What does my Asian Dad think about Lithuania and the Baltic? AND SNACKS
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- We're back with SNACKS.
In this episode, we hike up Gediminas Tower and I interview my Dad about his impressions of Lithuania and traveling the Baltic. He's a bit of a character! We also try some Lithuanian snacks based on your recommendations.
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"Nomeda" is very peculiar candy bar, in Lithuania you either love it or hate it 😆
I love it. And I’m disappointed in myself I just bought one.
About language:
Keep in mind that Lithuanians who went to school during the Soviet era had to learn Russian as their second language. Then some time around the reestablishment of independence in 1990, Russian language fell out of favor. Instead, most younger people preferred to learn English.
so cute! I'm a Malaysian who studied in Lithuania last year. I was in Kaunas though, this country is really a hidden gem and I really enjoyed my time there. Now that im back in malaysia, I miss it so much.
I love how she said "when we will win" ❤ we are in this together indeed
I think people shouldn't talk about something they have no idea about. Especially when it comes to geopolitics cause it's very complex and a lot of history needs to be learned before having an opinion.
Hello Charlene and Charlene’s mum and dad. My husband and I hope to follow in your footsteps and visit the Baltic in the not too distant future. My husband always talks about the tree cakes and I have tried it here in Australia. As an aside did you know you can buy a perfume or air freshener called the scent of Lithuania? Might be a great travel gift to bring home.
How exciting! Summer is the best way to go. Regarding the perfume, No we didn’t! I wonder if it smells like a Lithuanian forest
Birch water is not very traditional drink in Lithuania :) But you've definitely found more niche and interesting thing to taste! It does get extracted directly from trees, so the best tasting would be pure, without additional flavors. If you want to have more common Lithuanian drinks go for kvass (home made in restaurants, not bottled) or beer.
2:51 Old trolleybus in picture can be ordered only for tourist trips. This type of trolleybus was during soviet times. In background you can see "2nd generation" of trolleybuses, it came in around 1996. I would say right now 2nd and 3rd generation(„Solaris Trollino") trolleybuses are split 50%/50% and newer ones are coming in...
Good to know! I think my Dad was just very amused that the buses were connected by wire. He’s a bus driver himself so he was just a bit confused 😅
@@BalticWorld Just to Fill in, They r connected to wires cuz they r electric and those wires r the source of Electricity for em!
And also Vilnius is massive laggard in terms of that. Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai have much newer trolleybuses. When I went to Vilnius I was basically shocked that capital city was supposed to be the richest, but it still had really old trolleybuses. It's not very representative of whole Lithuania in this way.
@@MJ-uk6lu only Kaunas and Vilnius do have trolleybuses in Lithuania.
@@jygeb I thought that Šiauliai also had them
Welcome to Lithuania, I grew up in old town of Vilnius and it is so nice to see you in familiar places. I am honored you took interest and visited our country. It's now your country too! :)
Aww it’s very beautiful indeed! On our sunniest day at Trakai, walked around the lake and it was so beautiful. It was like mirror, absolutely mesmerised.
There are many kinds of Šakotis, the one you tried was the more "wet" kind of. There's also a šakotis that is really dry and brittle, but it just melts in your mouth. I usually have it with milk, but I'm not sure if that is how other people eat it.
Love your content!
That’s really interesting. I went to a couple of bake shops and didn’t see it? Though maybe I should have asked properly. I found it pretty dry already but definitely not flavourless haha, but it can drier?! 😂
@@BalticWorld It can be anything between very light cake texture or a little harder, I like the ones coated in chocolate, but the one in the video is on the harder side. Not sure if you tried fried bread with cheese mayo garlic but that is the best food alongside our kebabs
@@BalticWorldUsually the more dry ones are lower quality
@@BalticWorld Šakotis can be very dry and brittle. I'd say that the wetter and cheewy is the best one. You can eat it with tea, coffee or plain milk. Ever water goes well because it's so sweet and dense.
@@BalticWorld Soft/wet šakotis are usually sold by pre-order, because they go stale just like any cake would, that's why in the stores they are usually the hard kind, those last a long time unopened.
So interesting, but I love Malaysia. I was in Malaysia twice and travelled all around from North West down to south and to North East. Area near Mersing is my favourite. I love Lithuanian food and my favourite would be cold beetroot soup with boiled egg and fresh dills mmm... yum yum!!! Dad must visit Trakai
Yes, we did visit Trakai & spent many hours there. Lots of walking and passing along the lake. We walked from the train station to the castle.
Thanks for video!! You gotta try 'surelis', that's probably the number one snack from the baltics, the shops are full of them. Some good traditional sweets are 'migle' 'aguona' 'kregzdute'. Fried black bread with garlic (best fresh in the restaurant). Baked white cheese would also be in the snack category. 'Gaidelis' is the most popular biscuit to get. And try a few types of 'gira' which is a fermented bread drink similar to cola.
