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Day 249: Fanboy/Girl Moment

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I’ve written about my love of the Fung Bros. and their unique brand of hilarious and informative food vlogs, so it was a treat meeting them last night after my wife and I were done representing Yelp at the 626 Night Market.

The brothers were doing their man-on-the-street interviews and were soon surrounded by fans and curious onlookers. After a few minutes wait, we were able to get a selfie with them. David had some kind words for Yelp, saying that they use the site often while researching their videos.

I’m proud to represent Yelp at events like these and praise like that was a nice bonus. It made our fanboy/fangirl moment of the night.

Day 248: Cuteness Overload

Lazy Bear's jumbo crab stir-fried curry.

Lazy Bear’s jumbo crab stir-fried curry.

I was back at the 626 Night Market tonight representing the Yelp brand. My wife joined me this time and along with our fellow Yelpers Jennifer and Wayne, we spread some Yelp love for a few hours.

Just like at the event I did last month, I enjoyed meeting so many Yelp users and fans. People genuinely like using the app and a few of them were kind enough to share stories with us.

My wife and I had a lot of fun handing out the Yelp swag. During the downtime she picked up our dinner (pictured above) from the Lazy Bear booth. It’s the cutest thing I’ve eaten in a while.

The cutest overload of the food didn’t stop me from going all Hannibal Lechter on it, though; it was delicious, even without fava beans and a nice chianti.

Day 246: 626 Night Market

Grilled Squid at the 626 Night Market.

Grilled Squid at the 626 Night Market.

The final 626 Night Market of the year is this weekend. Pictured above is one of my favorite foods there: grilled squid. While it’s not as good as Gerry’s Grill, it’s my go-to food at these outdoor shindigs.

The 626 Night Market is a huge Asian-themed food festival, but it’s much more than that: there’s vendors of all sorts, live music, DJs, artists, and a great people-watching scene, as well as a growing number of non-Asian food choices. It gets bigger every year and, honestly, you’re better off going to any of the nearby San Gabriel Valley eateries to get quality Asian food at non-festival prices (aka cheaper).

Still, for only $3 (and free parking), it’s worth it for the entertainment value alone. I can only handle a few hours of the madness, though, since these days I’m more of a eat-my-squid-and-go-home type of guy.

Day 220: Yelp Street Team

I Love Yelp

I Love Yelp

I volunteered for the Yelp Street Team tonight, representing the brand at the 626 Night Market. It was a lot of fun handing out Yelp swag to the attendees and in my three hours at the Yelp Booth, I noticed one thing: people LOVE Yelp.

Actually, I noticed two things. In addition to the Yelp love fest, I saw how ginormous the 626 Night Market has grown. I was here in 2013 and thought it was big then, but tonight was nearly overwhelming. So much food, so many people, and plenty of good vibes. When you have an event centered around food, it seems to produce a less hostile crowd than, say, a Dodgers-Giants game in the middle of a heatwave.

Most people already had the Yelp app on their phones, so it was easy to get them to check-in and claim their free tote bag or drink koozie. My fellow street teamers Tiffany and Ruth gave out free high fives upon request, as did my stepdaughter, who helped out for an hour. We even posed for photos with a few people who made us feel like rock stars.

My favorite part of tonight? Talking to other enthusiastic users of Yelp. There were a lot of them, including several who stopped by the booth just to say how much they loved Yelp.

I told them I knew exactly how they felt.

Day 68: The Mall

De Cafe Baristas

De Cafe Baristas

I was in Monterey Park the other night, with about an hour to kill. I had a few things I wanted to get done for work, so I Yelped coffeehouses in the area and stumbled upon De Cafe Baristas in the Atlantic Times Square Plaza. A few minutes later and I had scored a parking spot (not easy to do, apparently) and wandered through the outdoor mall.

It’s a great space and I was instantly impressed. It has a city-like feel to it, with apartments towering above the retail and restaurant spots. As I walked to the coffeehouse, I was excited to see the eating options: 101 Noodle Express, Curry House, and Lee’s Sandwiches, to name a few. Having been to so many malls and shopping centers with the typical Sbarro/Panda Express/Jamba Juice food courts, this was like a breath of fresh air. Just thinking about the beef roll and scallion pancake at 101 Noodle Express makes my mouth water.

And, yes, I loved De Cafe Baristas. Read more in my Yelp review.