ソフトウェアエンジニアSudipの紹介
ken
They say the sun will come out, but I still can't see past the clouds.
Sudip Ghimire
Someone's on my mind, yeah, I think I like it, but I, but I...
ken
Hello and welcome to our another episode of London Tech Talk.
I'm Ken, your host, and this episode is brought to you by me and Kaz.
We both are originally from Japan and working as a software engineer in London right now.
So we're here today with our guest, Sudip. Welcome again.
This is your second...
Welcome.
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Hi.
Cool.
Hi.
ken
Yeah.
I want to thank you again for...
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
ken
Oh, sorry.
And yeah, I'll give you a quick introduction first.
So Sudip is my software engineering friend.
We work in the same project before for building a HR product which was empowered by Web3 technology.
And since then, he is my go-to person to talk about anything from exciting technology and interesting books to read.
And this is your second episode on London Tech, actually.
And the last episode was in episode number one to three, where we dove deep into your career as a professional software engineer.
So yeah, can you give the audience a little bit of background yourself from your world, please?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, thank you very much.
First of all, I'd like to thank you guys for giving me an opportunity to be in this episode.
In fact, this is my second episode, right?
So I'm really fortunate to be here.
And let's just start with a quick introduction, as Ken has already given it, right?
But I think I should also add something.
Well, I'm Nepali.
Or let's say I'm a native Nepali person who is currently working remotely for mainly three countries, Japan, United States and Australia.
Well, I have been working remotely since almost maybe eight years.
ネパールの文化と自然
Sudip Ghimire
So I'd say myself as a tech enthusiast as well as an expert.
ken
Right.
Sudip Ghimire
That's cool.
ken
Yeah, that's cool.
Yeah.
So yeah, so today's topic is actually I wanted you, Sareb, to introduce your beautiful country, Nepal.
I'm more interested in like cultural perspective, any like recent trend and what kind of lifestyle you enjoy and so on.
And I want to give the audience a little bit of context why I wanted to talk about this topic.
Because if you walk up road, you have a chance to come across with people with a different background and culture.
And it's always fascinating to me that I hear and know more about what I don't know today.
It's not only about new technology.
It's also about people and their culture and their background.
And so this is why I wanted to give more spaces for guests to share their cultural background and where you come from and what has been impacting on decision making and carry perspective.
So yeah, that's why I'm so excited to learn more about your beautiful country, Nepal.
Cool.
So let's begin.
So where shall we begin?
I can start with the general questions.
Or do you already have any topic in your mind?
Do you want me to ask?
Like, can I ask you?
Yeah.
What is the top three favorite things about your beautiful country, Nepal?
Sudip Ghimire
Well, to be frank, Nepal is beautiful naturally, first of all, right?
And another one is culturally.
So because of which a lot of tourists come here to just see the natural beauty and cultural diversity of Nepal.
So yeah, to talk about my favorite things, I'd just say places, people and overall the demography.
It's great.
Amazing.
ken
So shall we start from the nature then?
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, well, yeah.
ken
Yeah.
So my understanding is most of the provinces, I remember you have four or five provinces in your country and many places are in high altitude, in the mountains.
So am I right?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
Well, first of all, previously we had development reasons, five development reasons.
But now since Nepal is a bit different in politics now.
So politically it is now divided into seven different provinces and three different reasons.
So you can just find, you know, lowest altitudes and highest altitudes here in Nepal within 200 kilometers.
So, yeah, you can see sharp changes in the landscape here.
ken
Wow.
Cool.
How about your area?
Sudip Ghimire
Well, I'm currently in hilly region.
So it has a temperate climate, right?
So no hurricanes, no hot years or not even, you know, snows.
So I have only seen snowfall only once in my life in my region.
ken
Oh, only once.
When was that?
Sudip Ghimire
If I remember correctly, it should be the year 2008.
So that time I was, you know, in the hospital for a vaccine.
And that day it snowed.
I was really amazed because I never saw that, you know, snow falling.
Sometimes I used to go to, you know, hill to just play with snow.
But I never saw snow falling in the sky in front of me.
ken
How about other people's reactions in your neighborhood?
Are they all, like, impressed with the beautiful falling snow?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, most of the people were impressed because it was their first experience, right?
