Five Years later, Hyderabad had transformed into a city, Since I had last visited for an event in 2019. Flyovers, so much of construction happening. And a Metro too! This city felt like another city altogether. The huge spaces of cafes, Restaurants the long wait In Queues. Was this Hyderabad? The Knowledge City, A landmark that Housed offices, Restaurants and a Cafe was like What BKC is to Mumbai! Hi-Tech City and Gochibawli landmarks were like the Magarpata township of Pune. The Jubilee Hill cafes and restaurants were like the Indiranagar and Koramangala of Bangalore or Koregoapark of Pune. And this was just one side of the city I had visited. The retail showrooms were huge, and like how Linking Road Mumbai has standalone stores the Hyderabad city too had them with luxury brands on the main road. Katha cafe felt like Subko in so many ways font, Styling of the space and branding too. The cafes Toops & Katha two of the ones I visited had Corridor Seven coffee being served, A coffee roaster from Nagpur, Mithilesh V and One of the first Aeropress championship winners from India started this. Surprisingly Hyderabad had more vegetarian food options, compared to my last visit. Manam Chocolate Kharkhana. Was an experience. A Chocolate Cafe, Store and Chocolate Factory Experience in Hyderabad. You could taste all the chocolates Bars, ice cream, Chocolate flakes and Barks, Hot chocolate too, A complete chocolate Paradise. The Hyderabad we know as Charminar, Ramoji Film City and Golconda Fort felt very long from the side we were stationed in Hyderabad. The Taj Hotel Falaknuma too was another side. Hyderabad city had become a huge city from what I had travelled to the last time. Hyderabad is surely a city to watch out for! In India.
Does India Read? Do Indians Read? And if they do what do they read? Well, India is slowly getting into the habit of reading books! And a lot of them have been enjoying reading books. But, this India that I am talking about is not the one that is into literature books. But, a new emerging audience of readers is discovering reading books is not for the joy of it. But, to improve my English speaking skills, Vocabulary and diction. These readers are the ones who make up the large population that we have. But again are we growing in numbers? Who enjoy reading Mythology, Romance, and Young Adult books. The authors who have successfully managed to capture their audience are the likes of Chetan Bhagat, Preeti Shenoy, Durjoy Datta, Ravinder Singh, Anuja Chauhan, and Robin Sharma to name a few…Others like Amrish Tripathi and Devdutt Patnaik are Gaining popularity amongst new readers who are interested in reading books. But, what are the avid literary Indian readers reading today? They are the ones who like reading Amitav Ghosh, Sudha Murthy, Chitra Banerjee, Arvind Adiga, and Arundhati Roy, which are some of the books which the other Indian audiences are reading. But, the positive side of the reader reading in India is they have started reading books of Indian authors from India.
Firstly, think about why are you looking to buy a watch? Is it a milestone you are celebrating?
Or you have liked it, because it looks cool, and you spotted your role Model/ Favourite celebrity wearing it and would like to own that watch.
These are some of the reasons.
But, you could also like the Watch, Because You simply like it for its design, And it’s distinctive from anything you have seen before!
Or You have aspired to own a particular make or brand since your childhood.
But, at the same time, You might have liked the simplicity of the complications it has to offer, The perpetual calendar, The Moon phase, The GMT dial or a simple analog watch whose needles fascinate you.
Or it would be the Mechanism movement you have also been in awe of a Automatic, Mechancial winding.
The Size of the Watch, Small, Medium size or Large sizes.
Watches have an history and often an association that we look into when owning that timepiece.
Oh! It could also be a limited edition timepiece or an investment you would like to make.
But, it’s the only Jewellery piece that a Man has on his wrist always. It’s not something you buy to keep a watch on the time.
But, something that you would like to keep for the rest of your life.
Something we don’t often think about is the Age at which we own the watch, sometime we might be too young to own that or too old to have it.
Some of the most prominent watch makers to consider.
Swatch, Tissot, Timex, Casio, G-Shock, Seiko in the entry level segment
For premium level you could look into :
Oris, Beaume & Mercier, Breitling
Luxury would be: Omega, Panerai, Cartier, Tag Heuer, Tudor
Ultra Luxury: Audermars, Rolex, Patekh Philips
Some Indian watchmakers you might like to look into are Jaipur Watch Company and Horpa.
Jaipur Watch company has some interesting designs of watches like the Stamp watch.
