Riya's Ramblings

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. And wish you all the best for the new year!

Let's get started with a 'knock-knock' joke:

Knock-knock

Who’s there?

Razor

Razor who?

Raise your glass to the new year! Woo hoo!

Over Christmas break, we spent 6 days in an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico.

Honestly, the beach next to the resort was meh – but the resort itself was really good.

Lots of food, many pools and unlimited drinks. I mean, come on!

We also met my uncle - my dad's brother - and his family. We saw them after almost 5 years so it was fun to catch up and just hang out.

The resort had many different options for food - from a buffet to a cafe bar and many restaurants.

For dinner we went to a few restaurants in the resort. We had a variety of cuisines to choose from – Yucatan (the local area), Italian, Japanese etc.

And they were all good.

Interestingly, we didn’t eat a lot of Mexican food :)

We went to visit the Chichen Itza – an ancient Mayan city about 3 hours by road from Cancun.

The complex had a sports arena where the ancients played challenging sports. And can you believe that the winner was sacrificed? 

That just sounds like a good reason not to be good at something.

On the way back, we stopped by a cenote.  A cenote is a natural sink-hole – a natural pool. It was beautiful!

We also spent a couple of hours in a town called Villadolid. The town was very lively and we got to see some traditional dances there. One of the dances was impressive where the dancers put a glass bottle on their forehead during the dance.

That was a long day but it was a lot of fun to visit one of the 7 wonders and learn about Mayan history.

We also did yoga on the beach and biked around the resort.

On the last day, we went on another excursion. To be honest, I was a little nervous about this but I am really glad I did it.

We swam in a cenote – actually in an underground cave. That was a first for me!

It was so pretty! We got to float through a cave where the water was more than 150 ft deep!

And then it got even more fun – we went snorkeling! I got to see some cool fish up close, really close.

I had a great time doing things I hadn’t done before.

Cancun is a fun place – with a lot of options. Of course, you can spend the entire day at the resort but there’s a lot of things to do outside.

What has branches but no fruits, trunk or leaves?

Answer: The government – because it has 3 branches – executive, legislative and judicial.

Here's some more jokes!

Where can you find comedians on NYE?

Waiting on the punch line!

An iPhone and a firework were arrested on NYE. One was charged and the other was left off.

As always, email me: [email protected] with your questions, comments and feedback.

What did you do on your Christmas break? And have you been to Cancun? What was the best part?

I had a 4-day weekend at school recently and we wanted to travel but we didn’t want to fly.

So, we went to – Tyler, Texas

It’s a couple of hours of driving for us and isn’t your typical tourist destination, but it was a lot of fun!

Here’s what we did:

1. Hiked in the Tyler State Park – this is a wonderful state park with great trails and lovely tall trees. It was very beautiful!! We walked a bunch. Fair warning: the waterfall is cool but not a big one.

I also saw a big spider that scared me!

Learned more about the park: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/tyler

2. Went to the Caldwell zoo – this zoo is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small. A few things I really liked were:

· Feeding the giraffes

· African area – with lions, elephants

· Bird feeding – it was so cool to feed them right out of my hand

· Watching the turtles just hang out – they were so cool!

A must-visit place if you are ever in the area!

More details: https://caldwellzoo.org/

3. Rose garden – we visited it the weekend before the famous Rose festival and had very high expectation. To be honest, It was a little underwhelming, but still beautiful.

My mom loved the plants and my dad loved the fountains.

Good gift shop for rose-scented soaps etc.

I was a little unsure when my mom first suggested Tyler for our vacation but I loved it. I realized that it’s not necessary to go to famous places.

Find local spots to enjoy your vacation!

Benefit - less crowds, great places,

If you have been there or if you live in Tyler, what did we miss?

Email me: [email protected]

Puzzle: I have branches but no fruits, trunk or leaves. What am I? Email me your answer at [email protected]

You get a shoutout when you email me too!

I recently visited Philadelphia with my family.

Listen to Episode 59 to learn all about Philly!

Philadelphia has many locations and museums about Ben Franklin and I learned a lot.

A few amazing facts about this founding father (who wasn’t a US president)

- He didn’t have a formal education but was always curious

- He had a printing press in Philadelphia

- He loved chess – because of the strategy and thinking involved

- He was a prolific inventor

- His grave is visible from the sidewalk

Be sure to visit the Ben Franklin museum and other related sites like the Constitution Museum when you visit Philly

Riddle: What has many ears but can’t hear?

