Hey there and welcome to the BigAppleSchool podcast – the weekly English show where we speak about everything under the sun. The major goal of this show is to help you improve your English and of course learn something new. My name’s Katya, I’m your host, and today with me…
Is Ken from Manila, Philippines.
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So and Inga, Ken, I haven’t seen you for some time.
Yeah. I’m really glad to see you again. What have you been up to?
Well, I’m happy to be back, but I’m just enjoying this summer. Although it’s been hot for the past few days, but well, it’s a lot better than in winter, because at least I get to go out, explore, you know, my surroundings and do something more interesting than just stay at home.
Well, I guess, you know, you… Even in winter, you know, you’re not…. You don’t have to stay at home.
It’s just, you know, less comfortable to be outside.
That’s right. Less motivation to go out. At least for me.
Do you have any kind of a, you know, summer to do list?
You know, what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks now is I’ve been going to a lot of different places here in Novosibirsk. And in fact today, after all of my lessons, my friend and I are going to this duck lake in Akademgorodok.
I don’t know how to say that in Russian but we’re going there. So basically in the summer what I do is I try to go to different places, because I know that, you know, in winter I try to lock, quote, lock myself down in my flat. So this is my opportunity to go out and explore.
Akademgorodok is a very nice place, you know, to walk around. Especially now, you know, when everything is so green, fresh air. Make sure to buy some, maybe oatmeal or something like that, you know, the grains to feed the ducks.
Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me.
Yeah, dear listeners, if you ever want to feed the ducks or other birds, don’t feed them bread, cause bread has no nutritional value for them, so they feel full, but they don’t get any nutrients. So that’s why, you know… And it has a lot of… What’s it called, like…
Almost. Something else. There’s some other element which actually makes them feel, you know, serious stomachache. So and that’s why they can suffer from a serious stomachache, so please don’t feed duck, swans, geese with bread.
It’s better to get some grains. Especially oatmeal for ducks. If you put that, you know, in the water, so they wait until it gets soaked, you know. And then they eat it. Although there are usually so many people there, so I don’t think they’re starving, you know. Yeah, it’s a nice… Aw I hope you like this walk!
Inga, what about you? What have you been up to?
Okay, I’m going to work of course and spend time with my family. To go to some places in Novosibirsk I guess. So. Spending time with my family, actually.
Do you have any kind of a to do list for the summer with your family, like go to the beach or…? Or to go skating?
I have one – to visit Altai. I’ve never been there.
Wait how long have you been living here?
Oh it’s already 11 years. But I…
Right? This is what OMG was invented for, for this situation.
I didn’t want to go there actually. But I have seen a lot of interesting photos, beautiful photos from Altai. So I want to visit this year.
So, well, yeah. Cause I mean if neither of you drives for example, then it’s a problem, to get there.
Sure. We are going there by car.
Ah, that’s gonna be so fun!
There are a lot of interesting places.
That’s a good summer plan.
Oh that’s so nice. That’s so nice that summer’s here, we have more activities.
And I… Yesterday, you know… You know how every year the theaters, they kinda, you know, have a break, they go on holiday for the summer. And this year it’s surprising. I think that’s because of the pandemic and theaters not working, you know, last year.
But this year they only go on holiday at the end of July and in the middle of July. So I have my summer plan which is go to theaters. So yesterday I went to an opera, so see I’m…
I feel very, you know, cultured right now. So and yeah, and I think okay, what would be my, you know, summer to do list. So theaters, walks, especially, you know, a trip or two to Akademgorodok. Going to the zoo, I’ve done that.
And I have a list of places that I wanna go to. Places meaning restaurants and coffee shops. So I have so far like 20 places that I wanna go to. But I think like okay, 20 might be a little too much. So I wanna go like one place a week. So that’s my summer plan.
It’s a well-organized one too I must say. You have really listed them down like, okay, wow. I hope you’ll be able to visit all of them.
Well, I mean, if not during the summer, then we have the fall, we have winter. And then at the end of August, I might have mentioned that, but at the end of August I’m going to Saint Petersburg, and I have a list of places that I wanna go to there, you know, like food I want to try. You can understand why we’re having this topic, you know, today.
Cause I’m a foodie. So I’m a big foodie and I was like, well, I know we’ve had episodes about food, but I’m like no, I can’t stop at one or two, I need more. So and what’s your situation with food actually?
Cause I, let’s say, you have noticed, you must’ve noticed by now that I love going to places. What about you? Do you like going to places, trying new restaurants, cafes?
Of course, everybody likes going, eating out. But actually as for me, I prefer cooking at home because I like cooking, I like cooking for my family, for my friends and I always try to cook something new. And invite my friends.
You know, I’ve got a new recipe, I should try to cook it and treat you. So they are waiting for my call, just I’m going to try something new for you. So, actually I like cooking. But sometimes of course I go out, I like to try something new in a restaurant or a cafe. But actually, generally, I cook.
Do you have like a well-equipped kitchen? What is it like?
Sure. It’s well-equipped with microwave, with stove, with oven. Everything that I need for cooking.
You know, it’s like a guilty pleasure of mine, I like browsing Pinterest and saving pictures of perfect kitchens of like, kitchen of my dream. You know, when I become rich and famous and I get this kitchen, you know, with a big counter, so there’s enough space for actually cooking. Or even better! With a kitchen island, you know, like a separate space for just cooking. You know.
So that means you love cooking too?
Oh god I love cooking, I love cooking so much. But I now, in an apartment where I live, I have a gas stove. And it’s convenient to cook, you know, on the stove, but it’s so inconvenient to use the oven. Cause, you know, with an electric oven the heat is, you know, from the top and from the bottom.
So whatever you’re cooking, you know, it gets nicely done, you know, on the bottom. Especially if it’s a cake. And then you have a nice golden crust on top. So whatever you cook is gonna be perfect. But with gas oven, the heat is only coming from the down. So what are you gonna do? So every time I try to make something like a cake, it’s not gonna, get, you know, golden crust or something.
No! It’s gonna be pale as my skin. So and I’m really… I’m suffering. Every time I want to actually, you know, bake something or cook something, roast something in the oven, I think okay, I need to go to my mom’s place, cause she has a great oven. Like, and in general her kitchen has a lot of, you know, cooking space.
So all these counters. Oh god, like, thousands I think, you know, kitchen utensils. Whatever you saw, ever, in a utensils shop, cutlery shop, she has it. I’m telling you, she has it.
She must really have the, I mean, passion for cooking.
