Yet another weekend in crazy Lagos...

hi all,

Sorry, been MIA for a bit. Work takes most of my time these days. My weekend was good, too short (as usual).

Friday evening after work - photo showcase at the African Art Gallery, went to support a friend. She takes awesome photos.
Friday nite - hung out with some of my favorite girlies. We got free tickets to the Hennessy VIP Artistry finale show. I must say, some Nigerians have great talent. Sucked my pick didn't win, but i'm sure he won't have a problem getting a recording contract in the future.
Spent the rest of the evening at ember (or M-bar), not sure what exactly it's called lol. It's a lovely place though, the only lounge i've been to where you can have a full conversation without yelling. The music isn't super loud, just the right volume. The view of the city's awesome and everyone kinda hangs around the pool area, chilling like your at home.

It's funny most clubs/bars/lounge here are built like homes. Well, maybe that's because they were homes, before the property was acquired and turned into a "grooving/dance hall" lol. Just picture your bedroom 5-10yrs down the line, with disco balls hanging from the ceiling, your closet turned into a bar, your nice carpet turned into tiled ground, where drinks are constantly spilled lol That would be something!

The rest of the weekend was chill. Volunteered at church on Sunday for our Childrens Harvest Bazaar/Thanksgiving celebration. I worked with the finance department - helping out with the auction. It would have been more fun, but they weren't very organized. I must say some Naija guys have temper. They act like cave men atimes. Some dude started screaming at me, simply 'cause I asked him to clarify the auction process to a male church parishioner who was almost convinced I was trying to "duep" him for a monitor and printer he auctioned. Mshuww! Dude started screaming "I said, go sit down! I will handle it!" (the nerve, ugh!) and i'm going *calmly* "please keep your voice down, explain it to him in my presence before I leave"...i mean, two people can't be mad, abi? and I held my ground, didn't leave until he clarified the auction process.
Geesh, I mean just listen to his words "go and sit down now!, I will handle it!" sheeuu, all he had to do was start beating his hand on his chest and i'd be truly convinced that he is from the stoneage. Mugu!

In other news...
All i want to do these days is sleep, this work n corper life is waring me out! It's like I never get enough sleep. I wake up 5:15am everyday, leave the office by 7/8pm get home 9pm (8pm on a good day). It's almost as if there aren't enough hours in a day (especially at nite). Maybe i'm not being efficient. Hmm, I have to work on that.

Lastly, I came across this article on cnn.com. Never knew this about Jay-Z and his father. You never know the impact people have on your life, until they're absent. Thank God for my parents. They have ALWAYS been there. Enjoy.

xx

PHCN seems to be working?

Yes!


.. so PHCN - Power Holding Company of Nigeria (formerly known as NEPA - Never Expect Power Always, i kid, i kid - Nigerian Electrical Power Authority), has been dazzling us all at home. Yep, we've had light consistently for the past couple of days. They are part of the reason I didn't mind staying home for most of the weekend. Sheuu, when my friend came over, I didn't even want to move. I was all comfy on the couch watching MTV. It was hunger that pushed me to the shawarama spot lol. On sunday, we had light all day - 2 blackout periods (for approximately 10-20mins each). We only used our gen last nite for an hour or so, and throughout the weekend it was prolly on for hmmm 5hours max. Wierd!

I have this feeling that they may suffer us next week/month. i.e. it'll be the reverse - more blackouts, more gen noise and less light and serenity in the compound. I hope not. Fingers crossed, maybe we are making progress. Hmm...i'll conclude at the end of the year, if they atually attain their goal of generating and distributing 6000Mega Watts of power by December 2009.

This electricity thing is simple, but there's soo much sabotage involved that complicates the entire process.

Back to work

Hey ladies,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. It's back to work for me :( boo! I had such a lovely wkd. Didn't do soo much, but it was nice and chill.

Tried so hard to write updates over the break, but laziness took over and i couldn't fight it.

