This was recorded in April 2024, so some topics that were raised may be a little outdated (been to Korea btw).

When you think of the term 'fruit and veg', what comes to mind? Grocery shopping? The food pyramid? A healthy lifestyle? Something I need more of? Well for people like Thanh, it's something that really excites him. So much that he was donned the name 'The Fruit Nerd' from his mates.

His mission is to revolutionise how we see and enjoy fresh produce. After listening to this, I hope that you can appreciate some of the work that goes behind the scenes for grocers to have produce stocked on the shelves. Thanh is an incredible story teller and shares many stories of his fruit experiences and his tips and tricks for fruit/veg. If you want the full encyclopaedia, be sure to check out his recently released book 'Don't Buy Fruit & Veg Without Me!' Honestly a good read and I don't read books that often. It has heaps of tips/tricks, recipes and stories that go along with it. I wasn't paid to say that but Thanh very kindly sent me a book for free. The review is all my words. 😂

We discuss:

• Who is Thanh Truong?
• How did the 'fruitnerd' start?
• Taste testing fruits every day for work
• Working as the national buyer for Coles
• Why the price of avocados plummeted and will never go up
• Where are apples stored?
• Our first memories with fruit
• Should I grow a mulberry tree?
• How different kinds of grapes are made
• Some life hacks for picking out grapes
• Tomato picking tips
• What hacks are farmers using for growing produce?
• Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
• Finding alternatives for fruit/veg
• Why you should be more adventurous with trying out new produce
• What vegetables I cook with
• I try a mangosteen
• What season would Thanh be stuck in?
• How we all get our experiences from pop culture
• How Korea is overtaking Japan in popularity
• What makes Kyoho grapes so special?
• Fruit giving culture in Australia
• Appreciating the imperfections of produce
• If in Jeju Island, try the Red Hyang or Hallabong Mandarin
• Using all of our senses when picking out produce
• Mandarin choosing tips
• Experience being on Masterchef and Plate of Origin
• How changing the packaging on fruits affected sales
• Being able to tell the exact percentage of sweetness between fruits
• Asking shoppers how they look for the best produce
• How fruit will now change my travel habits
• Trying other forms of fruit, like dried
• Which fruit should you try from each Australian state?

Guest: Thanh Truong / The Fruit Nerd

Thanh's links:

• Website
• Instagram
• 'Don't Buy Fruit & Veg Without Me!' book

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

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Music: aKu - The Final Blow

CW: Themes of self harm and depression.

The willpower it takes to break out of a depressive mindset is not easy (just smile lol!). Justin's story is emotional, inspirational and something you need to hear. I almost cried filming this, and then the recording turned into something more light hearted. He's gone from fastfood, to retail, to banking, and now he's a magician and MC. He knows how to work a room!

We discuss:

• Who's Justin/erbzmagic?
• His routine before performing magic
• His life journey from the bottom to where he is now
• Throwing your life away after one adversity?
• What happened after finding out his dad had cancer?
• Experience working in multiple retail jobs
• The wake up call after an OD attempt
• What's it like working at Cancer Council?
• Having 2 AVOS?!
• Experience working for Volt
• Experience working as a disability support worker
• Priorities changing once having a kid
• Working at an influencer bar
• Being scouted to work for corporate building events
• Keynote speakers making big money
• Fighting between finding what's gonna pay the bills and what's gonna fulfil him
• Getting paid to do what you love
• Memorable reactions while preforming
• Appearing on the TV Show 'The Doghouse'
• Justin's advice if you're going through a tough time
• Inside out metaphor for controlling emotions
• How a good support network helped him get out of a rut
• How Justin's mum supported him throughout it
• Modifying the act depending on the behaviours of guests
• Working at Macquarie Bank

Guest: Justin Ung / erbzmagic

Justin's links:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Website

Items mentioned:

Justin's appearance on The Doghouse - 28:40 timestamp

Justin's reel about his life journey

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

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Music: aKu - The Final Blow

You're walking to your seat in the airplane and walk past the first/business class seats. You might wonder what these people do for work. What if I were to tell you there was a way to experience that an affordable price? This is where I need to drop in that this isn't financial advice and you should seek independent, professional advice.

Credit card churning is very lucrative. Joining me is Steve Hui from iFlyFlat who explores this with me and also his business which helps other businesses turn their everyday business expenses into points.

We discuss:

• Who is Steve Hui?
• What is iFlyFlat?
• Finding the best value for credit card points
• Steve's first business class flight experience
• What credit cards does Steve have?
• Credit card hacking is addictive?!
• Finding loopholes in maximising points
• Monetary value vs emotional value
• Business class vs First class

Guest: Steve Hui

Steve's Business: iFlyFlat

Items mentioned:

• Doing yoga in first class
• US $1 coin debacle
• Emirates first class for just $620 USD

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

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Music: aKu - The Final Blow

A bit late but here we are! I visited Melbourne in early April and had a great opportunity to collab with Thanh and Davy. We chat about the film, idol culture, our experience growing up with media and more. If you want to listen to the full episode, you can check them out in the link below.

