Catfish, Blakes, and a wonderful evening of entertainment

Wow!! So it’s been a month already since I got back? Thank you God for life, love, and all that good stuff, I’m definitely grateful!

Ok, let’s pretend I’m not back yet, or better still, that it’s the last week before I get back.

On Wednesday I spent a lovely evening with @attaswitch, @glamblackbarbie, and @tilishoz at Yogurrberry, one of the many spots in a place called Food City. I had beautifully grilled cod from Fish Place; well marinated and softly grilled so it was literally dripping with juices. The black sauce (native to Ghana) was a nice touch, was hot but I really enjoyed it! And the tomatoes, oh the crunchy yet succulent tomatoes! And they were kind enough to give me more slices when I ‘Oliver twisted’, plenty brownie points there!

Did I mention I met @maihoto (photographer/entrepreneur extraordinaire) for the first time there? Really cool to chat and share our food/business experiences!

Thursday I hung out at Vanity for a friend’s birthday party, and then it was off to Play for my first BYOB in almost 18 months.

Friday was the real deal though, boom! I went (on invitation) to Blakes with Deji and Peter. Deji is a seasoned (as in well spiced) content producer, editor, story teller, project manager (I could go on and on), while Peter’s an environmentalist, a German who’s in Nigeria (for the first time) interning with Heinrich Boll.

We got in, three children of God with dreadlocks (yes I locked my hair again), so everyone just assumed (wrongly) that we would be speaking patois, and it was hilarious to hear various versions with the greetings we got.

Anyway! We had chicken suya (wasn’t very impressed), and then we had grilled catfish. Boom! Was lovely! I took pictures, yep, yep!

By this time the performances had started. I made quite a few videos but we were sat upstairs so they’re a little far away. I promise you’ll be able to see what we saw, and the audio is great too!

Started with this guy doing tricks, lovely!

Then there were two guys dancing; I would advise them not to give up their day jobs, honestly.

Then this impression of Fela that was so cool, it got us up on our feet!

Aha! There was this guy who swung from Elton John to Carlos Santana, wasn’t impressed, especially since his back up singer was wearing knee high boots!

The clincher was the guy who sang Diallo, and then went on sing quite a few of Bob Marley’s songs. We were already up on our feet anyway, so we rocked to it!

And then it was time to go! We were exhausted, but I’m sure we all had a lovely time, and Peter enjoyed the fish! Was a nice way to wrap on a fabulous month in Nigeria, and I look forward to when I can go back to Blakes again!

P: S – Written exactly one month ago (wee hours of the morning of the 30^th).

Try a little tenderness!

Don’t know if I prefer Jay Z and Kanye West’s version of the ‘Otis‘ song better than the original – some of the bars are interesting, but there’s something very ‘feel goodish’ about the old school version.

‘Try a little tenderness‘ is the focus of my chronicle today. It’s easy for us to be nasty when we feel we’re in a higher position than the next man – we act like we are bestowing favors when we manage to be courteous to people who appear to have less favourable circumstances than we do. Why do we think kindness/courteousness/chivalry should be alien to employees, servicemen, and people in general? It’s shameful, and the reason why, respect her work as I do, this article by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani disgusted me to no end.

I’ve spent the last two weeks in the Eastern part of Nigeria, and suffice to say I’ve had a great time with my family (chronicle on that will be ready soon) and I’ve gotten a lot of stuff done that I’m happy with.

Went to the airport with Momma this morning, checked in, and when my flight was announced, kissed Momma and went to board.

Walking towards my seat at the rear and there was this guy trying to fit a large hand luggage piece into the overhead locker. Even a two-year old could tell the box wouldn’t fit so I don’t get why he kept at it.

Now, the plane is a DASH 8 Q400, so it’s one of the much smaller planes, with a capacity for just over a hundred people (if I counted the seats right). Plus, it has the tiniest conveniences ever! I’m five feet six or so and I was almost literally bending over! If you’re taller than I am and you’re flying … to any of the less popular destinations, chances are you’ll have a tiny plane too so do your business before you board. And thank me later.