So I would say it was a lifetime experience because my grandparents also used to say,
I have never seen this snow falling like this.
ネパールの自然と作物
Sudip Ghimire
So it snowed after maybe a century.
I'm not sure, but, you know, it happens only once.
But I don't know how or when because I might not be sure about all of those reasons or factors behind that.
ken
Right.
And how about the landscape or mountains?
Do you have lots of, like, green trees and so on?
Or how does it look like?
Do you enjoy hiking?
I remember you go to some of the mountain hill by riding on the motorcycle.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
Well, hiking and bike riding.
These are one of my hobbies because I'm here inside those landscapes, right?
So I always enjoy going to the hill.
My locality is in a hilly region, so most of the times I just see trees everywhere.
And surprisingly, my village's name is also, if I translate it in English, it should be plant.
Plant?
Yeah, right.
ken
How do you pronounce that in your local language?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, in my language, we call it biruwa.
ken
Biruwa. It means plant.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, right. It means plant.
ken
Sounds beautiful.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
And you can just see or you can guess how green it is, right?
ken
Right.
Sudip Ghimire
So my home is surrounded by bamboo trees in two directions and other trees in other directions.
Oh, good.
ken
You have bamboo as well.
Yeah, I have bamboo.
Nice.
Sudip Ghimire
Well, I was talking about the landscapes and the different reasons, right?
So talking about mountains, I think almost everyone knows that Nepal is home of thousands of peaks that are above 6,000 meters above sea level.
That means everyone knows about Himalayas, right?
So Mount Everest obviously lies in Nepal.
And you can just see snow everywhere, avalanches, glaciers.
Nepal is full of natural beauty.
ken
Cool.
Right.
Sudip Ghimire
And some of the places like Terai, we call it Terai, which are plains and neighboring of India.
They are so fertile and almost all of us are dependent on those fertile fields.
So we grow crops there, right?
ken
What kind of crops?
Sudip Ghimire
So especially...
ken
Rice?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, rice and wheat.
ken
Wheat.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, rice and wheat.
In the hilly region, we find millet and maize, corns, right?
And in Terai region, we find rice and wheat.
ken
Nice. Very diverse.
登山と環境問題
ken
Yeah, that's cool.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, talking about diversity, you know?
ken
As for the Himalayan mountain, I've read the news like...
When was that?
Several weeks ago, the entry fee for climbing up the mountains was like sword.
And it was very pretty rare occasion.
It happens like the first thing in the last five years or so.
Am I right?
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
Is it a big news in your country?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, right, right.
You know, one of the main sources of income, especially regarding the national income,
is mountaineering and trekking.
Yeah, definitely.
So because of this, maybe, you know, people are more concerned about mountaineering
and all of those things related to mountaineering.
For example, in the recent years, what have been found that
is whenever tourists come here and go to mountaineering,
policing is inevitable.
You know that, right?
So because of the policing, now mountains are being more toxic.
So because of this, the government is now planning.
ken
Is it because of like garbage?
Or like they throw away like, you know, cans or beans?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Because at the first place, they did not think that this mountaineering
will be this much higher.
We can depend on this specific tourism, right?
But nowadays they are realizing it
and they are just trying to make it more and more organized.
Because of policing, price high.
I think it should be natural.
But, you know, it's really high.
We cannot afford to climb it.
ken
Right.
Do you have like a local discount price for the local people?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, we have.
Oh, really?
Yeah, we generally have.
ken
But still, is it within the reasonable price for local people?
Sudip Ghimire
But still, it might not be reasonable
because, you know, we have to carry those oxygen cans
and a lot of things, luggages, baggages.
Because of which, it's still expensive.
And another thing, we cannot just go without any guide.
So we need a guide and we need a porter, right?
So for them also, we have to pay for them.
So because of which, price doubles or triples.
ken
Oh, no.
Kazunari Okuda
Have you ever tried to climb Mount Everest?
Sudip Ghimire
No, not yet.
Kazunari Okuda
Or are you thinking?
Sudip Ghimire
Maybe in the future.
I'm not still thinking because, you know,
I must be economically and financially stable to do that
because it might cost thousands of dollars, right?
Which would be more than one year of salary for me.
ken
If there is no entry fee, there is no like financial blockers,
would you do that?
