...shopping in Sainsbury's supermarket in Croydon...and he's emptied the shelves of ALL the cereal bars, crunchy nut corn flakes, and PG Tips teabags (oh, and Nutella jars as well...which costs at least RMB75/GBP£8 a jar in China...in the UK it costs around £2.30 a jar (about RMB20))! Shopping for groceries never felt so good (!)
Yes, in Hong Kong, Suzhou, Shanghai, and other Chinese cities with an expat population we can get such goods, but they are mostly imported (i.e. they've most probably have been on a container ship for at least 3 months), and cost at least 3 or 4 times the price we pay in the U.K. (Tesco in China is nothing like the Tesco in the U.K. - it's localized to the Chinese consumer). When you are living for 90% of the year in a country where not many local retailers understand why foreigners drink black tea with milk at 4pm with cakes and biscuits (I can't live without it!), and why we eat cereal with milk every morning, your homesick body craves for such stuff when living 6,000 miles away (my Chinese/Australian/American and other expat friends who live in the U.K. do the same when they go back home for THEIR holidays to their countries). The crowded skies over London are some of the busiest in the world. With low level traffic from the five London airports', helicopters (police, ambulance, and others), private aircraft, AND the HUNDREDS of aircraft crossing our airspace everyday, it is no surprise that on a lovely summer's day the beautiful art created naturally by the aircraft contrails is enough to make the most prolific of artists jealous. Below is a photo of a Delta Airlines Airbus A330 passing at 38,000 feet over London on it's way to Paris. How do I know this in detail? I saw it on Flightradar24.com! A giant rooster - the symbol of France - has taken up a perch beneath the admiral's statue in Trafalgar Square, which celebrates Britain's 1805 defeat of Napoleon's armies. The 15.4ft fibreglass artwork took its place on the vacant Fourth Plinth today and will stay up for 18 months. London's mayor Boris Johnson unveiled the ultramarine blue sculpture, named Hahn/Cock, on the 25th of July, alongside with the German artist Katharina Fritsch. 'I definitely never thought about the French thing. But it's a nice humorous side-effect to have something French in a place that celebrates victory over Napoleon,' Fritsch told The Guardian newspaper. If you love art (or even if you don't) then it's a delight to see this blue bird in the heart of London. Never expected my neighborhood to be in the GLOBAL news (check this), but it happened.
Woke up to go and get the bread from the local Sainsbury's, and was shocked to see that the immediate area around Herne Hill had been submerged under a metre and a half of water when a main from 1925 burst. Most people were trapped in their homes after the 88-year-old pipe failed at around 5am. Cars, bus stops and shops were half-submerged and residents were told to stay indoors as the water rose above waist height, forcing the fire service to launch their rescue boat (which was weird to see in the middle of a South London street..) While Herne Hill (and Dulwich) are both quite affluent areas, however, it's another sign of the U.K. being the Western world's cleanest (almost) 3rd world country (!)...old tacky infrastructure (but one that has lasted so long...until today). London never seems to change a bit no matter how many months or years you are away (I call it the Western world's 'cleanest 3rd world country'- a reference to the crumbling infrastructure, and a weakening economy.). On a good note, one of the things that has not changed in the past 27 years, and should not change, is the on-going legacy of Andrew Lloyd Webber's magic of keeping his musicals' alive after so many years. It's a delight to see the Phantom of the Opera's trademark poster of 'House Full' in reference to the seats being 100% sold out!
A British expat is back in town from China and he wants to try some good (British) steak. So therefore, following a strong recommendation from a friend of mine, who happens to be an Aussie expat living in London, I decided to go and check out one of London’s latest eateries (Meat. An Aussie man and his steak…anything except a steak or a barbie for an Aussie is not real meat, so I took his advice).