Back to the guy with the luggage. There was an air hostess beside him (trying to get through to her station), and unknown to him in trying to fit in his luggage he was hitting her head with it.

She told him he wouldn’t be able to fit his stuff in (since his brain didn’t register it) and told him to take the luggage out so it could be tagged and stowed. To my surprise and utter irritation he starting shouting at her! He said stuff like she shouldn’t hurry him, he’s doing her job, etc.

She tried to explain that his hand luggage was his responsibility and it really wasn’t going to fit but he wasn’t having none of it, preferring to raise his voice and talk down at her. When she mentioned she needed to get through and the box was hitting her head, he called her names and continued with the ‘if you had done your job right my luggage would be stowed already’ line.

At this point she turned and walked away, and returned with a supervisor who told the ma to take his luggage out for it to be tagged. Guess what? He did! So what was all the ruckus about earlier? Did he have to raise his voice, or call her names? No.

I would have been totally embarrassed if  I knew this fellow so you can imagine the look on my face when he said hello to me later and asked my name. Shaking my head! This type will easily hit a woman. Baby animal, lol.

To my mind, it’s a lot easier to be nice, to be courteous, and worst case scenario, to be civil. I made a conscious decision immediately to be nicer to everyone I meet; do you think you could do that too?

Hugs, and welcome to a new month!

P:S – written on the 25th of March 2013.

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Thank You’s – you knew I would do this didn’t you?

On the 7th of March, I boarded a BA 083 to Nigeria, Abuja to be precise. The trip was the culmination of about five months of work on a series my father wrote. The ‘God Wants You’ series explores God’s plans for different aspects of our lives and guides on how we can live out those plans and promises.

Working with Lordbanks, my friend and Chief Technical Officer of CC Consulting, we coordinated the proofreading, cover  and website designs, concepts for the books and the launch, and a bit of logistics too. Lordbanks flew in and was a great help on the day, and I’m just so grateful for friends/business partners that have become family.

I’m also very grateful to the Local Organizing Committee for being such pillars of support to my parents. For attending meetings, fundraising, being literally at this beck and call, you won’t ever lack people to stand by/for you o! I will err if I started mentioning names and miss out on any so can I express my thanks to the Chairman of the LOC for everyone? God bless you richly!

To everyone who came in on the day of the launch, from far and wide, you are all amazing! I’m so grateful you turned up to honor and support your own. To my foster grandparents, Papa and Mama Diai, even in your frailty you made it down… Just remembered the tears that flooded down Momma’s face when I led Papa Diai into the hall, precious memories. Thank you Mama and Papa for loving us, we love you too!

To my Pastor and Father in the faith, Pastor Goodheart Obi Ekwueme, God sent me to you/you to me. Thank you for every word of encouragement, every word of prayer; you are the definition of the word ‘shepherd’. And thank you for writing that very powerful foreword! God bless you and your family richly!

A very big thank you to my friends who stood by me when there was so much to do it nearly drove me mad! Thank you for being ever-present sources of warmth and encouragement. To my darling Wumi, the best friend anyone could ask for, the one to whom I am ‘Ada Obosi’, and to Ace, thank you!

To my sister (Inne), brothers (Kizaro and Qintaro), and our #Ogaatthetop himself (Boo Boo), we’re such a team! You guys are the lights in my sky, thank you for being there and helping out (in person or in spirit, or by just being the reason we smiled at the end of really long days)! There’s only one way people – UP!

To my Momma, nne m oma! The glue holding everything and everyone together, our prayer warrior (with direct access to God’s hotline), thank you for being you! For smoothening all the rough edges, cooking all those wonderful protein based meals for me (team rock hard body), and for worrying (the way only you can), you did a lot more to help than you think you did. And we love you to the moon and back! We do!

