Christmas Party '23

 Hi everyone,

So, it’s our second Christmas in the UK and in keeping with tradition, aunty Ngozi throws a very elaborate get together for the family members and friends here.

Now now if you know anything about my auntie she's someone who is exceptionally large hearted and spares no expense when it comes to hosting or taking care of visitors. She set up a WhatsApp group for the family and preparations started in earnest. 

We all usually chip in financially to help out but due to some circumstances and their kindness, auntie Ngozi and Uncle Sam decided to take on the financial burden themselves.

Chioma and I had just returned from our Birmingham trip the previous day and went to help set up on Xmas eve. Turns out that some others (Oluchi and Kenny (Oge’s wife)) had been there all day and most of the stuff was already done. Despite her decision to foot the bills, the rest of us had all decided to ignore and go ahead to buy drinks ourselves in order to ensure we at least contributed a bit…so Chioma and I bought a case of red wine for the party.

Oh boy…did it go well or what?

The food was absolutely delicious…the atmosphere was amazing…lots of pictures and videos (trust Aunty Ngo for that)…. Lots to drink and make merry and everyone generally had a fantastic time.

Once more , thank you to the Ebele family and everyone else for their efforts in making sure this period was not so lonely for everyone and may God bless us all.

Buzz off

 Hey guys, I just thought of something, and you know what I most certainly do not miss??

Mosquitoes.

Dear God, thank you everyday for getting those bastards out of my life. Even if its only for the period of time spent outside the tropics, boy, I’m grateful.

I have always hated them… there were times back home when these pests would bother you to death and make the nights a living hell. Mahn, since relocating over here, that horrible aspect of discomfort has been eliminated. Those nasal whines of them flying around, the itchiness of their bites, the phantom itch of real or imagined bites, the anger at killing them and seeing blood splats on your walls, money spent on regular insecticides, the horrible ill health that malaria brings and the mere annoyance of just seeing them in your space at all.

Okay okay..i may be exaggerating it a bit but boy, am I glad that there are no mosquitoes over here.

Holiday trips

 As part of our Christmas plans, Chioma and I decided to take a trip to visit our friends, the Agomos..Chidi Sandra and their lovely son Adim at their place in Birmingham.

This is looking like it has the makings of becoming one of our Christmas traditions…seeing as we embarked on this same trip last year. Another friend, Chinyere was there as well so it promised to be a fun trip. It was also going to be the first time we travelled out of state via train, so checkmark for new experiences.

The journey was great. Got to Euston station and after some enquiry about directions, we found our platform and waited to board…only for me to casually ask a nearby station staff about our online tickets which Chioma booked and he stressed that we had to actually print out physical tickets from the station there…oh boy!! Thankfully our train was just boarding at that point so I quickly went to one of the nearby machines and got our tickets. Good one too cos the ticket inspector actually came to inspect tickets from everyone later on and confirmed that we needed physical tickets for the trip.

Birmingham is a beautiful place and we couldn’t get over how affordable the living costs here as when compared to London. Their house was a two-storey, three-bedroom apartment with spacious rooms, a kitchen, balcony etc and was still about 400 pounds cheaper than what we pay for our one bed apartment in London!!! Hmmmm…

The visit was really enjoyable. Chidi and Sandra are such a lovely couple and their son is just the most precious little guy ever.. Chinyere’s presence always makes things better and overall, we had a really wonderful time.

If things pan out as planned for us in 2024, we are definitely going to be seeing a lot more of them.

Holiday Blues 2

 Hey peeps,

So. we’ve successfully spent our second Christmas here in the UK and to be honest, there’s a lot to highlight about how there's nothing much to write home about…does that even make any sense?

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that contrary to popular belief, Christmas can also be a very lonely period depending on your circumstance or point of view. Speaking as immigrants still trying to find their feet, it can be a really trying period. Apart from all the stress of trying to get your papers sorted (with the huge fees required to do so), there's also the loneliness that hits you every time. Now we are a bit more fortunate than most seeing as we have family members here who you can relate with from time to time.. However, these interactions are very limited; for most of the holiday, you are left to your own devices. London is a lonely place and its so easy to fall into some sort of holiday depression just off the fact that you’re on your own so much of the time and no one seems to care too much about it…. Despite the myriad of things to do, there are so many factors that make this impossible: the weather, money, dampened wills, strangers everywhere and just a general sense of torpor.

To counteract this, Chioma and I made plans not to get too caught up in the holiday blues…we planned a trip to Birmingham to see our family friends and that was a huge success (apart from the fact that I seemed to have caught serious flu from this trip) and we had our annual Christmas get together at Aunty Ngozi’s place which also went down very successfully. Nevertheless, after all this, we’ve been alone at home for a few days now and I believe I’m going stir crazy. The unfortunate part of this is that unlike in Nigeria where you can just decide to jump out of the house and go somewhere, it's not the same here…the weather has been brutally cold and financial restrictions really limit you from doing anything you’d want to. Even though ive accepted it as part of the sacrifices in this phase of my life, it’s still very “somehow”.

