My Un-Settled Life

One week in Lagos

Monday, July 27, 2015

I made it to Lagos, Nigeria. I've been here a week so far. Here are my first impressions of Lagos and some things I have found surprising.

View from room at Four Points Victoria Island

1) I had been told that I would get hassled a lot at the airport. To be honest, it was not so bad. When I was approached for a taxi or help with my bags, I politely said, "No thank you" and there was no further issue. This surprised me since I remember in Uganda, people would simply keep walking alongside me as though I might change my mind at any moment and suddenly want that taxi.

I had to wait for Alex, so I bought a bottle of water and placed myself in the nearest cafe.

2) It was super hot and sticky in the airport. There seemed to be no ventilation but hopefully I won't have to sit around too long in the future.

3) I arrived around 7pm on Sunday evening. This seems to be key since the journey from the airport to Victoria Island was really rather fast. I have been told that this is unique because the journey to/from the airport is renowned for being very slow, with lots of traffic.

4) Champagne is a big thing here. It is really quite easily accessible in the supermarkets and restaurants on Victoria Island. The reason? Wine is not great and is very expensive so when you are spending 100.-USD on a bottle of not-great wine, why not go the whole hog and order champagne? Erm... ok then!

5) Traffic is hectic and noisy. If Kampala (Uganda) traffic seemed crazy, this is a whole new level! I have no intentions of ever driving here. They drive on the right side (as in mainland Europe) but it is very aggressive driving with lots of hooting of the horns.

6) The streets are unsafe. Now honestly, I am not being fair there. I have not been for a walk on the street but only because I have been told not to! It is a strange thing. There are absolutely no expats walking around here.

7) You can get most things - there is even a branch of MAC (make-up) and Mango (fashion) here in Palms Mall. However, it does seem that fresh vegetables are difficult... hence there was an amazing supply of vitamins "with greens" in the pharmacy to make up the all-important five a day. This is the most difficult thing for me to come to terms with!!! I love my fresh vegetables.

8) I find the people very friendly but then I am living in an expat bubble that is life at Four Points Sheraton... Maybe I will feel different when I am really living here. I shall not be negative though - for now, I have found Nigerians perfectly friendly.

Restaurants/cafes i have tried because so far there seems little else to do here:

1) Art Cafe: Very nice and has an elevated open-air area where you can enjoy real Italian brewed coffee. They also do alcohol, cocktails, soft drinks, cakes and snacks. Nice ambiance.

Coffee at Art Cafe

2) Lagoon: Bar/restaurant down on the water across from Ikoyi. Nice setting because you can sit by the water and apparently they serve the most enormous cocktails if you dare to order one. I didn't! Enjoyed 2 beers, one mojito, one soda water, hummus pitta plate, 2 prawn skewers, 2 chicken tikka skewers, a salad and a mini pizza. The price was around 160.-USD.

View from Lagoon Bar/Restaurant

Lagoon Bar/Restaurant

3) Bungalow: I loved this place! Kind of relaxed pub atmosphere and the perfect place I see myself watching the football or formula one. Their TVs are on invertors so even if the power goes out, you don't miss the action. There menus are on tablets (think iPad or similar) which was rather cool! Ordered chicken avocado salad, burrito, nachos/guacamole, one beer and one soda water. Price was around 60.-USD.

4) Coral Blue Seafood Restaurant: Looks like a fast food joint when you arrive but actually the decor is quite nice. Very nautical. Climb the white stairs with rope banisters and turn left into the restaurant with panoramic windows. I had a mixed platter/combo of seafood with mussels, prawns and grilled fish. Salad was very fresh. Generally very impressed but for such a big restaurant, it was dead! Maybe we went too early on Sunday evening (around 6pm).

Inside Coral Blue Seafood Restaurant

5) Cafe Nero: Small intimate coffee shop right next door to Bungalow. Found it on google and decided to give it a go. Enormous coffees (if you order the large) and well-priced. Their carrot cake was good and they seem to have free wifi. We called in randomly on a Saturday afternoon and there were a few people in. The sofas were comfortable. I liked it.

