Food. It’s mostly what I talk to complete strangers about. I bond with new friends by mentioning food stuff, coz hey, it’s my passion. Yes. Food is my passion. I plan my outings on meals, and build whole trips on restaurants. I cook. I (used to) bake.

But mostly I eat. A lot. Even more than the usual guy (ask friends, they’ll tell you, some of them even have specific stories of my tendency to go Epic Mealtime on food). I remember a professor telling us in college that if you spent more than 40% of your salary on meals, then you qualify for the poverty sector, well deal me in.

And the result? A physique that is far from perfect, but happy. Made up of meals of grins and eyes rolling into my head. Dimples in parts unknown due to a longer time at the lunch table at a meal cooked by the expert hands of my mom (or her mom for that matter). Arms that no longer fit into once favorite shirts and legs sometimes cut off circulation with tighter pants. But here is a happy girl who has experienced both the good (uni) and the bad (dry cakeage with food color tasting icing) who will gladly buy looser pants.

Why the emphasis on food, when it’s such a waste of money? Yes, food literally converts to crap and I am aware of that. It is a nothing investment in anything but myself. Simply because I was raised to love it. When my mom used to work, she had a very tight schedule and could only take us out on some weekends, to different places. She bought me my first capuccino and biscotti, fluffy pancakes, scallops and the like. It was an adventure we all took together and it built my childhood. Both sides of my family have an arsenal of great cooks, and relish showing off their skills in the kitchen, and I was not one to refuse something new, or strange. Family outings were composed of us pigging out on home cooked dishes or heading to the mall to eat. I can tell you right now, most of my family thinks that an outing with us all together without a meal is a wasted time. Even two hours together deserves pancit, barbeque, puto and all the other works. And frankly, my grandma gets pissed at the mention of a diet.

Yes I love food. But I think the best meals are the ones you have with people you love. Because I’m sappy like that.

So, a food sojourn yes?