New Wha'? Who Dis?

I am at my desk at work (of course) and the Red Robot has come visiting...steady 'cramping' my style.
So yes, I am in a bit of a mood (beware), restless and bored shitless all at once. What better time to post on here? None!

To be completely honest, I have absolutely nothing to say...or rather type in this case (I'm sure you figured that out already).
It's a few days to Valentine's Day and there's nothing (or should I say 'no-one') new in my life (per say). Oh nawwww...this isn't a mopy 'Oh-My-God-I'm-So-Lonely-And-Valentineless' kinda post. Nuh uh. Trust me.

Right now, the only thing on my mind is my bed, my pillow and my sheets. And a week from today when I'll be off work for 48 hours.
Sigh. Feels like paradise already.

And that's about it. Thank you for allowing me lean on your shoulders for comfort.

Now back to the real world...urgh!

Blogiversary: Season 3 Finale

Oh wow. I have been at this for three years? Feels good to know I still have a tenacious bone in my body to have kept up with this 'project'. Again, all thanks to the sis for literally forcing me to begin.

Yes, I do agree that I have been in a bit of a writer's block type of situation for a couple of weeks now  (three months to be precise).

Urgh. Who am I kidding? Let me start off the year with honesty. I have been too LAZY to post for three months cause I was feeling like a bum for no exact reason. So I have got three months worth of content to post on here between today and the end of the month. Sigh.

I will kick that off with my 're-trip' to Dubai during the Christmas holidays. (A 're-trip' because the first time was NOT a vacation that I hoped nor planned for. Story for a whole other day, my friends.)

Seeing as I still do feel like a bum, I'll let the visuals do the talking...or in this case, the typing.

And of course, we start off with...FOOD. :)

Breakfast...Every. Single. Day.

Meet Sir Benedict. *licks lips*

On Christmas Day...

First serving...

Second serving...

And of course, dessert.

To cap it up, here's my first (and last) attempt at eating sushi. *tueh*

Yaaaay! Santa! :D

#ChristmasLunchAtTheMarriot

And the view from the top of the hotel?

Clear skies and elegant buildings.

Simply beautiful.

Refuel meal...cause the waka wey we waka ehn...

                                                                                                                                                                   

 

                                                                    

   I just HAD to get me some! 

#MidnightSnack 

On to the 'adventures' *rubs palms together*

First off, Dubai Parks and Resorts.

LEG(G)O!!! 

So darn creative! #TheLEGODubaiFountain

And a little souvenir :)

Next stop! #Motiongate

(Disclaimer: That wasn't me singing in the background. I promise)

OMG. This ride??? Let's just say I almost peed my pants. 

*sigh* I could live here FOREVER.

This was soooo much fun! I felt like such a kid! #KungFuPanda

The World's LARGEST indoor theme park??? Yes please! 

#IMGWorldsOfAdventure

Pictures cannot do justice to what we experienced in there. 

But this video should...

Yeup...we did THAT! #Thor

But of COURSE! #SplishSplash! :D

Unfortunately, we couldn't (or rather wouldn't) take pictures with our phones because even though they are water resistant, we still have trust issues. 

Dear Samsung and Apple, it's not you. It's us. Trust me.

Tourist mode...

The Infamous Ibn Battuta Mall 

All shades of magnificent #IBM

The Dubai tourist ritual. Cause you can't visit the Dubai Mall and not take a picture (or better still a video) of this work of art. 

#TheDubaiMallWaterfall

#TheDubaiCreekBoatCruise

All of the LIGHTS! #BurjKhalifa #CountdownToNewYear'sEve

Just relaaaax...

...and chill

Been a minute! 

 Happy feet :) 

#iLoveMeSomeWhiteNailPolish

The #ThreeMusketeers #TravelBuddies

In other newssss...

Who do we have here?! 

#FAMBAM! *wide grin*

#TheSister #TheBrotherInLaw and #TheNiblings came thruuuuu!!!!

That's pretty much it folks!

Next post coming up in...(to be honest, I have NO clue)

MovieNic...FINALLY!

This has been an activity I have been waiting, postponing and missing out on all at the same time for months! Asides from the fact that it's soooo hard to get across to the organizers.
But still, I pressed on and didn't give up hope *straightface*

And then, one lucky day,  I checked their Instagram page- @secretcinemalagos and yippeee!!! The date that was scheduled for the next one was more than convenient- Independence Day! *grin*

I decided to invite a friend of mine whose birthday was just a couple of days before then.
Cause we are both 'serial organizers', we planned way ahead to get some drinks, ice cream and pizza. But yet, someway, somehow, our pizza got lost in the delivery lane and we left the venue quite famished *rolls eyes* But then we said, 'Not today Satan. Not today.'

