I have a dream

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A dream to travel. Travel to countless places, both big and small. In order to start making that dream come true, I started off with my recent trip to Singapore. You must read the gist of it here. In today’s post I’m sharing my trip in detail.

For starters, as much as Singapore seems like a small country, it is not! Even if you argue that it is, it’s definitely not one of those Asian countries that can be covered on a 5 day trip. There’s loads to do and many tourist attractions. I tried covering most of those places on my trip, yet there were a few I missed out on. It was like a fight against time.

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Tid bits about tourist attractions visited:

Night safari: If this is your safari debut, it will amaze you. Sitting in that beautiful animal printed tram, you get to look around at the animals that are just a few metres away. For you to understand more about the animal you’re looking at, there is a pre-recorded audio set in the tram to give you an idea and some interesting bits.
Like, did you know Snakes aren’t really sticky and wet? They just appear glossy but are completely dry.

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The Night safari is all about the experience. If you’re looking to bring back photos to show your dear ones back home, probably this isn’t meant for you. Flash Photography is strictly prohibited as it scares/annoys the animals. You don’t want to take a chance with them now, do you?

Universal Studios: Having heard quite a bit about the movie based rides here, it was obligatory to visit the USS.
On entering USS, you are transported to another world altogether. It’s difficult not to stop and take pictures as you walk through to the actual rides. Interesting looking little buildings, Workshops, candy stalls, meet and greets with movie characters, street dances, restaurants, chocolates and souvenir shops etc will catch your attention.

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You need an entire day to explore the USS. The movie based rides are the highlights. Also while you’re at it, might as well visit the Sea Aquarium which is just across the USS.

Sea Aquarium: It’s crazy not to get impressed looking at more than 100,000 underwater animals from 800 species, swimming in 45 million liters of water. Fish lovers, you will want to live here.

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If you’re lucky you will get to see the Octopus go through a whole maze. It’s outstanding!

River safari, Singapore zoo: Though they are 2 different attractions, they can be done one after the other.
The Indian Gharial is worth all the attention it gets.
The river safari depends on your luck as sitting on a river cruise you can’t do much but just hope the animals/ birds appear into sight. The amazon quest ride passes through some interesting species that are just at an arm’s distance away.

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Singapore zoo is a huge spread. There’s a lot of walking to be done, so it’s best to wear sneakers/ walking shoes. It’s easy to lose your way here and hence remember to carry a map of the zoo.

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Do not leave the zoo until you spot the Panda (there are 2 of them – Jia Jia & Kai Kai), the Polar bear and the white tiger.

Merlion Park: This isn’t really a park. Coming to Singapore and not seeing and posing with this fish-lion statue is like having an unaccomplished trip. You can spot the mighty Marina Bay sands Hotel, The domes of Gardens by the bay and even the Singapore Flyer from here. All these places look marvelous at nights, they’re well lit up and stand out.

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China town: In Singapore this is the street you need to visit for souvenirs. The cute buildings, the bright colors everywhere makes this market attractive enough for you to spend some time here. Shopping is an advantage.

Marina Bay Sands: Even if you want, you can’t miss it. This building stands 57 floors tall and it’s infinity pool is a dream! As if the view from the top isn’t enough, imagine swimming like you’re at the edge. It’s quite a high.. pun intended.

The hotel puts up a brilliant light and water show in the evening. It’s approximately a 11 minute show that will have your attention at the water.

Gardens by the bay: Walking into the flower dome, you will be greeted by a thousand plus different flower speicies from all over the world. Nature lovers will want to make this their home.
Besides the Flower dome, the Cloud dome is a surreal experience.

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The best time to go to these as well as walk the OCBC skywalk is during the light and sound show in the evenings. Standing amidst the supertrees is unexplained.

Alive Museum: Situated at the Suntec city mall, this museum will bring out the child in you. It’s 3D art is not just to be admired but makes you one with the paintings. It’s meant for people of all ages.

Hoping this list has given you a gist about the places you should visit while at Singapore.

