travel

You just can’t miss the crazy-stylish clothes in Crazy Rich Asians, can you?

In his book Crazy Rich Asians, author Kevin Kwan doesn’t leave a single detail spared when it comes to the wealth and opulence of the Singaporeans. He describes palatial homes, decadent interiors, ethereal weddings, and, of course, fashion, down to the minutest sparkle. No, really. Take a look:

Rachel couldn’t help but notice the enormous canary diamond flashing on her hand like a translucent egg yolk, and the pair of three-carat solitaires in her earlobes, identical to Peik Lin’s. Like mother, like daughter—maybe they got a two-for-one deal….Rachel quickly registered two versions of the Venus de Milo, one in white marble, another in gold, of course. There was a huge round dining table that seated eighteen comfortably covered with a heavy Battenberg lace tablecloth and high-backed Louis Quatorze chairs that were, thankfully, upholstered in a royal blue brocade.

So naturally, an avid reader and cinema fan like me would expect the film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians to feature striking fashion that brings Kevin Kwan’s vision to life.

The fashion scene in Crazy Rich Asians
Set amidst the ultra-glam world of uber rich Singaporeans (the kind who spend $40 million on weddings), Crazy Rich Asians features classy settings, and lots of high fashion and haute couture clothes, but with a strong Asian touch.

Costume designer for Crazy Rich Asians Mary Vogt along with Andrea Wong (consultant and senior costume buyer) sourced clothing from a range of designers, such as Ralph Lauren, Elie Saab, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, Valentino and Dior, along with several Asian designers.

The actors in the film wear clothes suited to the Asian sensibility, and style themselves according to Asian standards of style and beauty.

Which means you will be delighted and surprised to see fashion choices most Hollywood actors would not make on-screen. In most of Asia (including India), fashion, accessories, jewellery and makeup choices are as much about aesthetics as they are about showing your wealth.

In most western cultures including Hollywood, less is generally more, but in Asia, the rule is “less is too less, go for more”. Hence you will see multiple accessories in a single look, splash of colours and embellishment, and daring prints.

My favourite fashion looks from Crazy Rich Asians
Awkwafina as Peik Lin Goh

Peik Lin is quirky and funny, she knows it, and she dresses for it. In a sea of Singaporean Asians with long, dark hair, she chooses to go short and blonde. This spunky gal also dresses like she doesn’t care. Her outfits feature quirky prints, bold colours and mix-and-match separates that seem to be just thrown together in the morning.

But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Peik Lin is a fashionista in her own way. She has a closetful of pricey designer dresses, and she carries multiple outfit and accessory options in the trunk of her car for fashion emergencies like a sudden cocktail party invitation.

Constance Wu As Rachel Chu
Rachel Chu is a New Yorker, so her signature style is laidback and casual. As an economics professor and humble upbringing, she doesn’t care much for high fashion. Even when thrust into the world of crazy rich Singaporeans, Rachel maintains her style sensibilities and sticks to her simple aesthetic style. Meeting with her boyfriend’s mother and grandmother? An “auspicious” red dress. All-expenses-paid shopping spree? An understated cotton outfit.

But her dear friend Peik Lin helps her up her fashion game when it’s time for Rachel to show she can be classy too. Peik Lin chooses a multi-hued shimmering gown for the first meeting with the formidable mother, and a baby blue tulle Marchesa dress with a tiara for a grand wedding.

In a critical moment in the film, Rachel opts for a game of mah jong with her boyfriend’s mother Aunty Eleanor. In this scene, Rachel shows Aunty Eleanor what a New York gal can really do. Dressed in a flattering floral print dress paired with subtle makeup, Rachel stuns Eleanor with her grace and class in terms of style and as a human being.

Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Young
As one of the richest women in Asia, Eleanor Young (played by Michelle Yeoh) epitomizes elegance in every frame. As a woman with impeccable manners and taste, her fashion choices are always accurate and her looks are perfect down to the finest detail.

