Battle of the chocolates

The best salad ever!

It's funny that I am writing this post, because truth be told, I am not exactly a chocolate person.I can go for months without even thinking of them but once I taste them, even just one bite,it's downhill from there. I will have many many bars to satisfy my cravings, ones I didn't know I had and go back to not thinking or craving them. What makes me take that first bite, many things, but mostly feeling lost and me finding myself and comfort in the dark,soft delicious world of chocolates or when I achieve something and I reward myself with sweet unhealthy things.These days I am bordeline obese!! and I have been forced to be better: drink more water, walk more and eat better.After months of no success I lost two whole kgs 💪💪 and this as we all know calls for celebrations, what better time to eat chocolate, no other time trust me.

And the nominees for this battle are..................

A packet of mini chocolate bars is pretty perfect for celebrating life's small achievement. The plan was to have three celebratory bars and to have the rest on very special occasions (lies I tell myself 😛😄).Not to look like a glutton I might have eaten 10 mini-bars the day I got them.As I sat and ate them shamelessly, I thought 'why not write about my bad ways and rate the chocolates?' So here we are talking about this,the almost impossible that some chocolates are better than others.

Do you remember in high school, when the teachers brought back exam papers and had them arranged from lowest to highest, just to confuse the students but everyone knew this and dreaded having their names called first. The results for this exam are out and all these 'students' are A students just that others have stronger As.

4) Milky way

This is so sugary!!!! because the filling is some white thing that if I didn't know better I would think it was milk saturated with castor sugar. I literally got a toothache from eating this, because I chew my chocolates and the many years of indiscriminate eating of sugar is catching up with me.If you love SWEET things then you will definitely love this chocolate and if you are in need of a sugar/energy boost this will serve you well.


3) Mars

This very chocolatey and yum and the caramel filling is so soft(because hot temperatures :-D :-D) and oh so delicious.This good chocolate as it really is chocolatey.

2) Bounty

The person who invented Bounty has to be Swahili and a Swahili female at that.Whilst making nazi to make rice she thinks 'ehh bwana, coconut shreds coated with chocolate will be bomb!!!! she tries and realizes it is indeed bomb, thanks to her we now have Bounty.I love Bounty because there is so much coconut in there it seems that you are eating a healthy snack.

1) Snickers

Peanuts? good snack.Chocolates? the best comfort food.How does one merge health and comfort?  by making a perfect combination of these two and Snickers are the answer.When you want healthy and want to justify that chocolates are indeed a salad Snickers is what you get.

There is the small illusion of healthy food in both Bounty and Snickers which makes them good chocolates and I also checked their calories per mini-bar and they aren't too high,high but not too high, so if say you had 10 minis you could still have a cup of tea and be within your calories allowance for the day.

Which are you favourite chocolates and what makes you binge eat them? I would love to know.

of fish and football legends

Fish!!

I am the biggest optimist ever and love nothing more that stories of people who are doing well despite struggling earlier in life.Oliech is one of the famous rags to riches story in Kenya. He used his passion for football and played the game out of poverty and into some crazy wealth. At some point he made over 10,000,000 a month!!, was captain of the Harambee stars and had all the pretty girls in town asking him to call them maybe.Rumour has it that his mum sold fish by the road side to make end meets before his success and being a good son when he made it he expanded her business for her, she now has two restraunts in the city-One in Dagoretti Corner and the other in Kilimani.

Her fish is world famous that even when Facebook CEO was in town he visited her Kilimani joint for the fish, because he said it was the most recommended food place for authentic Kenyan food.As country we do not have a national dish,it is therefore arguable what is authentically Kenyan and what is not. I think Ugali is authentic, fish not so much because for sure I know many pastoralists have never seen or tasted fish or some maybe do not know it even exists.

On Thursday last week  we decided to go have fish for lunch at the Mama Oliech in Dagoretti Corner.We being me and my office mates, I have been to Mama Oliech's once before and I was there with a friend. This time I was with a 'crowd' that I am sure loves fish because; it is good meat, is rich in omega 3 and if you eat the head you can improve your brain power.You don't believe me,think of all the professors you know and you will realise a significant number are from the lake-side and they are that brainy because of all the fish heads they have eaten.This branch of Mama Oliech  primaryly sells one dish only; Samak, with a side of Ugali and Kachumbari, she also sells greens,and soft drinks.

The 'menu'-from here you choose which fish you want/would like to eat.

At the entrance you choose a fish,they vary in sizes, the fish are already cooked but if you want it extra hot and crunchy you ask them to re-deep fry it.Once you select your fish, you choose a table and wait.They are very quick and your fish will get to you in a very short time.

The office gang 😃

Lunch is served

See the prices, fair right?

It's priced fairly as we on average spent  KES 450 per person which is not too bad considering huge fish,large piece of ugali,soup,kachumbari and soda.

Would I recommend it? YES! but if you are one of those people who want  very clean and non-smoky joints or ambiance and decor mean a lot to you then maybe visit the one in Kilimani.

Know thyself!

Jacaranda season 💕💕.

Nairobi is EXHAUSTING,let no one lie to you.Living and working in this city is very,very tiring, early mornings and late nights,now that I live here I don't understand why I wanted so badly to move here, it is a case of thinking what you don't have is better, only for you to realise the village is actually much better than this city. I will gladly move back to the bundus just to have the luxury of a 5 minute walk to work instead of a 3-4 hour commute to work each day.