Answer: Corn!

Shout-out to Shruti, Emma and Samuel for your emails with the answers!

Email me: [email protected]with your questions, comments and suggestions.

This episode is a fun chat with my cousins who are visiting from Baltimore. In this episode, we talk about the city of Dallas. We talk about some food places, some fun attractions, and so much more!

These are the same cousins from "Episode 49 - We started a business, you can too!" where we discussed how we have our own doggie treat businesses - theirs is called "V&S Doggies Treats" (in Baltimore) and mine is called "Pupilicious" (in Dallas)

You can listen to it at: https://anchor.fm/riyasramblings/episodes/Riyas-Ramblings-Ep-49---We-started-a-business--you-can-too-e17h0nl

Here is what we talked about in this episode:

- What is our favorite restaurant to eat at?

- Braums, and Which Wich – we love the ice-creams at Braums and the customizable sandwiches at Which Wich

- We also love Honest, which is a restaurant for all kinds of Indian food

- What do we love about the Dallas area?

Doesn't rain all the time - sunny makes it easier to get stuff done but it’s really hot this time

It's easier to cool down and to warm up

We can go to the rec center and swim

- Favorite memory from previous visits to Dallas?

Road trips - Houston – our visit to the NASA center, Waco – where we visited Dr. Pepper Museum and tasted different sodas

- What attractions do we want to visit in Dallas every year?

We all love to go to water parks, arcades, and play laser tag, and we go every couple visits.

- What indoor activities do we do to keep entertained?

We love playing the Wii, the Nintendo switch, watch TV, and play some super fun indoor games.

- What outdoor activities do we enjoy?

It’s super hot, so the only time we can play is after dinner. After dinner sometimes, we would go play basketball in my nearby [ark, or maybe even play cricket, and it was really fun!

What do we do to keep cool in the Texas heat?

Since it was super hot outside, we loved getting cold treats like ice cream and froyo! Another thing we loved was going to the Plano Recreation Centers to workout or swim in their indoor pools, i=since it was a great way to get energy out and still stay cool!

We used the same riddle as the last two episodes, since it will be the riddle for my three part series, I didn’t want to change it up.

The Riddle: I have many ears, but I can’t hear?

If you know the answer, email me at [email protected], or email ways that you still cool in the heat! You will get a shoutout!

Have a great day, and make sure to Listen, rate, and share.

This is part 2 of the 3 part series of my vacation. This episode will be about all the things I did in New York City, so enjoy!!

We are gonna use the same riddle for this whole series so you have time! The riddle was: what has many ears but can’t hear?

Email me your answer at [email protected].

We drove from Philly to New York. You can listen to my previous episode to learn about my adventures in Philadelphia.

We used City Pass which is like a combo ticket for many places which helps to avoid long lines. I recommend it!

We stayed in a hotel very close to Times Square. 19th floor!

And we took the train to get around. That plus a LOT of walking.

If you have visited NYC, send me email with place you saw and places you wished you had seen.

Here’s the places we visited:

Times Square:

- I agree with it's "cross roads of the world" title - a fun place to visit

- The site of the annual new year’s eve ball drop, which began in 1907! It’s super fun to see on TV

Broadway:

- We got discounted, same-day tickets for "Dear Evan Hansen" at the booth in Times Square.

- It was very good and emotional, and it was an experience I’ll never forget

Statue of Liberty:

- We took a ferry to liberty island, and that same ferry also stops at ellis island

- The museum had a really good mini movie about the process of making Lady Liberty

- The statue of liberty was given to America by the French on June 17, 1885 by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi

- The status has broken ankle shackles to represent freedom from slavery, a torch to light up the world, and a tablet with America’s independence day

Zucotti Park:

- It had a ton of small mom and pop street food carts with various flavors and cuisines

- If you go to NY city, be on the lookout for these beautiful areas, you’ll really enjoy them!

9/11 memorial/museum:

- We visited the memorial for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

- It taught me so much, and made me realize how hard it must have been

- There was a panel surrounding the Twin Reflecting Pools with all the names of those who lost their lives

Empire state building

- It was the tallest building when it was built in March 1930

- it is now an observatory deck on the 86th floor and you can pay extra go to the 102nd floor

- The view was breathtaking, but make sure to go on a clear day, or a sunset!