My favourite Aunty Eleanor look is the cocktail party at her mother-in-law’s home. She wears a pleated burgundy floor-length Valentino gown with a gorgeous brooch and matching earrings. Her hair is in a classic updo and her makeup is just right. Perfection!

Gemma Chan as Astrid Young Teo
Astrid is an heiress with a passion for all things rare and beautiful. She has an eye for vintage, a big heart and a contemporary outlook. On ordinary days, she wears silk blouses with high-waist trousers, form-fitting dresses and loads of oomph.

My favourite Astrid look is her introductory scene- a stylish Dior dress with a high draped collar, oversized sunglasses and a cute designer handbag.

Which is your favourite look from Crazy Rich Asians?

All pictures courtesy Warner Bros (from Crazy Rich Asians official Facebook page).

In Travel, travel

The world is my home

Speaking ChicApril 4, 2018April 5, 2018Leave a comment

Another day, another pointless visit to the market. I’m like a lamb trying to find its way through the forest where it does not belong.

So I’m lost. Emotionally.

As I make my home through the busy market, sellers scream out their wares and prices. A young man is selling a cartful of fruits, a young lady is selling flowers, a quiet woman sells bananas.

But even though I pass through this market every day, I don’t know I am doing here. It’s a strange place, this city of Yangon, earlier called Rangoon. Yes, I had committed a year of my life to be here as a trailing spouse, companion to my husband for his year-long stint.

But this place isn’t home. How can it be home?

It doesn’t have the spirit that my city Mumbai has. In Yangon, their stilted tongue is so different from the hard consonants in Marathi. They don’t speak English either. There isn’t any vada pav hawker on the streets. The people look different here. They dress different. Their food is different.

All this means that my life in Yangon is a constant struggle.

Urgh, just eleven more months. And then I’ll be out of here. Till then, I just have to survive.

And how do I survive?

Barely. I have insomnia, and when I sleep, I have nightmares.

I wake up late, spend yet another day in front of the TV, go out to shop a bit, cook instant noodles or toss a salad, and then brace myself for the next day.

This isn’t what life should be.

After a long and restless night in early June, I fall asleep at dawn. I wake up in the around noon, expecting the sun to be beating down harshly on me through the curtains. But it’s cold and cloudy instead. Gloomy overcast sky.

My eyes flicker and it takes me a few seconds to register where I am. This hint of rain, this impending downpour, am I not in Mumbai?

Of course I’m not. I’m in Yangon, the place where I’m a stranger, an outsider. A mere passer-by.

But as the clouds open up and the raindrops splatter against my bedroom window, it hits me. This.. this rain, it’s just like home. Just like Mumbai.

The monsoon, the evening crowds, the commuter-stuffed local buses, the busy markets, the concrete buildings cramped together. The sea, not visible, but too far away either. I even joke that Yangon’s Hledan area resembles Mumbai’s Dadar.

So wait, if Yangon is home, there would be other similarities too, right?

I switch from survival mode to exploration mode. I scour my neighbourhood market and find things I hadn’t spotted before. A sprig of curry leaves, just what I need for my morning poha. A coconut seller who will grate it for my curry. A lady who sells mangoes that beat the alphonsos out of the ballpark.

I become bolder and begin to think of myself as a world traveller. I need to be more open-minded.

I head to downtown Yangon. The staid and elegant colonial-era buildings could be anywhere in South Mumbai. The erstwhile telegraph office and the old High Court could easily be mistaken for Mumbai structures. The stock market building was earlier the RBI office in the pre-independence era, and resembles Mumbai’s RBI headquarters on Mint Road. Even the floor tiles in the old part of the Indian embassy remind me of old buildings in Fort.

There’s a shared history between Mumbai and Yangon. A shared culture too.

The people love street food, especially in the evenings. My favourite snack quickly becomes the local tea leaf salad, tossed with steamed corn and sliced garlic.

Buddhist pagodas in every major street replaces Mumbai’s iconic temples. I pray to Buddha along with everyone else at under the golden dome of the sacred Shwedagon pagoda.

