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AAAI 2012 Symposia
AITopics
AAAI 2013 Spring Symposia
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence is pleased to present the AAAI 2013 Spring Symposium Series, to be held Monday through Wednesday, March 25–27. The titles of the eight symposia are as follows:
Analyzing Microtext
Creativity and (Early) Cognitive Development
Data Driven Wellness: From Self-Tracking to Behavior Change
Designing Intelligent Robots: Reintegrating AI II
Lifelong Machine Learning
Shikakeology: Designing Triggers for Behavior Change
Trust and Autonomous Systems
Weakly Supervised Learning from Multimedia
Microtext are short snippets of text found in many modes of communication: microblogs (such as, Twitter, Plurk), short message streams (SMS), chat (such as instant messaging, internet relay chat), and transcribed conversations (such as FBI hostage negotiations). Microtext often has the characteristics of informality, brevity, varied grammar, frequent misspellings (both accidental and purposeful), and usage of abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons. With more conversational forms of microtext such as multiparticipant chat, there are also entangled conversation threads. These characteristics create many difficulties for analyzing and understanding microtext, often causing traditional NLP techniques to fail.
Research on microtext is becoming increasingly necessary given the explosion of online microtext language. Yet, very few suitable tools have been developed for analyzing it. Also, there are few sufficiently large, publicly-available data sets (such as the Twitter corpus). Currently, most NLP tools are designed to deal with grammatical, properly spelled and punctuated language corpora. However, the reality is that a vast portion of online data does not conform to the canons of standard grammar and spelling.
This symposium will provide a multiday forum to bring together researchers from different communities who have an interest in analyzing microtext: artificial intelligence, machine learning, computational linguistics, information retrieval, linguistics, human-computer interaction, education, and the social sciences. It will provide enough time for the different communities to present their perspectives and methodologies, to learn one another's terminology and techniques, and to begin to form connections that will hopefully lead to fruitful collaborations. This symposium will include invited talks, paper presentations (oral and poster), panels, and discussions.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
Identification of message characteristics (for example, relevancy, centrality, repeatability, trustworthiness)
Creation of participant profile (for example, age, gender, expertise topics, emotional states, social roles)
Author attribution
Topic detection and monitoring
Topic to subtopic decomposition and topic stage evolution tracking and prediction
Thread summarization
Modeling of influence and attitude changes
Corpus creation
Language structure (for example, part of speech, dialogue acts, speech acts)
Eduard Hovy (Carnegie Mellon University), Vita Markman (Disney Interactive Media Group), Craig Martell (Naval Postgraduate School), David Uthus (National Research Council and Naval Research Laboratory)
For more information, please consult the supplemental symposium website.
Creativity and (Early) Cognitive Development: A Perspective from Artificial Creativity, Developmental AI and Robotics
Cross-domain general creativity is probably a uniquely human faculty. From a child who constructs a new toy using the old and broken ones, to the scientist who works out a theory and makes a profound impact on human civilization, the process invariably evokes the feelings of surprise, astonishment, and wonder. Though we understand what creativity is at an intuitive level, it has turned out to be quite difficult to define it formally and explore it scientifically.
Some researchers of creativity make a distinction between historical-creativity and psychological-creativity. H-creativity is a subset of P-creativity and is about exceptional, so far not-seen creative endeavor in particular society. P-creativity is about small creative deeds, probably new only to the individual performing them. We hypothesize that they share the same basic cognitive mechanisms. We further hypothesize that creative perception (in viewing an artifact) involves the same mechanisms that are responsible for generating creative artifacts. Moreover, these mechanisms can also be observed during cognitive development: a constant reconceptualization of one's understanding of their environment in the process of agent-environment interaction, maturation, and education. If this hypothesis is accepted, then it suggests that by exercising and stimulating creative perception, we can also strengthen the ability to generate creative ideas and artifacts in the individual.
The goal of this symposium is to explore this framework, and its implications for various aspects of creativity. The target audiences for this symposium are researchers from artificial creativity, developmental psychology, and developmental robotics.
H-creativity versus P-creativity: qualitative or quantitative distinction
Reasoning by analogy and creativity
Creativity research in early infancy
Analogy research in early infancy
Pretense play and creativity
Atypical cognitive development and creativity
Computational models of creative leaps
Computational models of creativity via analogy
The format of the symposium will include brief presentations (15–20 minutes maximum, followed by questions), poster sessions, and a panel discussion.
Cochairs
Georgi Stojanov
147, rue de Grenelle
gstojanov@aup.edu
Bipin Indurkhya
International Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (India)
AGH University of Science and Technology
al Mickiewicz 30, 30-059 Cracow, Poland
bipin@agh.edu.pl
Mohammad Majid al-Rifaie (University of London, UK, m.majid@gold.ac.uk), Matthew Schlesinger (SIU in Carbondale, Illinois, USA, matthews@siu.edu), Goran Trajkovski (Virginia International University, USA, goran.trajkovski@gmail.com)
Data Driven Wellness: From Self Tracking to Behavior Change
This symposium focuses on "data driven wellness" which derives behavior change from our daily life starting from self tracking of our health. For example, when we know our genome information (for example, a possibility of being diabetes) from our saliva (that is, self tracking), our mind changes to not eat high-calorie foods or to start running to keep or lose our weight (that is, behavior change). Such an important stream of improving our health is promoted owing to a lot of data of our health (that is, data driven wellness) acquired by current technologies (for example, calories calculation by smart phone), and these streams contribute to creating society or social activities on health improvement (for example, society or social activities that supports diabetes patients). Our symposium explores such AI technologies and discusses possible solutions for our wellness.
Self tracking technology: sleep monitoring, diet monitoring, vital data, diabetes monitoring, running/sport calorie monitoring, personal genome, personal medicine, new type of self tracking device, portable mobile tools
Behavior change analysis and platform: behavior change/activation, awareness, mindfulness, citizen science platform (quantified self, DIY trials), compassion, calming technology, health care communication, science discovery
Cognitive and biomedical modeling: brain science, physiological modeling, biomedical informatics, systems biology, network analysis, mathematical modeling
Data driven wellness and collective intelligence: data mining and knowledge modeling for wellness, collective intelligence/ knowledge, life log analysis, case studies, data visualization, human computation
Wellness service applications and field study: medical recommendation system, care support system for aged person, web service for personal wellness, games for health and happiness, life log applications, disease improvement experiment (for example, metabolic syndrome, diabetes), sleep improvement experiment
Invited speakers will include Koiti Hasida (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan), Chirag Patel (Stanford University, Japan), and Esther Dyson (23andMe, Inc., USA)
Takashi Kido (Riken Genesis Co. LTD, Japan) and Keiki Takadama (The University of Electro-Communications, Japan)
Designing Intelligent Robots: Reintegrating AI
The goal of building intelligent robots has been a motivating problem for generations of AI researchers, going back at least as far as Shakey the robot in 1966. Creating such a robot is both the fully realized expression of the original impulse behind AI and an immensely rich source of research questions that address real-world problems.