Food in Singapore:

While I loved my fancy meals at The Black Swan, Loof, Me@OUE, Ce La Vie and KPO cafe, for the times I was out and about exploring, I preferred sticking to Mc Donalds/ KFC/ Burger King etc. The local Singaporean food seemed too strong for my taste buds. Although I went with an open mind to try out local delicacies, the use of fish oil in everything changed my mind. 7/11 was like home when there weren’t any of the above fast food joints available.

 

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Everything mentioned is from my personal experience and I encourage you to have your own. Do share them with me. Reading anything about Singapore makes me happy and brings back good memories.

Lots of love,

The Silent Hummer,
Franchua D’Souza

 

 

I am blogging about my dreams and passions for the Club Mahindra#DreamTrails activity at BlogAdda. You can get a Club Mahindra Membership to own your holidays!

Shine on

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I know my hair is in safe hands each time I visit the BBlunt salon, once every 6 months. Infact you must read how my hair lost it’s color virginity at one of their outlets. I’ve not only been a fan of their haircuts and hairstyles but also of all those fancy products they use for each separate hairtype. When they came up with their own line of styling products a few months back, to be honest I did have my doubts about how user friendly they’d actually be. I often thought these required expert hands only. The last thing I wanted was to buy a product I didn’t know how to use.

Today I’m going to share my thoughts and review BBlunt Spotlight Hair Polish.

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BBlunt Spotlight Hair Polish

When I laid my hands on the simple and sleek bottle of BBlunt Spotlight Hair Polish, I couldn’t wait to try it. With this horrible heat here in Mumbai, my hair has indeed lost it’s shine.

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The instructions on the bottle clearly mention it’s to be sprayed on dry hair. However I really didn’t want to “waste” the product on unwashed and sweaty hair, so I played smart and washed my hair first thing in the morning. I made sure my hair was totally dry by early evening and then went all foos-foos with that spray! Unfortunately we do not yet live in that universe where like those shampoo ads on tv, your hair will suddenly bounce off shine. So expecting that is silly.

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I made sure my eyes were protected with one hand, while the other hand was spraying the hair polish. Using it was pretty exciting as I was interested in the instant result. After spraying it over my hair, I combed my hair so that the polish was evenly distributed across all parts of my hair.

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The result: Very impressive! It indeed makes your hair shinier than before. Unfortunately the shine isn’t captured here in my pics. But it really really does work.

150ml of this bottle costs about Rs 469/- on Amazon. It’s got this mild, pleasant and lasting scent which typically reminds me of that scent I usually experience after my haircut at the BBlunt salon. It doesn’t weigh your hair down or make it look flat at all. Infact I noticed a few hours after this shoot it even tamed some friz. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the product, there’s no reason not to be.

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Do I recommend it? Yes Absolutely!

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Would love to know what products do you swear by.

Pics: Nolasco Alphonso.

Twitter handle: @thesilenthummer

Instagram : franchuadsouza

Lots of love,

The Silent Hummer

Franchua D’Souza

Sweet sweet smile everyday

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I’m not in favor of technology booming at this rapid pace, it’s scary to me. However the woman in me completely loves how online shopping has progressed over time, which has saved me loads of time, effort and money. I truly do not even remember the last time I went out shopping for myself.

Online shopping is super convenient now a days, provided you shop from a trusted site. To me one such trusted site is Jabong. I’ve had wonderful experiences with my shopping from Jabong so far, you may even read about it here.

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If you follow my blog or even my Instagram account you will realize my current favorite color is Royal blue. The color looks gorgeous whether you’re out with friends, or for a date night, a business meet or even a pool party! I think I’d totally rock a royal blue swimsuit too, if only my tummy would comply. Sigh!

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When I ordered this blue La Zoire number from Jabong, I didn’t have a doubt about the quality of the product. I even planned how I would accessorize it just looking at the image online. I was that confident.

 

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For someone like me, who loves dancing, it doesn’t take too long to twirl around, as the subtle flare of the dress just makes me want to do exactly that.