I learn the local language. As a result, I make friends with my fruit seller, my vegetable vendor, my landlord’s family. I learn the Burmese words for potatoes is aloo, pronounced exactly like the Hindi word.

Then I immerse myself even more. I bargain with taxi drivers. I cook with Burmese jaggery, and I learn to tell the difference between the various Burmese accents too.

Finally, a day comes when I buy some fabric from the textile market. I go to a tailor on my street to get the green swathe of cloth stitched into the local sarong-like skirt (called the longyi). When I wear it, I’m mistaken for a local. My neighbours compliment me.

Somewhere along the line, I stop missing Mumbai. Yangon is home.

Now that I’m back in Mumbai, I know what I did in that beautiful country of Myanmar. Just having that little bit of acceptance turned me into a new person.

But mostly, I said yes to Yangon. I said yes to the world. And now the world is my home.

In Travel, travel

From hours to minutes: How I book the right hotel quickly

Speaking ChicMay 17, 2017May 16, 2017Leave a comment

I remember the time I was planning a trip to Spain in 2011. Booking air tickets and drawing up a rough itinerary were the easy parts. Then I had to book my hotel rooms.

I agonized over dozens of hotels in Barcelona, Sevilla and Madrid. I looked at so many options across so many websites, so many blogs and so many travel portals that it took me days to decide the hotels. If I had spent as much time in preparing for my college exams, I would have aced them all.

Anyways, when I finally selected the hotels, I promised myself I would never spend so much time on figuring out hotels for my trip. Of course, hotels are a very important part of my visit to a new place. I want comfort, I want easy access to public transport and I want to be safe.

But spending days, or even hours on hunting hotels? Sheer waste of valuable time.

(Wora Bura Resort & Spa in Hua Hin, Thailand)

For my next trip, I tried to be a bit more systematic. I cut down from several days to just a single day on hotel research. But that was still too long.

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. And when planning my holiday to Italy in December 2013, I was also planning my wedding (!) and so, I had very little time to ponder over hotels.

That’s when I hit upon my formula.

I’ve been following this method since almost four years now and it’s saved me a lot of time, stress and the end result has never been bad (touchwood).

Try it and tell me what you think.

Here’s how I do it.

Step 1: I decide on a budget

I break down the trip’s budget into all sorts of costs—from sightseeing to food. All are estimates, of course, but that works. After calculating all these costs, I arrive at a cost for my hotel stays.

Or sometimes, I just decide the amount of money I am willing to spend on a hotel room per night on that trip, such as $80 per night.

Time taken: 10-20 minutes.

(Hotel Kempinski, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar)

Step 2: I pick hotels for that given budget.

I enter the city and travel dates into a hotel booking website. The booking website is usually one I find reliable and trustworthy. My preferences are usually agoda.com or booking.com. Once I get the search results, I filter by my budget, and now, I have a (long) shortlist. This doesn’t take long and the list could be anywhere from five to 15 hotels.

Time taken: 10 minutes

Step 3: I look up shortlisted hotels.

If there are too many (long) listed hotels could be dime a dozen, so I also filter out the hotels by the number of stars or ratings. The top ones stay on the list, the bottom ones are eliminated. From this shorter shortlist, I am now ready to research hotels. I look up traveller review sites like Tripadvisor for each hotel, and I especially pay attention to the bad reviews to get a balanced view. I then cut down to three hotels.

Time taken: 15-20 minutes

Step 4: I now have a final list.

With just three hotels on my list, I visit each hotel’s website and look up important details. For example, do they have a swimming pool and an elevator? Is it near the places I want to visit? Will I have access to public transport? How near or far is it from the airport?

Time taken: 10-15 minutes

(Art Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand)

Step 5: And now, I have a winner.

I go back to my booking site and book. Or, if the hotel offers a “lowest tariff guarantee” I write to them informing them of my travel dates and the best offers I’m getting online. Most hotels respond within a day and they often give me a better rate (this is especially true of boutique and single/ standalone hotels).

