Indulging In #Yougraphy With Canvera...

With smartphones being equipped with high-end cameras, clicking pictures has become everybody’s favorite hobby. Be it at a birthday party, a wedding or a vacation, the trend of taking selfies and quirky, cool pictures has found favor with everyone from college-goers to tech-savvy grandparents.

At the beck and call of a single click, each capture becomes a new addition to the Gallery of the smartphone. But, where have we got lost in the sojourn of getting the digital photographs from a camera reel or point and shoot converted into a much-loved photo album that had an element of surprise working in its favor at the first glance? What about making these smartphone captures morph into memories to cherish forever?

I do not particularly like the idea of so many heart-warming clicks just being stored on a digital medium, forgotten over time, and not adorning a rightful place at home, and I had a chance to rejoice earlier this month, thanks to Canvera, which is a domain expert in photo book printing in India

Canvera, in association with HP as their technology partner, has launched its #Yougraphy range, to turn magnificent photos into prints with some unique products & accessories.

A place full of photos printed on fine art canvases, framed posters and prints hung up on ethnic jute ropes with metal clips and the option of ordering all of this on an easy online platform with just a few clicks. Sounds too good to be true?

That’s exactly what I experienced at an event held earlier this month. Canvera announced a unique code for each attendee and asked us to browse and order #Yougraphy products like prints, posters, canvases, photo books & share books through their website. There was also witnessed a live demo of the unveiling and usage of products and a selfie booth was set up, where we clicked pictures with interesting themes and backgrounds.

Canvera has deployed HP’s state of the art Indigo Digital Press technology that has revolutionized the Indian photo book industry by, surpassing the conventional technologies on double side printing, variety, speed, quality, and cost. The non-tearable & weatherproof printing provide the consumers the much need longevity of their memories.

I ordered some of the posters, prints, and Youbooks featured on the Canvera website of our vacations to Andamans, Goa, and some celebrity features over the past two years and was mighty impressed with the on-time delivery, classic packaging, and immaculate finish of the products, both inside and out. :)

As a customer, the choices I had in terms of print quality (namely Glossy, Matte, or Scuff-free Velvet), the size of individual prints, the number of pages in a Youbook, choice of cover (hard or soft) and the variety of custom themes for each Youbook was overwhelming. Also, upon uploading each photograph, Canvera's mechanism was able to alert me if it was a low resolution and required a smaller print size to preserve resolution.

With all the products being manufactured in Canvera’s in-house production facility in Bengaluru, I was also impressed when the products reached me in a span of five days.

Having tried their products for once, I vouch for their quality and service standards and am sure that I'll keep returning to Canvera for framing my memories in print. :)

Travelling Across The Food Globe As A Tourist...

Dalai Lama said that we are all here on this planet as tourists. None of us can live here forever.
Quite true, I believe, but what's the rush to leave when we've got good food to keep us company?

Food and travel go hand in hand. What if I tell you then, that these two gorgeous worlds had collided and produced an extravaganza that Tourist is, in the heart of the city at Janpath?

And, while I had recently witnessed a gala affair at Office Canteen Bar, I had also made it known that I would be chronicling my experience at Tourist Janpath, which is all that this post is about.

After An Upside Down "DR∀M∀" and OCB, a hattrick has been aimed for, with Tourist, and yes, they have achieved it quite effortlessly.

An invite to this journey around the world through the presentation of global cuisine came about as a consequence of a Media Luncheon.

Tourist Janpath is a thematic restaurant quite aesthetically done as premises because it captures the journey of a tourist. Be it the life-size globe at the entrance, the seating did as train berths with cushions based on flags of countries, clocks of various countries on their walls, the World Map captured as a ready reckoner, or the wonderful cyclist on the wall with the backpack that one would inherently want to grab and proceed on a wanderlust, Tourist Janpath celebrates the essence of travelling and creating memories by celebrating the food associated with places around the globe.

Tourist Janpath is essentially a Street Food Bar and presents it as such from each corner of the world. Their food menu is demarcated into four passport menu cards by region; South Asia, Europe, Far West and the Far East.

With their Terrace being the most popular spot in the premises, their library situated on the first floor would be the perfect companion on that quintessential trip.

The place was also perfectly decked up for Christmas, all that was needed was a vintage fireplace with those festive stockings for that picture perfect Postcard.

Here's all that was presented to us Bloggers at the Media Luncheon...

Appetizers:

• Corn Chili Fritters 

• Croquetas De Fungi 

• Dragon Chicken 

• Paneer Tikka 

• Mutton Kebab 

• Pizza Al Taglio 

Main Course:

• Balochi Dal 

• Hasselback Potatoes 

• Kosha Mangsho 

• Crepes Ala Francaise 

• Khao Suey 

While this is quite a spread, the cherry on the cake were their well-done mocktails. My must-try beverages when at Tourist Janpath would be:

• Virgin Mojito, presented in a dual-color skull shaped mug. 

