DocDivaTraveller

In my last post I had talked about how to grow your hair longer naturally. Although those are tried and tested (and permanent) they are quite tedious. I mean you have to be consistent in your daily routine in eating and exercising so that you can see your hair grow long...maybe after 6 months? Well if you don't have the time to wait and need instant results, this post is for you.

Ever wondered how actresses and models and even our girls next door switch up their hairstyles in a jiffy? Some years before Bipasha Basu had chopped her hair in to a bob. The very next day she walked the ramp with long hair. How? Well the answer is very simple. Hair extensions!

Yes, hair extensions and hair bundles are the easiest way to increase the length of your hair or switch up your look in a matter of minutes. You can change the colour, style, thickness...anything without damaging your own hair. How cool is that? I just found a website Best Hair Buy which has some amazing styles!

BestHairBuy Hair extensions: These are the easiest way to increase volume and length. These are Remy human hair extensions. Also used in luxury salons. Tired of thinning hair? Go for these extensions! You can opt for blonde, brunette, black or any colur that you want your hair to be or that matches with your natural hair colour. You can opt for different lengths starting from 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 inches. Easy to put on and take out!

BestHairBuy Virgin hair: These bundles can be curled, straightened and styled in any form. They can be washed with a mild shampoo and air dried. Healthier cuticle, healthier appearance and offers a polished shine. Life span is 6 to 12 months with proper care. You can opt for a combination of lengths like (12+14+16 inch) or (14+14+14 inch) and so on.

BestHairBuy Hair Bundles: These have the best price match. They can be dyed, styled , curled, straightened etc. They give a healthy cuticle appearance. These bundles have a strong, double drawn weft. The length range is wider...starting from 10 inches and going up to 30 inches! Life is about 12 to 18 months with proper care.

So which style is your favourite? Let me know!

Stalk them on Social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Besthairbuy

Instagram: https://instagram.com/_besthairbuy

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/besthairbuy

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/besthairbuyclub

Blog: https://www.besthairbuy.com/blog/

4/24/2018 No comments

When I landed in Melbourne, I was like...how I wished I moved here permanently!

I am sure you must have been abroad. And the moment you have landed in a First world country, you must have sighed 'how clean is everything!' Well let me declare...You are not the only one! Cribbing over certain aspects of our motherland (uncleanliness, corruption, iliteracy, etc) doesn't make us less in love with our own country. But it certainly evokes a desire to shift to a better place for studies and eventually for settling down in life.

People like my parents were overtly content with their country. That's why they neither thought of migrating nor sending me abroad for higher studies. For them abroad was just for vacations. My Dad being an engineer in a PSU got numerous opportunities to settle abroad for work but he never accepted those offers. Fast forward 10 years since my first exotic trip, I now know the difference. How I wish I could have studied and eventually settled in any of the developed nations. My profession does not have any scope for settling abroad in the near/distant future. So I have to be content with just exotic vacations only. I however have decided that my daughter will go to study abroad. It's not that I don't love my country. I love my motherland to bits. However I want my piece of heart to lead a better life without any pollution. And I think there is no harm in wanting that.

Moving abroad for studying comes with its own set of challenges. In order to get accepted in a university one has to get a good score in the English Language test and that's a mammoth task as we belong to a non English speaking nation. When it comes to English, we Indians rank far better than European or South American nations as we are introduced to this language right from childhood. However when it comes to proving our mettle as an English speaker on an international level, it's quite a challenge. I have seen hundreds of my friends toil for IELTS and TOEFL test. So many of my friends were denied their student Visa as they were unable to get the required score on time. A lot many were denied their PR because of the same reason. I don't want my daughter to face all this. So I have started my homework pretty early and I have discovered an English Language test which is superior to all.

What is PTE Academic?

The PTE Academic stands for Pearson Test of English Academic which is a computer based language test that helps in getting admission into Foreign universities or for migration. It's the fastest, fairest and the most flexible way to prove one's English language proficiency for immigration or student visa.

What is the process of PTE?

