…and, what SXSW event would be compete without Robert Scoble (pictured, left). The man is everywhere!

So, I slithered into the conference center Saturday morning after an appalling breakfast at a Chowhound recommended spot. I won’t go into the gory details, but suffice it to say, avoid El Arroyo at all costs.

Went through the usual registration process, which was much shorter this year. It also felt alarmingly spacious this year, even with press reports of attendance numbers being much higher than in previous years. Almost immediately, I stumbled upon former co-worker/serial entrepreneur Jesse Thomas and his co-partner-in-crime Leslie Bradshaw. Together we explored the hall and made our way down to Screen Burn, which was twice the size as last year and much more interesting. They’ve added a competitive gaming “arena,” which looked akin to an American Gladiators set. Shortly after, bumped into Chris, the fifth party from yesterday’s fiasco and we struck up a short convo.

Ambled about for awhile, then spotted Tim Ferriss, who I consider a mad genius. Proposed my pared-down, snail’s-pace approach to his 4-Hour Workweek methodology, which he seemed to take with good measure. He offered that he was currently dealing with a “water obsession” that I didn’t get the full details on. Generally, he seemed like a cool guy, approachable and not ridiculously full of himself, like could be imagined.

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Well, we made it intact on the flight over from Dulles with the baby in tow. First time for that. We opted for the Baby Tylenol trick, which worked well on our usually fussy infant. On arrival, my mother and sister picked us up and we made our way to Pasadena. As I’m now a visitor to my own home town, it feels surreal coming home. Always something new to look at now. Much new construction around Staples Center. Residue from the housing boom, many new lofts and a new Nokia Theater. Wonder if it will be similar to the one in New York, where my friend Brian and I saw Antibalas a couple of years ago.

Once in Pasadena, more new construction abound. A gigantic, multistory Whole Foods on Arroyo Parkway, but otherwise same ol’ town. We settled in had a welcome dinner that night with old friends.

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Growing up in L.A., I was accustomed to good Mexican food. When I moved to DC, I was inspired by some initial posting on Chowhound, which is an excellent food and dining resource.

I’ve used it for every trip I’ve been on since 2000 and it’s rarely steered me wrong.

Try a search for say, lunch in Barcelona and one of the first posts brings up discussion about Cal Pep, Cinc Sentis, and Gaig – some of the best food imaginable in that fine city.

Though that is enough for some, my obsessive/compulsive desire to have the best and most authentic dining experiences goes beyond what most would consider rational.

I generally go back and forth between the major travel and foodie sites, news sites like the NY Times and even social networking sites like Del.icio.us. I’ll then proceed to build a medium to lengthy list of possibilities, which, over time, I whittle down, based on cross-referencing. I’ve built a small library of amazing spots in several major travel destinations.>

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