However, AI is a fragmented field: well-developed and largely independent research communities exist for learning, planning, reasoning, language, perception and control. Since the challenges posted by each of these subfields are immense, most researchers have found it necessary to devote their careers to specializing in a single subfield. While immense progress has been made in each of these subfields in the last few decades, it remains unclear how they can be integrated to produce an intelligent robot. Unifying these disparate technologies will open up new avenues of research and create new application opportunities. Therefore, we believe that integration should be considered a valid research endeavor in its own right.
This symposium aims to bring together a diverse and multidisciplinary group of researchers interested in the specific objective of designing intelligent robots. The first such symposium, held in 2012, resulted in many interesting discussions across subfields, and the current one aims to continue these interactions, thereby actively encouraging the integration of various AI techniques. We also hope to foster an active discussion about setting a realistic and feasible medium-term objective for integrative research so that progress can be made. The symposium will include invited talks as well as a poster session with ample time for discussion.
Byron Boots (Carnegie Mellon University), Nick Hawes (University of Birmingham), Todd Hester (University of Texas), George Konidaris (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Bhaskara Marthi (Willow Garage), Benjamin Rosman (University of Edinburgh), Lorenzo Riano (University of California, Berkeley)
Humans learn to solve increasingly complex tasks by continually building upon and refining knowledge over a lifetime of experience. This process of continual learning and transfer allows us to rapidly learn new tasks, often with very little training. Over time, it enables us to develop a wide variety of complex abilities across many domains.
Despite recent advances in transfer learning and representation discovery, lifelong machine learning remains a largely unsolved problem. Lifelong machine learning has the huge potential to enable versatile systems that are capable of learning a large variety of tasks and rapidly acquiring new abilities. These systems would benefit numerous applications, such as medical diagnosis, virtual personal assistants, autonomous robots, visual scene understanding, language translation, and many others.
Learning over a lifetime of experience involves a number of procedures that must be performed continually, including the following:
Discovering representations from raw sensory data that capture higher-level abstractions,
Transferring knowledge learned on previous tasks to improve learning on the current task,
Maintaining the repository of accumulated knowledge, and
Incorporating external guidance and feedback from humans or other agents.
Each of these procedures encompasses one or more subfields of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The primary goal of this symposium is to bring together practitioners in each of these areas and focus discussion on combining these lines of research toward lifelong machine learning.
The symposium will include paper presentations, talks, and discussions on a variety of topics related to lifelong learning, including but not limited to the following:
knowledge transfer: active transfer learning, multitask learning, cross-domain transfer, source knowledge selection, one-shot learning, and transfer over long sequences of tasks
continual learning: online multitask learning, knowledge maintenance, developmental learning, scalable transfer, task/concept drift, and selfselection of tasks
representation discovery: deep learning, latent representations, multimodal/multiview learning, and multiscale representations
incorporating guidance from external teachers: learning from demonstration, skill shaping, curriculum-based training, interactive learning, and agent-teacher communication
frameworks for lifelong learning: architectures, software frameworks, data sets, testbeds, and evaluation methodologies
applications of lifelong learning
Within these topics, the symposium will explore lifelong learning in difierent problem formats, including classification, regression, and sequential decision-making problems.
Eric Eaton, chair (Bryn Mawr College), Terran Lane (Google), Honglak Lee (University of Michigan), Michael Littman (Brown University), Fei Sha (University of Southern California), Thomas Walsh (University of Kansas)
How do you trigger learning by seeing? How do you encourage ecoconscious behaviors? How do you trigger health awareness? How do you encourage crime prevention?
Shikake is a Japanese word that represents embodied trigger for implicit or explicit behavior change to solve problems. The aim of this symposium is to gain a holistic understanding of Shikake, that is: Shikake principles, behavior change triggers, sustained behavior change, case studies, approaches to design simple and complex Shikake.
The merits of Shikakeological approach are summarized by four points; low expertise, low cost, wide range of target users, and long term continuous behavior changes. Developing a Shikake can be easier and less expensive than developing complicated engineering mechanism. These advantages allow people to use the Shikake approach to address immediate problems without requiring specific expertise.
Another Shikake objective is to induce spontaneous behavior. When people feel controlled or forced by someone or something to do something, they never do that again. On the other hand, if people desire and enjoy changing their behavior, they would do it repeatedly. Shikake aims to change behavior through a continuous engagement and transformation process.
The goal of Shikakeology is to codify the cause and effect of Shikake cases from physical or psychological points of view, and to establish a Shikake design methodology. To achieve this goal, this workshop invites Shikake studies to share the knowledge, methods, experiments and findings that demonstrate triggers that motivate people and lead to behavior changes.
We will have two keynote presentations, one panel discussion, and 25 oral presentations, all of which are related or contribute to the study of Shikake.
Naohiro Matsumura (Osaka University), Renate Fruchter (Stanford University)
Trust is a key issue in the development and implementation of autonomous systems working with humans. Humans must be able to trust the actions of the machines to want to work with them, and machines must develop or establish trust in the actions of human coworkers to ensure effective collaboration. There is also the issue of autonomous agents, robots and systems trusting one another and humans.
But trust can mean different things in different contexts. For flight control systems on airplanes, trust may mean meeting rigorous criteria regarding structural qualities of the airplane, flightworthiness, and a provably stable control system. In the context of humans interacting with humanoid robots, trust may more closely relate to the interdependence between the human and robot in correctly reading and interpreting each other's voice commands and gestures and observed actions, and the likelihood that both the robot and human will do what is expected of each other. In the context of an autonomous automobile carrying passengers, trust in the system may be the expectation that the system will respond correctly not only to foreseen road and traffic conditions, but also to unusual circumstances (for example, gridlock; alternative route planning; a child running into the street; running out of gas on the highway; an engine catching fire; hearing a fire engine or ambulance with siren blaring; or a flat tire causing the vehicle to swerve). Interdependent trust also includes system controllers and society. System controllers, human or machine, must be able to control at the individual, group and system levels; and society must be willing to entrust its citizens, including the elderly and young, to the system.
This symposium will explore the various meaning aspects and meanings of trust between humans and machines in various situational contexts, and the social dynamics of trust in teams or organizations composed of autonomous machines working together with humans. We will seek to identify and/or develop methods for engendering trust between humans and autonomous machines, to consider the static and dynamic aspects of trust, and to propose metrics for measuring trust.
Keynote speakers will include John Lee (University of Wisconsin) Missy Cummings (ONR/MIT), Joseph Lyons (AFOSR), Jeff Bradshaw (IHMC), Holly Yanco (UMass Lowell), and Ron Diftler (NASA/JSC Robonaut)
Don Sofge (Naval Research Laboratory; don.sofge@nrl.navy.mil), Geert-Jan Kruijff (German Research Center for AI (DFKI); gj@dfki.de), William F. Lawless, Paine College; wlawless@paine.edu)
What can computers learn about the real world from large quantities of audio-visual data, with minimal human supervision? While weakly supervised learning has been an active research topic in the natural language community, learning from large multimedia collections (and video in particular) is a field that is still in its infancy. Early efforts in this direction include learning models of objects and actions from internet video, humans in images and localizing sounds in audio.