SLABS caters for those with a passion for good quality burgers, authentic salads, and sandwiches (oh, and of course, steaks). While London is not even close enough when it comes to the sheer elegance of Shanghai (in my opinion), the high quality of the food at this eatery is worth every penny spent. It did, however, remind me of Shanghai's high-end KABB Bistro bar. The surroundings blend in well with the lovely ambiance of the eatery, and do posses more of an authentic British charm to it (which ironically, and sadly, is rare to find in London these days) With offerings such as lobster burger, and Spanish burger, food never tasted so good in London. Give it a try if you are here! The veteran Australian author and broadcaster, Clive James described the Boeing 747 as being (I quote): 'Like a winged supertanker full of odoriferous amethystine ordure', and 'a colossal machine'. His words echoed in my mind as I came face-to-face with this beauty on a hot summer's day at Heathrow International Airport.
Aviation is bringing along many gems in the sky, especially with the Boeing 787 'Dreamliner', the Airbus A380-800, and the Airbus A350-900XWB; but nothing will ever beat the imposing beauty of the original 'Queen of the Skies', the Boeing 747 (AKA, the REAL Jumbo Jet). Prince William's wife Kate gave birth to a boy on Monday the 22nd of July 2013, the couple's first child and the third in line to the British throne, heralding celebrations in London and messages of goodwill from across the world. It was another great day for Britishness, as well as a cause of celebration for all of the citizens of the Commonwealth, as well as the world over.
"We could not be happier," Prince William said in a brief statement, after he witnessed the birth of his son at 4:24 p.m. (11:24 a.m. ET) weighing 8 lbs 6 oz (3.8 kg) at an event that sparked an international media frenzy and the illumination of London landmarks in blue. Later on, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge named their baby HRH Prince George of Cambridge, full name George Alexander Louis. Monday the 22nd of July was also officially the hottest day in the UK since July 2006 - with temperatures hitting more than 33.5 degrees Centigrade at Heathrow. The heat eventually gave way to thunderstorms and cooler temperatures over the coming days ending the longest heatwave for seven years. It was also the driest July since 2006 despite recent downpours. (note: The Author was not part of the media on this day, but was in London.) Good to be back home, and I caught this photo of London on final approach into Heathrow's runway 27L. You can just about see Buckingham Palace (top- left, just before Hyde Park), through the wispy clouds over the capital city. No doubt, Ma'am must be very excited. She’s probably getting the house ready for the arrival of her new great-grandchild (who would one-day become King/Queen). The London Eye and the Houses Of Parliament sit beside the River Thames (middle-right).
TV channels were running non-stop coverage, as were the world's media who had waited patiently for DAYS outside the private Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. I overheard an Aussie on the plane saying that 'the Poms must be sick of it’ - Rupert Murdoch's Sky News is running the complete guide to the events leading to the eventual birth of 'Baby Cambridge' to HRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - EVERY HOUR as the Royal baby is due anytime soon. On the final Sunday of May, blessed with clear blue skies, and sunshine (finally!), I caught this China Southern Airlines Airbus A330 on finals to Heathrow Airport in the afternoon. Flying three times a week non-stop from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport to London Heathrow, this route not only provides another option for those wishing to go to Melbourne (via Guangzhou), but also connects with business people who carry out trade with the numerous factories in the Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, and Guangzhou), as well the large number of Cantonese expats living in the UK who can directly go home instead of flying to Hong Kong first.
I carried out a flight review for this route last year. Check it here. Perhaps a sign that Summer is finally arriving? Would be a good change for once (oddly Spring never seemed to arrive in the UK this year).
As with most flights that leave North America for Europe, ours was no exception in that it left at night from Detroit, which meant we had a morning arrival into London Heathrow. London (along with the rest of the U.K. and Europe) is experiencing unusually cold weather for this time of the year. With the capital city covered with plenty of low cloud at around 2,500 feet , and with a slight crosswind pushing the plane away from the runway's centre-line, it was tricky to get shots. But, hey, who needs a helicopter ride over the city when you have complimentary views from a plane!? These photos were taken as we landed in a crosswind at Heathrow’s runway 27L (and it was a hard landing too!). When passengers arrive or depart from London's two major international airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, they will notice that the aircraft models that are displayed as welcoming adverts are in fact not representative of any of the British airlines.
