my radio is nigerianinfo.com 99.3 :))

I am talking about the news channel we are listening every morning & evening on the way to and back from the office! There is the same woman who is running a discussion program. She is basically focusing on hot topics on political & economic issues & news and the society. Her style is pretty engaging as well. She just picks up a topic from an article or a survey or a newspaper and asks the audience to call in and express their feelings / views. 
A few topics I've had a chance to listen:

• According to an article, Nigerian people are loud and the loudest in the world. Are really loud? What do you think? YES M'AM, YOU ARE LOUD! :))
• We keep talking about corruption at all levels from government to police, from top to down. Some people still do not have electricity, on the other hand some has nice cars and fully operational houses. So what is the solution? A revolution?? NO M'AM, I'VE JUST ARRIVED - IT IS TOO SOON TO FACE A REVOLUTION AS I AM JUST CATCHING UP WITH A LIFE WITH NO ELECTRICITY OR NO RUNNING WATER!
• How can we get rid of the street sellers (people who try to sell gum / fruit / furniture during traffic areas)?? One man called in and his reply was "We can get rid of them only if we bridge the gap between poor and rich in Nigeria. But it is difficult given the corruption and bribery." OK GOT IT, CORRUPTION & BRIBERY IS THE SUMMARY OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE IN NIGERIA!
• (Another insightful question) While you are driving at 3am in the morning, you have seen a man injured and lying on the side of the road. Would you stop and help the person? The man's answer: I'd want to help however I'd expect the police to come and help. The girl's reply: this shows what we have lost as a society!

As a market and consumer researcher, I cannot consider a better and insightful conversations than I can find on nigerianinfo.com. Not maybe tomorrow, but one day, I'd like to meet this girl and conduct an interview about all the discussions she's had so far with millions of people. I am sure she would give the richest and the most diverse insights I could ever think of.

In search of a nice Sunday breakfast...

Finallyyy... My boyfriend is in town! :)) 

Before he came, I had made lots of plans to make sure that he'd leave with the positive feelings about Lagos! So that he'd come again... :)

One part of the plan was Sunday Brunch! We learnt a new place called Wheat Baker hotel (as part of Legacy Chain from South Africa) from one of our friends on Saturday night and decided to go there on Sunday morning. I don't like bothering my driver on Sunday as he goes to church every week. Since my friend told us that it was very close to where I live, we decided to walk.
Just to make sure, we checked the address online (tripadvisor), found the place on maps and hit the road! According to maps, the place was 5 km away and it was perfectly fine for us! 

It was fun at the beginning as this was our first walk on the street without my driver or not as part of running group. We have done almost an immersion with African culture on Ikoyi streets.
Walked through constructions at Banana Island...

Have seen interesting animals...

Passed by a greenhouse...

We kept walking around 2 hours according to what maps showed us but it was getting weird as we were pretty far from Banana Island (Brunch place was supposed to be close by). We were getting angry as we were in the downtown now and it was very crowded with all street markets and street sellers. :)) It got really hot and we were sweating but at the end of 2 hours, we arrived a hotel which was nice and sweet. However, it was nothing to do with Wheat Baker. We asked the lady at the reception and they had no idea what hotel we were talking about. I was really worried as we were dripping because of weather and so tired and the people at the reception were looking at us with blank eyes. 

What was strange was we were at the exact address which Trip Advisor was displaying. As the last attempt, we decided to check the address once again from the computer at the reception and then we found another address. It was Lawrence Road instead of Awolowo Road. Lawrence, Lawrence, Lawrence... Somehow this name sounded too familiar to me!

Then we took a cab (as we were too tired to walk further) and headed on to Lawrence Road. By the time we arrived, the truth hit me! We had passed by this hotel and even talked about it saying that how nice it looked and wondered what the name was. Since the name was not visible from outside, we had just walked through it and had not paid attention. Hence it was only 20 minutes walk from my place. OH NOOO!!!