Highlights of the weekend:-
Saturday nite - went club hoppin. haven't done that in a hot minute. was loads of fun though. (I must say, think i'm getting old. Though club hoppin was fun, a part of me couldn't wait to get home to sleep or just chill and watch t.v. I kinda got tired of the loud music and random clubbers by midnite...sad)
Tuesday afternoon - went on a boat cruise. music, champagne + desert while sailing = mad fun!
Friday, Monday, Sunday - slept, slept, slept, felt great! Started watching season 3 of 24. Got the new seasons for DHW & Gossip Girl (yes, i said it Gossip Girl *bite me*)

In other news, boss is back. I must say Nigerian "ogas" and co-workers can be nice. They always get u gifts when they travel (aside from candy of course). It's almost like they feel obligated to buy something for their staff. Between my last boss, co-workers and current boss (i.e. within the past 7 months); i've gotten the following as "i travelled to america/london/paris here's what i got for u" gifts - 1 burberry weekend perfume (from my current boss), 3 tops and a pair of slippers (from my last department - boss and co-workers). I must say, these people know quality stuff.

Anyhoo, have to get back to work now. Will post details about the weekend later. The gifts don't come for free...

xx

5 DAY WEEKEND.....YIPPEEEEEE!!

'Sup y'all! TGIF and it's a public holiday here in Nigeria :)
Monday & Tuesday marks the end of Ramadan and the celebration of Edi-el-Fitri.

It gets even better - no work for me on Wednesdays - CD days, sooo it's a 5 day weekend for me - Yipppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Not much planned, but who cares. No driving to work. No sitting in front of a pc for hours. No staring at excel spreadsheets. No reports to generate, analyze and send. Ahhh... that's all that matters right now.

...Side thought:
During my breakfast break today, one of the cleaners and I got talking. He was curious as to how I stay fit (don't know either, 'cause Lord knows I love food). Anyhoo, apparently yday when I came in for lunch, his friend said "ah look at MJs sister". Of course, my head started swelling, as I thought he was referring to Janet but he's like "no o, u have a nice statue, very straight legs and you look very fit. You have slim statue like MJ" I mean I don't mean to tut my own horns but *beep*beep LOL
So, he went on and on about how it's rare to see slim girls with stratight legs, and how sometimes there's always sthng wrong, like 'K-leg' and I was flattered, but quickly wrapped up the conversation when he started talking about my legs. Yeah, flattery is nice, but the sender's also important (no prejudice here).

Moving on, I started watching CNN while eating my breakfast -it's fashion week somewhere in NYC. I stared at all the models getting glammed up and it got me thinking...
Should I have gotten into modeling? I mean here I am going on and on, jubilating about the holiday like coming to work is torture. I obviously don't love my job (i like it though), but I keep feeling I could and should be doing more with my life. Something exciting (but also financially rewarding - can't be broke). Is it too late? I mean i'm just 23 (crap! 24 in 3 months!) but where do I start??

Told my parents about modeling and they seemed cool with it. Their response "ah, when all those people kept calling you to come and model, you were saying no. ur done with school, why not". My response "Thanks mom, u didn't have to remind me about opportunities i let go *rolls eyes*" ...like they would have supported me, when all i heard was "study, study, make all A's"

Thing is, it's difficult to start stuff in this country. I mean where do I go? who do I talk to? where do I meet designers who'll take me seriously?? if i was in VA, i'd prolly take up classes. It'd be easy to find the info - online of course. But here, it's difficult. So, I keep to my 8-6.

It doesn't even have to be modeling, just something more exciting than a regular office job.

Is this just a phase? Don't think so, 'casue i've always felt this way. But, I need to act fast as they say "if your dreams determine your future, why not go to sleep now". I don't want to sleep! I want to pursue my dreams! But how??

Thoughts? Ideas?

... and I just remembered this great bible verse "..be still, and know that I am God' (Psalm 46:10)

My New Love *sigh*

Yes, I have found my newest obsession. Nothing compares to it right now. It's all I want for my next birthday (24th) -eeek! i'm getting older!

Ladies and ladies, please check this out:



Ahhhh, I can just picture myself holding this device :)




Don't get me wrong, I love my current phone - Nokia E71



But, it'll soon be time for an upgrade, and the Blackberry Storm is it (for me).

