Whatever you choose there is something near Cal State Fullerton to relieve you from hunger and boost up your energy when it is needed the most!

The Daily Titan came with the Fullerton Guide which shows all the nearby restaurants and quick fast foods options at any given time! Go and check it out!

Here are my favorite #CSUF Picks:

Best Burger: The Habit

If you are in need of a good lunch and a GREAT burger without driving go to the newly opened burger joint at The Habit!  I have really enjoyed eating here at the Habit in front of Mihaylo Hall not only because they have a great burger but it is a great place to feel a bit more relaxed compared to other locations near campus. My favorite pick here is the Charburger with Cheese and some peppers!

Best Dessert: Yogurtland

Whenever I am craving some sweets I can always go walking to Yogurtland on State College and Chapman. I always like to try new flavors and get a bit of everything from the machines!

Best Restaurant:Cantina Lounge

Do you want to impress that girl or guy sitting across the lecture hall? Invite them to Cantina Lounge! They have really great Mexican Food and the ambiance is great! After dinner, Cantina Lounge clears the floor for an amazing clubbing experience!

Convenience Choice: The Empori-YUM

Want to grab something on the go? The Emporium is my choice to grab a quick drink or snack. Since I am at the TSU a lot it is always near and fast to grab food towards my next class.

These are only a few of my favorite places at CSUF, what places do you recommend near CSUF? What to avoid?

Submit your comments!

[Graphic Obtained from CSUF Image Gallery]

The #OCFair Is Here!

I love living  in Southern California! We have one of the best climates and SUMMER isn’t complete with the arrival of the Orange County Fair! Year after year the Orange County Fair gets better and better! This year they have amped their speakers with the theme of “The Beat Goes On” emphasizing their continuing support of the Fair Grounds and a great concert series including top performers such as Train, Adam Lambert, and John Legend.

What I love about going to the fair is that it brings a whole community out in unity on a hot summer day. I love seeing kids having fun outside their homes [instead of being indoors playing video games] and compete against each other in a series of carnival games. The Orange County Fair is one of the highlights of what Orange County is all about.

There’s all kinds of amazing things in the OC Fair this year for the entire family! If you are an action sports fanatic then the X-treme Freestyle Moto-X is something to look for. If you love watching ART there will be several art exhibits from paintings to the culinary and the art of Carving Ice! [ that sounds cool! ] For the little young children, they can go close and personal and see live animals for the first time and pet them especially the cute little piglets! [watch their own Live CAM here!] True Farmville players can show off their skill and compete for the best harvest in Orange County. For the hardcore, the fastest trending sport of Mixed Martial Arts will make its appearance at this  years OC Fair and you can also catch up with some Mexican Lucha Libre.

For us on a low budget there is a great opportunity of getting admission FREE on Wednesdays! Check the site for more information! All active military with ID get in for free as well!

What are your favorite moments of this year’s OC Fair? Come back and Share it with us! Don’t forget to Like then on Facebook and on Twitter @OCFair !

Just FYI!

If you plan to go to the OC Fair, arrive there EARLY! Some of the @VitaminOC staff [including myself] and friends tried to make it to the Free Admission hour on Friday and couldn’t make it because of the traffic!

Watch this Promo Video for the OC Fair!

Video Courtesy: YouTube

What is the Tour of OC?

Today, June 30, 2010, Long Boards Ice cream is launching a social location challenge called the Tour of OC using location sharing service Gowalla and 20 spots around Orange County. To participate in the tour, all you need is a mobile phone (preferably a smartphone such as an iPhone, Blackberry, Android, or webOS) and the will to go out and check out those spots. Some of the spots you can check into on this trip are the Orange County Register, Angels Stadium, Huntington Beach Pier, and the Wedge in Newport Beach. Many of these spots are famous Orange County landmarks, some cool shops, and popular restaurants.

Once you check in to all 20 spots, you’re eligible to win some awesome prizes and can go to the awards part that they’re hosting in August! (check out their site for more information!)