I’m totally party ready after adding a touch of bling with those silver shoes, clutch and bracelet. What I’d love now is for someone to just ask me to join them while “Sweet sweet smile everyday” plays in the background.

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As uploading too many pictures to this post would make it heavy, I suggest you should follow me on Instagram and Twitter to get a glimpse of all those lovely pictures Nolasco clicked of me.

*This post is in collaboration with Jabong, but the review is completely honest*
For any collaborations, you may contact me at thesilenthummer@gmail.com

Lots Of Love,

The Silent Hummer
Franchua D’Souza

Summer of 69

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Actually, Summer of 2016.

What is your ideal summer style? Ideally I would have loved to sport crop tops and hot shorts with my hair tied up in a bun/ high ponytail (nothing screams summer louder than that, right) , but my not-so-toned body won’t let me.

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That doesn’t deter me from going the Tank top way though. Tank tops are awesome. They’re casual, sporty, smart,and  can be dressed up or down accordingly. They even come in a wide variety of shades and prints. While stepping out to chill with friends/ going for a movie, or just an evening walk I prefer pairing them with jeans. However I make sure, the jeans are not low waist (I hate low waist pants).

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A great method to style a tank top so that you don’t look like you’ve not just stepped out of the gym is to accessorize it with beads or other forms of fashion jewelry. With the black tank top here, I’ve used my mom’s century old necklace, love that wooden looking chip there on the pendant. And on the green tank top, I’ve used mom’s.. err.. the whole green top is hers actually. She was quite thin and hep back in the day! 🙂

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For outings or social gatherings, since I do not consider tank tops wearable then, I prefer dressing in using all those lovely floral print dresses / skirts , and bring out all those bright hues that are in my cupboard. We’ll talk about that another day. Let’s just say my cupboard is a beautiful mess 🙂

What are your summer basics? And how do you style it. Let me know, maybe  I’d experiment over the weekend.

Aso, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Photography: Nolasco Alphonso

Lots of Love,

The Silent Hummer,
Franchua D’Souza

Roses are red my love

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Who wants gola

Roses are red, yellow, orange, pink, black and what not! Flowers are beautiful, there’s no denying. They smell lovely is an added incentive. Frankly I’m not quite a floral person when it comes to gifting them, as it’s disheartening that they last for just a few days. I’m more into practical gifting. However as I mentioned, flowers are beautiful no doubt and even a bunch of them make can make some peoples’ day bright. They have the ability to turn a dull day into a romantic one and a depressing day into a motivating one. Imagine what happens when you see a complex full of flowers everywhere, like literally. That too in Mumbai!

Over the weekend, a few of us accepted an invitation to attend a flower exhibition put up in town. If you’ve lived in Mumbai, you’d know that unfortunately we are not lucky enough to see nature in all it’s glory. So the invite seemed too lucrative to be ignored. The complex that hosted the exhibition had about 35 gardens with different floral set ups, each one-better-than-the-other. The organisers did everything possible to make this event grand. They set up the place like a dream- the flowers were the stars, they got 1853-style trams to take us around all the gardens, and they even got the navy band to perform live. Refreshments were served at a few corners so even the 4pm heat couldn’t do much to bother us. Looking at all this beauty, we completely forgot that we were still in Mumbai and realization only struck after exiting the complex.

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SheepJust chit chatting with the bird inside

My pics are just a glance of the weekend that was. I bet you will have to return to see the actual flower display. It’s going to blow your mind!

In the mean time you can check the previous time I posted about my floral experience.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram. I’ve even joined Roposo- @franchua  recently, I’m yet to learn it, but join me there too!

Photography credits : Nolasco Alphonso, he’s the best.

Lots of love,

The Silent Hummer
Franchua D’Souza

The Pink Panther

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Maxi dresses. I’ve often wanted to wear them and know if I could pull them off gracefully. The only thing that deterred me from doing so was the thought of where I would actually wear them. I do not attend many formal occasions anyway.