On the 30th of March 2007, a scale model of Concorde which had the pride of place at Heathrow Airport's entrance for 16 years was sadly removed, and replaced in 2008 with an Emirates Airlines A380 aircraft model. British Airways had decided not to renew the £1.5m annual rent to advertise on the roundabout at the gateway to the London airport. Instead, Emirates Airlines, the major carrier of the United Arab Emirates, poached the prime spot with a six-year deal to advertise on the site. Meanwhile at Gatwick Airport, Turkish Airlines have partnered with Eye and Gatwick Airport to suspend a scale model aeroplane inside the airport terminal. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, situated in Gatwick’s North Terminal check-in measures 6.1m in length with a wingspan of 5.1m. The 124kg structure created by Leading Models will be suspended from the check-in ceiling until August 2013. Back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s the airport billboards at British Airports were thronged with national pride such as BOAC, British Caledonian (remember them?!), British Midland, Virgin and so on. With the change of the times, it's the Middle Eastern and Asian carriers who seem to have the money (China Southern Airlines have huge billboards outside Terminal 4 at Heathrow). So the question is if there any chance that we may ever see British carriers advertising their airlines at British airports? Snow in April? In the U.K.? One would have thought that this was some kind of a bad April Fool's Day joke. But it wasn't the case when we experienced snow showers on the 1st, and the 4th of April in London, and across most parts of Britain. Though British Summer Time (BST) has officially arrived, however it still feels more like winter in the U.K. with windy and bone chilling weather all around. At this time of the year usually one is expected to be surrounded with warmer spring weather here in the U.K. with average temperatures of around 11 degrees Celsius. However, as I sit here, rubbing my bone chilling hands to warm up as much as I could; I am experiencing a climate that is behaving rather unusually. It was officially the coldest March in 50 years and according to the Meteorological office, Britons face more unseasonably cold weather as winds, frost, snow and ice continue to linger even now in April. Seeing snowfall and such cold weather in April in most parts of Europe is actually nothing new, and it has happened in the past (though not common). I recall that in the middle of April in 1999 it snowed on the first day of a county cricket match (the occurrence was documented by the media). While the country continues to plough through one of the coldest starts to spring ever recorded, the topic on everyone’s lips is undoubtedly the weather, and how well are we prepared to handle it. Let's hope for a warmer, if not scorching hot, summer ahead in 2013.
Opened to the public on the 1st of February 2013, and designed by the architect Renzo Piano, the 'Shard' is officially Europe Union’s tallest building standing at 1,016 ft (309.6 meters). The Shard contains premium office space, a hotel (The Shangri-La London at the Shard will open in 2013), luxury residences, retail space, restaurants, and a five-storey public viewing gallery. The public viewing gallery is located between the 68th and 72nd floors, with its highest section at a height of 245 metres (804 ft). The Shard's observation floors, unlike most other high rise global landmarks, does not have a fancy restaurant, or a cafe. The cost of entrance to the Shard viewing gallery is £24.95 per head. Now, while this may sound expensive just to go to the top of a building and see the city, in fact the price is competitive (and somewhat acceptable) when compared to other similar global landmarks. To put things into prospective the entrance fee for the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is set at 100 AED (about £20) if you book in advance, and 400 AED (around £70!) if you pay at the door on the day. Well, OK, that’s the tallest building in the world I hear you say, and we are only talking about the tallest building in the EU (not even in Europe….that title goes to the Mercury City Tower in Moscow). Nevertheless, as with any new establishment, the price is going to be a bit high in the beginning so that the holding company can try to break-even, and eventually in time we hope that the entrance fee would go down (it’s been proven with the CN Tower, Petronas Towers (Malaysia) and many others). Thankfully the views are, as one would expect, priceless. The flight from Belfast to London Heathrow only takes around 40 minutes (or a bit more thanks to the heavy traffic jam over London). In our case it took about an hour and 10 minutes as we had to hold in a stack over Bovingdon (North-West London).
