Note: Information lifted from Ryan Ozawa's blog called "The Bloggers Are Coming!"

A group of bloggers and vloggers will be touring Hawaii this week as part of a “social media tour,” as local visitor industry officials reach beyond the mainstream to spread the word about Hawaii travel. It’s been dubbed the “So Much More Hawaii” tour, and it will include visits to Oahu (May 27 & June 3-4), Kauai (May 28-29), Maui (May 30-31), and the Big Island (June 1-2, Kona-side only).

The tour is being coordinated by David Uchiyama, Vice President of Tourism Marketing for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, with help from the Hawaii Visitors and Conventions Bureau. They’ve turned to Cilantro Media to organize the blogger team. The bloggers are:
Rick Calvert (@blogworld) from Las Vegas, Nevada, founder of Blog World Expo.
Leah Lamb (@leahlamb) from San Francisco, California, a writer and producer at Current.
Shira Lazar (@shiralazar) from Los Angeles, California, a self-described “media empress” with a long resume in lifestyle and travel shows.
Aric S. Queen (@aricsqueen), a globetrotting new media producer with a focus on China.
Sheila Scarborough (@SheilaS) from Austin, Texas, a travel writer with a taste for NHRA drag racing and social media.
Mark Tafoya (@ChefMark) from New York City, a personal chef who creates food and travel videos for the Culinary Media Network.
Jim Turner (@Genuine) from Firestone, Colorado, a “social media renaissance man” and Social Media Director of Blog World Expo.

Also counted among the bloggers is the fabulous “Neenz” Faleafine (@Neenz), serving as one of many local hosts and organizers.

Coordinator Christine Lu (@ChristineLu) is also in town, simultaneously organizing other social media events like Geeks on a Plane, which is a tour of East Asia (including Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai). Here she is pictured with Melanie Kosaka of www.Shareyourtable.com.

This is exciting not just because of additional exposure of Hawaii to the world, but because I am taking Mark Tafoya around to tour Oahu. He arrived tonight and leaves tomorrow for Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island. When he returns on June 2, I'll blog & Twitter as we go along, so be sure to watch my Twitter feed!

Make sure you get to know Mark by checking out his regular blog, www.remarkablepalate.com, and his video log, www.culinarymedianetwork.com.

We had a nice welcome reception at Rumfire in the Sheraton Waikiki for all the bloggers. Here, from left, are Mark, me, Rebecca, and Tommy.

Makana was our entertainment for the evening. After his stage performance, he came by the group and did a kanikapila-style performance of a Portuguese love song that Sonny Chillingworth had taught him.

If you are following us on Twitter, the official “hashtag” (or tracking keyword) is #hawaiihta. So in addition to visiting their individual blogs, you’ll be able to follow many of them in near realtime as they post to Twitter during the tour.

Have you heard of the Two Beer Queers? If you love beer, you might want to check out this very informative podcast. The two--comprised of Russel Kealoha and Bully O'Sullivan--are not gay, but are in love with beer, and started the podcast to learn the equipment. They literally broadcast "Wayne's World" style out of a garage, and in no time their show went viral.

For those unfamiliar, they have a three-point rating system: The top is "MEAN!," the not bad beers are "She Go," and the bottom of the barrel is ((insert unprintable swear words here)). These guys are funny, knowledgeable, and very local. I can't embed their video here, however, because they do swear.

This past Saturday, they shot a live show at Shiroma's Wine And More in Waimalu (a.k.a. SWAM), in which they reviewed two surprise beers. The filming was an event in itself! Many of their Twitter fans came to watch them.

The electronic geniuses, @Kaeokepani and @Shaggylive ; manning the webcast were @Neenz and @Noe808.

Some of the audience

At the appropriate time, Bully pulled off the paper bags from the first set of surprise beers. Usually, they plan their shows so that they review two beers, often revolving around a theme.