Topics of interest for the symposium include the following:
Scaling weakly supervised learning to very large collections (for example, internet video)
Features and representations
Weakly supervised learning algorithms and connections to related topics, such as multiple instance learning and semisupervised learning
Learning in the presence of significant label noise
Value of "seeding" weakly supervised learning with small amounts of strongly supervised data
Datasets to enable direct comparison of approaches, including challenges in obtaining reliable groundtruth annotations
Transfer learning (for example, learning from video and testing in the image domain)
Weakly supervised approaches in robotics
Combining audio/visual content with text
Challenge problems in audio, image, video and multimodal domains
The symposium will consist of presentations from several invited speakers, presentations selected from position papers, an open poster session, and panel discussions about key issues (such as publicly available datasets). The sessions will be organized so as to provide ample opportunities for unstructured discussion.
Rahul Sukthankar (Google Research and Carnegie Mellon University, rahuls@cs.cmu.edu)
Omid Madani (Google, madani@google.com), James M. Rehg (Georgia Tech, rehg@cc.gatech.edu), Rahul Sukthankar (Google Research and Carnegie Mellon, rahuls@cs.cmu.edu)
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Home / Software & Gaming / Console / Square Enix won't release any next-gen only titles until "further down the road"
Square Enix won't release any next-gen only titles until "further down the road"
Mustafa Mahmoud February 26, 2020 Console, Featured Tech News, Software & Gaming
During Square Enix's 3Q FY2020 financial results briefing, the President and Representative Director, Yosuke Matsuda was asked about the company's next generation plans and how it was set to unfold. Matsuda confirmed that currently, Square Enix has no plans to release next-gen exclusive titles until some time "further down the road". The company also confirmed that the delay of Final Fantasy VII Remake would not affect the release dates of future entries.
During the briefing's Q&A session, Matsuda was asked "Could you share your thinking on the development of new titles for current- and next-generation game consoles going forward?" to which he responded "The next-generation consoles will have backward compatibility, so we plan for the time being to make our new titles available for both current and next-generation consoles. It will therefore be somewhat farther down the road that we release titles exclusively for the next-generation consoles."
This can be seen in both a positive and negative light. It means that for the foreseeable future at least, all Square Enix titles will be able to be played by as many people as possible, meaning for example that you won't have to purchase a PlayStation 5 in order to play the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake. On the flip side however, it also means that Square Enix titles won't be taking advantage of the new hardware, and though resolution and frame rates might be better on PS5 or Xbox Series X titles, the games will fundamentally play like a previous-gen title.
Speaking on future Final Fantasy VII Remake titles, one attendee asked whether "the change in you (sic) release date for 'FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE' [will] impact your development or launch timelines for the next installment?" as it was announced back in January that the game was to be delayed by a month. According to Matsuda, this will have no impact on the release dates of future titles, fortunately.
KitGuru says: What do you think of Square Enix's decision to not develop next-gen exclusive titles for a while? Is it a more consumer-friendly move, or do you think they are stifling their own creativity and potential? Will you be picking up a next-gen console on launch day? Let us know down below.
Tags final fantasy Final Fantasy VII Financial briefing news PS5 Square Enix Xbox Series X
Previous Xbox Games with Gold titles announced for March
Next Cooler Master 2020 Headsets: MH630 vs MH650 vs MH670 Review

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Tag: dessert
La Piquette
After years of not being overly interested by French cuisine, we have been on a French kick lately. In fact, it's a safe bet to expect more reviews of French restaurants over the next few months. We started things off with brunch with friends Brenna and Kyle at La Piquette, in DC's Cathedral Heights neighborhood.
We usually are hesitant to write a full review based on brunch-alone, mainly because the brunch menus at restaurants tend to be unrepresentative of the dinner menus. But the good thing about La Piquette is that the brunch, lunch and dinner menus are all very similar.
At La Piquette's brunch, you have the option of ordering 3 course for $30—a really good deal. But it also seemed like a lot of food, so all four of us opted to order a la carte. My steak tartare was very finely minced, bound by egg yolk and shot through with copious amounts of horseradish. It was served a bit colder than I would like, however. It was a little like serving wine too cold – you can't make out all of the flavors.
Meanwhile, Marnay cleaned the plate of her mushroom risotto, made with shitake, hen of the woods and royal trumpet mushrooms. We appreciated that La Piquette used some out-of-the-ordinary types of mushrooms and didn't skimp, either.
Kyle went the more traditional brunch route, ordering piperade, a traditional Basque dish (really a sauce more than a dish). Piperade is a red pepper, tomato and onion-based sauce. While the Basque region tends to be associated more with Spain, it's important to remember that it also includes portions of southwestern France. His piperade was topped with French ham, two sunny side up eggs and frites.
We expected to all be full after this, but the entrees were just so good we didn't want to skip dessert. We all shared the gateau a la' orange–a spongy, sweet cake, plus a chocolate mousse. The gateau came with crème Anglaise, meant for pouring over the cake. I'll admit, the sauce was so good I also ate it on its own!
A lot of ink has been spilled over what constitutes a "neighborhood restaurant." At its heart, I think it just means a place where you can go frequently (maybe 2-3 times a month). I believe that La Piquette fits the bill: it's small, cozy, and moderately-priced with respectful but not overly formal service. If we lived in Cathedral Heights, I could see us going to La Piquette multiple times a month, for sure. For classic French cuisine in a casual setting, La Piquette is the place to go.
Paul: Steak tartare with frites
Marnay: Mushroom risotto
La Piquette: 3714 Macomb Street, NW Washington, DC 20016
Closest Metro: Cleveland Park
Rye Street Tavern
January 8, 2019 March 29, 2019 2 Comments
I work in downtown Baltimore and wanted to have a fun daytime adventure before the end of 2018. So, before the holidays, Marnay met me for lunch at Andrew Carmellini's Rye Street Tavern, in the Port Covington section of south Baltimore.
The restaurant, for now, is nearly all alone in Port Covington. The only exceptions are a few industrial buildings, an UnderArmour office and the restaurant's sibling distillery, Sagamore Spirits. Down the line, though, this will be a large mixed-used area that will grow around the restaurant. As of now it is a destination spot with an incredible waterfront location. On nice days (such as the day we dined), the windows are opened for a cooling breeze.
Since the restaurant is isolated from residential areas, we were surprised to find it crowded on a workday. We went to the bar but had trouble finding two seats next to each other. We briefly had a feeling of helplessness until the wonderful bartender saw our plight and came out from behind the bar. She was able to play bar-patron Tetris and figured out a way for Marnay and I to sit next to each other. During the whole meal, in fact, she really went above and beyond!
The free cornbread to start the meal was a bit dry (but, hey, also free) but after that just about everything was fantastic. I opted for the $25 three-course prix-fixe, a good deal. The ember-roasted beets with sheep's milk yogurt and candied hazelnuts tasted smoky like barbecue. Plus, the big chunks of sweet beets were so juicy they reminded me of watermelon, but with the texture of a root vegetable. The yogurt and the hazelnuts made it feel like a complete dish. Above all, the presentation was stunning.
