#Chikasays #TravelThursday: 5 beautiful reasons Kenya is my next stop

BY CHIKA

So where is your next travel stop this year? For me, i think it might be Kenya. Why? Well i was scrolling through Twitter, when i stumbled upon some pictures of Kenyan wildlife that are totally adorable.

And now i find i might be packing my bags to Nairobi. I would like to share some of them with you here:

Ready?

1. This picture of a sea turtle with fish riding on its back was taken at Watamu beach and it made me smile.

Meanwhile, Watamu beach is near Mombasa Kenya, and not only can you spend time on really beautiful beaches, you can also watch sea creatures, if you are an avid diver.

2. Next up is, this really dope picture of a man feeding an elephant:

The picture was taken at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. According to their Twitter handle @DSWT, they are pioneers in the rescue, rehabilitation & release of orphaned baby elephants, and actively work to conserve all wildlife and wilderness areas in Kenya.

I would love to go visit and feed baby elephants too.

3. Giraffes against the beautiful brown of a safari is a beautiful sight to see.

These giraffes are at home in the Massai Mara, a large game reserve in Narok County, Kenya. The Massai Mara is quite close to the Serengeti National Park in Mara Region, Tanzania. 

I also noticed that there are several other beautiful sights in this park i really need to see.

4. Dolphins diving is another of my favorite things to watch

I will also likely visit Kenya's wildlife services, apapart from watching animals all day, i will ask them if i can take home a pet dolphin.

5. Watching the migration of wildebeest from a hot air balloon has to be on everyone's bucket list.

I can't wait to get on a hot air balloon and watch the whole of the Serengeti beneath my feet.

Who wants to come?

#ChikaSays For the love of covers: 4 of my favorite

BY CHIKA

Who remembers Banky W's "Ebute Metta", a 'Nigerianized' and catchy cover of  Rihanna's "Umbrella"? Well, here are some of my favorite song covers ever:

1. Ebute Metta by Banky W

So, i really like this song because of its catchy tune. Rihanna's version is dope and sweet, but there is something bouncier about Banky W's "Ebute Metta" that made me fall instantly in love with it.

I sometimes miss the Banky on that track, although i love how he has grown as an artiste since then.

Ready for a massive throwback? Click the video



2. Hello by Praiz

So Adele's "Hello" caught fire. That song was everything, and on many nights, i still go to bed to the soulfulness of it.

Then Praiz brought his beautiful beard and voice into the cover and i fell in love all over again. I think it had to do with the deeper timbre of his voice, but it was instant love on that cover.

Listen to this beauty here:


3. Hello by Omawunmi

I found it hard to ignore Omawunmi's cover of Hello. While i still prefer Praiz's, Omawunmi also gave her soul and a little jazz to the track. The bounciness strangely does not reduce the soul of the song. Kudos! Omawunmi.

Feel the Omawunmi magic:

4. Panda by Ycee

Panda! Panda! Panda! Desiigner went in on that track! I spent a week studying the lyrics just to show off on karaoke night. Then Ycee happened.

Ycee's cover is slower, i can almost hear ever word, i like the creativity it took for him to come up with totally different lyrics, to cover the beat properly, i respect that, so it comes in at no 4.

Click the play button:

Listened to any covers by Nigerians lately that you like? Share with me.

#LaitandAbout Cyphers, Divas and Illbliss Live!

BY LAIT

If you ask me to describe last night in one word, i would say "Super Lit" (make that two words please.El-o-el).

I was at the 5ive Live Hip-Hop sessions' second instalment where rapper, Illbliss, had a special showcase for his fourth studio album "Illygaty; 7075" for an exclusive audience at the Bridge lounge, Lekki. The event was hosted by Chocolate City's finest Loose Kaynon.

The show was scheduled to begin at 6PM but hey! It was "African Time" as usual. One hour twenty minutes later, The Vintage Band opened the show with an electrifying performance as they sang a medley of songs from the international and local scene.

What's a Hip-Hop event without the elements of Hip-Hop? The four elements of Hip-Hop- MCing, DJing, Graffiti & B-boying were all on display and all the acts; popular or underground; performed before Illbliss took the stage. I'm talking Jesse Jags, Eva Alordiah, Dice Ailes, Yung6ix, Terry Apala, Dotman, Fresh L, Ms Chief, Pryse, Oladips and many more.

When 'Oga Boss', Illbliss, came on, he started by explaining that 7075 was his NYSC number and that his mother thinks this is the best collection of work he has done so far.

He went on to perform songs from his 12 track album which features acts like, Falz, Runtown, Vector, Phyno, Bovi, Ycee, and Koker.

All in all, i would call it a really good night, with the cypher and Pryse and Eva's performance as highlights for me.

Illygaty7075 is set to drop soon

#WCW: All the reasons we are crushing on AJ Sarpong

Tv & Radio Personality AJ Sarpong slays daily and she is our Woman Crush Wednesday today

Today we are crushing on AJ Sarpong whose full name is Nana Adjoa Akuoko-Sarpong, and you want to know why?