Sudip Ghimire
I would definitely do that.
ken
Yeah, it's more like a question to Kasper.
Have you been to Mount Fuji?
Because I think the situation is similar.
I've never climbed Mount Fuji in Japan,
but I've heard a similar story about, you know, garbage and waste.
It was from the domestic tourists who were visiting Mount Fuji
that they have to, you know, increase the price for the entry fee.
Kazunari Okuda
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, I've climbed Mount Fuji twice.
ken
Twice?
Kazunari Okuda
It was without any fee.
ken
Oh, was it? Cool.
That's great.
Did you need a guide?
Kazunari Okuda
No, no, you don't need a guide.
ken
And did you go to actually the summit, the top of the mountain?
Kazunari Okuda
Yeah, exactly.
ken
Oh, cool.
Sudip Ghimire
That's really cool.
Kazunari Okuda
You should go to the bottom.
It's not comparable with Mount Fuji.
It's more extreme situation.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, it really is extreme.
Because, you know, even to the date,
a lot of mountaineers who could not climb and passed away,
even their body is remained over there and no one can bring it back.
So it's really challenging.
It's more like, you know, going to the fire.
We cannot just expect to come back.
That's really bad.
ネパールの生物多様性
ken
I want to know more about animals in your neighborhood.
Now I'm talking completely different topic than technology and programming.
But, you know, what kind of animal do you have in your neighborhood?
Because my daughter's recent favorite is
seeing a beautiful or fantastic animals or nature's pictures.
Well, if we give you our example for us in London,
we don't see a lot of animals like fox and hedgehogs and squirrels and so on.
But how about your local?
Sudip Ghimire
Well, we could find a lot of animals over here, in fact,
because, you know, Nepal, it already is rich in diversity.
We have 210 different species of mammals
and more than 12,000 species of insects.
You could just think about that.
Right.
It's really rich in biodiversity.
I think the last survey said that
we had around 22,000 different species of animals and plants.
ken
That's a lot.
That's amazing.
Sudip Ghimire
That's a lot.
ken
What is like a famous one?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
So most of the peoples come from different countries to see Bengal tigers.
ken
Tigers.
Kazunari Okuda
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
And one horned rhinoceros.
Right.
ken
Amazing.
Sudip Ghimire
And the Asian elephants.
So they are also common here.
ken
Right.
Sudip Ghimire
And there's one more thing I'd like to share.
So when there was like, you know, tiger was regarded as rare
and whenever they were starting to get preserved,
Nepal is the first country to triple tiger's population.
Triple?
Yeah.
How come?
ken
Yeah.
What was the secret?
I guess you have like a protected area in the forest maybe?
That's right.
Sudip Ghimire
That's right.
We have 12 different national parks where armies go there and protect those animals.
ken
Cool.
Sudip Ghimire
We even have, you know, a lot of, you know,
places where we cannot even go there to just see those animals
because Nepal army just protects them from getting trafficked.
Right.
Yeah.
So even and leopards, they are so common.
They are so common that they even come to our home, you know, sometimes.
Kazunari Okuda
Oh, no.
Really?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
ken
What would you do?
What would you do?
Yeah.
You just stay in the home?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
Generally leopards come at night.
They do not just appear randomly during the daytime.
So it's generally safe.
So whenever just leopards come here and they just hunt stray dogs.
There are a lot of stray dogs over here.
ken
Oh, I see.
Sudip Ghimire
And then we just go to the terrace and start seeing those leopards.
Yeah.
ken
That's amazing.
Sudip Ghimire
It's really beautiful.
Even in the morning, you know, talking about birds,
on a daily basis, I see at least 12 different varieties of birds coming to our terrace.
We just feed them with some shoots and they just eat them and go away.
ken
Oh, wow.
Sudip Ghimire
It's really cool, in fact, to see this.
ken
So you're feeding breakfast for them?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
ken
What do you give?
Like just the usual rice?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
We generally give rice grains as well as sometimes we give them corn.
But corn is not that much, you know, a large amount.
So it's seasonal.
But rice, it's like our everyday meal.
It's readily available.
ken
Amazing.
Yeah.
Can I shift the focus to...
Now we're talking about rice and wheat.
Can I shift our focus to know more about what kind of food you enjoy
and what kind of cooking do you do usually?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
Generally, we have similar kind of meals every day, right, in Nepal.