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Last week as I browsed through Jabong , something that has become a habit now, I filtered my search specifically for maxi dresses just to see if my admiration for maxi dresses still existed. The next thing I knew, all the angles of this particular pink floral maxi by Athena were screened quickly and within no time it was in my cart, the credit card details seemed to appear automatically in my head and my fingers punched in the details like there was no tomorrow! It was even more exciting as they had a sale going on! We all love sales now, don’t we?

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If you’ve seen my previous posts, you’d know I’m not that much into the color pink. I mean it’s a beautiful color and the diverse variations of the color look yum. I just had my reservations about the color going with my skin tone.This time I couldn’t resist the attempt to break these mind blocks and decided to try this bright fuchsia pink outfit. Even on wearing the dress, I still wasn’t convinced and asked the people around me for opinion. What finally persuaded me was when I saw the pics myself. I absolutely love the maxi dress and have no qualms about the color anymore. Though I still have to figure out where to wear it or maybe create an occasion to wear it 🙂

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For a hassle free online shopping experience, I definitely recommend Jabong.com .This is my second review for #Jabong, the previous one is here .

Let me know if maxi dresses are your kind of thing or you’ve got some inhibitions about them.

Hope you all enjoyed reading this post. I know I was delighted posing for the pics and drafting my experience.

Photography: Nolasco Alphonso

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram as I’m very active there. For Blogger collaborations, reviews, guest posts or any other enquiries contact me : thesilenthummer@gmail.com

Lots of Love,

The Silent Hummer
Franchua D’Souza

I’m gonna see my ma chère amie-o

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This “Jambalaya” Song is so apt for a date night right? It has love and food in it 🙂

Recently, no I’m not talking Valentines’ Day, but just another ordinary day I stepped out for a dinner date. It’s something I do not do on a regular basis. We decided to give ‘Byblos Kitchen’ a try after reading some good reviews on popular food and restaurant recommendation engines. If you’re following me on Instagram (Follow now, if you’re not already), you would’ve seen my little review of the place there, along with a few pics. It’s located just next to the parking lot of Phoenix Mills- Lower Parel, which doesn’t make the location very striking. The food and service however was definitely note worthy. Not to take their credit away, but it could’ve also been since we were the only diners at 9 pm! I almost got tricked into believing a Private restaurant was booked especially for me.. and we’re talking about a 130 seats Restaurant!! 🙂

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Dinner was wonderful just like I had expected. We’ve captured pics so that I could share them here and look them up whenever I wanted to. The steward was kind to even click a few pics of us. Although this wasn’t Valentine’s Day dinner, it felt like one. Co-incidentally I even wore Red! We should do this more often.

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OOTD Details:-

Red dress: Sister’s closet
Beige Bag: Esbeda
Chain: Forever21
Makeup by: Estee Lauder

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Let me know how you like the post and pics. Would love to know what you think of them. Hope you all had a love filled Valentine’s Day. Comment and Share the love.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram Now.

Lots of Love,

The Silent Hummer
Franchua D’Souza

Green Garden

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Valentine’s day is soon approaching and I’m certain there are extremists when it comes to this day of Love. While I’m sure St. Valentine, the man behind whom this day is named, would be glad to see RED everywhere, this year I chose this beautiful emerald green dress from Jabong.

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It has lace and has a satin belt which makes it look very dainty. I’m not sure if it will make the other lasses go green, but it’ll definitely make heads turn.
Since I couldn’t really wait until Valentines Day to mark it’s debut, I stuttered around in it for a dear friend’s wedding. It got me loads of compliments and considering green is not really considered an evening color, it stood out all the more. The live band present even made me do a little jig and twirl for them, which I happily agreed to.

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Photographer and blogger

I’m set for Valentines Day.. and thankfully I do not have issues repeating clothes. Besides my Valentine hasn’t seen it yet so the novelty factor is still intact 😉 Shh..
In case you haven’t picked your V’ day outfit yet, rush to Jabong now!!

Wishing you All A very Happy Valentines this year.. Make this one special.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram to see more updates about my day.

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Lots of Love,

The Silent Hummer,
Franchua D’Souza