Category: technology

Singapore Then and Now!

“Each journey is an Experience of the past”- Robert Better

This quote truly summaries my whole experience of Singapore!

Read the blog and you will know why & how it’s the perfect quote.

The City has a lot of memories to live by.

The City was the first ever trip abroad.

First ever trip on a long flight journey.

Singapore was the first time,I clicked  photos for Visa’s and the Beginning of Passport Pages getting stamped.

The complete experience of trying to kill time on the flight journey,mostly trying to sleep and getting handed over  the Kids Kit to keep myself busy.

To landing in a land,And witness  all the luxury sportcars being driven around on the streets .Which once I only had  the opportunity to play with as miniatures.

Singapore wasn’t the city that I had explored today, when I visited 13 long years ago for the first Time. 

That trip 13 years ago was with the cousins and more activities were planned for kids our age.

The Night Safari Experience,Butterfly Garden,Sunway Lagoon waterpark,Seal & Dolphins show ,Lazer show at Sentosa Island. And doing all the crazy stuff like puffing our hair with colourful hair colours  .Driving around streets with no Garbage being disposed on the streets to understanding how Strict the laws are there.No Chewing Gums.this was in 2005. 

2011 again we visited Singapore,But this time,only visited the Universal Studio. 

The Only one we have visited since then. 

Not even been to the LA one,When we last visited Travelled to the states.

And Saw the city as a developed and changed with Metro’s being planned and relived the whole experience of our first trip,By not exactly doing the same activities.

But,the familiarity of knowing this city around.

The streets,The Stores,The Malls.The Places where we dined. And 2011 trip

Was the first trip to have experienced Christmas in foreign land and in a city where they are known for all the decoration and lighting for Christmas. 

Coming to 2018 and while planning the family vacation for Japan. Coincidentally My Aunt,Found Our first Passport size photos of our trip to Singapore. It was then going through all of those memories that we decided on a long Layover we do a Stopover  while returning from Osaka. If we could spend the time exploring the city and see how much it has changed or remained the same. 

The city,For starters has now been ranked as the World’s Most Expensive city to live in. The city has an excellent Public transport system like all the Europeans nations with Subways and Buses moving on all directions to The cars & Home becoming the most expensive assets to own. 

This time too we enjoyed the view of the Merlion Park.  And explored another side,the Sultan Masjid street that has a beautiful mosque, cafes and restaurants done up in Morocon style. 

This was the Heritage Tour we had journeyed on.And thanks to the great initiative by the tourism board to encourage influx of tourism by giving an experience to all who would like to know why should I visit Singapore! And a better way of spending time in the city rather than killing time at the airport by taking the Singapore tour from the airport itself. 

Hoping European nations too begin doing this if they haven’t. And hoping to enjoy another Day in Singapore on my Next Vacation.

Drifting in Tokyo!

“Everything passes. Nobody gets anything for keeps. And that’s how we’ve got to live”.

After travelling to most of the Metro cities in the World.London.Paris.NewYork.Sanfrancisco.HongKong and Now Tokyo.

“Japan is the most intoxicating place for me. The Japanese culture fascinates me: the food, the dress, the manners and the traditions.It’s the travel experience that has moved me the most.”– Roman Coppola

Cities of Japan like Tokyo,Kyoto,Nara,Kōbe and Osaka all have different characteristics Tokyo is too big you can feel lost here! With population of 30 Million only in this city! It is the most Populated city in the world. 

Kyoto- Gives you a sense of living in a small town, being Very homely.

Nara – Just like we did it,a day trip to get away from the fast paced life and enjoy a day at our pace with Deer’s  and Nature  all around.

Kobe -Is the place you would like to spend around the Harborland having Coffee at Nishimura coffee shop (Kobe’s popular coffee shop chain) and authentic Kōbe beef for your meal. Kobe just like Osaka is a loop, A circle. You can explore the city in 24-48 Hours. 

Japan is America Mad.They love America so much they have named a street in Osaka on it.Amerikamura -That showcases American Fashion brands.

Kyoto & Osaka are very good for authentic Japanese cuisine They offer Cuisine from around the world also . And the food is simply Umami.

They understandings of English language is “skosh”,But that doesn’t stop them from helping you.

Japanese are the most Helpful & Friendliest people You would come across.If you are Lost or don’t know your way  to your destination,they will drop  you to the point first and walk back and continue their journey.

And if they themselves don’t know the way! They feel pity and helpless for you and wouldn’t mind asking people who know the Way.

Technically they are very sound,They have started using projectors for Directory for Directions.

The Wifi is still very spare,But with Rugby World Cup  coming up in 2019 & Olympic coming in 2020 they are making improvements in wireless internet connectivity.

There love for Packaging and simplifying things is so creative & Practical.That you would wonder how did they even think about it.

Just one Scare of a terror attack -And they Haven’t had Dustin’s on streets and yet are one the cleanest city in the world.