Central Park:

- 843 acres of trees and trails in the middle of a city!! Beautiful!

- We entered the park from the Strawberry Fields, which is not an area where you pick strawberries! It’s a memorial to a British rock musician, John Lennon, who was part of the Beatles.

Food

We had fantastic falafels from food trucks, great NY style pizza and also some over-priced, not-so-good meals. Make sure you eat the street food!

Brooklyn

One of my fav Bollywood stars - Shah Rukh Khan - shot a famous movie near the Brooklyn bridge. So I loved seeing that at night and take beautiful photos

We are gonna use the same riddle for this whole series so you have time! 

The riddle was: what has many ears but can’t hear?

Email me at [email protected]

I recently went on vacation, and we went to Philadelphia and New York, and then dropped my brother off to his job. This will be a 3 part series with one about Philadelphia, one about New York, and one about Ben Franklin. I will talk about all the things we did relating to Ben Franklin in another episode. This episode will be about my experiences in Philly.

Valley Forge is an important part of US history and is located outside Philly. We spent a couple of hours there and learned some really interested facts.

· The place where the US “army” stayed in the winter during the American Revolution

· Before Valley Forge, it was just some volunteer farmers, but during winter in Valley forge, they're trained and became a fierce enemy,

· George Washington was the general, but they needed someone to help with more discipline

· Friedrich Wilhelm Rudolf Gerhard August Freiherr von Steuben, a Prussian military officer, comes to Valley Forge on Feb 23, 1778.

· There was a lack of food, and basic cleanliness

Pennsylvania State House

· Philly was the capital before DC

· This is where George Washington and John Adams were elected into president

· This is also where the constitution was discussed, and many people were curious about how it was gonna work

· This is also where the senate was meeting then, this was almost like the white house

Liberty Bell

· Made to represent freedom and independence

· Built in 1752, but cracked in February 1846

· It was used for announcements and had been with America before and after independence

· John Pass, and John Stow’s name are on the bell because they helped make recasts of the original bell

· Pennsylvania was misspelled as Pensylvania (single “n”) because that was an accepted spelling then

Reading terminal Market

· It is a place with SO MANY OPTIONS of food

· It is like the king of all food courts, and you basically have to visit

· It is also great for small business to show off their food and culture

· There were a ton of Amish stands and so many different cuisines and different flavors.

· Opened in 1893, it is 78,000 sq ft, and more than 80 merchants

· We got donuts, pickles, crepes, Greek food, sandwiches

Rocky steps

· We climbed the rocky steps just like Rocky Balboa did in the movie “Rocky”.

· In the movie he climbs the stairs, and when he finishes he poses triumphantly.

· The steps lead up to the Philadelphia museum of art.

· There is also a statue of Rocky that you can pose with

· The movie did so well that the steps of the museum get more tourists than the museum

The road leading to the Rocky steps is a tree-lined Parkway with flags of countries from around the world. This international tribute began in 1976 as part of the US Bicentennial Celebration. It symbolizes Philadelphia as a global tourism destination.

Stay tuned for the next two episodes when I talk about the rest of my trip!!

Last episode riddle: This episode riddle: I am a bird, a person and a fruit. What am I?

A KIWI!!!

(A kiwi is a flightless bird, a fruit and also a nick name for a person from New Zealand)

Shoutout to Emma who emailed me and got it right!

This episode's riddle: What has many ears but can’t hear?

Email me: [email protected] with your answer.

Have you been to Philly? What was your favorite thing to do? Let me know and I will include it in a future episode.

And as always, listen, rate, share      

In this episode, I wanted to tell you all about a few fun and interesting things I have been doing.

Below are some of the things I talked about, but listen to the full episode for more fun information.

We had our middle school spring dance a few weeks back. It was held in person the first time since 2019 so the entire school was really excited.

It was a fun event and it was cool to hang out with my friends while dancing to some awesome music.

I applied to join the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) - https://www.njhs.us/ - and I was accepted! Yay!

I plan on increasing my volunteer hours a ton this summer and next school year.

If you are a member of NJHS, what projects have you done?

I recently saw the movie "CODA" on Apple TV+. It's about a teenager whose parents and brothers are all deaf and how she manages to balance school and her dreams and her family's expectations. It was really interesting to see how she manages being the only one in her family who can hear.

I REALLY recommend it. It has inspired me to learn ASL - American Sign Language.

It won Best Picture at Oscars, and the actor who played the dad won an Oscar and made history!