About Gowalla

Gowalla is a social geolocation app for mobile devices that allows you to “check-in” to physical locations or events. You can share what you’re doing, trade items, and find new places. You can get Gowalla for FREE for your iPhone, Blackberry, Android phone, or Palm Pre/Pixi by going to their respective application catalogs/stores. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can still participate by going to m.gowalla.com in your mobile browser (data rates do apply!).

To check-in, all you do is make sure you’re near or at the location you would like to check-in to, select it from the menu, and check-in! I really don’t have any other way of explaining it.

I’m going to be participating in this because I’d definitely like to check out some of these places – many of which I haven’t been to yet. I hope you do too! If you’re going to be going on this trip – leave a comment or tweet us. Maybe we’ll bump into each other at one of the spots or hopefully the party!

Check out http://tourofoc.com for more information about Longboards, prizes, and about the Tour!

The only place I know of now of where to find these Australian biscuits year round is the food section at Cost Plus World Market where they come in at $3.99 USD about $1.50 USD more than the Aussie price. I guess that’s the price I gotta pay for having it imported. Oddly, the TimTams at World Market don’t actually have the name TimTams on the bag. They’re simply labeled as Arnott’s, which is the brand that makes them in Australia. I’ve also heard/read that Target stores carry TimTams under the Pepperidge Farm brand, but only during certain months of the year.

My question is does anyone  know where to get them year-round and on the cheap? Tell me in the comments or @patricktomas/@vitaminOC me on twitter so I can start doing more TimTam slams!

photo by Andrew* on flickr

But guess what! Many other people got the curling bug just like I did and started calling ice rinks about the sport and now we can play it in Orange County!

For the newbies to curling, which I would expect it to be most of us, Anaheim Ice and Westminster Ice are holding “Learn to Curl” classes on Tuesdays from 9-11PM. As of now, the classes will be going on until April 20. Check the Anaheim Ice and Westminster Ice websites for details.

And for the experienced curlers in Orange County (are there any?) there is an Orange County Curling League! League playing already began last week but I’m pretty sure it’d be fun to watch too. Check the OC Curling website for more details on that.

If you don’t know how Curling works, don’t worry. It confused me in the beginning too. Here’s a quick infographic on how curling works (via GOOD.is, click for full view)

http://occurling.com

http://the-rinks.com

Photo Credit: LeeLeFever on Flickr

I can’t believe it has already been a year since I first wrote about the Orange County Restaurant Week, but now we are already half way into this year’s awesome celebration of FOOD!

You only have until this Saturday, March 6 to check out the many hot restaurants in Orange County participating in this restaurant week. Enjoy awesome prix fixe lunch and dinner menus served at over a hundred restaurants, and at special prices.

I shared my list of restaurants I planned to eat at last year, so here are my choices for this year!

AnQi at South Coast Plaza – http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/AnQi.html – I actually visited this place for lunch yesterday with my friend Debbie from @TravelCostaMesa. She wrote a great review on Travel Costa Mesa’s Blog

Quattro Cafe at South Coast Plaza – http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/Quattro_Cafe.html – Reservations for tonight! Looking forward to the chocolate cake.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Anaheim – http://www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com/Ruths_Chris_Anaheim.html – Reservations already made for Saturday night!

If you’re a food lover like me, then you probably don’t need an excuse to go to a restaurant. On the other hand, I often frequent my same favorite restaurants all the time. So this is your chance to explore and be adventurous. Get out there and EAT!

It’s refreshing and great exercise. And if you’re like me, you get lost in your own thoughts whenever you go for a walk, but where is there to go?

Are there any parks nearby? Bars and restaurants to hang out with the friends? Or how about a nearby grocery store?

I love the idea of living an in urban environment where everything is walking distance, and anything not is easily accessible through public transportation. Unfortunately, living in Southern California, this lifestyle is almost non-existent, especially living in Orange County. There are very few people I know that do not own a car. We live in a car-dependent society.

