 Today I was deeply saddened and pained to hear about the death of The Queen, Britain's longest-serving monarch, who away earlier this afternoon at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne. Buckingham Palace said the Queen “died peacefully” this afternoon at Balmoral. The Queen's eldest son, Charles, who has now ascended the throne and will be known as King Charles III, paid tribute to his much-loved mother. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered as a stalwart of our times. She provided inspiring leadership to her nation and people. The King and Camilla, now the Queen Consort, will remain at Balmoral on Thursday night and return to London on Friday. Buckingham Palace had confirmed on Thursday lunchtime that Queen Elizabeth II had been under medical supervision after her doctors had become "concerned" about her health. Tributes poured in following the death of the Queen earlier this afternoon on a dark, gloomy, and rainy day in the UK. Listening to the bulletins as rain pours down felt fitting. Feels as if even god is crying. She served the country so dutifully all the way to the end. My thoughts are with her family at this time. Her Majesty’s decades of dedication and service have been unwavering, and your legacy will live on. This is an end of a great era in global history, and I am not sure anyone can quite match the long service and dedication that she gave. Ma’am, thank you for everything. We will be forever indebted to you.  The last ever portrait of the Queen, at the place where she said she was never happier, her home Balmoral CREDIT: JANE BARLOW/PA  Durdle Door in Dorset: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh You need a holiday to recover from your holiday because holidays are exhausting. You may have just returned from somewhere really amazing, like we did from a week in Dorset, and with two young kids in tow (1 and 4), and where you had the best time. However, after a week or two of "What shall we eat?", "Whatever you want", "Daddy, can I have this/that?", "Daddy/Mummy, I want to go back home...", "Meh, you need a holiday!".
When I was single, I used to get exhausted when travelling because of my annoying need to only have the most authentic experience, and to stay away from multi-national brands like KFC, Starbucks, MacDonald's etc. everywhere, and sometimes, sadly it never comes true because the world has become too small, connected, congested, and globalized. Now, as a father to two adorable yet very demanding and attention-seeking toddlers, as a parent it is natural for me and my wife to become exhausted just because of a lack of sleep and because of the "always-on" mode with kids. But one thing is for sure, when I travel, with my family on holidays or even on business, I want to know that I have experienced the same food and lifestyle as the locals, and not the over-priced and under-valued rubbish they serve tourists. The internet has no doubt made holidays even more exhausting because it is somewhat full of great insider tips that will lead me to the best local food. Nevertheless when I get to the restaurant, I discover it's the usual tourist rubbish and then I wonder why I even trusted any celeb or influencer to know anything about the destination. Don't trust them, I say. Go and get lost in the place and discover the undiscovered yourself, I say. Occasionally, I do stumble onto the authentic experience like I did on my trips to Nepal or Malta for example. Generally if you are looking for an authentic and genuine food experience then, as most Brits know, a long queue or a large crowd is often a good sign. In the UK you can find two identical restaurants right next to each other where one is packed and the other is more or less empty, and nobody really knows why but the vide is different between the two.  British seaside resorts are not too bad, and especially not in Dorset. Weymouth is worth a visit for a day or two in the Summer. Nice family friendly place: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Got it! Just before the super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse, the full moon seen in London. Photograph: Navjot Singh  Just a couple of minutes before the clouds came. The super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse, the full moon seen in London. Photograph: Navjot Singh  Planes at the holding point for runway 27R at Heathrow- during the rush hour you can have at least ten planes waiting: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  The mornings arrivals at Terminal 3: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Aircraft on final approach at Heathrow Airport: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular sunset in West London: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Elephant and Castle seen from East Dulwich: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Busy dramatic London sky earlier today. An Airbus A300B4 of DHL on approach to Heathrow's runway 27L (at around 3,000 feet and descending on the ILS glideslope), while a BA Embraer E190 crosses paths at around 2,000 feet on approach to City Airport (they are using runway 09 today). Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Westminster as seen from East Dulwich: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  (L to R) John Pullman, Reuters Global Head of Video and Pictures; Maisie McCabe, Deputy Editor of Campaign; Madhav Chinnappa, Director of Strategic Relations for News and Publishers at Google; Nathalie Malinarich, Mobile Editor, BBC News Online; and Nic Newman, Research Association at Reuters Institute at the Reuters Tomorrow's News 2017 event in London, June 14, 2017. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh It’s been a year of huge change and disruption for the global news landscape. On the evening of 14 June at One Marylebone in London, the Tomorrow’s News 2017 event hosted by Reuters unveiled some of the key news consumption shifts in the last 12 months, what’s influencing news attitudes and behaviours, and what the future holds. Some of the key questions revolved around fake news and to understand what are facts worth and how they are verified. The lively discussion was attended by some of the key influencers in the media industry. On the discussion panel were Nic Newman, Research Association at Reuters Institute; Madhav Chinnappa, Director of Strategic Relations for News and Publishers at Google; Nathalie Malinarich, Mobile Editor, BBC News Online and Maisie McCabe, Deputy Editor of Campaign. The discussion was chaired by John Pullman, Reuters Global Head of Video and Pictures Reuters. The opening and closing speeches were conducted by Jeffery Perkins, Commercial Director, EMEA, Reuters. The discussion revolved around a report published by Reuters, which included a global survey of 1,711 Reuters.com users, and the findings which show that while fake news can be damaging for both news brands and advertisers, brands which advertise on trusted news sites can benefit. Unfortunately, Ben de Pear – Editor of Channel 4 News could not make it to the event because he was busy covering the tragic news of the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London. Some of the findings of the report included:
Some of the highlights of the event included: Chinnappa said that Google is “trying to give the answers that the users are looking for when they search, which is a very specific thing. So, for us, when you look at false news, on some levels, that’s news spam. It’s people trying to game the system. And we’ve been trying to fight that from the beginning of Google. He noted that as a father he understands the need for security and privacy of content on the site, especially when it comes to graphic content- and that Google is working very hard to make sure that brands and individuals are not lined in with the graphic content and are moderating the content that is published. He also mentioned that it is a challenging task. Malinarich noted that brand attribution or recognition on social media is difficult. “If you spend your whole day snacking on Facebook, you know you’ve read things about Trump or whatever it is, but you don’t who wrote them or made the video at the end. …it’s just kind of a jumble in your head and you remember the actual stories and the headlines, but you don’t really remember who provided that.” One of the best things I heard was when she said that the problem with mainstream media is that the majority of the key decisions on stories are made by a select few group of networked people and not the mainstream junior staff and that is challenging to change. Does that mean that stories are biased or that editors tell their staff to write stories to shift the public’s viewpoint of someone in government or create a base for a public debate through influence? Maybe. The way people buy online advertising, McCabe said, was to look for the cheapest way to find people who look like they might be interested in their brand. “That means they don’t pay attention to necessarily where the ad is going to run, so then you have the situation where people are chasing numbers by any means. It’s definitely something advertisers need to be wary of.” On fake news, Newman said “Whose responsibility is it? Is it publishers, is it platforms, is it users? In this world, it’s all of those. Users get the benefits of greater choice, but downside of that is they have to do more work themselves to work out what is true and what isn’t. They are, and they relish that. They see that trade off when you talk to them. From a publisher’s point of you, they need to do more about transparency. From a platform point of view, they need to do more as well to show the value of brands. One of the key trends that nobody spoke about was Big Data and the effect it could have on the publishing and media industries. I mean, for example, if you have one person who has spread fake news then how much of an effort in terms of time, money and human resources would it take to turn that mistrust with the public into a credible and trustworthy piece of news? How much of a help would Big Data have in this, if any? Other main areas of discussion revolved around the following key areas:
 (L to R) Nic Newman, Research Association at Reuters Institute; Jeffery Perkins, Commercial Director, EMEA, Reuters; Madhav Chinnappa, Director of Strategic Relations for News and Publishers at Google; Nathalie Malinarich, Mobile Editor, BBC News Online; Maisie McCabe, Deputy Editor of Campaign; and John Pullman, Reuters Global Head of Video and Pictures at the Reuters Tomorrow's News 2017 event in London, June 14, 2017. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor  Reuters event in London: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  City of London seen from Dulwich on a fine Sunday evening: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  The whole of London's skyline seen from the hill in East Dulwich. Tourists would pay a lot to see this view and are missing on a great view! Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Canary Wharf and Greenwich as seen from East Dulwich. Photo Copyright Navjot Singh Noodles, green peppers, diced chicken thigh, Chinese spices and voila! Though, I am just a student...chef in the making.  Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  The tube strike in London has brought some positive news...had an interesting commute to work on an old London bus this morning- complete with a conductor, who not only collects tickets but provides a full customer service and controls the number of passengers on the bus: "Hold on tight then", "No passengers allowed to stand up on bus"... Last time I took one of these was in the 1980s! Finally, we can all say "Thank god it is over"....I am, of course, referring to seeing the end of 2016. In a year that saw Brexit, the rise of Donald Trump as President-elect of the United States of America, numerous terrorist attacks around the world, terrible natural disasters in Italy, Chile among other places, and the deaths of many famous people, I am sure we would all like to put this year behind us and move forward. For me personally, 2016 has been good because I got engaged to a wonderful woman, and 2017 is going to be an even exciting time as we both prepare to get married in January during Chinese New Year. I have been overwhelmed by a feeling of thankfulness. This year has been perhaps the best year of my life so far. I am grateful for the support and love of my friends and family and above else, I am grateful for an amazing job and a career that many others dream of having- I LOVE my job as a writer. I am grateful for my fiancée, Vicky, for the incredible positive influence she has had on my life and the constant motivation she provides to me. This was my first time to visit the New Year eve's fireworks in London. Usually, every year we stay at home and watch the event on TV. However, given that I was provided two media tickets to cover the event, both Vicky and I enjoyed what must be the best New Year festivities ever. It was also nice to bump into the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who took time out of his busy schedule to come and briefly chat to the media. What a year it has been for him and if there is one piece of great positive news in 2016, then it has to be Sadiq Khan being elected by the people of this great city as their mayor. One piece of advice for anyone who wants to visit the fireworks display next year - try to stay on the Embankment side of the river as that is the place to capture the best views (and avoid the thick smog from the fireworks afterwards!). Here's cheers to a healthy, prosperous, safe and joyful 2017 for all of us.  Millennium Wheel and the Houses of Parliament: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  The thousands of peope waiting for the fireworks, some of whom had waited for over five hours in the cold weather: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Navjot with Vicky on Jubilee Bridge (reserved for the media only): Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Can see both the Millennium Wheel (through the camera view!) and the Houses of Parliament - with the BBC1 TV crew: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Crowds making a "London is Open" symbol with the lights from their phones- a gesture to show that London is a city that welcomes everybody: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Looks like an image of a galaxy, millions of light years away: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Spectacular fireworks- London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Navjot Singh with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Navjot SIngh in conversation with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Navjot Singh with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  London eye and River Thames: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  The crowds just after the NYE fireworks finished: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  The London Eye: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  New year's eye fireworks in London 2016: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Vicky taking a photo in front of the London Eye: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh Looking for a nice, quiet and elegant place to have your anniversary dinner? I would highly recommend the Les 110 de Taillevent in Cavendish Square in London- just perfect. The chef may also conjure up a few culinary surprises too!  Les 110 de Taillevent: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Anniversary surprise message from the chef at Les 110 de Taillevent: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Anniversary dinner at Les 110 de Taillevent: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  WILD SEABREAM, Brussels sprouts with maple syrup, poultry jus at Les 110 de Taillevent: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  CHICKEN, consommé, ravioli, vegetables at Les 110 de Taillevent: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  CHOCOLATE BUCHE, coffee icecream at Les 110 de Taillevent: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  On a cold and damp morning, a lone tree stands in the mist at Brockwell Park in south-east London: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  British writer A. A. Gill (1954-2016): Photo Copyright Getty Images Sad to read about the death of British writer AA Gill, who provided inspiration to many writers, including me. I was never his friend but it was clear from his writings that the man possesed a talent and gift for words that rarely you come across in the industry...his mind spoke and his fingers danced...the heavens have gained a gifted food critic.