I think it’s more like you know, passion for hoarding something. She’s like what if I need it? I’m like what if you don’t need it ever? She’s like no, I need to have it. Just in case I do need it. She just loves, you know, having everything and not needing anything.
Or you use it when you go there?
Yeah, that’s the question.
If it… Sometimes it’s just once a year, but yes.
Not bad. Although not, you know, as often as she probably, you know, do. But well, in my case, since we’re talking about, you know, food and eating. You’ve started with cooking. Unfortunately, I don’t cook and I know it’s funny because I’ve been living abroad for 8 years now.
You know, combined in Kazakhstan 5 years, 3 years in Russia. But I’ve been living off at restaurants, cafes. And you might ask, so why don’t you cook or why don’t you learn how to cook? Well, okay, let’s just put it this way – maybe I just don’t have the passion. However, it’s funny because I love eating.
Although, you know, for the past few years now I’ve been, you know, limiting the kinds of food that I eat because I have a stomach problem, so I have cut out eating, say for example, food with onions. Or if there are onions, I try to remove them literally or request the cook, you know, not to include them.
What else? Tomatoes, I was, you know, prohibited from eating them as well. Right. And now I’m cutting down on sweets as well, so I don’t try to eat, you know, chocolate. Including my favorite dark chocolate which makes me want to cry sometimes.
Really? You’re not even allowed to…
No, it’s not that I’m not allowed, but I was told to cut down on…
Well technically… I’ve heard that if you eat one piece of dark chocolate a day, you know, like one cube, not one bar, but you know just this tiny little cube, it’s actually healthy if it’s dark chocolate. Like 70% cocoa. So yeah.
But you know, before this actually I used to eat dark chocolate every evening. Literally, from Monday to Sunday. And I could finish maybe half a bar or a full bar in one sitting in one evening. So yeah.
I can imagine how happy your dentists are.
Like yes yes yes, keep eating chocolate, hahaha.
One thing more – chips too. Oh my god my midnight snack, it’s… Yeah I know…
I remember we talked about it when we had an episode on snacks. You know, it’s funny cause I thought okay, we, well you ha an episode on food in one of the first episodes with Sam. Then we’ve had an episode on cooking and snacks, you know, a year later or like…
I think it was like a year ago. And I was thinking like, is Ken gonna say something different? I mean in terms of like things change.
Who knows, maybe you have taken a cookery class, you know…
Some things, you know, are stable. The pillars that our universe is standing on.
Some things never change.
That being, yeah. Well, you know, I have question first to Inga, then to you Ken.
Cause the difference is Inga cooks a lot and you don’t. Inga, you say that you like to cook. So when you cook and you try, you know, new recipes. Do you follow these recipes to the letter or, do you know, do you improvise?
Sometimes when it’s a really difficult recipe to cook, I try to follow literally, just every word that is written there. But of course when I know much better how to cook this food already, so this dish, so I try to create something new, to add something new. And according to my family’s taste, to add or to reduce something from there. So actually I… Of course that depends on a dish actually.
And by the way, I just wanna ask. Do you ask, you know, family members to evaluate this improvised thing?
And they’re like you know, like in shows.
When you have, you know, some points.
Score plates. Always. So every other time when I just cook something new, I always ask do you like it? And when they’re like hm, so it’s not bad, but okay it’s much better when… Okay, I’m never gonna cook for you ever.
Oh when they say oh, it’s really great, just… Mom, it’s really tasty when my son says. Okay. Thank you. So I’m just really pleased to cook for them.
So wait a second. So when they’re not exactly pleased with whatever you’ve cooked, so you take it personally or do you feel offended?
No. Of course not. But of course I like when they like eating my dishes, when they want me to cook the same thing. So I always ask do you want me to continue cooking for you or I should stop here? No, cook, please, cook.
Wow. That’s really so nice. You know, I envy your husband and your, you know, children, because back in the day… I’m sorry for, you know, interrupting you, but I just remember when I was a child, it was my grandmother because I grew up with her.
And she would cook anything and everything under the sun and she would also ask us to rate it and, you know, I was really honest. I would tell her if I didn’t like the dish, if I liked it. Which she actually appreciated because after that if I say that I don’t like it, she would, you know, she wouldn’t cook it again. Or try to modify it with some other ingredient.
Oh wow. I think that’s very, you know, sensible and healthy I’d say.
Instead of getting mad at me unlike our neighbor.
Well you know, tastes differ, so you know, it’s impossible to always cook something that everybody likes.
With me, it depends on what I’m cooking. So let’s say if I’m baking I know that there are recipes that have been, you know, tried out so many times by the cooks who actually wrote them. So they know.
If they say that you need this amount of flour and this amount of sugar, then you need this amount of flour and this amount of sugar. Cause otherwise something will go wrong. So and that’s why I follow these recipes to the letter. Sometimes there are recipes which I know I can, you know, change a little bit.
So let’s say when I was cooking this Christmas fruit cake, you know, the one that has to, well, when it’s cooked, you have to keep it for like 3-4 weeks, you know, you have to pour some whiskey or rum on top, you know, every week so it gets, you know, moist and everything.
So I thought okay, it says raisins, but I know that my sister doesn’t like raisins, so I thought what difference does it make if I have, let’s say, dry apricots? Or dry mango? So you know, in this case I thought…
It would be much better I think.
Yeah, what’s the difference. It suggests these dry fruits and I’m just gonna use other dried fruits.
And I just wanna ask, you know, the both of you since you cook or bake – I wonder if you have had any situation when it was a bit of a disaster or let’s just say…
Oh I’ve had situations when it was not a bit, it was a disaster with a capital D. Like I’ve had those.
So what did you do with the dish? Did you still eat it? Or did you give it away or just throw it away?
So it’s been on a degree of disasters.
Yeah I would say so, yeah. So let’s say…
Actually when I try to think about something new, I think awful, something happens, it’s burned down, I don’t know. So I try to create something new, quick. When I want to feed my family.
Or let’s say, I had cakes that were, you know, burned down but I would sometimes cut, you know, this burned crust, the black crust, you know, off, and just eat it. I remember the situation when I was, I think I was around like 11 or maybe 12.
I decided, like, okay, maybe like 13. I decided to surprise my mom and I found.. We had a lot of, you know, cookery books, cooking books. So and I found the recipe and decided to, you know, to make the cake. And you know, I was not surprised, you know…
To me it was nothing suspicious about that recipe having one cup of strong tea and one cup of oil. So I, you know, to me it didn’t look suspicious at all. So I used that one cup of oil, one cup of strong tea. And it looked nice, but it was so horrible even our dog didn’t wanna eat it.