Marnay ordered the Southern-style fried chicken, Rye Street's Tavern's signature dish. It was perfectly seasoned, and we especially liked the housemade hot sauce, which the bartender encouraged us to use. It really only needed a little bit because it was well-seasoned already. The only disappointment was the honey-butter biscuit, which tasted like it had been drenched in melted butter.
I came in with low expectations for the rock shrimp tacos—after all Rye Street Tavern is a modern-American restaurant. But the battered and fried shrimp topped with pickled jalapenos and a fiery guajillo chile paste and young cilantro were quite good. I would even consider getting them again!
My prix fixe came with dessert, so we shared a slice of vanilla buttermilk pie. It was a tasty end to the meal. Throughout everything, our bartender did a fantastic job of taking care of all, as while still serving the other bar patrons. If I had gotten her name, I would have passed along a good word to the manager on the way out. On a nice day, it's hard to top Rye Street Tavern's waterfront setting as a place to grab a bite in Baltimore. I can definitely see us going back in the Spring when the weather is warmer.
Paul and Marnay: Ember roasted beets
Rye Street Tavern: 13 Rye Street Baltimore, MD 21230
Park Place Café and Restaurant
"Hi Paul, not Tom", was our greeting upon entering the beguiling Park Place Café and Restaurant, a six-table BYOB in sleepy Merchantville, NJ. Since the restaurant only takes reservations by voicemail, they thought I said my name was "Tom" when the restaurant called that afternoon to confirm. We thought it was clever to use that as a greeting when we walked through the door. It was a light-hearted, warm welcome.
We were greeted by Francesca, the restaurant's relentlessly charming host and co-owner. Our table had four seats and the restaurant was a bit loud, so when it came time to order Francesca actually sat down next to Marnay to go over the specials and to take down our order. It made us feel like we were regulars, even though it was our first time.
The chef and co-owner Phil Manganero, runs the kitchen but also spends his days off foraging for ingredients. The restaurant also has its own garden and gets the rest from mainly local purveyors. Their vision for the restaurant, among a sea of red sauce Italian joints, is to create a "New Jersey Terroir."
The "Kitchen Sink Salad", a weekly special, is a good example of what they are trying to do. It's a mix of just about every fresh and seasonal or foraged fruit and vegetable that was available that week. Our salad had wild purslane, wax beans, blackberries, blueberries, herbs from the garden and a few other things thrown in. This seems like a lot, but it made sense. All of the flavors came together in harmony, and they were tied together with a sublime vinaigrette.
The housemade rigatoni, which Francesca informed us that the chef had finished making just before service, showed great restraint. It's Jersey tomato season, so the pasta highlighted a light tomato sauce and a bit of parmigiano reggiano on the rim of the plate. The dish was brilliant simplicity – there was nowhere for imperfections to hide. A lesser chef would have drowned the rigatoni in sauce – but the housemade rigatoni was way too good to do that and needed to shine on its own.
We had seen on Instagram that Park Place was popular with wine aficionados and it did not disappoint. Shortly after we arrived, a table of six showed up, each person with three bottles of wine! I didn't want to stare at them too long, but judging by the color of their white wine (almost brownish yellow) it had some serious age. It was entertaining to watch them pour each glass.
The olive oil poached tile fish, a special, was blitzed with shaved truffles and chanterelles. It was an umami bomb that was also intriguing because of its mix of temperatures – warm fish, cold chanterelles that tasted like they had been soaking (perhaps reconstituting?) in vinegar. Meanwhile, the poach in olive oil kept the white tile fish from overcooking.
The walnut cake for dessert reminded me a fancier version of my grandmother's walnut rolls. Park Place takes it to a whole other level with a rich cream and extra walnuts placed on the side.
Park Place Café is a dream of a restaurant tucked away in Merchantville, NJ. Looking back, it's hard to believe that place was real. If you live in the area, we strongly suggest that you check it out.
Paul and Marnay: Housemade Rigatoni with Jersey tomato sauce
Park Place Café and Restaurant: 7 East Park Avenue, Merchantville, NJ 08109
Kuya Ja's Lechon Belly
Kuya Ja's is a Filipino counter service joint located in the White Flint area. The restaurant, which started out as a pop-up at the chef's sister's pastry shop, specializes in Filipino pork belly. It's been on our radar since it was a pop-up, but once they got a permanent spot we knew we needed to head to Rockville and try it out.
Kuya Ja's had only been open two weeks when we visited. It's located about 0.5 miles from the White Flint metro, inside a random and partially forgotten strip mall in an area otherwise teeming with new residential high-rises. We walked there from the metro but to give a sense of where it is: the entrance to the parking lot contains a grand sign for the White Flint Mall, which is currently a pile of rubble and has been for three years.
The place opens at 5pm and when we arrived at 4:58pm there were already people queuing outside. A word of advice: this restaurant is extremely popular and also tiny, so try to go during off hours. We had a few questions when it was our turn to order at the counter, but the staff was extremely friendly and patient.
We ordered ½ pound of lechon belly and a crispy adobo chicken sandwich. As a bit of background, lechon belly is basically Filipino porchetta. The chef, whose nickname is Ja, hails from the island of Cebu which, according to the restaurant's website, has the best lechon belly in the world.
The first thing you'll notice about the lechon belly is that the skin is so thin and shiny from glaze it looks like glass. In fact, both Marnay and I were legitimately concerned that when we bit into it, it would be like biting into glass. Thankfully, our concerns were misplaced. Here's another thing: Very often, the skin is the best part of meat since it gets the most flavoring, while the actual meat is a letdown. Let me tell you, that is NOT the case as Kuya Ja's. Here, the skin is crispy and redolent of all types of umami flavors. Meanwhile, the meat is insanely tender and unctuous to the extreme. The meat is made even better by two condiments: one is a thick vinaigrette that taste a bit like soy while the other is a Filipino vinegar. Our favorite was the vinaigrette because of its balanced flavor.
The crispy chicken, with an adobo glaze and crisp lettuce on a soft hamburger bun, is also a winner. The abobo glaze, with its soy sauce undertones, turns this from a good chicken sandwich to a great one. It doesn't hit you over the head but it is lurking in the background of every bite.
The next day we came back around 8pm. While it was packed, we miraculously got a table just before our food came out. It was a good thing, since it was raining and therefore we were either getting a table or eating standing up. (Unlike most people who come here, we do not have cars). They did not have the ½ pound of lechon belly available, but that ended up being a good thing. Instead, the staff steered us towards the lechon belly combo, which comes with white rice and atsara, or pickled ginger papaya salad. As Marnay noted, the addition of the rice made it feel like more of a meal, with the added benefit of using the rice to scoop up the sauces.
Kuya Ja's also serves Filipino pastries from the chef's sisters bakery, many of which contain ube halaya, a sweet paste made from purple yams. I would compare it to how red bean paste is used in Chinese and Japanese desserts. We tried the Ube Brazo, which tasted like a delightful cross between bread pudding and pound cake.
The fact that we liked Kuya Ja's enough to go back two days in a row should tell you how we feel about this place. The incredible food, warm service and wallet-friendly prices are sure to keep us coming back again and again.