The UK Sunday Times columnist told the newspaper last month that he had been diagnosed with the "full English" of cancers. Gill, who had been having chemotherapy, said that he did not "feel cheated" and had been "very lucky" in his life. Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens said Gill had been "a giant among journalists" and the "heart and soul" of the paper he joined in 1993. May god bless AA Gill. Amen  Many congratulations to my mate and colleague, Owen Smith, for being voted in third in the BBC's Countryfile readers photo competition. Owen made it into the top ten shortlist in his first photography competition, out of over 700 entries. He was voted by over 300 of his friends and family to come third in the public vote. You can see the final top 10 here, which includes some stunning shots.
With less than 20 days to go to Christmas, official figures revealed today by YouTube Ads Leaderboard show that the digital Christmas ad by UK retailer John Lewis named ‘Buster the Boxer’ tops their annual festive leaderboard globally. However, supermarket retailer Sainsbury’s ‘The Greatest Gift’ was most popular with the British audience.
Supermarkets and department stores continue to dominate the digital ad space during the Christmas season; however, luxury retailers such as Burberry and pure-play digital companies such as Very.co.uk are also showing promising results. As Christmas adverts have become a key part of the holiday season, much like the Super Bowl in the US, people across UK – and the world – are turning to YouTube to search for the best. As a result, there has been a 53% increase in the number of UK views of the 2016 top 10 vs the 2015 top 10. The top 10 Christmas ads* of 2016 in the UK were: 1. Sainsbury's OFFICIAL Christmas advert 2016 -The Greatest Gift 2. John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 - #BusterTheBoxer 3. M&S 2016 Christmas Ad: Christmas with love from Mrs Claus 4. Waitrose Christmas TV ad 2016 | #HomeForChristmas 5. The Tale of Thomas Burberry - Burberry Festive Film 2016 6. Very.co.uk Christmas Advert 2016 - Get More Out of Giving 7. Big Dilemma (Asda) 8. The Argos Christmas Yetis TV Advert 9. Aldi Christmas Advert 2016 – Kevin The Carrot 10. #BootsChristmas TV advert 2016 - the gift of beauty And the leaderboard globally* was as follows: 1. John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 - #BusterTheBoxer 2. Sainsbury's OFFICIAL Christmas advert 2016 -The Greatest Gift 3. The Tale of Thomas Burberry - Burberry Festive Film 2016 4. #Zeitschenken – EDEKA Weihnachtswerbung 5. Neste Natal, agradeça com Coca-Cola 6. Apple - Frankie’s Holiday 7. M&S 2016 Christmas Ad: Christmas with love from Mrs Claus 8. Come Together – directed by Wes Anderson starring Adrien Brody – H&M 9. TEMPTATIONS™ - Keep them busy (30) 10. Coming Home for Christmas | Heathrow Airport * Both leaderboards are ranked based on an algorithm that includes paid views, organic views and how much of a video people watched. The UK list includes only views from people in the UK. For both lists we applied a filter to capture the ads that were referring to Christmas. “It’s fantastic to see our Very.co.uk Christmas advert riding high in the YouTube Christmas Ads Leaderboard. YouTube plays an important part in every campaign we run, and never more so than at Christmas due in part to the ‘Christmas ad battle’ where you see people crowding around monitors to watch adverts, or sharing links on email.” Said Kenyatte Nelson, Group Marketing Director at Shop Direct. “This year we created a longer-length Christmas ad specifically for YouTube, which allows us to tell our Christmas story in greater depth. YouTube as always is a great partner in getting the content we create in front of the people we think it will resonate with, and we’re thrilled to see our Christmas ad getting such a great response.” David Black, MD of Branding at Google UK, said: “We see people coming to YouTube again and again to look for their favourite Christmas ads. In fact, they start searching before the ads are launched on TV - we have seen a 40% year on year increase in Google searches for Christmas ads. “Brands know the value of YouTube as the destination for Christmas ads and when they use paid, owned and earned media together, they see strong results. They see YouTube as a platform for creativity and storytelling, where they can harness the power of sight, sound and motion to connect with consumers.” “More brands than ever are making Christmas ads that users love. Now, the likes of H&M, Burberry, Coca-Cola and even Heathrow Airport are joining John Lewis and Sainsbury’s and performing brilliantly this year.” “Here in the UK, Sainsbury’s quintessentially British commercial, playing on our love of stop-motion animation, has captured the public’s imagination. It’s great to see UK brands leading the way with Christmas ads, and exciting to see American, Brazilian and German brands tapping into this opportunity to put themselves at the heart of a global cultural moment every year.”  ...a great man in Hammersmith. I know very well from my time while working at the Walt Disney company in Shanghai and Suzhou how much important it is to provide excellent customer service....it could be a smile, a hello, a greeting by addressing your first or second name (The Ritz-Carlton way!) or just a simple genuine gesture or action that speaks volumes and effectively says "Thank you...you're a valued customer and we want you to come back to us." This barista (he was too shy to have his photo taken) at a Starbucks store went one step ahead and asked me for my name and wrote it in a stylish signature. THIS is what customer service is all about. Will be back for sure.  Those cold London winters are approaching...Autumn reflections and Winter beginnings...an ode to a new season...  Heathrow Terminal 3 arrivals at 4.45am...Photo Copyright Navjot Singh   Streatham Common - South London: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  From late October to late December, London's streets and parks turn into natural pieces of art- much to the annoyance of the people who have to clean them up: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  From late October to late December, London's streets and parks turn into natural pieces of art- much to the annoyance of the people who have to clean them up: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  From late October to late December, London's streets and parks turn into natural pieces of art- much to the annoyance of the people who have to clean them up: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  A typical commute in London. Most of us to do this everyday. The queues are long, but there is a steady flow and no one pushes anyone else (like in other parts of the world) and rest assured that your pockets are safe too (well...just take care like anywhere else...but London is SAFE as can be!): Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Londoners on a rat race to make money in the city of joy!: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  Commuting becomes a joy when you are gifted with views like this- from the top deck of a London bus: Photo Copyright Navjot Singh  England have lost a very important football game to Iceland at the Euro 2016. It is not the fact that England have lost a football game, because they usually do lose at big tournaments, despite putting so much effort into preparing for such events, but it is the fact that they lost to Iceland- a team which doesn't really posses the talented players that England has. England players should really be ashamed of themselves (seriously...come on, this is terrible). The second half performance was nothing short of atrocious. I know they held Portugal and have played well. But try telling someone like my dad or my uncle that England have lost a game of football to Iceland. He'd laugh in your face. Photo Copyright BBC |
Get in Touch:LIFE MATTERSHere I share my thoughts
and experiences during my travels, and how some things have affected my life as an expat and world traveller. Travelling is about capturing that moment in life. Every word, view and opinion on this page is that of Navjot Singh - except where indicated. The most recent is at the top. Scroll down to read the archive. Or search using CTRL+F (COMMAND + F) and enter a keyword to search the page. Just some of the stories you never heard before. The NAVJOT-SINGH.COM web blog is separate to this web site....Click blog, which may not be visible in some countries due to local firewall restrictions, so in those cases this weblog may be read. The weblog also includes some of my press trip reports- most of which are not published on the official blog because of copyright issues. The weblog also contains articles that may be associated directly with a PR trip for a country, airline or a hotel. These are PR reviews done in relations with various companies. If you are an investor or a trend watcher then you may find this website useful as investing has a lot to do with personal observations and finding the ideal trend or next big thing. The average human on the street frequently knows far more about the state of the economy than politicians, university professors, subject matter experts, and financial analysts who seldom travel, or if they do so, only from one hotel to another hotel! The pulse and vibrancy of an economy is nowhere more visible than on a country's streets. 
All photos and words are © Navjot Singh unless stated. Photos taken by others or by agencies are appropriately copyrighted under the respective name. No photo or word/s may be taken without the prior written permission by the author (i.e. Navjot Singh). All Rights Reserved. 
Navjot being interviewed by Cecila Lu at GDTV.
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