I get the hotel I want, they get a paying customer. Win-win all around.

Time taken: 5 minutes (to email), 5 minutes (to pay)

How do you choose hotels for your holiday?

In Travel, travel

Throwback Thursday: Banteay Srei, Cambodia

Speaking ChicApril 27, 2017April 25, 2017Leave a comment

This month I’ve been reminiscing about my trip to Cambodia last April. Yes, we did the obvious thing (i.e. visit Siem Reap and explore Angkor Wat), but every moment there was a revelation. Despite the insane heat and the crazy crowds, we made a little trek to Banteay Srei, just outside of the main Angkor temples.

Banteay Srei may be much smaller than other temples in Angkor, but the intricate level of detailing is astounding. Built eleven centuries ago, the glorious stone carvings in the temple are not just fine works of art but also a journey into past Hindu glory in Cambodia.

Stunning stuff.

#ThrowbackThursday

In Travel, travel

A boat ride on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Speaking ChicJanuary 19, 2017January 18, 2017Leave a comment

A lone fisherman in a conical hat flings his net into the freshwater lake. As the mist clears, I see miniature gardens of brightly-coloured flowers gently floating in the water. For miles, there’s nothing to see except water, a fisherman or two, the Shan hills in the distance, and the unfamiliar flowers and leaves beautifully meshed into the lake’s surface. The only sound is the dull throb of the boat’s diesel motor.

We are sailing through Myanmar’s Inle Lake in Shan State. And the lake is nothing like any other I’ve seen before. It is the lifeline of villages and towns that live by the shore. It’s the means of income and the means of transport both rolled into one. And it’s a unique ecosystem (also a biosphere reserve) with distinct flora and fauna scattered throughout the 116-square-kilometres lake.

Pockets of civilization appear in the distance. Local Burmese men and women line up for a “shared boat taxi” for their daily commute to the market or places of work. We stop by a market on the lakeside to buy souvenirs. Bargaining is hard in Myanmar, most of the times both you and the seller know that the price is exorbitant, but it’s a question of who is more stubborn. So you win some, you lose some.

Further down the lake, houses made entirely of wood appear like islands. Some of these structures have artisan workshops, where local craftsmen weave fabrics from lotus stems (exquisitely soft silk!) and make silver jewellery.

At one souvenir shop on the lake, I see some women making small souvenirs. They are like any other woman, except their long necks are stacked with brass rings. They are Kayan Lahwi or Padaung women, seated here to fascinate tourists with their exotic neck jewellery and peculiar anatomy. Of course pictures are welcome.

Later, we head to a pagoda just off the lake. It’s like any other pagoda in Myanmar, filled with throngs of Myanmar people praying to Buddha.

After a refreshing drink of fresh coconut water just outside the pagoda, we head back to our boat. The gentle morning breeze has made way for the afternoon sun. The lake is busy, as boats stuffed with tourists slice through the water to explore life on Inle Lake.

But we head back to the hotel on the boat and relish the quiet moments of solitude. As I step off the boat, I suddenly have a wish. One only. That the lake is preserved, its animals and birds and plants kept intact for centuries. That we humans don’t destroy the lake’s understated beauty with our ever-present destructive tendencies. I wish. I pray.

Reaching Inle Lake: To visit Inle Lake, take a flight from Yangon or Mandalay to Heho. The airport is 35 kilometres from the lake. The nearest town is Nyaungshwe in Taunggyi District of Shan State, Myanmar.

In Travel, travel

Sunday Street Stories: Rangoon War Cemetery

Speaking ChicJanuary 15, 2017January 14, 2017Leave a comment

In a quiet lane off Yangon’s Pyay Road is a square of lush green grass dotted with trees and flowers that belie the crazy traffic just a few metres away. Few people go there. Taxi drivers wonder why you would want to get off at that strange place.

That strange, quiet, manicured place is Rangoon War Cemetery, with graves of hundreds of soldiers who died in action in Burma during the Second World War. Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery is a space where race and nationality don’t matter. Indian and African soldiers lie next to their colleagues from Britain, bound together by war.

