Dreamy destinations | ||
As a lead up to Valentine’s Day, we explore some popular global romantic destinations | ||
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It’s Valentine Week, and with much love and romance floating in the air, here’s looking at some romantic hotspots around the world:  Venice, Italy This is a city synonymous with beauty and love. The gondola rides through the backwaters remain the highlight of the place. And yes, if you happen to be there for Valentine’s Day, don’t miss out on the Venice Carnival! Paris, France It is no surprise that the city attracts countless tourists and honeymoon couples, and qualifies as one of the romantic hotspots in the world. Situated on the river Seine, this capital city plays host to many snuggling couples all year round.  Niagara Falls, CanadaThe thrill of this popular waterfall is known to be experienced best with your beloved. The brilliance of the waterfall, and the caves behind it at the foothills of the mountain together make for a memorable experience. The Alps, Switzerland The magnificence of the Alps is just one of the many charms of Switzerland. And if your idea of romance comprises ice-capped mountains and the winter wonders, this makes for the perfect place for you. Australia A fast emerging holiday spot, (partially because of being much popularised in Bollywood films like Dil Chahta Hai, Salaam Namaste etc), Australia offers an exhaustive list of activities and breathtakingly beautiful luxury lodges to spend quality time with your partner and keep the magic alive. b_shreya@dnaindia.net | ||
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Dreamy destinations As a lead up to Valentine’s Day, we explore some popular global romantic destinations
Mumbai going Goan!
Mumbai going Goan!
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The Konkan Cultural Association along with Goa Tourism Development Corporation will soon be organising ‘Goa Fest & Carnival Festival Dance 2012’ from February 19 to 23. The five-day extravaganza that will be held at Dr Antonio Da Silva High School Grounds, Dadar, will see a host of events.
The activities include a performance by Mumbai’s Goan band Groove that will play Goan, Mangalorean, East Indian, Marathi and English music. The evening will also witness the traditional carnival parade with fancy dress competition. Every evening there will be short drama skits on tourism. Entry is by invitation only.
A traditional Goan cafeteria will be open throughout the day serving the local snacks, lunch, dinner and sweets. The fest will include stalls offering local Goan fare, tin and bottled foods, spices, pottery, handicrafts, books, fashion wear and more.
Special rates to encourage small scale home industries, self employed women, drama, film, music, fashion, educational institutions and NGOs will all be part of the Fest.
The activities include a performance by Mumbai’s Goan band Groove that will play Goan, Mangalorean, East Indian, Marathi and English music. The evening will also witness the traditional carnival parade with fancy dress competition. Every evening there will be short drama skits on tourism. Entry is by invitation only.
A traditional Goan cafeteria will be open throughout the day serving the local snacks, lunch, dinner and sweets. The fest will include stalls offering local Goan fare, tin and bottled foods, spices, pottery, handicrafts, books, fashion wear and more.
Special rates to encourage small scale home industries, self employed women, drama, film, music, fashion, educational institutions and NGOs will all be part of the Fest.
Singapore, sunny side up A visit to one of the most talked-about entertainment destinations opens up a gamut of fun
Singapore, sunny side up
A visit to one of the most talked-about entertainment
destinations opens up a gamut of fun
As you look at the skyline from the height of 67 metres, standing on the edge, your feet dipped in the water of the largest rooftop infinity pool ever built, you get the feeling of having owned the world. Well, that’s a clichéd thing to say, but not when you are watching the pool water vanishing off the edge with the horizon teeming with swanky glass palaces. The feeling only gets reinforced when you move on to the observation deck. You guessed it right, we’re at the 57th floor at Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, watching people frolicking in the teal blue water and squinting to look down at the tiny specks of cars whizzing by. Here, time stills.
