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Japan 2.0

Japan once again!
The first time it was through the books
Murakami, Kiga Higashino, Ryu Murakami to name a few… These books showcased the simplicity of the locals and the dark side of the city and that’s one of the reasons Japan fascinated me as a place to travel and explore so in June 2018 was the first time, A time where everyone questioned us Why Japan?
To answer it’s a place so little we know about..
The first time was a touristy visit going to the temples, streets and viewing the towers of each city we visited.
Japan was coming alive through the pages I had read, the streets sounded familiar and some streets I specifically visited since they were mentioned and described in the books.
The recent Trip to Japan was being an exploration of what all does the city has to offer besides the tourist sights and the humanity the people showcase in the country.
The food was and still is the best in Osaka.
The city was buzzing and full of tourists even closer to midnight, unlike Tokyo which seemed busy with people chasing their dreams..
Kyoto is still a small town where you can walk around and still discover the city.
The vintage shops and the second-hand Market seem to be thriving in the country with more than 80% population that has aged over the age of 70 and living a minimalistic life.
Retail was thriving with American, British and Asian tourists shopping at malls and brands that are relatively cheaper in Japan from countries like the US & India.
The Osaka Expo was an experience like no other, an endless Snake line on a hot afternoon, which tested not just ours but quite a few people’s patience too.
Since we had to register and get specific slots for pavilions we managed to only get one the Blue Dome, the others were long queues to enter and waitlists, The magnitude of the whole expo was huge 130+ countries participated and the tourism it brought to the city and country has been huge.
The designs and the sustainable options used to create them were interesting.
This was the first time we visited an expo abroad that had so many cultural influences on just design but food too the expo offered.

French Connection – 2025

A month. A Week. A Day. 

France is sometimes lost in Translation. Sometimes lost with the network. 

France – Cannes, The Big question was also. 

Canne We Do It? That became Cannes We Do It. 

The week, that had all the moments of drama and the beginning of the French Summer.

Went off in a slow Flow. With many “Visa rejections” and new challenges unfolding. 

France was an experience again. After 7 Yrs not much had changed, Yet only it was Cannes instead of Monaco this time. 

This was the Grand Prix, Lion and the film fest all rolling into the Carpet of Cannes. 

Nice – If you have read that has Nice it was indeed nice to meet the city. That connects so many other cities within less than an hour.

 A city with a beach, a view and a drone show with 2000 thousand drones too was witnessed here, thanks to a local Indian who we met that day. 

The Indian food by Noori’s Anaz was the highlight of our Nice trip! 

Meeting our group every day for Dinner at Noori for the 4 days we were there felt like a home away from home, With so many more connections we came across. 

Monte Carlo after 7 years – The memories of the streets, where we walked around and bought magnets, the venues ( Le Meridien and Monte Carlo Square) 

Oh! Not to forget the Hermitage tour-Bought back memories of all the wedding functions we did there for the first time, I had visited the South of France. 

The Baraat holding area, The Welcome lunch and the Rituals. 

The only thing the hotel has added is a Japanese Restaurant recently and renovated the Pavilion restaurant.

Menton! 7 Yrs later we do it… and No! We still haven’t done the lemon fest this time too! 

The city is citrusy in colour Orange &  Yellow. 

You will come across a lot of Orange trees and Lemon Stores, where you can taste lemon in sauces, Dip, Jams, Syrups and Paste. 

Eze! The Medieval city and the walk to the top. 

Felt like a Harry Potter city with stores, and cafes built in the medieval city.  It wasn’t Eze-eee! 

The city had buses that would hourly travel to the main village and Bolt/Uber that would take about 15 minutes minimum before it gave in their verdict of approving or denying us a ride.

Provence- The lavender region! Had a lot of violet and lavender fragrance around. 

The two cities: Aix En Provence,  Avignon and Arles each were different. Avignon & Arles felt more like Italy, Rome-like architecture the city was built with. 

Arles also had a mini Colosseum, that overlooked from a cafe. 

Aix en Provence was beautiful with small boutique stores and weekend flea markets. 

Marseille: One of the most underrated cities in France. And we were told to be watchful in the city. 

The city felt like Brazil, the Le Panier district felt like São Paulo Penirinos district and Narrow lanes were built on a hill with cafés and boutique stores. 

The city had all the Rio De Jinero feels. 

The Pardo District and Beach. Felt like the Copacabana beach, A long stretch with a view and shades of blue with mountains as the backdrop. 

The cathedral of Notre De Dame here in Marseille was a beautiful ride to the top and worth viewing the cathedral. 

The Longchamp Palais in the city was another beautiful park that felt inspired by Italy. 

Marseille was too big a city, we hadn’t expected the city to have so many sides to it. 

Paris! A long wait! A decade later… 

The city was now going through the restoration of the Notre Dame that was affected by the fire, the dazzling lights of Effile Tower were the highlight of the trip! And we sat through a long time just viewing the Structure, that has made the city a popular dream destination for many. 

The Walk on the Champs Elyse’s and ride across the Arc De Triumph still felt this is Paris! 

We did travel to a few more neighbourhoods around Paris, but the trees, and the energy at the champ Elyse’s was very different from the other parts. 

Oh! This time too we did a few touristy things. 

The new addition is Bacha cafe now in Paris, the experience was good. But nothing like the Marrakech one! 

The Angelina Hot Chocolate: The 45-minute Queue for the experience had to be done once. 

I felt I had better hot chocolate at Pierre Herme and Valrhona cafe. 

We did visit Lenotre too, the team that we worked with on a recent project in Cannes. 

And tasted some amazing desserts. 

48 Hrs in Paris were more than enough. 

Phuket It!