Soccer - my spring season is done and I am looking forward to the summer season.

The summer season is all indoor.

Braces - Got dental braces a few weeks back. The first few days were tough but I think I am used to them now.

What color of brackets should I get for the summer?

Do you have braces? Do you like them? What color do you have?

Let me know - [email protected]

School year's coming to a close and STAAR testing (our state standard tests) is coming up.

I am a little nervous but we have practiced enough and I am confident my friends and I will do well.

I got a small electronic piano from a garage sale today!

I can play "Twinkle, twinkle little star" already!

I am currently learning some more songs but it's hard!!

I hope to be able to play Fur Elise one day, but I have to practice for that!!

Hope you enjoyed this episode! I also really wanna know what you are up to!

Write to me at [email protected]

And don't forget, Listen, Rate, Share!!

We went to Oklahoma City for Spring Break - and had a really good time.

We hiked around Lake Hefner and saw a lovely lighthouse.

I learned about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, went to a skeleton museum and fed a tigress at a wildlife sanctuary. Wow! It was fantastic!

The Oklahoma City bombing memorial museum is a very educational and beautiful tribute to a terrible event in the city's history. I describe the different elements of the museum and what they mean. It's very moving.

The skeleton museum was very different from other museums my parents have taken me to and I learned a lot.

And feeding the different animals including the tigress was just awesome. 

I highly recommend visiting OKC if you get a chance. Lots of great places to eat, visit and learn.

Here's some useful links:

OKC Memorial Museum: https://memorialmuseum.com/

Tiger Safari Zoo: https://tigersafarizoo.com/

Skeleton Museum: https://www.skeletonmuseum.com/

Email me at [email protected] with your episode suggestions, favorite episodes, etc. I love hearing from you, and you'll get a shoutout!

Previous episode riddle: You go to red, but stop at green. What am I?

Answer: Watermelon! 

Shoutout: Disha for emailing with the correct answer!!

This episode riddle: I am a bird, a person and a fruit. What am I?

If you know the answer to this episode’ riddle, email me your answer at [email protected]! I love hearing from you, and you'll get a shoutout in the next episode.

In this episode I talk about my science fair project. If you don't know what a science fair is, listen to Episode 46 where I talk about my past projects along with background information on science fairs.

My project this year investigated the difference between masked learning, and unmasked learning in three main categories; factual, emotional, social. Listen to the episode for more information on each of these categories.

Along with many other things, I talk about the process of my project, and what I won!

If you wanna learn about science fair, or just listen to a “report” about one, listen to this episode and have fun learning!!

Email me at [email protected] with your episode suggestions, favorite episodes, etc. I love hearing from you, and you'll get a shoutout!

Previous riddle:  I am found in socks, scarves and mittens and often in the paws of playful kittens. What am I?

Answer: Yarn

Shoutouts: Zoe and Shreya for emailing with the correct answer!! 

This episode's riddle: You go to red, but stop at green. What am I?

If you know the answer to this episode’ riddle, email me your answer at [email protected]! I love hearing from you, and you'll get a shoutout in the next episode.

I recently visited the Palo Duro Canyon State Park in West Texas.

It was a 6-hour drive and one of the cool things on the drive was seeing hundreds of windmills. They were making good use of the flat land and windy conditions to generate clean electricity.

And shout out to Guy Raz and his ‘How I built this’ podcast series for making the car ride less boring.      

The state park has many beautiful trails - from easy to difficult. We did three trails and each one was scenic and fun! We also climbed up to a cave.

We hiked the CCC trail – one of the more difficult ones. I was a little nervous at first but enjoyed the experience.

Here's some fast facts about the canyon:

You can also do other activities – jeep tours, zip lining - near the park.

We also stopped by the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo – a public art installation with 10 Cadillacs buried in the Texas prairie. You can spray paint the cars. That was a unique and memorable experience.

I bet the cars are a bit thick than before with the years of paint layers. :)

If you have been to the Palo Duro Canyon, let me know what you think.

Previous Riddle: A man who was outside without an umbrella or a hat didn’t get his hair wet. How?

Answer: He was bald. Shoutout to Shreya for emailing me with the correct answer!

This week’s riddle: I am found in socks, scarves and mittens and often in the the paws of playful kittens. What am I?

Email me at: [email protected]with your answer or with literally anything else!

As always, listen, rate, and share!