We have local drinks a few times with meals in restaurants. Charlene ordered the local drink without alcohol, not knowing the name. Now I know it’s call Gira.
We actually ate a lot of black bread and drink Gira too. It’s a bit of an acquired taste but have heard that things like black bread is the first thing that many Lithuanians miss when they travel to other countries.
Sakotis and Mushrooms you should have bought it liitle bakery or market.... IKI sells old ones so they are not that tasty compared to original taste.
I agree, shakotis needs to be fresh to fully enjoy the softness and taste of 100 eggs that went into making :)
Good point, would probably taste 100 times better than off the shelf. Will hunt for a bakery..
Aciu❤. You guys the best!!! That actualy its a birch tree sap.
Yes it was interesting to try! Do most Lithuanians farm it themselves or just buy off the shelf?
Variously, Town people they buy, bet i know and seen people in vilages or living near to nature they colect for them selfs.
Also a bit synthetic feeling one. The actual thing straight from tree tastes different. But it may be that it tastes different from different trees in different locations.
Your video randomly showed up and I watched it and it was great! Your dad is so down to earth... good guy:) Lithuanians just appreciate healthy food more, hence the tree cake, tree water etc. Although healthy does not necessarily mean low-fat (cepelinai, vėdarai, fried bread) haha.
Yes, they should keep old buses as heritage.
I think your dad's thick accent may have contributed to him getting the impression that people don't really speak English over here 😅 and šakotis is traditionally found on the table during weddings. Don't know who told you it's for Christmas. Not that people don't eat them on any occasion they can think of but it's associated with weddings first and foremost and then maybe birthdays as a close second.
Most people can speak English, in supermarkets, all signs/labels are in Lithuanian, and a few elderly workers cannot speak or understand English, kept speaking in Lithuanian to us when we need assistance. I actually asked the shoppers for help & they were helpful when I asked if they understood English.😊
He does have a pretty thick foreign accent. He’s a stereotypical cool Chinese Dad. 😅
Ok, yeah thats interesting! This person did say Christmas and celebrations but maybe she was referring to something else 🤔
1:50 that's from EuroTrip (2004) movie lol 🤣
Europe extends from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains in Russia, therefore Lithuania is in Central Europe geographically. Politically its eastern Europe.
So nice to see ❤
Curious that you felt people can only speak very little of english. I am from Vilnius and I barely know any “young” people who arent fluent in english.
Original birch water is fermented, very sour.
Birch water is natural drink, optained from birch tree juice, the same goes for maple tree juice.
Ok maple tree juice sounds even more exotic!
@@BalticWorld You can find thous drinks also in other countries in region.
Yes, we're keeping the buses.
Good to keep the historical bus as long as it does not affect the traffic. Seeing the bus in Vilnius old towns even better ❤.
Thanks for exploring very different world from where you were born. You do not look alien to most of Lithuanians. 😂. Sorry for the weather. I wish I could afford to wisit Malaysia and Australia one day.
Aww that’s nice to hear we’re not that alien hehe. Yes, definitely if you have the chance come to Australia! We’ve got lots of beaches, no castles but amazing wildlife like kangaroos and koalas. Though might need to watch out for spiders. 😅Malaysia is gorgeous too, but a tad hot and humid all year round. It’s very tropical and nothing like the Baltic.
YOU MUST VISIT SMILTENE WERE IS SINGING SAND. ITS A BEACH KURONIAN SIDE BY KLAIPEDA. LITHUANIA
We actually did visit this place….but from a distance. It was raining very heavy 😅More in an upcoming video.
chazz chips is made in Lithuania, Trakai and has some unique Lithuanian flavours
I saw it online! I couldn’t find in store but they’ve got some very strange strange flavours online.
@@BalticWorld Hm strange, perhaps some bigger mall, i'm not from Vilnius so can't tell where to find them : ) perhaps some locals reply to this.
"unique Lithuanian flavours" You meant privates' flavours? :D
@@MJ-uk6lu Hahah, not those ones ;D ,i meant like "šaltibarščiai" or "Ukrainian Borsch" (not exactly Lithnuanian,but i count borsch as LT too) ;)
1:49 well some places in lithuania (other eastern European countries as well) look exactly like that, for example the Kaunas "microrajon" Šilainiai looks exactly like that in winter (talking from experience cuz i live there) :Dd
Lithuania is also pretty multicultural, we have Lithuanians, Tatars, Karaims, Poles, Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians.
That's not what she meant. Multicultural in the anglo world means less white/European. They don't consider different European cultures to be "diversity".
