India, a fun place to be!!!!

I always thought of India as a cool place. I really want to go there when I am in College or even after that. Just sometime in my life. There is a lot cool cool places like Andaman Islands, Living Root Bridge, Indian Ghost Town of Bhangarh and Chadar The Frozen River Trek, I want to go there because they all look very interesting and fun to go to. In East India, a popular dish is fish and rice. I don’t really like fish, but rice is one of my favorite foods. The thing I think is most cool about food in North India is it is reflected off valleys. Would you like to go to India some day?

Indian Food!

Before we get into the blog, one fact about me is that I hate Indian food. Well wait a minute hate is a strong word, let me just say I very dislike Indian food. SO, let's get straight into the blog.

You are probably wondering why I chose to do my blog on Indian food. I choose this because, it is very different from American food and it seems interesting to learn about. I have noticed that Indian food has a very strong smell. This is probably because of all the different spices they use. Spice as you know also affects the taste, and I really don't like spicy things so that makes a big impact on weather I like the food or not. All of the spices come from the trading between India, Europe and Asia. One food I do like that is Indian is their desserts they make. My favorite dessert is Gulab Jamun. Gulab Jamun is a dessert that looks like a doughnut and you get to dip it in syrup. That is probably the only Indian food I would eat again.

Do you like Indian food? If you do what is your favorite thing to eat that is Indian food. If you don't like Indian food, tell me why?

Curry is BAE

Curry. Most people think India... or you could think about the awesome, three-point making king, Stephen Curry. Unfortunately, that's not what we're going to talk about. Sorry Steph, I'd love to talk about you, but this is about CURRY, the food. First of all, what is curry? Curry is a very common dish that originates from India. There are many different kinds of curry. For example, some of the many are Chicken curry or Panang Curry. I thought curry was just one type! The dish also has a lot of spices. I mean, India is practically the spice country. Curry isn't just in India, it's all over Southern Asia! In fact, you can find it in almost all of Asia and across the world. Countries like Thailand and Japan are also known for their curry. Some of the spices used in the food are turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, fenugreek and more. I'm sure you've heard of at least a couple of the spices mentioned because some of them are really common. So many different cool spices for just one dish! If you've eaten describe it! What do you think about this interesting food? Do you think you'd like it?

Pessimistic Tour Guide

Hello.

I am your tour guide to India, (although I'd prefer showing you to China because I have more knowledge about it). So um, let's just do that painful packing and get our phones so we can take all the selfies we want.

You know what's the first stop? It's Agra, because if you haven't gazed upon the Taj Mahal yet, that just might be the place for you to visit. 22,000 people and 17 years creates a satisfying end product; a massive grand marble structure looming before you accompanied by the trimmed trees and clear pool that is sure to impress you (or not). If the Taj Mahal isn't enough for you, let's go eat some food with a taste of history. Spicy curry in Agra was flavored by the Indian-Islamic Mughal Empire, which had stretched along India through 16th to 18th century. The curry is made with dried fruits, nuts, and spices, so if you have a peanut allergy, I don't suggest sampling it. If you want a desert, throw in some fruits, grains, maybe even lentils, and you get some halwa. If your taste buds differ from that, maybe use semolia and ghee, and top it with some nuts.....right, if you have a peanut allergy, that really seems to be restricting you from food in India. But, unfortunately, that is all for now in Agra, because we still have many amazing places to go, even if you don’t like long car rides. So we’re off to New Delhi.

What’s so special about New Delhi? They have the Jantar Mantar, with 13 astronomy instruments. Wouldn’t you like to see astronomy instruments and science stuff? (Awkward silence) It’s more of a historical observatory, but it looks pretty cool! Now, there’s always the food aspect of every place, right? So let’s look at some famous dishes featured. There’s paranthas, which take shape and looks of a tortilla filled up with some stuffing of choice. Butter chicken also sounds like a good decision when you’re ordering, made on accident when some cooks tossed in sauce consisting of butter, tomato, and chicken juices with chicken pieces. If you don’t want chicken then why don’t you try some kebabs, with grilled chunks of meat seasoned with Indian spices. If you want something different and try some soup, there’s Nihari a soup with meat served along with rotis. If you’ve seen a lot of chinese foods, you might know this type of dumpling (as I said I would rather do China) similar to momos. These dumplings have a variety of stuffings, so to those vegetarians out there you can get vegetarian momos. However, that’s enough talk about New Delhi.  

Let’s go to Bangalore, it should be fairly exciting. The place we’re featuring here is Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. We can translate Lal Bagh to The Red Garden. The Red Garden has 240 acres of scenic views, showcasing about 1,000 species of plants and trees over 100 years old. However, 100 years is nothing compared to the ancient rocks dating back to 3,000 million years ago. The biggest feature of The Red Garden is the Glass House, probably the most well known artistic structure in the garden. It was originally going to be based on the model of the Crystal Palace in London. However, the Crystal Palace burnt down after setting fire on accident, so the Crystal Palace in India wasn’t going to happen. Now the model of the Crystal Palace is the Glass House. So, I present to you, the Crystal Palace of India.