On WalkScore.com, you can score your neighborhood on how walkable or car-dependent it is, based on the surrounding amenities within walking distance. I live in Anaheim’s [hopefully] up-and-coming Platinum Triangle. My walk score? 72. Supposedly “very walkable”. Not bad, but not great either.

However, wouldn’t it be great if we could increase the walk score for Orange County? Think about it. We’d get more exercise, contribute less to car pollution, and create more foot traffic for local businesses. Further, wouldn’t it be just a cool place to live?

Tell us, what’s your walk score?

[Image taken from walkscore.com]

After exiting the 91-motorway,  you can find yourself in a quaint little courtyard at the Villa del Sol center where a most unusual shop can be found.  Specializing in goods from the land of the Beatles,  Harry Potter, and James Bond, the British Grocer in Downtown Fullerton stocks it’s shelves full of British sweets and necessities.

Upon entering the shop, you’re greeted by shelves of sweets, tea sets, and the owner of the store, an old British lady whose voice made me smile and think of the memories of when I was in England. Seeing all of the different sweets and crisps (candy and chips for you Yanks) instantly brightened my eyes – I could see everything from crackers, curries, assortments of teas, and something  that I’ve always heard of and wanted to try – Marmite.

Jackie and I were instantly intrigued by the variety of items in the store and decided to buy some to try them out.

The first thing the Jackie and I tried were the Aero chocolate bars because they were the most familiar thing to us since they are made by Nestle. We each bought separate flavors: chocolate and mint.

So the thing about Aero bars is that they aren’t just regular chocolate bars. As the “aero” name kinda suggests, there are little air bubbles in the center which provides an interesting texture when bitten into or left to just sit in your mouth to melt. They are also seven pieces inside so you can share it easily with friends or just snap off and save the rest for later.

The mint Aero bar was the first one we tried. After I bit into it, I could taste the mint flavor. I felt  it wasn’t very minty and wished it had more.  Jackie was satisfied with it’s “mintiness” though.

The chocolate Aero bar was the one we both preferred. It felt like biting and chewing a chocolate cake. We both liked the texture as it felt a bit smoother than the mint bar.

The next thing we tried were “Tayto” crisps or chips for us in the US. We only bought one bag, but the lady working there gave us another bag for free! How nice :)

We got the Cheese and Onion flavor which kind of tasted like Lay’s Sour Cream and Onion flavored potato chips. Odd, I know, but that’s what we thought it tasted like. The crisps also had a different crunch to it’s American cousins. I can’t really describe it well, but when we bit into it and chewed it, we could feel a different texture.

Next thing we tried were “Revels,” which are chocolate covered candies. I can say that these little candies were FUN to eat! Since they are chocolate covered, you can’t tell which flavor you got until you bite into it. Flavors range from coffee and orange flavors, chocolate, toffee, or a raisin.

This was probably one of our favorite things that we bought and we really enjoyed eating it. How many other candies still give you a smile and an adventure when you eat them? Jackie and I would definitely get it again the next time we go there.

Next up was just called “Penguin.” We think. On the wrapper, it’s slogan was “Pppick up a Penguin.” And we certainly did pppick one up. It had a penguin themed joke on the wrapper as well, a la Laffy Taffy. OK, so who is a penguin’s favorite aunt? Get it yet? No? AUNTARCTICA! HAHA.

Jokes aside, it was just a chocolate cookie and tasted pretty much just like a regular cookie. Nothing really special about it. Both Jackie and I thought it didn’t have much of a chocolate flavor either.

The next thing we *tried* eating was candy called Sherbet Fountain. I say try because we had absolute no idea what to do with it. All it was was a paper tube with powder and a stick in it. The wrapper had no directions what so ever and after a few minutes we gave up and tried the next thing.

I got home, did some research and found out more about this candy. So it was a powdered candy – sherbet, and the stick was licorice. What you’re supposed to do with it was pull out the licorice stick, lick it, dip it in the sherbet powder, then lick it again – just like Fun Dip. It tasted OK trying to eating it that way as it gave a taste of licorice and the sherbet.