@@crabLT
multicultural means multiple cultures, does it not. I think it doesn't relate exclusively to race.
@@eruno_ On paper that is true. But in reality, at least in the west, diversity always means less white/European. That doesn't make any logical sense of course but few ideologies do.
Good point! Many Australians regard multiculturalism based on continents because we are so isolated from the rest of the world! So it’s an automatic default anglo-Celtic/Anglo Saxon vs other ethnicities. It’s a fair point to actually reflect on what multiculturalism means for different parts of the world because it’s valid that language is different and culture is different too.
@@crabLT multiculturalism is less of a coherent ideology, and more of a part of modernist religion with tenets that differ by denomination. Such as LGBTism, Feminism, Multiculturalism, and many more branches of those sects. It's hard to keep track of all of these sects from the outside, and therefore it looks like it doesn't make any sense. But to the devotees it makes perfect sense.
the parents are adorable. I just want to protect them. you can tell that they're going along with the vlog just because they love their daughter. I'm of Chinese descent and faced more racism than I'd like to admit during my time in western europe. I'm now planning to study in Vilnius; do you think racism would be an issue for me there?
Racism will not be an issue at Vilnius or Baltic. Are you studying at Vilnius university? We visited this historical university and surprise to find out that it was also the graduation day. At first we were wondering why so many people dressed up with flowers. We felt out of place as we were just the usual tourist dressing. LOL All the best to your study and I am sure you will enjoy Vilnius.
If you don't go looking for racism in small things like looks from the locals or an occasional comment, you'll be fine. Keep in mind that Lithuania is a homogenous country, consisting 90+% of Lithuanians, so it's simply uncommon to see many foreigners here. In Vilnius it's a bit different though, they are more used to it.
@@v5k456jh3 i've recently arrived in vilnius and I'm a bit confused on whether it's impolite to smile at people. Where I come from people greet each other and try to give each other smiles or ackowledgement when walking by each other or talking to each other (like the baker, or super market employee) but here it seems like people don't do that. Should i stop and just not ackowledge anyone else? I'm a bit confused on what the correct etiquette would be as I donn't want to be rude being a foreigner here.
@@hellonihaocomoestas We don't usually smile at strangers outside, unless we intend to ask them something or do other business. People on the street may sometimes seem cold, relaxing only with friends and family. But if you ask something, I'm sure people will be helpful. The young generation speaks English in varying degrees.
we are northern people thus it’s not common to smile each other for strangers. We do not expect anything from strangers, just passing by without even noticing them and that’s all good 😊 If you need a help though, do not hesitate and don’t judge on the look, just ask and you will get a help.
Linksmučiai are addictive. The more you eat them the more you want. Nomeda is a divine snack. I love it. And there are several different flavours, my favourite is the original one. Lays aren't Lithuanian chips. Lithuanian ones would be Chazz (potato) and Oho (corn based).
Omg yes totally relate, the Linksmučiai packet just disappeared after a few minutes. Regarding the chips, yeah I thought so! The packet just had all different countries on there. Oh well must have to try more 😁😁
no kvass ?
5:37 the only peel Lithuanians know - William Peel 😂😂😂
While being around locals and interacting with them, did you and your family feel or sense any discrimination since there aren't a lot of east asians in Lithuania? Would you say it's safe to live there? Thanks!
Did not feel discrimination at all and we felt saved. Definitely will go again.
As for Lithuanian snacks, try some Milipop! They have many combinations and many different packages, but the ones I would recommend are the ones with Beetroot (Bulvių trapukai su burokėliais)
Noted!
Yea I completely don't understand why Vilnius keeps the old Soviet buses. Here in Kaunas almost all of them are pretty new and modern. The only old ones are the trolleybuses (electric ones)
The last Soviet trolleybuses of Vilnius were withdrawn from service in 1960s. These boxy Škoda 14Tr are Czech trolleybuses.
@@jygeb They are czechoslovakian - to be precise. You can see "Made in Czechoslovakia" on their windows :D
@@Femaqo Some of them. 1995-1999 ones carry Thorax name on windows.
Interesting observation! Actually Latvia is one of the most multicultural countries of Europe. Ethnic Latvians consist only 63%. Of course most of the others are of European origin.
wrong
Daddy chill, and learn english yourself
80% of population under 40 is able to communicate in English easily. With every younger generation percentage goes up. Our youngest adults (20yo) basically all can communicate in English.
And yeah, those typical stereotypes of Lithuania (Baltics) being underdeveloped, 3rd world countries. People should soak more recent information instead of relying on 20 years outdated information. BTW, according to Quality of Life Index Australia stands 21st while Lithuania stands 25th in the world 🌍
welcome to Lithuania 😍 can i get your facebook?