India

CUISINE
Indian food is actually very different from anything you've seen because of it's geography and history. To explain why it's so different, I'm going to give you a crash course on India. So during the continental drift, India was just a huge island and the reason why it's a part of the mainland is because it SMASHED into Asia. It smashed so hard in fact that the pure pressure of it caused the Himalayas to form and the Himalayas is home to Mt. Everest. What does that have to do with food? Well islands tend to have different animal, different plants, and different soils right? So the soil of India allowed exotic plants to grow and exotic animals to eat on the mainland when it would've been stuck on an island. So anyways, vegetarianism is currently a popular trend in India so meat lovers beware. Also, Indian cuisine is highly influenced by many countries such as Canada, China, Nepal, everywhere in the Middle East, South East Asia, UK, and the US. Which is why Indian cuisine can vary HEAVILY. So here are three dishes from Northern India, just take note that literally everything in Northern India is vegetarian. No joke:

1. Bhatura, a vegetarian, all-purpose flour, bread that is often served in Northern India.
2. Baigan Bharta, eggplant that is with tomatoes and/or onions.
3. Rajma Chaval, bean curry with rice.

Now I'm only doing Northern India for cuisine because I'd have to do four parts and the first two parts would only showcase cuisine. Just remember to do your own research and see what interests you!

ATTRACTIONS
First off is a very nice one for animal lovers, the National Zoological Park in New Delhi. To describe the zoo, because there is this truck with a cage behind it and it drives around the park so the animals aren't caged so they just look at you and you look at them. It is roughly 176 acres of animals to observe. Next up, Taj Mahal. This one is pretty obvious I mean you can't mention visiting India without thinking about Taj Mahal, it's like the sole reason for many. But guess what, this building's construction was finished in 1648 which means the Taj Mahal is over 300 years old, it is incredible that this thing is still up today. I mean several parts of the Great Wall of China are just hills now and yet this temple still looks like it was finished just a couple of days ago, and even the Pyramids of Giza are crumbling today and somehow Taj Mahal is keeping up with the fashion trends. Speaking of Taj Mahal being FABULOUS, there's a Taj Mahal themed hotel on an island west of India called Taj Lake Palace and if you were in it, you'd think you where in heaven. Because every building is made of white marble and looks like they built 12 different carbon copies of Taj Mahal and it has a spa and 4 different and elegant restaurants. Take note this is in Southern India where they actually eat meat, so, lucky you! Also, the trip  to the island isn't that long. In fact, you can see the mainland when you're on the porch. Also did I mention this looks like heaven? BECAUSE THIS IS HEAVEN!!!

 

PEOPLE

Okay, the people of India obviously speak Indian but another main language is Hindi. Now, thanks to the British, a large portion of India speaks English, in fact, one could argue English is one of the main languages of India due to it being the primary language of government, business, and education. Which is why sometimes I cry that I'm not British because of everything they've done for the world such as make everybody of all other countries seem stupid in comparison to the British, Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, colonizing what today is the US so the we could be who we are today, Canada, Australia, and allowing us to make fun of your dental work and funny accent. Off topic. So luckily for the US, some people speak English.

 

Alright final score time again,

India scores a...

 

94

Okay so the more I think about it, the more I love Indians. I mean they're like Canadians, they're just so nice and so awesome and when we make fun of them they're like, "Hey thanks for mentioning us! In thanks we booked you an all expense trip to Lake Palace." they're just so awesome and their country is awesome and it's just- COOL. Take note I didn't even mention Western India that's like a whole different place. Anyways, see you next time!

Estonia

Estonia isn't on the list but I felt like I'd tackle the list every once in a while, so I just chose a country and now we're going to dive right in!

CUISINE (I REGRET THIS)
Oh my gosh this is disgusting, BLEH! Why would anybody think that Black Pudding cooked with LINGONBERRY SAUCE, would be a good idea!?!?!? UGH! I guess I have to deal with it. Okay so Wikipedia describes Estonian cuisine to be and I quote, "Based on meat, potatoes, and fish and is highly influenced by Russia, Germany, and Scandinavia." to me it sounds like they just threw whatever they could find into an oven. I mean Cabbage and Mushrooms? Estonia must also love mushrooms because so far in all the photos I could find of Estonian favorites contain mushrooms. Now remember as a kid not wanting dinner but instead wanting dessert? Well experience all of that over again with Estonia! So far, the dessert is the only good course I can find. So I'm going to list two famous desserts and try and find a good non-dessert dish. So first off there's kissel which is described by Wikipedia as fruit soup, which sounds bad in theory but when you look at how critics like it you realize most critics give it a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. Now you want kissel, don't you? If you do then here's a recipe for Russian Kissel. Next up is the most famous dessert of Estonia, Rhubarb Pie. Something that you don't think any country in the world would like except for the United States. Once again, this pie is very famous among critics and also make mostly perfect scores. Okay, I'm going try again at regular dishes. OOOOOH! Soda Bread! That sounds nice! Okay so soda bread is a bread that doesn't use yeast but instead uses Baking Soda. So I found this Estonian Soda Bread Recipe and I'll leave it right, here:

