Things to Do In Shanghai and What To Expect at Disneyland Shanghai | Tips and Travel Story

Call it audaciously sculptural or pared down and pristine , the architectural ingenuity of the old town in Shanghai engages with the eyes and imagination in such a way that you can't put your head down for a second .
Be prepared to bump into people and poles as you gaze up to appreciate the beauty .
You can't understand this unless you are over and around it .

Shanghai a city and the most idyllic location to find a  sleek and a savvy vibe that you would never run out of things to do. Its a city with modern and an interesting twist to tradition.

I absolutely loved globe trotting in a new era of personalization and identified a whole lot of local secrets and adventures the city has to offer.

Trying to sum up what to expect in the city in a wildly unfiltered way and revealing much more from a local's perspective. Resourcing it all in this blog post , so be patient lovelies.

We were booked at Hotel Howard Johnson Plaza which is straight opposite Nanjing road, one of the most happening streets of Shanghai, also coz you get to do all the touristy things around like the most famous Bund river sightseeing, which is about 750mts .I have a panoramic shot of the beautiful Shanghai at night which could just light you up .Check it all out here.

Nanjing road, is a shopping heaven . And in case your motto is to shop , this street would eat your entire two days.Nothing like walking out of the hotel lobby and bang suddenly you are in the buzz  of it all.

You can get used to the skyscrapers and sit with a beer along the Bund riverside for hours . The twinkling ferries ushers the passengers along the riverside and delivers them to the waterfront . The ferry ride is a package deal with the Pearl tower sightseeing and  should not be missed.

The locals do not speak English. Its very rare that you find someone who would jump onto having a conversation with you. I figured a few were even scared to even share some broken sentences in English hence totally ignored us when we asked them directions. I realized this on Day 2 , and after that totally figured everything out via google maps.

Shanghai is a paradise for food lovers. And those who feel a vegetarian could not survive , damn I put on weight despite all the walking. Shanghai can literally spoil you for food. And boy you can get Vegetarian food in Shanghai almost everywhere. The hotel had a vegetarian menu , plus we discovered a lot of local restaurants who could just switch any dish to your preference. There are some stand alone shacks who sell rice noodle salads, with cucumber , bean sprouts and peanuts, and you cannot miss that too. There are a lot of dotting restaurants at the Bund riverfront along with gorgeous river views, and the staff can communicate well with you for the kind of food you want..

The most popular and another must visit place is Yuyuan Graden , and the city gods temple.Its staggering lovely. It keeps the integrity of the old 15th century charm { the only temple from the ming dynasty ( that's what the sign boards told us )} It was just one stop from our hotel, and the train ride was so much fun. 

Yu yuan was stately , and inviting and boasts of the old world construction and a never forgettable china town experience. The houses and shops even starbucks is designed to keep the structure of the whole place authentic. Beautiful photos of the temple follows after the post, so don't miss any. 

We shopped for some local souvenirs and about 50 chinese fans from the market which begins just after the exit . Great to take home some inexpensive trinkets and local chinese tea and chinese toys.

The only proper way to get around Shanghai is by a Taxi, and the train.  The weather was too hot and humid . After reading some vague reviews about the hop on and hop off bus , which practically gets you around most of the sightseeing places we dropped the idea. But it sure is fun for a day, only if the weather outside doesn't get the better of you. I would still recommend sticking to taxi or the sub.

Nanjing road has this cute little toy trains - almost only a dollar expensive easily making out way on the pedestrian street carefully honking . Even if you are an adult, you would just freak out.

Now coming to where it all started . The planning , and why did we pick Shanghai this time.Well Disney may have a hand in this. Thanks to the commercials we were continuously hammered by our daughter that how eager she was to visit Shanghai disneyland as all the Frozen princesses have their legit squad there . Turns out she was right. Disney is not new for us, its magical, everywhere but a little less in Shanghai . Blame it on the sizable number of people inhabiting the city , Disney was overtly crowded. Also because Shanghai disney just opened up in June and is a little more Disneywise  trending than others.

Be prepared to walk , sweat and stand in the queues for most of the rides. People were just rattling all over the place. 

