2017! Ramblings of a 40 y.o man...

Another year passed and onwards into 2017!

Been away too long that to come up with a simple posting for the blog for 2017 proved to be very difficult. Too difficult that for this particular posting, I've been writing, deleting, rewriting and deleting many times that I told myself that on this nite, Wednesday 15th, I should have an article posted on the blog....a welcoming article of sorts. 

Big 4-0 this year. Another milestone, certainly a lifetime achievement. A few of my friends didn't make it. I remembered on my mum's 40th birthday, there was none. That year, my maternal grandmother passed on at the age of 63. Dad's mom left in 1977,  a few months before I was born, and she was 63 too. Mum was slightly better, at 64. From 40 to 63 is not long, 23 years to be exact. Not that I'm troubled by it, on the contrary, but am thankful that the sessions I had with my dad on being better muslim finally made perfect sense. Nothing new about his advice...more of a reminder actually, but now it really sank in. 

It has nothing to do with the age old adage "life begins at 40" but it was motivated by the passing of my mom. I laid her to rest on that fateful day and somehow I would have flashbacks. Back to that moment. I held her head and tilted it towards Kaabah in Mecca, the direction of our solah and apologised if it hurts her. I took the last glimpse of her before we covered her with earth. I had dreams of her and I swear to Allah that sometimes I hear her voice, but I keep it to myself. There were instances when suddenly I said "mama"... and recited the longest surah (Quranic verses) I can remember for her. 

Deep down, I will always be her little boy. Dad's advice really sank in and hit home because I really want to see her again. 

Welcome 2017...there you have it.

Mum with Ben and Fay

FC WAMCO Games 2016 (Football Part 2 - Final)

Last week we made another trip to Agege Stadium. But before that, Madam broke the news about the MD's move. My family and his arrived in Lagos on the same day, 1st January 2015. Our children went to the same school, and  many times I seek  assistance from his Madam. To see them leave, it's sad but happy for them since the move is to a more important and definitely bigger role.

So, the finals were...finally here and I was happy as I can be. I get to practise using the DSLR and somehow the crowds are quite relax to see an 'oyinbo' (white man, foreigner) walking here and there taking pictures. I'm still learning. Trust me. Taking landscape photos are much different that taking portraiture or sports photos and I don't belong to any of those group. Worse, I do not edit most of my photos. 

Anyway, we arrived during the 3rd and 4th placing match which ended in penalty shoot out. Peak Team won! Next was a novelty match and our neighbour, Manwel scored the only goal of the match. Rahul, the outgoing MD arrived with his family by then (arrived from their look see trip to China). 

While waiting for the final match between Peak 456 and Three Crowns, there was a cheerleading routine followed by a free style football show and a singing performance. The MD gave his speech and were presented with a medal, mini trophy, a custom made shirt with all the brand from the company and....... a mock Green card (PR card) as souvenir.

The final game between Peak 456 and Three Crowns were ruthless. It was no time for half measure and went all out tackling and a few injured. At one time, I counted not 2 but 3 players injured at the same time!

But, we did not watch the game till finish. Madam wanted to bring the children back home. But I knew Peak 456 would win and they win eventually for a simple reason......before they start the match, all of the team member would gather at their goalpost and pray. Oh yes they prayed. Ask and thou shall receive. Congrats Peak 456! 

p/s: newspaper man, can use my picture..but please give credit oooo...... 

FC WAMCO Games 2016 (Football Part 1)

The company recently held their sports day over a period  of a few months. There were indoor games like Table Tennis, Scrabble, Play Station (Football) and Chess. Outdoor game was Football. 

The football games were held at Agege Stadium not far from the office/factory. Four teams vied for the coveted Champion Trophy and each teams were named after the company's product, Peak, Peak Choco, Three Crowns and Peak 456. 

Football is considered the national sport. No, it's more than that. It's an obsession. "Super Eagles" they're known world wide. They had been to the World Cup, won gold medal in Olympics  in 1996 Atlanta games and 2nd runner up during the 2016 edition in Brazil. 5th in FIFA ranking was their highest so far (now 50th tie with Burkina Faso). 

Legends like Nwakwo Kanu made way for the likes of John Obi Mikel, Umar Sadiq and Peter Etebo. The country stood still when they play and went berserk if the result were....tie or worse, a defeat. 

Back to the event at Agege Stadium, it started with the march pass by all the teams and opening speech by the HR Director. Dance troupe and a freestyle football show was next. I think there was a singer performed right before the match started. FIFA sanctioned referee and lines man/woman were the games officials. 

Frankly, I enjoyed the games...and taking pictures as well. I just want to see if I can upload 100++ pics in a post. Enjoy! 

NIGERIA: Lagos: Conversation on Conservation in Lekki?

If you ask me about Africa, top of my list would be Safari. 