A concrete-perfect city, Singapore seems walled by highrises from atop. It’s almost as if the city just magically sprung up, all posh and ritzy — no dilapidation, no depressing ruins, not even a speck of dirt, to be found. More so, when you’re staying at a much-hyped and talked-about integrated resort and taking in the view from such dizzying heights. One of the most expensive properties in the world, the hotel features 2,561 rooms, a 1,300,000sq ft convention-exhibition centre, 800,000sq ft mall The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, an iconic ArtScience Museum, two large theatres, seven celebrity chef restaurants, an ice skating rink, the world’s biggest SkyPark at 340 m that houses the pool, and the world’s largest atrium casino. The works. The building is hard to miss with its three tapered towers standing tall, capped by the SkyPark in the shape of a ship. The laser light show in the evening best sums up the hotel’s appeal — it’s fancy, alright. It stands out? Oh yes.
For a dramatic view of the city, go for dinner at Sky Café. And how can one forget the food while we are at it? The amazing variety of cuisines at the fine dining restaurants at the hotel whets your appetite. Try the aromatic tea and the delicious set meal at TWG Tea Salon & Boutique. For skin pampering, head to The Sloane Clinic; here up-to-date technology keeps pace to keep up your beauty demands. A must-try here: the LED treatments. For a slice of history, visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum. As April 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic, the gallery Singapore 1912 attains importance, as you get a glimpse of how the sinking of the once grandest ship impacted Singapore at that time. Our take: it will boggle your mind and make you ponder for a long, long time.
A river cruise takes us to take in the lit-up sights the almost painstakingly perfect, modern city has on offer. Even the reflections on the water look squeaky new. But the hunger to find a quaint side to Singapore landed us on Haji Lane, a street not oft-visited by tourists. A lane dotted by bright, little shops and cafes. Here, the walls are covered in spunky Egyptian graffiti. There are also old-world mosques and temples in Singapore’s non-touristy corners. It’s even a tad hard to believe when you spot the clustered apartments and their balconies with clothes hung for drying. For the hungry traveller, this too is Singapore’s sunny side.
A visit to one of the most talked-about entertainment
destinations opens up a gamut of fun
As you look at the skyline from the height of 67 metres, standing on the edge, your feet dipped in the water of the largest rooftop infinity pool ever built, you get the feeling of having owned the world. Well, that’s a clichéd thing to say, but not when you are watching the pool water vanishing off the edge with the horizon teeming with swanky glass palaces. The feeling only gets reinforced when you move on to the observation deck. You guessed it right, we’re at the 57th floor at Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, watching people frolicking in the teal blue water and squinting to look down at the tiny specks of cars whizzing by. Here, time stills.
A concrete-perfect city, Singapore seems walled by highrises from atop. It’s almost as if the city just magically sprung up, all posh and ritzy — no dilapidation, no depressing ruins, not even a speck of dirt, to be found. More so, when you’re staying at a much-hyped and talked-about integrated resort and taking in the view from such dizzying heights. One of the most expensive properties in the world, the hotel features 2,561 rooms, a 1,300,000sq ft convention-exhibition centre, 800,000sq ft mall The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, an iconic ArtScience Museum, two large theatres, seven celebrity chef restaurants, an ice skating rink, the world’s biggest SkyPark at 340 m that houses the pool, and the world’s largest atrium casino. The works. The building is hard to miss with its three tapered towers standing tall, capped by the SkyPark in the shape of a ship. The laser light show in the evening best sums up the hotel’s appeal — it’s fancy, alright. It stands out? Oh yes.
For a dramatic view of the city, go for dinner at Sky Café. And how can one forget the food while we are at it? The amazing variety of cuisines at the fine dining restaurants at the hotel whets your appetite. Try the aromatic tea and the delicious set meal at TWG Tea Salon & Boutique. For skin pampering, head to The Sloane Clinic; here up-to-date technology keeps pace to keep up your beauty demands. A must-try here: the LED treatments. For a slice of history, visit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum. As April 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic, the gallery Singapore 1912 attains importance, as you get a glimpse of how the sinking of the once grandest ship impacted Singapore at that time. Our take: it will boggle your mind and make you ponder for a long, long time.