It gets laughable after a while because you know many people who’d trade circumstances with you in a heartbeat. Sigh..

 Maybe it’s just the ability to come on here and rant away, or just the fact that I really hate being bored but at some point, I know it's definitely going to get better… and this is what really keeps me going.

After all, it's supposed to be the season to be jolly no?

 

 

Merry Christmas folks!!

 It’s been a blessed year for us and honestly, I’m just grateful for what we’ve achieved and where we are right now in life. Again, so many things to be thankful for. I’ve successfully bagged my Masters degree with a fantastic grade, Chioma’s work is progressing in leaps, Remote (Chioma’s workplace) being the awesome people they are have offered us the elusive CoS (more on this later), I’ve gotten a job offer which is looking very positive, we’ve been in good health thus far…so as I said… much to be thankful for.

No rubbish matching pyjama pictures for us this year even though I strongly suspect that Chioma is going to make me do it one of these coming years.

Anyway, Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours!!

All you can eat

Hi guys..

So we were getting bored of the forced indoor confinement necessitated by the suddenly crazy winter weather and decided to do something outdoors.

One good thing going for London is the abundance of places of interest and tons of scheduled events (especially during the festive period). We decided to explore central London and set off towards Leicester square which I heard they had converted into a sort of Christmas/winter sale village.

Got all the clothing layers on and set off via the Bakerloo. It was actually a beautiful place but of course, from the exorbitant prices of the goods there, it was obvious that the major target audience were the abundant tourists who apparently had trooped into London for the yuletide. We went round the place, did a little sightseeing and then decided to set off once we got tired. Now, at this point, we were a bit hungry and seeing as the Chinatown complex was just next door, we decided to grab a bite from one of their numerous stores.

Boy….Chinese people really know how to set themselves up everywhere they are. The place was so unapologetically Chinese. We had actually been here before but it seemed to have somehow gotten bigger. I recall with fondness the dilapidated China town complex at Ketu in Lagos and I laugh in amusement…here’s the real deal.

Last time we were here, Chioma had gotten some quick takeaway from one of the shops but this time around, We ended up deciding to eat in at one of the shops advertising an “all you can eat” buffet and o boy!! It was an inspired decision.

Like an authentic amala joint, the service was that kind of abrupt, straight-to-the-point, get-on-with-it type that makes you instinctively understand that the yumminess of the food would make up for it. The place was packed. We got in though… sat at a table for two, paid the obligatory entry/table fees, got handed two plates with cutlery set and were instructed to help ourselves.

I’m not a novice at buffets and i’m sure the concept of an all you can eat one is not novel but omo, the amount and variety of food choices here were staggering.

 Chioma and I went to town!!

I started off with starters, piled my plate high and dug in. Same with Chioma… Anyway, there’s no shame here o…funny enough, some of the white folks that were eating all around us seemed determined to bankrupt the restaurant proprietors with the way they were piling their plates with food…and going for round after round…na wa o.

Long story short, it was an extremely enjoyable meal which ended up after two rounds for Chioma and round three for me. Wow. The Asians really know their stuff when it comes to their cuisine.

Ended up getting some desert and two bowls of takeaway where my darling wife distinguished herself with her impressive, plate-packing skills. Chioma stuffed that takeaway bowl till it was begging for its life. Lol..

Staggered out and headed back home feeling deliciously full and well sated.

 

God bless the Chinese.

Lolo at 70

Hi All,

Today's post will be celebrating an amazing human being, my loving, caring, devoted, wonderful mom, Lolo Nneoma Eugenia Akunnaya Ibemere.

Guys…you see the person I am today, that’s partly because of the influence of this woman in my life. It goes without saying that this woman sacrificed so much to make sure we were all well brought up, trained, loved and successful at life. Thanks to my parents, we had SOLID values drilled into us from an early age and I believe this has stuck with us so far.

We love you so much mom.

So earlier this year around July, Ugo came up with a plan for us to celebrate her as this year was supposed to mark her 70^th birthday. Of course, the idea caught on with all of us, and plans spun into full gear. After bringing Lolo herself into the picture, we started all the planning, and between Mom and Ugo, most of the preparation, buying, strategizing and whatnot were mostly taken care of in time.

Its just one of the cons of this japa life…everything from our own end was done from far away but Chioma and I tried to be involved in all aspects sha.

From all accounts…It was a MASSIVE success.

So , after some stressful journeys by road, my peeps all traveled back home and together with the great folks back home, we successfully put some befitting events together to celebrate Lolo.

There was a church thanksgiving celebration

capped with the inevitable chop chop party for the villagers and everyone who dropped by and finally, a visit to the motherless babies home later the following week.

Mama, we will never tire of telling you how much you mean to all of us. Your love, compassion, care and discipline are the foundation for everything we know. Our prayer is for God to keep you alive and in good health to enjoy the reward of all your sacrifices and labour.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for my beautiful mom, Lolo Nneoma Eugenia Akunna Ibemere.