Features I love:

1. BB instant msgr - the best way to keep in touch with friends and family worldwide for free (okay, okay, maybe not absolutely free. u'll have to pay 5k/month for the data plan). Now all I have to do is get everyone i know to buy one. Shouldn't be too hard, most people I know here already have one..
2. Touch screen (which had always been my next choice for a phone)
3. Nice sleek design
4. FB, MSN, YAHOO, TWITTER application
5. Great reviews
6. Great price - just N75k, usually N100k (price decline's due to the low exchange rate, 'cause u know Naijas know absolutely nothing about sales..)
   

What more could you ask for?

I could go on and on, but i'm sure you get my point. Fingers crossed people, lets hope someone surprises me for my bday with this lovely phone. They'll be getting a huuuge hug and kiss from me :D

CD Daysss

Hey all, so today was my CD day for NYSC. Usually it should be a day to go for pointless “community development” and come back home to rest/sleep, but NNOOO little Ms. “busy body” always ends up running errands throughout the whole day! I really need to rest a bit more. Trying to adjust to driving in crazy Awolowo road, coupled with my crazy hrs at work, it’s a lot to take in.

So, I had to go to the secretariat today to sort out some account related stuff with my alawi. Crazy government and their NYSC wahala! They should scrap the program already, but I digress. Anyhoo, ran into one of my friends/acquaintance from camp. He’s a cool dude, a lil bit of an “amebo” (but hey we all have a bit of it in us right?) we got talking and he starts telling me how he’s tryna get re-posted and I’m thinking WTF?? If u know anything about NYSC, u’ll understand how crazy it is to get anything done there. Apparently, he was also posted to a bank – hates the hours, made some enemies at work and is tryna get into the oil and gas industry (like everyone else) and I’m thinking to myself – we have about 5 months left, why trying to go through all that stress??

On my way back home I got stopped by LASMA aka “lagos state metropolitan authority”. Funny thing is, I wasn’t pissed or surprised. It’s weird how living in Naija u get accustomed to various acts of stupidity. Like the cops pulling u over for no reason, aside from seeking lunch money. Dude started asking me about my papers, checked my drivers driver license and asked to see the fire extinguisher in my car! Yeah, I know - fire extinguisher?? We showed him all we had, but we were missing our ‘Road awareness papers’ (or something silly like that) and i’m thinking what’s that??

Anyhoo, ended up settling the guy for 1k (which I was later informed was waay too much). Hmm…maybe I should’ve just left my driver when he was trying to “wet his palms” with N300, but the guy wasn’t having it. Guess he was thinking I’d give him about 5-10k. Na soo??

Off to bed now……gnite…..xx

Help ! I think someone's stalking me? !!

STALKER - I've always used that term loosely and jokingly, but have also always been aware of the implications. This now is reality. I think someone's stalking me :(

Convict:
A guy who claims to be a pastor. He who works down the street from my office building.

Signs:

• he sent a cleaner in his office to come ask if i'm Igbo and to introduce himself
• he has sent his cleaners to watch me (himself included)
• apparently he watches me almost every morning when i'm parking my car
• he came into my branch yesterday to ask after me (good thing my office isn't in the main building)
• he walked himself upstairs to come check for me! imagine, he left the banking hall and came upstairs (don't know how he did it, 'cause ONLY guests with appointments are to be allowed upstairs, but then again this is Naija anything is possible)
• he knows the security guard that usually helps me find parking
  
• dropped his card with the security guard when he couldn't find me
• he came up to talk to me during my first week at work, asking for interest rates - and he made no sense whatsoever
  

I've been at my new branch for hmm..3weeks now. I like the job, the people are cool. My boss is pretty laid back and they are all male (so no female-bitchiness-wahala). The only problem is parking!

I have two options when it comes to parking - either I park in the next building (where the "stalker" works) or the space separating my building and his aka Snake island. The thing with snake island is the ground isn't paved, there are broken bricks and tiles on the floor and it can only take about ...10 cars, so you have to be super early (come in before 7:30am) to get a spot. One other sucky thing is, once u park, ur pretty much blocked till the end of the day (just picture cars parked in the shape of an S, no where to move to until everyone wants to get out).

2nd option - the "stalkers" office lot, It's a normal parking lot, with ample space. The catch - N200 daily. I mean that amounts to N1K per week and N4k per month! May not seem like a lot, but for a corper earning less than...N40k/month that's expensive!