After a while, I got tired of dipping it in I simply just ate the licorice stick (which I didn’t like much because I don’t like licorice…ha!) and started eating the sherbet powder like a Pixie Stick. What really surprised me was that the powder foamed up in my mouth! What a surprise!

The next thing we tried was the Coffee Crisp, which is NOT British! It was pointed out to me on a flickr comment that Coffee Crisp is Canadian, and it sure is. Oh well. That doesn’t stop us from eating and reviewing it! (particularly since we already did. bwahaha)

The Coffee Crisp candy was simply were wafers with chocolate and coffee flavored layers, all covered in chocolate. It didn’t blow my mind, nor impress me much because both Jackie and I wished it had more of a Coffee flavor. We just couldn’t taste enough coffee to satisfy our tastes.

The last thing we tried was the Marmite. It’s the little jar with the yellow top and the label that says MARMITE on the lower right hand side of the picture.

When we were buying it, the lady in the shop asked us if we’ve ever tried Marmite (or Ma-mite as she pronounced it). I said no and she went on to explain how to eat it without throwing up. She said to put it on buttered toast ever so thinly, otherwise we won’t ever try it again.

She was right when she said that. We tried it a little bit and were met with a big savory flavor that definitely was not meant to be eaten alone. Marmite is yeast extract and is high in vitamin-B. It has a very strong and savory flavor (umami) – similar to soy sauce.

When I went home and tried it on toast with butter I loved it! I loved the saltiness and almost meaty flavor that it gives. I would recommend this to people if you like salty or savory food. The jar lasts a very long time, and it’s totally different from other foods we have here. Because it’s different, I can’t guarantee that you’ll like it though haha!

The British Grocer is an Orange County gem since it’s probably one of the few places if not the only where you can get some of these items. I don’t know of any other British importers yet so this would be my one stop for Marmite runs. I had a great experience going to the store, looking around, and then buying some things I was interested in. If you’re looking for things from Britain or just want to try new things, I’d definitely recommend you go and shop at the British Grocer!

I’m going to watch Top Gear and Dr. Who while eating some crisps and McVities. Oh how I love the Brits.

http://thebritishgrocer.com/

Check out the Gallery or click the pics above for full size views!

Villa del Sol Photo credit:Linda Hartman on Flickr

Sherbet Fountain Photo Credit: Atomicshed on Flickr

Up next: FISH AND CHIPS!

The final words of his speech, “It is not about you.”

This post isn’t about the conference or my students, though. Rather, it’s about the people who have taken these words in order to better the lives of others. Every year, we take one day to celebrate and give thanks. For many, this means family, a huge meal, or maybe just a day off from work and school. But I want to recognize the ones who make the day about others.

We Give Thanks Foundation

Five years ago, Thanksgiving Day, I went out to volunteer in the parking lot of La Casa Garcia Restaurant in Anaheim to serve a Thanksgiving meal to those less fortunate. When I arrived, I was surprised not only at the number of families enjoying festivities, but I was surprised by large number of volunteers — so many that my help was not needed.

Frank Garcia, restaurant owner and founder of the We Give Thanks Foundation, has been serving families a free meal for Thanksgiving for over 20 years. The number of attendees has grown so large that the location has moved from the restaurant parking lot to the Honda Center and serves over 20,000 people with over 1,500 volunteers.

If you have more stories, people, or organizations that you want to acknowledge, regardless of being about Thanksgiving or not, please let me know, justin[at]vitaminoc[dot]com. I would love to add them to this post. Even though this Thursday is Thanksgiving, giving thanks and remembering that it is not always about ourselves should be something we remember every day.

It was super cold (at least for me, it was!) at the soccer fields in Cal State Fullerton, and the ROTC students were already warming up.

I met with Nick Siemsen and his girlfriend, Vanessa, who began putting together their weather balloon project.  Nick set his camera timer and cell phone GPS, and placed all components into a styrofoam box, while Vanessa filled the balloon with helium.  After connecting the balloon to the box, we all got excited for the moment of lift off!  Everything was set.