Just like any exam, preparation is very important. One should be thorough with the test format and be able to tackle questions correctly. PTE Preparation Course fully develops you for the real test. You can sign up for online tutorial and can take numerous inspired tests. There is a free Test Taker handbook available in 7 languages with lots of FAQS. Also you can judge whether you are ready for the test or not through Practice Tests Plus. There is also a provision for advanced preparation. Test takers can book courses online and take scored practice tests which can guide them as to when they are ready to book the real test.

What is the format of PTE Academic?

Why PTE?

With a couple of other established English proficiency tests, why should one opt for PTE?

PTE Academic is a fully computerized test which means zero bias. Results are available within 5 days which is super fast as compared to other tests. Also this test is approved in all the Australian, New Zealand and Irish universities and hundreds of other universities in USA and Canada and 96% of universities in the UK. Not to mention innumerable universities in rest of the world. Prestigious institutes like Cornell University, Leeds University, Monash, Harvard, Webster University, University of Ottawa, etc etc all accept PTE Academic.You can send your scores online to a number of institutions without any extra charge. The test is very flexible as you can book 24 hours in advance. It is conducted on 360 days a year with over 200 centres around the world. It's conducted on a single day over a 3 hour session. Therefore it's #DefinitelyPTE

Below is a tabular comparison of PTE Academic with other known English tests.

How is PTE Academic structured?

How to interpret the scores?

The test is scored on the Global Scale of English, granular scale of 10 to 90.

Since scoring is fully computerised, it's unbiased and highly accurate. It does not really matter where test takers come from as it's computerised. Palm vein scanning, randomized test forms and data forensics ensure test score validity.

How to book a test?

Booking the test is relatively easy and can be done conveniently by phone or online.

Before booking the test the candidate should be ready to furnish the following details as they appear in their documents if identification. Name, Date of birth, Citizenship, Country and City of birth, Credit or Debit Card details.

Online they can register and create a Pearson account. once their login details are received via email, test takers can schedule a test.

There are numerous centres in India in cities like Global Oppurtunities New Delhi, Global Reach Kolkata, Edwise Consultants Pvt Ltd Mumbai, Chennai, Global Reach Nagpur and many other cities too. All over the world, they have centres in USA, UK, Vietnam, Canada, Turkey, Australia, etc etc.

I guess PTE Academic has made immigration and Student visa approval pretty much a cakewalk process. At least now I know what test my daughter would appear in. It would be #DefinitelyPTE

4/22/2018 3 comments

Well it's a no joke that some of us really struggle to grow our hair. Some of us are trying to get longer hair than what we already have while others are trying to counteract the negative effects of a bad haircut. While a very few women on this earth are genetically blessed to have rapidly growing hair, most of us are struggling for length. Being in the hair and skin industry for the past 6 years now, I have discovered some 'secrets' and science which leads to longer hair, faster. So here are they:

Proper Nutrition: Our hair is made of keratin which is a type of protein. Hence in order to grow more hair, you need ample proteins! Generally the daily protein requirement of a body is 0.8 gms per body weight which you can roughly calculate as 1gm per body weight. So indulge in a diet laden with pulses, paneer, fish, chicken and eggs if you are a non vegetarian. Items like salmon and almonds are especially beneficial for healthier hair.

Don't underestimate the power of anti oxidants. Have loads of fresh fruits and vegetables daily. The more colour in your plate, the better.

Exercise: Exercise should be a part of daily lifestyle (just like drinking water and sleeping) Working out makes our heart beating faster and hence pumps blood to all parts of our body more efficiently; giving us glowing skin and healthier hair. Not to forget how effective stress buster it is!

Proper Hair care routine: You should take proper care of hair and not torture it by over styling and blow drying. Oil your hair regularly. Heat coconut oil slightly before application. In this way it penetrates deeper in to the scalp. Don't wash your hair daily..it rubs off all the moisture from hair. Also prefer towel/air dry over blow drying. Go for Hair spas regularly or you can even deep condition your hair at home.

