Newbies in Ghana

A trip for Ghana is being planned and I am very excited about it. There are many new places I'm hearing about which I want to visit, I just hope time will be on my side. Earlier on today I heard of Nafi's Candy - a company that sells Swedish Candy in Accra. I can't wait to check it out!

Back in Africa

Walking home late, last Saturday, after a looong day in South London, I happen to pass about six drunk people in their early 20s. I'm just a few metres ahead of them when I hear one of the guys say:

"What the f**k is she doing here anyway? Shouldn't she be back in Africa?"

As I hear his friends berate him for his racist comment, many thoughts run through my head. The urge to turn round and give him a piece of my mind is dismissed, I'm smart enough not to pick a fight at midnight on a Saturday, with a loser who's drunk.

I walk on a bit and realise I am smiling. Though these comments don't go by without stinging, the sting is so light now, because although I may be in England for a few months, my heart is in Accra (& Tema), my home is in Ghana, I have laid my roots in West Africa.

Your comments may sting, but like mosquito bites, they will quickly stop hurting; and before I know it, I will be back home. Where I belong.

Sushi lunch in Accra

There's been a rumour going round town (well, my circle of friends) all year. With no real facts to support it, it was beginning to sound like an urban myth. Is there really a place in Osu that serves sushi at lunchtime? If so where? It got to a point where none of us could figure out who actually said it first, where we could find out more and whether there really was any truth to the rumour.

The reason for our desperation? Ever since Noble House stopped serving sushi, as far as I know, the only sushi restaurant in central Accra (not to be confused with Accra Central which incudes Makola and its surrounding areas) is Monsoon. Its sushi restaurant opens at 7pm leaving those of us who can't be in Osu at that time, with no where at all to find sushi.

Anyways, about two weeks ago, Dee told me that she had heard that the lunch sushi joint was above Tantra, and since I'd been sushi starved for months, it only took a few days before I was there, having sushi with La Baselette, before she left Ghana once again.

The restaurant is called 3121, or something similar, for some reason the name has escaped me. It is above Tantra (the eurotechno nightclub), down the side road between Penta Hotel and Barclays on Oxford street. There's a Chinese restaurant in the same yard...but its name also vanished from my memory.

The verdict?
The food was good, tasty, but the rice wasn't as well prepared as Monsoon's. Everything was about 1 or 2 cedis more expensive than Monsoon, but there seemed to be more options available.

The interior was neat although the decor seemed heavily inspired by Memoirs of a Geisha (including actual promotional pictures from the movie), which was a bit weird.

Now, I think I've told you all you need to know, go taste it for yourselves and bon appetit!

By the way, for you other foodians out there, there seems to be a new website coming out that will be of interest to us, Eat out Ghana.

The train has come to town!

The other day I had some errands on the Spintex road. Seeing the traffic heading towards Tetteh Quarshie, I decided to drive all the way down the Spintex home to Tema. I'm glad I did. Not only did I catch that breathtaking view, as you turn the corner at the top of a little hill in Sakumono town, only to see the sea open up in front of you, with sand, palm trees and a bit of Tema harbour featuring on the left side.

I, of course opened my window to catch a few gasps of fresh sea air; all salt, freshness and fish fused into a perfect blend. The biggest surprise was at the end of the beach stretch. Suddenly the few cars in front of me ground to a halt. Just as I was about to get impatient, it came: out of a tiny tunnel ahead of us was a train!

I could have pinched myself for not having a camera (I left it at home, but since it's gone dead it wouldn't have helped me anyway). I tried taking a mental photo, and if I had had pen and paper I could easily have drawn a picture of it for you, at the 'speed' it choo-chooed past us. Luckily I found one online instead (thank you Ghana Business News!). Isn't it a beaut in its red, gold and green? And of course, there's a black star between every window!

Now, where does one go for a testride and how on earth do I stop singing this song every time I think of it?

Angelina Jolie in Ghana

So after a month of fun and excitement and only one topic of conversation, it seems we're back to reality. Goodbye to this:




And hello work deadlines, temporary move to Tema, cluelessly selecting nurseries for Em (aaahhh, my girl's all grown up already!) and lots of planning and strategising.

