Pun intended. Lol. I know it's a super bad idea for a person who loves food to be "torturing" herself (me) by watching nothing but food. On the flip side, it's really more than just the food I'm after.
I'm after the stories behind the success of the food businesses featured by Tikim TV on YouTube. While I enjoy a good "food trippin'" on my screen, I'm amazed by how these people pulled themselves up from the "mud" to get to where they are now.
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| Image from Tikim TV YouTube Channel |
The Tikim TV channel reminds me of Humans of New York, a photography blog on Facebook that features portraits of people in New York, captioned with snippets from their life stories.
It is the life story part that gravitated me toward the channel. Though I love food, I like stories about life even more. Like this particular episode about a man who used to live on the streets of Manila. It fascinated me how he turned things around for himself after being incarcerated--by selling hotdogs. Not just your typical hotdog sandwich, I must say. You can watch that episode to know the full deets.
There were also these small business owners who were best friends with a passion for, well, food--specifically the Lumpiang Shanghai, a famed Filipino food mostly known to be a staple at parties.
Like I said, I love food. Most of us do, right? But what made the show a tad bit more interesting were the people's stories behind these rising businesses. Sure, I can find these kinds of shows on Netflix, like Street Food (my favorite is Latin America). The show's produced professionally while being available to watch on YouTube. That's great for everyone who doesn't have much to spend on Netflix or Prime Video subscription. But to me, the best part is that it tugs on your heartstrings really well. As in, tagos sa puso. The sincerity and truthfulness were all captured, combined with a refreshing take on cinematography--not the usual content you'd see on the internet or TV. It's not really a food vlog but more of a gastronomic documentary. Most importantly, it highlights the Filipino food culture, the love for family, perseverance, and resilience. Overall, it's a feel-good YouTube channel. The only downside is that I get hungry every time. LOL.