Russel and Bully tend to prefer dark stouts to light lagers. They understand their reviews are purely subjective, but even as a non-beer drinker I find their podcasts very informative. If you tend to like the same kinds of beers they like, then you should subscribe to their show and try the beers they review.

They always pour the beers carefully into their glasses to watch the head, then hold it up to the light to check the color. They then stick their noses all the way into the glass to smell the beer and describe the bouquet.

Ummmm OK. I don't drink beer, so I really wasn't paying attention to the beers they drank. All I know is, the first one reminded them of Chimay. I remember this name because it's a beer that I have tried and liked, but I can't tell you much more beyond that!

Bonus ending!

By the way, if you ARE already a fan but missed the live show, the guys unveiled their new, official Tshirts. I don't know how many they have in stock, but if you want a shirt, "@" reply them or DM them to get yours.

...And yes, that's Twitter speak! If you aren't on Twitter, I'm not sure how you can get the shirt! Maybe you can visit them at www.TwoBeerQueers.com to inquire.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also give a shout out to some of the Twitter people who came to this event! I wanted to prove that I did, indeed, meet the ever-elusive @Bkgirlfriday (Bari) and @Shaggylive. I'm sorry I didn't get a good photo of SWAM owner Jill Shiroma, but mahalo to you for hosting us! We had a great time!

UPDATE: The Two Beer Queers posted their proposed SWAM commercial online. Click here to see it.

I hope you picked up a copy of today's TGIF. Two months ago, I did a review and a blog gallery about the Little Oven on King Street. At the time, I didn't realize the impact the blog would have!

This place had been open in my neighborhood for two years, and I never noticed it. Apparently, no one else did, either. One day, attorney Mike Schwartz decided that he wanted more people to know about this place--to keep it alive, and preserve the charm of the neighborhood. He brought Councilman Donovan Delacruz, who fell in love with the Little Oven and made me try it.

Caramelized banana split photo by @Watarigoro

How can you not fall in love with such good looking desserts? I found myself Twitpic'ing (posting photos to the web via Twitter.com) everything I ate, and people stalking following me started to take notice.

Coffee cake photo by @Watarigoro

Soon, a wave of Twitter people wanted in on the dessert action.

As you can see, the desserts don't just taste good, they photograph well. Shutterbugs started showing up just to salivate over the food p0rn. When they posted their photos, more people saw what Little Oven offered, and it became an ongoing cycle.

Now, the once-sleepy Little Oven has steady business every night that it's open (Wednesday through Saturday, 7 p.m. to midnight), filled with hip young people, Bohemian older people, and families.

Thursday nights are exceptionally busy--almost resembling a club-like atmosphere, as you can see above--as groups of avid Twitter-ers come and go throughout the night, always filling the place. If you want to see & be seen, Thursday nights are the nights to go! Different people come each time, and for many, it's the first time they're meeting the others that they follow online.

It got so overwhelmingly busy at one point, that Jennifer Lieu and I stepped up to help Joyce Harada with waitressing. (Remember the show "Alice," with Mel's Diner? I'm Flo.)

The collage, below, is a random snapshot of random people doing random things on a random Thursday evening at Little Oven. For those of you NOT on Twitter, such a scene may be intimidating. I'd recommend you go on Wednesdays, Fridays, or Saturdays!

Scenes from Little Oven

Anyway, take a look at today's TGIF and let me know what you think. Better yet, stop by Little Oven one day and try the desserts yourself! Tell them that Melissa sent you.

Little Oven
1467 South King Street, Unit 1-A (Next to the Mobi Store; if you hit Kaheka Street, you've gone too far)
Phone: (808) 947-6836
Open Wednesday - Saturday, 7 p.m. to Midnight

Have you gone to Metromix today? Last week, I took my lovely nieces to yogurt shops. This week, I'm dragging them around to eat sushi. Life's tough, eh?

Fortunately, as you can see, the girls love sushi. We went all over to see what the best rolls are for sharing with friends when they go out. We also wanted to see if there was anything new and creative...but most of all, we wanted good value.