Nick released the balloon from his hands.  Then…

Nothing happened.  Unfortunately, the balloon didn’t have enough helium.  So, Nick and Vanessa made a quick stop at a helium store off of Orangethorpe and Raymond Ave.  About half an hour later, we were all back at the soccer fields.  They filled the balloon to double the size of what it had been earlier that morning.  And fortunately, it took off just as Nick had predicted.

We all watched for a couple of minutes until we could barely see it.  It seemed to be heading southeast, which is good news for O.C.!  If Nick’s projections are correct, it should be landing sometime after 1:00pm today.  Let us know if you think you see it in your area!

And if you find it, make sure to call Nick and Vanessa at (909) 538-6868 or (909) 861-0058, and they’ll give you some money as a reward.

Check back later as I’ll keep you updated with this project.

For the story behind this project, read Weather Balloon, Ready for Lift Off!

Inspired by the project, Nicholas Siemsen decided to take it upon himself to repeat the experiment.  Nick is a Financial Analyst who works right here in Fullerton at Raytheon; and the VitaminOC team sat down with him to find out more about his venture.

Just like project Icarus, Nick plans to launch a weather balloon into the sky with a camera and a cell phone that will track the balloon.  He estimates a total flight time of 5 hours,  3 hours going up, and once the balloon pops, it will take 2 hours coming down.  With the camera set to take a picture every five seconds, there is a lot of potential for some really amazing photos, which he admits was part of his motivation for taking on this project:

“I think is all springs from my fascination with photography.  …I was always interested in photography.  It’s one of my hobbies.”

Using the Project Icarus as a guideline, Nick said that he will be using most of the same materials.

• Sounding Balloon (350 grams) purchased from Kaymont
• Motorola i290 Prepaid Cellphone
• Canon A460 camera with CHDK

He was able to get some hookups on other material, such as foam (to build the unit) and helium (for the balloon) through some of his family and friends.  Although he is the head of this project, the few people helping him include his friend, girlfriend, and sister-in-law.

Nick told us that he doesn’t know where he will launch, but he favors the idea of doing so in a place like Downtown Fullerton or the beach so that he can get some photos of a popular and recognizable place.  Either way, he plans to put together a time-lapse video of all the pictures and share it with all of you!

Nick is very optimistic about his project and notes that his biggest concern is the recovery of the unit, saying that he hopes “it doesn’t fall on anything alive!”  And if all goes well, he told us that he plans to do several more.

Wherever the location might be the launch is set for Saturday, October 24th.  The VitaminOC team will try and get some pictures of it, and we will definitely keep you updated with his progress.

For details on Project Icarus, visit http://space.1337arts.com/

RVCA, an OC-based clothing brand, is having a sample sale at CSUF this Thursday and Friday with over 50% off clothing from 9am to 7pm at the Titan Shops at CSUF! Check the Facebook event page (FB event date is incorrect, postponed due to rain) for full details. RVCA offers a little more than expected of an action sports apparel brand and a lot more than I ever perceived about the brand. (did you see that video below?! hellooo, fashion!)

Erin Wasson x RVCA • Fall 09 Collection from RVCA on Vimeo

I anticipate shorter lines now that Kogi will be around the area 5 nights a week!  You can catch Kogi at different spots around OC from Tuesday to Saturday every week *cue the hallelujah music*!  Don’t forget to follow them on Twitter for schedule, location, and etc updates!  Rejoice, OC!  Kogi BBQ is finally here to STAY!  Woo hoo!  Here’s this week’s schedule:

TUESDAY

6PM-9PM@Fullerton – 2419 E. Orangethorpe Ave
10:30PM-Midnight@Tile Warehouse – 616 E. Ball Rd, Anaheim

WEDNESDAY

6PM-9PM@K-1 Anaheim – 1000 N. Edward Ct
10:30PM-Midnight@Prim Jewelers – 1736 E. Meats Ave, Orange

THURSDAY

6PM-9PM@Wheel Warehouse – 125 W. La Palma Ave, Anaheim
10:30PM-Midnight@Luigi’s – 801 S. State College Blvd, Anaheim

FRIDAY

6PM-9PM@KST OC Ramps – 1316 E. Wilshire Ave, Santa Ana
-Intermission-
10:30PM-1AM@KST OC Ramps – 1316 E. Wilshire Ave, Santa Ana

SATURDAY

6PM-9PM@Santa Ana Artwalk – 727 N. Poinsetta St, Santa Ana
10:30PM-Midnight@The Huddle – 741 Baker St, Costa Mesa

If you’ve been anywhere shopping during the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed the signs of another holiday drawing near.