And speaking of Safari, I bet some of us must've watched a TV series about a vet clinic in Africa. It was Daktari! Remember that? Babies of the 70's and early 80's? Need to jog you memory? Just click here for the opening theme. Ahhhhh the 'good ole days'. 

I did browsed for safari in Nigeria but to no avail. It was when my friend, Yunus and family came to visit us last month, he mentioned a name which I've totally forgot about it. It was Lekki Conservation Centre. So off we went with Khairy from MATRADE on a balmy Saturday morning.

toll gate at Lekki bridge

signboard to the conservation

NIGERIA: Lagos: Harmattan is back

I love the lagoon. On a clear weather, you could see the 3rd Mainland Bridge and as far as Ikorodu at the other end of the lagoon.  

Lagos Lagoon in sunny September

In late October, I witnessed a huge number of water hyacinth on the lagoon. It impeded the movement of boats and the local fishermen of the lagoon. The hyacinth come and go but at the moment, the number had decreased tremendously. 

Little I realised that, there were sign of Harmattan on the pictures taken below...

lagoon with water hyacinth in October

Harmattan. Harmattan who?

In these part of the Western Africa, dusty wind blown from the Sahara region into the Gulf of Guinea. It causes the sky to have some reddish tint. It will be like this till early March next year.  

Temperature wise? I would say it's between 28-32 deg Celsius in Lagos state. But in Jos, Plateu state...at night it would go down to a bone chilling 14 deg Celsius! It's dusty and could irritate the eyes, nose and throat. Asthmatic patients, just beware.

picture taken this morning (24th Nov. 2016)

Anyway, it's here....maybe in a different format (black and white?) the picture above would be better looking. Maybe...  

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town: Day 4 (Simon's Town)

What I like to do when I travel is to try the metro or train. It's a convenient way to get to your destination and it could be cheaper too. Since there was no train or tram within the city, we decided to go to any of the attraction by train, if there's any. One place DID cropped up in my search..... Simon's Town.

OK...I was so excited when I first looked at google map about the train trip to Simon's Town. A part of the trip will meander along the coastline of False Bay. Also, Simon's Town has it's own attraction too, the penguins.

Route from Cape Town to Simon's Town

We walked from the apartment to the main terminal in Cape Town. There are lots of train from here to all over South Africa for this station, We bought our tickets and head for the correct platform and chances are, your train would be there waiting to depart. If you're unsure about the train platform, fare, train time, the officers at the info counter would be delighted to assist you.

Cape Town train station

The train and platform info, ours was the 0149

the platform

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town: Day 3 (Robben Island)

The visit to Robben Island, permit me to say....was THE highlight of the trip. Three men who were 'institutionalised' on Robben Island came out and became the President of South Africa! A funny  fact but at great cost. The late Nelson Mandela was an inmate there for 18 years out of his 27 years in prison. 

Swing Bridge (right), Red Clock tower and
The Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island (left) 

For the online ticket, you can get them at http://www.robben-island.org.za . There are 4 trips per day (weather permitting) and online tickets usually sold quite fast. The trip to the island is about half hour to an hour, a three hour tour and another half hour to an hour return leg. All in all, we're looking at 4-5 hours total time. 

We took the last trip at 3pm and by 2.30pm, the waiting hall at the jetty was packed! 3 boats per trip to ferry visitors to and fro the island and each are good size vessel. Still, due to unfavourable weather conditions...they would cancel the trip. So they will ask you a contactable phone number when buying ticket. Just in case.

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town: Day 3 (Springboks Museum)

Third day!

Took an Uber to the V&A waterfront. Springboks and Robben Island today. The boat ride to Robben Island departs from a nearby jetty. 

The Cape Wheel

I like the V&A waterfront. There's so much to see (historical ones) and they have decent food courts serves halal meals. The children love the Hamley's and Toy Kingdom with the adjacent LEGO store. There are map all over the place so you won't get lost. 

Ben wanted to visit The Springbok Experience Museum just walking distance from the waterfront. Just look for the rugby goal post by a tall wall, across the road and you'll find the museum there.

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town Day 2 (Two Oceans Aquarium)

We alighted at the HOHO bus stop not far from the aquarium which is at V&A Waterfront. I was told by my friends who gave me specific list of places to visit with the children, this is a must visit attraction. voila! The Two Oceans Aquarium

We bought the ticket online as there's a 10% discount on each ticket. The ticket for adult is about RM41 or USD10 per person and children 4-13 ticket is 50% less than the adult. 

Two Oceans Aquarium, where two oceans meet, the Atlantic and Indian ocean. I recommend that you arrive either at around 11.30am or 2.30pm, during the feeding time. 

presentation by the centre's personnel

the I&J Ocean exhibit feeding

SOUTH AFRICA: Cape Town: Day 2 (Table Mountain National Park)

Day 2!!! 

After the HOHO bus trip, we had some idea where are most of the attractions are and which ones we would like to visit. But any visit would not complete if without the visit to the most visible feature of the town....Table Mountain.

View from the apartment