Disney Day 1 we decided to take the most newest rides first and the ones which has the maximum hours for waiting . Turned out it was everybody else's  plan too. Enter Plan B - Forget everything and just concentrate on the princess. But the good part was that we managed to catch all the shows 

( although in Mandarin ) and they were hilarious and funny . Unlike other Disney's this one is humongous ,and would impress even the most jaded tourists and locals alike.There's a reason why there is a huge waiting for most of the rides, but there were a few which were outrageously boring. Truth is you need minimum three days here, although it deflates you completely ,but I would still suggest that if you want to go to Disney , Hong kong Disney is way better( crowd wise ). Or wait till till the craze dies out a bit, Chinese wants to be the first one to taste everything , so let them do that first. Rest of the world can wait.

Disney pictures with the captions are all below. Have fun browsing through them.

I wore this striped dress from Zaful on one of the days in Shanghai. I have already mentioned how hot it was, and I needed some ventilation. Its a cute shirt dress with some trendy patches . A lot of you asked me about the bag . Its from Zaful too. It was a perfect companion for my entire trip.

Putting down all the details of the outfits below. This post is already becoming so lengthy, or may I say word- crowded . At least I braved Disney on a weekend and that too in chinese school beak holidays. A superpower that I can add to my list of achievements. I deserve a pat or some emojis thumbs up would also suffice.

Ending my travel stories with this post. I am always available to actively engage with your queries on social networks. Come let's Chat.

More on my Instagram. See you with a next outfit next week.

Can you spot the Toy Train ??

Can you see the Tiger Kissing the Panda ?  The theory of glass full or empty in full practice

The Ultimate Impact | Stripes and Ruffled skirt

When creative, intense , passionate and often wildly attractive people get together they create magic. Today I break my previous mold a little and with some tiny effort and some great makeup and photography assistance , special behind the scenes touch ups with extraordinary mentions to husband who Cajoled my daughter a hundred times to not to get messy with the MUA's box,we finally accomplished this look.

Despite an image oriented age , where the soft sells more than the hard, originality is converting to stage a spectacle, and brands are looking for blogposts looking like couture and dictated silhouettes .

Its a magpie approach of dressing , trying to please all the people at all the time ( brand, readers, self)

Things move a little different with me. Trying to not look like a campaign picture , and make normality look different in clothes , more of a carefree person ,creating something new with an energy which of course doesn't cost a bomb to the readers is my ideas of a perfect editorial. And if it comes with an oomph of a little glamour, it doesn't hurt as much ... am I right ?

This look was always on my menu, and I was mood boarding a lot of things from a long time. 

The smokey makeup , the monochrome outfit, bold and nude lips at the same time ,zebra vibes etc were a few common factors that connected this look.

After years of auto applying eyeshadow and mascara for my whole life, my emotional architecture of the face changed manifolds until something fancy plopped in the camera and those rebellious clumpy lashes were shoe-horned in this look. From a bud to a bloom , I was happy bouncing around the whole house in many shades of black and white. The balloon sleeved blouse coming in from its haute pedestal of elite dressing possess a great penchant for the evening. Yes ,yes ,yes, you guys are right, this outfit is almost intentional-to tingle the filmdom.

It was a day of extravagance ,and hope you like my snappy happy presentation. Had a difficult time rejecting photos and finally choosing what to upload . 

Things To Do In China, Shopping | Foshan | Guangzhou | Shanghai . OOTD- CHINA STREET STYLE

Bringing the back with a bang look. If you missed me then you probably know I was in China, and if you didn't then maybe I am in danger for overestimating your interest in my blog.

Just so you know , my summers were more inherently summery than yours , more Disney oriented, and more Chinese food driven.

That's why I am back here to delicately start a conversation on what you should do in China . After squeezing in about about three cities - Foshan, Guangzhou and Shanghai in my 12 day itinerary, and attracting a diverse blend of Chinese with our street style shoots, I am here to share a little  tour diary of things you should do in China. 

I got a couple of few Insta stories ( which was a new Instagram feature added just a day before I left which also saved me the hassle of taking photos within one minute of arriving giving me much photo posting clarity. Blessed !!!! 

The best feeling was the great feedback given by those on the receiving end of those founts of stories, and interest in my travel, which encouraged me to hack into VPN and enable Instagram coz every other world social platform is barred in China.

While a lot of you may feel that I am biting on the fresh figs of life, which actually I was, but came with a lot of walking and a big big language barrier. 

Our landing port was Guangzhou, and  it took us an hour drive to check in at Foshan. 

Just so you know, Foshan is a veritable destination and worldwide hub for furniture, lights and for everything your home needs. 