Well, at least we can entertain ourselves with the news that a certain celeb is coming to town. Yes, if rumours are to be believed, Angelina Jolie lands in Accra tomorrow! Want a celebrity spotting? My best bet is to ignore Joy's tips on where she'll go, just hang around Osu Children's Home long enough, surely she's not planning to leave Africa without another kid, lol!

Heading back out on the Accra scene

Some time ago a friend and I were discussing how our social activities seemed to have dwindled. We wondered whether this was because our friends suddenly considered us married and with children and as such not able to make it out. Well, if that's the case, friends, ask before you assume! Let me decide whether I'll be heading out or not, being married or a parent does not necessarily make you housebound.

As a result of my friends' unfortunate assumptions, I find myself making new friends and it seems I am slowly beginning to fill out my social calendar and discovering lovely new and old places around town. In the past few weeks, this has meant movie nigths at Silverbird Cinemas, dinner for la Baselette who was about to leave town at Il Cavaliere Pazzo at the Polo Club, which with it's beautiful interior and delicious food helped make the evening great (along with the fabulous company of course). If you go, do try the pain perdu, scrumptious dessert!
A few days later I was off to the Ghana Goes 2010 event at African Regent, arranged by fellow blogger Nana Darkoa and ended the evening with a light snack at Rhapsody's.
Dinner at Mama Mia:

In addition there's been trips to Till's Beach, my beloved Tema and evenings at Bella Roma and Mama Mia. Hm, could this, rather than Em, be the reason why I'm so tired?

So, my dear friends, it's not me, it's you! Whether you call me to come out or not, I'll make sure I'm having my own fun, one way or another!

Breathe and Stop

Sometimes it feels as if life is running ahead of you, as if you can't quite catch up with what's going on around you. It reminds me of childhood, when you'd cycle down a hill and suddenly be going faster than you could really control. All you do at such a time is hope that your feet will somehow reach the ground to slow down the motion that you're unable to manage.

That's how I felt about two weeks ago. And what to do at such a moment in life? Though it seems impossible at the time, the best thing to do is to stop and breathe, breathe and stop. That's exactly what I did. In the midst of too much going on, I took my favourite gals (my mother and daughter) out for lunch at Tribe, Afia Beach Hotel. The lunch was great, but the best part was the walk on the beach that followed:

The Beach (aren't we lucky to have this in the centre of Accra?)


The Daughter

The Chalets, neatly hidden by palmtrees

And suddenly, after inhaling the beautiful sea air, I could smile again and life was back to being good.

Job hunting - tips, anyone?

Becky said...

Hi Maya, I came across your post in a search for a part time job to enable me take an IT course. I'm very desperate because the course will be starting soon and I can't join if I have a full-time job but i need to keep doing something to be able to pay my fees. Pls help me if you hear of any part time job.

Thank you


Well, how do we find jobs in Accra? Unfortunately, it still seems easiest to get a job through whom you know. Both employers and employees will tell you that after getting through hundreds of applications they finally got their employee/job through contacts rather than applications.

So how do you get a job without knowing anyone? My best tips? Call or meet the employer before sending in an application, that way your name will ring a bell when the application arrives. Or befriend a staff member who can tip you off when there are vacant positions in the company. If you know anyone on a higher level in your desired field of employment, get them to coach you on how to successfully get a job in that field or get them to use their contacts for you (Ghana is small, for example,the bank manager at e.g. Stanbic will very likely know managers at Fidelity Bank.)

And of course, don't let anything stop you from applying through newspaper ads or web pages, you may just be the lucky one who gets to sign an employment agreement.

Good luck Becky!

Swine flu coming to get us!

Uh oh...So I know I said I didn't believe in the swine flu hype, imposed on us by the pharmaceutical companies, but having a little baby means I don't want to take any risks. This means that here in London I'm avoiding public transport as much as possible. I've been looking forward to getting back to Ghana where I'll cruise around in the comfort of my own, swine flu free car in my swine flu free city.

