Random Thoughts of a Girl in Nairobi

   A lot of creatives may claim to love all their work equally. Yeah, right! I'm going to be human and admit that that's not true in my case. 2014 was an interesting year for me. A lot of changes were made and I did a lot of growing. I discovered new things about myself and I let my writing take me where-ever. Therefore, as we countdown to the new year I feel it would be appropriate to make this post. These are my favourite blog-post of 2014....from this blog: 1.  Trust me, I'm no expert  ( I was just in that place ) 2. Things to do while stuck in Nairobi traffic  ( Rant of the year ) 3. That falling in love feeling  ( Poetic-much! ) 4. My first Foodie Fridays 5. The documentation of my hair journey: Naturalista experiment part 1 and part 2 6.   Book reviews  ( Something I've always wanted to do ) 7.   I tried to be a football fan and failed  ( World-Cup fever ) So totally feel...

   We have just a few days left in 2014 and it has just dawned on me that I don't really believe in making new year's resolutions. In the evening of the 31st my mom and I will have a conversation where she'll ask me what my resolutions for 2015 are. Then I'll probably wrack my brain for a minute and say the first thing I think of. Something probably involving being less messy in my room (S he calls it a mess, I call it organised chaos ). I'll also probably mention something outrageous like getting a neck tattoo. But that's beside the point.    See if I really wanted to change my habits or behaviour I wouldn't wait for a sometimes over-hyped holiday to do it. I'd do it the moment I realised there was a problem. Or the moment someone held an intervention for me. But I wouldn't wait for the mass positivity of a made-up event such as 'New years resolutions' to spur me on. Let's be honest, it simply doesn't provide enough motivation...

   For the past two days I’ve been thinking of trying this recipe again. Maybe it’s Jamhuri day nostalgia ( Hello doughnut-fest! ). Or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve just finished a 12-day fast. But the point is that I finally gave in and made them for breakfast. So kindly note that sausage roll-making is a two step process. First of all you need to make the puff pastry...that cake-like thing that covers sausage rolls and meat pies. Then you make the rolls. You could always buy a pre-made puff pastry from your local supermarket, but I was feeling so ninja, that I made my own from scratch! So here goes:                                                                         Ingredients · 225g/8oz plain flour · ½ tsp fine salt · 250g/9oz unsalted butter/margarine, c...

   Growing-up I watched my parents and their friends buy each other cards for birthdays, Christmas, success and we even got congratulations cards when my brother was born. I managed to fish out the cards that have survived in the house. I bought some of them myself and wrote Merry Christmas in my child-like squiggly hand-writing. So why don’t we do that anymore? Because I know from experience that card-buying is an art. You first look for one that passes on the message you want. Then you separate the gaudy from the tasteful. Finally, you pick the one the person you’re buying for would likely like the most. You see, it’s an art! Even the bank used to send me a card for my Birthday! Birthday cards Success cards...mostly mum's Congratulations cards My favourite: Christmas cards    For all the good that technology has done for us, it’s taken away that authenticity in our declarations of affection. Admit it, every time someone sends you an e-...

   I don’t know about your high school experience. But from what I heard mine was better than most. I find that being in the Kenyan public school system there are some things that are commonly done across the board. Therefore let me present a list of things I think most high-school leavers would never admit to having done. 1.        Barter trade Somewhere, somebody came-up with the logic that one small tin of crisps is equal to 10 medium-sized biscuits. And 20 medium-sized biscuits are equal to a 250 ml packet of plain UHT milk. Of course if the milk was flavoured the price automatically went-up!  I don’t know what the current exchange rate is, but this came in handy when you were running low on supplies and had too much of one thing. 2.        School-made chocolate Aka: Mkorogo*. Ingredients: Blue band, sugar and drinking chocolate. All blended together into a nice thick paste. Yuck! What w...

Rating: 5 stars Target audience: Young adult and Adolescent    First off, let me begin by admitting that I first took an interest in this book because of its cover. I know that’s breaking a cardinal rule but come on, just look at it. Advertising experts somewhere should really take notes! Finishing this book was sad, because it was a really awesome ride that...well ended. The main character is Marguerite who is the very artsy daughter of two very scientifically-inclined physicists. Her parents have invented a device that allows inter-dimensional travel: The Firebird. But it looks as if their assistant, Paul has murdered her father, destroyed their research and escaped into a parallel universe to escape justice, or whatever it is that criminals do when they run away. So she does what any devoted revenge-seeking daughter would do. She uses one of the devices ( which by the way have never actually been tested ) to go right after him. Oh and did I mention that thi...

