We are all very excited that research into a COVID-19 vaccine is reaching the advanced stage... and that we may once again begin dreaming about summer holidays abroad. In our fourth episode of season two, the team tries to encourage each other to visit their home country. Listen for tips on visiting India, the UK, Greece - and find out where our first international podcast will be broadcast from!
Hosted by Imnah Varghese @potted_ivy
With:
We are all very excited that research into a COVID-19 vaccine is reaching the advanced stage... and that we may once again begin dreaming about summer holidays abroad. In our fourth episode of season two, the team tries to encourage each other to visit their home country. Listen for tips on visiting India, the UK, Greece - and find out where our first international podcast will be broadcast from!
Hosted by Imnah Varghese @potted_ivy
With:
Hello Hello and welcome to the third episode of season two of the Incongruent Today we are going to be discussing countries and places that you can visit around the globe and within the UAE on that note let us ask the very excited Arjun about his hometown Arjun What can you tell us about India and where we can visit India if we so wish to.
Arjun Radeesh:So, turn North India it's each part of India gives you a different vibe to be honest because pomegranates... I'm eating pomegranate,
Stephen King:Swallow, swallow swallow and then talk. Why are you even trying? You we are on record we can we can cut and start. You don't have to keep fighting through...
Arjun Radeesh:Each okay we have like 29 states I assume that you have 29 states. So, talking about India India has around it's having one of the largest number of blank official languages. So, professionally there are 40 different languages in the country where Hindi is sort of like the master Language and English is sort of like everyone knows the big deal. So if you if you weren't knowing English also you can still survive in India from fact but taste not
Stephen King:Arjun, where where are we going to go? Like don't tell us if you're going to talk about India like there's you could be on the air for three lifetimes there is so much there. Give us give us something that we can really get you know, specifics.
Arjun Radeesh:You have to visit places like Shimla so similar is basically a sort of like it can be a mini Greece because it's sort of like snow you can track and all these things Shimla, then Himachal Pradesh and sort of like Chima is also bartering with Nepal, where it's sort of like you can like sort of go like see Mount Everest to Shimla, and Emanuel Parish, Punjab. All these Punjabis are like born with Pakistan. Okay, so border countries are like so good ones, and Punjab it's sort of like you go for food because their food is amazing. And if you want to vote for a party, best to go to Goa, okay, though I sort of like the party capital like coal. When you come to the south, your food, the food actually hits, like you can like literally your taste buds get simulated like a lot of times
Imnah:What's your favourite dish from the south
Arjun Radeesh:From the South Biriyani in India is basically originated from our own from my own state, so it is also in my state, fortunately. So it's sort of like biryani is sort of a big thing and which I still love like the minute I die if I eat biryani till the minute I die, I'll be like, Wow, so that's there and if you want to and also there are certain islands also which is called the living Tetris. So they're also you will see like, we have islands such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, okay. So they are like sort of a little close to Sri Lanka. So you can see from Adam and Nicobar Sri Lanka from like an A forest site. Okay, so, like I can say less than 50 kilometres away. Sri Lanka is there. And sort of like, you go to Tamil Nadu close close. Kannada was well known for quotes, and also the future iPhone manufacturing hub.
Imnah:Oh, wow, that was a random. Alright. Thank you so much. We can talk about you're very passionate about India and different places to visit. So listeners if any of you is ever curious, I want to plan a trip to India, Arjun is your guy. You can hit him up. And also I do know that in Kerala, there are these really cool floating restaurant because you didn't mention there's a lot of water in this house. Yeah, these restaurants that look like boats, and they're all decorated. Sometimes they have trees growing out of them. It's actually very cool how they manage to keep it like floating and moving around. And I hear the food is amazing. So that's definitely something to try. Last, maybe you can go next and tell us about your favourite place to be.
Stephen King:So England. It's a beautiful.
Imnah:What about England?
Stephen King:Just I just think just the just the word, the name. It just Mang just gives this whole perception and the historical connotations of ancient Empire and Glory.
