Riya's Ramblings

We spent two really fun days in Busan during our week-long trip to South Korea.

Listen to the previous episode about our stay in Seoul!

Busan is on the southern coast of South Korea and is the country's 2nd largest city.

To get there, we took a high-speed KTX train from Seoul to Busan (No, I did not watch the movie). The train was super nice with free wifi as well!

Our hotel in Busan was also amazing! It was on the 15th floor overlooking the beach, which provided an awesome view.

First, we went to the Gamcheon Culture Village, which is on top of a mountain. We drove to the top (using taxi) and walked our way around, This was a super fun place to walk around because there were many shops set up selling different things, but also there was a beautiful mountain view. One of my favorite things from the trip for sure.

We then went to the beach near our hotel. It was the Sea of Japan, and and was super cold, but I LOVE THE WATER so I enjoyed splashing around it in. It was super pretty with the bridge and mountains and buildings in the background.

The sunset was stunning! The backdrop of the city lights, the ocean and the mountains created one of the best sunsets I have seen.

The next day before our train, we headed back to the beach, dipped our feet again, and then headed to Hwangnyeongsan mountain. We drove up to the observation area, and hiked a little farther up. The view was soooo pretty and our cameras did not do it justice. It was really quiet and peaceful.

It was a quick trip but I am really glad we visited Busan. The train ride, the beach, the people, the markets - all memories I will remember forever!

Email me at [email protected] for a shoutout, just like Elizabeth and Amina this week!

Thank you for listening and remember, listen, rate, and share!

This episode is about my recent vacation to... South Korea!
We spent 4 days in Seoul and 2 in the city of Busan.

The first couple of days we stayed in the Myeongdong area and visited a few very different places.

We visited the Myeongdong palace, Bukchon Hanok village (a traditional Korean village) and the Namsam Tower.
We then went to the Jogyesa Buddhist temple which has 3 very large Buddha statues. I loved watching the prayer service. They have a great set of activities for visitors and we enjoyed making paper lanterns that looked like the lotus flower.
In the evening we went to the Namsam tower – hint: take the cable car up near sunset. Stunning views!
(But watch out for the bugs)
Fun fact: The light on the tower changes based on the air quality in the area.

The next day, me and my mom went shopping. The most popular chain is Olive Young – a great place to buy cosmetics.
We had an absolutely fantastic time walking through the market.
We also walked a bit of the Cheonggyecheon stream that’s an amazing part of the city. It was so surprising to experience this in the middle of the city.
We went back at night and walked around watching the dozens of food stalls selling some delicious food.
We had the local dessert – Bingsu which is shaved ice covered with fruit and other toppings
The next day we went to another Buddhist temple – Bongeunsa – and the Coex mall.

That mall was impressive!
Lots of people, lots of stores and lots of places to sit and just people watch!
That evening we went to the Hangang River park and saw another pretty sunset.
It was lovely to see so many people just hanging out and enjoying the evening.

Shout-out to Ms. Deborah who wrote to me about the recent episode where I talked to Mr. Andre about his extreme marathon! And also to Taylor who told me how she loves listening to this podcast while working out! Anyone can get a shout-out if you email me at [email protected] about anything and everything for a shout-out!

And remember, listen, rate, and share!

I really enjoyed talking to him about the the 24-hr race called “Death by 5K”.

(It started on 8 AM Sat and he ran till 8 AM Sunday)
You are supposed to complete a 5K race every 2.5 hrs for 24 hours!! If you finished sooner than 2.5hrs, you can rest, eat etc. till the next start.
As if this wasn't tough enough, the entire race is on asphalt, so it got really hot during the day.
Even though I did track in middle school and like to run outside of school, this is beyond what I can imagine!

His goal is to qualify for the Boston marathon and he has promised me a follow-up interview when he qualifies.
I wish him all the best and would love to learn about his Boston experience.
His dream-team dinner guest list is:
- Ariana Grande (big fan!)
- President JFK (wants to ask questions about things only he knows)
- Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos (wants to know what it feels like to run such an impressive company)
What did you think? Would you run a race like this?
Email me: [email protected]

Recently, my brother graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and I graduated from 8th grade.

While the events were similar, they had their differences.

The UPenn ceremonies were bigger and fancier but we had a really good ceremony in our school gym too. :)

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee spoke at my brother's commencement and my principal spoke at mine!

Both speeches were awesome and very engaging.

Here's to high school! (for me)

And to a job (for my brother)

Listen to the full episode for full details, and email me at [email protected] for a shout-out. (shout-out to Isabella and Kaitlyn).

Remember, listen, rate, and share!

This is Teacher's Appreciation Week and I am really thankful to all my teachers!

I have enjoyed learning about US history this year and this is an episode about one of my favorite topics - the Lewis & Clark expedition to explore the western parts of the US in the early 1800s.

A big thanks to my history teacher - Mr. Matuska - for making history so interesting.

Email me - [email protected] - with your comments, feedback and ideas, for a shout out!

Remember to listen, rate, and share!

This is part 3 of my 3-part series about my family’s visit

(The first 2 parts were about Mumbai and Pune)

This one is about Vadodara in Gujarat, where my mom grew up.

We took the train from Mumbai and had a great time on the train. I loved the long distance train travel in India, so comfy!