So we generally do not prefer to have our breakfast, lunch or dinner outside
because it's not regarded that much healthy because, you know, it's really not healthy.
Right.
But in case of our country, it's a bit healthier than those street foods of our neighboring countries like India.
But still they are unhealthy.
But in case of our breakfast, we generally prefer breads.
But they are not like breads that are brought from the shop.
But we generally prepare it at our home.
So we say it's homemade bread, right?
ken
Oh, do you knead by yourself?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
We make that bread, but that's a bit different than the regular bread.
We call it roti, right?
ken
I know it.
ネパールの食文化
ken
Roti.
I know it.
It's very thin.
It looks like a naan from India, isn't it?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, it looks like a naan.
ken
Actually, that's my daughter's favorite.
Oh, really?
Yeah, because there's a Nepalese restaurant here.
And when I go there, all the time she orders it.
So I know I used to try baking roti at home, but I couldn't bake nicely with my pan.
So, yeah.
But it's a secret.
How do you eat roti?
Is it just with roti or did you put something on top?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Generally, we just prepare some pickles, right?
Oh, pickles.
So, yeah.
There are varieties of pickles available here in our country.
As well as we just prepare them.
They are fresh, generally from either tomatoes or sometimes even from potatoes also.
But we generally prepare them.
So either we use pickle or we have it with milk.
ken
So milk is so popular here in Nepal.
And one of the facts, Nepali people are less lactose intolerant than other people.
Sudip Ghimire
What did you say?
Yeah, they are less lactose intolerant.
ken
Lactose intolerance.
What does it mean?
Lactose is as a sugar in fruits.
Sudip Ghimire
No, lactose as in milk.
ken
Oh, milk.
Yeah, milk.
Oh, I get what you mean.
So you have less dairy products?
You don't drink any cow milk?
No, no, no.
Sudip Ghimire
We have more dairy products because they are less lactose intolerant.
ken
Oh, I see what you mean.
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Even in my home, you might not know, but even we have two cows in my home.
ken
In your home, you have two cows?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
Kazunari Okuda
Oh, okay.
So you can get fresh milk every day?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, every day.
ken
Amazing.
Oh, cool.
I love that.
Sudip Ghimire
We prefer petting one or two cows rather than just buying milk.
Because buying milk, it's not so much qualitative.
Because our tongue has already been used to of drinking pure and fresh milk, right?
Wow.
Good.
Yeah, we have cow.
ken
That's amazing.
I love that.
What kind of other domestic animal you have?
Because when I was in Japan and when I was a kid, I lived in very countryside.
And I used to have like a chicken.
And I could get a fresh egg almost every morning.
And I didn't have a cow, but my neighborhood had a cow.
And what else do you have?
Sudip Ghimire
Well, we only have cow, but in our locality, we can find some chicken also and goats.
So goat is also, it's so common.
Cool.
So mutton are so common here in Nepal.
They prefer more mutton than chicken.
Or we do not have beef, you know, because cow is a sacred animal here.
So no one will sacrifice or slaughter cows.
It's illegal.
ken
Makes sense.
Sudip Ghimire
So instead of cow, we have buffalo.
Kazunari Okuda
Buffalo.
ken
Oh, buffalo.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, right.
ken
I've never tried buffalo.
Yeah.
It's more like a lean.
Sudip Ghimire
I have also never tried buffalo because I generally do not prefer red meats, right?
And lately I am practicing more vegetarian diet.
ken
Are you a strict vegetarian or is it more like a cow?
Sudip Ghimire
No, not a strict vegetarian.
But I generally do not prefer to have non-vegetarian meal if possible.
ken
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
But since few years, maybe around two years, I have not had even a single non-vegetarian meal.
But regarding buffalos, we call it buff, right?
So buff, according to the taste of different people who tasted beef,
especially my foreign friends, they say buffalo meat is a bit less crispier and it's not so much tasty.
They say like that.
But Nepali people, they prefer buffalo when having momo.
So momo is really a popular food here in Nepal.
And they prefer buffalos because it's more tastier with buffalo meat.
ken
I like that.
Momo is like a dumpling.
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
It's almost similar to dumpling.
It's almost similar to dumpling.
ken
Right.
Yeah.