With all said, there is even a short cut for longer, beautiful hair..hair extensions! BHF Hair is one such website that offers a gamut of option for elongating your hair. They have free shipping for all items and also have 30 day money back guarantee.

Clip in Hair Extensions: You can opt for different colours according to your preferences or to match your natural hair colour. They have blonde, brunette, red, dark hair, etc etc. These are 100% human hair and very easy to attatch. You can opt for your desired length and the number of clips. These are good clips with silicon insert directly under each claw to ensure a tight grip and prevent slipping. They are super easy to use and even easier to style!

Tape in Hair extensions: These are 100% virgin human hair with lots of styling options. These are fastened by special BHF tape which uses high ranking protein mucus and special hair lock cells design. These hair have natural lustre and you can style them as you want. They don't tangle nor break and have no weight!

So what is your mantra to getting longer hair?

4/20/2018 2 comments

So there I was in my dream city of Venice which is considered to be one of the most romantic places on earth. We had been roaming in the Veneto district for the past 20 hours but this was the first time we set foot in actual Venice, the land of canals. I was happy and sad too. Elated as it had been my fantasy for the last 15 years and sad since we had so little time. Also it had been raining non stop and it was really cold. All the other tourists were in their best winter clothing while we had just a formal jacket on. How I wished the rain stopped.

The rain finally stopped. The sun came out beautifully but not before 12 noon. And when it did, we all sat beside the grand canal basking in the sun. We climbed up and down at least a hundred bridges over the endless canals and canaliculi. Venice is very crowded. I mean that in the early hours (8 to 9 am) it was bustling with tourists. Venice is to be walked. I mean there are no motors. The only motors were in the water. I mean the canals were overfilled with water taxis, vaporetti, speedboats and all sort of motors that sent out black smoke. The only eco friendly option was the gondola.

Coming to the gondola, its ride is one of the most extravagant things to be done in Venice. I lot of people skip it altogether or go for sharing to save money. My partner wanted to share but I had been adamant right from India. I had specifically kept 100 euro aside for the gondola ride. Along with the visit to Venice, the gondola ride had been my dream too.

We approached the gondola station for the ride when we saw that they were not operating because of bad weather conditions. The wind was bad and there was a chance that the gondola could get capsized. We waited for the sun to come out.

Crestfallen we decided to have pizza. We had one with spinach and goat cheese and the other one with verdura (vegetables). We had them beside the Grand Canal while basking under the sun. Yes, the sun finally came out and it was noon! It was one memorable experience!

Tummy full, we again made a line to the gondola station. This time it was really crowded. I mean in whichever station we went, there was a long queue. We decided to stand in the queue or our turn would never come! Finally one more dream of mine was going to come true!

For most of us Indians, we associate the gondola ride in the Grand Canal of Venice with the very famous Bollywood song:' Do Lafzon ki ye dil ki Kahani' from the movie Great Gambler. That was a very high budget movie of the 80s and I know why and how. The great Amitabh Bachan and hottie Zeenat Aman woo each other on a gondola. After that, there has been many movies (Hollywood and Bollywood ) that have been shot in Venice and the gondola. I however was not influenced by the silver screen.

I have professed my fascination for Venice here. That was 20 years back. Yes I was a tiny kiddo! That little boy showed his home in Venice; the carnival, the canals and the gondola ride. It was since then my fascination for the ride in this royal boat began. It was years after when I got married to my Bollywood addict husband; I came to know about this movie. Lately, Deepika and Ranbeer , Akshay and Kareena and many other regional actors have shot here.

It was a no brainer that I wanted a Gondola ride. However many travellers skip it or share the ride to save bucks. It is one of the costliest activities in Venice. 80 euro for a 30 minute ride and 100 euro for rides after 7pm! I had asked my partner to keep aside 100 euro for the ride.

We got to sit in the Gondola after about half an hour of standing in the queue. As soon as I sat, the feeling was surreal. Our sailor did not speak much but he whistled a number of times.

We started rowing in a small canal. There were low bridges where we had to kneel down. We saw old Venetian houses. We started clicking pictures quickly. However whenever we would focus on a particular backdrop, by the time the shutter clicked, we would move further. Anyways 30 minutes is such a short duration. We did not even know when we reached the last leg of our ride.