To the Patriarch himself! The author of the first six in the ‘God Wants You’ series (Boss! Who else writes six at a go), the ‘builder’, and the best father anyone could ask for, we did it! They can’t hold you back! You’re bigger, better, and this is just the beginning! (Thank you Daddy for running the generator a lot more than you’d do normally so I wouldn’t die from the heat, and especially for coming into my room every night the power came back on just to switch on my air-conditioning.) You’re a star! Love you plenty!

To God, for life, love, family, and all the beautiful things in-between, receive all the thanks, praise and adoration; today, and forever.

Whoop!

OF FLIGHTS, HEAT, MY BLACKBERRY, AND SOME!

Ok! So I’d been looking forward to my trip to Nigeria from the day I landed in London in January (wondering how this settlement business is going to work if I don’t stop feeling this way). Anyway, so I’d been looking forward to it, my little treasure chest of goodies was filling up slowly, I bought the ticket, and then the countdown began. Plus, there’s a trip to Asaba embedded in this one so I get to see my folks and eat of my mom’s magical cooking! Whoop!

I must say I was scared when half the tweets from my friends in Abuja were about the heat and dismal power supply; seven days after touching down and my fears were not unfounded. I can almost say I wasn’t even as afraid as I should have been!

True to form, I packed on the day of the trip; no surprises there at all. For some funny reason I had a major Burger King craving the entire day (haven’t been since September and I’m super proud of myself) but I didn’t go. Ended up with Nando’s chicken, sanu all-protein diet!

Got to the airport, checked in, bought chocolates, settled in and waited to board. Boarded, and started watching ‘The Sapphires’ almost immediately – got through with all the ‘good bye’ and ‘see you soon’ calls first though.

Dinner was chicken tikka masala. I ate o, including the rice. I was hungry, who runs on only two chicken breasts and malt for an entire day? Especially the crazy day I had.

First movie over, and I must say I wasn’t really really impressed with it. I enjoyed all the singing but from seeing the trailer, I just expected more. Anyway, I started on ‘Hotel Transylvania’ but I slept half way through it. Woke up just as we were prepping to land so I filled out my immigration form, and started putting my stuff together.

Touched down (thank you Jesus), and because I traveled with family and together we had nine pieces of luggage, of course we had the Nigeria Customs Service to deal with. They wanted to look through all nine pieces, and then said four of the boxes had items we had to pay duty on.  I went into their office and the officer behind the desk asked a colleague what items were in the boxes.  As they told him, he would look up, and then write down a figure.

After watching him for a few minutes I asked if there was an items list he was consulting in determining the figures he was writing down. He said no, that he was using his discretion. What!&%$?! By the time he finished, the bill came to N55, 650, and then he gave us a discount (he alone knows what percentage) and we ended up paying N25, 000.  Two thoughts haven’t left my mind since then:

• How hard is it to create a formula and publicize it so both Customs officials and the general public know how import duty fees are derived? What’s to say we didn’t get ripped off that day?
• How much duty does the government lose each day because of these ‘discounts’ and what’s the criteria for qualifying for them?

That’s the officer writing down figures – not a single computer in the office. *sigh*

It wasn’t this smooth mind you, I just saved time and space by leaving out the bits with the horrible attitude of one particular officer with an ‘Ekpensi’ name tag. He’s the type that’ll be forming boss but in an interview refer to his ‘Oga at the top’. #Fail

Got into town, caught a nap, ran to the bank, and then to the best part, I went to pick my nephew from school! My darling boy!! He has three teeth now, how time flies!!

My darling boy!

 

So far I’m like two shades darker from the heat, I average about three baths a day just to stay sane, and my Blackberry (which I got in February), just decided it wants to trip off and reboot every seven minutes! I won’t even get started on MTN’s dropped calls, and PHCN that is only fit to be buried.

I’ll say instead that I’m excited to be home again, because I truly am!