Paul: Lechon belly
Marnay: Crispy chicken
Kuya Ja's Lechon Belly: 5268-H Nicholson Lane Rockville, MD 20895
Closest Metro: White Flint
Fiola – Maria Menu
Some of Washington, DC's pricier restaurants have more affordable lunch deals during the week. You can take advantage of them if you know where to look. Luckily, we are here to give you a review of one of our favorite lunch spots.
Fabio Trabocchi's restaurant group in particular has some wallet-friendly lunch offerings during the week. On a rainy Monday, we spent the morning exploring some of the Smithsonian museums and enjoyed a mid-day meal at Fiola in Penn Quarter.
The Maria Menu is named for chef/restauranteur Fabio Trabiocchi's wife and business partner, Maria Trabiocchi. Described as being based on a "healthy Mediteranean diet", the Maria Menu is three courses for $32, which is a steal considering most entrees alone at Fiola cost more than $32.
Another great thing about the Maria menu for the cost-conscious diner (and let's be real, we all are) is that it starts out with an amuse bouche plus housemade rosemary bread. In our case, it was watermelon-tomato gazpacho with chive oil – a good way to start the meal, although it could have used a touch of cream to cut the acidity.
Sometimes servers can be a little too informal for their own good, which can be offputting. That is certainly not a problem at Fiola, where the well-trained and impeccably dressed staff are completely focused on making sure you have the best meal possible, no fooling around.
The Madai snapper crudo, from Japan, was paired with slices of grilled Jersey peaches and peach gel for swiping. The chilled, well-salted fish was the perfect foil for the peaches, ripe but by no means cloying and kissed by the char of the grill.
Our main course was a hulking Australian tiger prawn on a bed of Sicilian capunitina, similar to an eggplant caponata. This puree contained eggplant, pine nuts, capers and golden raisins. I found the capunitina to be too sweet at first, thanks to the raisins, but as I kept eating the flavors came together and made sense. The buttery, mild shrimp flesh needed the intense flavor of the capunitina.
Dessert was billed simply as "Raspberry & Hazelnuts", but it was far more interesting that those two ingredients. When it arrived at the table, it looked like raspberry custard with hazelnut flakes on top. A plunge of the spoon, however, revealed an entire ecosystem of flavors. Inside of custard was raspberry sorbet, whole raspberries and a luscious hazelnut praline.
The restaurant had been crowded when we first sat down, and we observed people talking and eating. I couldn't help but think, though, that we were spending a lot less than they were.
Paul and Marnay: Raspberries & Hazelnuts
Fiola: 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004
Closest Metro: Archives or Judiciary Square
Sally's Middle Name
Many restaurants in Philadelphia have a "neighborhood" vibe – relaxed, intimate, unpretentious—possibly because of the low rents and less demand for older housing stock which can be used to create smaller restaurants. We are always on the lookout for restaurants with this vibe in DC, and were pleasantly surprised when we found Sally's Middle Name.
The restaurant has two levels: downstairs is decorated with white subway tiles and was bustling with the din of diners when we arrived. Upstairs, where we sat, was calmer and felt more like someone's home. In fact, it is so much like a person's home the upstairs bathroom even has a shower. The entire menu, including drinks and dessert, is written on a full-size chalk board on the wall. While I think this approach is cute, it is frustrating to have to keep getting up to check the board. We took a picture with our phones, but everyone may not recognize that as an option.
Sally's Middle Name is a small plates restaurant. We have noticed that servers at small plates restaurants tend to recommend an absurd amount of food—a suggestion of three to four dishes per person is not uncommon. It was a breath of fresh air, then, when our server at Sally's Middle Name recommended 3 to 4 dishes total, meant to be shared. That immediately endeared us to the place.
We ordered four dishes, and we ordered them all at the same time: the housemade bread and butter, the cucumber salad, the braised collard greens with Szechuan pork and the seared scallops. The result was that all four dishes came out at the same time. Not a good look, in my opinion. I would have been much more annoyed, though, if our server demanded that we order four dishes per person and then eight dishes came out at the same time. If that were the case, we would have needed to steal a neighboring table.
Anyway, the housemade white and wheat breads were delicious and a great start to the meal. They were even better with creamy housemade butter, although the white bread would have been fine on its own. For our remaining three dishes, we mixed and matched bites, not eating the dishes in any particular order. The collards appropriately got top billing, as this was a collard dish and not a pork dish—not that we minded. It was a play on traditional Southern collard greens, cooked with spicy Szechuan pork instead of a more traditional ham hock. We first got a major hit of ginger and then the lingering spice of Szechuan peppercorns.
Both of us were big fans of the buttery seared scallops served with a sauce of fermented turnips, lightly smeared on plate. The scallops were then topped with pea shoots, a nice taste of early summer. The cucumber salad, on the other hand, could have used some salt, even with a dressing of fermented carrots.
All of the portions at Sally's Middle Name were reasonable in size, so we had room for dessert. We got an impressive Olive Oil cake with strawberry jam. The jam and the olive oil cake, which actually tasted like olive oil, were a perfect match.
Based on atmosphere alone, we would go back to Sally's Middle Name. We loved the lack of pretense, and oh yeah, the food wasn't bad either.
Paul: Olive Oil Cake
Marnay: Scallops
Sally's Middle Name: 1320 H Street NE Washington, DC 20002
Clsoest metro: Union Station to H Street Streetcar
We had quite a weekend adventure in Philadelphia recently, which included visits to Martha for drinks, American Sardine Bar for snacks and beer and culminating in dinner at Vedge. Vedge is located in a historic townhouse in Midtown Village, Philadelphia. We were seated in a small side room in front of a fireplace and beneath whimsical chandelier made out of spoons.
The menu is divided into "The Vedge Bar", mostly cold small plates, "The Grill", which is the entrée section and finally "The Dirt List" which are sides. We started out with the beautiful "Fancy Radishes", which were served sashimi-style. Four types of radishes: watermelon, spanish, meat and daikon are splayed on top of various accompaniments including yuzu avocado, pickled tofu, shishito and shredded zucchini along with a spoonful of smoked tamari for dipping. Of course, similar to sushi, we made sure to only dip the radish end in the tamari! Served at the same time was the avocado stuffed with pickled cauliflower "fried rice" and held in a rice cracker shell. It was pleasant, particularly the way the creamy texture contrasted with the crunch of the rice cracker.
From the grill, we got a gigantic wood roasted carrot and the eggplant braciole. Every time I went to take a forkful of the braciole, I expected it to be biting into an Italian sausage—the resemblance was uncanny. The rolled smoked eggplant is stuffed with cured olives and mushrooms, seared at what must be an extremely hot temperature and served with salsa verde. The eggplant tasted more like meat than meat does at some lesser restaurants.
The wood-roasted carrot is Vedge's take on a Reuben. It's a huge carrot cut lengthwise and served on top of a white-bean puree, garbanzos and pumpernickel toast with carrot kraut off to the side. This is the dish that we have been raving about since our visit. We noticed that our server brought out our entrees about a minute before our sides. We think that this was so we could fully appreciate the entrees and not get overwhelmed by all of the food on our table.
