Taste Sensitivity

My sense of taste and smell seem to be very sensitive. Enjoying gourmet meals or snacks, sometimes good smelling things, can make me feel delightful once I am fatigued. In my hometown, Macau, I have tasted national cuisines of different countries in a small city. I was accustomed to living with many choices of food and drinks available from certain sites. Nevertheless, I have lost interest in exploring delicious food since moving to Chicago. Even so, I have gradually gotten used to looking for healthy food instead of the finest food. Portion sizes, the convenience of restaurants, and determinants of food choices have made me desire to enjoy meals at somewhere.

Food portion sizes are one of the obvious factors to influence how much I dine despite my appetite. I can easily find standard portion sizes of dishes or small sizes of snacks in Macau such as bubble waffles, food strewers, egg tarts, and dumplings. I am able to take numerous types of food in a meal, and prices of food are relatively reasonable.  However, the serving sizes of food in the United States are typically extremely large, especially in the Midwest. Apparently, I feel depressed that I cannot eat some scrumptious types of cuisines all together. My stomach might hurt if I tend to ingest large amount of food at the same time. Consequently, most customers choose to pack the remainder of food left on plates into containers to take home. Moreover, the prices of enormous food are overpriced, so it is difficult for me to afford those pricy food for consuming every meal.

In addition, great dining options placed in convenient locations are very important to me. Since I do not have driver’s license in Chicago, I have to spend time taking public transportation or wait for someone to give me a ride to arrive at those restaurants further away. Unlike street food in Macau, gourmet food trucks in Chicago and good eateries are located in particular spots. Generally, I will also try to keep away from those unhealthy food restaurants placed in conspicuous positions in order to be tempted to dine at there. Furthermore, I can only stay around the college to have a meal or bring my homemade food due to short period of lunch time break and my slow speed of eating.

Although I can look for a variety of food and participate in food festivals in Chicago, I have become less courageous and receptive to try the flavor of food here. Cuisines like hamburgers and dim sum make me feel extremely greasy and sweet. Wonderful noodles and small portions of hot dishes cannot easily be found in the Windy City. Likewise, limited food choices are offered to select such as salads and sandwiches. Because I lack basic culinary skills, I must strive to cook simple cuisines like noodles. Perhaps my taste of food has changed, but I prefer to eat more vegetables and healthy food rather than convenient or tangy food.

Attempting to find delicious food have started to become less appealing to me since I left Macau. I can only try to take healthy food to replace fancy foods. The prices, serving sizes and restaurant locations are all factors affecting my appetite. With the weird side effect of encountering culture shock in the United States, I get frustrated and exhausted trying to rebuild everything. Nevertheless, enjoying good food and smelling fresh during all day are still my favorite things to do in life. If I could earn enough money, I would like to visit those favorite restaurants in my ideal destinations and taste all delectable dishes and desserts that satisfy the list of my desires.