That's cool.
Sudip Ghimire
It's really popular food here in Nepal.
Nowadays, even we, whenever we just go to a restaurant, our first thing to order will be momo.
We even do not look at the menu.
We just say one momo and then menu.
Because after momo, we will just see menu for another food.
Oh, okay.
Kazunari Okuda
I didn't know that.
Because when I was in Berlin, there are several Nepali restaurants.
Then whenever I go there, I order momo.
And I didn't know.
I got served with main dish.
But for me, for you, it looks like a fast food.
Sudip Ghimire
It's just like appetizer for us.
It really is not appetizer.
But a lot of people find it more fresh as well as it's a bit cheap rather than having other things.
And we know the taste will be predictable for momos.
ken
Yeah.
It's more like a common food.
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
It's really common.
ken
Actually, there is a small quiz for you, Sade.
Because I know, I remember that you were studying Japanese.
And actually, in Japanese, we also have a word called momo.
Oh, really?
Sudip Ghimire
Did you know that?
ken
No, no.
Can you guess what it means?
Momo?
I can give you some clue.
It's fruit.
Sudip Ghimire
No.
ken
Well, I'm still not sure.
So it means peach.
Sudip Ghimire
Oh, peach. Really?
ken
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
This is one of my favorite fruit.
We have two peach trees.
ken
Oh, what kind of color?
Because in Japan, when we say momo, it usually refers to pink peach.
Sudip Ghimire
Oh, wow.
So we have both of those colored peaches, pink as well as green.
Pink peaches, they are already starting to blossom.
So it will be ripe soon.
And green peaches, it's about to start flowering.
So I think it will be around two months later.
ken
Interesting.
I've never tried green peach.
Did you know that, Kaz?
Is it green because it's not matured yet?
Sudip Ghimire
No, no.
ken
When it's ripe, it's still green.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, it's still green.
So it's just like a cucumber, right?
So cucumber, whenever it is ripe, it's still green, right?
But it starts being yellow, I think, for cucumber.
But peach, it will be green.
ken
I want to try it now.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, you have to try.
But I think for most of the people who have tried pink peach, they are more tastier than green one.
ken
Pink peach is my favorite as well.
It's pretty sweet, yeah.
Cool.
食文化と好み
ken
And you mentioned that you're inclined to enjoy vegetarian food.
Do you eat beans?
Like any kind of bean, like chickpea or like lentils?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, there are a lot of lentils available here in Nepal.
We prefer chickpeas as well as beans.
They are readily available over here.
ken
Chickpeas are my favorite, yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
Mine also.
ken
I feel like the more stories I've heard from you, every time I feel like, oh, maybe I will move to Nepal.
There are so many things that I love about your country.
Well, you know, what else do you want to talk?
I think we can endlessly talk about foods.
We are getting hungry.
What else?
Shall we shift our focus to more like politics and geography, if you like?
Or shall we continue like more, I don't know, like how would you spend your weekend?
What kind of, like how does your local look like?
自然の美しさ
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, well, my weekends, I generally prefer being near the nature, you know.
I think you already know that, right?
So I always go to a ride to the nearest hill to see how beautiful it looks.
Because I'm currently inside Kathmandu Valley, right?
So we have a lot of valleys over here in Nepal.
And it's really, you know, mesmerizing to see those valleys from the top of one of those hills.
Because it just looks like a bowel.
And every home over there will be just like a noodle inside the bowel, right?
So it really looks great.
But sometimes, especially during winter or spring season, because of less rain or no rain at all,
it starts to form more and more smog and mist because of which it might not look that pleasant during this time period.
But if you come here in Nepal, for example, during fall or autumn,
you will really enjoy the beauty of nature, especially mountains.
You could just see mountains so clearly.
ken
Okay, I should book the airplane now.
Okay, fall now.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, you should.
水資源と魚類
ken
Do you have, in the valley, do you have like a small stream, river and waterfall as well?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, we have.
Our country is, you know, it contains abundant resource of water, in fact.
Not just water, but clean water, right?
Because, you know, we have avalanches.
We have glaciers.
So we have river streams and falls.
We have everything regarding water, except for the ocean, because we are landlocked, right?
ken
Right.
Sudip Ghimire
Except for the ocean, you can see everything.
