6 unspectacular quirks

So my 2 week (to England) vacation ended up being longer than 2 weeks. I got in just a little over 24 hours ago… battling a cold/ cough/jetlag though my newly done light brown curls do help matters quite a bit. I had a fantastic time… details will follow when I get my bearings (I’ll probably be 5 hours ahead for the next few days).

In the meantime, I got multiple tagged to do a ‘6 unspectacular quirks’ tag…

1. I am completely loyal to the people I love… love the people they love, hate the people they hate. Sometimes it gets me in trouble.

2. I abhor underwear… wouldn’t wear any if I didn’t have to. Actually there have been times…

3. I carry my phone charger and passport with me everywhere I go. The charger thing is probably a carry-over from my high school days when my mom used to seize our chargers after any disagreements (we apparently spent too much time on the phone with our ‘male callers’.. lol)

4. (Apparently) I snore

5. I hate the sound of Styrofoam… one can get me to do almost anything to avoid it… arghhhh

6. I am not circumsized

I tag anybody who thinks they can do a better British accent than me

Canadians with a difference

We're in London babyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I love itttttttttt in spite of the 6pm close of just about every store in the nation... the dry, drab, rainy weather...

I Love the fish and chips with vinegar and their Covent garden with its beautiful theaters and fantastic shops and nice bars#

I love sainsburys with its endless variations of chocolates and cookies and... oh Gosh I think I'm gonna get fat here...

I love their double decker buses... the tubes and their funny accents and their oyster cards and travel cards

I love the Gallery... had a BLast there last night with my girlies... the DJ kept shouting out the 'girls from Canada'... I went to the bathroom and two lesbians approached me with 'how sexy I was'... I'm beginning to wonder if I give off a vibe... nah... I think it's the legs.... lol. Danced to every song till we left... fantastic cocktails... love the music here and the people are sooo nice...

I think we look like obvious tourists cos I sometimes dress abnormally(to them at least)... when they're bundled up in jackets and furs and uggs... we step out in flats, skirts and a trench... But we're Canadian... we're used to worse...

Next up: Lunch with some friends at oxford circus today... clubbing tonight... a wedding tomorrow... Karaoke later on tomorrow... and other things that will unfold in due time.

LOVING THIS!

Another day... another proposition

My boss likes me
...Arghhhhh...

Next stop... London, England

In less than a week... I leave these shores for England... home of wrong-side-of-the-road driving, lentil Soup and Victoria Beckham.

Land of my birth... It'll be my first time back since I left.
16 years it's been... 16 years... 192months... 768 weeks... 5376 days...

I never imagined it would take this long

In the 16 years since I left... I have lived so much...

This time I go back not with the ones I left... we'll do that when we're ready... visit the places we lived, the people we knew...

This time I will go and create new memories...
14 days with 6 of my best friends in one house...

Armed with red lipstick, 11 of my favorite shoes, a digital camera and the laughter of these girls I love so dearly... I will re-acquiant myself with the taste and the sound and the sights of England.

With my gorgeous friends...
I will go to Buckingham palace and tell my best 'yo mama' jokes to the guards... to the London zoo to see how animals sound with British accents, to numerous pubs to investigate the difference between Molson Canadian Beer and whatever they have on the continent... to Madam Tussauds to audition in front of the Simon Cowell wax figure... to the bridge where Osuofia told that girl to stop wearing mini-skirts... to the Shakespeare theatre... to the best fish and chips places... to the London zoo and art centers and museums and castles and cathedrals...

You might see me on your streets... preceded by racous laughter... 6 girls with Canadian accents and Canadian jokes and Canadian digital cameras...
How you'll know it's me is... stop and ask for my name...

Macbeth Palagutsa

Nigeria... in pictures

Roadside yam and plaintain in Lagos... soooo yummy...


Mr Biggs food... hated the meatpie... tasted different.
Chivita Pineapple juice rocks!!!


Gordon Sparks at Alpha Beach... loved it. Went horse-back riding.


aLpHa bEaCh iN lAgOs...beautiful and so much fun.





Nigeria's McDonalds Fruit market...


Victoria Garden City- Paradise. We did a bit of house-hunting... fun.


Funcity in Lagos... Europe...


Dude put his wheelbarrow aside to pee on the street... lol


The 2nd best sUyA I had


The zoo in Owerri... they have a 'dead zoo' inside the real one...lol.. exciting


Pig sty... Dead monkey...lol


My aunt fried eggs on firewood... funny as hell but delish


Unripe plantain porridge and a sexy young village girl... lol


Gorgeous pineapple showing and provision store


Akamu for breakfast... and Dreamland in Owerri... fantastic live show... this girl was a MAD dancer... I got so much money sprayed on me while I boogyed down as the singer was crooning about 'Overwhelmed from Canada'



Stadium in Owerri... Delicious Isi-ewu and star beer... I gained weight happily


Fantastic snails... lol... I'm such a foodie


Stream in my mom's village.... and some game thing at a masquerade festival I went to


So many people at the masquerade festival and my little cousin drunk... haha

National Theater in Lagos, some fresh fish at a restaurant in Lagos... tetrazini I think

Grilled Fish at Military Base, Lagos.... and point and kill fish at Papa Izus in Ajao Estate... lol... I told you I'm a foodie...