Estonian Soda Bread
Ingredients:
200 g ricotta or curd cheese
2oo ml milk
1 egg
200 ml (115 g) barley flour
100 ml (70 g) plain/all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
Cooking Instructions:
Combine ricotta/curd cheese, egg, salt and sugar in a bowl. Combine barley and wheat flour with baking soda, then fold into the ricotta and egg mixture. Pour in the oil and mix until combined. Butter a spring form with butter, or line with parchment paper (I use 23x23 cm skillet, lined with paper). Spoon the batter into the form and bake at 200 Celsius for about 25-30 minutes, until the bread is lovely golden brown. Add 2 Tbsp sour cream, if using ricotta cheese.

Now take note that several other sites state that Estonian cuisine is only for the adventurous but we found the best foods were the desserts, breads, and sweets. But they also state that the smoked meat and smoked fish is also amazing so if you're the picky type, stick to sweets.

ATTRACTIONS
Got a special little child who just LOVES toys? Well come on down to Tartu, Estonia! Where we have the BIGGEST toy museum in the Baltic States! It displays over 5000 different toys along with many interactive toys and as well as a playroom for children! But seriously, even if you're not a child, the Tartu Toy Museum is still an amazing museum for all to visit.

I don't know about you but I love lighthouses, they're so vintage and old-timey and they seem so cool. Well I found Kõpu Lighthouse, the most well known symbol of the Estonian island Hiiumaa. The lighthouse has been in use since 1531 and is still used to this day to warn ships away from the coastline. It is a very cool light house.

Okay, so apparently museums are famous in Estonia because I found at least 5 other popular museums and I chose this one because it's, interesting; the Estonian History Museum. It's a museum about, well, Estonian history. It's very interesting in my opinion because you couldn't save your life if it depended on you knowing the major historical events of Estonia without looking it up. It's earned many good reviews and in my opinion is a must visit.

PEOPLENow the people obviously speak Estonian. But thankfully, 40% of Estonians speak English which means us Americans are quite lucky because not many Americans are going to devote themselves to learning Estonian. Now take note I suck at typing the people section and it's just repetitive so don't expect too much from this section.

Alright, final score time...

78.92

 

Now what I really didn't like about Estonia is the cuisine section. Honestly, barely anything interested me in that section which is why Estonia is the first country below green. Also here's a chart representing what I mean.

 

GREEN means "What are you waiting for!?!?"

BLUE means "It's nice!"

PURPLE means "Meh."

PINK means "I wouldn't recommend it."

YELLOW means "It's kind of bad"

ORANGE means "Man, that that is horrid."

RED means "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?!"

DARK BLUE means "You're gonna die."

Morocco

Morocco is one of those countries that sometimes you forget exists but is actually given a 10 on the top 10 countries to visit as of 2015 which was made by the UN. Now I don't really know what happened at that meeting but it looks like SOMEBODY, was drunk. I mean Democratic Republic of the Congo, SERIOUSLY!?!? Sure it's beautiful but one way or another, someone's going to be assassinated. Which is why I plan to debunk the list by scoring each and everyone of them based off research and facts! Now before I start take note that half of the stuff in Morocco I can't even read, a fourth of the stuff is just gathering places for Muslims, (Which I'm not) and the rest was the only interesting stuff.

CUISINE
Now I'm going to combine cuisine and dishes into one thing to save time. Couscous is first on the dishes which is an old national delicacy. Couscous is just like tiny grains of rice that are kind of like pasta noodles. Couscous is traditionally served with meat or vegetable soup poured on top. Dessert in Morocco tends to be just fruits, which is probably another reason why people in the east are more healthy than us, but a more unhealthy choice is the Gazelle's Horn, a pastry stuffed with almond paste and topped with sugar. Up until now I didn't know what almond paste now, it looks weird. Apparently selling fast food in the streets is long and ancient tradition in Morocco and specifically Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakech and is a popular spot for tourists.