Kazunari Okuda
Those rivers come from, like, mountains, right?
Sudip Ghimire
Right, that's right.
Kazunari Okuda
So it's really clean.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, most of those larger rivers, or let's say we call it forever flowing rivers, they're all formed from the glacier.
So they're really clean.
Just water, nothing else.
ken
That's amazing.
Do you have, like, a fish in the river and do you eat some fish?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, we have a lot of species of fishes.
I do not know the exact number, but there are a lot of species of fishes, more than 150 species, right?
And we also occasionally have dolphins in Terai region.
Dolphins?
ken
I'm not sure from where, yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
River dolphin, is it like a pink one?
I have not seen that, to be frank.
But we have dolphins also.
And fishing, there are a lot of fishing points, as well as some people are, you know, having fish as one of the sources of income.
So it's not that much popular like other poultry or animal husbandries, but fishing is also there.
And we really love fishes.
ken
Cool.
Yeah, because that's what I was thinking is, like, Nepal is within the mountains, so I definitely gonna miss, like, seafood.
But if you have, like, fish from river, then why not?
Like, there's no block from me, yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, right.
But to be frank, you have to choose fishes wisely, because as we do not have abundant resources for fish, it might have been frozen since, you know, many months.
So it might not be that fresh like you find it over there in London or maybe Japan, right?
So it might not be healthy.
So you have to choose wisely.
ネパールの食と飲み物
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
You cannot just go to a random shop and just find fish and just bring home, right?
You have to go to those specific fishing points where you could just see alive fishes and they will just catch them and prepare them for you.
So they will be more healthier.
Nice.
ken
Do you eat mushroom as well?
Sorry, now I realize that I'm shifting focus back to the food.
Right.
Do you eat mushroom?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
We have two different variants of mushrooms.
They are more popular.
So one of them is like flat mushroom and another one is rounded one.
So we have both of those commercially available.
So they are produced in very large amount.
So it's just like, you know, we have fishes, not just like fishes, but it's just like chickens.
They are everywhere.
ken
That's cool.
Because I remember that when I was in Japan, I used to live in my grandma and my grandma's habit.
I also live in like, we have lots of mountains in my local.
So I often climb up to the mountain with my grandma.
And she is, I would say, the domain expert of, you know, picking up the correct mushroom.
So she was very good at detecting the poison one and, you know, the edible one.
And so I was just following her.
I should have asked her clearly about the secret of picking up the mushroom.
But yeah, this is what I miss.
Well, maybe I think I should stop talking.
Otherwise I will end up asking about food.
Maybe I should let Kaz know if there is any topic that you were interested in before I started talking about any other food.
Kazunari Okuda
Yeah. Speaking of food, I'm wondering what would you drink usually?
Like tea or coffee? I don't know.
Water or alcohol?
Sudip Ghimire
Well, we generally have milk tea in the morning, right?
A lot of people, a lot of Nepali people.
But nowadays people are more health conscious and they prefer green teas, right?
So our morning breakfast starts with either a roti and a tea or milk, right?
Or sometimes we just have biscuits, right?
With milk or milk tea or green tea.
So these are our, you know, first priority.
ken
I'm interested in why milk tea is less healthier than green tea.
Is it because of milk or you put sugar in it?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, it contains sugar as well as milk.
So whenever you just have milk or milk products early in the morning, your stomach might get bloated, right?
Because of that bloating.
ken
When you say milk tea, is it more like you put more spices in it?
Or is it only tea and milk?
Like any other spices?
Sudip Ghimire
No other spices.
ken
So it's not a chai. It's a milk tea.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, it's just a milk tea.
But most of people add, you know, some other spices like maybe cinnamon.
I'm not sure.
ken
Right.
And how about coffee?
I remember that in some provinces like area in China, like Yunnan,
they have a great specialty coffee or great amount of coffee.
Do you drink coffee as well in your country?
Sudip Ghimire
Oh, yeah.
Coffee is also quite common here.
But it's more popular in urban areas rather than, you know, rural areas.
ken
Because of the price or like...
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, maybe because of price, but also because of popularity among people.
Because most of the people who have coffee, they must be programmers.
I'm not sure, but most of the programmers prefer coffee, right?
And they are more darker and bitter, right?