At this time of the year England is experiencing easterly prevailing winds, which means that the easterly runways at Heathrow are used (09L/09R), and planes have to go over Slough/Windsor to land instead of the usual London approach. However the gods must have been looking from above as the winds changed in the late afternoon of my flight. The flight-path was straight forward from Belfast towards Isle of Man, then over Blackpool, Birmingham, East Midlands, and down to Bovingdon, and into London Heathrow from over Central London. This enabled some amazing shots of a few landmarks to be taken as we landed on the westerly runway (runway 27 right). Though a bit blurry (not easy to get night shots from a plane, especially when you have a double glazed window in between!), the shots do provide an insight into the neon being spent at night in UK cities. LONDON (U.K.): For the past four years I have celebrated Christmas and the New Year in mainland China, where it does not really feel like Christmas (except in Hong Kong & Macau), and the Western New Year is not celebrated with the same song and dance as in the rest of the word (again...except only in Hong Kong, and more recently in Shanghai and Beijing). Last year I was in Suzhou (China), where there was not a whisker in sight to be seen at the stroke of midnight on the 31st December 2011. So this year was a special one as I celebrated the New Year festivities with my parents in London.
At the stroke of the first chime of midnight from Big Ben, amid miserably cold, and rainy skies, around 250,000 brave people were treated to a spectacular display of bright colourful fireworks that lit up the dull London sky. As 2012 was being concluded with slow-motioned fireworks that were erupting away in front of my eyes, there must have been a myriad of thoughts that went through my head at the same time. There were reflections of how 2012 had gone, and also thoughts on how 2013 can be a more productive year ahead. Some people have reflected that a certain optimistic future is in sight for the world, especially after the economic financial crisis in 2008. But in the reality of the times, let us not forget those individuals who are still suffering from the global economic crises, and still have no jobs. The world is still going through a difficult time financially. Companies are limiting as much as they can on their expenditure. I personally believe that 2013 would be a continuation of an effort to make the world a better, safer, and more friendlier place to live in for everyone. Most of this contributes to whatever happened in 2012, especially with all the stories exposed by the media (i.e. the scandals in the banks, terrorists, radical Islamists', Right-Wing British racists like the EDL and BNP, the hacking by newspapers, the shameful/disgraceful episode of the BBC where they had child abusers and serious sex offenders employed as DJs and journalists for so many years, the rape cases in India, and other stories that were thankfully brought to the public's attention). In regards to the BBC, anyone with a right frame of mine is furious and completely lost as to why the horrible acts were allowed to happen at BBC studios for many years by some really vile and disgusting humans who disguised themselves as being superstars (Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall, and many others). The question here is, how many more idiots like that are working for the BBC? Who else are they protecting? We need to smoke em' out of their caves, and name & shame them. And more importantly, if this can happen at a respected company like the BBC, then what about other institutions? I know that the media has been blamed sometimes, but on the whole the effect from the media's influence on people and governments can bring about a positive change and a good result for humankind. Though, the key question here is, whether 2013 will be the year that will take us all out of this global economic financial crisis? Most people think not (realistically...we may be looking at 2018!). Time will tell...and we shall see. Thanks to China Southern Airlines (see my report HERE!), I was able to fly directly from a cold, and wet London to a rather fresh (and thankfully less humid), Guangzhou, in under 13 hours. Rewind the clock a few months back, and that journey would not have been as comfortable because normally people had to fly first to Hong Kong and then take a coach to get to Guangzhou (not to mention the tireless amount of walking with your luggage through the Hong Kong/Mainland China border at Shenzhen).
The good thing about China Southern Airlines flying from London to Guangzhou is that it will give many people travelling to Australia or other parts of South-East Asia an opportunity to explore the capital city of Guangdong Province. It goes without saying that despite the close proximity of Guangzhou to Hong Kong, the average person in London has probably never heard of this city which boasts over 4,000 years of rich history and culture (except if you are Chinese, of course). Yet the fact is that the majority of Chinese people in London have their origins in this city. This is true for those who are second or third generation Chinese people with businesses in the China Town's of London and Manchester, as they are of Cantonese origin from either Hong Kong or Guangzhou. Guangzhou can be the perfect stop-over destination. For those with 36 hours to spare in this city, I strongly recommend you take a hike up Mount Baiyun (Baiyun Shan) to get breath taking views across the city, shopping at Beijing Lu (Guangzhou's equivalent to Oxford Street), eat your heart's content at one of the oldest and original Cantonese restaurant, Beiyuan (www.thetraveleditor.com), take a evening boat ride along the Pearl River, visit the Chime Long Theme park, and take a ride up the futuristic looking Canton Tower. I happened to be making the most of my short time in the UK, and was in Croydon recently. To my shock, the popular Allders store in Croydon in South London was no more there. It had gone into administration. One of the iconic department stores of Croydon which had been open since 1862!!. I used to go shopping there with my dad, mother, and sister when I was a kid. Allders was also a shopper’s paradise during the weekends when people could do shopping, and eat good food at one of the many eateries in the store- all under one roof. The store was also a sign of the strong and proud British retail industry which was very much admired in the 1980s and 1990s. Nowadays everything is heading off to China, or India. Now that a giant such as Allders has gone into Administration, what next? Seems everything is going into administration...! Change of the times I'm afraid.
