Lou MC Yelps a Lot

Before my trip to California, I had to do a little soul searching with my loyalty programs. Who gives me the most wins. I have AAdvantage and Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards. This is a nerve wracking challenge Late June, I received an invitation to join a 5K Challenge. Here is how it goes.  Earn up to 5,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles when you register and complete these qualifying activities in any order through September 30, 2018: Make any purchase with AAdvantage® eShopping℠ Dine-in or carry out with AAdvantage® Dining℠ Book and stay at a hotel at bookaahotels.com Rent and drive a car at aa.com/cars Fly on an American Airlines marketed and operated flight Waiting on 2500 miles from hotel stay But here is the tricky part. The points are accumulated by steps. · 1 activity = 50 bonus miles · 2 activities = 250 bonus miles · 3 activities = 1,000 bonus miles · 4 activities = 2,500 bonus miles · 5 activities = 5,000 bo...

Let me explain hot pot in one sentence. Hot pot is a traditional meal with a group of people seating at a table equipped with a bowl of boiling soup. I started my hot pot UYE since last Winter Olympic Games. It's not difficult to prepare. But it can be humbug to shop and expensive to make it at home. Thanks to 75 BBQ & Hot Pot Buffet in Houston Chinatown. They made it easier for people like you and me to indulge a feast without costing a fortune. When you arrive at my  Year of the Dog UYE @ 75+85 ChinatownCrawl Sequel , let me find your table. Tell wait staff what you would like to drink and proceed to the buffet line. If this is your first time to this restaurant, be sure to watch the videos on the items at the buffet line  https://youtu.be/WGZkyPlZSgo and  sauce bar   https://youtu.be/sI0koJDkMuk . Sauce Bar It can be crowded when everyone is at the buffet line. You can start with a bowl to mix your dipping sauce at the sauce bar. There will be some...

I have my favorites in 2017. I divided them into different categories. Outside of Chinatown Favorite Asian Restaurant - Pho Hoa Noodle Soup & Jazen Tea Favorite Non-Asian Restaurant  - Gumbo Jeaux's  Northwest Favorite Grocery Store - Trader Joe's  Westchase Favorite Bakery - EatWell Bakery Cafe Inside of Chinatown Favorite Asian Restaurant - 75 BBQ & Hot Pot Buffet Favorite Non-Asian Restaurant - Tamales Dona Tere Favorite Grocery Store - Great Wall Supermarket Favorite Bakery - Olympics Chinese Bakery

2017 was a thrilling year for me. I spent a lot of time on taking better photos and sharing more with the communities. Not just Yelp, I also Google a lot.  Funky YES! Here is my status on Yelp : Completed 111 reviews in 2017 Updated 14 reviews in 2017 Uploaded total of 8025 media files (7549 photos & 476 videos) since the day I started Yelping, March 2011.   As of December 30th, I had 6 Baronies. Somehow, it's no longer visible in 2018 (Android). I could never broke my record of 300 reviews from 2016. Due to reviews disappearance, I've included a counter at the end of each review. I also saved the direct link to each published review with my archive. This process was extremely time consuming. I completed my 111 reviews in 2017. You can only see 110 reviews because 13th review was removed. Here is my story .  As of January 2, 2018, before I added more stuff. As for Google, I joined Local Guides sometime last year. I am currently Level...

To reply my Yelper friend's question from awhile back, "Why do I see some people on my feed but they are not my friends?" Answer: You marked to follow them. Doesn't matter if you are friends or not, anyone you follow will be showing on top of all feed, reviews and tips. It's good to follow someone on Yelp. It's completely anonymous until November 28, 2017. After that, any new follower will be visible ( updated per Yelp Blog 11/02/17 ). They don't know you are following them. Befriend with someone on Yelp will reveal each other's check-in messages. I don't see any harm to follow your friends. Except, the contents from people you follow will go to the top of everything. I like extremes. Porsche posted over 17k media. From what I know besides reviews, tips, photo post notifications, you'll receive notifications from your friends' interests in Events and posts on Talks on the feed. It's much easier to read them on the app because...

I've been an Elite Yelper for 6 years. I was curious with a constant popup from Google Maps app to join Local Guides. Here is a quick comparison with Google Local Guides and Yelp Elites. Lack of Connection - There is connections with Google Maps reviewers and the readers. If you are a Local Guide, there is LocalGuidesConnect.com to have some sort of conversation. Most of conversations are fillers - users wants to get badges. Lack of Social Interaction - Unlike Yelp, you can't follow a reviewer and read his/her reviews first. The reviews are sorted chronologically with ratings (non-verbiage review) on the bottom. It's meaningless to write a long review on a popular destination. I normally say a few words with dozen of photos. It knows you're here. Some biz don't have one. Content Quality - There's no standard with Local Guides.  Level 5 Local Guides - Unlike Yelp Elites, there is no prestige to be recognized. Anything over 500 points is Level 5....