The happiest of lunch hours-Sharon's videos and mango.

I will be lieing to say the city is all bad things, there is a good side, I go to my home everyday and not every 3 months,I see my family more, I eat more vegetables and fruits,I have access to all natural hair products I want and most importantly I am able to go to school to finish my masters that I started so long ago I am ashamed to even say when.

The peer pressure here though! if you are not careful,you will waste your time and money trying to keep up with the Jonesses. Everyone thinks peer pressure is only for high-schoolers and maybe young adults, but at every stage in your life it is there,just that as adults you are more self-aware and are more likely to avoid it. I have never been one to try and keep up with anyone but Nairobi has gotten me worried because of the sheer amount of peer pressure and people trying to create an illusion of having it all.The other day I was having a random conversation, a friend tells me the way they buy accessories for their phone at a certain fancy mall X, I look at the accessory and I know similar things sell at 20% of the price in Isli,so being the good friend that I am, I tell them of this and what do you know they tell me, Isli is below their class!

I am glad,really glad that I own my struggles,my goals and rarely do anything because of peer pressure,also I am hella scared of wasting Allah's blessings on things I don't need. As much as I am an adult and knows what I want most of the times, sometimes( a lot of times really) I stumble, this has forced me to find ways to be better and to be comfortable in not doing what everyone else is doing.Below is my armour, I hope someone else finds them useful.

Goals

As the saying goes, if you don't know where you are going then every road is the right road.Having clear goals and not those big 1 year goals but them broken down into monthly goals will help you to know why you are doing what you are doing and not to fall into temptations.Having clear goals will instill discipline in you to stay on track even during hard times.

No

Learn to say 'No' when someone asks you to do something you are not comfortable with will save your life.

Accountability partners

Tell a few people or even just one person that you trust about your goals.This will ensure that there are people who know what you are planning to achieve and will occasionally ask you about it.This will ensure you don't forget them and in the event you do you will have people to remind you of them.My accountability partner is my mum and she pushes me to achieve even dreams I had forgotten I had.

Watch the company you keep

You are the average of the five people you spend the most of your time with,why not choose people who are like you,have similar dreams to you and are working towards the same things.They will challenge you to be better and will help you along. Imagine having friends who are spenders and you are planning to save, your life will be really hard.I am not saying there is anything wrong with 'living the life', if your goal is to explore more,eat out more, wear designer clothes and make-up then by all  means have friends who do this as they will be great company.

Company extends to things you watch,listen to and read.Depending on what you want most, tailor a lot of the things you listen to,read and watch to be within this.

Celebrate small achievements.

What is life without a little fun, very drab trust me. I love cake and I love love make-up and my natural hair, each time I achieve something I buy myself a slice of cake,natural hair product that I wouldn't normally purchase or some make-up.Being the teacher at heart that I am, I set rewards for myself like: If I do a certain thing within a given time period, I will get something for myself. This always acts as an incentive to work hard and to say no to temptations


What do you do to avoid peer pressure, comment below and let me know.

All the feels

Look at Jane's heart glow.

If you watch Jane the virgin then you know when two people like each other their heart glows, for me personally my heart glows each time I see people that are happy together either as friends or more than friends 👫😉. I am what I believe is called a romantic because which other people get warmy fuzzy feelings each time they see two people in love/like,none, only romantics have this 'special ability'.My friends say my favourite conversations are around love.I disagree, but I notice these small things that they don't notice so maybe I am what they say I am.

Below are true events,some so cheesy that seeing them I felt my arteries clog 😆😄.

The Crush


These two people I know and care for greatly are chatting and the guy says he has a crush, so the girl insists on him showing her this crush of his, what do you know,he pretends he is showing her, goes to his phone camera, takes her picture and shows it to her and says this is my crush 💕💘. How shweeeet is this.

The Song 

When I say I am surrounded by the cheesiest people ever, believe me. Have you heard Niseme Nawe by Otile, I am thinking a lot of people have heard this song based  on the airplay it's been receiving.This one time someone I know played it just so the girl he likes can hear it and when she seemed not to take notice he played it again and sang along looking at her so she would know he was letting Otile speak for him.The lines he sang the loudest are;- Naitwa Ramjah,unaitwa nani? hivi unatoka mtaa gani wewe,mtaa gani? hivi we mwana wa nani? mwana wa nani? huu muda wote umekuwa wapi? umekuwa wapi? naomba usinipe kisigo,nataka nifugue wangu moyo,sijui uendako,ila naomba nitembee nawe,ninamengi ninataka niseme nawe.'


The cheeky proposal

I know two people on twitter and instagram both are photographers, young and dreamy. One day the girl posts something like-I am 26 and not anywhere near where I thought I would be because I thought I would be married and with a masters degree by 28, boy replies 'so you are getting married in 2019' and she says-I don't think so, but when the day comes will you be my photographer?, boy answers-how can I photograph my own wedding, Me: hugs him through my phone 😍😍.


We are Together

Today I sat next to an old man in a meeting, he is a consultant and apparently he works with another brilliant female consultant.The chair asks him about said female and if they are together, she didn't know that she is his wife and he answers-'ohh we are together! she is my wife, we also work together, she has an office next to mine.'

I haven't written in what seems like forever and this year I hope to write more and write better, here is to one post a week through out the year.