The last ten minutes our gondola sailed from the small canal into the Grand Canal. We saw Marco Polo's house and then saw the Rialto Bridge and the St Mark's Square from a distance. It was the most beautiful view of Venice..the quintessential postcard picture. Husband managed to take a quick click with my phone when our gondola took a turn. We reached the deboarding station. I still could not believe that it was over!

I wish we could have stayed there longer...even if not for an entire day but at least for an hour! But of course we could not afford to spend 200 euros for a boat ride!

One thing was absolutely true for Italians as had been shown in the movie Eat, Pray, Love! Dolce far niente meaning the sweetness of doing nothing! There was a long queue after us for the ride. But our sailor chose not to give them a ride and went to have lunch; since it was his lunch time! How strange! They really don't run after money like we workaholics!

So even if the 'Boat ride' was hell lot of expensive, it's definitely the most romantic thing to do in this city of canals...or at least according to me!

4/14/2018 2 comments

Delhi has a myriad of options when it comes to fine dining. There are plenty of hubs that offer almost everything under the sun! Staying in Delhi for more than 15 years and being a foodie too has made me explore this city by length and breadth. My favourite places apart from malls are Hauz Khas Village, Shahpur Jat, Khan Market, DLF Cyber Hub and my dear old Defence Colony (college memories) Although I love hanging out in all these places, my absolute favourite is Hauz Khas Village.

The greenery, the historical ruins, the innumerable dining options, designer boutiques and of course the lake make this place close to my heart. We make it a point to explore a new eatery in this area every month. I always prefer a lake view place over anything else. This Sunday we had lunch in Masha and I am in love with this place ever since!

Located on the first floor inside the village, this place offers an excellent view of the lake.

Masha is an Arabian themed restaurant. As soon as you enter, you are greeted by a mystic environment. Skulls on the walls with peppy music playing in the background. However as you walk past the bar, you realize that they have an outdoor area too with a lovely lake view! I Decided to sit outside for obvious reasons.

Ambiance and decor: 5/5

Mocktails: I ordered a Cinderella for myself and a virgin Pina Colada for my partner. Cinderella was an orange based refreshing drink. Pina Colada on the other hand was a delicious creamy pineapple based drink. Later on I had a Shirley temple which was very cooling in the Delhi afternoon.

Starters: I had fish fingers first which was lovely. I loved the batter coated tender fried fish with dip. Then I had chicken pizza which was absolutely delicious! Cheesy and flavorful.

Then I had grilled chicken which was tender and flavorful. It was served with hummus and pickled vegetable slices which was even more delicious. Don't forget to dip the veggie slices in hummus!

The chicken skewers were nice too.

Staff is friendly.

Service is a bit slow.

I would definitely come back again. The vibe of this place is mind blowing!

Coming to the outfit, this top is from Zaful and has every favourite feature of mine: it's smocked, off shoulder as well as has bell sleeves! Did you notice the bag? It has French fries stitched on it! I have decided to take it to every food meet!

Top: Zaful.com

Skirt: Forever 21 (Philippines)

Purse: Zaful.com

Sunnies: Aldo

4/12/2018 6 comments

Our Turkey trip was our first in many aspects. After hearing a lot about B and Bs, we decided to take the plunge. Before this we were completely hotel stayers and it would not hurt to try an apartment for once. So we crossed our fingers and booked an apartment. Bookings.com had good reviews about it and we hoped for the best.

Warm welcome with a hot cup of coffee after a sleepless and jetlagged night of journey...

The main reason for choosing Sophia Apartments or Centre apartments was its location. It was located in Sultanahmat, the heart of Istanbul and all the main tourist spots were in the vicinity. Also the metro station and tram station were nearby. Having said that, it was far from the airport. In this trip we decided to be super adventurous and ditched the taxi. So we bought the 'Istanbul Kart'. It's very similar to our Delhi metro card ; the only difference being that the Istanbul Kart was valid for all means of public transport..bus, tram, metro and ferry.