Today I left the house at 7am got to work about 7:30am and was positive there would be no space at snake island; and of course there wasn't. So, i decided to go park at the "stalkers" building. Walking into my office compound, the friendly security guard comes to deliver a msg he forgot to pass on yday. Apparently some guy came looking for me and dropped his card when he couldn't find my me in the building. Then he goes "sister, make i tear am" of course am like "yes, tear am! and abeg no tell am where my office dey o" his response "ah, no o, no problem". (Incase you are wondering why I didn't look at his card - men this is Naija, crazy things happen here. From looking at his card, I may just fall in love with him lol. Ah. It happens. Anyhoo, I know the God I serve, i'm strong in faith and such will never happen to me. AMEN)
....Then, he tells me how he sent his cleaner to look for me and am like - no wonder she knew where my office was! He watches me so much, that he knows the security guard am friendly with WTF?!?!

So people, tell me - is he a stalker? or am I over reacting?

For real?

I'm sure you are all aware of whats been going on in the Nigerian banking industry. If you're not, here's a brief recap. The following banks have been taken over by the CBN, due to large number of non-performing loans and weak bank policy. The MD's (managing directors) have been charged to court by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission)

• Oceanic bank - Mrs. Cecilia Ibru
• Intercontinental bank - Mr. Erastus Aknngbola
• Union bank - Mr. Bartholomew Ebong
• Afribank - Mr. Sebastian Adigwe
• Finbank - Mr. Okey Nwosu

After nearly a month in prison, the acting chief judge of the Federal High Court - Justice Dan Abutu, has finally set the following bail conditions for the accused:

• Payment of N100 million with two sureties in like sum, who will be a Nigerian resident in Lagos or Abuja to include

• A serving senator or member House of Representatives.

• A chairman of a board of directors of a reputable financial institution in Nigeria with headquarters in Lagos or in Abuja, whose company must have a capital base of not less than N1 billion as at December 2008 financial report.

• A chairman of a board of directors of a petroleum company or a petroleum servicing company with headquarters in Lagos or in Abuja, with a capital base of not less than N1 billion as at December 2008 financial report.

• A former governor in any state of the federation with a landed property at Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki in Lagos and Maitama and Asokoro in Abuja.
  A speaker or deputy speaker of any state House of Assembly in Nigeria with a landed property at Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki in Lagos and Maitama and Asokoro in Abuja.

Apart from these, the accused persons are to report at EFCC's Abuja office every first working day of every month, while the operatives of the EFCC are to verify all documents to be tendered within 48 hours to determine their admissibility or otherwise.
Source: Guardian Newspaper

Okaaaay! My first thought when I read this - stop teasing them! just let them sit in jail! How is one to come up with all or some of the above?! Keep in mind that if anyone comes up claiming to meet the above, he/she would also have to show proof that they have been paying taxes and prove that their business is legit (that'll be the difficult part).


...In other news, another day at work. Traffic wasn't too bad this morning, usual crazy Naija drivers and okada riders. Almost hit a car this morning (this Falomo bridge and Awolowo road can be scary sometimes). Thank God my car's quite big. I can oppress people on the road hehe..
Ok, off to do some work - as my sis will say "let me go and earn my salary"

xx

Customer is King !!

My boss sent this to me a few weeks back, thought it was hilarious. Enjoy!

My First Post

Hi all,

So i'm new at this (obviously), but i've always loved reading blogs and yes i'm one of those who have been reading blogs and making anonymous comments for the past...hmm..2 yrs I think. My baby sis recently started her own blog and I must say, I do follow it religiously. She turned out to be such a good writer. So, partly inspired by my sister and other bloggers (and prolly due to the fact that my boss is away this week and I don't feel like doing any work today), I decided to start my own blog.

I recently relocated back to Nigeria (well, technically not too recent - it's been 10 months - 1yr in December) and living in Nigeria has been a change (in a variety of ways). I'll be using this blog as an avenue to share and document random daily stories of my experience in my new life back home. Hopefully, I can look back at this blog a year from now and laugh, smile or frown at my random stories.

(This should be fun :))

Happy reading!