Enough about places. Let’s discuss about a festivity. You might want see one of the most important festival in India, Diwali festival, festival of the lights. You can imagine why it would be called festivals of the lights. There’s all sorts of light, clay lamps, strings of electric lights, bonfires, and maybe you’ll even see some fireworks. Other than that, people worship Lakshmi, and let him in by opening doors and windows, then lighting lamps almost as if it was a welcome sign. However, interestingly, in different areas of India Hindus interpret this day differently. North India celebrates the story of King Rama return after he defeated Ravana. South India thinks of this day as the day Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. Lastly, western India believes Lord Vishnu sent King Bali to rule the nether on the day of the diwali festival, but all have something in common. They all feature the good overcoming the evil.

Well, sadly, your tour to India is over. Thanks for the money though, bye. What did you enjoy the most about the tour?

The Holi festival = AWESOME

Ever want to throw paint and water and all over people. Well you can for the Holi festival. It is a two day festival that takes place in India and, Nepal. First off I just need to say that this is the most awesome thing that has ever happened to the history of the world. Second this is a huge holiday/culture for people in this region or country. It also seems like this huge awesome thing that people in the community that everyone is a part of and every one loves it. Third one year I want to go there on the day and just have some fun and, just go crazy and have fun. What do you think about  this amazingly fun festival.

Nepalese Food

Nepal is a place of many amazing and different things from in the United States, but in particular the food is different. In Nepal the foods tend to have plenty of spices, lentils, rice (other grains are often used instead of rice), lean meats, and many more foods are used in the traditional diet. This diet is healthier than many other areas in South Asia. Also let's be honest the food in Nepal is way healthier than in the United states home to a double quarter pounder hamburger. In addition to this Nepalese food has heavy influences from India because of the use of a high amount of spices.

Although Nepal has many different dishes, there are a few that are more common than others. One main cuisine that is commonly known is Dal Bhat. This dish consists of lentils, rice (oftenly exchanged for roti a type of bread, of just another grain), along with a side of something more heavy. To learn more about food from Nepal click here.

If I were to go to South Asia to see the different foods I am not sure of where I would go. So which country in South Asia would you go to see and taste the food?

Dashain Festival in Nepal!

Nepal has many celebrations but the longest celebration is Dashain. It is the most important festival in Nepal and usually happens in late September to mid October after the end of monsoon season. If you were wondering monsoon season is a season where weather is hot and wet at times. Anyway, Dashain is where the people of Nepal celebrate “A Day of Victory Over Demon”. It is celebrated for 15 days and people return from all over the world to celebrate this festival. The most important days of this festival are the first, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth.  Next, This festival is interesting to me because so many people come to celebrate this. Also it lasts for 15 DAYS! That’s a long celebration! One question I have about this is do they rest at night and celebrate all day, celebrate at night and rest during the day, or just celebrate constantly for 15 days. I mean I don’t think they would do the last one but what do I know? They could if they wanted to. This is my post about the Dashain celebration in Nepal. My question to finish up is if you could would you come to this festival and why?

YUM YUM YUMMY INDIAN FOODS IN MY TUM TUM TUMMY!

Hey guys, do you like Indian foods?

(Just in case if you didn’t know what Indian foods are. DON'T THEY LOOK YUMMY?)

Well, I love Indian foods, especially CURRY!  

There are many kinds of curry.  Like that curry in the picture, and I can’t name them all because there are so many of them!  There are almost sixty kinds of curry, according to the Wikipedia. (Woah!)

Curries are usually  made of fresh or dried spices, herbs, peppers, and other ingredients like seafoods, meat, and vegetables.  Indians eat curry with rice, or the flat breads called naan ( it tastes sooo good ), etc.  If you want to find an indian restaurant in Okemos, use this map :3  What’s your favorite Indian food?

DANNNNNN THAT'S A GREAT VIEW!!!

Have you ever wanted to travel to Nepal?  There are so many fun things to do in Nepal!  one of the most popular things are climbing Poon Hill. Did you that Poon Hill is one of the many distant peaks found found on the Annapurna circuit? Almost everywhere around the Annapurna trail is a glimpse of the dazzling mountainside! The trek is so long that it takes 15-20 days on foot to walk from Kathmandu to reach the capital. But even then you have to make a stop in Pokhara. There is beautiful waterfalls, mossy forests and much more!  If you got the chance to hike on the Annapurna Circuit, would you? Who likes DAN AND PHIL?!?!?!

Holi curry, that is a lot of color!!!! ;)

 The country of India holds about 1.16 BILLION people. That's like 18% of the entire world's population, causing for a very interesting mix of people, culture and traditions. With delicious curry, vivid spices and unique and brilliant festival/holidays. The most recent of which was the Festival of Colour, Holi. It is celebrated on the last full moon of the lunar month Phalguna (usually late February, early March) and this year it was on March, 24. The people of India dress in white to be a blank canvass for strangers, family, poor and the rich alike to paint on and have colorful powders and water thrown on them in the open streets.The holiday was originally for warding off evil spirits, but now it is where the people of India share happiness to each other through bright and vibrant colors. Would you want to join in on the festivities if you were there?