So we just… My mom took a bit and she was like mmhm, okay. I’m like it’s horrible, isn’t it? She’s like yeah, it is. So we just threw that away.
Speaking of which, because I’ve asked Inga earlier, do you also ask for people’s opinion? And if they are, let’s just say, brutally honest about it, how do you feel? Or what do you say to them?
Oh well I mean, it’s cooking. I’m just like, okay, do you think I should make it another time and just do it differently or just not do it at all? So I think I’m okay with that.
Alright. You don’t take offence.
Oh no. No, no. I mean sometimes I cook something and let’ say my fiancée likes it and I don’t and I think like, oh god, no, I think what I cooked is horrible. And she’s just like no no no, that’s great. Okay.
Alright. And then I’m sorry, one more extra question because…
Oh ask all you want, that’s why we’re here.
I just wanna know, because when it comes to cooking, did you try to learn it yourself or were you somehow, I don’t know, I don’t wanna use the word forced, but were you educated? Maybe that’s a better term. By your mom or somebody else said oh…
So when I was a teenager, my mom tried to teach me how to cook, what kind of spices, what kind of spices to use there. And of course how to do it to have beautiful nice dishes. So when I got married, of course I tried to take something new from my mother-in-law and of course I tried to cook the things that they like actually.
And of course it’s not a special school to get education, like cookery school. But from my parents maybe, from my mother-in-law.
And did you take pleasure while you were learning from your mom?
Sure because when I tried to cook, I always tried to put as we say soul and your feelings, your heart, just warm feelings there. And of course you cook with love. Because you cook for your beloved people.
That’s so interesting. I was more like, you know, an experimenter cause I love, you know, trying new things. I really wanted to learn how to bake. But nobody ever taught me, you know, like, showed me how to do things. It was just, you know, by experience, you know. Like, yeah.
So and of course, you know, since I lived with my parents until I graduated from school, so they were cooking most of the time. So and then when I entered university, I had to leave and I moved to Novosibirsk, so and my dorm life started.
So and then whether you want it or not, you’re going to start to learn how to cook. Which was actually funny, cause let’s say I had at least some basic knowledge of how to cook things and sometimes I would call my time. Like mom, how do I do this? How do I do that? But at least, you know, I had some basic knowledge.
But I had so many situations when there were guys, you know, like, 18-17-18-19 years old in the kitchen and they were like, girls, do I put salt to the eggs? Do I put eggs, you know, in the cold water or boiling water?
What about sausages? I’m like, oh my sweet summer child, let me teach you.
I can just imagine myself being taught by you.
Cooked in my life? Well, you know, I was trying to recall that on my way here and I.. Yes, I cooked rice in my life.
But wait, do you cook rice, you mean, like do you actually boil rice yourself or do you use a rice cooker?
Boil with a rice cooker. I don’t know if that counts as cooking.
Well it does, but also, you know, you just put rice…
Yeah, cause rice cookers, you know, they make it way easier.
Right. Oh no no no, but I’ve also tried without the rice cooker.
It went pretty well, because I was trained by my grandmother. However, it’s funny because she taught me how to cook rice. But when it comes to the main dish, yeah, I don’t know maybe she thought, because we were, you now, all boys.
And maybe she thought okay, I don’t think it’s really necessary for you. So she would just ask for some help like can you give me the meat? Can you give me the salt? I know it’s not cooking, but hey, I assisted in cooking.
Wait, does that mean that you only have like takeaway meals?
Mostly, yes. If we talk about my life now, yes. Or I would eat out, so… But I guess we’re gonna touch on that later on.
No, we can touch on that now.
Oh, okay, so. My god, the story of my life. Either I eat out or buy takeaway which is, I must say and I know this, you know, much of my salary actually goes to food.
Yeah, but I probably spend more because I don’t cook and I know that it’s quite pricey sometimes. I could’ve probably saved more if you know, if I knew how to cook. But yeah, it’s been my life.
You know, I have a question. So you know how nowadays we have the takeaway. But we also have delivery services. And I would like to touch upon that now. So and of course we can have food delivered from restaurants and cafes, but have you heard, or maybe you have tried that.
So delivery services that deliver you food for the week and it’s in containers and they say breakfast, lunch, dinner. And you can choose just usual food or healthy food. So and I think since you don’t actually cook, that might be something right up your alley. You know, trying something like that. Have you ever tried that?
I have never, but that’s actually really interesting.
I can send you the link on Instagram.
I’ve never tried it. Again, but I think it’s really convenient for people who are really busy and, you know, for a long time. Cause…
Cause let’s say I have friends right now and they work, they rent an office, so and every day they go for lunch which means they spend one hour of their time first of all and then they spend around, like, you know, at least 1000 rubles for both of them.
So and they decided… And then also, you know, they eat very often unhealthy food. So and they decided to give it a try. So and they got a menu for the week, and they said that at first it was a little…. First two days they said were so difficult, because you know, they chose the healthy food and they chose how much calories they want to take per day.
So and they said that compared to what they usually would eat, that was difficult, they felt hungry a little bit. They were tempted to have a snack, but they said after 2 days, they started to really appreciate it.
And they say like yeah, we don’t need to spend time now to cook, to think about what to cook, to think about, you know, all the healthy/unhealthy food. And yeah, it also saves time when they are in the office cause they don’t have to actually go.
They might grab these containers and go to the part for example, to have lunch on the fresh air. So I think that it might be something great. Especially if you don’t cook anyway.
I didn’t have an opportunity to… I didn’t try to use this delivery system, just to order food. But actually I tried to participate in a marathon when I wanted to lose some weight. And there was a special list of products that you are going to buy with grams actually and you are going to cook. According to this…
So did they have like a menu for the week?
I tried to eat for a month or so. So there is no coffee, only in the morning, it was really difficult for me not to drink…
Only once, in the morning. And it was really difficult, I had awful headaches, but I got used to it actually.
Oh it’s called, you know, it’s like substance withdrawal.
Yeah. A lot of water, a lot of water, you should drink a lot of water. And I have lost 11 kilograms.
Yes. According to this special diet.
Can you imagine how much unhealthy food that actually means? Oh god.
But I’d like to gain your 11 kilograms.
Like can we swap right now?
Yeah, actually I’m reading a book right now which is called A Tired Human or A Tired Mind, something like that. And it says that very often we actually have, you know, this feeling of fatigue and tiredness and not enough energy because of our diets.