To keep our carrots & eggplant company, we ordered nebrodini mushrooms served in the style of fazoletti pasta with charred ramp butter and roasted cherry tomatoes as sauce. We also got the campfire potatoes and shaved brussels sprouts. The char from the nebrodini mushrooms dish was evident in the ramp butter, although the ramp flavor was a little more subtle. For those not aware, ramps are everyone's favorite foraged vegetable. The fazoletti was very tender with a pleasant mouthfeel and had been truly transformed into pasta cooked al dente.
Our campfire potatoes with black garlic tahini and za'atar was good enough, but not transformed. That seems like a high bar to set for a dish, and admittedly it is, but it was just that all of the other things we ordered at Vedge were SO unique that a simple dish of potatoes didn't quite cut it for us.
Dessert seemed like the most difficult dish to pull off without dairy, but Vedge knocked it out of the park. The Chocolate Uber Chunk, consisted of malt custard, pretzels and peanut butter and stout ice cream served three different ways. The ramekin filled with layers of custard and crunchy peanuts and pretzels was one of our best bites of the night.
One of my concerns about Vedge, and perhaps I was being naïve, was that we would walk away hungry. That CERTAINLY was not the case. Beyond just being delicious, it was inspiring the way that vegetables can be transformed into a hearty meal.
Paul: Fancy radishes
Marnay: Wood-roasted carrot
Vedge: 1221 Locust Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Thanks to a generous OpenTable gift card we received from our family for Christmas, we were able to have dinner at Marcel's, the French-Belgian fine-dining destination in the West End. From 5:00pm-6:30pm each night, Marcel's offers a $70 per person pre-theater menu. You can choose from one of three options for a first course, main and dessert. When it's all said and done, you get whisked away in a town car to the Kennedy Center. When we were first seated, our server asked us what time our show was so that the kitchen could get could get the timing down.
For our first course, the local mixed green salad with shaved cucumber, beet, carrot and sherry vinaigrette topped with shaved cheese was a master-course in proper seasoning and texture. Meanwhile, the duck confit tortellini with black trumpet mushrooms and scallions in a parmesan cream sauce was the definition of decadence. We both forgot what was stuffed inside the pasta because all of the flavors went so well together.
Mains included pan-seared Norwegian salmon with lobster risotto and English peas and the New York strip steak with potato gratin and white asparagus matchsticks in a cabernet reduction. The salmon had an impossibly crisp skin, but it was the lobster risotto, with its huge chunks of sweet lobster, that stole the show. The New York strip compared favorably to the "DC Steakhouse" course at Pineapples & Pearls, thoroughly seasoned and with a nearly complete absence of grit and gristle. Chef Paul Stearman cooked the steak to medium rare, which is his preference, but the server gave me the option of choosing something else if that is what I wanted.
Dessert is where we encountered a minor hiccup in the meal's pacing. Everything had been planned out just so, but the restaurant did not account for the fact that the hot chocolate soufflé would take longer than our other dessert. As a result, we arrived at the Kennedy Center minutes before our show started. It didn't affect our experience at either Marcel's of the Kennedy Center, though.
The hot chocolate soufflé with raspberry white chocolate ice cream was a showstopper. Our server punctured the inflated soufflé, added the ice cream in the middle and then doused everything with hot chocolate. We also got the chocolate mousse with crispy praline, chocolate caramel sauce and a cocoa nib tuille. The best part was the praline on the bottom, although the whole dessert was good. The soufflé was just amazing, though.
Marcel's is one of the best examples of old-school fine dining in DC, and the complementary town car ride to the Kennedy Center put it over the top. However, the food is anything but old-school.
Paul: Hot Chocolate Soufflé
Marnay: Duck Confit Tortellini
Marcel's: 2401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20037
Closest Metro: Foggy Bottom
Ultimate Staunton Weekend
November 21, 2016 February 22, 2017 1 Comment
Staunton weekend was birthday weekend for me. We picked out Staunton because of the fact that we could take Amtrak there and because there was a restaurant that we wanted to try. Of course, we have taken Amtrak many times. However, we had never taken this line or been on these tracks before. I was SO excited!
On Friday morning, we got Shake Shack breakfast at Union Station. We enjoyed our greasy (in a good way) sausage and egg sandwiches and before we knew it, we were boarding Amtrak Cardinal train 52 en route to Chicago. The trip took a little over four hours and it brought us through the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia. We got some picturesque views of the Shenandoah Valley after we left Charlottesville.
Once we arrived in Staunton, we walked from the station to our Airbnb. I would describe it as a fancy treehouse located on the fourth floor of a 19th century mansion, with a scenic rooftop deck.
We started our tour of Staunton by scaling the steep streets to the highest point, Mary Baldwin College. The main building of the college is a great example of Greek-revival architecture, slightly resembling the White House.
Hungry from our journey, we had an early dinner at Taste of India where we enjoyed two different types of naan, Lamb Rogan Josh and Aloo Tikka.
We happened to go to Staunton during their annual holiday event, known as Sparkles & Sweets. All of the stores on Beverley Street are open later than usual and they give out cookies and refreshments. Many have live music and events. Our Airbnb host owns an antique store, which was having an art show that night in their "Artisans Loft."
Later on in the night, we checked out Yelping Dog Wine, a retail store which also served wine by the glass. Each of us had two glasses of Virginia wine. After that, we were tired and ready to call it a night.
We woke up early to go to the Staunton Farmers Market. There were a lot of vendors selling root vegetables, as you would expect this time of year. More surprising was a food truck serving Salvadoran food, which I would not expect in this corner of Appalachia.
Next, we took a self-guided tour of the 19th century homes in the Gospel Hill neighborhood. There is some truly stunning architecture in this area.
After traipsing around Gospel Hill, we walked north and checked out Gypsy Hill Park and sat around the duck pond. We watched the birds and the children trying to play with them.
On the walk back, we shared a maple bacon doughnut from Rolling Pin Pastries. Rolling Pin is only open 3 hours a day, 3 days a week and the doughnut was one of my best bites of the weekend.
Still hungry, we shared a bratwurst sandwich with local sausage from By & By. At this point, we had done a lot of walking and a lot of snacking, so we headed back to the treehouse to nap. The big activity of the day, anyway, was dinner at The Shack.
The Shack lives up to its name; it really is a shack, and in a less than desirable location at that. These factors allow the chef, Ian Boden, to focus on food rather than trying to make rent. By the way, our Airbnb hosts were actually the chef's parents! They were very nice and welcoming to us.
We went with the four course pre-fixe meal at The Shack. Both the food and the hospitality met our high expectations. Some highlights included crispy sunchokes and sweet potatoes with black garlic and chile dressing, squid ink rigatoni with pesto, crispy garlic chips and bottarga and an apple fry pie.
On Sunday morning, we made coffee and enjoyed the mountain views from our Airbnb's rooftop deck one last time. Next, we walked down the hill on Beverley Street for bagel sandwiches at the By & By.
Fortified by breakfast, we walked up a very steep hill in the Sears Hill neighborhood. Our reward was the overlook at Wilson Park, where we got a view of the entire town. We stopped in Gospel Hill to see the homes and then got a quick lunch to go at Cranberry's Grocery & Eatery, a natural foods store.