The first place we hit was Doraku Sushi, located in the Royal Hawaiian Center. I had already gotten suggestions from Metromix readers on what to order. The sushi chef (Hide) felt our choices were "okay," so he made them, but he diplomatically made the sushi that he felt would be even better. He was so right. Our favorite is a sushi roll that doesn't yet have a name: it’s a California roll with avocado, topped with seared ahi, shiso chiffonade, crushed garlic chips, shredded daikon, and served with a wasabi-yuzu dressing. Every bite is a carnival of flavors and textures that work together—the sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy, and soft against the subtle bitter of the daikon and shiso.

Hide poses with the girls. Next time you go to Doraku, our favorite sushi roll may have a name. If not, just describe it as above and enjoy!

Just a quick look behind the scenes: Ahnya was big on hamming it up for the cover shot that would promote the sushi. (Above) When I went to Therapy Sportsgrill, I asked owner Regan Onikama to do a similar pose.

OK, Regan is a nice looking guy, but he's somehow not as pretty as Ahnya. I think his friends are ragging on him as you read this!

Some of the best and most creative sushi was at Sansei. I know locals don't think of Sansei so much anymore because it's in Waikiki, but if you get a chance, you should go. Their sushi rolls were very fresh and presented with artful flair.

One of my favorites was actually the Mango & Crab handroll at Sansei ($9.95). The "nori" is actually mamenori, and it's filled with crab salad, mango, Nalo greens, and peanuts. It was definitely low carb, tasted fairly low calorie, and was light and flavorful. I couldn't put it in the gallery because it didn't have rice...but I would order this again!

What about you? What are your favorite sushi rolls? Where can we get good deals? To see what I ate, check out the Metromix Gallery!

It's hard to ignore the number of fro-yo places popping up around the island now. There is at least one yogurt spot per community, a gathering place for people looking for a different way to enjoy dessert. And why not? In today's "me me me" society, why wouldn't a do-it-yourself dessert place be appealing?

There are 10 very popular places on Oahu right now, so I dragged my nieces (Emi, Ahnya, and Cymri, in birth order) to taste some yogurt with me to find out what the differences were. For the most part--other than self-serve vs. standard soft serve--the end product was pretty much the same. If you like frozen desserts, fro-yo is a nice option in Hawaii's hot weather.

There were subtle differences: Number of flavors. Number of toppings. Unique toppings. Grouchy service. Fabulous service. Cleanliness. Good tables and chairs. And, of course, taste.

It's all subjective. For example, I was surprised to find that some people named Ce Fiore their least favorite yogurt spot, whereas others said it was the best.

So what's your favorite yogurt place and why? Check out my gallery on Metromix to get a rundown on the places and see if I missed anything.

I had to be objective on Metromix, but here on my blog, I can tell you my faves:

For sheer taste, I liked Yogurtland. I wanted to hate Yogurtland because everyone gushes about them, and because they are the ONLY yogurt place that doesn't allow picture taking.

Oh yeah, and because they have three people on staff at one time but only one person is manning the register while the line grows out of control. (WTF?)

But their yogurt tastes like you are biting into the real fruit. I couldn't deny that Yogurtland was, indeed, pretty darn delicious.

For ambience and toppings, I liked Menchies. Amy Hennessey used to work in an ice cream store, so she knew the exact combo of taro yogurt with brownies, strawberries, mini Reese's Pieces, and (most of all) chocolate chip cookie pieces would work. I meant to only take one bite from her cup, but once I tasted her winning combo, I had to go back for two more large spoonfuls to make sure that she made something that awesome. Yeah, it was that good!

Finally, for just hanging out, Orange Tree's staff was super laid back and accommodating. They let us rearrange the tables, although we eventually went outside and sat on the picnic tables, making house and spreading our stuff out. I think we stayed and talked way longer than is reasonably possible for other places.

So what's your fave and why? Check out my gallery on Metromix.com and weigh in!