Horpa a fairly new brand has the look of Blancpain and Swatch watches.
But, watches are always a personal choice.
Design, Make and functions are always something you must consider personally.
The 25+ Hours journey through the UK to Sao Paulo was slightly tiring.
The first impression, Sao Paulo is a huge city!
The architecture and construction are lovely.
Water! No Water in the rooms! This was going to become a common observation as we would travel around the country!
The restaurants too don’t serve you water.
This was quite alarming, Maybe the water isn’t quite hygienic here! Or maybe they aren’t hospitable or maybe they are going through a Water Crisis.
Sao Paulo had the appeal of New York, Wall Street and Fifth Avenue. The Liberade, Japanese Neibhourhood did remind me of being lost in Japan!
The Food whether it was the local Brazilian Meat, Mexican Gucaomole, American Burgers, Italian Pizza, Thai or Japanese was the best in Sao Paulo. In the places we visited, we realised they were either part of the best Restaurants in the World and Latin America or were part of the Michelin restaurant guide.
The Cafes and coffee were also some of the finest we had here in the city!
Rosewood in Sao Paulo. Ranked #25 in the Worlds best was truly an experience. Walking into the lush green arches and being welcomed by books at the entrance/Waiting area. As you make yourself comfortable through the hotel you pass through a couple of more coffee table bookshelves before you reach the restaurant, which you feel is in the middle of the forest.
The Acai Berry Smoothie, Pastrami Sandwich and Burger were the juiciest, healthiest and most satisfying meals of our trip.
Rosewood was a nice experience.
The city, Was so clean with ample of dustbins, unlike Japan. Where you struggle to find even one.
The shopping malls, Each one competing with the size and the interiors.
The weather, Yes, we did feel the heat waves.
The roads were so broad and well-maintained. It was a challenge to find even one pothole in the country.
Rio was a tourist hub, and so was our instruction. Be extra careful while walking on the streets of Rio, After 5 pm avoid strolling on the street with Mobile Phones, Jewellery or Watches/Smart Watches.
The Sugarloaf Mountain & Christ The Redeemer have to be our typical tourist highlight. One for the sunset view and the other for getting the structure to the top.
Copacabana Beach was going through a post-event pack-up! Madonna had performed a free concert two days before we planned to reach Rio de Janeiro.
Language is a huge barrier! The locals don’t understand English and as Tourist, we had no understanding of Portuguese.
Brazil has their measurement too!
P being M , The universal Medium size, G being large, GG being Extra large in clothing. For Footwear too, they are normally a size or two smaller than the Typical US sizes one Wears.
Salvador was a small quaint colourful city that would remind you a lot about Europe’s small towns.
While travelling across the city we flew through GOl or Latam. The local airlines of Brazil were always on time and internally we travelled through the Uber App with minimum communication!
Oh! One thing that was a huge disappointment was Google Maps! Often they did not take us at the right location, either 100 meters away from our location or would be pinned at another entrance/Exit of the same location.
The Google Maps, were always not updated with locations that had been permanently closed or had being relocated to another location.
In both of these times, We were faced with challenges on how to communicate to the exact location.
While planning Brazil I had also noted a few bookstores I wanted to visit in Brazil!
To my disappointment both of the bookstores that were listed for the longest time as the most beautiful bookstores in the world had been closed now! One in Sao PauloAnd the other in Rio. While I visited other bookstores across the cities. There weren’t any books available in English at all.
Brazil with two of the most prominent global events like FIFA and the Olympics in the past decade is still not considered a Tourist Destination. With Food options, the Weather being pleasant, Globally recognised homegrown Fashion brands and Warm and friendly people you wonder if the Country’s not being Safe Image is playing a key role in tourism.
Eat: #saopaulo @ranchoportuguessp @nbsteak @michelinguide @aizomerestaurante – Part of @theworlds50best #latinamerica @pingyangsp – #11 Best Place to eat in #Brazil
Taro Sushi – Michelinguide
@rosewoodsaopaulo -#25 Worlds Best Hotel @theworlds50best @sisenorbrasil @brazpizzaria – #4 best pizzeria brand in the World @pecorinoteresina @apizzadamooca – #77 in the Worlds Best Pizza
Chocolates: #brazil @dengochocolates @kopenhagen_
Personal favourite for Shopping : @farmrio @osklen
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