My phone buzzed at 3 AM with a message from my aunt in Vancouver: 'Just dreamed about proper cheong fun from that stall near our old apartment. Woke up craving it so bad my stomach hurts.'

I knew exactly what she meant. There's something about Cantonese food that gets under your skin when you're far from home.

That same morning, I stumbled upon the National Games 'Taste of Guangzhou' campaign while scrolling through my feed. The timing felt almost magical.

Seeing those steaming baskets of rice rolls, the glossy soy sauce chicken, and the creamy double-layer milk pudding in the official video—it hit me right in the nostalgia bone. I could almost smell the aromatic spices from my childhood breakfasts.

What really got me was Olympic champion Zhang Jiewen's food recommendations. Remember watching her badminton matches with my family? Now she's pointing to the exact same street food joints we used to frequent.

There's this one creative dish called 'Cool Ping Pong'—little dumplings shaped like table tennis balls floating in clear broth. It made me smile thinking about my cousin in Australia who used to play ping pong with me using textbooks as paddles.

I immediately screen-recorded the video and sent it to my aunt, along with a voice message: 'Remember that place near the school where we'd get congee after morning market? They're featuring it in the Games promotion!'

Her reply came hours later due to the time difference: 'The video keeps buffering for me here. Can you send more pictures? I want to show my Canadian friends what real Cantonese food looks like.'

That's when it hit me—the frustration of trying to share these cultural moments with family overseas. The buffering videos, the geo-blocked content, the pixelated images that don't do the food justice.

It's not just about missing flavors anymore; it's about missing connections. My aunt can't just hop on a video call and watch the National Games food coverage with me in real-time. She can't participate in the online discussions or vote for her favorite dishes.

But here's what I've been doing—taking screenshots of every food post, describing the textures and smells in detail over WhatsApp, and even attempting to recreate some dishes using her old recipes.

Last weekend, I tried making the 'Fruitful Harvest' creative dish—a colorful arrangement of seasonal fruits representing athletic achievement. It turned out... well, let's just say it looked more like a fruit massacre than a masterpiece. But when I sent the photo to my aunt, she replied with crying-laughing emojis: 'At least you tried! The heart is what counts.'

This whole experience has made me realize how food connects us across distances. Even through pixelated videos and delayed messages, the memory of those flavors creates bridges.

So to everyone sharing these food moments with loved ones overseas—keep sending those photos, keep describing the tastes, keep the culinary connections alive. Because sometimes, a picture of steaming cheong fun can feel like a warm hug from home.

What about you? What foods from home do your overseas friends and family miss most? Share in the comments—maybe we can start our own virtual food tour!

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