I Would Normally Stay Away...

...from publicizing this blog, but back in July of 2004, when this blog was still in its infancy, I got an e-mail from a writer representing Lonely Planet.  She inquired about listing my site in the Food & Drink chapter of the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Hawaii guide.  The deadline for her piece was fast approaching, with the book scheduled for distribution in April of 2005.  I said sure and promptly forgot about it.

Well, I was at Borders and just happened to be looking at the books in the Hawaii section, when I remembered the Lonely Planet listing and saw this, in the sidebar on page 68 of the most recent Hawaii guidebook...

Since the text is small, you probably can't see what it says too well, but I'll include the short text here.

    "For an online restaurant
     review blog by a local
     in the know (complete
     with photos!), click to
     http://onokinegrindz
     .typepad.com"

"Local in the know?"  Hardly.  But I am honored and glad to be a part of this guide.  What a nice "blog-birthday present", huh?

Comments

[AugustusGloop]

OMG! Reid! You're like famous--I mean in print now, not just online! In the guide book to all guide books... the trusty, hardy, funkadelic Lonely Planet (it's the only one I use!).

Wow. Very cool dude.

Congratulations! And so well you should be honoured as a gastronomic guru.

You DA MAN!

[MrsT]

Congrats .. Reid..!! now you are a celeb.. woohoo..!!

[Jo Rutherford]

If you weren't great, you wouldn't have a following! This "Lonely Planet" person clearly has good taste and wisdom! ;o)

[Amy]

Wow! That's so cool!

[alan]

Very, very cool, and in probably the best guidebook to Hawaii, too!

[MBS]

Hey Congrats! Now you can give Nadine Kam some competition...=D

[Suebob]

Congratulations! Your advice is great and I am sure visitors to Hawaii can really make good use of it.

Suebob

[KirkK]

A well deserved congrads! Even in this digital age, it's always an amazing thing to see something tangible that you can both see and feel! How does it feel to hit the "Big Time"????

[anthony]

Great work Reid. For diverse informative no-bullshit hibrow/lowbrow Hawaiian eats you are it. You've always been good, it's Lonley Planet that's gone up a notch in my estimation.

[Julia]

Congrats, Reid! :)

[chika]

that's way cool Reid, congratulations!

[Reid]

To All,

Thank you for your kind words of support.

*blushing*

No, I'm not a celebrity (my Mom would be banging on my door by now), not yet at least, nor am I anything special. I'm just doing this for me and to bring a part of Hawaii to all of you!

Hi AG,

Thank you! =)

I was quite surprised when I was approached, but when I finally saw it printed, it was hard to comprehend. This blog was never meant for something like that, you know?

Hi MrsT,

I wouldn't say that I was a celeb, but thank you for the thought! =)

Hi Jo,

Actually, the Lonely Planet person used to live on the Big Island. I'm not sure what attracted her to my blog, or how she even found out about it. But thank you for having such nice things to say!

Hi Amy,

It is, isn't it? Can you believe that most of the people that I know don't even know that I have this weblog? I haven't shared it with most of the people that I know. They might think I'm crazy!

Thanks again!

Hi Alan,

Thank you very much, Alan!

If I ever get contacted again, you can be sure that I'll give you a shout out as well. You're doing a wonderful job on your blog! Keep up the good work!

Hi MBS,

Ummm...I don't think I can give Nadine Kam competition, not yet at least. =P

After all, I still need my daytime job. If I could do something like this full time, I'd probably want to stop. I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with this.

Thanks for your vote of confidence. It means a lot!

Hi Suebob,

Thank you so much!

I don't see myself as a dispenser of advice, but more like a person who calls 'em like he sees 'em. If anyone benefits from this, I'm happy!

Hi Kirk,

Thank you for your support!