Full Episode (Spotify Link)

Two Asian Blokes Podcast

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

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I remember reading this old reddit thread about someone sleeping in their car for two years to save for a home loan deposit. While interesting I don't think it could be something I would be able to do personally. We discuss the extreme side of bargain hunting that we do and some other ideas if ego was off the table. Some of these are meant to be comedic and we don't expect anyone to actually do them. Haha, unless...?

We discuss:

• Using our lowest coin (5c) to our advantage
• Pooping at work
• How would we survive living in a van?
• Nathan's hack to get free coffee
• Where to get free wifi?
• Nathan reveals the freebies he gets from his UFC gym
• The MK Special Poke Bowl
• Overnight oats
• Dominos and Pizza Hut coupon hacks
• Are the Coles and Woolworths self checkouts intrusive?
• How the hell do Uniqlo self check outs work?
• How scams are getting more and more sophisticated
• Getting free toilet paper and food from work
• Adding special requests for reservations
• Justifying the cost of comfort

Guests: Matt & Nathan

Items mentioned:

• The Uniqlo self-checkout machines use radio frequency identification readers to automatically detect RFID chips hidden in the price tags of Uniqlo's products. from: WSJ
• The infamous Ozbargain public BBQ post

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on our socials: https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast

Music: aKu - The Final Blow

Big shout out to A Seat at our Table podcast, check out Tracy and Wendy's podcast which covers Asian Australians in the creative industry.

For listening to this episode, our listeners can get 15% off their order from iBlush with the discount code BEENTOJAPANBTW (I don't get any money from this).

Asian flush has been a term that we're all familiar with. Lydia was especially affected by this, (not just her face but all over her body) and set to find a solution to this issue. Starting her company in 2020, iBlush now comes in a patch and tablet form, which can relieve symptoms of 'Asian Flush. Before this sounds too much like an ad, Lydia comes on to the show to talk about her journey of helping others with the same issue and her experience of starting a business while studying at uni.

We discuss:

• What does a bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology involve?
• How do the patches/tablets work?
• How does Asian flush work?
• How much Asian flush affects Lydia
• Adelaide vs Perth
• What it's like balancing full time university and work
• Hangover drinks from Korea
• Challenges faced running the business

Guest: Lydia Li

To find more about her business: iBlush

Items mentioned:

• Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology
• Adelaide Fringe
• Alcohol consumption by country

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on our socials: https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast

Music: aKu - The Final Blow

Let's face it, the only rules we know of for the Lunar New Year are the ones that our parents told us. We dive in to try and learn some of the must know rules and traditions for the Lunar new year.

We discuss:

• What we did during Lunar New Year
• Does a robot vac break the rules for cleaning?
• Teaching gambling at a young age
• Will we lose our traditions over time?
• Using Duolingo to learn our native language
• What does having the light switched on at the front porch mean?
• How do spirits get into apartments?
• Appreciating language school as a kid
• Foods that mean good luck
• What does lion dancing and fireworks do and symbolise?

Guests: Matt & Nathan

Items mentioned:

• Zodiac animal personality traits
• Asian animal dice gambling game
• 75HARD
• SydneyFoodBoy's Lucky Food
• Gender reveal video
• Japan volcanic egg
• Chinese Steamed Fish is a traditional dish that brings an abundance of wealth in the new year.

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on our socials: https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast

Music: aKu - The Final Blow

If you're an OG listener, this name will look a bit familiar. Hieu returns to talk about what's happened since appearing on the show. From her career as a primary school teacher, to her new business - a mobile paint and sip. I was meant to publish this before I went on my holiday right before Christmas but didn't finish it on time. 😅

Big thank you to Son of a Booth for sponsoring this episode! For all of your photobooth needs in Sydney, be sure to check them out! Our listeners get 15% off for quoting Rice n Mics in your booking.

We discuss:

• What is it like to work as a teacher in primary school?
• Have kids attention spans dropped because of tech?
• How much more work goes on behind the scenes after class?
• What made her want to change careers?
• What is it like to run your own business?
• What were the lessons learnt?
• Unfortunate timing with COVID.

Guest: Hieu Le

Link to find more about Hieu's business: Art on the Gogh

Item mentioned:

How movie shots are recreations of old movie shots with their own flavour: I couldn't find the video I was thinking about. Pretty sure it was on YouTube. If I find it I'll update this :(

Want to get in touch? Send us an email at ricenmicspodcast@gmail.com

Follow us on our socials: https://linktr.ee/ricenmicspodcast

Music: aKu - The Final Blow