Our Vadodara trip was bitter-sweet because my grandfather (my mom’s father) had passed away 3 weeks before we got there. We stayed in their house – the house where my mom grew up.

I felt privileged to be able to be a part of a religious

But we also spent some time at Surya Hotel – and the hotel breakfast there was epic! I mean, EPICC!

We also visited some local landmarks like the Lakshmi Vilas Palace – where the royal family of Vadodara lives.

The royal family is symbolic now but the palace very cool.

It’s 4 times the size of Buckingham Palace in London :O!!

We also visited Pavagadh – it’s a temple on top of a

It was CRAZY crowded – super packed with so many people! What an experience!

And we saw so many monkeys, who were just chilling.

But we did look like TOTAL tourists at our excitement at seeing the monkeys.

We also went to Sayaji Baug – a beautiful park in the city.

We also visited my mom’s college – and her engineering buildings.

It was fun to see that after visiting my dad’s college (my

And I loved going to D-Mart – a local grocery store. You

We walked to a lot of places and took the auto-rickshaw for longer distances.

We had some great food including some street food which was absolutely delicious! Once again, the food was one of the best parts! :) :)

Vadodara is a super chill city compared to Mumbai and Pune, but it has an undeniable charm!

Shout out to Priyanka fai – for emailing me about my Mumbai episode – and to Natalie and Aimery for telling me how much they liked my travel episodes.

Email me at [email protected]

Remember, listen, rate, share!

In this episode, I ramble on and on about the solar eclipse! 

I was in kindergarten in 2017 when we had a partial solar eclipse in our area. Today's was a total eclipse!

Since I was in the path of totality, it was a breathtaking, once in a lifetime experience. It was so pretty, and I just wanted to share my experience with it!

Remember, you can email me at [email protected] about anything, and you will get a shoutout! 

Thanks for listening and remember, listen, rate, and share!

(Stay tuned for part 3 of 3 of my India travel series)

This is part 2 of my travel series about my recent trip to

My father’s younger brother (my “kaka” in Gujarati) lives in

Pune is about 4 hours by road from Mumbai. It’s higher in

This was my first time visiting Pune and it was so fun! I loved the vibes of the city a lot!

Throughout our visit, we enjoyed the food, the local attractions, and, more food!

Pune is a very historical city so we did a heritage walk of many old sites in the center of Pune. It was tiring but very educational. We had an amazing guide from an organization called INTACH. Listen for more details about the tour!

We also visited Aga Khan Palace – where Mahatma Gandhi was kept under house arrest during India’s war of independence. Super fun and educational!

Pune is also known for it's ancient temples, so we visited a ton! My favorite was Pataleshwar, an ancient temple, which is more than 1200 years old!

That absolutely blew my mind!!

Another fun activity we did was taking the stairs up a mountain called “Parvati”. There were so many super cute puppies on the way!

There was a museum about the Peshawas on top. And also a temple, so that was fun. :

It wasn’t a hard hike for me but I could see the adults in

The food was so good – different from Mumbai but still so so good!

Puna missal – spicy bean curry + local bread (pav)

Vada paav – fried potatoes + chutnies + local break (pav)

Marathi thaali – multiple curries/subzis, daals and sweets.

Listen for more things we did!

Overall the city felt a little more laid back than Mumbai, but there some similarities, like the street dogs. People were so mean to them!

Shout outs to my fais (my dad’s cousin sisters) - Kinjal fai

And to Harper and Emerson from my soccer team!

If you live in Pune or have visited Pune, email me and tell me what you thought of my experiences at [email protected]! You will get a shout-out!

This episode is the first part of a series about my recent

This episode is about my experiences in Mumbai – the city

My father grew up in Mumbai and my grandmother (‘dadi’ in

I was visiting after 8 years (yes, really!) and so didn’t

It was wonderful to meet them all – uncles, aunts, cousins,

We also visited a few notable places:

1.      VJTI – my father’s engineering college. It was

2.      Gateway of India – this was built over a 100 years

We also enjoyed the local trains and rickshaws, something

But one of the absolute best parts was the FOOD!  From home made delicacies to delicious party food in restaurants to McDonalds (yep!) – we had the Best. Time. Ever. with all

I definitely wish we had more time in Mumbai – there’s still

Shout out to Priyanka fai (my dad’s cousin sister) and Rheana

Email me: [email protected], about anything anc everything for a shoutout!

Have you been to Mumbai? Would like to go? Let me know! Ask

And as always, listen, rate, and share! 

In this episode, I interviewed my soccer coach – Nic Heffernan.

He started a soccer club in 2023 after moving to Texas and I

He grew up in Brighton, UK (hence the name of our club –

He moved to the US as a D1 college player, and went to Montana.

Did you know that Texas is the heart of youth soccer?

Nic’s goal is to make a difference in how players play and improve in the game, as he elaborates on in the episode. You will also learn a lot about the behind-the-scenes in creating a soccer club!

I loved hearing about his ultimate vision about the club, both

His 3 dinner guests:

I loved how he turned around the discussion to me and this

After asking why I didn’t have a lot of confidence, he explained

And even at the highest of the highest levels, people make mistakes.

A big tip he gave was to take a breath and focus on the

Email me at [email protected] for a shoutout, just like Aminah, Naomi, and Jackson for this episode! Also, to

And like always, listen, rate, and share!