Anita Lau is a Hong Kong-born author/writer/blogger/foodie who has lived in Malaysia, Australia, Nebraska, Oregon, San Francisco, Hawaii, and now calls Orange County, California home.

Her obsession with food began at an early age but it wasn’t until her early 20s when, left alone with her brother in Australia, while at college, she began experimenting and cooking more. Not having their mother around meant they had to create their own meals every single day.

This soon led her to start a small catering business which she would run in her spare time. After graduating, Anita returned to Hong Kong where her passion for food was realized through the various channels opened up to her.

Throughout the 90s, Anita not only was a contributor to the South China Morning Post, Asian Home Gourmet magazine, but also, was a columnist for the now defunct TV&Entertainment Times and a regular contributor to the Hong Kong Tatler‘s Annual Best Restaurants Guide. She’ll tell you her best memory during that time in HK was being invited to judge at the Hong Kong Culinary Awards. It was a pivotal decade in her life.

After moving to the United States in 1999, things slowed down some. Although she contributed to the Palo Alto Weekly and authored a cookbook entitled Asian Greens in 2001 (available through Amazon), food writing was scarce.

Later, due to family commitments, her intention of taking a short break from writing turned into a long hiatus during which time, all Anita did to keep up was posting on YELP. All was not lost though as her relentlessness puts her currently as the 2nd most prolific Yelper in the world.

In 2009, Anita returned to more active blogging and did a 10-month stint as contributing food writer at the Orange County Register and Food Frenzy blog from the end of 2010 to 2011. She was invited to be a guest blogger judge at Top Chef Korean Food Challenge in 2011, and most recently has joined OC Menus, a food blog under the OC Metro umbrella. Blogs she has guested on include She’s Cookin and Just Spotted.

In August 2011, Anita was invited to guest chef at the Kowloon Cricket Club‘s fine dining room in Hong Kong where she featured a menu of her favorite dishes inspired by local Orange County eateries.

Most recently, her blog “diary of a Mad Hungry Woman” was nominated in the Best Blog category at the Golden Foodie Awards in 2012.

diary of a Mad Hungry Woman is a journey of her gastronomical adventures, mostly shared with friends, but always scouring, searching, noshing, blogging and YELPing her way through the myriad of eateries from southern California and beyond, doing what she loves most — exploring and writing about food!