So and you know, I’ve been told numerous times that I need to change my diet. I’m like yeah, I need to do that. 2 days ago my fiancée and I were like yeah, we need to change our diet, get more fruit, more veggies. Yesterday evening – lets go grab a beer, you know, and chips.
Well I think it doesn’t hurt every once in a while, like to…
If you have a serious motivation I guess, you will do it. So you know, if you have a couple of kilograms, just actually… But not 10 or 11 I guess.
If you have more, you will do it.
Yeah. Well we have made a bet that if I don’t lose… Cause I said that I wanna lose some weight and we have agreed that if I don’t lose weight, my partner shaves bold. I’m like I don’t want that! So yeah, it’s pretty good motivation you know. Yeah.
A really strong one I must say.
So wait, so this is about delivery of, you know, prepared food. But you know, like, not just some dish you choose from a restaurant, but like, you know, like a menu for a week. So and do you often, you know, order delivery from a restaurant? So or do you prefer to go and take away?
Well, personally, when I was in the Philippines, it was a mix. So I would either buy takeaway food or I can order, you know, delivery. But it was no problem because normally the restaurants where I ordered the food from, they were very close to my house, so you know, it would take only a few minutes.
However, based on what I’ve heard from my students here in, well, in Novosibirsk. For example, yesterday one student said he ordered and the food arrived after 2 hours! And so I thought oh god, two hours! And I also remember I had an individual lesson with one, you know, student before.
He wanted for us to have, you know, breakfast here. So he ordered and guess what? The lesson was over, it was for an hour and a half, and the food still hasn’t arrived. Because of that I was kind of, well, somewhat discouraged. And the other thing is sometimes you know, when they deliver the food, they’re unable, for some reason, unable to locate you and they have to call you sometimes for directions.
Which, by the way, yeah, that’s the problem, because oh good I will have to explain it in Russian, but how will I do it? So if order to avoid this situation, I just buy takeaway food or I eat out. I don’t wanna be in this mess.
Yeah of course it’s a problem.
So yeah. So we can say that the delivery services have some drawbacks, that being time and you know, sometimes by the time it arrives you become really hangry. And what else? So usually the price.
But don’t get me wrong, I well, I also like the idea of delivery, as I’ve said I do it in the Philippines. I just don’t do it here in Russia.
You know there is one delivery which does not deliver, you know, food from restaurants, but maybe you’ve seen this ad all over the city, which is pink colors, and it says Самокат. So it’s a new delivery of food, not ready food, although that depends. But you know, if you realize that you’ve run out of milk and you need it or you want to put something on your toast in the morning.
So you can use this service and their policy is that they deliver it within 15 minutes. They have a very limited range of things they have in an app, because they don’t’ go to a shop and buy and then deliver it. But they have special points around the city which have, you know, little stores you know, where they pick up the food and deliver it.
So and I realized that once I was cooking in the morning and I’ve realized, well, I realized I ran out of flour it was. And I thought well, if I’m ordering flour, I might as well order some coconut milk for my coffee and something sweet. 10 minutes! And it was 8am! 10 minutes!
Literally when the delivery guy knocked on my door I was like you are like a lightning, like so fast. And he’s like yeah, it’s not even my first delivery.
I was like wow, thank you, thank you so much. Yeah so I think that’s a great service, yeah, that’s a great service. And for that service I was ready, like, you know, to leave some extra tips. Which apparently the guy did not expect – he was like oh thank you so much. Yeah.
So Inga, do you avail of delivery service or what?
Generally we go to the shop with my husband after work, so whatever we need we buy there and we don’t just order… We don’t just… I don’t know.
Not for us. Sometimes we order pizza of course or pies when we are really hungry or we have just unexpected guests.
I was just about to ask you about pizza.
Yeah. But actually I try to cook, I try to go to the shop on my own. So why would I wanna buy there. But I think I should try it once.
Just you know, for the sake of trying.
Well, since we’ve touched upon and we started talking about deliveries, do you think that pandemic, you know, has contributed to the development of that?
I really think so, because you know, in my country especially last year, when there was a real lockdown, my goodness, people’s lives depended on, you know, delivered food. However I must say, and I remember it because I read it from the news, there was one famous actress who contracted the virus without going out.
I’m sorry, and her suspicion is that food may have been infected or the delivery guy may have been infected because how else could she have gotten, you know, the virus? So it was, you know, it opened everybody’s minds like oh my god, you also have to be careful with that. So.
Well, you know, of course, you know, if you… When you grab the food, if you, you know, touch something or if nobody is wearing a mask. Like, yes, that’s a risk. But do you remember how people were, well, let’s say a little bit paranoid maybe or scared, well, everybody was at the beginning of the pandemic.
And they washed, you know, whatever they would buy, yeah, they would wash, you know, the bottles, the packs of chips. Like, everything.
It’s almost like an obsession but yeah, it’s real. It happened and I suppose it’s still happening.
But I think that the pandemic, you know, gave rise to these delivery services and it contributed to the better service and faster delivery. Cause I think before the pandemic hit, not many restaurants had been, you know, part of this delivery system.
They would just not. Why would they? They would have a lot of customers, you know, coming in anyway, so what’s the point? So, you know. But once it started, a lot of businesses realized that hey, people now, if we want to survive, of course, yes.
But now that everything is more or less, that everything was more or less back to normal before… Until very recently, so they had people coming in, know they can’t have places even, but still they had a lot of people order delivery and I think it’s made my life for example and I’m pretty sure lives of millions of other people so much easier.
And you know, on the part of the business, it actually saved the business. I’m glad that, you know, other considered this idea because otherwise if they just went with the traditional one waiting for customers to come to their restaurants, then they wouldn’t earn any money at all. So. Well good for them. It’s not just for the consumers, but business owners as well.
And it’s great that you’ve got a choice, so there are a lot of different companies, like, Самокат, they’re quicker than the others. And you are going to order there and of course it’s… Yeah.
Yeah we have a lot of variety. I have a feeling that you know, this has made me a little bit lazy cause every time, you know, we’re just sitting and like I want something sweet, yeah, me too. Do you wanna go grab something over there?
I’m like can we just order delivery and not go anywhere? And not even leave the apartment? And that’s bad. Like, that’s legit bad. But it’s also so convenient, you know. Every time I need something, I’m really tempted to just have it delivered rather than go somewhere.
I can relate very well. Because every time I go back to the Philippines, well, as you know, I don’t cook. So my life always depends on delivery or eat out, whatever. But mostly the reason for, you know, for me why I would opt for delivery it’s because I’m just too lazy.