They have been the best in so many things and they know it.But,They don’t have the slightest of Ego. Daikan,Panasonic,Hitachi,Toshiba,Honda,Kawasaki,Lexus,Casio,Seikko,Yamaha music instruments,Gaming devices from Nintendo and Mario And all your camera’s Canon ,Fujifilm to name a few . And How could you forget the Whiskey that have become rare in the world.Hibki and Yamazaki have become so limited Even in Japan you couldn’t find. And when you do find it’s 50 ML and Limited to one per person.

Japanese,I guess are suffering from Karosh (A Japanese term that describes death by overwork)As they have to be competitive with the world and you find them taking Naps on the subways.And May be because they believe in kaizen or the Toyota  Way principle they are still one of the top countries.

The Traveller’s Trip!

You often,Hear people saying I love travelling!

But,What exactly is travelling?

Is it just going to Popular touristy places or travelling internationally “Been There Done That.” Or is it,Travelling to places,which is visited by a limited/Select few. Or is it travelling from point A to point B?

If you take the classic example of Mumbai.

You would know,Why the last point makes sense.It’s because it’s so widespread and has Vibe in each of its areas.You get to see and understand and learn about different classes and people.

Travelling ,through different means of transport too,You come across so many people from around the country,state and districts.That you realise,there couldn’t be a better way of knowing what people from around the country, do if you don’t travel and what other people think of your city and town.And you too can interact with other professionals,Who you meet and they might help ,When you need help!

On my long travelling journey,To home.nashik,- mumbai

Have met Doctors,Lawyers and real estate developers,Teachers,Insurance agents,Politicans, Caterers and very often students.And it has been so much of fun! To talk to them and to know about what their profession really means to them.

And that’s why I like travelling! Because you get to meet so many new people from

All walks of life,everyday.

Past & Future of Humans !!

Sapiens & Homo Deus – By Yuval Noah Harari.

These Two Books,Had been  on my mind since the beginning of 2017 .And Just when the 1st Quarter of 2018 comes to an End. I did finish my Journey of a The Brief History of HumanKind and A Brief History of tomorrow.It was A wonderful tedious read. Yuval Harari Tells us some  things  that we might already be aware about and  tell us  things which we might be completely unaware of, Since our Media personalities must have never spoken about these issues.

Facts such as the Chinese exchanging rice production with weapons that resulted in one of the most deadliest famine in the history in 1958.

6 Million people in France suffer from nutritional security.that means these   people  do not have asses to the  nutrional food, in order to be able to live a healthy and active life.

Sapiens is a Book that gets you thinking about so much,Even after you are done reading there are so many questions you still want to know about, even though you know a lot more about Humankind after reading the  book then  you would have known.

Phara phrasing some quotes from “Sapiens”

“Our language evolved as a way of gossiping.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

“This is the essence of the Agricultural Revolution: the ability to keep more people alive under worse conditions.” 

― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

“Evolution has made Homo sapiens, like other social mammals, a xenophobic creature. Sapiens instinctively divide humanity into two parts, ‘we’ and ‘they’.” 

― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

I also truly believe,Every season has a trend of similar books now being published. Ever since these two books have become a global phenomenon.You are now getting more books on similar lines being published.Making it difficult to choose which books to read next.

The Third book  coming from Yuval ’21 lessons from 21st Century’ this August 2018. A book on Issues that need to be tackled

Fake News,Terrorism and  from resilience and humility to meditation.

Yuval Noah Harari is a author worth reading.

A decade in Social Media

Social Media,It’s been a decade since I have been  on the online space ,officially part of various social media platform.The oldest being the social networking site  and The most recent being Snapchat.And in between  part of various other platforms which did not survive too long to be part of the decade evolution.

In this  past decade the platforms that I have been part of ,are Facebook and  twitter.Twitter took over my Interest ,because  of interactions between the people who you thought you wouldn’t be accessible to Facebook for having  different friend circle as part of a platform.while enjoying the best of both the worlds .I Jumped into WordPress as a blogger,blogging my experiences of life and experiences worth sharing . It then summed up my life   as WTF !! WordPress,Twitter and Facebook . 

But, Wait ! Then Instagram took over as soon as Mobile cameras became the most handy camera’s of our time.Messaging became more convenient through WhatsApp and the online world evolved .Each applications becoming a mirror application of one another. Trying to be the one stop app.But,yet we like our apps for their own reasons.

I have been surviving on so many platforms. and the reason, I believe is the personality each of the apps portrays . My  Facebook friends won’t be interested in blogging articles or my Instagramers won’t like “the” Photography element missing from my photos of the picture perfect landscapes around the world.

The platforms that  I am part of enhances my personality perceive me Unconsciously in the following ways below:

Twitter-An intellectual/Influencer

Facebook-Anti Social

WordPress -A Critic

WhatsApp-Can’t talk WhatsApp only too busy to make and take  calls.

Instagram -A Photographer

LinkedIn-The  networker.

But,Each of these platforms tells me one thing.

That my friends circle too should  also be split into  different groups! Imagine having only a group of intellectuals or being part of an anti-Social group only How boring and monotonous it  would be.