This Green passport life

 It's just a crazy thing innit..?

So, three days ago, I’m lying down on the couch thinking of my life and this reminder just pops up on my phone to re-emphasise the misery which my thoughts are directed towards.

For the second year in a row, I’ve been unable to travel to Barcelona for our annual summer party because, unlike most of my colleagues who can up and go at the drop of a hat, I’m limited to alternative process requirements which involve applying to different embassies to get visas and permissions to travel.

This year’s own is just a clusterfuck of shenanigans.

So earlier on in the year, around May, the company brings out a list of deserving staff who have been selected to spend a week at our HQ in Spain, and I’m on the list. Yaay!!.. So Chioma and I decided to tick off items on our travel bucket list and do a tour of Europe. We still have lots of travel credit (graciously given to us as a perk last year) so we start making plans. Chioma applies to the Spanish embassy for a tourist visa, and since my company usually helps us with the process, I wait to hear from them. Meanwhile, other staff who are going on the trip start making plans and nailing down itineraries, but us Nigerians and Africans who need the visa can’t start doing anything yet.

Nevertheless, with faith, Chioma and I apply and are granted leave from the office and proceed to book flights and hotel bookings in 3 different countries (seeing as there seemed to be no unforeseen issues previously). We plan to spend the week in Barcelona, fly to Rome, spend 3 nights and then go to Milan. Then, 2 days later, fly from Milan to Paris and spend another 3 nights and afterwards return back to the UK.

Now the wahala starts.

The agency which was supposed to help with the process delays for a bit before inviting us to travel to London for a data capture exercise. I take the day off (On my birthday, no less) and embark on a hectic trip to get this done. Meanwhile, Chioma had to apply separately for her visa earlier and pay for the express service.

That’s how we started waiting for the bloody Spanish consulate to approve the visa.

We were supposed to travel on July 6th to Barcelona, and Chioma’s own came in around the 1st. However, as I type this, the fuckers are yet to approve or return my passport. 

That’s how I missed out on the Barcelona part of the plan and I’m praying it comes in today so we can at least make alternate plans in order to be in Spain where our flight to Rome HAS to originate.

Dear God!!

If i say I’m not tired of this shit ehn…na lie. Last year it was a passport renewal issue, this year it’s delay from Spanish embassy.

Not funny at all.

In all of this, it's Chioma I really feel for as her own has come about, but she won't or doesn’t want to travel alone. 

Prayers are still up and hopefully…I can update later if all goes well.

The Evenbrookers

 Hola..

Just want to take time out to recognise some wonderful people who we have in our lives over here.

As i said earlier in posts here.. As immigrants in the UK, It’s pretty difficult to gain and maintain a good (emphasis on good) community which reminds you of home and helps keep your sanity.

We’ve been fortunate enough to have met wonderful people here in Brum who contribute positively and have become a big part of our lives.

The Agomos have been awesome friends. We’ve known them from way back in Lagos. Sandra and Chioma go waay back to their Uni days. Her husband Chidi is a fantastic guy and they’ve been very instrumental in helping us settle so well in Birmingham. Their kids, Adim and Kobi are just delightful. We’ve bonded so well with them and see them always being in our lives.

The other family, we met here in Brum through the Agomos. Jerry, Joy, and their family are also wonderful people who have made a positive impact and have become really good family friends. They also have two lovely active kids, Jolene and Jayden, who keep everyone on their toes..

Its so important to have a support system here and we’re really thankful to have these guys in our lives. We all stay within the same estate so its easy to bond and affect each other’s lives positively.

Long may it continue!!

Johnny, be good.

 Speaking of Naija music, one thing we’ve really missed over here in the UK is going to concerts and shows!

Ahh, the good old days of just knowing there are certain times of the year when there’s an overabundance of artists putting out concerts, getting tickets (free or otherwise), and driving to Eko Hotel Banquet Hall to enjoy yourself.

Now you have to actively hunt up upcoming concerts of musicians you fuck with, and do this months, sometimes (for really massive artistes) years in advance, which when you check the locations and pricing…you just respect yourself and stay at home.

Last year, Chioma, being the music purist that she is, found some tickets to a Johnny Drille show here in Birmingham. She really, really likes his music, and even though he wouldn't be in my top 3 (or top 10 tbh) list, he’s an awesome musician and has some really lovely music out there.

That’s how we found ourselves all dressed up and going to our first music concert here in the UK. The location was in a small hall somewhere in Digbeth. Johnny has this style of having small, intimate gatherings, which he calls ''Johnny’s Room Lives'', but this one was not so much like that, though.