I would think like oh my god, if I go out, I need to dress up, I need to… I don’t need all these things, I can just call this restaurant and have my food delivered. So yeah, I know it was a bad habit and yeah, that’s why I can relate while you were talking, I just thought oh my god, you are talking about my life in the Philippines.
So and what about let’s say eating out. So Inga, you said that you still go to places sometimes. So how often? How often does that happen?
I try to do it once a week.
So it’s like a family tradition.
Yeah. I try to have that once a week. But… Do you know this banking app which is Tinkoff Bank? So I have their card and this app, you know, sometimes… I have a feeling that sometimes it shames me, but once a month it has a quiz.
And last month I was like oh, quiz. Quiz about my expenses, oh cool, let’s have a look. And it says, quiz, Katerina, try to guess, how many times in May or like in April you paid in restaurants and cafes? Options: 45, 52, 70. I’m like I don’t like this quiz.
No. And then they’re like you spend on cafes and restaurants more than 90% of other users. I’m like I’m sure that’s not true and you’re just trying to shame me on that one.
But then it also gave me food for thought, I’m like okay, I should stop going to places that often. Like, I really love… I’m a foodie. I love good food.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Like, it’s not just going to have a bite or going just to have lunch. I’m going because I want something specific. I want good food or good drinks. So and yeah, but still, when I saw how much and how many times, I’m like okay. Of course, you know, coffee shop counts too in the app, and I buy coffee almost every day. So yeah.
So again, there is nothing wrong with eating out. It’s okay, but it’s really expensive. When you go, when you’re eating out regularly, on a regular basis, really expensive.
But of course you should, you should go somewhere with your partner, with your family members, I don’t know. With your friends, to try something new.
And to help local business of course.
And also you know, there are a lot of things that I don’t think I will be able to, you know, to cook at home. Because for example last time we… Well, not last time but let’s say some time ago we went to a restaurant, we had mochi cakes. You know, the Japanese ones. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make one. You need, like, what, bean paste or something. No.
Of course there are some ingredients that you’ll never find here or…
Or, you know, I know that I would screw up, you know. Let’s say tartar. Raw meat? Oh I have plenty of opportunities to screw that up and just get food poisoned. So, no. Sometimes I’d rather go and try, you know, something. And that’s why I have this list, you know, of things that I wanna go and get in Saint Petersburg.
Like, you know, like Japanese fluffy pancakes. You know? Or cannoli, or Takoyaki. Oh god. Yeah. So wait, and where do you prefer to eat out? Like, what type of food do you usually have when you eat out? What kind of places is that?
I don’t wanna sound stereotypical, but it’s obvious that I’m Asian, so I go to, well, Asian restaurants. For example, Ichiban, so they have, you know… It’s like panasian, because they serve Korean, you know, Chinese dishes.
It’s quite good, the prices are affordable. Well, I guess I can. Although I’ve also heard from tother people they don’t seem to like the place. But for me – I really like it, because especially the one near Первомайский сквер I think the space is just enough. And then the atmosphere… You know, when you go to a place it’s not just the food sometimes that you’re after.
But also the atmosphere. You know, the kind of music they play – is it spacious enough? So those are some of the factors. But you know, to answer your question – yes, I go mostly to restaurants, sorry, Asian restaurants. And there is one near my flat, it’s kind of like a cafeteria that’s run by Vietnamese and I often go there to have Pho, you know, the soup.
And of course rice. I mean, it’s hard to live my life without rice. That’s why sometimes when I for example buy takeaway, I just wanna divert a little bit and go back to you know, like, buying takeaway. I always have to have rice. Otherwise, if I can’t find rice, then I will buckwheat for… I mean, as a substitute.
Yeah. Well it’s like we have bread or something like that, or you know, some kind of a side dish, so for you it’s just rice.
It’s like bread for you, right.
Have you… Have you been able to find a good ramen here?
Well that’s an interesting question.
Cause I’ve realized that it’s some kind of a challenge to find a good ramen.
Because I’ve never… I haven’t found one, like a really, really, I would say authentic Japanese ramen.
Yeah, neither have I. And yesterday I was asked by a person who came to visit Novosibirsk, and I know you’ll be listening to this episode, so hello there! So and she asked me are there any authentic Chinese restaurants in Novosibirsk? And I’ve realized that I have no idea, I can’t think of any authentic restaurants. Do you happen to know?
Oh my god, I wish I took note of the name. It was just suggested by a friend of mine. We haven’t been there yet, but he has been and he said that next time that we’re gonna meet, he’s gonna take me there. But…
Do you happen to remember where it is?
It’s near the… How do you call this? Is this the central library? The big one.
Октябрьская. There is one near that place. If I recall, I’m gonna tell you later on.
Oh please, tell me. Yeah. Cause I’ve realized that I’ve no idea, I’ve never seen an authentic Chinese place in here.
You know, from the outside I can tell it’s really Chinese, even you know, the decorations. So yeah. Well, I’d like to believe that it’s really authentic, but my friend said it is real. You’re gonna love it.
I think it depends on who it is run by… Cause let’s say we have a lot of authentic Vietnamese places that are run by Vietnamese. So and in this case you know that the food is gonna be, you know, authentic and good.
And not, you know, adapted or something like that. Yeah. Inga, what about you? What kind of food do you usually have when you eat out?
Actually we try to go to Armenian or Georgian cuisine, restaurant or a café. So I can name restaurant Гавар, it’s near Площадь Калинина. And there is a Georgian… It’s not actually a restaurant but something like that. Хочу Пури.
Oh I know that one, yeah.
Delicious food, yes, it’s really nice. And when it comes to pizza, my son likes Перчини, Papa Johns. He likes it a lot.
Yeah, Papa Johns. The international, yeah. You know, I have noticed that if, let’s say 10 years ago, Novosibirsk was all crazy about pizza, about burgers. Now there is a new, well let’s say a trend maybe, but people got to really Georgian food. And we have so many cool restaurants with Georgian food. Cause I think it’s also very homey.
And it’s very… It feels like home, really. This type of food. And I really like to go to places like that.
It’s atmosphere. And it’s really tasty.
There I one cool restaurant of Georgian cuisine in Akademgorodok. It’s called Хлеб и Нино and it’s, you know. God, the food is just so great and when you order something, while you’re waiting, they bring you, you know, freshly baked hot bread with some sauce.