• Mandarin & Basil Splash - Citrus, clove, cinnamon, and basil - unusual ingredients packing a flavorful punch. 

• Cool Sensation - Watermelon based drink, with a slice on the side as garnish. 

• Rim Jhim - Apple based, and true to its name. 

• Blueberry & Banana Shake 

Desserts:

• Death By Eclairs 

• Rabri 

I loved my time around the world as a Tourist in Janpath and would not mind a second sojourn. Here's wishing Team Tourist success for 2017... :)

Flying With Air Arabia...

With over 2,000 employees worldwide, Air Arabia is the Middle East and North Africa's first and largest Low-Cost Carrier (LCC). The airline covers more than 120 destinations in 33 countries. Its flight spree is spread across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Europe. Its key focus is on customer's comfort, be it during the flight or before and after the journey. The airline strives to be most reliable and provides value for money air travel across their network. In addition, there is a fantastic value proposition - "Fly More". This completely flexible offer from Air Arabia helps you to fly more often to more places at your own convenience.

Air Arabia has its head office in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It started its operations in October 2003. It was adjudged as “Low-Cost Airline of the Year” at the Aviation Business Awards 2016. Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, said on winning this prestigious award, “We are proud to have won this coveted title at the Aviation Business Awards 2016. To be chosen as the best low-cost airline is a reflection of our commitment to continuously enhancing the guest experience and setting new standards in the affordable travel segment. The award belongs to our dedicated team of employees across all divisions, each of whom shares a common vision for Air Arabia’s continued growth and success.”

Air Arabia is the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier. It has been ranked third in a list of top 50 global airlines compiled by UK-based ‘Airfinance Journal’. ‘The Airline Top 50’ report evaluated the performance of 137 airlines based on a set of operational and financial parameters. These parameters include Total Revenue, Net Income, Passenger Yield, Liquidity, and Leverage.

On top of it Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia, has recently grabbed the 'Airline CEO of the Year' award at the 10th CEO Middle East Awards 2016. Al Ali won this award for his strong efforts in further strengthening Air Arabia’s leadership position in the region. In addition, he was also praised for his role in delivering outstanding results for the airline. All these achievements make Air Arabia the most favorite low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa.

Bid Adieu To Travel Woes With YuMiGo!

The first round of YuMiGo’s funding closure goes along with the launch of new age travel website. October marks an auspicious festive season in India. And the same rings true for all Indians residing abroad. YuMiGo announced raising $300,000 in its first round of funding on 15 October. The launch of its innovative travel website aims to pacify the pain points of international travelers. Whether you are travelling for the first time or are a frequent traveler, YuMiGo is your best companion to tackle all travel related issues.

The best thing is that it helps you not only while planning but also during the trip. Though there are plenty of websites pitching hotels, flights etc., but those are limited just to providing info on these. No other website takes care of everything before and after, which is still unstructured and unorganized.

Rishabh Sood, co-founder, YuMiGo, says,“I realized how frustrating it gets to plan a trip abroad because a traveler has to engage with multiple service providers for getting a visa done, buying foreign currency or a calling card and figuring out the right travel insurance. We came up with the idea of not just helping out a traveler, but also creating a systematic honest search that will not leave a traveler swindled.”

“While selling flights or hotels, nobody is thinking about the traveler”, adds Pratyush Kukreja, who teams up with Rishabh as co-founder for their second startup together. ”If a business solves more than one pain point for a traveller, it can engage at a deeper level - which translates into increased loyalty, a larger share of traveller’s wallet, higher LTV and lower CAC.” The duo’s sole purpose of launching the company is to fill the wide gap in the online industry. The purpose also embarks making a difference in the travel industry. It is, in fact, about revamping the travel and forex markets. This will probably create a new benchmark in Indian travel industry services.

As a matter of fact the credit of organizing the funding goes to Pooja Bansal, Pratyush’s spouse. She had put them in touch with Hemant Sahni, who is running many businesses and gradually decided to invest an amount of $300,000 in YuMiGo. The overall concept, plans and YuMiGo’s unique positioning was so impressive to make it happen so easily. He finds a tremendous scope in this business. The launch was at Rrala’s Habibi at the MGF Metropolitan Mall. A couple of presentations by the founders were crisply able to ensure highlighting the crux of the matter.

A Demo of Virtual Reality - Try Before You Fly

YuMiGo is fully operational. It offers currency for more than 100 countries all over the world. There are more than 50 voice plus data bundles. These plans are highly flexible to suit every traveler's unique demand. The company also offers travel insurance plans from multiple service providers. In addition, there is a dedicated visa service for all major countries. YuMiGo also plans to launch services related to travel and destination so as to engage traveler offering them an end-to-end solution. There are a number of announcements in the pipeline.

Finally, the team adds, “15th October marks a day of immense historic significance; 8 decades ago on this day, JRD Tata flew India’s first commercial flight. From that one aircraft, it grew to what we know as Air India today. We want to achieve a similar impact on the India’s travel landscape through YuMiGo”.