On Saturday the 13th of October, I was a guest on the ‘Lucky Cat’ show at London’s Resonance FM radio station (www.resonancefm.com). Zoë Baxter, the DJ, Broadcaster, and Asian Culture Connoisseur (http://luckykitty.blogspot.co.uk/), normally hosts the show every Saturday at 3.30pm. However since Zoë was unavailable this weekend, so covering her spot was Anna Chen (read about her at www.annachen.co.uk) who writes for the Guardian, New International Magazine, and the SCMP among others. In this lively one hour radio programme, Anna played some tracks from her Dad's China Revolutionary folks songs LPs. Anna's poetry book Reaching for my Gnu is out now. For more poetry and Anna's upcoming gigs see: http://madammiaow.blogspot.com Other guests on the show were the well-known guitarist and music journalist, Charles Shaar Murray, who has just recently published his new book on Jimi Hendrix (www.charlesshaarmurray.com), and the Chinese actor, Hi Ching who made one of the best screen villains: Li Si, the prime minister to Chin Shi Huang Di, China’s first Emperor. Topics discussed included the ruthless nature of Emperor Qin (as depicted also on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19922863), and how China has changed since the 1970s. I have been in London for the past 2 weeks on a private visit. It is good to be back in the U.K. for a short break, and especially after experiencing my recent interesting adventures in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Xi'an, and Beijing. If you missed listening to the programme, than here is the podcast link: http://luckycat.podomatic.com/player/web A special thank you to Anna Chen for hosting the show, and thanks to Zoë Baxter for the links. The trip to London was so short and snappy that it almost felt like a dream. Thankfully on the day of the flight from Heathrow we were gifted with a clear blue sky, and slight easterly winds, which allowed an excellent opportunity to take beautiful photos of London and beyond as the plane took off from runway 09R (heading towards Clacton-on-Sea, and then onwards towards Germany). I flew with Qatar Airways, so both the first flight (LHR-DOH, QR008), and the second flight (DOH-PVG, QR888) provided great opportunities to take some superb photos of the skyline of not just London but also Doha, Northern Thailand, Guiyang, Wuhan, Wuxi, Kunshan, and Suzhou (my home!!). And not to mention the magical sunrise that we were treated to somewhere over the Pakistan/India border.
I landed in London on the 23rd of January (a week after my birthday!). Last year I managed to fly back to London from China on four occasions, though I could easily have stayed in China to do more travelling. This time I was planning to stay back in Suzhou for the Chinese New Year festivities, however at the last minute I decided to go to London for personal reasons (via 1 night in Shanghai, and then 4 days in Beijing). It's great to be back though! It actually made up for the time I missed being with my parents during Christmas and the New Year festivities last year. The great thing about working in China is that you get to enjoy national holidays (and annual leave) while the rest of the world is working. It’s a lovely feeling because it’s not so busy in the UK. as it would be during the festive season like Christmas or the New Year. It’s also nice landing into Heathrow Airport, especially if you have westerly winds because then you get to fly right over Central London. The views are just magical as the majority of London’s famous landmarks were visible. As the photos below illustrate, I also got beautiful glimpses of some cities from the sky (Doha, Kuwait as examples shown). It was also nice to be invited by the team at Resonance FM 104.4 on the 31st of January to give a talk about China Culture and how my books are assisting expats in adjusting to life in China. The presenter was the evergreen veteran Journalist Rakesh K. Mathur who managed to present the programme despite being heavily jet-lagged and also suffering from a cold. Click HERE to listen to the recording. They also played music by Sayaka, a Japanese jazz musician and pieces from the modern and traditional Chinese opera. I should have put these photos up while I was in the UK but unfortunately, due to a short and hectic schedule I did not have enough time to update my weblog while I was in London. But nevertheless, here is a show of some of the beautiful weather that I happened to enjoy on my short trip. Rather unusual for London to experience such glorious sunshine in the first week of October. In fact the unseasonably warm weather brought in the hottest October for over a century to the U.K. Just four weeks before the clocks go back for winter, Britain was in the middle of an Indian summer like no other with sizzling temperatures soaring all over the southern region. It was nice to be a tourist in your own city for once and also to go to Hyde Park.