This piece of history is not on any tourist map of Yangon. But this place is important. Because it reminds me of the damage that war has caused over the centuries. And the consequences of war affect all of us, no matter where or when we are born.

Location: Rangoon War Cemetery, Yangon (Myanmar)

Date: December 16, 2016

Device: Xiaomi Mi 5

In Travel

Sunday Street Stories: Yangon’s Living Restoration

Speaking ChicJuly 31, 2016July 30, 2016Leave a comment

Almost every colonial-era building in downtown Yangon has a spellbinding story to tell, though interest in aesthetic restoration is still fledgling. An unassuming building in Merchant Street now serves as a demonstration of how a facelift can be done while keeping the original architecture intact.

Taking into account the views of the residents and tenants, Turquoise Mountain set about renovating the building. They trained local workers, used quality materials and did it all on a tight budget. It’s a job well-done, and now there’s some hope that people living in historical spaces in Yangon will make an effort to preserve their inherent beauty. Fingers crossed.

PS- The project managers even restored the little altars outside!

Pictures taken on: July 19, 2016
Location: Merchant Street, downtown Yangon, Myanmar
Device: Nexus 5

In Travel, travel

The wonderful Baltic Sea cruise

Speaking ChicJuly 14, 2016Leave a comment

Several folks I’ve met believe cruises are for: 1) Old people 2) Families with kids 3) Lazy losers.

But I say, baloney to that! I fall in none of these categories, but I still enjoy a great cruise. While on a cruise you can catch glimpses of not one but several new destinations, while getting a chance to relax and not having to worry about packing your toothbrush, scrambling for an inexpensive meal or running to catch a train. And if you fall in love with a place, you can plan a longer vacation around that next time.

The Northern European cruise I did with Mom in May 2014 was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life—I visited a part of Europe we hadn’t seen before, saw some beautiful places and I ticked off a place on my bucket list—St Petersberg, Russia.

Day 0: Flying into Copenhagen, Denmark

Late night, we flew from Mumbai to Copenhagen via Brussels. (While in transit, we bought a box of Belgian chocolates to enjoy on the trip. :-D)

Day 1: Copenhagen, Denmark

We arrived in sunny Copenhagen mid-morning. I’d booked a Copenhagen Card which I picked up at the airport, so the Metro ride into town was free. We walked past canals and hip restaurants to reach our budget hotel in Borgergade.

After some rest, we headed out for a canal ride, admiring the brightly-coloured buildings, the Copenhagen Opera House and views of erstwhile royal residences. Then we hopped on to a local bus and headed to the country’s most famous amusement park Tivoli Gardens. While we were too tired to try the rides, we did enjoy the lively, familial atmosphere, the peacocks in the gardens, the food and a light comedy sketch (of which we understood nothing). We took a local bus back to hotel.

Day 2: Helsingør (Elsinore) and Copenhagen

I’m a literature buff, so it was natural that I’d want to visit a place of literary significance. So early morning we took the DBS train from Copenhagen station to Helsingør (Elsinore). Our destination: Kronborg castle, also called the “Hamlet castle” for it’s supposedly the setting for William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. No one knows for certain if Shakespeare visited this castle, but he might have. And he most certainly had friends who did. While the castle looked grand and imposing as we walked there from the town’s small railway station, it was actually quite comforting once we were within its walls. It also had some gorgeous vantage points of Ørseund Strait (and Sweden!).

After a guided tour of the castle and a brave solo trip of the cellar, we took the train back to Copenhagen and walked to Rosenborg Castle. I marveled at the gorgeous marble floors, the little pendants among the jewellery and the armoury sections of the castle museum. From there, we took a Metro ride to reach the to the aquarium Blue Planet. We got there just 15 minutes before closing time, but the staff was kind enough to let us in and enjoy the place at leisure. Though we were tired after such a long day, I wanted to visit the one of the largest no-car streets in Europe—Strøget. Since it was summer, it was a late sunset and we window shopped in fashion stores and the Lego store (yay!), till we got tired and decided to just people-watch instead. After dinner at a wonderful Mexican restaurant, we walked back to our hotel.