Did you know my Chinatown Crawl UYE (Unofficial Yelp Event) made one year? It started with a trial last May during Asian Heritage Month Celebration . The response and popularity were increasing on Yelp and Facebook. Managing guests list has been a chore using Yelp Events. I am experimenting a new system by posting my meetup on more event sites like Google and invited Google Local Guides to attend. Extended my invitation to Local Guides The hardest part of hosting a popular meetup event is attendance headcount. It has always been above my original expectation. But by how much? Finding a suitable restaurant with enough seating is important. When my count of 18 guests at December's Night Market UYE grew to 22. Sherry at Yummy Kitchen was able to find solution at the last minute. Again at February's Hotpot UYE , 12 guests became 16. I had to rely on restaurant to accommodate expandable crowd. Speaking of accommodation, creating a good relationship to restaurant owner ...

Mike M has been hosting BOTM “Burger of the Month” UYE since last February. This was from a Talk thread when Rachel B returned from her ACRONYM meeting in 2015.  After a long gap in Houston, BOTM was born. First few months, they were hosted by Rachel B. Then, Belly G, Jamie A finally, Mike M. This mock up t-shirt was an idea to generate interest.  Here is a quick overview of his 12 successful BOTM's. The attendance has increased month after month. It has became a popular and well-known event in Houston. UYE Page in… Event Page February 2017 UYE: February Burger of the Month @ Rachels Cafe January 2017 UYE: January Burger of the Month@Stanton's City Bites December 2016 UYE: December BOTM @ Bernie's Burger Bus November 2016 UYE: November BOTM @ Killen's Burgers October 2016 UYE: Burger of the Month@Little Bigs September 2016 UYE: September Burge...

I was adding a biz to earn airline miles on my bookmark and found an eye-catching ad on the side. Find more stories of  #YelpCashBack on Twitter. Can search #YelpCashBack on iPhone Wow. Yelp Cash Back for real? According to Yelp Blog "Earn Rewards and Save at Local Businesses With Yelp Cash Back" , "you can earn money for frequenting the spots you love" and earn up to 10% back. Within minutes, Yelp texted me 7% back. Sign up is very easy. You need a credit card. And, you can link multiple credit cards. The service is provided by Empyr . The reward program works like earning airline miles. The system recognizes your credit card purchase. Whenever I eat at JB Asian Cafe , I receive a message to tell me how much I earned. While Yelp app has not developed a search function for "Cash Back", I saved some links for you and me to use while on the go: Houston Cash Back Sugar Land Cash Back Dallas Cash Back San Antonio Cash Back Austin Cash Bac...

As much as I love Yelping with my app, I have to slow down on checking in everywhere. Because check-in slows me down with my daily routine. First, I have to take time to pull out my phone. Second, the moment I turn it on, it started to use cell phone data. Third, I don't mind using phone data much but some apps start to synchronize to their servers (such as Google Maps app), which slowing me down. Moreover, I'd rather spend time enjoying life than getting distracted with the apps. I can live without technology when I really don't have the time. This was captured a year ago.  As you may have seen I claimed so many baronies before. At one time, I had 8. Now, I only want to focus on Baron of Chinatown. It's the neighborhood I know best and the area I explore often on my days off. I want to be the go-to person or the Local Guide in Chinatown. If Yelp offered an ambassador position in Houston, I would apply. Starting 2017, I have a few projects lined up to help ...

After I upgraded my Samsung Note 4 to Android version 6.0 - Marshmallow, I noticed significant change on Yelp app. Whenever I want to get direction on Yelp, the only choice is to get to Google Maps. It used to have more choices. (See the image on  Send to car with Yelp  from last year.) Once I get there, Google Maps took the opportunity to capture my interest. The app kept hinting me to upload a photo or answer a few questions, because it knows I was there before. Eventually, it lured me to become a Local Guide. It was nice to know half million views on 9 photos I posted years ago. Just to be fair, I don't post same photo on Google Maps and Yelp. Since I don't know who is reading the reviews on Google Map, I don't share much details like on Yelp. I never find reviews are useful on Google Maps. Besides, it should stay as a map app.