Arjun Radeesh:Wow, and a trumpet and all those like the effect
Stephen King:it is okay so okay, but seriously were in England there's a couple of really lovely places that people should really kick out. One of them is down on Brighton. So Brighton is on the coast down south east about an hour outside of London. There's a lot of fun that's happening down there. They have a lot of arts and culture festivals. They have this thing called the Fringe Festival which takes place over the summer where they have these comedians and acts all the way through for a good good six, seven weeks, I think it is over the over the course of the summer. It's a bed and breakfast town. It has very nice vegan restaurants and all of this kind of nice food. And as I say it's like an hour out of Central London by train on the other side of the country, which is also on the coast. We have Blackpool. Now Blackpool is the UK version of of Dubai land parks and resorts. It's an entire Well, it's an island town, which is based on the beach and it's got a big wheel. It's got a tower, which has a glass floor which you can stand on. It's got the Blackpool Tower. It's got theme parks, it's got huge rollercoasters, it's got a sandy beach and by it is actually the second I think second best beach in the world. Apart from Dubai. The only problem is they rarely stopped raining. So unless of course, you're very lucky, you might get bit wet, but they have lots of shows magician shows comedy shows. It's where you find the very best fudge, caramel fudge and candy floss. That's that's where it all comes from. And you can get a little donkey ride up and down the beach if you're of a certain weight that the donkey will be able to carry. And, and they have these little beautiful little horse drawn carts, just like like a pumpkin like Cinderella thing. So you can get a ride up and down the prom in a horse drawn cart. And it's a lot of fun for all the family. So those are those are the two areas in England that I would probably recommend as a visit. If you if once the whole COVID crisis and lockdown all become fixed, you'll see one of the best places in the north of England, one of the best place in the south.
Imnah:Pretty cool, pretty cool. Hi, Lydia, tell us what's your play.
Lydia:So Hello, everyone, I'm from Greece. Greece is one of the ancient, most ancient countries in the world. It is a cross word of cultures and history. We have a very warm climate, and a very Mediterranean cuisine. So a little bit of background. Democracy originated from Greece from the dating back from their first entering VC. And all the Greek philosophy has paved the way for the Western culture, and some of the greatest thinkers in our world. Fun fact, two of the ancient monuments that we have are two of the seven Ancient World wonders that is the statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the colours of roads. And so if you come to Greece, there's so many places to visit. And it was very hard for me to choose from them. But you should go to the capital of Greece, which is Athens and go to the centre and visit the Acropolis, which is situated on a rocky outcrop. And we in Acropolis you will see the Parthenon which was built in dedication or the goddess Athena because the city took the name prepare. So Athens, it means Athena and you can also strong in one st rocky which is on your list. And you can also visit the Greek parliament which is very nearby, which is called signum. Also you can visit Scylla Nikki, which is the CO capital of Greece with a white tower that faces the port and you see an amazing view of the scene. Um, so Greece has over 2000 Islands, so it was it was very hard for me to choose. But one of the islands of you should visit is definitely Crete because it's the biggest island of Greece. And you can road trip you can find so many places to go. You can go to the mountain, and you can also see the sea and swim. We have amazing food. That's something that I have to save. I'll talk about it later. But you should also visit me congressmen Congress is the island a very cosmopolitan island that everyone goes there to party I have to say this but also at the same time, you can relax and you can do many different activities. So mechanist is I think one of the most famous islands of Greece, you should visit. However, if you're looking for something more romantic, and with a sunset view, Santorini is very famous for it. And those two islands come from my are in the cyclin complex. So you can also go and visit roads, roads is facing Turkey. Right is a very famous island to you. Um, and also you can visit Corfu, Corfu, it's close to Italy, and Corfu was controlled by many foreign powers such as Italians and British. And it's a very nice Island because it also has influences from those cultures to so about the food I think a very very famous food that you guys may also know is to like he said, like he's basically PETA wrapped up and you have donor, either pork or chicken based on your preferences, and we also have vegetarian options. So yes, like is a very famous food. We also have stuffed vegetable vegetables with rice and moussaka. moussaka is basically how do I how do I describe this book is basically baked pasta with beef and cheese, if that makes sense. Yeah. And we also have very good Greek coffee. It's very strong. And yeah, that's all about peace. It's a very famous summer destination. If you guys come please let like let me know I'll be your tourist guide. However, I during this time, I cannot stretch enough that you we have to be careful hashtag stay safe stay at home because Greece is going under lockdown. And the UK too. But guys, please stay safe and wear your masks.