ATTRACTIONS
As stated before, Jemaa el-Fnaa is popular among tourists due it's nice outdoor-sy feel and is just a wonderful square/market central. Another famous thing in Marrakech is the Marrakech International Film Festival which means people from all around the world gather in Morocco to this festival dedicated to Moroccan cinema. The most commonly spoken languages of the festival are Arabic, French, and lucky for us, English! Last year it occurred from December 5th to December 13th. Another gathering in Morocco is the Grand State de Tanger, a multi-use stadium in Tangier, Morocco but is used mostly for what we call Soccer and what they call Football. The specific Soccer matches it holds is for the...

 

 

AFRICA CUP

OF NATIONS

 

Which is a competition between the Soccer teams of all countries of Africa who qualify, sadly Morocco doesn't qualify to compete but there's still hope because next year's competition may change that, and yes this year's competition ended and it was hosted be Equatorial Guinea and last year's champion was Ivory Coast which we may or may not cover in the future. Anyways you should do some research to see when next year's competition will occur, I wonder who'll host it. So the final great attraction I'll be covering is the Menara Gardens which is just located west of Marrakech; the place that isn't the capital of Morocco and yet everything almost everything in Morocco is in this city. The Menara Gardens is a beautiful garden (Duh) that contains the gate leading to the Atlas Mountains which is also very popular. That's all I got for attractions nor so let's tackle the people. Not literally though...

 

 

PEOPLE

So the common language of Morocco is Arabic, just likely every other country in northern Africa. But the common foreign languages are Spanish, French, and thankfully, ENGLISH! Only 14% of Morocco speaks English but if you speak French and Arabic, then you're golden. Also if you're Muslim then have fun because Morocco is very prosperous to Muslims.

 

Now, it's time for the final score...

Morocco earns a,

97.54

 

There is no denying that Morocco is a great place to visit, no wonder they placed it on numbe- wait. If Morocco earned a near perfect score and it's only number 10 then that means that, the rest have to all be next to perfect.

China (Part 2)

Before I jump right in, I'll put a link to Wikipedia on certain things like a certain food or place or topics that I don't have enough time to talk about. Now with that out of the way, here we go!

DISHES
One of the most popular meats is the Peking Duck, a meat that was served ever since the imperial era. The meat is prized for it's thin, crisp skin with the authentic versions serving mostly the skin. A fancy soup in China is the Shark Fin Soup, which contains mostly shark fins and broth. It is one of the eight treasured foods of the sea. The Shark Fin Soup dates back to the Ming Dynasty. The last famous dish I will be talking about is the Egg Tart, which is a simple pastry with an egg in it.

ATTRACTIONS
So remember when I mentioned Potato Palace and Lamma Island? Well I'm going to talk about those two today as the final attractions. First off, the Potato Palace. In China, it's actually called Bodala in the local language. There are several rooms throughout the entire building and I'm going to go over only two places but you should do some research on the rooms or even better, go there to see the rooms in person. The First Gallery is a place with loads of windows letting light throughout several other rooms and sections of the palace and there are several murals showing the Bodala's construction in fine detail. Then there's the Third Gallery, where several murals are located and branch off to several other rooms containing bronze statues and tiny figurines. Next up is Lamma Island, more commonly known as Pok Liu is the third largest island in Hong Kong and is also part of the Islands District. The most popular things to do their are going on nature walks, swimming in the beach, and enjoying the many festivals that occur.

PEOPLE
Here's a no-brainer! People from China speak Chinese! But it's not just that simple. You see, there are several types of Chinese people and with literally hundreds of different kinds of Chinese people, there are bound to be just as many variations of the Chinese language. A few of the many written languages of China consist of Korean, Mongolian, Kyrgyz, Naxi, & Dai, & only ONE of those contained Chinese characters. But if you only want to stick to one area in China then knowing that area's main language would be the biggest thing that'll help you in China, EVER.

A study was also shown that most people of China are loyal and tend stress the importance of keeping one's word. They also tend to be shy and self conscious to Westerners (AKA Everyone reading his right now) and all around any foreigner. Chinese people also tend to smile or giggle when a sensitive subject is brought up. As an awkward but works most of the time example, if you were to ask a little Chinese boy if they had a girl friend, they'd more often than not laugh and look away. So most Chinese people, according to a study have a very nice personality.