Charging the Kart was one hell of a problem. The upside was that we could use a single card for multiple persons. As soon as we had landed in Istanbul, we had been facing language problem. Immigration was long and we were exhausted after about 24 hours of journey. We quickly made our way out of the airport towards the Metro station. Buying the Istanbul Kart was simple but recharging it was a mammoth task. There were no clear cut instructions in English. Finally a policeman came to our rescue and we boarded the train.

We were required to change two metros for reaching the Sulatnahmat station. The real task began after we deboarded the train. According to Google map it was about 15 minutes walk from there. We followed my husband's internal GPS (brain) and proceeded. When we reached what we thought to be THE place, we started searching for Centre Apartments. There were rows of houses everywhere but none read Centre Apartment nor any passer by could tell us where it was. After about one hour of hunting, I sat on the road. We were ready to give up and had accepted it to be fraud. I wish I could have taken pictures of those moments but believe me were sweating with stress. We had paid everything and paying for a new hotel involved uncalled expenses. Even their phone was unreachable. I vowed never to book an apartment again.

In front of the Sofia Apartments.. the entire neighborhood rented out space for travellers

One of the neighbours was very sweet and he accompanied my husband in knocking door to door. I sat on the pavement exhausted and crestfallen with all our luggage. After a total of three hours on the road, they finally knocked on the right door. Yes we finally found Centre Apartments!

I was quite furious when we entered. I mean why no board or sign? Are we fools? We lost three hours of precious travel time! However our mood changed immediately after meeting our hosts. The house was very beautiful and they were very sweet ( not to mention they were very good looking too). We were greeted with a warm cup of coffee. We quickly freshened up and left for the nearest spots of the city.

A very warm welcome by the younger brother...Kenan Baktas

It was around eleven when we came back. It had already been 48 hours that we had slept. Our last sleep was in Santorini 2 days back. Anyways that did not deter us from enjoying more.

With the entire warm family and our new Italian friends...

Our hosts were two brothers. The elder one was a family of four while the younger one Kenan was of my age. Since Kenan knew English, we became very good friends. We are still in touch.

With our new Italian friends...Diane and Mauro. Yummy Turkish Tea and roast chicken. I made Maggi for hubs in the microwave

That night apart from us, an Italian couple was also there as guests. Kenan was making grilled chicken and he invited us to join. We all four sat on the dining table and started chatting. It did not take much time to break the ice. We chatted from topics ranging from travel to politics...anything that we could think of. It was two in the morning. Kenan made us delicious Turkish Tea. We chatted and chatted till our eyes gave up. We were humans after all.

48 hours of sleeplessness yet we were still chatting!

I consider that night of bonding with three foreigners the best part of our entire trip. It is one experience that is going to be etched in our minds forever. A world traveller has to be open minded. After having such an awesome experience at an apartment, we have decided to stay like this in our next trip too :D

Turkish Delight and Baklava shop

Beautiful Turkish lamps in front of the apartments...

Wooden staircase...

The foyer

The dining room

Here is what all we learnt from the trip that made me fall in love with the world even more:

1. People are very helpful. I mean in a foreign land like Turkey, everyone went ahead to help us...starting from the policeman who helped recharge our Istanbul Kart to that stranger who accompanied my husband in locating Centre Apartments. If he was not there, God knows when we could have found our B n B. Having a local help you is the greatest blessing in a foreign land.

2. Staying in someone's apartment is the coolest thing ever! I mean this is the closest one can get to a foreign culture. The best way to learn about their personal as well as domestic habits.

3. The Turkish are very warm and are incredibly hospitable. I mean it was no where written to serve us chicken in the evening or brew us fresh Turkish tea in the middle of the night. Neither it was mandatory to serve us coffee right after we arrived. They were simply kind.

4. Midnight chats are simply the best even if it involves participants from three different countries (and religions)! We not only came closer to Turkish culture but to Italian culture too through that lovely Italian couple! The best part? We are still friends and in touch through Facebook.