Your City, Your Passion!
A couple of weeks ago I made a rather cryptic comment about a secret mission involving Eat Rio, communication and Indonesia. Well today I can finally reveal all!
Some months back, I was approached by someone from the Skype company who asked if I’d be interested in getting involved in a project they were working on. The title of the project was “Your City, Your Passion” and you might not be surprised to hear that I was a little cynical at first. There is a lot of talk about ‘passion’ nowadays: just skim through Twitter and you will find countless people who are “passionate about getting you the best deal on home insurance” or they’ll shout joyfully that “Shower curtain rings are our passion!”.
However, Skype’s proposal was irresistible: spend a day wandering around Rio, showcasing the best and most interesting food the city has to offer. Hmmm, ‘Rio’ and ‘food’ – I am (reluctantly) forced to admit that I am passionate about both of these subjects.
This is Jie! As I showed him Rio, he showed me Surabaya.
My partner for the day was Jie, a food blogger from the city of Surabaya on the Indonesian island of East Java. Here’s where Skype came in – they arranged for Jie and me to ‘meet up’ for the day over Skype on our mobile phones. Using the wonders of modern mobile technology we chatted, swapped photos and videos and compared the culinary highlights of our cities.
So, how did it go?
It was a great day out! I learned a lot about Indonesian food culture and got to show off some of my favourite places in Rio. Skype have put a storyboard of our day on their website: Skype Passion Project.
They also have a competition: upload a photo of yourself enjoying your passion and if you’re selected, Skype will hook you up with a megastar guru who will help you take your passion to “a whole new level of awesome” (their words…).
In case you were wondering, this wasn’t a paid gig, but Skype very kindly picked up my not inconsiderable food and drink bill (what can I say, I am passionate about food and drink!).
Ah, that was cool. I especially liked the look of that gravy Jie was pouring over his steak.
I have been to Indonesia. It is a wonderful country. You should go Tom. And if so perhaps give this place special attention http://www.thewrongwayhome.com/falling-in-love-with-ubud/ . I know it sounds corny but just reminiscing as I write this has made my day. God bless Indonesia.
Wow, it sounds really nice. And I’m about ready for a holiday…
Hey Tom, feel free to extend your Melbourne trip! Indonesia is our next door neighbour and is lovely…and big…and very varied. I’d be interested to hear how you managed to coordinate with Jie, given the different time zones. It must have been a long day mixing b”fast with dinner?
Ah, I’d love to take a couple of extra weeks to explore a bit of Indonesia! If only my holiday allowance could stretch to it.
You’re right, it was rather a long day – I had to get up early and I think Jie stayed up til around 00:30! Have you tried that Es Puter ice-cream stuff? Sounds really nice.