Now time for the final score, China scores a...

 

 

86.3

 

 

Although China is a great place with so many attractions and wonderful food, there's the HUGE downgrade of varying language. If you want to travel to China knowing what's what at all times then you're going to have to have a LOT of English to Foreign Language Dictionaries. But for those who love mystery, knock yourself out!

China (Part 1)

CHINA
When I say China you probably think of communism and Chinese stereotypes. But, when it comes to traveling around the world, China is the country of COLORS. So let's dive right in shall we?

CUISINE
Not knowing what Chinese cuisine is, is like being a historian but not knowing about WW2. It's just, WHY!?!? But for those of you who have never heard of a single Asian stereotype here's a crash course. The Chinese cuisine consists mainly of stuff you'd find on the menu of Panda Express, except for orange chicken, that is 100% American made. The rest is - no joke - just Sun Cakes, Soybeans, Wheat, Liquor, Pickles, and Sausages. That is all you need to know about Chinese cuisine. That is it.

ATTRACTIONS
The attractions is where China's nicknames country of COLORS starts to come in. This is the Danxia Landform Of China:

Beautiful, isn't it? Normally on a cloudy day with no sun, it just looks like any boring old mountain, but once the sun rises from it's cloudy tomb, a whopping 290 square kilometers of land light up with vibrant colors everywhere. This is not photo shopped at all, this it a real thing. All people are allowed to see it in Danxiashan Geopark in China. Next up, this is the Red Beach in China:

For some reason, this special type of algae exists off the coast of Panjin, China that grows green in Spring, and becomes a dark red in Autumn. Ironically, it resembles the flag of China. On top of these two natural beauties, there are several artificial attractions many consisting of lots, and I mean lots of temples/pagodas/towers. There's even statues of the entire Terracota army and even an Ocean Park and Disneyland in Hong Kong. But the coolest of all are an obvious one and a similar one:





GREAT WALL OF CHINA

KOWLOON WALLED CITY

 

(Sorry for low quality photos) These two are by far, the coolest. Excluding Potato Palace and Lamma Island, those two are eternally awesome specifically for the naming of each I mean you cannot get any better than Potato Palace and an island named after an animal in the dessert the only way it could get better is if they had a garden named after a line in the most well known Souja Boy song, oh wait. The Great Wall Of China is great for those who like to run or just stroll because the Great Wall is so big and long, it can be seen from outer space. The Kowloon City is interesting for it's backstory and it's overall beauty. You see, the city was once a military fort but was leased to Britain in 1898 once the New Territories where also leased to Britain. In 1995 however, it was built into a park in the style of the early Qing Dynasty and the park was split into 8 scenic zones.

Now as you can tell by the title I have to split China into to two parts I mean look at all the stuff under Attractions. See you next time.





Christmas Island

Welcome to It's A Big World! This is where I will take a place in the world, give it a review of how good it'd be to visit then give it a rank from 0 to 100. Here we go!


CUISINE
On Christmas Island, the cuisine is what many consider a hybrid of Australian cuisine and Asian cuisine. Christmas Island's main dishes are fruits and veggies such as the wild lime, jackfruit, pumpkin, tapioca, and coconuts and fish. Or to be more precise; crabs. Which brings us to are next topic.

ATTRACTIONSChristmas Island is home to some of the strangest species of animal consisting of the Christmas Island Red Crab, Coconut Crab, Red-Footed Booby, and so many more! The variety of the indigenous animals is why nature walks are one of the most popular attractions on Christmas Island. It's almost as if the entire island is a national park! Another famous attraction us Cave-Dwelling, Cave-Dwelling is popular on the island specifically because there are so many caves; plateau caves, coastal caves, raised coastal caves, sea caves, fissure caves, and collapse caves. To be specific there are 42 caves on the island. Also, the 3rd most popular attraction on Christmas Island is diving/swimming/snorkeling in Flying Fish Cove, which is the capital. Don't worry about carnivorous fish biting you, the only thing that can bite you when you're at the shore, is crabs.

PEOPLE
Don't worry about getting lost because you don't speak their language, because the official language is English. The people you see are also most likely to be Chinese so it'd be great to speak Chinese just in case.

And now it's time for my final score, I give Christmas Island

 

 

91.5

 

 

 

So, Christmas Island easily scores a 90 but can't reach 100 because of the limited food supply and although the official language is English, knowing Chinese would be more helpful and I'm not learning a language just to go somewhere.