And that be that. One week in Lagos. My first impressions.

Run light like...

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

First and Only Marathon (Phuket)

Running. I think since my first Marathon attempt in Phuket in 2011, a lot of people I know associate

me with running. It still surprises me when somebody calls me a 'Runner' because I don't feel like one!

Since my last blog post in January, I managed to give up smoking (which not many people knew I did but when you are alone in a different country, this time Uganda, it's very easy to hide being a smoker to those friends and family you left behind in other parts of the World). Even better, I started running more regularly and more recently, trail running. Totally new to me and totally loving it.

Now, I know I should be blogging about my time in Uganda but the fact is I should have blogged Uganda while I was still there. I didn't.

So at this point, rather than turn over old soil, I'd rather just move on to the things I have been enjoying recently and carry on from there. It's been kind of a tough year and mainly through pressure I put on myself - thinking moving country is easier than it is, not acknowledging I was not the 'expat' I thought I was having lived ten years in Thailand etc. so it is no wonder I stopped running. It just seemed too stressful!

10km Race in Uganda

Really, why did I stop running?

I don't know. Some would say I didn't but I definitely did in my mind. Once I moved to Uganda (July 2014) I struggled to settle and didn't know how to run there. Could I run there? Was it safe?

Funnily enough, after 6 months in Uganda I realised I certainly could run there and while it is hilly as hell, that is a good thing for training. Plus training at altitude sets you up for any race at lower altitudes. I even did a 10km race there in November 2014.

The hills were not such a good thing for my knees! Another setback for my running was a trip to the Doctor to be told that the cartilage behind my knee cap is disintegrating due to my knee cap not tracking properly. There is no way to properly fix this except keep my glutes and quads balanced and strong. Easier said than done. He offered me a series of injections to strengthen the cartilage behind the knee cap and allow me to run longer distances but I turned him down saying this was not necessary because I was done with running more than 10km distances. Erm.........................

Towards the end of my stay in Uganda, I had started to run again. I can't say I was enjoying it. However I did start some early morning Crossfit (think Military-Style bootcamp classes) and that really helped me get pumped for my running.

My face says it all!

For the running, it was more a case of I felt I should be running because my colleagues and I had signed up to the Mallorca Ironman 70.3 relay again and I was doing the 21.1km run section! I did it. Somehow. 9th May 2015. It was a blistering hot day, I pulled my calf on the 4th kilometre and honestly, I didn't really enjoy it. It pained me and I burst into tears on the finish line. I had given it my all but in doing that, I had also completely over-exerted myself. Worse, while the conditions were tougher than the year before, I was disappointed to be slower than ever (or so it seemed).

What did I do? I made a promise to put the situation right. I must do a half marathon race in cooler climes (e.g. UK or Germany) before the summer is out. Train, give it my all and get a personal best (PB). But then I discovered something better than getting a PB on long, flat road races... TRAIL RUNNING!

Strangely, this all came about with a visit to UK. I was asked by my best friend while enjoying a pint in her local - "with your injuries, I didn't want to put pressure on you before you got here, but do you fancy a 5km race tomorrow at Cheddar Gorge"? I was already saying "yes" but then she told me the race was part of a challenge: 5km, 10km and half marathon in May, June & August respectively and wait for it... with interlocking medals! From this point, my "yes" could not mean only 5km - I needed the full set of medals and I wanted to do this together with my best friend.

Finally - a running partner for some races, some UK races and what I didn't know then, a new passion for running wildly in the countryside aka Trail Running.

And here it is, my passion for running returned thanks to my friend Lindsay and Relish Running Races - Cheddar Gorge Challenge. I can tell you now, it is not for the weak!

So far we did the 5km race on 24th May. Kept the running juices flowing with a 14th June Brazil Run race in Munich and then did the 10km race back on the Gorge on 28th June.

5km and ecstatically happy!

10km and just as happy!

The Brazil Run in between

As for whether I will try for that PB on a 'normal' half marathon in Germany or UK... only time will tell. First, the final medal in the collection needs to be earned at Cheddar Gorge on August 16th!!