 

 

 

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That Irish Weekend….. PT3

Welcome to the third and concluding part of the ‘That Irish Weekend’ series; parts one and two are here and here. 

Before I go on, I think (read as I know) I would do well as a travel writer, I just can’t help moving around! For me sometimes I think the buzz lies in the fact that ‘oh I’m going somewhere’; mode of transportation, accommodation don’t really count (even though I have a low threshold for inconveniencing myself, lol), the joy is in the ‘movement’. So this is me putting myself out, need someone to explore a destination? Hola!!

Back to my weekend. Had a massive breakfast (whoop), and then it was time to head out to visit St Valentine‘s shrine. Matter of fact, one of the greatest incentives for this trip was finding out I would be able to pray at his Shrine, especially in this month of love! We set off for Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church, and it’s such a magnificent building! Truth is Dublin has loads of ancient buildings, and I’m always, always at home in such places. It feels like there’s so much history in the air, so much to explore, to learn, and to encounter! Found this site with a bit of additional reading on St Valentine

We got in, and I lit a candle, said a prayer, wrote a prayer, and then….. took pictures! Don’t even scrunch your nose or anything, it’s a major tourist site, and how else would I convince you I was there?

Writing a prayer request…. St Valentine pray for us!

Lighting a candle for my family….

Pious mode, there was so much to be amazed by, was just in awe!

This box contains a tinge of St Valentine’s blood!!! Awesome!!!

View of one of the shrines….

Not really sure who’s on the sides but I know that’s Jesus crucified in the middle….

After a very fulfilling time at the church, we set off to find a place to watch the Nigeria vs Cote d’Ivoire African Cup of Nations (AFCON) match. Went to a spot called the living room but they were charging €5 entry. Why on earth? The day before Ireland played rugby, wonder how much they would have charged then, SMH. We went back to The Woolshed Baa and Grill, and had a really lovely platter of nachos with guacamole, cheese, and chili! Then we watched the match, and the Super Eagles did us proud!!! We won!! Whoop!! 2-1!!

Didn’t make it to the Guinness Storehouse in time for the final admission so I didn’t get to the tour, sigh. I wasn’t too upset though because even though I’m never chuffed by football, it was great to watch our boys play, and win! If we had lost I would have been livid.

I took some pictures outside sha, and like one of the staff told us, it’s an excuse to visit again!!

At Guinness Storehouse, was trying to form vex…

Covering my face in mock anger, how could we have missed last admissions?

Honestly? Don’t know what I was saying here….

Fine gyal!! Bombaclat!!

Aha!!! Random photo – Saw this store, apparently Primark in the UK is Penney’s in Ireland!

I have quite a few more pictures from this trip o, I think at last count they were about 300, but I understand that your purpose for existence is not to look at pictures (lol) so I did 10 per post. Just had to say that.

I’m grateful for a peaceful, extra productive weekend, for finances, safe travels, food, good health, and for privileges I don’t deserve, but enjoy. God is good to me. I must also thank Teju for the awesome pictures, and for showing and taking me around. You rock!

Next trip? Not sure yet, but you’ll be the first to know!

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That Irish Weekend….. PT2

Hello you!! So we’re on to the second part of the series covering my weekend in Ireland, first bit of that trip is here.

Saturday morning, I had Cheerios for breakfast; been a long time I had that! Breakfast these days is an assortment of whole wheat cereal, nuts, and dried bananas. By the way, I can’t stand raisins, and I pick out each and every one from my Fruit and Fibre pack; each and every one!

Had a very productive morning writing, reading, editing – something very big is happening at the end of March and I’m coordinating quite a bit of the back-end work, thank God for strength, and a wonderful business partner. In other news, stuff is still ongoing but there have been some major changes to www.chiomachuka.com – go have a look! And get in touch if you need anything, ok?

Then, I went to the Zoo!!! Whoop!!! This is where this post gets mega interesting, because we’re going to be looking at some pictures next! Whoop!