At 2:03pm, exactly on time, Amtrak Train 50 stopped at Staunton and we started our journey home. I am emphasizing the fact that it was on time because the train left Chicago at 5:45pm Saturday!
Staunton makes a great weekend trip from the DC area and is accessible by public transportation. It has a perfect combination of history, nature and food. We highly recommend it!
Taste of India: 105 West Beverley Street Staunton, VA 24401
Yelping Dog Wine: 9 East Beverley Street Staunton, VA 24401
Gypsy Hill Park: 600 Churchville Avenue Staunton, VA 24401
Rolling Pin Pastries: 302 N Central Ave Staunton, VA 24401
By & By: 140 East Beverley Street Staunton, VA 24401
The Shack: 105 S Coalter Street Staunton, VA 24401
Cranberry's Grocery & Eatery: 7 S New Street Staunton, VA 24401


The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has welcomed the UK Government's decision to provide capital gains tax (CGT) relief to owners of limited liability companies who transfer a controlling interest in a trading company to an employee-owned structure.
The Government has also announced proposals to allow employee-owned companies the ability to pay up to GBP3,600 (USD5,900) per annum free of income tax to employees. The measures, announced on December 10, 2013, will, if approved, be included in the next Finance Bill.
John Barnett, Chairman of the CIOT Capital Gains Tax sub-committee, said: "We are pleased with the Government's commitment to supporting and encouraging employee ownership. The proposals also include a generous income tax exemption in respect of a bonus or similar payment to employees from the business and we welcome the commitment to keep the operation of the exemption as simple as possible. However, it should be noted that National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be payable on the bonus payments: this is a change from the original proposal. Also, it is not clear to us why indirectly employee-owned businesses are to be favoured with this exemption and not, for example, directly owned employee businesses."
"While these changes are designed to encourage employee ownership of companies, the continuing attack on employee benefit trusts generally, and the disguised employment proposals which will affect partnerships bringing employees in as partners, sends mixed messages to employers who want to grow their business through greater employee involvement," Barnett pointed out, concluding that: "While anything which improves employee-ownership is to be welcomed, the CIOT does have some concerns that these measures only address half the story as they would have benefited from a more wide-ranging and better thought-out approach to the whole area of employee engagement."


Yes I am back and it's for good!
You may ask yourself why did I stop writing? To tell you the truth, I don't know. Maybe I got carried away with the hustle of life that I failed to connect with you, my dear readers. I truly and sincerely apologize; it will not happen again.
This blog won't be long; I am only checking in.
But before I go, I want to let you know that….Are you ready to hear this? Are you REALLY sure that you want to hear this? Ok, now that you insist, I am going to tell you. I am eating less food now! Can you believe that? As painful as it can be, I am leaving the old Patrick in 2014 and starting a new Patrick for 2015. Now don't be mislead into thinking that I am making a mistake. You were not there when I was so full that I couldn't tie my shoelaces. It was at that moment when I said to myself enough is enough.
Yes, I made some resolutions and I am planning to stick to them.
"I can't help feeling like I was in ruins when I met Patrick and Paul last year at a networking breakfast. I was stalled in life and ignoring my creative calling. After one mini session I was already taking myself more seriously as a writer and saw a big difference in the commitment and quality of my work. I was thrilled to be attending a workshop.
Wow, how humbled I feel by those words. You see that's why we do what we do - there is something magical and empowering which happens when someone realizes that they can pursue and achieve their dreams and goals. All it takes takes is having the right people and support combined with your passion to live a fulfilled life by pursuing your dreams. I encourage you to sign up for the very affordable workshop ($25) and come and see first hand what our past participant experienced.
I hope that next time, it will be you sharing your testimony. I am l looking forward to seeing you at the workshop and don't forget to bring your dreams with you!
Click HERE for more information. See you there.
Moral of the story? Do you want to read my next 51 blogs? Just attend our next workshop and you will eat less food.
Congrats Patrick on achieving your goals, blogging more and eating less!!! Go man go!!!


Applications for the 2019-2020 school year are being accepted now until March 7, 2019.
The type of projects we've funded in the past can be found using the pull down menu above.
Please note we will not be funding individual requests for flexible seating this year, but will be providing funding to the district to support its acquisition.
RazKids software being used by Elsmere students.
The BCCF believes in connecting teachers and students to opportunity. Through our Classroom Innovation Grants, we help teachers and students embrace new ways of learning, solving problems, and working together. Staff of the BCSD are invited to apply for grants of up to $1000 to provide innovative offerings in their classrooms, which otherwise would not be supported by the school district's budget.
To date, BCCF has awarded grants for over $64,000.
A list of grants and recipients can be viewed by highlighting the Classroom Innovations Grant tab above.
On July 7th, 2015, members of Bethlehem Central Community Foundation presented the Bethlehem Central School District with a check for $12,789 to support 12 Classroom Innovation grants throughout the district.


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Catherine has been an esthetician since 2004 and originally hails from Bogota, Colombia. Catherine is passionate about enabling individuals to achieve their skin care goals at any age. She helps her clients acquire and maintain supple, more youthful-looking skin through her expertise in facials, microdermabrasion, chemical skin peels, masks and more. Ms. Albanese-Blanco also performs professional eyebrow waxing, sculpting, and tinting. With our wide range of dermatologist-grade skin care products in house, Catherine is able to educate patients on continuing their skin care improvement in their everyday life.
Lisset originally hails from Cuba, and has been a skincare specialist since 2010. In addition to gaining her license in esthetics, Lisset is also licensed in massage therapy AND cosmetology! Lisset specializes in advanced makeup application, LED therapy, diamond dermabrasion, waxing, dermaplaning, and chemical peels. She is passionate about helping others look and feel their very best. Lisset sincerely loves her profession, and finds much joy in constantly expanding her knowledge of skincare and massage therapy techniques. In her personal time, Lisset loves to spend time with her family, travel, and she especially enjoys immersing herself in other cultures from around the world!


The first thought that often comes to mind when thinking about your diet is how it will affect the health of your body. You probably know that too many fatty foods can have negative effects on your arteries, and carbonated beverages can cause digestive problems. But how often do you consider your dental health when making diet decisions?
Some foods and drinks that are great for your body may not be as great for your teeth, and some foods and drinks that are not as healthy for your body are beneficial to your oral health. Here's how your diet affects your dental health.
Although it may seem obvious, beverages and foods make direct contact with your teeth and gums. If you drink a sugar-filled soda, you are essentially coating your teeth in sugar. This sugar can eat away your enamel. If you frequently eat foods and drink beverages high in sugar content, you may develop a cavity.
Other types of foods and drinks may stain your previously white teeth or cause some health problems for your gums. The next time you are debating whether or not a sweet is worth it, make sure you also consider your dental health.
Other than initial contact, your diet also interacts with your dental health in the same way it does with the rest of your body—it supplies nutrients. Four important vitamins and minerals essential to your oral health are Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Calcium, and Phosphorus.
When you eat foods high in Vitamin A, you help produce enamel and keep your gums in tip-top shape. Vitamin D fortifies the density of minerals in your body and plays an important part in making sure Calcium gets to your teeth.
