One of the notable things that set the Obama presidential campaign apart from other political campaigns in history was its use of social media--Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, blogs, and more. This is something that you will continue to see as an essential part of political campaigns from now on.

I was fortunate to experience part of this in Congressman Neil Abercrombie's campaign on Saturday. During his last campaign, his social media team came up with a concept called "Dinner 2.0," where a small group gathers with the candidate over an informal meal and talks story. It's unique because the dinner is broadcast live over the internet and promoted via chat and Twitter.

Social media experts Ian & Liane Kitajima and Burt Lum set up Dinner 2.0

It's not necessarily a conversation about politics, either--it's more of a chance for you to get to know the real person, their interests, and their hopes.

Kelly Hu at Dinner 2.0

Although Congressman Abercrombie couldn't make it to Saturday's Dinner 2.0, Hawaii-born actress Kelly Hu volunteered her time to be a part of this, as she is supporting his run for governor.

We started off talking a little about how she got involved in politics, the Obama campaign, and now the Abercrombie campaign. Basically, she was surprised to learn that Asian Americans are the least likely to vote, so she lent her support to her candidate--now President Obama--to help foster change in that community.

The neat thing, though, is how the conversation veered off so that we got to know her better. Did you know she attended Maemae School and entered the talent contest without planning her act? She dressed up and faked a tap dance of sorts. Did you know she was catapulted to stardom overnight? Winning the Miss Teen Hawaii USA pageant changed her life in one night. She also talked about the last movie she worked on, "The Tournament," which is hopefully going to be released this year.

Although I've met a few celebrities now, I'm still surprised at how someone with such noteriety was still quite the local girl inside, and easy to talk to. On the side, she told me about the kolohe antics that her brother Glenn and neighbor Collin Kaneshiro got into as kids. It was pretty cool to establish points of reference with her.

Burt Lum and Laurie Cicotello help Kelly set up her Twitter.

After the camera stopped rolling--since all the best Twitter-ers in Honolulu were in the room--we helped Kelly get set up on Twitter. If you want to follow her, her name is 33edge. Just to warn you, though, we didn't have time to teach her how to follow people or respond to @ replies!

Upon set up, she said, "Oh, no! Am I going to get addicted to Twitter?" By the end of the night, she had sent out five tweets, so ....

If you'd like to see more photos from Saturday, click here. If you'd like to experience another social media campaign event, log on to www.NeilAbercrombie.com tonight from about 5 to 8 p.m. There will be another live webcast, and Kelly will try to stop in!

p.s. Photos by Ed Morita

When I saw Fendu Boulangerie open in Manoa Marketplace, I couldn't wait to see Manoa blogger Kristen Lum Brummel's review on it. I was even more excited when she suggested we check it out together, with Real Life 101 blogger Kelli Miura! I love meeting my fellow bloggers!

Boulangerie at last! Kristen & Kelli

It's been kind of crazy for all three of us lately, so it took a while to schedule something.

Lilikoi Cheesecake and Zucco

We kind of gawked at the desserts. There were so many!

I think I'm going to try these next time.

It was a lot of fun to meet up--actually, Tweet Up, since Kelli and Kristen are also on Twitter--IRL (In Real Life) and get to know each other better. We can't wait to do it again...where should we go next time?

While you think about it, check out Kristen's blog to see more pics of what we ate, and her review on Fendu Boulangerie!

About a month ago, Catherine Toth blogged about a new place called Kaimuki Grill, which took the place of Momotarou (across Victoria Inn). It looked so good, I had to try it.

I went with the effervescent Christa Wittmier (@supercw) and asked her to bring a couple friends. Daniel Gray had just opened his Chinatown club, SoHo, on a Friday night, and was taking a break from the scene; this seemed like a good way to help him chillax. Next to Christa is Anne Au, who owns Rockshop--retailing fun fashions on First Fridays.

Christa and Anne sport Rockshop shades with the CB Sliders, mini cheeseburgers that are oh-so-moist.

One of our favorite items was the fried rice, which features morsels of lup chong. We racked our brains, but couldn't think of any restaurants that serve lup chong fried rice. Can you?

Our absolute favorite--as was Cat's--was the garlic steak. Garlic chips and served with garlic sauce, yum!

But wait! There's more! No, really, there's more. We ate a LOT, and believe it or not, had no alcohol while there. If you want to see what else we ate, go to my Metromix.com gallery. Leave comments!

Kaimuki Grill
1108 12th Ave.
808-732-2292
Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Friday; 2 p.m.-midnight Saturday. (Kitchen closes about 9:30 p.m.)

I was going to entertain you with more food p0rn to celebrate the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival's finale. But after seeing what piqued people's interest on my Twitter feed last night, that all went out the window! I'll just give you a quick peek.

Sunday's breakfast of champions

We started the day with a workshop called "Day After Alchemy," in which sommeliers and chefs brought out their hangover helpers--using food, wine, and spirits. What a great theme! They fed us many salty, spicy, fatty, carby things that are key to battling hangovers.