The iguana!!! I should get one of these as a pet…. not!

I really like this picture….

One word – boss!!!!

Very funny poster… Thought it was only us humans who made posters like this…

Oya check o! Who’s your closest cousin?

What was this wild deer doing amongst the giraffes? Talk about mistaken identity!!!

Don’t remember the name of this bird, just know it really really reallly looked somehow….

Elephants didn’t stop poking at their food, didn’t even give us a show…. *sigh*

Of course I had my moleskin, I was making notes! How else would this blog post cover everything?

After a very lovely day… Was tired, and the sun was in m already itchy eyes….

Don’t worry, I’ll upload the rest of my pictures to Flickr, and then embed them here so you can see everything in it’s original size. Shout out to Teju for taking the uber awesome pictures!

Went to Woolshed Baa and Grill afterwards, had steak and mash. Was great but I’ve definitely had better – Angus Steakhouse on Oxford street is just one of those fabulous places for steak!!

Got home, passed out (was stuffed). Meant of course that I didn’t get to sleep till almost 5am but I didn’t care, I’d had an awesome, peaceful, extra interesting day!

Toodles!

That Irish Weekend… PT1

This series of posts cover a recent trip to Ireland, first weekend in February… Woke up and decided I would go, and I did. Enjoy it!

Thursday – had a pretty easy day, made palm oil rice with dry fish from Port Harcourt, was to die for!! Note to the #DearFutureHusband – get it together and show up already!! Need to put some meat on your bones, lol! Bedtime, couldn’t sleep; been having major issues sleeping since I got back from Nigeria. It’s become a cause for concern o, and it’s not like I take naps in the day or anything. One particular day I made the mistake of sleeping for an hour in the evening, woke up by 9pm and didn’t sleep till noon the next day! Crazy… very crazy. Of course the insomnia comes with the attendant headaches and stuff, not good at all… I don’t want to get stuck on sleeping pills, and I’ve counted sheep, dimmed my lights, played soft music, exerted myself physically, nothing helps. My eyes shine till 3am, and then I still get up at 7am the next day.

Friday - was up by 7am, had family in so I had to stock the house. By the way, in my wisdom I only packed this morning, so you can imagine all the rushing, last-minute decisions, etc. Popped to ASDA, and in-between getting through my shopping list and speeding through the aisles, I dropped £90, found out at check out. Nearly passed out, dang!!! Retraced my steps, didn’t find it, so I went to the Customer Care desk just to satisfy myself, only to be told that someone picked it up and handed it in!!! Whoop!!! Whoop!!! Thank you, whoever that person was!!

Reminds me of me leaving my brand new Nokia (Christmas gift from my darling aunty Pat) on the Fastrack A bus plying the Bluewater -Greenhithe route. I’d been out shopping, doing returns from Christmas shopping and getting a lesson in Final Cut Pro from the Apple Store. Was exhausted, and after making a call on the bus, I left the phone on my seat. Realised while I was walking home so I went back to Bluewater and was told to either wait 40 minutes for that driver to come back and/or leave my details and someone would be in touch in the morning. Decided to wait the longest, silliest 40 minutes of my life because I stood outside instead of inside, and it was between zero and two degrees. Driver came back, I told him I lost my phone, quick verification, and I got my phone back!! Whoop!!!

*Note to self – easy on losing things Madam!!*

Back to my trip, Aer Lingus flight was for 1.13pm, it’d take me an hour 30 minutes to get to the airport, and I got on the train by 11. 18am; cutting it so close, that’s another thing I need to stop doing!!

Now, because I was only going to be away for a weekend, didn’t see the need to check in my hand luggage, especially for £12. Thing is, I forgot that all the liquids in my toilet bag weren’t ‘hand luggage compliant’, so I lost them at the Security Checkpoint. A whole FCUK range, plus my perfume, even my toothpaste! Nearly cried, I know how much those things cost!!