I recall my younger years in the 1980s when it used to start getting miserably cold during late September in London. This kind of weather would have been unheard of during this time of the year. I would not be surprised to see this kind of weather in the future. Here are the shots of London: One is a British mother from the town of Dagenham (Essex), and the other is a former construction worker from Holland. Both are young, hugely talented singers and full of energy, as well as having sheer determination to succeed and prove their critics (if they have any!) wrong. I have to confess, however, that I have only watched X-Factor once when I was in the UK, and I have never watched Popstars. I love all kinds of music from all parts of the world, but these days I seldom have time to watch any television (maybe just on a plane or a hotel when I am travelling). I suppose I can get away with not watching Popstars because that’s more of a mainland European competition. It must take a certain person to stand up and have the courage to sing (and act) in front of millions of people around the world- and to keep them continually entertained.
Despite my great love for all kinds of music from all around the world, I am, to the disappointment of many, no big fan of X-factor. In the few moments I spoke to Stacey Solomon for, who is a proud Jew, I found her to be a very polite and nice person- and I suppose an inspiration for many. It must be very challenging for her to be under all that limelight, while looking after a young child AND studying at the same time. I admire people like that. To go from the rough streets of a town like Dagenham (from my experience, the town is an example of a typical working class area- sorry but its factual information), and rise to fame with such talent takes a certain person, and hats off to this lady for doing that! My Canon 500D was neatly packed away, so I had to do with the IXUS 801S- the photo does have slight grains in it. On this press trip to Amsterdam, I met with another equally inspirational personality- this one was from mainland Europe. By sheer chance, or call it just pure coincidence, I somehow managed to bump into a large crowd of singers and dancers in the middle of Dam Square, Amsterdam. A few dozen people were standing in a semi circle surrounding a young chap who was singing in Dutch. Clapping their hands in rhythm to his song, the troupe seemed to be part of the Television show, Popstars, which is the European version of Britain’s X-Factor. The young chap singing and dancing in the middle of the crowd was Wesley Klein, the winner of the Popstars competition. I later found out that he has had an amazing transformation in his life too. For someone who worked as a construction worker (builder), nothing could have been more than a distant dream than going onto win the largest singing competition on mainland Europe. He seemed to enjoy every word, every move of the songs he was singing, and the attention he was getting from the crowds. Below are photos of both of these remarkable people. To mark the beginning of the Year of the Tiger, and as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the renowned Sichuan Art Group is touring the UK for a few special (and rare) shows. The performance group is touring from the 12th of February until the 22nd of February to showcase the “The joyful Spring Festival” performance. The group consists of 26 actors; most of whom are natives and ethnic minority people from Sichuan Province - the home of the Panda, and the scene of a large earthquake in the spring of 2008. Their breathtaking performances are all aimed at introducing Sichuan culture to western audiences through music, song and dance.
As I explained in an article written in the UK Telegraph last year (click HERE to read it!), Chinese New Year can be a very colourful occasion, and this event is no exception to that note. With a total of 16 programs in the UK, the performances’ will focus mainly on native Sichuan dance, folk songs, human sized puppets and extravagant acrobatics which Chinese performers are quite well known for. The cities being toured are as follows: Belfast, Edinburgh, Sheffield, London Greenwich (18, 19), and the Westfield Shopping centre in London (20th). I was provided a special preview by the Chinese Tourism Authority. Below are the photos: |
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. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|