LEDs.
Although I feel that the second quarter of the show dragged a bit, over all, I think that Love is a fantastic show. The only thing that I would like to see changed would be the inclusion of post Beatles break up songs. I would have loved to have seen what Cirque du Soleil could have done with songs like John Lennon’s “Imagine,” George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,” or Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die.” Still, the music was great, and the inventiveness of the performances and overall design of the show was vintage Cirque du Soleil. Attending this show was a welcomed change of pace during a hectic four days of Blog World keynotes, expo booths and after parties. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to see this show while I was in Las Vegas, and I highly recommend that you see it as well.
Song stuck in my head at the time of this post: Against the Wind by Bob Seger
"Don't take salt for granted. Use only high quality, mostly sea salt. The 'blue box' works only for cleaning oil spills on the floor." ~Chef George Mavrothalassitis
Over the past month, my new favorite food porn site has become foodspotting.com. Unlike other food sites that just post pictures of food without telling you where they are from, foodspotting keeps a restaurant database of every photo entered. So if you see something that you absolutely have to try, the restaurant information is right there with the photo (called a “sighting”).
It’s hard to believe that Foodspotting is only in it’s alpha stage of it’s development. In my opinion, it’s already better than most other food p0rn sites I’ve visited. The main thing currently in the works is the Foodspotting iPhone app. I have been fortunate enough to get in on the alpha testing of the app.