The atmosphere was pretty relaxing as there was some music playing and everyone was just having a chill time lying on the grass, nibbling and socializing before and during the movie. Plus, thank heavens it didn't rain.

The movie of the evening

It's really refreshing to see how much Nigerians are stepping out of the box by coming up with new initiatives that relate to social activities. This is a big plus cause this is so my kind of hangout. Which means, I'll definitely do this again, with the sister this time, seeing as that was the initial plan and she was a tad bit upset (just a tad) that I 'ditched' her for 'man' (well, not exactly in that context)

N.B: And yet another item struck-off my Bucket List! :)

Splash, Read, Click...Flash!

Ok I am wayyy behind schedule on this post...well for one part of it.

Remember my bucket list? Well, due to life as we know it, I obviously couldn't strike them all out as soon as I hoped. But I am definitely still on track with the target being the Big 3.0 (which is in 3 years time just in case you were curious.)
Now that shouldn't be much of a stretch now, should it?

So far I have got about two more done and two still in progress (cause you wall agree with me that saving AND reading are inexhaustible).

First off, I FINALLY went kayaking (with the sis of course) after she returned from her trip to Zimbabawe and so many months of planning and postponing. Well, the sis is a momma of two now so that pretty much tells you who 'owns' her time. Not that I am complaining, I love my niblings to bits!

The owner of the business, Ms. Diane (we had no idea she wasn't Nigerian untill we met her at the dock) was so warm and patient in putting us through the task.

Just a few weeks ago, we learnt that she passed away. So sad :(

Here is hoping that this awesome initiative won't be put in the back burner now that she's gone.

A couple of months ago in my office, we discovered a truck load of novels that were stored up by an ex-colleague for a project of some sort. 

Just the sight of all these books made me giddy like a kid in a candy store.

There was this one time that I did not go to work for two days (cause YOLO) stayed in bed and read three novels at a go making that four in less than a week. 

In other words, bliss.

Aaaand...#NextStop! 

Felt like forever since I did that. It was like coming back to my first love (which was way before food found it's way into my heart)

I am not much of a girly girl but I've always wanted to have a professional photo shoot done for my birthday, with the dress up, make up and all the shenanigans that go with it. 

And Anny Robert, my friend and course mate from back in University who happens to be a photographer made the cut. 

Need I say he did a fine job! Some folks thought I was some upcoming celebrity or something.
Ha! Pretty soon though...watch this space!

Check out more of his work on Instagram: @anny_robert. So simple, but yet so beautiful.

In other news, here's a picture of my pretty feet in a pretty pair of slippers gifted to me from the pretty sis.

#WithLoveFromZimbabwe ❤

PS: Today is her birthday :)

*and the crowd cheeeeeerssss* HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SIS!!!

The Foodie Diary - July & August 2018

On the 27th July, just two days after payday I was 'hella' broke, (true story) but you know this deep craving for food (being hummus in this scenario) that's beyond your budget and only comes when you've got 'nada' in your wallet? (Did you see what I done? *wink*)
Well, that feeling in my belly hit me that very day.

And what did I do? That's right. I succumbed cause I was so darn hungry and I couldn't even be bothered. Plus, He supplies all my needs...so there :)

So I walked into BL Restaurant with my head held high like I had a million bucks and placed my order for a portion of hummus with meat and some balloon bread.
I really can't explain it but I felt really good when I paid for the meal with pretty much the last 3,500 naira in my account.

Need I say that it was worth every penny. Plus it reminded me so much of my childhood in Sudan :)

Side note: I just love the little brown plastic takeaway bowl the hummus is served in. Don't know why, but it makes it taste even yummier in my head.

The 4th of August was my birthday (whoopdidoo! I'm getting old! *sniff*) and I had brunch with some friends-turned-family at The Backyard.
I got a steak sandwich with potato wedges...yum yum!!

And then, the 8th of August brought forth a meal that switched the spaghetti experience in my life to a whole other level. I can still taste the awesomeness in my mouth. *sigh*
Apparently, my colleague and I have our birthdays back to back (hers is on the 5th of August) and our boss decided to give us a treat.
She placed a call to Hot Hobs and ordered the Classic Spaghetti with meatballs for both of us. My word, was it all shades of DELICIOUS!