Wedding in the Winelands

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

Everyone said my wedding was the best wedding they had ever been to.

I will never forget these words spoken by my mother while I was busy trying to plan mine. To any mothers out there, please take note, these are not words of support or encouragement for your about-to-marry daughter. I was left unsure of whether to congratulate my mother on her obvious success in wedding planning or whether to answer her with the truth... I mean, what guest is going to turn to the bride on her wedding day and say, "That was a crap wedding"!?

Fact is, your wedding day is about you (the bride) and your man (the groom). Never EVER forget that. You make it what you want and stay relaxed because the day you say "I do" to the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, will be the most special of days and it should be about the two of you, not about making everybody else in your life happy.

Actually, for reasons I'd rather not go into, my mother did not come. Neither did my siblings. Neither did one of my oldest and closest friends. All this did was make me especially thankful to those loved ones that did make the occasion and well, the day was beautiful!

12th March 2014: Alex & I flew to Cape Town. Alex had arranged the most spectacular apartment for us to spend. Check out the Residences Cape Town. We were in the 3-bedroom Penthouse ready for guests to arrive the next day. Check it out...

Photo: Residences Cape Town

13th March 2014: My good friend Lindsay, her husband and her mum all arrived while I got to meet our lovely photographer, Monica Dart for the first time. I knew from the work on her website that I had already made the right decision but meeting her, sharing our story with her and talking about our soon-to-be wedding day was awesome. After she had left I felt totally relaxed and confident that things would be just fine!

Now there is a seafood platter!

Shortly after this I met the man who was going to marry us, our Minister. Marius Brand is a very calm individual originally from Zimbabwe, now living in South Africa. The Zimbabwean link was particularly apt given that Alex had been living in Zimbabwe for 4 years and still refers to it as the one place he can always happily settle to live.

It soon became apparent that I needed some more paperwork if this marriage was ever going to be legal! A trip to the British embassy was arranged for the next day and so we headed to Cape Town for a big plate of seafood at Sevruga.

14th March 2014: Not without drama. I went to the British embassy where they told me there was nothing they could do for me! Fantastic... what now? Due to get married the next day and the whole thing was looking to be just an expensive ceremony with no actual legal marriage!! So, I dashed to Protea Hotel to pick up my Dad & his girlfriend then I dashed back to Alex (who had prepared my affidavit for notarising), then I dashed across to the post office in Century City and thankfully I met with the nicest post office manager in the world! I explained my situation and she was so happy for me getting married the next day that she notarised the affidavit, wished me the best of days and never charged me a thing. She was lovely.

Now... time to go get married. 2 cars full of people and luggage, and onward to Franschhoek! We received a warm welcome from Marie-Louise and all the Staff at La Petite Dauphine. This place is magical and no words will ever be able to thank Marie-Louise enough in everything she did for us, planning our day without either of us there to help. She did fantastic! I highly recommend her for Wedding planning!!

The boys went off on a wine tour while we girls went for a bit of pampering at Camelot Spa. After being (more than) a little bit wound up and nervous this was the best idea yet. I soaked in a salt bath. 15 mins in the bath is equivalent to 4 hours sleep. Genius! Then I had my nails done beautifully before emerging to find Lindsay and her Mum had prepared a champagne lunch surprise. Totally relaxed. And then this...

Hahahaha! That's right - I had been lacking a hen do but I could rely on my AWESOME Maid of Honour to save the day. She kitted me out in an "I LOVE PHUKET" tshirt (wonder why!) and a pink wig (no comment) and we had an evening of laughs. The boys even joined us after their day of wine-tasting. You can imagine the state they were in!

15th March 2014: There were a few sore heads but it was time for the big day. At this point, Monica Dart's photos capture the day better than any of my words....

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

All photos fantastically taken by MONICA DART

Photo: Monica Dart Photography

It never stopped. After the ceremony there were more photos, more champagne, more nibbles and then we took ourselves under the Old Oak Tree for an evening with wonderful food, more drink, and some hilarious speeches!