We got there early (big mistake for Nigerian musician concerts) and there was a crazy queue of people already waiting to get in. The show was supposed to start at 7pm, so we got there by 6.15, yet had to wait for an hour before getting into the venue and then another two hours listening to other terrible opening acts, hype-man shenanigans, and lovely DJ music before Oga decided to show up. Bad Johnny!!

He made up for it, though, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable show. He put up a great performance and belted out most of his popular hits (most of which I know about). He’s Mavin Records affiliated, so of course, he has some massive songs.

All things considered, a really good outing for us.

Naija Playlists

 Hey there people..Hope all is good.

I’ve always loved curating personalized music playlists for myself… so sometime ago, with our premium YouTube Music subscription, I found time to put together two crazy playlists of Naija music.

One is titled ''Great Naija jams’’ and the other one is one of the best collections of music I’ve curated and is titled “Evergreen Naija Party.” 

I’ve always been a music head but haven’t always had time to keep up with what's going on in the industry recently. There’s the whole ‘Afrobeats to the World’ movement happening and it’s been a revelation. However, for me, the real gems are the music we churned out between 2010 and 2020. That was when the real magic happened which rocketed the Naija music industry into space and cemented our place in the World.

Kudos to all the people who made that happen…

I’ve been enjoying the playlist very much on the commute to work and whenever I’m chanced. 

Chioma is not an aficionado and turns up her pretty nose at most of the music😂😂… lol… Can’t really blame her though. If I’m being honest, the driving force for loving Naija music (apart from the artistes and their artistry) is the beat of the songs and the awesome production. 

Lyric-wise…errhh…not really there at all. 

Isn’t it ironic (thanks Alanis) that some of our best music features subpar, lazy lyrics? If you deep it, it’s amusing bopping and enjoying Wizkid crooning about a nymphomaniac Caro who doesn’t let him rest, or Davido croaking on about wanting to commit adultery with Kim Kardashian in a Bentley, or our beloved Wande promising to commit taboo by putting his love interest’s marriage asunder. Of course, even with these greats mentioned above, there are a lot of exceptions.

The new cats in the industry aren’t any better. Aside this terrible new trend of putting out 2-minute songs (who allowed this to happen?), the lyrics aren’t really all that. We still bop to it though. Rema could be singing about being an Area-boy who you cannot gatekeep, sweet talking women in yellow dresses and expressing his fervent desire to make women wet themselves, Ruger could be detailing how he’s going to lie to his babe who ignores all the red flags about him wanting to sleep with all the women in the world, Odumodu could be likening himself to Declan Rice and thundering on about using his ‘’Kala’’ to keep opps in line or Asake could be going on about how he’s now known as Mr Money, which is all that matters to him…. And we’ll still groove along, enjoying the gbedu.

I don’t know what that says about our music character but really…who cares!!! It’s all about the vibe and how the music makes you feel right?

Let the music play on!

Moving on up - Work edition

 Hola hola…

Another beautiful update to keep you all up to speed.

So, earlier this year, after we returned from the trip back home, I resumed work in the CC team and continued life as normal. A couple of weeks later, an internal ad for a position in the Payments and Refunds team was posted in our internal comms group.

Now, as you all know, I’ve virtually been in customer service all my career and I’m damn good at it. However, to be very honest, the pay in CC is the worst ever, and career prospects are quite limited. So, after some very serious thought, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.

Discussed with Chioma, spruced up my CV and cover letter, gave prior notification to some relevant parties, said some prayers to the most high, and sent in my application.

Great news came through soon. I had been shortlisted for the final interviews with two other ladies. 

Hmmm.. Preparations intensified along with brushing up on some long-dormant finance skills. Even if I say so myself, I aced the final interviews (for some strange reason, I’ve always been good at interviews) and was offered the position two days later!!!!

Yaaaaaaay!!!!!!

It’s a good move, and after some internal shenanigans regarding negotiating with the HR team on the proposed salary for the role, I officially resumed as a Payments and Refunds Specialist for Travelperk. (The pay was still very much below what I expected, but better than CC)

I’ve been in the role for about three months no,w and it’s a whole different world of new things to learn and grow into, but suffice to say, I can hold my own very well anywhere. I also have some great colleagues(Zurainy, Manpreet, Shabz, and Yasser) who’ve been very helpful with training and onboarding me into the team. My new manager, Becky, is also an amazing lady and yeah…it’s been all good so far.

Positive progress and steps in the right direction towards a better future.

Thank you, Abba.