Was impressed with the retina scanning at the security gate though, the strides we’re taking thanks to technology.

Aha! So I was the last person to board, and my saving grace was I checked in at home (major shout out to Ace for imprinting the ‘check in at home’ thing in my mind). Once I settled in, I slept. Woke up to a bit of turbulence; we’d been warned earlier but honestly it felt like we were landing (it was that bad), and then an old man swearing almost non stop cos of the rough landing we had. Was almost funny, till I heard that Irish Radio presenters ‘kinda’ swear on air, they say ‘feck’. 

Late lunch at Nando’s (first time this year), got some clarityn for my itchy eyes, made my new tea infusion (will share the secret soon), and then I started on a bit of editing, writing, that kind of stuff.

Just so you know, I slept past 3am!

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CAIRO!!! WHOOP!!!

Ok!! So, the correct progression of my christmas travels is London to Cairo, had a one hour stop over then it was Cairo to Abuja. Spent a lovely Christmas in Nigeria touching Lagos, Asaba, Calabar, and Abuja (of course), then it was time to head back and that birthed the Abuja to Cairo post! Didn’t do a Cairo back to London post (no need, was pretty uneventful) but I definitely did a Cairo post. It’s this one!! Whoop!!

Ok, so following up from the Abuja to Cairo post, I woke up about 7am, refreshed from a long, peaceful night’s rest. Told myself I would have a shower and then go down for breakfast; next thing I knew it was 9am and I was still struggling to open my second eye.

30 minutes late I was in the breakfast room, and the only thing I can say is that Egyptians eat some really weird things!! I can imagine that’s what they’d say about some of our traditional stuff too though; I remember one of my English friends calling my delicious meal of eba and okro soup ‘dodgy’…. said the okro soup was ‘slimy’. Lol!

Anyways, Breakfast was lovely though, and my omelette was on point!! Kinda torn between who does eggs better now, me or them! I think it’s me though, has to be me…

Spent a few minutes in the travel shop in the hotel, and I saw this collage of notes I just had to take pictures of! Hopefully my picture is clear enough for me to ask you to do me a favor, find your home currency, or tell me how many currencies you can identify! Ready? Go!

Look!

look!

Look!

Speaking of money, the night I got in, I changed $100 at one of the banks at the airport. I didn’t count what he gave me back, and I was so tired all I heard was ‘something something 48 Egyptian Pounds; it was in the shop in the hotel I found out he had given me 648 Egyptian Pounds! So now you know the exchange rate, and I was happy I had a bit of spending money!

Bought two vials of Egyptian oil scents, mixes of Nefertiti, Horsi, vanilla, and something that had a wood/cigar smell, can’t remember the name now. They smelled amazing individually, but the mix was just on point!! I should patent it or something…

My new mash-up collection…. Can’t wait to start using them!

We wrapped up nicely because it was a really chilly morning, and then went out on a tour of the city! Went to the River Nile first; there’s a major drainage issue with the roads because the little bit of rain that morning and everywhere was literally flooded! Not flooded washing away houses kind of flooded o, just a level of water above the road. Not good. And all the cars I saw were filthy!

Headed through inner city streets to the pyramids, the best part of the tour for me!! Below are ten of my best pictures; I’ll find time to upload all the rest to my Flickr or something…

Olameday, Hannah and I at the River Nile…

Keke napep!! Whoop!!

KFC and Pizza Hut… bet all the meat is halal!!

One of the three pyramids….

Another favorite!

Loved this!!! My favorite picture!!

Riding in the carriage!!

@Olameday and I!

Our tour guide….

Lol!!! Crazy driver he was!!

One of the many statues I saw…. Nice!

Ran into some epic traffic on the drive back to the hotel but we made it, and rushed through lunch. I got royally ticked off by some other Nigerians (babies in adult bodies, SMH), but got it together enough to be civil.

Got to the airport, we were already checked in so I retrieved my passport and it was of to board!