I don't think I've hit the "Big Time" yet. I think those of us food bloggers in Hawaii are small fish in a big pond, we don't get enough exposure, or support, from the local community it seems. It's most evident, by this piece that appeared in the Advertiser about a month back:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/23/il/il20ataste.html

This was a syndicated piece that ran in the paper, but failed to mention anyone local. Wanda Adams also did a piece in the same edition of the paper:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/23/il/il23a.html

but failed to mention the e-Gullet Hawaii forum headed by forum host, Sun-Ki Chai.

Hi Anthony,

Thank you!

Coming from you, that means a lot. In many ways, I wish that I could be more creative in my writing here. Most times, it comes across as boring to me.

Hi Julia,

Thank you! =)

You don't need this type of recognition, you get a lot of it from your peers (all of us). That to me means more than a mention in a book.

Hi Chika,

I kinda think so too, but really, I wanted to keep this blog on the "hush". I'm actually quite terrified of people that I know will find out about it.

BTW, the woman who contacted me was originally from Hilo. =)

As always, thank you for being supportive.

[Min]

Yes!You're famous now!

[Ling]

Hi Reid,

congratulations! I chanced upon your site today and from the long list of singapore cookbooks, I thought you were singaporean!!!

I'm glad that you love our food and I look forward to swopping recipes with you.

P.S. I recently just started my own blog so this is my first comment under my blog name! how exciting to finally be part of this!

[stef]

Yay Reid, it's one thing to do the thing we love but it's a whole other thing to be acknowledged for how good it is :)

Congrats, you deserve the fame ;)

[Mariko]

Congratulations! You are totally an expert. All the food you talk about is my main reason for wanting to visit Hawaii!

[fish fish]

Heee... it is a good one. Omedetou! ^_^

[milgwimper]

Heya Reid,
Congratulations, on getting into the Lonely Planet. You really do deserve it for all the hard work you put into this blog. Keep up the good work.

milgwimper

[Mr_Me]

Hey Reid, did you see that your blog was mentioned in the Honolulu Weekly's food issue a few weeks ago? They did a whole sidebar on local food blogs!

[elise]

Hey Reid,
Congratulations! That is very very cool. Newspaper articles come and go like the wind. Lonely Planet guides however have legs. Bravo!!!!

[Reid]

Hi Min,

Thank you! But I don't wish for celebrity. I'm too shy for that!

Hi Ling,

Thanks for dropping by my blog and good luck to you on yours. Thanks for providing me with the link, I'll be sure to visit your site.

I loved Singapore and the wonderful food that I ate there. I'm looking forward to my next trip there which will be in January 2006.

Hi Stef,

Thank you so much.

My blog is not quite where I want it to be just yet. I'm looking forward to working on it a lot more...and loosing much more sleep over it.

I don't think I've told you, but your blog has inspired me many times. I just love all the wonderful food that both you and Mike eat!

Thanks again! =)

Hi Mariko,

Thank you very much! And...long time no hear. I don't consider myself an expert, but I am very opinionated! =)

If/when you come to Hawaii, let me know and I'll take you out for a meal somewhere!

Hi fish fish,

Thank you dear! =)

Hi milgwimper,

Thank you for that! I'm still waiting for you and Jo to start your blogs! =)

Hi Mr Me,

Yes, I did. =)

I didn't do a post on it because I didn't want the people in my office to know. Luckily, none of them visited my site as a result of that article. Maybe I'll scan it and do a post on it in a couple of weeks.

Hi elise,

Thank you! =)

I think it's cool too, but then again, I'm a little freaked out by it. I never expected it to happen, and said yes to the writer so matter-of-factly.

BTW...I always look to your blog as a source of inspiration. So clean, well written and well laid out. Something I aspire to be!

Thanks always.

[babe_kl]

hi reid, hope i'm not too late in congratulating you! i knew how it feels like having a credit in print cos my name was in our local friedchillies.com food guide.

[Reid]

Hi babe_kl,

Thank you! And no, you're not too late!

Oooh...I have to go and check out that link. Congratulations to you too! =)