Imnah:Yeah, that was a really no.
Arjun Radeesh:Like, Lydia, I actually saw like a video yesterday like a blogger talking about the sereni Islands like Honestly speaking, like, obviously, model views.
Lydia:I wish I could show you pictures. Like I wish this podcast would be as interactive as me showing you pictures because like my words do not are not equivalent of what you can see there. Honestly.
Arjun Radeesh:Yeah, definitely.
Imnah:And there you have it, folks, if you're ever going down to Greece, you have a tour guide in Lydia. So the place that I wanted to recommend to you guys actually was like imma it's the northernmost summer of the UAE. And it's a very peaceful, smaller town compared to the rest of the UAE. So if you say in Dubai or Sharjah, or any of these busy places, it's a good change of pace for you to be in Rasul Allah. And also, another reason I'd recommend is if you were planning to have a staycation or if you're planning to make a trip abroad, but you can no longer do that because of restrictions. It's honestly worth your while to just have a drive down to Austin. It's not very long on car. And I think there are also buses available. So you'd be able to go down to the beach. There are a number of nice hotels there. Waldorf Astoria is one I would recommend. They do really cool things during the Christmas time. Obviously, we don't know what that will look like this year. But I'm sure they will still have their big beautiful Christmas tree up in the reception. It's definitely a sight that you don't want to miss. So you can do a number of things you can visit the mountain. Jebel Jace is really such a tourist spot in the UAE if you haven't been there yet. I do not know what you're doing with your life. But there are honestly two types of people. The kind of gone to double J's at least like 14 times, which is me. And the kind of like, oh, I've heard of it. My friends have gone through it. I've never actually made the plans and gone there. Well, this is your chance, go over to Java js. They also have the longest sip line over there. It's a bit on the expensive side. But if you don't have the budget for it, you can definitely just take a hike up there take loads of good pictures. And there are loads of really cheap, affordable restaurants all over Russell Khaimah. So yeah, depending on your tastes, you can really find anything. And there are lots of these little hidden cute cafes. They have these great aesthetics to them. different themes going on. But yeah, you just need to know where to look and if you need any recommendations on your girl.
Lydia:What's your favourite country from the ones that you have visited?
Unknown:That's a good one. That's a good question. Yeah,
Stephen King:my favourite country has got to be the one I go back to all the time the Netherlands. I was almost gonna move there. I love the nature. I love cycling. I love the food. I love the cheese. The people are a little bit anti social. which I like. And it's all everything it has. It's beautiful. It's good art. It's connecting to everything. The public transport works perfectly. Everyone's always on time, which is really which is really good because it matches my OCD. Yeah, and everything is so everything is so laid back. I could get away with wearing my Pokemon jacket anywhere. In no word. No one would know not Pokemon my Pac Man my pack I could get away with wearing my Pac Man jacket anywhere in the Netherlands and everyone would just think is perfectly normal.
Imnah:Isn't it also really cold?
Stephen King:Yeah. Cool. When it gets wet, it gets cold. It is so cold. And yeah, I forgot the last thing that you can live on a boat. Yes, you can live on a houseboat. I've lived I stayed on a houseboat for a while. For a week. It was fun. It's like staying in the caravan.
Imnah:What if you drift away, like never to be seen again?
Stephen King:Stop dreaming Stop dreaming.
Imnah:Question whatever you disclose today, nobody ever sees you again. The Netherlands never come back.
Stephen King:Yeah, it was almost almost was before it keeps the university. So it was I was gonna be Have you ever travelled anywhere in.
Imnah:You know, I've only ever been to India, and here in the UAE and back to very few times to India, so I couldn't really tell you much about the place. But I definitely can tell you about different spots in and around the UAE. I think my favourite as of now is actually the Hatta Wadi hub, I took a trip down there a couple days ago, it was actually so amazing. There's loads to do loads to see. You can go hiking or you can go biking. They're different trails for each you can get a map, make sure to plan your trip where else that you can reach the hottest sign. And if you're wondering what that is, it's basically the Hollywood sign but hot tub version. And there are also these really nice food trucks, you can get two scoops of ice cream for 10 dirhams from the domani bytes food truck. This is a pro tip, make sure you go there and get your ice cream, especially if it's a little on the hotter side towards the afternoon, it would be a really good way to cool off. There's also a bit of water, a tiny pool, there is loads of obstacle, obstacle courses, trampolines. Yeah, there. And if you have a family, and if you just have children, and you want a more slow paced trip, there's also a pond with ducks in them, you can like have bread and like feed the ducks. It's actually It's really fun. It's a great place for a family or for a group of people to go. And it's also open air. So it's great for social distancing. You wouldn't be worried about that as much if you were in a place that was indoors. So yeah, a great place to plan a trip with your friends to. And of course, you can pick one of the trails that go down to the Wadi, and you can see the windy there. It's really really beautiful. But yeah, it's definitely a trip that you should make, especially now that the weather is cooling down. Make sure you put this in your calendars.