So the same thing with Хочу Пури, when you’re waiting, they bring…
I think it’s like the same... They have the same owners.
It’s just, you know, just the locations are different.
And I’m just wondering are they run by real Georgian people? Or…
I think yeah. If they have the same menu, they know how to treat you, how to cook.
And you can see that in, you know, how things are cooked. Like, oh, oh god. So I think it’s becoming a new, a really new trend. People really get to like it. Yeah. Alright.
Different cuisine, different styles, different food.
Tastes differ, so you can try whatever you want.
Yeah, I’m waiting for the day when Novosibirsk has… Cause let’s say we have almost everything, we have Italian cuisine, Georgian, hopefully authentic Chinese, Vietnamese. We have Israeli food. And I’m really looking forward to the day when we have Spanish food. And by Spanish I mean a place with tapas or something like that. So this type of food.
Oh good, a good paella, yeah. Oh god. I really wanna try good, real paella. One day, one day.
Well I mean Novosibirsk is developing like crazy in terms of, you know, food and infrastructure. We like food over here. I think more than in most places in Russia, really. We have a lot of cool and really, you know, high quality food places, yeah.
So is food… Cause there is this misconception and stereotype maybe that food in cafes and restaurants means that it’s unhealthy food. So is this always the case or…?
No, not necessarily. No. Because you know, of course you always have some options and you know different restaurants offer different things. And they can even have a healthy option including, you know, vegetarian if you are a vegetarian. So I don’t think it’s always unhealthy. I don’t think so.
Yeah, and I know there are places who specialize on healthy food, on vegetarian food, you know, and they have this policy, like, no unhealthy food. No fried food. I think that’s great that we have places like that too.
So let’s, you know, kinda sum it up about eating out and home cooking. So what are the pros and cons of each. So let’s say home cooking, what are the good sides.
Since I am a professional here…
No, I’m going to speak about disadvantages as well.
Okay, so let’s begin with advantages. So cooking is fun. When you are with your family members, everyone is busy.
He should try I guess, he should try.
No no no, I understand you because of course when you cook, sometimes you don’t just do it alone, you do it with the rest of the family. And although I didn’t, you know, technically cook the food, I helped in cutting.
Yes, of course, it’s also kind of help, cut, I just add, someone mixes.
You interact with people while… So it’s fun, it gives you an opportunity to interact and communicate. Okay.
You will learn a lot about nutrition. So you know what ingredients are there and if you want to be fitter of course you know what kind of ingredients to put there to be fitter, not to put much oil or I don’t know…
Yeah I would say you might learn.
Cause let’s say when I cook I have no idea about nutrients or anything like, I am… Yeah I don’t know much about it.
You can make your family members or friends happy because when you cook something new, they are impressed and you can feel more confident when they give you compliments. You know, it’s a masterpiece.
You just said friends and family. You know they’re saying like a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
Is through his stomach, exactly.
So you know, that might work too.
And with that said, cooking is also a great expression of love.
Absolutely. You know they say… In psychology they say that there are five love languages – the love language of time, of gifts and one of them, if I’m not mistaken, food. So when you want to actually like pay attention to your significant other by feeding them.
So compliments, right, you will be quite happier when you get just compliments from your friends.
So fishing for compliments, food edition, okay, got it.
You just cooking something for fishing compliments, right. Okay, I can mention, you can cook with large portions and put it in a freezer and eat it later.
If you’re busy, right, you can put it in a freezer.
Actually, yeah. I used to do the meal prep when I was quite busy and with my partner at the time. So let’s say I would come and do the meal prep for the whole week for both of us. Then store it in containers and then you know, this is for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and so on. So that was saving a lot of time, yeah.
The next one is there is no special dress code at home. You can wear whatever you want. Causal style.
You can eat your bowl of pasta while wearing yoga pants.
In your pajamas. You don’t have to dress up or just to go out to a fancy restaurant, so it’s quite convenient, right. And of course saving money! It’s a really important factor. You save money when you cook at home.
Yes, I think this might be one of the biggest pros.
Advantages, yeah. And the other thing is, you know, if you care about your health or that of your family, then you would go for healthier ingredients. So you know that the ingredients are safe as opposed to, later on we’re gonna talk about, you know, eating out. And sometimes you don’t know exactly what kind of ingredients they added to your food.
Yes, yes, you can never be…
Allergies or not, of course. And you can choose the food by yourself, go to a shop, trying… You know you can see…
So we can say that this is one of the biggest disadvantages of eating out – you can never be sure that, you know… You can never be sure about the ingredients.
And you can never be sure that if you have an allergy you are not going to have this allergen… Technically, of course, they say, you know, they note that this meals contains, let’s say, nuts or milk or something. But I have had at least two situations when I had my coffee and I drink lactose…
So let’s say lactose free milk or some kind of alternative like plant-based milk cause I am lactose intolerant. So and I had a situation when I think the baristas just mixed that up. And used regular milk. And you know, lactose free and regular milk, they taste the same.
And oh god, I had to cancel my classes, cause I was feeling so bad. And usually you know, the reaction starts in about half an hour. God and usually, you know, that moment, it’s just so horrible and so I came back the next day, I’m like you …ed up.
Like, seriously. They’re like is that such big of a difference? I’m like a huge one. Like you don’t give peanuts to a person who is allergic to peanuts, you know. Unless you want them to die. So I’m like it’s serious. So yeah. Okay. So and what are the disadvantages of home cooking?
Of course there are some disadvantages, it’s not just pluses, but there are some minuses as well. So it’s time consuming, the first one that I can mention, it’s time-consuming. You have to have a lot of time to cook.
I think that is the number one disadvantage.
Yes, yes, when you come home, of course you’re exhausted and you need some time to cook, of course it’s much more convenient to grab something.
Yeah, you are every tempted.
From a fast food chain or a restaurant, or eating out. Of course it’s move convenient to do it.
Although luckily nowadays we have technology at our side. So let’s say I am, well, I have lots of classes, so I’m not always ready to cook. But I have a multicooker, so I put everything, all the ingredients inside, just…
Yeah, cause you don’t have to do that separately like first, you have to do this, then, you know, boil something. That would take time. But with a multicooker very often you have recipes like put everything into one pan, don’t even mix it yet, push a couple of buttons, one hour later it’s ready.
You just have to mix, like, you know, to stir it, you’re done. I love this. That’s my type of cooking. That or in an oven, when you just put it in an oven, forget about it for like 40 minutes, ta-dam! Dinner’s ready!
Yeah, that’s my level of cooking very often, yeah. Alright.
