Five Minutes with Follow Me Foodie

My name is Mijune and I am the voice behind Follow Me Foodie. Follow Me Foodie is a food and travel blog/website. I started Follow Me Foodie in July 2009. I am based in Vancouver, but travel frequently for work.

What do you do as a food/travel blogger?
My business is hard to explain, but it involves an umbrella of different services. I do promotional/marketing campaigns with tourism companies, businesses, and other lifestyle industries. It really depends. I also write for hire and am involved in ambassador programs. My blog is where I share my stories of food and travel. It's used as an educational resource too so it's read by locals, tourists and industry professionals.  I also do public speaking on various topics from social media to personal branding, to restaurant recommendations and education, I also host event and private food tours occasionally by request.
How do you spend your day to day?
Wow! It really depends where I am. Every day is different especially if I'm traveling. On a typical day in Vancouver I'll be writing, answering e-mails, engaging with people on social media, trying restaurants or attending events. If I'm traveling I'll most likely be dining out. I also like to read and research a lot (about food and place).
What was your latest project and what’s upcoming?
I just got home from a 2 week trip in Italy to celebrate Rustichella Pasta's 90th birthday in Abruzzo, and to attend their PrimoGrano pasta competition to support Vancouver chef Alex Tung. My next trip will be Omnivore Festival in Montreal where I'll be meeting young and upcoming chefs who are inspiring ideas and leading food movements. 

What’s your favorite part about your job?
It has to be the learning aspect. Of course getting to eat and travel is AMAZING and I'm very grateful to never be hungry and to be able to see so many places, but meeting people and learning about things is invaluable. I've learned so much about food, culture, place, myself, and just life in general. 

Are you an amazing cook? What do you like to cook? Are you known for something?
Ha! I'm not sure if I'm an "amazing cook", but I love to cook and cook for others. I don't have as much time anymore, but when I cook I like to entertain for about 4-6 people and go all out. I rarely repeat a recipe or follow one and kind of go with the flow. I like being creative in the kitchen, although it's important to be able to follow a recipe and learn from it. 
I love the “shit foodie’s say” video because I do exactly all those things as someone who loves food styling and eating. What happened after the video caught so much attention?
The video was so much fun! It ended up going on the front page of the entertainment section in a major newspaper in Vancouver, The Vancouver Sun. It also spread international all the way to Australia which was unexpected. With internet nowadays it's so easy for things to go viral, but it still has to be good content. I'm not sure if my video was good content, but I think it made people laugh which is good enough for me!
How does living where you are help with your job?
I'm very lucky to live in Vancouver, BC. We have the water and the mountains so we get incredible produce from our backyard. It rains a lot which I actually don't like, but in return we get a bountiful harvest. We have a great farm to table scene and it's multi-cultural and diverse, so I get to try some of everything. We have some incredible chefs and restaurants and they inspire my work... without them, I have nothing.
What's your big dream in life?
Every day has been a dream. I have to pinch myself sometimes and be grateful for the moment I'm living in. Of course I have bigger dreams and future goals, but I try and live in the moment because it could all disappear tomorrow. In the last few years I've been able to dream new dreams, and that in itself is enough of a gift. Can't wait for the future, but living in the present. 

Favorite travel spot.
Ohhh too hard! It really depends! Every city and country has something to offer and I leave no place unvisited if I have the opportunity to visit. It doesn't matter how big or small the food scene is... as long as there are people or any sort of life (be it in animals and plants etc etc), there are ideas and things to learn. 
Worst foods you’ve ever tried.
I try things until I like them, so I hate saying something is "gross" or "bad" (presuming it's edible and cooked correctly). I didn't enjoy tarantula or sheep's penis in China... that being said, I'll try it again. I'm open minded about food and they eat these things in other cultures, so I don't want to judge. 

What kind of food feels like home?
Mom's cooking. Mom cooks with her heart. A lot of the time it's nothing really traditional. She's an artist so she gets creative in the kitchen! 

