Guilty of...

spending too much on food

taking too much time to take pictures of the food

ordering too much food

or taking too long to pick just one thing

...and the list goes on

This article is for all my foodies out there, who, in this big wide world, are just trying to try all the amazing food it has to offer.

I'm not sure when I started to explore food or at least enjoy trying different food. My parents were lucky that I was never a picky kid, and I ate what was cooked or ordered almost always. I think at some point in high school when I started going out more by myself or with friends, I began to notice food that I was not used to, but was open to trying.

Thus, began the journey that has led up to this point, and I've only developed my love for food not just on a purely physical level, but also on the cultural and social level. It's incredible how much history and customs food can teach you.

Maybe you're at a friends' house for dinner, and you notice that the way they make meatballs is specific to their family based on where their family is from in Italy or even what part of America they moved to. Maybe your other friends' family has a special tradition of making dumplings with a different kind of meat because, at one point in time, one of their family members decided that using chicken is better than beef.

However, in my opinion, the best part of being a foodie is you get to see that extra sparkle when traveling.

Food and culture are so interweaved that there is no possible way to have one without the other.

Each country, each city, each town, each restaurant has its own take on how to make something special out of the ingredients they're left with. And creating that something special is art.

What I find even more special is street food. There is a raw, authentic, local vibe to the food that you really can't recreate anywhere else. And there's nothing better than eating local food with the locals and getting just a taste of their culture and lifestyle.

Foodies understand that specialty and respect it, and unfortunately, we may not be able to recreate the piece like our talented chef friends can, but we can try our best to appreciate it. This is why we take so long to order just to order too much and spend too much and take too many pictures - because we want to be a part of the sparkle and capture the art.