Day 3: Copenhagen and cruise

We had a few hours in the morning, so we took a bus to Christiansborg Palace, the seat of Danish parliament. Unfortunately it was closed that day but we could go into the courtyard and view the glorious façade. Then another bus ride to the National Museum of Denmark (free entry). There’s only one word for this museum—mind-boggling. I especially enjoyed the prehistoric and Vikings section, and the toy section. Too bad I didn’t have more time to see the entire museum. We headed back to the hotel to grab our bags and take a taxi to the pier where our Royal Caribbean cruise ship Legend of the Seas was docked. We checked in, had a leisurely lunch at the restaurant, then spent the evening exploring the ship.

Day 4: At sea

After the past two days of hectic travel, we finally had a chance to relax. We made the most of our time onboard—we watched a Broadway-style dance show, played Bingo, tried our hands at a cooking demo and sampled the complimentary snacks around the ship.

Day 5: Stockholm, Sweden

Next morning, we docked at Stockholm. On the way there, we passed the Stockholm archipelago—thirty thousand little green islands dotting the Baltic Sea. It was a bright sunny day in the Swedish capital, and our pre-arranged tour guide (Carlos from Mexico!), took us on a city tour. We first visited Stockholm City Hall where I gaped at the grandeur of the “golden room” with its high ceilings and walls bathed in gold. The hall also hosts the lavish Nobel Prize banquet every year.

We then headed to Gamla Stan, the old city centre with its narrow streets, closely-placed buildings and plenty of cafes and restaurants. After snaking our way through the winding streets, Mom and I headed to an Indian takeaway joint for a packed lunch. Sitting in the main square, I opened my lunch box and tasted the most delicious dal makhni and jeera pulao I’ve ever had outside India. After lunch, we headed to Stockholm Palace to witness the changing of the guard, briefly stopping en route for a photo op with City Hall as background. And then we visited the Vasa Museum—a unique museum that’s all about ships. I didn’t even know I liked ships till I visited this one. Back on board late afternoon, we headed for an evening snack, then rested up before dinner.

Day 5: Tallinn, Estonia

Not too many people have even heard of this country in Northern Europe. Its capital Tallinn is a town steeped in medieval history. We went around the city by bus, taking time to walk around the cobblestoned streets in Old Town, spotting quaint churches and centuries-old walls. We later visited the stunning Kadriorg Palace, the entryway lined with gorgeous gardens and fountains. Inside the palace complex, I visited a small museum housed wonderful sculpture and paintings from around Europe. We later took a bus back to the pier.

Day 6: St Petersburg, Russia

Oh, how I’d waited to reach Russia! Despite the gloomy weather and continual rain, my day in St Petersburg is among the most memorable days of my life. Since we could enter Russia as a cruise visitor only via a guided tour, I’d signed up for one already. Our first stop was the amazing Peterhof Palace on the outskirts of the city. Despite the damage during the wars, the palace has been restored wonderfully and walking through the large halls to see the royal crockery, dining table and silks was like stepping back in time.

We then headed to the Hermitage Museum in the heart of the city. The building was designed in a typical Baroque style and I thoroughly enjoyed the classical Greek artifacts, Italian and Spanish paintings and Russian art. We then had a chance to ride the escalator deep down into the city metro just to see how the station itself is a work of art! Later we stopped for souvenir shopping (matryoshka dolls were on my list) and to the Church on Spilled Blood, named so after Emperor Alexander II was wounded here. Dead tired after this very exhausting day, we headed back to our ship for a dinner and rest.

