Melissa Chang

Frolic Contributor

Melissa Chang graduated from the University of Hawai‘i with a degree in journalism and has been blogging since 2007, mostly on food and travel. She works primarily in social media, so you can find her on Twitter and Instagram.

 

 

Articles

Star Noodle: a Maui foodie destination

Welcome to Star Noodle ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 16 By Melissa ChangNonstop HonoluluEarly this year, the owners of the Old Lahaina Luau opened a new restaurant above Lahaina Cannery Mall. It started out as a 3,500-square-foot culinary…

Party pics: Halloween in Waikiki

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Happy Halloween! Here’s a cocktail to celebrate

The other night, I went to another  “cocktail development” class run by Alan Wong at the Pineapple Room. They came up with drinks that you can make anytime, but more so for Halloween. If you’re still looking for things to…

The Perfect Match for Big Brothers Big Sisters

Last night, Big Brothers Big Sisters held a fundraising event called “The Perfect Match.” You didn’t need to be in a couple to take part in the event, its food, raffle, dancing or silent auction.The highlight was the celebrity Perfect…

Last day in LA: Joan’s on Third & Kogi BBQ

I was going to spend my last half day in Torrance to check out some of Lena Hanson‘s suggestions, but Twitter friend Jay Terauchi‘s time suddenly got freed up, so we got to drive around a little more. He took…

LA: Heading to Koreatown

The Grove LAOn my last full day in Los Angeles, my Twitter friend D.K. Mashino was nice enough to drive me toward Koreatown and give me a short tour of the residential area before dropping me off at The Grove…

LA: Dinner and a tweetup at Bazaar

Prior to this trip, I had been poking around on Foodspotting.com and saw gorgeous photos of the tapas at The Bazaar by Jose Andres. I immediately messaged my Twitter friend D.K. Mashino and said, “We need to go here!”The dinner…

Party pics: Business of Networking

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LA: Lunch at Anqi, celeb spotting at Umami

I’m already back, but I want to tell you about the rest of our trip and the things we ate. There were two lunches (no, not on the same day) that we got to squeeze in. The first was at…

My Top 10 San Francisco eateries (for this trip)

Diane Seo asked me to name my top 10 eats for San Francisco, and as usual, I was filled with indecision. You can throw a rock in any direction in the city, and inevitably find something delicious. So, hopefully I…

Tweetup: Dinner at Sashi in LA

I’m on my way back to Honolulu by way of Los Angeles! I come here so seldom and only have three days, so I’m trying to squeeze in some good eats and sightseeing in this short time. One of the…

Tweeting up in Napa

I had a great time on my final last day in San Francisco, hanging out with my Kawananakoa classmate Debora Aoki. She now lives in the Bay Area and is an “arteest” known for her About.com blog on manga.Even back…

San Francisco: Wandering Noe Valley

I decided to keep my day simple, since by the time you read this blog post, I’ll be in Napa Valley with my classmate, Deb Aoki.After sleeping in, I met my friend Glen Shannon for lunch at a quaint Czech…

Eating, meeting LiveFyre, eating, and more eating

Yesterday was Lynda’s last day in the city, so we made sure she tried Tartine Bakery — one of my favorite San Francisco spots — before she left. It’s always better to hit this place on a weekday, so you…

Eating my way around San Francisco

I think my San Francisco blog posts have been mostly a mishmash of stuff,  and not totally touristy. This is because I’ve been coming here almost every year since I was a toddler, so I just come back to do…

The San Francisco Nike Women’s Marathon

The main reason for taking this trip had arrived: Running the San Francisco Nike Women’s (half) Marathon, now in its seventh year. It’s the world’s largest all-women’s marathon and half marathon, with 22,000 participants — of which about 1,000 are…

San Francisco: one of my fave ways to chill

We started the day attempting to have breakfast at Dottie’s True Blue Cafe on Jones St. Many of my Twitter friends recommended it, but they did warn me that there would be a line, especially on weekends. They weren’t kidding!…

San Francisco Day 2: Off The Grid

My classmate Deb Aoki and twitter friends Kendall and Alyce Lee had told me about Off The Grid, which bills itself as a “mobile food extravaganza.” Even with that description, Lynda and I both thought it was one fabulous food…

San Francisco: Day 2, part 1

This is just a quick post to show you what we did in the first half of Day 2 in San Francisco. Our experience at Off The Grid was so amazing, it deserves its own post!We got a late start…

San Francisco: Day 1

After a week of doing double duty on Nonstop Honolulu, I joined the ranks of vacationing Catherine Toth, John Garcia, and Tracy Chan and left for San Francisco. As you might guess, doing all that plus trying to get ready…

Backstage at Cirque Alegria

Alegria opens tomorrow, and I won’t get to see it. By the time I get home from my trip, it will be the tail end of the show. So, to let me get a taste of Alegria to tide me…

Who makes the best garlic chicken?