Scousers for the weekend

 In our family, there’s always been this idea of good luck following me in particular. Not quite sure how this came about but I can always remember Lolo saying stuff like ‘’Okey is a lucky boy’’ when we were younger.

Hmm… I don’t know about that sha…why haven’t I won the lottery or hammered while in the sports betting sector?

Anyhow sha, I know there’s always been elements of good fortune throughout my life (check my wife, nah!) and this showed up recently at work.

So, there was an offer from one of our partners to sponsor someone for an all-expense-paid, family weekend trip to Liverpool. There were a lot of interested volunteers, so a Liverpool-themed quiz was organised, and all the winning names were thrown into a ‘’spin the wheel’’ thingie and mine was picked out of the lot!!

Yaay.

Chioma and I prepared and booked a train ride to Liverpool one fine Friday afternoon. We had been given an itinerary and a number for our contact person, so it was easy checking in to the hotel (Staycity Aparthotels at the City center).

I’ll be honest and tell you, we really really enjoyed the experience!

Initially,I was a bit bummed out when i heard it was the Staycity we were going to be staying at, but it turned out to be a fantastic, modern hotel with lovely decor and good ambience. The experience was made much better by our guide for the weekend. Marion is one of those rare people you immediately like and feel like you’ve known all your life. Great personality, lovely vibe and very very friendly. Chioma and I instantly warmed up to her from the first meeting and throughout the stay.

It was an eventful weekend.

After settling in on the first day, we had a meet and greet at the International Exhibition Center where we met other people that were on the same trip, enjoyed drinks and lovely food while admiring the lovely city skyline from the top of the building. Chioma and I later went on our own round the town and enjoyed a quite lovely light show over the Mersey river.

The next day was even more packed as we were taken on a tour bus round the city, shown most of the lovely buildings and given a detailed history of the city.

Trust the Brits, they dont play with their cultural history and Liverpool was brimming with it.

 A really huge piece of Liverpool history are the Beatles. Oh boy, the city is saturated with Beatles history and memorabilia. I mean, I already had an idea of how big those geezers were but omo, seeing the devotion which this city has to them, up close was amazing. From statues, pubs and buildings named after them to a specially dedicated Beatles Museum which was part of our tour. It was quite the experience.

There were other great activities that day. We were taken to the area where the Beatles grew up, shown Lennon’s house

, went on to see the Magnificent St George’s Hall

and followed up with a wine tasting event somewhere inside the building.

We were then taken to a local brewery and had a beer-making and sampling tour (the kind of event that’s right up my alley!)

Meanwhile, there were different hotels all programmed for us to have meals at. We had a breakfast buffet at our hotel, Lunched at the Hilton, moved on later in the evening to have starters at one of their popular, swanky restaurants, went on to the Maldron Hotel for a delicious dinner and finished up at the Marriott where they had set up this amazing desert menu for the group!!

Oh boy!! No be small thing gaan. By the end of the evening, Chioma and I were in a food haze!

Highlight of the evening was when another prize draw was organized within the tour group, and guess what…  I won another weekend stay at the Maldron Hotel anytime during the year!! Biko, long may this kind of luck continue.

The football culture here in the city is something else. As a Manchester United fan, I’m auto-programmed to dislike anything Liverpudlian, but even I had to admit that these ones here are absolutely bonkers for their Liverpool Football Club.

Aside all the activities lined up on the schedule, Chioma and I found time to tour the city and see the people, feel the culture, and just generally enjoy the vibe. Naah, Liverpool is a lovely place. 

My mind also kept turning over the fact that our Grandpa Joseph lived, worked and died in this city so many years ago. Given a different set of life circumstances, I might have been a UK citizen much earlier o …lol.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time and will definitely repeat this visit sometime soon.

Love Notes 1 - Birthday edition

 

I know I normally write these little notes once in a while when inspiration strikes... however, it's been a while and I'm not sure why..

It turns out, though that I'm never short of words when it comes to telling you just exactly how special you are and how much you mean to me

It's not just the little things, it's the whole package. your pure, beautiful soul, your positive outlook, your generosity, your love, and your Good heart. 

I thank God everyday for bringing you into my life. Not sure how I would have ever tried to do life without you. 

I love you so much and that will never change. 

I've watched you grow into the blessed woman God designed you to be and I couldn't be prouder of the fact that I get to call you my wife. 

Today, on this special day... I pray for you and declare that all the good things life has to offer will never elude you. It can only get better my love. God has you in his hands and he'll always be by your side...same as I'll always be.

Happy birthday my love.