Target audience: All ages Rating: 4 stars Apparently reading about characters half your age isn't that awkward 3 things you need to know: ·          Artemis fowl is twelve years old. ·          He’s also a criminal mastermind. ·          He kidnapped a leprechaun so that he could basically the proverbial pot of gold.  Yeah, I laughed too when I read the blurb to this book. But I read it out of sheer curiosity, because I've heard of it for years and years but I've never really understood what all the fanfare was about. So two and a half hours after starting it and I closed it with a smile ( I'm a really fast reader ). Few books ever make me smile. Smiling is a sign that I've been impressed. All in all, I wish that I'd read it sooner. And for those other curious minds out there let me assure you: 1.        Th...

   This has honestly been a long time coming. If you've been reading my blog for a while then you've probably predicted it. I'm a huge book fan. So it was only a matter of time before I started doing reviews...or as I like to think of them in my head, ' My very unsolicited opinions about what other people have written '. So ground rules: I'll avoid giving away spoilers because I don't like spoilers either. I'll try to give away just enough info to entice. I'll probably only write reviews about books that I've liked. Truth be told I have a bit of a track record for not finishing books that I don't like. Hopefully this won't be a problem because I'm a very picky reader and I usually like whatever books I do pick. Oh well, here goes nothing! Happy reading...

    Have you ever felt like that? It's absurd because sickness is something we mostly can't control...but have you ever been in that situation? Like 'Dear food poisoning, today won't really work for me. How about next week? Or next month? Can we negotiate?'

***For part 1 of this series, click here ***    This journey has partially been a rescue-mission. A high-paced courageous effort to save the edges of my hairline. Noble really, when you think about it. Then it turned into this creative roller-coaster that was too much fun to stop. If you know me, or have read my blog, then you know that I like pushing boundaries. I like stepping out of my comfort-zone. My motto is ‘ No what-ifs ’. Because I have better things to do with my time that brood over missed opportunities ( Hey, med keeps me pretty busy ). All in all, I’d say it was a successful mission!    So I’ve been rocking my natural hair since 27 th August. It was supposed to be a 2-week stint then I kept saying to myself “One more week”. That’s how I found myself here...a month later and still going strong. I am personally determined to keep this up till my birthday (Tomorrow actually ....Here’s a hint: I’m in love with Pinacolada cake from Cake city ) an...

   I've always wanted to try Shepherd's pie but I never did because we don't  have an actual pie-dish. But then I saw this recipe on Kawi Snippets and I just had to try it. She used a baking tin instead...talk about a light-bulb moment! She also used cheese and I love cheese! For the recipe, check out her blog here .    I however added my own twist to the dish. We had some left-over nyama choma ( Roasted goat ) in the fridge so I figured I'd just re-purpose it. I used the same recipe but swapped the mince-meat with nyama choma. I also garnished with tomatoes and parsley. Here's how it turned out: Meat in the baking tin...just needs the potato layer This is before baking. I'm a sucker for garnishes Fresh out of the oven Bon appetite! Ciao...

   First of all, I’ve decided to re-name this segment from ‘What I ate’ to ‘Foodie Fridays’...because I think the latter sounds cooler and because it’s my blog...so I can pretty much do what I want ;-D ( Whoa! Power-rush! ). Ideally I'll post a recipe every friday ( Hopefully ).    Some people may consider this dish to be more of a breakfast thing but I think it works just as well for lunch or dinner. Accompanied by salad or kachumbari. So here’s my own special twist to the Spanish tortilla. Ingredients ( Serves 6 ) 1 kg potatoes, thinly sliced 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 green pepper, diced 6 sausages, sliced 2 tomatoes, chopped A quarter cup of peas, steamed 6 large eggs, beaten A handful of chopped parsley Salt and black pepper to taste Extras A deep ( large ) frying pan Pre-heat oven to gas-mark 5 ( 190 degrees Celsius ) Method 1.        Boil the potatoe...

I dare you, to do the positivity challenge. At first glance it looks like just some facebook fad that people are suddenly into but theres a sudden beauty in the thinking underliying it. All your life you've heard the phrase count your blessings,but have you ever taken time to actually do it.? I think I experienced what it was like through this challenge. I did day one wondering if I had enough content for day two..but by the time day two finally rolled-around, I was eager! Apparently being thankful and counting your blessings is good for the soul and I found myself with a near constant smile on my face and a spring in my step. So go on, Try it! And even when it's over, keep on thanking God for the little things. Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Ciao...

1.        I am not a slave to food. 2.        God is good.  Sometimes a prayer is the only thing standing between you and giving in to that food temptation. 3.        How to keep busy.  It’s the only way to avoid having food-daydreams and remembering how long it’s been since you last ate. 4.        I don’t give myself enough credit. Apparently I have more self-control than I originally thought. 5.        My stomach is not a sovereign state. Yes its needs can be ignored and pushed aside from time to time without dire repercussions. 6.        It’s not as hard as people make it look. Maybe that’s why Jesus told the disciples to look presentable. To avoid giving others false perceptions about the whole process. 7.      ...