Calcium will help make your tooth enamel stronger. Enamel is a core part of your teeth's anatomy, so it is understandable why the most important diet needs of your teeth help maintain enamel in some way. The last nutrient, Phosphorus, reconstructs and defends your enamel.
Knowing what your teeth and gums need to be healthy is one thing. However, actually taking care of them is another. In addition to seeing a dentist who provides caring and welcoming service, try to implement some of these diet choices to make sure you ingest dental friendly minerals and vitamins and to avoid damaging your teeth.
If you want to increase your Phosphorous intake, try to eat meat, dairy, seeds, nuts, grains, and beans.
For Vitamin D, you can eat mushrooms, fatty seafood, and fortified cereals.
If you need more Vitamin A, you can incorporate fish, sweet potatoes, cheese, spinach, cantaloupe, broccoli, lettuce, and grapefruit into your diet.
For more Calcium, make sure you eat plenty of foods like beans, leafy greens, almonds, seeds, rhubarb, and dairy products.
Water is probably the best beverage to consume for your whole body in general, but it is immensely important for your teeth. Water lacks the sugar found in almost all other drinks and helps to keep your mouth free of food and drink residue throughout the day.
Milk may not be great in large amounts. However, since it is a great source of Calcium and Vitamin D, it is a nutrient powerhouse for your teeth. If you like milk, try to have some every day.
Vegetable juices that are not chockfull of sugar are also a good drink option for your dental health. They contain many of the nutrients needed to keep your mouth healthy.
Any food high in sugar or acidity levels should be consumed in small amounts. These include bread, sour candies, and citrus.
Also, try not to eat too many crunchy or chewy foods like potato chips, ice cubes, candy, and nuts.
The worst drinks are the ones filled with sugar. When you can, stay away from alcohol, soda, fruit juices, energy drinks, and sports drinks. Certain darker colored beverages can even stain your teeth, like coffee and colas, so avoid those options if you want to maintain a pearly white set of teeth.
Everyone always says, "you are what you eat," and oftentimes this rings true. Finding a balance in your diet can truly improve the health of your teeth and gums. So, do not forget to consider your oral health when planning your snacks, meals, and drinks throughout the day.


*No purchase necessary. Must be 21 or older to book a stay. Rules and regulations will be distributed and agreed upon before booking is officially confirmed.
**Employees and immediate family members, or persons living in the same household as Ontario Drive and Gear Limited/ARGO and their dealers, distributors, affiliates, subsidiaries, vendors, advertising and promotional agencies, their families and employees are not eligible.
Welcome to the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge – a remote lodge secluded in the middle of 2,000 private acres in northern Wisconsin. Go explore, hunt or fish every day on your personal lineup of ARGO amphibious XTVs and off-road ATVs. It doesn't get any better than this. And it's free.
Must be 21 years or older to book your free weekend stay below. Limited availability.
Sign safety waivers, riding disclosures and property rule requirements to secure reservation.
Receive welcome phone call with lodge host for specific travel instructions and details.
Arrange your own travel to northern Wisconsin.
Enjoy free three-day, two-night stay.
Bring your own food, snacks and drinks.
Wisconsin licenses for fishing and hunting are required.
When you have a vehicle like no other you need an experience like no other. The ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge is to get people to unplug from their busy life and reconnect with loved ones or good friends. This 205-square-foot lodge might be tiny, but it is just what you need to have a memorable weekend. Bring your smartphone for great pictures and to sync up with the amazing trail map app.
A vehicle like no other.
Oh, yeah! Every day you'll have access to a lineup of ARGO amphibious XTVs and off-road ATVs. The lodge host will have the ARGOs fueled up and ready to go every morning. Discover over 10 miles of remote trails, plan an early morning duck hunt or fly fish for native brown trout just steps away from the lodge. Choose your own daily adventure. For hunters, special arrangements can be made before sunrise to have the ARGOs ready to go.
The ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge has everything you don't need. No TVs. No computers. No stress. It does include a beautiful kitchen, three-quarter bathroom, spacious living room and cozy loft for a great night's sleep. However, you won't spend too much time indoors when you have access to private lakes, streams and trails from sunrise to sunset.
Only the best from the north woods. Our local host will make sure your stay is safe, fun and memorable. Our personal host will run you through everything when you arrive, including vehicle safety, a tour of the property and all of the ins and outs of the tiny lodge. The host will get the ARGOs ready every morning and put them away each evening. He is available any time you need him just in case there's a question or an emergency.
Mobile coverage is outstanding on the property so you can use our trail map app. Pack charging cords so your smartphone is fully charged.
Breathe in that fresh air and sleep like a baby. While the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge is ideal for two to three guests, it can sleep four. A queen-size bed is located in the loft and the living room sofa converts into a full-size bed. The lodge is equipped with plenty of screened windows for fresh air flow or, if you prefer, a quiet window air conditioner is available to keep you under the blankets. Sleep tight.
The lodge and property have specific rules guests must agree to follow before securing a free stay at the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge. We want guests to have fun, be safe and to respect the land during this unique experience. These rules enable ARGO to provide this experience and to continue to offer it throughout the year. The host will provide the rules during your welcome phone call after your reservation is confirmed. A signed rules document is required.
**Employees and immediate families of personas living in the same household as Ontario Drive and Gear Inc./ARGO and their distributors, affiliates, subsidiaries, vendors, advertising and promotional agencies, dealers, their families and employees and families of retailers and dealers are not eligible.
Can't make it to the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge?
If you can't make it to the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge this year, please enter your information to be placed on the waiting list. The ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge will move to a new secluded location in North America. In the meantime, go to your nearest ARGO dealer to experience a vehicle like no other.
The Argo Anywhere Tiny Lodge is the destination for outdoor enthusiasts to ride Argo XTVs and ATVs in an amazing private setting over the course of a three-day weekend.
Our stay at the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge has been a complete blast!
rivaled the accommodations of a 5-star hotel in one of the most beautiful and peaceful settings we have every experienced. The perfect experience of adventure and relaxation.
The ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge is a winning combination in my book. Great accommodations, great machines in an incredible outdoor setting.
What an incredible place! Anyone who gets to stay here should consider themselves lucky!
This has been a fantastic family vacation. We had some fantastic sunsets with the fall leaves and even found some creatures in the woods. Thank you so much for the memories forever.
Please provide the below information so we can contact you and send required documents.
Congratulations! You're almost ready to experience the ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge. Now that your information has been submitted, we will be sending some paperwork via email for you to finalize your reservation.
Sorry we're booked out for the 2018 season, but the next opportunity is just around the corner. Please provide the following information to be placed on our waitlist for updates. In the meantime, visit your local ARGO dealer and experience a vehicle like no other.
Thank you. You are now on the 2019 ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge waitlist.
Thank you for submitting your name on our waitlist for the 2019 ARGO Anywhere Tiny Lodge. We will be contacting people on the waitlist in the order we received their email. Visit ARGOxtv.com for more information or to find your nearest ARGO dealer and take a test ride.