So because of that specific narrative, people really do not prefer, you know, coffee as an everyday drink.
But it's quite common.
And we have coffee and tea farm in really larger scale.
One of our most exported thing is tea.
So it's really qualitative here in Nepal.
ken
Do you know more about which like brown, which kind of like...
You know, you have a different type of tea, right?
Like from assembly or...
I don't remember exactly, but there are so many, right?
Black tea, yellow tea, white tea.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, well, generally we have different, you know, concept of, you know, facilitating those teas inside our country and exporting it, right?
So, for example, for exporting, it will be just like class A or the best quality teas.
They are more like more rounded and those grains will be thicker.
And others, local tea, they will be more fine and they are not that much.
They do not produce color while just, you know, having it with milk.
So I specifically do not know about the quality and the brand.
But there are various qualities and it has different thing regarding the export.
ken
That's cool. That's cool. Amazing.
And I remember Kaz also asked about alcohol.
I don't drink alcohol and I don't think Kaz doesn't drink alcohol that much.
But how about, yeah, for some listeners who are interested in, yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, well, personally, I also have not really tried it.
I've tried it once or twice. I even do not remember.
But there are different kinds of alcohols here in Nepal.
So some common alcohols like a beer or vodka or something.
They are really popular.
They are also popular in urban areas, but still available in rural areas.
ネパールのアルコール文化
Sudip Ghimire
But we have our own variant of alcohol.
And different ethnic groups create different kind of alcohol.
They are really amazing.
Interesting.
And, yeah, for example, some communities, we call it roxi.
That is spirit, right?
And we have some kind of different wines like we call it chang or we call it tongba.
We have a lot of variants of liquors over here.
ken
Are they very clear, transparent ones?
Sudip Ghimire
They are both transparent as well as some translucent also.
For example, those alcohols that are created by distillation process, they are so transparent.
But they are really hard and they cannot be just drink and eat, right?
They have to use water or whatever.
Otherwise, it cannot be just directly drink.
We call it as the hardest one.
I think if I remember is we call it tinpane.
That means distilled for three times.
Three times?
Yeah.
Alcohol is distilled and it is again distilled and it is again distilled.
So it's so pure.
The content might be even more than 40% is concentration.
It's so concentrated.
ken
Wow.
Sudip Ghimire
Most of the people who drink says that, oh, if I just drink even a single drop, I would know where it is going from my throat to my stomach.
They say that.
ken
I feel like this is like burning, right?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
It's really burning.
Wow.
But I really don't know a lot about alcohol because I'm also non-alcoholic person.
I cannot smoke and drink.
Right.
By the way.
ken
I remember when I went to China, they also have maybe similar like alcohol.
It is called Baijiu.
Baijiu is like, I think it's very clear, transparent and it's very distilled.
And when I drank, when I was like 20 or 21, I literally felt the same way.
Like some burning thing is coming down to my stomach.
Maybe the similar thing, I guess.
Yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Maybe that might be the case.
But every liquors might not be the same.
For example, we have some local called Tang, which is generally popular in Newar communities.
It is not like that.
They say that it is more like, you know, it's just like a regular drink and it's so sweet.
So they generally create from rice.
I'm not sure how it is made, but it's said that it is made from rice and it's not burning one.
And there's another one so popular called Tongba that is popular in the hilly and mountain regions, which is made out of millet.
So, you know, millet, right?
They are more like regular wines, but not like other spirits.
Kazunari Okuda
Wow.
ken
I didn't know that there are so many options there.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
There are so many options.
People really come here to just taste those things.
ken
I guess.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
There are a lot of people.
ken
Yeah.
There must be a great, you know, like plan for the travelers.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
ken
Enjoy tasting the local Nepal alcohol.
That's cool.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
Nepali food are more tastier, by the way.
It's more rich in spices, you know.
ken
Right.
That's cool.
That's cool.
都市と農村の違い
ken
I remember you mentioned like some distinctions between urban areas and countryside.
Am I right that you live in more countryside area?
Right.
And when you mentioned like how does urban area look like?
I mean, do they have more like a high slavery building?
And like how does it look like?
How is it different from your local?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, well.
Generally, urban areas here in Nepal, instead of having high skyscraper buildings, we have more, you know, density of those homes.
Right.
So we wouldn't find any, you know, playgrounds over there.