Day 7: Helsinki, Finland

We were still recovering from the crazy day in St Petersburg, when we docked in Helsinki where it was cold and drizzling non-stop. The Finnish capital is a very charming city, and we bought a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket. We sat back to enjoy the ride around town, seeing places like Rock Church and Sibelius Monument. We then got off at Market Square to catch a ferry to Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, located on an island off the coast of the city. We walked through the fortress-island and stopped along the way to peek at little souvenir shops, experience cannons and take in the rocky-green landscape.

Back in Helsinki, I bought a reindeer tooth bracelet to gift a friend, and walked to Senate Square to enjoy the neo-classical architecture and browse through the designer boutiques nearby. Our cruise took off soon after lunch so we soon headed back to port by bus, and our driver turned out to a chatty Brit with a thick Cockney accent living in Finland. Good times!

Day 8: At sea

We used this non-port day to recoup from the craziness of the last couple of days. The cruise’s head chef had invited some of us to visit the onboard kitchen and so we went for the mini-tour, cameras at the ready. I saw the chefs hard at work, some chopping skillfully, some loading the bread-making machines, some rolling out pasta dough. Despite the flurry of activity, the kitchen was sparkling clean. We spent the rest of our day reading on deck and enjoying the special dinner.

Day 9: Return to Copenhagen, flight back to India

Our ship docked in Copenhagen early morning. After a quick breakfast and checkout, we hailed a taxi to drive us to the airport. Our driver turned out to be extremely well-read and told me he was currently reading J Krishnamurthi. (Woah, that’s super intense stuff). At the airport, we boarded our flight back home, coming back via Abu Dhabi.

To check flights to Copenhagen and other Baltic destinations check out the listing of International Flights here.

In Beauty, Travel

Sunday Street Stories: It’s all about great hair

Speaking ChicJune 26, 2016June 25, 2016Leave a comment

In Yangon (and most of Myanmar) women young and old have gorgeous, poker-straight hair. Their secret? Not their genes or diet or combing techniques… But regular trips to the beauty salon.

So how are Myanmar women different from women worldwide? After all, almost every country has a vibrant and thriving beauty industry. Well, for one, it’s the number of visits women make to the salon (to straighten their hair, to colour their hair, to wash their hair, to massage their head, to blow dry their hair, and of course, paint their nails). So salons do brisk business. And then, the sheer number of salons in business. Within just a 60-metre radius around my building, I’ve counted seven beauty salons. (Maybe there are more). If anyone did a worldwide survey of beauty salons per capita or beauty salons per square kilometre, Myanmar might just win hands down. The salons here often work till late night, staying open even after restaurants shut down!

Location: Hledan Street, Yangon, Myanmar
Date: June 25, 2016
Device: Google Nexus 5

In Travel, travel

Sunday Street Stories: Yangon Stock Exchange

Speaking ChicMay 22, 2016May 21, 2016Leave a comment

Tall columns, a neatly-designed façade, delicately ornate with a smooth finish, this beautiful colonial-era building in downtown Yangon is a stunner. Obscured from view by a cluster of trees, I barely noticed it though I’ve passed it several times while in a taxi.

But last week, I finally saw it up close. It’s just one of a handful of well-preserved Yangon buildings, and reminds me of Mumbai’s RBI building on Mint Road. Turns out this one is the Yangon Stock Exchange.

The stock exchange began operations only last December and the first company listed this March. With all the rapid changes happening in Myanmar, there’s so much interest in investing here and hopefully the stock exchange paves the way for a robust financial sector.

While potential investors are looking for business opportunities, I’m trying to figure out if I can go inside.

Device: Google Nexus 5

Date: May 15, 2016

Location: Downtown Yangon, Myanmar

Showing all posts tagged travel

Crazy fashion in Crazy Rich Asians

The world is my home

From hours to minutes: How I book the right hotel quickly

Throwback Thursday: Banteay Srei, Cambodia

A boat ride on Inle Lake, Myanmar

Sunday Street Stories: Rangoon War Cemetery

Sunday Street Stories: Yangon’s Living Restoration

The wonderful Baltic Sea cruise

Sunday Street Stories: It’s all about great hair

Sunday Street Stories: Yangon Stock Exchange