When I was a teenager, I used to spend my days talking to hawkers in Singapore and Malaysia. It was just a hobby I had. I would go in search of tasty food (usually noodles, or soup) and I would talk to them about how they cooked stuff. Knowing how to speak Hokkien / Teochew / Malay felt like a super power in terms of soaking up all these memories and ideas.
Today, I often make clear Chinese soups by adding an apple core: a trick one of these soup dudes taught me.