So congested area.
Right.
So to be frank, Nepal is not well planned.
So urban areas, wherever you go, you will just find it.
So like, you know, you will be exhausted.
And there are so many people, you know, in that specific place.
ken
So if you really do not like crowd, urban areas of Nepal might not be for you.
Sudip Ghimire
It's so crowded, you know.
ken
You mean only in the urban area?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, only in the urban areas.
ken
I think it's everywhere, right?
Every other areas in like London, Tokyo, New York, everywhere is crowded.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
But I don't think it's more crowded than Tokyo.
ken
Oh, is it?
Sudip Ghimire
It's less crowded.
But it's not that well managed.
ken
When people in your country need to or want to go to other area, what are going to be the top like motivation or driver for them?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, that's right.
So it's more for accessibility.
Nothing more than that.
Because you can just see all of those departmental stores and colleges, universities, everything in the urban area, but not in rural areas.
So we have few of them here, but you can just see less dense everything.
For example, the supermarket near my home.
It's around maybe two to three kilometers far from here.
ken
Oh, wow.
How do you go there? By bike?
Riding the bicycle?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, we use either bike or we use public or private vehicles, right?
But everything is available as a local shop keepers.
They just try to put more groceries in those local shops.
ネパールの生活と趣味
Sudip Ghimire
But if we want departmental stores or mini markets or supermarkets, it's quite far from here, at least from my locality.
But there's one good thing about this.
The good thing is it's not so crowded and it's not so polluted.
ken
That's important, yeah.
And you can enjoy fresh milk every morning.
Yeah, that's right.
You don't need supermarket.
Sudip Ghimire
That's right.
We have it every day.
ken
Yeah, that's really cool.
Sudip Ghimire
Sometimes we also sell milk to other houses.
ken
So having cows is not a usual thing.
Maybe a few houses might have, but not every house.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, not every house.
If I would take a reference from maybe, for example, 10 years back, it's not so much common to have animal husbandry over here.
But 10 years before, I cannot even remember a single house without cow or buffalo.
ken
I get it.
That's cool.
Sudip Ghimire
Some people also have pigs, but it's a bit rare.
ken
I get it.
Nice.
And one more thing I wanted to ask you is like, I remember one of your hobbies is like sketching, drawing pictures, right?
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, right.
ken
I wish I want to share like some list of like the sketches that you made.
Once we had a one-on-one, you share some of the picture with me.
It was so beautiful.
I was very impressed with that.
And like what kind of like other like, how do you do people in your local enjoy like spending weekend like that?
What kind of like hobbies and like lifestyle they enjoy?
Like fishing, fishing, go hiking.
What I've heard like what else do you have?
Sudip Ghimire
Well, most of the people love hiking in my locality.
Most of the people love hiking.
But I've seen a lot of people who do sketching and painting and they also do some handicrafts.
For example, I just learned how to make basket from those bamboo trees from one of my maternal grandfather.
ken
Yeah, yeah.
Sudip Ghimire
Maybe one day I will share the small basket.
Yeah, sure, sure.
ken
Please just push that picture.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah, I will definitely do that.
So if you were connected with me on MSS media, maybe you would have already seen that on my story.
But by the way, I'm sharing it.
ken
Nice. Share that on our Discord.
I'm pretty sure many other people are interested in.
That's amazing.
I feel like I'm ready to move in.
Sudip Ghimire
Yeah.
ken
The only thing is just to get a job that I can work from Nepal.
That's cool.
Yeah, I think we already talked like 15 minutes.
So before we go to the closing, is there any last topic that you want to discuss?
Sudip Ghimire
You know, share from you, Sareep, or any question that you want to ask from Kaz?
ken
Otherwise, yeah, like we could just let's get closing.
It's not our last episode for you.
We are ready to invite you again.
So yeah, cool.
Yeah, so let's get closing.
So we really appreciate you being with us on Robo Tech Talk today.
And thank you very much for spending time with us.
And I got some valuable insight.
And I feel like I'm really ready to move into Nepal.
So I hope to see you again on another episode.
And yeah, please, please join us again.
And also for our listeners, thank you everyone for listening.
And we will see you next time.
Kazunari Okuda
Thank you.
Sudip Ghimire
Thank you very much.