Next disadvantage is just you have to wash dishes. Of course. And kitchen looks like a mess.
And of course it’s also time-consuming. So sometimes if you have a dishwasher, so there is some manual work to do after all. So it’s also a disadvantage.
I think when I move into my own place, like when I have my own apartment or something, the first thing I’m gonna buy is a dishwasher. Really. The first thing. Yeah. Now this is one thing that I wish I had. Seriously. Okay.
So if you have a lot of guests I guess, if you have a small flat, of course it’s I can say impossible to have all of them in the same place and to just cook, to treat them in a small flat. Of course it’s convenient to go out, to try something new with your friends at a restaurant. And it’s also a disadvantage.
And what about eating out…
Wait, one second, I just wanna add. One more thing about home cooking is that you always have to think what am I gonna prepare for lunch? What about for dinner? Or for the entire week? You know, you’re always occupied…
Oh Ken. It’s not for the entire week, it’s for your entire life. I mean have you noticed like 90% of conversations, you know, in a household is like what are we gonna do… What are we gonna make for dinner tomorrow? What are we gonna eat tomorrow? All the time.
You know when I was young, I looked at my parents, every single day they were like what are we gonna cook tomorrow? What’s for dinner tomorrow? What’s for lunch tomorrow? I was like oh my god. And I didn’t pay much attention to that at the time.
Now I’m like what are we having for dinner tomorrow? Like all the time. It’s like number one question now. And you have to constantly think. And you’re like oh god, is that our whole life right now?
I think this is much more difficult to think about what to cook.
Rather than to cook, yeah.
By the way, it’s not just the cooking process itself, because the grocery will come in. Because of course you’re gonna think of the ingredients and then when you go to the supermarket…
And then you go, you have to find them. It’s not just…
Yeah. You see, that’s why my life is easy.
It sure is. Especially, you know, for people, you know, who use that type of delivery that delivers food for the week.
Problem solved! It’s true, it’s true.
One more disadvantage I should mention that so Katya has already mentioned about come on, I don’t want to go out to the shop, I’m just really tired, I don’t know, I don’t want. And it is really problematic, it is really a big problem to go out and do the groceries and to buy something. So that’s why…
I would also add you know, when you actually do go outside and you do buy groceries – you have to carry it all, you know, back to the home and sometimes you have like 5 bags of food.
And you’re like oh my goodness. Really I don’t like it.
Well I can personally relate. By the way, although I don’t cook, I know. But back in the day when I was a kid, my grandmother… Oh my goodness, all of us would carry bags of groceries and it was just awful, yeah.
But the result is fantastic.
Right. And if it’s cooked really well, then it’s really satisfying.
So and what about eating out then? What are the pros and cons of that?
Well I think one obvious advantage is it saves time, especially if you go to a place that’s, you know, when food is really served quickly, because you know, it’s also another thing going to a restaurant and you’re gonna wait, you know, for a long time for your order, but in most cases yeah, it saves time.
You don’t have all the problems anymore than we have enumerated earlier about home cooking, so it’s about the planning, the groceries, whatsoever. So, saves time. What else? And when you eat out sometimes, if it’s a really lovely restaurant as I’ve mentioned earlier, it’s not just the food, the atmosphere, the music.
And there you have plenty of options, because all you have to do is just point out what do you want? This? That? This. And if the service is good, of course you also feel good because…
Yeah. The waiter or waitress is very-very polite and you also feel good, so, you see…
I agree, I agree, you also go for an atmosphere, to just…
To enjoy your time with your friends and don’t spend your time on cooking.
Absolutely. Yeah. And then, you know, you can also, you know, when you choose a place to go to, you’re like okay, how do I feel today? Fancy a place? You know, neon decorated place? Or something different.
You see, there’s like a theme. And in addition you can also match your clothes to the place that you’re going to. If you feel fancy today, okay, I wanna look rich, I opt to…
Yeah, I wanna get dressed to kill today.
High heels, yeah. So you would go, of course, you don’t go then to a burger place for example, I agree, I agree. But of course there are disadvantages to that, which are…
Well, you would spend more. I’m a living proof, I could have probably saved already more if I haven’t been going out a lot just to eat out.
I can physically feel how my banking app agrees with you right now. Oh speaking of I could’ve saved more – this app as well sometimes tells me, you know, if you had been… Like, if you were investing, you would’ve saved, you know, let’s say, like 100 000 by now. I’m like would I have though? So yeah. It constantly reminds me of that.
Oh my god it makes you guiltier.
I know right? I know! It’s like passive-aggressive, yeah, shaming. Alright, yeah, it’s very money-consuming. It’s…. You tend to spend way more money, yeah, that’s true.
The other disadvantage is apart from you don’t know sometimes what ingredients they have in the food, but the preparation itself. You know, we’re not just talking about high-end restaurants, the really luxurious ones, but there are some, you know, somewhere in the middle.
And you know, I sometimes have doubts like did they use gloves? Did they touch my food? You never know, because there are some irresponsible cooks. You don’t know what happens behind, you know, the kitchen. Because only the people who prepare your food, you know, know.
Have you ever had the situation when you were brought your food and there was like a hair on it? Or something like that? Have you?
Yeah. You know, as much I would like to create a scene, but then I just tell myself, okay, maybe it’s just a mistake, you can just, you know, remove it. But at least it’s not in the food per se, it was just on the side, so I just okay, I’ll just excuse it. But of course it’s still unpleasant.
It is. I mean, I’ve had situations when there was, you now, a hair on the food itself. But that depends on the mood, sometimes I would just ugh, no no no no. And there’s one trick. Cause you know, when you have this, you usually ask to replace your food, right?
You’re like can you please replace that? I don’t wanna eat food with hair on it. There’s one trick as to how to know that it’s not the same plate brought back to you.
Of course, I wanted to say that they will just remove it and bring it back.
Always put hell of a lot of salt on it before you ask that. Like hell of a lot of salt on it. And then if they bring it back and you taste it and it’s hella salty, that means they’ve brought the same thing back to you. So and then you have all the right to make a scene. So yeah.
I mean but I would say that depending on the situation, I would usually just, you know, just take this hair away and just continue eating, cause… I mean, yeah. Things happen. I don’t know, I think that’s not the worst.
I think that’s not a problem.
Yeah, that’s not the worst thing that can end up in my… As long as they wash their hands, you know.
And besides, you know, I think it’s unintentional anyway.
I mean, who would want to put a strain of hair on somebody’s food?