This awesome television and radio personality has achieved so much, while so young that when she told people her age recently, many were surprised. Can you believe she will be only 25 later this month on the 28th of October ?

Also our WCW, who describes herself as a “Killer combination of Beauty, Brains and Hard work," works so hard. She is on radio each day with her daily entertainment segment on Starr FM’s Mid-Morning show, The Zone with Naa Ashorkor and also on TV each morning with the accolade the “Princess of Morning TV.”

We are not done, she also works With the “TV Royals of Morning TV” Kafui Dey and Baisiwaa on GH One TV’s morning show, as well as the Host of GHOne’s telenovela show Revenge Live Chat Show and is also set to Premiere her new show in a few short weeks and its set to be a must watch.

And guess what? AJ is also a writer, with a quarterly Column "Gisting with AJ” in Glitz Africa Magazine where she speaks her thoughts on events and about the entertainment industry.

Did you know she is also a professional MC for events, who has hosted many exciting events such as the DSTV I Factory showcase, The Cake Fair, The Makeup Revolution events, the Launch of the Bartenders Association of Ghana and so much more.

She takes education seriously too and she just completed her Master’s Degree course at the Ghana Institute of Journalism and will soon be graduating with a Master’s Degree in Journalism and is also a University of Ghana Political Science and Theatre Arts graduate.

We absolutely love this lady who represents the “ New Face of Women in their 20’s”, as she is an ambitious, driven and focused Lady herself, who is able to do it all and do it very well.

Plus she is royalty! She is the last child of Traditional Ruler and Political stalwart, Nana Kwame Akuoko-Sarpong, the Omanhene of Agogo Traditional Area.

#MondayMotivation As with finger-nails, so with life

Ever taken a look at my nails?

On a good day, i have a manicure and a pop of colour. On an okay day, my nails are natural. And on my worst days (nervous, busy etc), you can see that while i do not chew my nails, i still take a lot out on them.

I have had my great days where i let my nails grow, paint them and love them. Growing my nails takes a few weeks. For me, it is the most boring couple of weeks as i track the growth and paint, clean, re-paint. But then give me one stressful or very bored day and i cut them all off!

This happened this month.

I made a vow to leave my nails alone. Everytime i absentmindedly started playing with them, i would stop myself and focus on something else. I lasted a few weeks. Then one fine day, i sat down and played with them. Again.

And you see, my nails remind me of a lot of things. Like building things up and taking them down. Like how it is much easier to destroy than to build up.

Think about it. It took me WEEKS to get my nails to a passable level. It took MINUTES to cut them off. Or like my hair. I have been growing my hair now for about seven years. I am sure if i go to a salon now, it would take about thirty minutes maximum to shave it off!

I wonder why negative things cost us less (in the short run), and good things take longer and feel more tedious. But i am also mindful of how it may feel like it is easier to just be bad, but in the long run, series of negative thoughts, patterns and behaviour will hurt us.

From my nails i learn two things
- It is so much harder to build (a business, reputation, a person) than it is to destroy it. All that we do can be lost with one careless word, thought or action. We have to be careful!

- Easier does not always translate to better. Yes, growing my nails is a big deal and stressful for me but it carries so many more benefits than the easy 'attack-nails-when-stressed' behaviour.

- Build habits early!
I wish i had learnt to stop attacking my nails while i was a lot younger. By now, i won't even be going back and forth on it. Habits can be annoying to form and bad habits are always easier to form and harder to kick, but habits learnt when young will benefit us for much longer and will become a seamless part of us as we grow older.

#BehindTheScenes My Weekend consisted of Kids, Drinks and Chicken at 2am

I had a good weekend, mostly because of an eventful Saturday.

Hair and Make Up by MzPreyeMakeovers

For the shy and introverted, event invitations raise levels of anxiety. For me, it forces me to slightly panic, then go and either be the life of the party (over-active), or stay in a corner throughout.

If you are shy and introverted, remember to relax (it's just a party), have a few topics of interest just in case people actually want to have a conversation with you, and love what you wear. Ain't nobody got time for discomfort!

I went for the Independence Kids Awards at Federal Palace Hotel (the Marquee). Kids doing exceptional things where celebrated and there was also entertainment provided by a funny Gordons, and SPAN. I sat on with Governor, Jafextra, Sound Sultan and Ali Baba and it was altogether a great time.

AliBaba and Yaw had us laughing all through at our table

I also checked out real quickly, the launch party for a new e-commerce company at Oriental Hotel.
Props to Spinall for his outfit to the event; he looked good!

Dj Spinall in an Ankara Kimono by Ayo Van Elmar

I saw Katung and his wife, and Kevin Chuwang. Fun fact- when I was fresh out of school, Katung was one of the first people I interviewed.
Thanks Katung!

My last port of call was dinner at Debola Williams' house for Zain Asher, Nigerian CNN correspondent. Fun fact? She's Chiwetel Ejiofor's sister!