With a mixed feeling of happiness and stupidity, we were at a very nice hotel with an amazing open buffet Brunch. After 2-hours of walk, we were ready to taste all the great meals. Deserts were unbelievably amazing! 
I think I can never forget Lawrence Road again! But the bright side; we are becoming real locals now; even my boyfriend :)))

Life is beautiful! :))

I think this should be heaven....


Our usual weekend routine:

• run early (6 am) in the morning (the only motivation is the next four steps :))
• chill at the pool
• chill in the pool if it gets too hot
• bring the plastic table into the pool and enjoy snacks & beer there
• take a nap by the pool :)))

Our unusual Beach House Sunday:
Absolutely fantastic! We went to the beach house of a friend (thank you Barene) this Sunday. It is 20 minutes away from Lagos marina and like a tropical heaven! When you arrive you pass through a village and its economy is 100% linked to the foreigners coming to these houses on the beach. The village folks take care of cleaning of the house as well as cooking, lighting the barbecue and serving the food. The tips are what they earn for living!


On the way:

Arriving:

At the beach house:

On the way back (sun comes down :))

Hidden Hot Spots in Lagos

What I like about Lagos is that all the cool spots are almost hidden. They are behind big doors with security check points and it is not possible to guess what would be waiting for you inside from outside. So you need to know the exact address, otherwise you may end up making circles around your cool place without finding it. :)


I'd like to share with you my hot spot experience so far as they made top of my where-to-go-in-Lagos list:
1. Bangkok Restaurant (Fusion)
It is a nice dinner place with Fusion cuisine. We went there for Maria's birthday and the food was amazingly delicious. I loved all varieties we had that night: spring rolls, fried calamari, seafood mix, rice in pineapple (see the pic below - YUMMY :)), some chicken and beef main courses.
Address: 244A Muri Okunola St, Victoria Island, Lagos

2. Orela Restaurant (South Africa)
Amazing South African food - steak and rib eye! I am not a meat person but even I ate all the food in my plate. Another lostinlagos.com restaurant... The place was opened 2 months ago with nice atmosphere. We were the only table at the restaurant but we were able to heat up the place with big crew of 15 people. :)
Address: No. 114, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Opposite Ribadu Road

The big steak knife. SCARYYY!!!!

My dear friends Becky & Rick are having fun :)

3. Reeds (Coolest place ever!)
When you walk into Reeds, you feel like you are in a posh restaurant / bar around Meatpacking in NYC. It is located on Awolowo Road on Ikoyi at the second floor of a fast-food chicken restaurant (another hidden hot spot! :)) The restaurant is amazingly cool with a nice bar in the middle, poorly lit surrounding and sophisticated interior design. I had a very nice lobster and drank Proseco after a very long time. The
portions are very big and the service was excellent.
Address: No. 190, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos

Despite my huge lobster, my eyes are still on Rick's plate :)

Umur's spicy chicken!!!

4. Oti's (Hidden Wine & Jazz Heaven)
This is one of those places you cannot even find on Google. It is again behind the close doors and owned by Oti Bazunu who is nice Nigerian and crazy marathon runner. Since he is a marathon runner, the expats in the running group (with which I run 3 times a week) knows him very well. The place is a big house with a nice garden and the wine place is part of his own house. It is surrounded by windows from top to bottom and decorated with comfy big sofas / couches and amazingly smelling coffee beans. You chill listening to good Jazz while enjoying great house wines. Oti Oti is putting on THE jazz events every year and the next one is just next weekend!! yaaaayyyy :)

http://www.lagosjazzseries.com/index.php?id=3

5. Hans & Rene Cupcake

Yeap, they make cupcakes here and they are DE-LI-CI-O-US! But it is not a bakery or a cupcake shop. It is basically a house and they work based on pre-orders. You just inform them 1 day in advance and the next day your cupcakes are ready! Chocolate - Vanilla - Rasberry! Ofcourse my choice is always & forever CHOCOLATE :)

Address: 2/4 Mosley Road Apartment A Penthouse 9 Ikoyi, Lagos