Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Third Time's a Charm! SA Really is a Beautiful Place!

2013, I could easily have said SA just might be a one trick pony.
2014, I could easily have said SA just got lucky and impressed me a second time.
2015, there's just nothing more to say than what it is, AMAZING!
SA is a BEAUTIFUL place.

My third time, but boy was it loaded with firsts.

My first time being in a hot air balloon,

That's me, the courageous one :D

My first time seeing and touching an elephant and, the king of the jungle (lion)
I am not scared, I am not scared, it's only a lion, why should I be scared?

My first time at a jazz festival (Standard Bank Joy of Jazz 2015)

My first time in any space Nelson Mandela has ever occupied (Mandela House - 8115 Vilakazi St, Orlando West, Johannesburg)
Great man, and I stand where he once lived (humbled, I am)

My first time in a mine and on the scariest ride ever (Tower of Terror! and how I cried for my mamma!)
I honestly felt I would step out of the ride and not find my insides still inside me

My first time at a movie awards (Africa Movie Academy Awards - AMAA 2015)
Hanging with the stars (makes me a star too, by association)

My first boat ride
Oh how I have stories to tell  about this ride (I'll save that for another post)

After visiting 3 out of 9 Provinces in South Africa, I am convinced. SA is the place to be!
What else can I say?
Straight Outta South Africa!

Who's up for trip number 4 in 2016 with me?

Thank you South Africa Tourism and Joy 99.7 FM for my best week ever, wining, dining and hanging out with the stars, and an amazing group of people, in a remarkably remarkable country! I felt like Queen Dentaa (Belinda)!

Again, I say, SA is the place to be!
#GhanaMeetSouthAfrica
#NigeriaMeetSouthAfrica
#WestAfricaMeetSouthAfrica
#SBJOJ
#AMAA2015

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Celebrities Really Are Human!

After spending one week with,
Lexis Bill
FNB Stadium - Soccer City, Johannesburg

Juliet Ibrahim
Boardwalk Hotel, Port Elizabeth

OC Ukeje

AMAA 2015, Boardwalk Hotel, Port Elizabeth

in South Africa, that's the conclusion I came to.
No, I didn't cut any of them with a knife (fortunately), but I'm sure if I had, it would have been blood that would have flowed, same kind and colour that flows out of me anytime I get a cut.

When I say I spent one week with them, I mean I lived with them for a whole week. It wasn't about doing a couple of photo shoots, which they are well preped for, or doing a couple of celeb appearances, which are very well controlled, no. It was about me seeing them happy, sad, excited, bored, reassured, scared, brave, cowardly (chicken), and if I just loved them from a distance as celebrities, now, I am in love with them as humans.

Honestly, as a rule, I dislike all celebrities. I feel they are all obnoxious, standoffish, unapproachable and full of themselves. Thing is, I never knew any celebrity personally, but this was the opinion I had formed of all of them. Right now, I have been proven wrong, and I bet so would you, yeah, I know I am not the only one with this opinion.

No, you may not have the opportunity to spend a week with any celebrity, or be at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz with celebrities, or be at the Africa Movie Academy Awards with a celeb or two, but till then, how about you stay away from generalisations and prejudices? How about you keep an open mind until you get to know any of them? How about you judge based on your experiences and not based on the claimed experiences of others?

Me, thanks to South Africa Tourism, and Joy FM, my opinion has changed, and I look forward to meeting countless other celebrities.
As a matter of fact, not only are they human, but they are way too cool!

Friday, September 04, 2015

Adventures in a Foreign Land - Ice Skating

Yes, this one too!
How could I be in such a cold climate and not try it at least once?
Besides, at the time, I was watching the Winter Olympics and it was so fascinating watching people glide, twist, twirl, look so graceful on blades and ice. Ice that made me fall when I walked on it.

I loved where I worked. My work colleagues were amazingly amazing and my boss was just the ish! She throws a staff party for us in her home during the Christmas season and then she takes us all ice skating. Yes, finally, I also get to glide, twist, twirl and look so graceful... (or so I thought) until I saw what I would be gliding on.

How does anyone even stand on these, much more glide and twirl in them?
But me, no, no giving up. I was going to look graceful.
A few times, I managed to stand, by myself. But, just stand. No walking, and definitely no gliding. Nope, no skating.

I'm sure I fell right after taking this picture. 
But most of the time, this happened, and happened, and happened again.


And then I stood up, dusted myself up and improvised.

Like this, boy did I skate. Loved it! (thanks Allen for the support and for the idea *wink*)
Bottom line, I had fun! We all had mad fun!

Miss you guys!
Moral: you fall, you rise, you improvise, adapt and move on...
Moral: we all need each other.
See how I was assisted by Allen in his wheelchair? Who'd have thought that'd be the way it'd be? It usually is supposed to be the other way round.

Saved (Twice)

Sometime in 2018, I was heading to work when I heard this knocking sound. It was coming from my car but I couldn't tell which part of th...