Debola was a perfect host

It was informal and not only did we dance (especially to 'Pana', but we also played musical chairs (I lost), mimed to songs ('street credibility' was a hit) and talked into the night about dating, working and impact.

The highlight could have been chowing down some chicken at 2a.m as Debola showed himself to be the perfect host but it was actually getting to meet Stephanie Busari who is a CNN correspondent in Nigeria, and finally meet and chat with Arese of 'Smart Money with Arese'.

Arese, Toke Makinwa and i

Stephanie Busari is such a lovely person

So, my weekend was impactful. How was yours?

Stephanie Busari, Debola Williams, Eunice Omole and i

Zainab Balogun, Aderonke, Vimbai, Zain, Lala Akindoju and i

#WorldTeachersDay: My favourite Teachers...My Favourite subjects

Yesterday was #WorldTeachersDay, and teachers were celebrated all over the world.

It got me thinking about all the teachers, lecturers and course advisers i have had the privilege of meeting and it is no coincidence that some of my favourite subjects were taught by some of the teachers that had the biggest impact in my life- positively that is. There was that teacher who gave me twenty one strokes of the cain and no, we ain't celebrating her thank you.

My History teacher in Queens' College was a really good teacher; i liked how she taught and her knowledge of the subject.
I got some of my best scores in history.

In university, i fell in love with Intellectual Property, because i of course love the arts, but also because our lecturer was the best lecturer ever. Everything came to life when he taught and it was always a discussion not someone urging you to cram notes.

Same for Criminal Law, Law of Evidence and Family Law.

If you asked me who had the most impact in my life though, it was definitely my Literature in English teacher. One time she came to class and asked us to pick up her chairs and we went to the garden for our lesson! How awesome is that.
It wasn't just that though.

To be honest, teaching is not the easiest job. Students hate and sometimes make fun of you, you have to think of policies and rules to guide you, and your salary sucks. So thank you to those who do it, and do it well. Those who made us believe we could, and because of them, we can!


What teacher had the biggest impact on you? Share with me in the comment box.

#TravelThursday: Fond memories of travelling by Road

When i was younger we would go visit my grandmother in Ijebu-Ode. We went by road, usually in two cars with my parents, my sister and my cousins. 

I learnt the joy and restlessness that comes with travelling by road then. We always started out excited. My dad would check the car and papers to make sure everything was fine, we would pack snacks and drinks and i would worry about NOT needing a bathroom break. I hated the thought of needing to go on the road!

We usually started off singing, joking and telling stories. Then one after the other, we would fall asleep till only the person driving (i hope) was awake.

And then just as it felt like we could not take it any longer, we would see the famous turn welcoming us to Ijebu Ode.

I loved it!

In school, i once had the 'pleasure' of travelling by road with boys and girls from two other schools to Abuja. I remember bits and pieces of the journey to and fro- getting acquainted, conversations about nothing, the stops we made and the things we bought, having the soda i packed in my bag burst open and ruin my clothes, giving out awards and just loving it.

Then there was NYSC and my trips on commercial buses. First you had to get to the park early enough, then get a good seat, and then hopefully tune the world out. I loved stopover in Benin; i would browse through novels, stretch my legs and wonder again why i was doing this? Once in a while there was a fear of being waylaid or the bus breaking down but all that would go away as soon as i saw the "Welcome to..." signs and in Lagos, my daddy's smile.

I have had to go by road to a few other places and one thing i know about travelling about road is it is better experienced with friends or at least a great book!

If you can bear the cramps (which can be eased by light exercise in between), the learning to drink enough to stay hydrated but not so much that you need a million bathroom breaks (hands down the worst thing about road travel for me), and the carsickness (eased by meds or simply chewing gum), travelling by road is full of fun, awesome scenery and erm..erm... that's all i have got.

What do YOU like about travelling by road?

#MondayMotivation Bonang on Staying Focused and Getting what you Want

For today's Monday Motivation, i wanted to s.h.a.r.e something Bonang Matheba, radio and television personality, plus amazing business woman, s.h.a.r.ed with me when she came to Nigeria to co host 'The Future Awards' with Darey.

We were at BLD in Lekki so it was more of a laid back drinks night out with a couple of other media personalities like Ariyike, Toke and Latasha Ngwube but we still had time for a quick chat!

There are several sides to Bonang and i was interested in Bonang the successful mediaprenuer. For me, i wanted to know her tips for staying focused and getting what you want in life, what is in store for her in the future, and of course, you do not sit with Bonang and not get her must-do beauty essentials!

On How To Stay Focused and Get What You Want

Bonang keeps it simple with these three tips

- Don't listen to other people and their negativity. Listen to yourself

- Unlock your mind. It helps you to free yourself 

- Get over what people think about you.

On What Is Next For Her

Bonang is really passionate about conquering the international stage and having a family of her own.

On Her Top Three Beauty Essentials

"Foundation, Lashes long and gorgeous and Black liquid liner"

Her message for her fans in Lagos and indeed, Nigeria

"Thank you. The love has been incredibly overwhelming. Lagos is my favourite city on the continent"