Who makes the best garlic chicken? ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 15 By Melissa ChangNonstopAbout a month ago, in preparation for his visit home, Hawaii expat and I Can Haz Cheezburger website founder Eric Nakagawa tweeted, "Who makes…

California, here I come!

Looks like the Nonstop crew is dispersing across the globe and giving you new (but nonstop) coverage of things to do and eat.I’m leaving for San Francisco to run the Nike Women’s Marathon on Sunday. Well, just half — I’m…

Did this: Wings for Shriners

Did this: Wings for Shriners ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 26 By Melissa ChangNonstopThe Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) Hawaii Aloha Chapter held its fifth annual Wings for Shriners benefit concert last night at The Waterfront at Aloha…

The Good Table 2010

Last night was the biggest fundraiser of the year for Lanakila Pacific’s Meals on Wheels, an event called The Good Table. It’s different because instead of having one event in one spot like most other organizations, Lanakila Pacific enlists the…

Did this: Chopsticks & Wine

Did this: Chopsticks & Wine ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 43 By Melissa ChangNonstopEvery October for nine years, the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce has put on one of the biggest food and wine events in Honolulu. Chopsticks…

Magnolia to open at Kahala Mall

I was lucky enough to get a preview of Magnolia, a new store in Kahala Mall, the other night. The store will officially open this Saturday, October 9, but you can get a sneak peek at some of the stuff…

Hawaii Social Media Summit tweetup

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High tea and a merry un-birthday

I got a message from Mari Taketa that she had a friend blowing through town for a very short time but wanted to make time to have coffee with us to talk about South Africa, since she’d be traveling there…

M&M eats: Fook Yuen

Fook Yuen ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 17 By Melissa ChangNonstopLast night, I went to Fook Yuen with some Chinese friends. I hadn't been there in years, but after my recent Lobster King review, they planned this outing…

Party pics: Tweetup at Blue Hawaii Lifestyle

Last night, Blue Hawaii Lifestyle at Ala Moana Center had a “Secret Menu” tweetup to introduce its most popular off-the-menu items. It was also a great excuse for a lot of tweeps to get together and, for some, meet each…

A preview of Cirque Alegria

Cirque Alegria opens in Hawaii on October 15, and some of the 55-member cast is already in Honolulu to help get the show ready and promote it. They had a press conference yesterday to give us a little taste of…

Autumn harvest dinner at Roy’s

Every so often, Roy’s in Hawaii Kai will have special wine dinners to showcase a specific winemaker, and then will pair foods around the featured wines. Last night, the restaurant had a wine dinner with a different theme: An autumn…

Did this: Taste of Helumoa

Taste of Helumoa ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 35 By Melissa ChangNonstopRoyal Hawaiian Center celebrated its 30th anniversary with the Taste of Helumoa Food & Wine Festival in the Royal Grove last night. It doubled as a fundraiser…

Dinner at Ming’s

One of my twitter friends, @GypsyRaven, recently organized a tweetup to share her bottle of Mao Tai — a 106 proof Chinese alcohol made from sorghum. Ming’s on Waikamilo seemed to be an appropriate choice, since they serve Shanghainese food…

Teilor-made for ‘Hawaii Five-0’

After last night’s official premiere of the new “Hawaii Five-0,” the town has been buzzing on whether they like the show or not. I think Catherine Toth sums it up in a nutshell very well.Me? I remember the old show,…

My weekend of unusual structures

This blog has given me the opportunity to experience a lot of different adventures … and if you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that I love the quirky stuff. So when PR divas Susan Sunderland and Sandi…

The social side of social media

You know it’s going to be a good party when people start arriving 30 minutes before it’s supposed to start. You really know it’s going to be a good party when there’s a line out the door at start time!This…

First taste: Hapa Dog

Hapa Dog has its day ◄ Back Next ► Picture 1 of 8 By Melissa ChangNonstopSeveral months ago, a new hot dog counter popped up in the food court in the Waikiki Shopping Plaza, and word has slowly spread about…