Yeah, of course. So, things happen and yeah. Well unless, you know, it’s a very long hair, you’re like okay, no, I have my limits.
Or maybe you have an argument with the waiter and then the waiter for some reason… Okay, I don’t wanna say it, because there might be some listeners who are eating right now. So. I don’t wanna gross them out.
Okay. So and I wanted to ask you ask well about travelling. So cause, so when you travel, do you tend to cook when you travel or do tend to only eat out? So what’s the situation like?
So it happens so that we were in Malaysia and we were in a hotel, it was… I don’t know, it was maybe a kind of a special hotel with kitchen.
Oh you had like an apartment?
Apartment, like an apartment, right. So we sometimes we bought products, just food form the shops and I cooked in there. Sometimes we were eating out. So different things.
You know… I’m sorry to ask, but this is interesting for me, because you’re supposed to be on holiday and, you know, just in my mind I’m thinking you shouldn’t be doing this and that, you should be relaxing. But you do cook, yeah?
Sometimes in the morning, so we just didn’t want to go to cafes so early in the morning, so I cooked something for our breakfast. But during our day time, of course we were out, we tried to eat out and so.
Yeah. I would say that depends on your budget cause let’s say I tend to eat out when I’m travelling, but let’s say when I went to London the last time, I had legit like 6 thousand rubles with me for several days. So that’s not the money you can, you know, you can go with when you want to eat out.
No. So and I was staying with a friend of mine and I would just, you know… I think after that I can write a guide like a Broke’s Guide, you know, to London. Cause I had literally, I was broke. So I would go to like 99 pence shop or like 1 pound shop, buy…
There was a set of like 2 yoghurts for a pound, then a pack of like six buns for a pound. And some bananas for a pound. Three pounds – I would have breakfast for two days. And then in the evening I would usually buy some pasta or something like that, canned tuna or, you know, some ground meat, depending on the price.
And I would usually go to a supermarket late in the evening when they are trying to, you know, get rid of the stuff that is, you know, which is about to expire. And I was like okay, so I’ve saved, you know, a pound here, a pound there, but I was cooking. Cause I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford, you know, going and buying something somewhere.
I was just early in the morning, so there were no cafes open, where you could have breakfast for example.
So yeah, so and during that trip to London for example I only cooked. I didn’t eat out anywhere cause well, you know…
And the good thing is it brought out the creativity in you.
Oh yeah, being broke always does, being broke always does. Whether you are travelling or staying at home, yes.
Oh yes. Suddenly, you know, you’re able to make a hundred dishes out of potatoes only. That’s true, that’s true.
So Ken, does that mean that you usually eat out when you travel since you…
Oh yeah, sorry, my bad, my bad.
Yeah and well, even if I could cook, I still would eat out, because for me, when you’re travelling, you don’t wanna be bothered by things like this. Like, I just wanna relax, I wanna see sights.
Why should I cook? Even if I could, it’s just for me of course, because you have a different situation.
Yeah. Well and sometimes we travel to eat, you know, like gastrotour. Like me and my upcoming Saint Petersburg trip. Like, literally, food places. I’m not sure I will be able to go to all of them cause there are so many, but I’ll do my best, I’ll do my best.
Yeah. So and tell me. It’s not really related to eating out or cooking as such, but I just wanted to touch upon the thing that is quite widespread in the US, which is pot luck. So do you know what a pot luck is?
So I guess that’s something that you have in your fridge and you are ready to share with your guests.
Okay, because we have that culture of pot luck, for example it’s a beach outing. Whoever are part of that beach outing, each person is expected to bring some food with them. So for example when we went to the beach, when I was in the Philippines, it was my Japanese course and you know, end of the course outing.
So everyone brought something. So in my case I brought a cake. The others brought spaghetti. So, you know, sweets, drinks. Yeah, it’s like assigned to each person.
Everybody knows, like bring your own bottle, right?
Yeah. So it’s not only you know, drinks. But it’s whatever you want to bring, yeah. Cause this is I think one of the differences in our cultures maybe, cause in Russia, if you invite guests over, you are the one who is responsible for food. You maybe just ask, you know, them to bring something to drink if they want to.
But I’ve noticed that in the US when you go to a party or something like that, or someone’s inviting guess over, they say okay, so hey guys, a party at my place, pot luck. So and that means you can bring snacks, chips, drinks.
If you want you can bring some big meal, but usually, you know, since it’s a party, you would bring, you know, some type of a hummus, veggies maybe. So yeah, you are free to bring whatever, like casserole. Yeah, it’s totally up to you. And I think we should have this culture too, I think it’s really convenient.
Do they say to each person so you should bring this one, because…
We have already someone who is gonna bring a cake or…
No. You just say pot luck and then whatever people want to bring, they bring that. So you never know what you will end up having. So but that’s the fun of it.
Right. Although okay, in some cases, because well, good thing you mentioned that. Just, well, that’s the real idea of pot luck. However, sometimes, if you just want to be a little organized. And you know, so that there won’t be any repetition, because what if somebody, you know…
Brings cake, and then somebody else brings a cake, and everyone brings a cake. It’s like, it’s gonna be…
A diabetes party. I’m sorry.
Yeah. Yeah. Alrighty. Well, actually, I’m a little bit curious about our listeners’ experience. So do you guys like to cook or are you obsessed with eating out? Like some of us might be, wink-wink, Ken.
And my banking app is like hahaha too. If so, I mean, if you prefer to cook, why is that? What do you like cooking? If you like eating out, what kind of places do you like? And what about travelling? I think it’s like, not a controversial, but something fun to talk about.
So remember, feel free to leave comments, especially in our vk group, cause this is where we answer the fastest and we just like chatting there, cause I think we’re all there. Like, all of our teachers are there, so. Yeah, we usually interact. So thank you so much Ken. Thank you so much Inga, it was really fun to talk about it.
And thank you dear listeners for listening. So that was the BigAppleSchool podcast and today we discussed eating out versus home cooking. Remember if you struggle to understand any part of our conversation, you are always welcome to our website which is Bigappleschool.com/podcast.
You can click on the podcast itself and when you start listening, you can click on the script and you’ll see a very interactive script, so which makes it 100 times easier to understand our conversation.
So you can also visit the website itself and find hell of a lot more content there and if you want to get even more content to learn English, you can follow us on any social media where you are, such as Instagram, Vk, Youtube, Telegram and so on. Just search our name, which is again BigAppleSchool. So that was Katya and my guests for today were…
Stay tuned and we’ll see you around.