After weeks of searching and conversations, my passion for meeting Yelpers in SF Bay Area has diminished. I have reached out to CM in San Francisco, East Bay and South Bay. There isn't any UYE or OYE or YEE during my visit. That's okay. I'll find another way to meet Yelpers - go virtual. Thanks for a fellow Yelper John D of San Jose. I followed his specialty in poke - Hawaiian fish salad. I had no idea the concept of "California-style poke bowl" is in. No wonder we don't have any in Houston, unless someone come up with the idea of "Texas poke bowl". Ah, I don't think so. We may get away with Texas BBQ. Not sure we can get fresh ahi tuna and salmon in sashimi quality in Houston. My goal of one poke a day has met. This " Let's Catch some Poké, man! " was a note-to-self event. I was not intended to invite anyone to join me like an UYE, but I wanted to be able to share locations on the fly. My goal was to have a daily dose of r...

Here is a collection of all of my Time for Taiwan experiences in 2016. In order to appreciate Time for Taiwan Restaurant Month, I created events on Yelp in Houston and Dallas . I carefully edited out incorrect information and add what I know to post. Making it easier for Yelpers to simply click on the restaurant link and proceed to check-in or whatever they want. This is my 2nd year promoting Time for Taiwan on Yelp.  I didn't have enough time to recruit my Yelper friends to do the same in their cities. It's a very time consuming process and organizer made the announcement so late. They used last year's date to be the special promo day. It should be July 17, not July 11. There are so many restaurants in Houston, but not many serve Taiwanese food. Every weekend I visit one restaurant: 7/16 - Boba Lounge  - I tried Guaboa 割包 and Oden 關東煮. 7/23 -  Star Snow Ice & Teriyaki - I tried tofu soup 豆花 and braised pork over rice 滷肉飯. 7/29 -...

I would love to nominate Belly G as Yelper of the Year in Houston, if there is a place for it. We've been to Indonesia, Peru, Bosnia, Poland, Ethiopia & Belgium. This brilliant man with plenty of ideas started the World Travel UYE since January 2016. Every month, the world travelers went from one country to another trying different cuisines without leaving Houston. Check out the chart below for the places we've been to so far. Event Page Reviews 01/16/16 UYE: Around The World @ Rice Bowl II - Indonesia 02/06/16 UYE: Around The World @ La Guitarra Con Sazon - Peru 03/09/16 UYE: Around The World @ Cafe Pita - Bosnian 04/20/16 UYE: Around The World @ Polonia Restaurant - Poland 05/18/16 UYE: Around The World @ Lucy Restaurant - Ethiopia 06/15/16 UYE: Around The World @ Cafe Brussels - Belgium 07/21/16 UYE: Around The World @ Emporio Brazilian Cafe Stay tuned w...

Really? I want some Poké. The raw fish kine from Hawai'i, right? Please tell me this is real. After I checked in at Church's Chicken, I saw this question on local knowledge. I busted out laughing. Few days ago, I clicked on a Google Map link just out of my curiosity on this Pokémon Talk thread . Look, my map is filled with weird stuff every time I search on Google. This is absurd.  Give me a moment. I don't know what to say. I need to regain my composure first.

In a preparation for another Chinatown Crawl, I want to sort the business names in a manageable fashion. The following businesses are currently the occupants at Jusgo Plaza 百佳廣場 in Chinatown. Businesses at Jusgo Plaza Jusgo Plaza and Metropole Center are separated by a thin strip of cement. The roof tiles are similar. There isn't an official sign for Jusgo Plaza. Oh well. # Business Name Formerly 9288 Mandalay Dental 9284 Thanh Noi Sandwich Shop 9280 Jusgo Supermarket  百佳超市 9264 Lucky Dragon  新龍圖飯店 龍圖飯店 9262 Lai Lai Dumpling House  來來餃子館 9260 Xin Jiang BBQ  新疆燒烤 9258 Eastern Foot Massage  東方足浴 9256 Olympic Chinese Bakery  世運餅家 9252C Szechuan House  老成都 9252 Yang Win Gift Shop  珠成 9252A Star Snow Ice  明星冰谷 Clinic Related:  http:...

In a preparation for another Chinatown Crawl, I want to sort the business names in a manageable fashion. The following businesses are currently the occupants at Metropole Center 新都城商場 in Chinatown. As of June 1, 2016, these are the occupants at Metropole Center. I personally hate to read reviews at wrong businesses. Chinese characters are added for reviewer's conveniences. Last column shows formally known name from previous owner. # Current Business Formerly 9398 Chef Liu Restaurant 重慶餐館   new Ding Ding HK Tea House   德輝茶餐廳 9390 Central China Restaurant   滋味湖南 中央飯店 Tailor  洋裁 9388  King's Salon   黃志仁喜倫美容院 9384  Six Ping Bakery   六品西點麵包店 9380   Yuan Ten Restaurant   雲天燒臘麵家 9358   ANL Express   新干线快递 9356  Healing Foot   9354...