Cavina and I just attended the first Hawaii Foodie Fest, Taste of Paradise, held at the Bishop Museum. At a whopping $70 per General Admission ticket, it's definitely not an event that I ever thought I would attend, but thanks to the generosity of Frolic Hawaii, we were able to go as representatives from our respective publications (Cavina with Frolic and me with Spoon Hawaii) to cover the event, free of charge.
There were a few things that were not-so-good, like the hour long wait, excessive use of plastic, and the confusion with the ticket stamping, but when you get to enjoy $70 worth of food from some of the top restaurants on the island, you really can't complain, ya know? Plus, it was the first time that Hawaii has had such a big event like this, so it's understandable why there were a few blunders. Everything that we had was absolutely amazing, and it was inspirational to see the different creations these chefs made for the event. My favorites were the Misoyaki Sous Vide Pono Pork from Roy's, Tortilla Espagnole from Scratch Kitchen & Meatery, Ahi Crudo from The Street Food Hall, and the desserts (of course) from UBAE and Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery. And special s/o to my sister for getting us the tickets. Love you sis.
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I swear it was just Monday yesterday, but somehow it's already Friday, which means spring break is pretty much over, which means it's back to school and exams and projects and socializing with people, and all the other not-so-good stuff that comes with being a student.
Lucky, this spring break treated me well, with three food events almost back-to-back to keep me well fed throughout the week. Tuesday was an event at the new Rocky Japanese Steak Teppan Restaurant at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Formerly the Benihana, they changed the name to become independent, and wanted to expand their new restaurant, dedicated to the owner, Rocky Aoki. This event featured their new menu items including the Rocky Loco Moco, Loco Moco Ramen, and Ninjatini, along with their show-stopping teppanyaki performances. Thursday, Spoon Hawaii was invited to the new EARL sandwich shop location in the Keawe Retail by Our Kaka'ako space. I was absolutely STOKED about this one because ever since Chris (aka Christopher, aka @isonochris, aka my best friend throughout middle and high school) introduced me to the shop in Kaimuki, I've been obsessed by their creations. This event featured their double-fried garlic fries, nachos, lemonades & teas, and whatever sandwiches our hearts desired. I of course got the Turkey Jam Sam per usual, but also tried the Kebob which was basically eating a gyro, sandwich form. I also met two super cool people - @islandbag, whom I've been following for two years now, and @okaa_san, an amazing local artist. Lastly, I was honored to be reached out to to try the new Plant-Based Proteins offered at Pieology, with a free pizza, salad, and drink for me and a guest. We got the gluten-free and cauliflower crusts, and everything was so so so good. The plant-based proteins, although not something I would usually order, wasn't too bad. Definitely a little unconventional in terms of taste, but they got the appearance just right, and for a veganized meat, it was again, not too bad. お誕生日おめでとう to me and Fran!
Matthew took us out to his internship at 53 By the Sea for an amazing dinner to celebrate my late birthday and Fran's early birthday. I've been dying to try this place since forever, because I love anything boujee and photogenic, and the whole restaurant just screamed "THREE DOLLAR SIGNS ON YELP." We got a bunch of different dishes, per Matthew's recommendations, and the kitchen even brought out a complimentary appetizer and birthday cake for us :') After five appetizers, three entrees, four desserts, and seven thousand photos later, it's safe to say that this was one of the best dining experiences ever, and I'm SO. so so so so so so lucky to have such amazing friends that would go out of their way to make me feel so special. Side note, I'm going to get married here. It's already been decided. It's either I get married here, or I buy out the entire place and make it my mansion because it's honestly the nicest building I've ever stepped foot in, in my life. ✨ After the MICCSR case competition came to a conclusion, our last night in Washington was just beginning. The Milgard School of Business sponsored a shuttle to take all the teams to Seattle for the night, and our team took advantage of this and met up with friends and Bros.
We met Kirk, a DSP alumni, along with Janelle and Jason, who are friends of Maurice, at Boiling Point to have dinner. The group wanted to bar hop, so we headed to the rooftop bar, the Nest, to catch up and get to know each other. We caught an Uber to Rheinhaus, a German beer pub, where we were introduced to yet another crowd of friends - Rachel, Ryan, Kayce, and Evan. We made our way to Unicorn, a bar that Maurice had been raving about all week, before heading out to other bars and clubs, per everyone else's requests, until we landed at our last one for the night, Queer Bar. This one was.. an experience, to say the least. Lots of interesting characters and personalities that I've only ever seen on shows, and I definitely saw more skin on some people than I would have liked. Many many amazing memories from tonight that I hope I never forget. Our night ended at 3am when we got back to the hotel, just to wake up in 2 hours for our flight back home. What felt like the longest day of my life started at 7am, where our team had a quick bite to eat before rehearsing our presentation one last time.
The competition consisted of 20 schools, 12 from the US, and 8 international, competing for a chance to place within the top 4 schools. Our slot for the preliminary round was at 10am, and after putting on what I think was the best presentation we've done so far, we got great feedback from the judges, and got to explore the campus before the lunch reception. I'm not sure if they did it for dramatic effect, but the announcement regarding who will be moving on the the final round seemed like forever. Our hearts pounded as we saw our group number flash on the projector, indicating the we made it to the finals. I was in disbelief, because no other Shidler team in prior years made it to the final round. I imagined us being on that stage so many times the past two months, but actually being there and experiencing it was so unreal. My hands, voice, and legs were shaking and I'd never felt so weak in my life. But at the same time, I never felt so empowered, and so proud of all that I was able to accomplish. After a nerve-wracking hour of waiting for the results, we won 3rd place overall, right behind University of Queensland and University of British Columbia - making us the 1st in the US. This experience was surreal and unlike anything I'd ever done in my life, but the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment is something that I want to be able to experience again. Maurice, Antoni, Pono, and I have been preparing all semester for our first case competition at the Milgard School of Business in Tacoma, Washington.
We poured so many hours of our time into practicing, and after a hellish 72 hours of working non-stop on our case last weekend, we persevered and made it to Washington! We arrived at 7am and started our exploration of the city as soon as we checked in our luggage at the hotel. Our first stop was breakfast at Honey + Coffee in the Alma Mater, with some boujee brunch options. No mainland trip is complete without Trader Joe's, and after three boxes of Butter Waffle Cookies and five bags of Mochi Rice Nuggets, we were set for our next adventure. I told my team from the very beginning that there was only one mission (besides winning the competition) that I needed to complete, and that was visiting Corina Bakery before we left, because it was too good of a coincidence that there would be a bakery with the same name as me, in the same city and neighborhood that we were staying in. The rest of the day was filled with practicing our presentation, napping, meeting the other teams at the welcome dinner, more practices, and face masks. |