Wait!! On the way to our boarding gate, @Olameday and I couldn’t help stopping by the Haagen Daz counter? Want to see what I got?

Waffles, vanilla and chocolate chip ice cream! Whoop!

Ok, back to the plane now. Yep, I slept, almost as soon as the plane took off.

Cairo was fun!! I pray for them today, that they sort out their issues and truly experience the all-inclusive democracy they desire. Amen.

CATCHUP!! ABJ TO LHR…..

Hello!!

Remember I said I was catching on blog posts of trips I’d made in 2012? So I know we’re already in 2013 (ending the first month in a couple days sef) but that doesn’t stop me from going back to September 2012, and unearthing this chronicle filled with drama of epic proportions!

Having completed a bit of work I’d been in Nigeria for, it was time to return to ‘Rondon’. Bought an Air France ticket (cheapest at the time), and i remember asking, ‘what’s with BA and pricing abeg’; the difference between their prices and what I got off Air France was almost £1000! *I know I’m getting to the place where I won’t batt an eyelid to buy a ticket bet err, we’re not quite there yet*

Ok, so in the name of the cheapest option I’d booked ABJ-Charles De Gaulle-Orly-LHR. CDG and Orly are in France and I’d assumed that since I was just changing airports, I’d be alright. Momma said to confirm (since I didn’t have a Schengen) but I told her to chill, saying there was no need.

Two days to the flight for some reason I rang CDG and explained my route to an official (I think I’d bought the ticket by then). He explained that because it was independent operators running the transfers between the airports, I would need a Schengen and since I didn’t have one, it would be one of two things: I would have been turned back at the airport in Abuja and if for some reason I got to CDG, I’d be turned back too. What!!!!! The speed with which I got to Sheraton the next morning to reroute ehn! Worked out cheaper too, by N700. Lol!

Fast forward to the night I was to leave. Checked in online, and got to the airport but for some reason they closed the check-in counter 10-20 minutes early. In other words, I missed the flight. First time ever. After we spoke all the English possible, ranted, raved, they didn’t let us check in; there must have been about 12 of us. From the Alhaji who bulldozed his way through security, to the Igbo guys who brought their brother headed to start a Masters Degree programme, to the lady who had tears in her eyes, we all got turned back.

Got to Sheraton early the next day to reschedule the flight, and the only option was to upgrade to premium economy with an additional N119, 230 or wait a week. While I was paying, the lady from the night before came in and when she called someone ( I suspect her husband) to tell him of the cost implication, the way he started yelling (we could hear and no it wasn’t on speaker) broke my heart. He just went on and on and on and on. God won’t let me end up with someone who yells like that o.

All sorted, I got to the airport by 3.45pm (once bitten twice shy) to check in and drop my luggage; was the first one there. As I was leaving, one of the staff called me back and said they’d been instructed to upgrade me to business class. Whoop! Thank you!

When it was time, we boarded, and yes, I cried. Lol. You must be tired of me crying on planes now. Then I slept (very comfortably, lol), and only woke every other hour to eat (I have this thing for food on planes). Any other ‘plane-food lovers out there?

Meal two.. *smiling* Don’t even judge me!

Fruit and yoghurt…. *smiling* Yoghurt was wonderful…

*still smiling*

We got to Paris, and my ‘economy mind’ didn’t remember I had a business class ticket so I was in the long queue to check in for the flight to London! Let me preach a bit; occurred to me later that that’s how sometimes as children of God we ‘forget’ our place as kings and princes on earth and start to scavenge for leftovers. *sigh*

After a few minutes of standing and almost cursing (there’d been no progress on the line), I saw a gate marked, ‘Priority’. It hit me that my boarding pass read ‘priority’ too and so after chuckling to myself, I went through that gate, got checked in immediately, and had enough time to get a latte and make a call before it was time to board!