Visited the Chimelong water park, (Asia's No3 , )which was a waste for a non adventurous person like me, especially when those thrilling water rides scare me to death.

Nevertheless its a heaven for kids, and my daughter had a Ball and she made our money back with freqyent display of excitement.

I wore a simple cotton  dress with lace trims by Stalk Buy Love, and my cone bag and the  Floral sandals from Sammydress Clothing  being the highlight of the day were praised by many as I ventured outside our Hotel Fortuna ,to shoot some street style. 

Must recommended place to stay, as the food is crazy and if you are a Vegetarian like me, you won't be starved.

The minute we started shooting, it looked like everyone needed my attention, as around 20 people took out their phones and started recording the terrific stuff we do in India(take street photos ). This ice cream cone bag caught the fancy of everyone , which arrived in 7 days (super quick delivery ) from the website . Despite being the centre of attraction at approx 9 A.M, I also did weird things on special request, for e.g posing to eat the ice-cream.

Language was no barrier then as sign language and friendly laughs ruled and after a dozen Chinese got what they wanted and took my exclusive expressions home, I am now wondering ,if they ruined my groove at my expense ??

Coming back to Foshan, the lighting city and a few shopping malls at Zhongshan are a must visit if you are shopping for home/ interiors. 

Leaving you all with truck load of pics. 

Next up is things to do in Shanghai and a lot of shopping finds.

Ciao xx

The Sari Chronicles By Satomi | IndianWear

Subtly and gracefully like butterflies fluttering out of black cocoons I tend to embrace an orgy of colours and patterns like never before.

There are some outfits which just naturally sharpen the habitual elegance , tipped with brightness so vivid, that it catches the fancy of everyone around. 

Recently I came across Satomi, an exclusive Indian Wear women clothing brand who bring colours and prints to this dull monsoon like never before. Their approach to this world of digitalized prints brings a feeling of verdant nature embedded in every Sari, giving life as if you are a part of an overindulgent feast. It's not easy for a brand to catch my eye unless some diversity is offered trying to do something different ,even the technique matters here because everyday is a struggle for style bloggers to give a deeper dimension to the  individual style and much variety to the fashion informed audience. Because people tend to get bored. Forget them, even I tend to get bored,and need a shift from the chic cult to something more varied and endearing. 

This Sari has that romantic simplicity which take simple print into a world beyond ordinary.  It weaves the ethnic into an urban presentation fit for an urban setting and the versatility of being right as a perfect dress for the cocktail night . I wore it for one of the days at the India Couture week  (the centre point of inspiration for our big fat Indian wedding) 

The outfit so much added up to the sense of fashion madness already vibing the venue and soon it became the talk of the evening. Blue lips and the print of the Sari were the real converters of great conversations for the night and girls stopped me everywhere to take photos. 

I love it when the garments give an appealing look with still and small voice of calm. Blazed against the rich green gardens of Hotel Taj Palace Delhi , it gave a very refreshing summer spirit to the look. I almost looked like a walking Graffiti for a minute , Bewildering the staff one blue lip at a time, which was actually appalling coz it took their preying eyes a while to figure out what was happening as I was busy having my paparazzi moment throwing away my Pallu ,cocooning my shoulders with all my might up in the air in some photos, well not to mention my passionate natural aura of potential fails. Haha. I wish we could capture their open mouthed expressions until their senior came and announced time out.

Besides the Sari I hope the complimenting jewellery and this choker which I DIY'ed myself (coughs***) have also gagged your attention? Your thoughts in the comments make my day.

Oh BTW I am in Shanghai this week . Follow me on Snapchat (user id- thefashionflite ) coz you have freakin no inkling idea of the heavenly shopping I am gonna take you through . Wait and Watch !!!

Ciao xx 

Wella Professionals Care for your Hair | Review Dry Shampoo | Root Mousse | BB lotion

Its monsoons and I need a miracle product to get out of that frizz. Will you believe me if I tell you, that my hair looks like Broccoli in monsoons and out of those beautiful Instagram photos which you see of my hair, there is a labour intensive work and endless hair products dumped on my head to tune those fancy pics.
I am always up for testing whats new in the haircare section than any other department, not even fashion that much , and Wella professionals just sent me a few stuff from their new launches and I couldn't be more than happy to put everything to test. Today's post talks about all the 3 products so lets get straight to the reviews.