I honestly can't describe it well enough so let this little clip do the talking.

I'll just leave that there...

Music & Lyrics: Vol 7

It's been a WHILE since the lyrics of a song overwhelmed me (in a good way), and Naked by Ella Mai happens to be the 'new boo'.
Reason being? It's so me! Sounds exactly like the message I will love to pass across in a song so people will understand me better.

This points more to my 'mushy' side.

Yep, I've got one of those too.
Shocker, I know. Call me Tough-Soft-Cookie.

And no, I don't have any tattoos...yet. Hehe.

Just kidding...or am I? *smirk*

Shame on You :)

Body-Shaming- 'The practice of purposely making critical, potentially humiliating comments about a person's body size or weight.'
The key word here being ‘purposely’.

This is psychological bullying in my opinion and it definitely goes beyond just body weight.

The society is becoming more conscious of body-shaming as hashtags and posts are doubling at a fast rate on social media with the aim of raising awareness.
This 'campaign' has rubbed off on many people, one of such being me...in a really good way.

Flash back to my childhood.
I come from a family of people with 'real African features' ('blame' it on my maternal grandfather).
We've got the thick (otherwise termed pomo) lips, the wide forehead, the big teeth (call us the 'Close Up Advert Family' *grins*) and of course, our 'trademark' being the large flat nose, which was the bane of my facial attributes...or so I thought.
Like come on! You had to be large AND flat??? Seriously dude...pick a struggle.

Fast forward to my teens when I learnt the skill of making fun of my nose ahead of anyone else so I could laugh at myself before anyone else did. Quite smart huh? And yes, it helped boost my confidence a notch.

There was this 'trick' I always did that cracked my classmates up. I'd mimic JayZ's facial expression in the Show Me What You Got music video, just because.

Yep. That's the one.

As you must have noticed, he and I pretty much have the same nose and lips size, so I always nailed it *shrug*

Move on further to my adolescence and I slowly lost the need to shield my insecurities about my nose because people seemed to notice it less...and so did I.

Then one day, I took a selfie, posted it on my WhatsApp story and my friend-turned-sister commented that she didn't really like the picture. I laughed and sent her another shot to advise me on whether or not it was a better choice to post instead.
Her response was, 'Your nose is too obvious in this one.'

For a second or two, I felt a little pinch.

You will expect that now, as an adult, such comments shouldn't get to me anymore, but it kinda sorta did, even though it shouldn’t have.

Don't get me wrong. My friend did not mean any harm seeing as we both laughed about it seconds afterwards. Funny enough, people make fun of her height, calves and gums but she shakes them off. (Plus she is the Queen of Clap Backs, trust me! Lol.)
But then, I asked myself, how would I have reacted if it was someone that wasn't close to me that made that statement? Would I have brushed it off, given that person a tongue lash or just walked away feeling a tad bit hurt?

You won't believe a few weeks after I actually contemplated having nose surgery.
It's hilarious cause even if I was being serious, my account balance is too measly to 'blow' on such procedure. Plus, to do it in Nigeria will be a scare.

Bottom line, the insecurity about my facial features reared its ugly head again and I started feeling self-conscious anytime someone said or did something that might or might not relate to my face.

A friend of mine once laughed and said in response to me after I pointed out how 'nicely different' I  look with a smaller nose when I use filters on SnapChat,

'Everyone's nose looks better with SnapChat filters'.
It was a funny statement, but also a good way of putting my body-shaming thoughts in check.

Then I thought to myself a few days back, how ridiculous it is for me to pay attention to something that is so irrelevant to who I am as a person. And I am so freaking awesome!
I had to mentally focus on my other features that make me feel great about myself and kick the rest to the curb. I mean, He made me in His image, so if I body-shame myself it's as good as shaming the work of His hands, isn't it?
Having a big nose is NOT an abnormality. In fact, it gives me character. (Yep. I did my research *sticks tongue out*)
I mean, my all time fave, Meryl Streep has got one and she is phenomenal!
Ever wondered why Victoria Beckham doesn't smile much? Cause she doesn't like her dimples. Dimples!! Who doesn't love dimples?!

So here's a note to anyone who feels like their body shape, or height, or facial feature(s) or even complexion is not the 'right' type...the type that is 'accepted' by society.

Listen;

Why even bother?

And to those who body-shame others, I say to you in the words of Stevie Wonder;

...yes, YOU :)