Sat beside a lady who was tacking the hem of her trousers; she went into the bathroom, wore a skirt, came out, tacked her trousers, and then went back in, coming out in those trousers!! Correct lady!!

Got into London ok, and immediately started counting down to Christmas, and the trip home via Egypt Air, which I’ve already written about, and can be found here and here.

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ABUJA to CAIRO…..

All good things come to an end right? It came to pass that on a certain day, the return leg of my London-Abuja ticket became valid. Therefore, it was time to kiss Nigeria good-bye and head back to cold, loveless London.

That morning, I gave my darling Boo Boo a bath, prepped him for crèche (yes he goes to crèche and he has a book too), and then I got myself ready. I sped to my hairstylist’s to change my nail varnish (only I can tell why I left it till the day I was to travel) and when I’d waited for 20 minutes after the time I’d agreed we’d meet, I put the car in reverse to leave. As an aside, why do people tick you off intentionally, and then beg? Why?

Next stop was at my aunt’s, tailor was supposed to meet me there. I agree with the person who told me that my relationship with the tailor existed because I enjoyed a certain level of sadomasochism, i.e. causing myself pain. Of course he didn’t bring everything he was supposed to bring,  but that’s content for a totally different blog post!

Ran off to my sister’s to kiss her good-bye (we were both very brave), remember wiping a tear when I drove past Boo Boo’s crèche; only  reason I didn’t go in there was I knew I’d cry myself into changing the date of my flight!

By this time I’d gotten like three calls from my Dad asking if I was checked in at the airport, and errrrr, it was just past 10am. For a 1.30pm flight? And with benefit of hindsight, I don’t think I will ever bust my behind to be early for an Egypt Air flight, they are always at least 20 minutes late.

Anyway, so I got to the airport, checked in (no I wasn’t upgraded, silly people) and then I left the International wing for Aero’s Departure Lounge. It houses Biobak, and I’d been craving their food since the last time I was there.

One plate of rice and catfish later, I was back in our lounge. We boarded by 2pm, and again, Egypt Air didn’t have personal entertainment systems! Are they even allowed to do that?? Arrrgh!! And this was a 737-200! Anyway, brilliant thing about the airline is they let you use ANY electronic device once the plane’s up in the air. So I watched movies on my laptop, did some work, and then I slept.

All of this happened after I had bawled majorly! You know, I say that each time I leave will be different but nooooo.., I have to cry each and every time I leave. I should just come back and never leave again abi? Lol. Sometimes I think of myself as that parent who will form ‘strong face’ as they drop their kid off at boarding school, then cry all the way home. *sigh*

Got to Cairo about 8pm, stop over was about 21 hours; on purpose because I’d sworn I’d spend a day in Cairo. Had to sit and wait a bit while they sorted us into hotels based on our onward journey times the next day. I got Le Meridien, somewhere in town; by the way there are about five Le Meridien’s in Cairo.

Finally got to the hotel about 11pm, and I’d made two friends, Hannah and Miss @Olameday! Settled in to dinner, and it was a hilarious time, swapping tales of adventures in hotels! Smiling at the thought! Learnt from @Olameday that you’re more likely to get better service if you address the waiter by name; that’s how we got our meals changed!

Couple of things to note if you plan to plan a 21 hour stopover in Cairo:

• no need to buy the $15 dollar visa. The airport officials hold on to your passport anyway so technically you don’t need it.
• Everyone will try to fleece you of some money (but I guess that’s a normal issue all tourists face); don’t be afraid to haggle. More on this point in the ‘Cairo’ post.
• Their sockets are different from the ones in Nigeria.

ah ha… this is what it looks like… Take a travel adapter! Even though the hotel staff were nice enough to hand out adapters, and then helped me charge all my stuff when they ran out of adapters… Bless them.

After dinner I stayed in the lobby to chat with Ace via wi-fi, then it was off to my ‘LAN only’ cabled room for a good night’s rest, and dreams filled with flashbacks of the extra special Christmas I had.

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