No, not Christmas (although, there are people getting an early start)

It’s Halloween!

For all those CSUF students who love the thrill of being frightened by zombies, ghosts, and serial killers, we know a couple of local places you can check out this season.  Of course, nothing really beats the massive attraction that is Knott’s Scary Farm.  But maybe you want more personal attention from your zombie and desire a place with less people.

Inside the Brea Plaza Center (453 South Associated Road) is a new attraction called Sinister Pointe.

Sinister Pointe premiered last year as “The Official Saw Haunted Attraction” modeled after the “Saw” movie franchise.  It featured one maze that took visitors through “Jigsaw’s Workshop” that highlighted scenes from the first four films.  It was a big hit last year and now it’s creators are bringing us something new.

Sinister Pointe is showcasing TWO mazes.  The first one is called “Fear,” an interactive maze based on the Saw movies.  And the second one is “Silent Hill Haunted Attraction.”  Thats right, based on the really scary and creepy Silent Hill video game.  Producer Jeff Schiefelbein has a great track record for creating one-of-a-kind horror attractions.

They operate Thursdays thru Sundays 7pm to 10pm, and offer more days during the week of Halloween.  Tickets are $13 for one maze and $20 for both.  They also offer group discounts, but beware:  they’re probably going to split you up into groups of four once you enter the maze.  Check out the Sinister Pointe website for more details.

Also, premiering at The Anaheim Garden Walk is The Empty Grave.

From The Empty Grave website

The Empty Grave is a new haunted house currently open on Fridays and Saturdays 6:30pm to midnight, and Sundays 6:30pm to 10pm.  The attraction is based on a legend of a possessed groundskeeper haunting a cellar, where he died.  You can read the whole story here.

Filling 50,000 square feet on the second level of Anaheim Garden Walk, The Empty Grave shouldn’t disappoint!  Tickets are $13 or two for $20.  You can also buy a “Quick Death Pass” for $20, which gets you to the front of line.  You can also get a coupon from their website.

These are just a couple of adults-only haunted attractions.  Where do you go to get your scare-fix?

There’s this Tagalog phrase, “ISANG BAGSAK!” which you’ll hear a lot of the Filipino clubs shout in solidarity.  It means “One Fall”.  We’ve seen the Filipino-American community come together all across America to provide relief for the people affected by Typhoon Ondoy and everything that has followed after.  We’ve seen the whole YouTube community come together to raise money through uStream shows, benefit concerts pop up all over the place, people donate money for each of their Twitter followers, food/clothing drives – you name it, it’s happened over the past week!  But it hasn’t been enough, the Philippines is still hurting and still needs our help!  Please continue to support #HealPhilippines!

vitaminOC and HypnoticASIA will be at the “One Tribe Typhoon Ondoy Benefit Show” at  California State University, Fullerton today from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in Pavilion C of the Titan Student Union!  You can get in FREE by bring at LEAST a medium sized bag of donations which can include:

• blankets
• clothes
• shoes
• canned food
• hygiene necessities (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.)
• any items that will benefit those in need

Or by making a $5 donation.  The line-up is quite intense for an event that was put together in one week.  Major props to the hosts of the event, Tau Theta Pi, Gamma Chapter (CSUF) & CSUF’s Pilipino American Student Association (PASA Kaibigan)!

Here’s the line-up!

If you see us around, be sure to stop by and say hello! For the full details, visit the Facebook event page! Isang Bagsak!!!