Did You Eat Yet?

In this season finale of Did You Eat Yet?, I sit down with my sister to reflect on the greater understanding we’ve gained of our parents—their sacrifices, their love, and the subtle ways they showed they cared. Framed through the warmth of a family cookout, we talk about the rare moments when everyone can just slow down, laugh, and share a meal together. It’s a celebration of food as love, of pres...

When the check hits the table, so does the love. In this episode of Did You Eat Yet?, I reflect on my recent trip to Vietnam and the familiar scene of families fighting to pay the bill — a ritual that’s less about money and more about care. Growing up, I watched my parents argue at restaurants, sometimes loudly, over who would cover the meal. As a kid, it felt embarrassing or unnecessary. But with...

Fruit doesn’t come with a speech—just a quiet plate left in front of you, peeled and ready. In this episode, I reflect on the small, wordless acts of care our parents gave us—like fruit sliced with love instead of “I love you” spoken out loud. We explore the sweetness behind these gestures and the ways they show up in our culture, our healing, and the love we’re still learning to give and receive....

Tea isn’t flashy. It doesn’t come sizzling on a skillet or arrive with dramatic garnish. But somehow… it shows up right when we need it. In this episode, I reflect on the quiet, unspoken ways our parents tried to ease our stress—much like steeping a cup of tea without asking if we wanted it. It was never about the drink itself, but about their effort to offer calm, care, and presence. Even when I...

3 course meal is super fancy but we aren't at a Michelin restaurant, we're under the roof of my parents. Mom & dad always made sure I was well fed and making sure I had all the right things to have energy to go about my day at school or when doing extracurricular activities. Figuratively, they provided me with the things I need to help me be where I am today. Stay tuned in my latest episode fu...

Often times I see my dad pray with food to offer thanks to our ancestors and/or higher power. Today I'm showing thanks to the person that I am today though my unique experiences in life that I have never found anyone been able to relate with aside from a few. I am giving thanks alongside with a friend that you know and love. Please join me on an episode to unpack our gratitude in life! We face tra...

"Tell me when to stop," is not something that you hear at my dinner table but is what you hear all the time at Olive Garden. Growing up, it was hard to have the right amount of things you need to help nurture your growth. In this episode I sit alone talking about how even though I didn't get the things I wanted, I now can do that since I'm grown up. Additionally, I challenge you the audience to fi...

No I'm not actually cooking anything for you to judge. The name of this episode is a metaphor for the amount of judgement I've faced as a child. Being criticized in aspects of my life when I know that I'm not perfect but I'm expected to be. Now I end up being my worst critic because I adopted this self judgement and I am accompanied by my sister to talk this through. We face trails and tribulation...

Let's maximize our ROI... at a buffet. In this episode I am accompanied by my sister talking about the savings that we saw growing up that our parents have have shown us. Given today's day and age there is something I can learn from  my parents. They have shown me that they have gone through so many lengths to save a quick buck and all for the sake of nurturing my sister and I. We face trails and...

Heated exchange are common between child and parent. For me that was no different. Being under the same house with parents can be difficult when you think you're ready for the outside world when in our parents' eyes, you're not. This episode is just me, myself, and I where I tell you a story about my experiences. We face trails and tribulations in our lives, we at the end of the day want you to no...

Literally am still learning how to cook more Vietnamese food, but figuratively I am trapped in my own thoughts. I want to express that even living on my own that the very thing that I was trying to break away from I'm still doing it to myself. The idea of second guessing where I'm at in life is now a question I ask myself instead of my parents. Sometimes it's hard to not think about these things b...

No this isn't a show of the MasterChef with Gordon Ramsay. This is a new episode talking about the struggles of always being compared and having to fight to be the "better" child in the family. Who's the best chef is an analogy of our parent always finding some way to brag about us to other kids or even vic versa, where the parents are comparing their friend's son that's only 12 years old and is a...

Have you ever tried to reach for that jar of candies/cookies in your pantry even though your parents told you not to? I haven't but I've always seen that in movies but figuratively I have. To me I've always found it hard to listen to my parents and I wonder why I feel so obligated to have such independence from them. When they tell me that I can't do something but even though I feel like what I'm...

The chef knows what's best... or do they? Not in this case because the sous chefs (us) might know a little more than what our parents do, especially when we're a little older and are progressing into our adulthood. Kitchen's Best Practice is an analogy that our parents always know what's best and for us at their kids to follow what they say but times have changed and we as the younger generation k...

Welcome to the dining room! A place where I invite you to come eat and feel safe. To me the dining room was never a place to show vulnerability but more so about business of what I needed to do and/or to discuss what I've done well. Accompanied by my friend and my sister they do their best to help me come to realization that I am not over things (no news there). Find out more about the conversatio...

"Undercooked" is a metaphor of the feeling that you will never be ready when they want you to be. Even if it's not them I find out that it's me that also ends up putting myself down through the same things that I grew up with. That thought of making you think that you aren't ready for the next steps feels like you aren't even worthy of what you want/deserve. I am accompanied by my sister once agai...

"Getting Grilled" is a metaphor saying that you have been humbled by someone's feedback. Parents roasts you for the things that you've done and how it's not up to their standard. With this feedback, parents will feel like this is disciplining you as their child but do they really know the repercussions of how the child will feel? It's one thing to discipline your child but it's also another thing...

"Don't waste your food" is a metaphor in regards that work is not finished or there are still crumbs left over. The idea is the doubt that is put in your mind that you haven't done enough or reflecting retroactively and finding more ways to have finish the job better. In this episode, I am accompanied by someone who knows me better than I know myself... my sister. Together in this episode we discu...

Finishing your bowl is a metaphor on "is your work done yet?" The often self inflicted question that you ask causing you to be aware about your efforts towards something. In this episode I am accompanied by a great friend who helps guide me to being more confident in my actions. All while listening to her story and how she is where she's at today. Our thoughts and insecurities are driven within ou...

Digestion is all about taking the time to take in what you are given and in this episode I talk about the challenges that I was faced at a young age. Being told to basically know anything and everything is unrealistic but how do I cope with that today? This episode is a good seg-way to the next one which is about second guessing. Although we face trails and tribulations in our lives, we at the end...

Soup is a comforting dish that is warm most times and nourishing. In this episode I talk about how I felt on edge and the moments in life that have translated to how I am today. The parenting of making your child be fearful is a very effective way to have a child understand concepts but what else really comes out of it? It's important that young kids know that they are comforted and supported as t...

Broken rice, is very good and is exactly the same thing as your normal jasmine. In this episode I'm accompanied by two of my good friends that helps me talk through certain situations where I am still not over an issue that I had when I was young. This episode is important to me as my friends were able to talk me through some issues but also me still being stubborn and that is something that I nee...

Bowls serve an important role in the dinner table as it is the main tool to help carry/hold the food that you eat. In this episode, I talk about how I wasn't being held like how a bowl would hold. The constant falling of my young naive self with no one around to catch me. This was a harder topic to talk about just because I am still stuck on how in the world was this ever able to happen on any lev...

Spoons serve an important purpose of carrying your food with ease and also holds nutritious food like soup! In this episode I vent to you about how I felt unsupported and the parenting was harsh and not useful to help me at the time when I was struggling. It's difficult to look back and see that the things that could've been better and the actions that are taken to me now are what I would've neede...

Things work better in pairs. What happens if one of the two fails? Complications in ideas, philosophies, and up bringing is hard and to balance between them is just as difficult. In this episode we talk about how the lack of supportiveness of our parents and the un-aligned ways of raising us as their kids creates this hard to maneuver environment. Nobody said that growing up would be easy but it g...