What are some challenges you’ve encountered? 
I'm still encountering challenges and my career is full of them. It's not easy being a full time food and travel blogger, let alone getting any respect as a "blogger" or "foodie". I still have challenges everyday and I've had to learn to be patient, persistent, and positive. The challenges are good because I learn from them... they can be super frustrating as well, but what job isn't? When you love something so much, it's going to break your heart. I'm happy to love what I do. 
How do you look for new restaurants, recipes etc?
I meet a lot of people and research a lot. I ask a lot of questions too and one thing leads to another... before I know it, I have a bucket list of 50 new restaurants and recipes to visit and try. 

For someone wants to blog or become a foodie, what advice would you offer?
Just start. I have no advice because it's an industry where everyone finds their own way. It's really your personal voice and a way of sharing it. My advice is just to start... start and let everything else figure itself out. It has to start from an honest passion.
How long did you blog for until you got a loyal fan base?
Hmm I'm not sure... at some point we all started with one follower. I prefer to call it a social network base or "friend base" rather than "fan base" though. It's not about numbers for me. I just want people to share this passion with me and if I can get people inspired, that's fantastic! I want to engage with everyone!

What would you say is the next upcoming food trend? 
Hmm I'm not keen on using the word "food trend" because everything has been done before. Just like fashion, "food trends" recycle themselves. We remember old ideas and repackage them. 
You might like to check out these posts:
However, if I have to name a few places getting more attention, I'd say all eyes on Peru. Peru's food scene has been bubbling in the last couple years and I can see it getting more popular in the North American market. 

Follow Mijune's foodie adventures here!

Black and White

Love this jacket from Nasty Gal and I can't wait to wear it out! I love that the sleeves are sheer, which is perfect for the breezy nights here in LA. The front has just the right amount of shimmer. Not too flashy, not too fancy. Gives it the right amount of feminine touch in photos :)
I had a lot of fun at this photo shoot. Turned out to be one of the more productive ones, and ended up getting a lot more content than anticipated! I absolutely loved working with this group of creatives! It was the first time we all directly worked with each other and we turned out to be a great team! The photographer, hair and makeup artist, stylist were all on point! Check out their websites below! They're amazing, talented and hardworking artists to work with just in case you are looking to hire. :)

I bet you can't guess how many pins are in my hair!

jacket: nasty gal (hurry its on sale!)
tank: forever 21
jeans: zara
sunnies: boyfriend's closet
photographer: erich chen
hair/makeup artist: sarah park
stylist: ryan feng

The Loft

It's been a super busy summer - out and about meeting new friends, reuniting with old, working with new artists, celebrating birthdays, changing hair styles, moving apts... and the list goes on! All in all, I'm very excited where this crazy adventure is leading me towards and I'm so thankful to be surrounded by supportive and optimistic friends who keep me going! :)
Anyway, we snuck in a quick fashion shoot before we moved all of our furniture in. Lovin' this jacket from Anthropologie. Very light-weight, and perfect for the summer/fall, and the print is very different from what I have in my closet. And these jeans? Dude... everyone needs a pair of these jeans.. super comfy and stretchy. If you're like me and you like sitting cross-legged at your desk, then these pants are for you!

jacket: anthropologie
jeans: madewell (hurry they're on sale!)
shoes: urban outfitters
white tee: madewell

Deviled Eggs

I LOVE deviled eggs, and it's hard to find in restaurants! My favorite ones I've found so far are from Public School. They add a piece of crunchy prosciutto which makes it BOMB! Over the weekend, we decided to try them out so we can serve them at our next party. They turned out amazing! We tend to like it a little bit more mustard-y and pepper-y. If you prefer less, feel free to not put 2 tablespoons instead of 3! Enjoy!

what you need
12 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

what to do
boil the eggs and peel the shells
slice the eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolks into a mixing bowl.
Using a fork, mash the yolks and add mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper and paprika
mix until smooth
fill each egg white half with yolk mixture (you can be fancy and squeeze the yolk mixture through an icing bag & tip)
garnish with paprika and pepper

five minutes with _csma

Crazy how small this world is… A co-worker of mine introduced me to @_csma’s instagram profile because he really liked her photos. I started following her and became a fan of her work. Just from her Instagram, I could tell that we had a lot in common. She posted a lot of photos of food, interior design, chairs, and landscape - all the things that I love! She chose restaurant and places that I’ve been to or have been dying to try. She was definitely someone I wanted to meet. So I decided to message her and see if she wanted to get brunch! Of course we later found out how many mutual friends of friends we had, and that we ALMOST went to the same birthday party a week ago. 