This was a very sudden trip! Wasn’t even sure, if my passport would come in time, and the next thing I knew, I was to fly to Phuket in 2 Days. 


Thailand is like the Goa of India. Warm, Humid and sticky weather with a very good taste for the foodies and Views of the Beaches and the sea that you can’t get enough of! 


Thailand has come back in the Radar of Americans, With White lotus making it A travel destination you can’t miss in 2025. 
The moment, we arrived at the Laem Sai Pier This part of Thailand was very different, it had the feels of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and Brazil, well! Had never seen Thailand like a luxury destination until this trip, it was always like a tourist destination. 


The next week, travelling around Phuket City including Phi Phi Island, was just the beginning of the  Peak tourism in the city, with Queues everywhere, and a short distance by the Car would be similar to a walk to the same place. 
Phuket is a big city, Every neighbourhood we travelled to would not take less than 20-25 minutes. Batong Beach, was the quietest part of the city, only the beach clubs were buzzing. 
Kata Beach, seemed like a new space that was coming up with hotel property and stores. 
Patong Beach, Had all the Bangkok vibes. 
Music, Clubs, Karaoke and A lot of massage centres. 


Patong made you feel that you are in Thailand. 
In terms of food, Thai food did standout in most of the places we ate, the Italian food it wasn’t that good. 
The Japanese & Asian foods had good  quality of meat and freshness of the vegetables. 
Which I wasn’t sure about Phuket City, since Phuket isn’t considered a travel destination or Foodie Destination. 
The old Phuket town, Seemed like Singapore Koon Seng Road with Colourful Shophouses where boutique stores, Cafes and tourist souvenir shops.
The Old Phuket town had an interesting Ice Cream Shop” Torry” that offered unique ice cream combinations. One of them we tried was Caramel Ice Cream with Fish Sauce. 

The short trip to Phuket, Thailand felt we needed more time in the city, with 4 days too, weren’t enough.

With Bangkok, Phuket too should be on your travel list. 

Stay:
@kohyaoyaivillage
@hotelindigophuket

Cafes:
@campuscoffeeroasters
@graphcoffee.co

Ice Cream:
@torrysicecream

Nightlife:
@nomadbeachclubphuket

Eat:

bluetamarind

galarestaurant

lavista

@bonpanasiantapas

Sightseeing:

wanchalongtemple

bigbuddha

Phuketoldtown

phiphiislansds

Abu Dhabi!

The Middle East city of United Arab of Emirates has been an interesting connection. 

On my 18th Birthday, I had visited the newly opened Ferrari Theme Park and Experienced the fastest rollercoaster in the world Formula Rosso.

That visit to the city was all about Yas Island – The popular F1 Track. 

After Thirteen Years.  I visited Abu Dhabi yet again for a family friend wedding, this also happened to be my 31st Birthday weekend. 

The city has transformed so much, The city felt so big. Each of the landmarks we wanted to visit would take us between fifteen-to Thirty Minutes. And the distances were about Twenty Kilometre maximum 

The Roads were so smooth, you hardly realised the time flew by driving 

The Corniche, an upcoming beach front space was too calm for a middle east city that buzzes during the night. 

The Al-Qana a space that was like the Marina Dubai had Cafes, Restaurants with water front view and bridges to connect the either sides of the space. 

Visited  The Sheikh Zayed Mosque after a thirteen Years wait, A Beautiful white mosque with detailing kept in mind of the florals inside were nicely em-bedded. 

The Walk in & out of the sheikh Zayed Mosque is a long one. 

But, Golf Cart as an option for senior citizen available and and travelator to walk without any movement. 

We visited Al- Watan a fairly newly promoted sight of Abu Dhabi.

It had the structure of the palace hotel from the outside. 

But, inside the dome and the walls stole the show. 

The seating outside during the exit, highlights soothing sit-down space with a view overlooking Palm trees. 

You must definitely visit the site on your next visit to Abu Dhabi. 

The visit to Emirates Palace, was a visit with mixed emotions. 

Since we initially planned  to visit the palace for lunch, but only ended with touring the property around the whole palace, a grandeur hotel with large spaces spread across for restaurants and shopping. 

We ended up at an Art House Cafe, for a meal that had the Arabic flavours and good coffee 

With Art Pieces from artist and a vibe that had creativity flowing around the space. 

Abu Dhabi, has become one of the top tourist destinations with Global popstars and bands too making it a destination for their tours. The Recent opening of Warner Brother Theme park has Abu Dhabi becoming more of a family destination. 

The new BAPS Temple too is a beautiful sight a Hindu Radha swami temple on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi that has become a landmark for all tourists and locals alike.

Gwalior 2025!

India as a country has so much to offer, that you feel you are going to be running out of time. 
Rajasthan has palaces and hotels like Palaces. 
Karnataka has coffee plantations and interesting food to offer. 
Himachal has mountains 
North India has its winter. 
Gujrat has its history. 
But, have you wondered what Madhya Pradesh has? 
Madhya Pradesh has temples and fort that have the detailing like no other temples across India and has a terrain region like the Grand Canyon of the USA. 
A few structures of the temples were similar to the ones in Hampi, Karnataka. Yet so different in history. 
Then why is it still unexplored and the least travelled region of India? 
On our recent visit to Gwalior a city in Madhya Pradesh, We came across temples and structures that were so beautiful and intricate in detail, that we questioned ourselves, what made us delay our plans for the last two years? 
As soon we began sharing our tourist exploration on social media. Many asked, where is the place? It was quite a surprise not many knew the beauty of this side of the country. India is always known for cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur. The other cities are less explored and undiscovered by the local citizens. 
The food in the city was both vegetarian & non-vegetarian, with a lot of Indian food available. 
In street Food, the Kachori and chaats were the most popular snacks of the region.