Overloaded truck... lol.... Christ Embassy Headchurch in Ikeja... was sooooo HUGE


Ofada rice ROCKS!!!


Baby Masquerade... and a Bigger Masquerade... it was so much fun... I heard a lot of them actually use charms...



Okada(Motorcyle) Ride with 4... I went on these a few times without my moms consent... lol... sooo thrilling

Mummy Sunday 18

I started writing my Mummy Sundays about 18 months ago… ironic that this is my 18^th one. I dedicate it to the angel who made me start writing them… the woman who gave of herself so selflessly to her ailing mother, who lived for her mother… who smiled in the face of adversity…

FOR LONDONBUKI and her MOTHER

Though I have slacked off recently, I was inspired to start writing about my mother because of LondonBuki and her dedication to her mother… her Mummy Mondays.

Rain or shine, every Monday, she penned her devotional to her mother. On days when she didn’t have the internet available, she braved the elements(sometimes really chilly weather), went to Internet cafes to write something about the beautiful woman who birthed her… the triumphs and setbacks, how her mom teased her sometimes, how her mom danced, how her mom cooked, how her mom laughed… her moms hair, her moms love… Her Mom.

LondonBuki washed her moms hair, cut her toenails, lotioned her skin, sang her songs, read her books… told her mother what was happening out there in the world while she rested.

She ran a marathon and dedicated it to her mother… she wasn’t ashamed to ask for prayers and none of us were ashamed to give them to her.

I started writing Mummy Sundays because I had never before experienced such dedication in a person towards their mother before LondonBuki… not fictional… not in real life… I cried so many times reading her Mummy Mondays… she’s such a beautiful person… and I really am inspired by her… I drew strength from LondonBuki’s strength… I celebrated her joys… and I will tell you she’s as nice outside of blogsville as she is inside… she's absolutely gorgeous and smart and really witty and razz when she wants to be... so knowledgeable and has the best 'Nigerian girl' hair I've ever seen

It’s incredibly sad that her mom didn’t make it… she passed away last week… I cried when I heard… so I can’t begin to imagine how she feels… I don’t really know any great words of consolation to say cos I don't even understand... I really want to ask why... I'm sure somebody would say 'Gods time is the best'... it's just really hard for me to grasp that ...

There’s a song I used to listen to as a child when I was going through HELL and missed my mother so much I didn’t know if I could survive it…

I don’t know who sings it or the words to the entire song… but I sing it for you now my darling:

“He’s always there… to brighten up your days… always there in everyway… when its cold and dreary and your faith is growing weary… you don’t have to be afraid… he’s always there just ask for what you need… he’ll be there if you believe… open up your heart… invite him to come in… he’ll turn your life a round and change you from within… waiting to care”

You are blessed for the rest of your life LondonBuki… your mom smiles at you from heaven, as does God… and he will give you the strength to go on… and to deal with this… you and everybody else who loved her… my prayers and my heart is with you during this difficult time.

I love you my angel.

Your friend

Overwhelmed Naija Babe

Spring has spoken

• The Escada perfume I got for my birthday...
  

• My new purple and gold leather tote. It's incredibly huge and flashy and I love it

• My new Patricia Field drag shoes. I probably can't wear those in 'polite company' but every girl needs a pair of drag queen shoes in her closet and now I have two!!!

• The return of my darling Jolene from the winter wonderland he went to for months. I think I'll wear my drag shoes to go diamond 'shopping' with him at Tiffanys (lol... memories... and I'LL ask him to marry me this time!)

• Working out to Britney Spears "Blackout" album (so high- energy and fun). My next purchase will be Janet Jackson's "Discipline".

• Tennis bracelets... and my 2 Tigerhead bracelets... one of which my best friend got me for my birthday. So funky... I wear them with everything.

• My first organic cotton purchase... a black 3/4 sleeved blazer. Doing good for the environment never looked so good.

• I'm thinking of changing my name again... from Olive to Venus.

• Matching coloured mani and pedis.

• Maxi dresses in various patterns and prints are one of my most recent addictions. I already own 8 and still can't get enough.

• Black gladiator sandals... there's something so stark about them that I find incredibly sexy. I got a pair on my trip to New York 2 days ago... they're satin and studded with dark stones... so cute my best friend just had to get a pair. We're counting down the days until we can wear em.

• I blog-miss my big sister SOUL everyday

• Gongo Aso... heard it first at a club in Nigeria and went mad. It still gets me on my feet everytime... totally the new yahoozee. Imagine that, Lori le and soty malaria are hot on its heels though.
  

• My guess highwaisted jean shorts... they're a bit tight... but the workouts are coming along so by summer I should be set.

• My student agenda
  

• Someone I love has found Love... and I LOVE it

• Jill Scotts 'Come see me' on her 2007 'the real thing' album (I feel a life in a song coming onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn)

• Mozilla Firefox... I love the multiple tabs

• Green has taken over last years yellow as my favorite new colour this spring.
  

• Manzillas(stuffed olives)... I can eat a jar of this stuff in a day.

• I'm heartbroken for my friend who recently lost her mother... there simply are no words of comfort good enough, no justification that makes enough sense... Absolutely nothing. All I can offer are my open arms, prayers and hope that as time goes by she will continue to think of her mother with smiles and not tears. God bless you my darling... I have learnt so much from you. You really are one of my heroes.