I wanted to share some of her amazing photos with you guys, so here's five minutes with Christie aka _csma! 
My name is Christie, I’m born and raised in Orange County and I’m currently an Ophthalmic Technician. I work for an ophthalmologist, who is an eye doctor and surgeon. Most of my job consists of scheduling, checking patients in, vision checks, images of the back of the eye, and assist with surgeries. Probably the weirdest thing I do is putting drops into people’s eyes, especially if they’re really squeamish about it. You learn a few tricks – like I would say “OK all done!” and the minute they open their eyes, I squeeze it! I actually studied business accounting in college, which has nothing to do with what I do now. My friend actually got this job for me and I knew nothing about it.

What do you like doing outside of work?
My favorite hobby is reading. I will read anything and everything, but I particularly love dystopian novels. I also love travelling but mostly it’s local. I was really lucky that my parents thought it was really important to take us travelling at an early age. They thought that if we travelled more, we’d see more, learn more and be more receptive to other ways of doing things. They really wanted us to see that not everyone lives the same. The next trip we’re trying to plan right now is to China and Hong Kong. 

In terms of local spots, I really love Abbot Kinney. My friends are all sick of me asking them to go there ha-ha. I love the shops and food out there. I love Victoria beach near Laguna, Thousands Steps Beach, have you been? If there’s a low tide, there’s a big cave that we can walk into.
You  were an Instagram suggested user! What was that like?
I got home from work and was checking Instagram as usual and saw there was a direct message from Instagram. I thought that it was just a mass message that was informative. When I opened it and it said congratulations you’re a suggested user, I thought someone was pranking me. But after awhile, when a lot of people started following me,  and liking all my photos, I was like.. Oh!! I AM a suggested user! It was pretty interesting seeing it blow up like that. My immediate feeling was panic because now it matters what I post. You get the pressure to post better photos but it pushed me to care a little bit more and taking more time to edit the photos.

How big was the jump?
It went from around 4000 followers to 34,000 from just two weeks. They sent me a book for being a suggested user and it was really cool! It’s a book that my friend was actually featured on. It has the history of Instagram, where the common tags came from and who started it. #puddlegram, #throughthefence.. a couple that I haven’t heard of.
Do you have a background in photography?
I’ve taken some classes. I took a film photography class once which was really fun. What was more fun for me was the actual developing of the photos. Being in a dark room, projecting that image, testing light strips and adding filters to add more contrast. Trial and error and manual editing if you will. It’s a lot of fun going through the whole process. I want to get back into it but it’s hard to find a dark room. I don’t want to bring it to CVS and develop it, I want to do it myself. The iPhone camera got so good, I don’t use other SLRs anymore. Back when I had a blog, I used my Sony NEX a lot more. I’m thinking to start blogging again so I can use the camera more!
How do you choose your locations to shoot for your Instagram?
I like to follow a lot of local instagrammers, which is probably the fastest way I come across new places. If it’s a cute shop, the architecture looks interesting, the food looks good, I’ll grab my friends to go check these places out. A lot of times is my friend who wants to check out new places. My other friend likes to go hiking so we’ll go with her. If my instagram is too dark, I’ll go choose places are more light and airy to balance it out. I tend to like white and lighter photos.
What iPhone photo app(s) do you use and would you recommend it?
The first one I use is VSCOcam which everyone uses. I love VSCOCam – all my photos are processed through there. I also use Snapseed. You have greater control over your images or areas that you want to change or edit.
What are some tips you’d give to people who want to take awesome Insta photos?
Lots of natural light. Make sure your lines are parallel or perpendicular. In photography, you learn the rule of three, so if you drew a tic tac toe grid, and put the subject where the points intercept, it makes a better photo. It’s not always the case but it does help. My biggest trick is caring about how the entire instagram looks when someone clicks into it. The easiest way is to map that out is reflecting my VSCOgrid to look like my instagram so I can see what it’ll look like before I post it.
Follow her adventures here!!