A river cruise takes us to take in the lit-up sights the almost painstakingly perfect, modern city has on offer. Even the reflections on the water look squeaky new. But the hunger to find a quaint side to Singapore landed us on Haji Lane, a street not oft-visited by tourists. A lane dotted by bright, little shops and cafes. Here, the walls are covered in spunky Egyptian graffiti. There are also old-world mosques and temples in Singapore’s non-touristy corners. It’s even a tad hard to believe when you spot the clustered apartments and their balconies with clothes hung for drying. For the hungry traveller, this too is Singapore’s sunny side.
Himalayan holiday Actor Mugdha Godse shares her experience in Kulu-Manali where she went to celebrate her mum’s birthday
Himalayan holiday
Actor Mugdha Godse shares her experience in Kulu-Manali where she went to celebrate her mum’s birthday
It was a long overdue vacation for actor Mugdha Godse who had been vying for a break for long now. “I had been planning to take a break since a long time but never got the time for it,” says Mugdha, who immediately cashed in on the offer when she got a few non-working days in hand. What fuelled it all the more was her mom’s birthday. She adds, “I had a few days off and my mum’s birthday was also just around the corner. So I thought there couldn’t be a better chance than this. I booked the tickets immediately and we went off.”
However, this wasn’t like any other vacation for Mugdha. “We did not get to shop at all,” she exclaims. But that was more than made up for with the “quality time” she got with her mum. “The trip was planned in such a fashion that we got to spend more of quality time together. And moreover, we were staying at the base of the great Himalayas national forest. So you can imagine other than greenery and fresh air we could not see much but it was truly enjoyable.” But how could the greenery and quiet ever satisfy the shopper in Mugdha? “Towards the fag end of my trip, I managed to enter the city and buy a couple of Kulu shawls which is really famous there. And trust me, they were pretty,” she grins.
She tried the local cuisines, which she says, was “different” and “enjoyable”. “There was also a variety of Punjabi, South Indian and Chinese dishes but out of the local ones, what I liked the most was this fresh cornflour grounded in water, which people there have with milk for breakfast,” she explains.
So what was the highpoint of her trip? “Just the fact that I got a holiday was a high point but more than that the fact that I was with my family made it even better. I could completely let my hair down and had total fun!” she squeals.
Actor Mugdha Godse shares her experience in Kulu-Manali where she went to celebrate her mum’s birthday
It was a long overdue vacation for actor Mugdha Godse who had been vying for a break for long now. “I had been planning to take a break since a long time but never got the time for it,” says Mugdha, who immediately cashed in on the offer when she got a few non-working days in hand. What fuelled it all the more was her mom’s birthday. She adds, “I had a few days off and my mum’s birthday was also just around the corner. So I thought there couldn’t be a better chance than this. I booked the tickets immediately and we went off.”
However, this wasn’t like any other vacation for Mugdha. “We did not get to shop at all,” she exclaims. But that was more than made up for with the “quality time” she got with her mum. “The trip was planned in such a fashion that we got to spend more of quality time together. And moreover, we were staying at the base of the great Himalayas national forest. So you can imagine other than greenery and fresh air we could not see much but it was truly enjoyable.” But how could the greenery and quiet ever satisfy the shopper in Mugdha? “Towards the fag end of my trip, I managed to enter the city and buy a couple of Kulu shawls which is really famous there. And trust me, they were pretty,” she grins.
She tried the local cuisines, which she says, was “different” and “enjoyable”. “There was also a variety of Punjabi, South Indian and Chinese dishes but out of the local ones, what I liked the most was this fresh cornflour grounded in water, which people there have with milk for breakfast,” she explains.
So what was the highpoint of her trip? “Just the fact that I got a holiday was a high point but more than that the fact that I was with my family made it even better. I could completely let my hair down and had total fun!” she squeals.
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