It was still a lot of food, though. More than any alcohol, the amount of food was causing a severe case of Kanak Attack in everyone, requiring more frequent disco naps. We also found ourselves having to choose what to eat (or not), or leave portions unfinished. Even KGMB9's Steve Uyehara, who is known for his massive appetite, said, "If I eat anymore, I'll explode!"

With that, I had to (regrettably) bow out of the "Walla Walla and Cheese" workshop so I could save myself for the big Kapalua Seafood Festival in the evening. Candy Suiso went with KGMB9's Ramsay Wharton, and I had to experience the workshop vicariously through Candy's Twitter. Needless to say, they ate all the honey and all the cheese, especially the ones that tasted like pure butter. And I sat in my room and wept.

It was still a good decision on my part! The following photos are just a very small sampling of the many foods we tasted at the Seafood Festival.

Shrimp bites (left) and Souvi style pork on sushi rice (right)

Scallops and Kula corn (left) & ahi with taro, green papaya and coconut

I even got to meet renowned Chef Bev Gannon of Hali'imaile General Store. She made these fantastic crab canelonni, which were rich, creamy, rich, silky, and...oh yeah, rich. Candy and I inhaled two of these right away.

Just a small glimpse of the crowd. It was definitely a mix of Maui locals, local tourists (people like me), and tourists. It's a slightly dressier event than the others this weekend, but you could go in shorts if you wanted to.

These guys are from Wolfgang's Spago and are making spicy ahi in sesame "cones" with a miso dressing. They think I'm from TMZ and wanted to get in on my blog to be famous. Yes! I'm with TMZ! Pose! Now dance!

These four girls were hilarious. They set up camp next to me and Liane Thompson and were feeding us food, shoving martinis at us, and telling us all kinds of funny stories. They call themselves "the four hoochies" but I'm sure they don't live up to the hype. They were, however, my most popular Twitpic of the evening, more than any of my food pics.

Bombay Sapphire, one of the sponsors, had an entire bar sculpted from ice. It was a solid table with bottle holders and everything. VERY cool. Pardon the pun.

You can try as hard as you can, starve yourself all day, and wear elastic pants...but you will not be able to eat all the food they have to offer at the big Seafood Festival. It was a gluttonous, fantastic, fun-filled culinary journey for us and we're looking forward to attending next year. At the end of the night, Sonya, Candy and I toasted each other and congratulated ourselves on having a wonderful time.

I wanted to note that this was much more than a wine and food festival; it was also a huge networking event for various people--not just in the culinary industry. The atmosphere of the event was very conducive to socializing, especially with people who would not normally sit together under normal circumstances. If you're looking to enhance your career and contacts, this may be a good event for you to attend.

I hope to see you next year!

Kapalua Wine & Food Festival 2010
Kapalua Resort
June 24 - 27, 2010

One of the most anticipated workshops at the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival was the Organic Experience with Google Chef Scott Giambastiani. He specializes in using local, sustainable, and organic ingredients, all buzzwords in today's foodie society.

But wait!! Before I could enjoy the day's festivities, I had to pay penance for last night. The Kapalua Resort has a beautiful two-mile coastal trail, right outside my door. Most of it is like a trail run, but a short portion looks like this boardwalk. It's very scenic and you can see a lot of people on it throughout the day.

And now, back to our regular programming: Sonya Mendez took this photo of me & Candy Suiso as we eagerly awaited the lunch to start. Note how we got the Google logo in the photo to thank the sponsors?

Hello, lover! That salmon medallion in the upper left corner was fabulous. We wished we could have eaten a whole filet instead of just a medallion, but...such is life. I could have eaten that duck breast bacon all day. And the goat cheese ice cream was a unique and delicious contrast to the zesty berry gazpacho. Heaven!

After lunch, we got to meet wine grape grower Gary Pisoni, "the new face of American Pinot Noir." He is quite a wild man and essential to any wine festival.

To clear our palate, we went on a wine "tour" but ended up staying at only one tour station! These ladies remembered us from the Grand Tasting last night, where they saw us gorging ourselves shamelessly on the brie. They didn't say those exact words, but mentioned the brie. Ooops!

I love blends. Vintner Greg La Follette of Tandem Winery makes some nice ones, and after tasting his wine I got to talk story with him. Cool!!

From there, Candy & I went to a workshop called "Raising Reislings from the Dead," in which we tasted six different reislings from around the world. My favorite, as always, is the honey-flavored Kabinett Reisling and Spaltlese, both from Germany. They did have some off-dry Reislings that were almost chardonnay-like. This is a great way to dispel preconceived notions about reislings and think about new ways to pair them.

After a quick disco nap, Candy & I went to a special media dinner at the Banyan House at the Ritz Carlton. However, the lighting was not conducive to food photos, so I can't share dinner with you here. Just take my word for it, it was fabulous!

We found the crew from KGMB9 on their own table. These guys can eat! I don't know if I saw them with wine glasses in hand, but I always, always saw them with a plate of something good.

Next: The seafood extravaganza.