Stephen King:Lydia, you've been across Europe have you I'm assuming you've took advantage of shingon
Lydia:so I've travelled to lots of places actually I every year I make a list of to the countries that are visited and I visited in total 17 countries. To be honest, I like exotic places. So like from the place I visited I think Thailand is one of the top countries and destinations with PP islands. Phuket and James Bond Island my favourite because you can dive into the ocean and see the corals and also there's the exotic part exotic part with the coconuts and pineapples and the warm weather. I love warm weather. I hate the cold but like for skiing and all that winter sports I love Switzerland and the opposite. So France you know, Italy, Austria. Europe, I like one of the My favourite European destinations for sure. Spain for sure. And Portugal. And then if you want something more cool, it's Netherlands very good destination also the courts which is something that I like in The Hague, and in England with the English Breakfast amazing. So yeah.
Stephen King:Arjun, have you ever been anywhere?
Arjun Radeesh:Yes, I have been to Singapore.
Stephen King:Oh look at you.
Arjun Radeesh:Singapore is Oh, that's like okay. The Singapore on the first time I saw something was skydiving or I fly kind of stop. That's sort of like, Singapore has so much things to see. And it's sort of like, you get electronics for cheap, I assume, like, so much stuff, you get too cheap. Even though Singapore is sort of like really sort of, okay to like, compared to Dubai, it's sort of like somewhat pretty expensive to live over there. But it's having so much light, okay, it's more you can get infused with the Asian cuisine, because like, it's adding a mix of Chinese, the Malaysian and total of like, a bit Indian, and sort of like, it's really a blend, like I like, if I have a chance to still go there, I would definitely go. I would definitely go like to Singapore, using the Singapore Airlines because the airline is so amazing. And it's sort of like really, really, really good, like a very tropical environment, like the like, it's because I have my relatives in Singapore. And it's sort of like always, sort of, like not so high temperature or not so low temperature, it's on the bar. And so on the bar, so it's all like really amazing place to go to Singapore. Like I saw, I'm still remembering about things coming up. It's cool.
Stephen King:And where do you think we should all meet? If we all had to do our first ever like international recording, we ought to get together on a party, where it would be the ultimate ultimate destination for a podcast.
Imnah:I think it should be in Hawaii. Why? floral shirts, and you know, the whole flower crown thing. And yeah, I just feel like it would be a really fun episode.
Lydia:For like Fiji Islands, something like that. I don't know. This sounds sounds very exotic, you know?
Stephen King:Yeah. I think i think i think that sounds like an awesome idea.
Arjun Radeesh:I would say New Zealand.
Lydia:Yeah.
Arjun Radeesh:New Zealand because you can remove your mask and walk. They have no COVID.You can take off your mask and properly work.
Lydia:What about the jetlag afterwards.
Arjun Radeesh:That's still fine, it's worse to wear a mask.
Imnah:I think it's also worth it. There's like stretches of green and it's actually really beautiful. I have a friend that lives back down in New Zealand. And every time we post something on his Instagram, I get pretty excited because it's just absolutely beautiful. It just raw nature right there. No matter what season in the year it is. It's so gorgeous. So yeah, I wouldn't mind a jet lag for that be honestly.
Arjun Radeesh:It'll be worth the jetlag.
Imnah:Yeah, for sure. All right. Thank you folks for listening in on the third episode of season two of the Incongruent you have our list of countries. We wish you safe and happy travelling. And even if you're still staying home, you don't have to feel uncool. But you can prepare your travel list for the future. When restrictions ease up. We hope that you will stay safe and stay cool. Love you all.