The Kenyan Nomad

The Kenyan Nomad

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spring break 2012 conclusion

So spring break is over, and I''m headed back to school. That's the only reason I'm up at this ridiculous hour; my flight's in half an hour, so I had to be up at 2!
Has it been a successful break? Yes, definitely!! I spent the early part of my week recovering from a flu that was bound to come (exams, weather change, etc), and the later catching up on movies and sleep and good food. From Thursday night onwards I moved to my cousin's place, and we went to the Big Apple on Friday night.
What a night!!
First, I met another first cousin at a place called Raaz (which means secret).
http://www.raaz.us/
Visiting an Indian restaurant is something that I always look forward to while I'm away from Tennessee, as I don't get much of that on the mountain. The appetizers and chai we had were great, and from that we moved to an upper end Asian restaurant that was full of lights and noise and people; just the way I like it. The food (and drinks; surprisingly I didn't get carded, teehee!) were absolutely amazing, and if you can stomach the noise I would definitely recommend it.
http://www.taorestaurant.com/
I personally ordered the Kung Pao chicken, which was great, but everyone had a variety and we all shared. After that, of course, we were full to the brim, and decided to walk it off, when someone in the group had a brilliant idea; karaoke!!
Hunting for a karaoke bar, we ended up in a place in "Korea-town" where I had an amazing time watching people really get into it!! Again, there was a 21-age restriction, but the group pleaded for me, and since the manager saw that I was only a year away, I was let in. Lucky me right? :)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-spot-karaoke-and-lounge-new-york
My favourite was a couple who was completely off-key, dancing not quite to beat, but having such a great time that it was infectious. Karaoke with a group of people all more than 6 years older than me was quite an experience; I didn't know most of the songs, much to the shock and horror of my co-karaokers!
I did know a few, and my particular favourite was the end song of Dirty Dancing (which is one of my favourite movies, as I finally got around to watching it this break and plan to do so again ASAP).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo
About to board, so I'll head off now. More from the South!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

First memory recollections over spring break

Most people have no problem calling up their first memory. The other night, I was lying in bed, and (unsuccessfully) trying to fall asleep. I started to think about my first memory, and came up blank. Sure, I have lots of memories of my childhood, but I couldn't tell which is the first one.
Logically, the first thing to do would be to trace back, which I did.
I moved back to Nairobi with my family when I was around nine years old. I had plenty of memories of this time, so I went further back. After I came back from India, I was in Western Kenya; again, lots of recollections here. Visits with my cousins, letter writing, my dogs, school, friends, and plenty more. Before this I was in India for around five years, and here too, my memory functions wonderfully!
Before that, I was in Kikuyu, and here I start to get a little rusty. The day I found out that we were going to India? Or is that a dream? Running outside and falling and splitting my head open? Well, that's happened a couple of times, and I'm not too sure how great a first memory that would be. Travelling alone with my dad? That might be me remembering a story I was told. Or not.
Here's hoping that somehow it comes back to me!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Fresh start at 20

I know it's been a while, but I thought I'd start off afresh now that I've finally hit the big two zero, and maybe move it away from being a wedding blog to more of a regular blog. As I write this, I have just walked out of the "Wolfgang Puck Cafe" in the Cincinnati airport, Ohio. Invariably, I'm stuck here due to some weather delay or the other, and the extreme sleep deprivation that this sophomore currently has is not helping keep me alert at all!

Back to the cafe. For which, of course, I'll have to start at the beginning. Me being me, I was up till around 12 30 at night, and had to wake up at 4 in the morning so that I could get to the shuttle which would take me to Nashville for my flight. Solution? Sleep with the next day's clothes and the lights on. Well, it worked, but I'm still tired as hell!!

So I got to the airport, through security, and onto my first flight, for which I was asleep before take off. I wake up to the air hostess saying "Bad news guys; the airport is closed." Wait, what?! Turns out that there were around 14 airplanes waiting to get into the Cincinnati airport due to bad weather conditions, so we had to stop at some random airfield in Louisville, Kentucky for fuel. Once we finally made it to Ohio, I learnt that I was on the 2 pm flight, and would thus need some lunch.

After stumbling around the airport sleepily for a while, I looked up and saw Wolfgang Puck. Bingo! Food, done. I was rather pleasantly surprised by the ambience, and did not feel like I was at an airport at all. After a couple of minutes wait I was served by a lady who at the time seemed to be the only one working there. I decided to get an orange juice, a Caesar salad and a spaghetti with basil, tomatoes and garlic. Sitting next to me were a group of businessmen who had a lot of (rather) interesting stories that I obviously heard. Strangely enough, even though they came after me, they were served their drinks first. I let this go, as I was starving, tired, and by this time, my allergies were acting up too. The orange juice was great (isn't it always?) and the spaghetti was pretty good too. What really did it for me though was the salad. Now, I'm not a salad person. I'm not the kind of girl who walks into a restaurant and orders a salad as a meal. I mean, I'll eat them, but I won't seek them out. The salad came with the main meal, so I decided to go for it. It. Was. Divine! I'm a fan, and will definitely return to Wolfgang Puck just because of it.

The businessmen (and women) unknowingly kept me entertained with tales of spinning on the highway and bumping into a parked cop car, thus proceeding to drop said cop's doughnut (I'd be mad too!!), and having to go to court behind someone who did a rather fine impersonation of a playboy bunny.

That being said, my flight is FINALLY boarding. I'm about to go and enjoy my spring break. Have a great day all!!!

Popular Posts