Dal Bat to Car

I know you may think it sounds like Dal bat to car, but it's not. It is a food that's a part of the Nepalese cuisine. It is Dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a soup that is made up of lentils and spices. The Dal is usually served over something like rice with curry. The sides are chutney and sometimes pickle which can be fresh or fermented. The other varying things are lemon, lime, and fresh green chili. I would love something like this because I love rice and anything with spices. If you had the chance to eat Dal-bhat-tarkari would you take it?

What Do Kids Like To Do In India?

What do kids like to do for fun in India? Well I have the answer to that. In India kids don’t play electronics because most of them don’t have enough money to buy a gaming console, an iphone 6s, computers, tablets, or even a TV. Since the weather in India is mostly nice kids like to play outside a lot, when I say a lot I mean a lot! In India kids love to play cricket. Cricket is probably the most popular sport in India. If you walk into any typical Indian neighborhood you’re bound to find at least a few kids playing cricket. Now, cricket isn’t the only sport in India, many kids also love play soccer, badminton, hockey, carrom, and some Indian games. Over here kids are encouraged to play outside, in India kids are encouraged to not play outside and to focus on their studies. Would you rather do this for fun or whatever you do for fun?

India is it really the place to be?

From Bollywood films, to cricket, to festivals to the Taj Mahal. India is the place to be, popular because of their culture and lifestyles is a truly cool place to visit. The lifestyle and spirituality there is just very intriguing. I have always wanted to visit there. I just find the food, the culture just over state of mind breathtaking. I have always found henna interesting too. It is a blend of plants ground into dye then put into a tube to then be painted on parts of the body such as arms and ankles. The spirituality and state mind seems totally different from that of people in the US it seems like a more relaxed and calm environment. After reading this would you want to visit India?

Chow in Maldives

Maldives has many different styles of food for you to eat there.  Their main food items used in making meals are tuna, coconut, and starchy items.  Curry is a very common dish there and I have had it before, because my grandparents used to make it in England.  The coconuts they use there are used for their milk, oil, and meat(or fruit if you want to call it that.)  The way they use their tuna is they will either eat it fresh, or they can dry it and preserve it for later.  In Maldives they don’t just have one type of curry but hundreds of different kinds.  Each one has a different spice to change the flavor, or they add a different meat/rice.

Have you ever wanted to go to India? Well, if you have wanted to visit India than you definitely should. You should visit India because  There are lots of new foods, different events and cultures you don't normally see, and India also has many species of animals you can't see anywhere else in the world. I want to visit India because of those reason and I think you should to! A Lot of the food eaten in India includes many spicy foods and a lot of vegetables like tomatoes. A few species of animals in India include tigers, snakes, monkeys, and a lot more! Many of the cultures in India are based around hinduism which is a very old religion practiced in India. Which one of these reasons would you like to visit India and why?

Boun Bang Fai Rocket Festival

Every year in May there is a rocket festival held in Luang Prabang, Laos. It is held during the rain season in Laos. Everyone around comes and watches the spectacle as they hopefully launch high in the air on this day only. There is always lots of  LaoLao (a whiskey made locally out of rice) for the person who launches their rocket the highest in the sky. Anyone who fires a  dud gets nothing but taunted. The reason the people hold this festival is to honor and pray to their rain god for abundant rain for their rice crops.
What do you think about this festival?

Indian Baseball Players

     Have you seen the movie Million Dollar Arm? It is a true baseball movie about how Americans brought Indian cricket players to play in the MLB. There aren't many baseball players in India. Most people haven't even heard of baseball, but they succeeded their goal. They brought two pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel. Rinku is left handed and Dinesh is right handed. Both had to leave their families and come to the United States. They both got signed to the Pittsburgh Pirates. If I were one of them I would go. Would you come to the United States to play Major League Baseball?

So punny and interesting laws in India

India laws sound so boring because what could be interesting about laws? Well they are the most absurd laws ever and I got to say they aren’t at all boring!  First, it is legal to commit suicide but if you fail you will be punished. In other words if you're still alive then you’re in trouble!

Next, if you have a third child in Kerala you have to pay Rs 10,000. That may sound like a lot but actually it is about $150 which is still wasting money. QUICK JOKE OF THE DAY: I would tell you a joke about chemistry but I know you wouldn’t get a reaction. #LOLOLOL! Last but not least, all motor inspectors in Andhra Pradesh have to have good teeth.  Why does that even matter? I have no idea. Oh! One more thing. If you want to be an Indian Air Force Pilot, you have to make sure your legs are long enough…What if you're short like me but you are the best pilot in the world? #LOL! In conclusion, after reading about the suicide law, the long legs law, the third child law and the teeth law has you opinion changed about laws?  Do you know any other crazy laws in India?