All I ask you, is let me be there

Hi everyone,

The only thing on my mind right now is Travel. OK, not the only thing. But I really want to go out, explore, meet new people, make travel pals, and see the world. It’s not only about seeing the popular and fancy destinations, but I look forward to the simple and humble ones too. I want to have experiences, I want to tell stories.

Travel has taught me so much. As I look back, I’ve noticed how I’ve evolved as a traveler, right from chalking out the entire itinerary days in advance, to packing accordingly, to learning to navigate through Google maps (I’m still terrible at this), and to realizing that souvenirs are not meant to be bought like you’re Santa Claus. While planning your stay, Sure, it’s easy to just book the first fancy hotel you see on the list and trust that everything will be perfect in terms of amenities, safety, and service. But that comes with a huge price! If you have the moolah, why not, right? But it’s a different experience altogether researching about the locations you’d be visiting, their distance from your hotel to help you save International travel time, the offers going on etc. I can proudly say that I’ve loved my stay at the luxurious Parisian in Macau and in the same breath admit that I have saved a huge bit by staying at the Atlas, a hostel in Hong Kong on my last day there. The key is planning right. At the Parisian I enjoyed the fancy buffet, some time to myself by the poolside , those fine dining meals, gambled at the 360° Casino and even explored the Venitian property (as the properties are linked internally) with the gandola rides and strutted in and out of those high end luxury shopping stores. The Eiffel Tower within the Parisian property, especially in the evening was an ethereal experience too, completely worth it’s hype. The reasons behind picking a hostel on the other hand was, one to know what it was like to live in a hostel, and two, because as per our itinerary we were to be out & about the entire day and all we needed was a decent place to wash up & rest when we returned late at night. It worked out perfectly. Of course, we checked reviews about safety, service, the staff etc and then finalized on it.

The Parisian- Macau

Breakfast like a king

Cuz tea, why noy?

To me, travelling is much more than a relaxed holiday. It’s more learning & discovering, whether it is about different cultures, different types of societies, food, fashion, languages or anything else. Honestly none of my trips Abroad have ever been with the intention of going easy or relaxing. The only relaxation time is either at the spa or when it’s bed time!

Beer spa at @SenseofTouch Hongkong!

Just thinking about it, is getting me pepped up. I should be making a list of destinations I would like to visit soon. Hoping it all comes together even sooner! I think I deserve a trip to say the least.
If you love travel , or you’re planning a trip let me know how do you go about it? What kind of a traveler are you? I want to know all about it!

Lots of Love,

The Silent Hummer
Franchua D’Souza

You know I dream in colour

To be honest, I do not understand abstract art. With all due respect to the artists, I don’t understand random patterns, shapes, designs, colours splashed around in the name of art. It must be very rare that I look at a painting and feel the depth of it. These things just don’t hit me if you understand what I’m saying.

The kind of art I understand are those that are clear and direct. Those where I don’t need to think deep or use my imagination to figure out what the artist is trying to say. Recently while strutting around Hollywood Road, Soho Street, and areas around Sheung Wan, Central and Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong, I came across some absolutely beautiful works of art. These were spray paintings or wall scrapings across random street walls, some in restaurants and galleries and others outside busy streets & Hotels.

A fact that really impressed me was that many of these paintings looked good in real, but when I held a camera to take a picture, the painting was just something else. It’s like the painting came to life. In fact quite a few of them had this unique quality. It made me want to click so many more pictures.

I’ve never gone Street art hunting in the past on any of my trips , but after Hong Kong, that’s definitely going to change.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures and the post. I’ve got plenty of street art pictures, it’s just so difficult to share them all here.

Let me know which of these are your favourite. Have you seen any of these on your visit to Hong Kong? Would love to know your thoughts in the comments below

Lots of love,

The Silent Hummer

Franchua D’Souza