But now news hits me that swine flu has reached mother Ghana! And the idea of the H1N1 virus spreading around in temperatures that bacteria flourish in and can easily be passed on to me through loovers, by hawkers or inconsiderate public sneezers has me a bit concerned.

Please oh please let this virus pass and leave Accra without affecting us too much, preferably as smoothly as bird flu did.

Job seeking in Accra?

Look no further! It seems in the past 36 hours I've managed to turn myself into a recruitment consultant, and quite a succesful one as well! It started with my cousin needing a person with very specific qualifications for a part-time job, the details of which almost exactly fitted what a friend had said she was looking for in a job. So I set the two of them up for a fruitful meeting yesterday.

Earlier today, another cousin (I have many, many!) needed someone for a project and of course there was a friend I knew would be available and competent to do the job. A few minutes later, a friend needed to help his friend cover a legal position I'd had to turn down a few months ago as it would get in the way of my biggest project. I made two calls and voila! I sorted out my classmate with a potential dream job in a field he wanted more expertise in.

Cartoon borrowed from Gordon Institute of Business Studies

OK, so no papers have been signed, no employment agreements finalised but I have made three employers and three potential employees very happy. It feels a bit like being Santa Claus, only getting good jobs and good workers is probably more rewarding to the people than using the crap we're sometimes given as presents at Christmas!

Oh no. I take back the last statement. After all I don't want to be present-less next Christmas...

Enjoying a weekend in Accra

Forgot to mention that my friend, LN, did manage to enter the country last Friday, despite my illegal immigrant status. As she was only here for the weekend, we tried and successfully managed to pack as much as possible into her stay without it being too hectic.

On Friday, after a nap for both of us (she arrived on the 5.35am flight), I drove her to Roman Ridge for her only planned meeting. As we got there a bit early we had a drink by the poolside at Mplaza. I was rather disappointed at their service and design, but after browsing their website, perhaps that's part of their appeal and adds to their security status. Maybe ensuring customers off the street are not attracted makes their special guests feel safer?

From there we headed to Tribes restaurant at Afia beach hotel for lunch, where I had the lasagne as usual...and it tasted better than ever! Then we got back to the house, relaxed a bit and worked a bit. In the evening we went for dinner with Virgo and SQB at Le Magellan, which was followed by drinks at Rhapsody's. Well, on the Rhapsody's porch. Can you believe they're charging GHc20 entrance fee per person!!! Actually what's worse is that people are paying!

After such a full-on foodian day, we started our Saturday late, with a fruit breakfast of pawpaw, pineapple and watermelon.

Then we headed to Oxford Street to buy some dresses (how come I'd never noticed the cute dresses sold on the roadside before?) and after a quick "fika" (coffee break) at Melting Moments in Cantonments, we made our way to the Poetress house in the lovely Trasacco Valley.

How better could we top the scrumptious meal and company we enjoyed there than with an evening drive to Aburi to hang out with big H and Akinyi. This brought on an interesting discussion about South Africa and the current status of racial relations there and between them and other Africans.

Sunday, being the day of rest, started with a leisurely drive to Tema to pick up Christmas decorations from my mama(!!!, more on that later...) then a trip on the beach road, through Teshie Nungua to Labadi beach. After our beach fun, we went for lunch at Buka, behind Oxford Street (it's so much fun to see a fufu&groundnut soup virgin enjoy her meal), then chilled at home before I dropped her off at the airport. The only thing we didn't have time for were the planned drinks at Holiday Inn before boarding the flight.

I think I did a good job of showing LN the best bits of Accra within 60 hours. What do you think?

Back on the social scene

For the first time in ages, I had a weekend without pressure, work or travels. Friday night was spent having dinner at SQB's house then falling asleep in front of the Golden Compass. This was a nice relief after the migraine-filled day I had, thanks to the sunshine at Ala Adjetey's funeral and enhanced by the brutally loud music blasting from the funeral (or wedding?, engagement?) next door.

I had already planned with my fellow married friend that we'd go out on Saturday and enjoy ourselves whilst our husbands worked the weekend. We were meant to quickly pass by La Baselette's mother's 70th birthday party before heading to an event at the Office at 9p.m.

In usual Ghanaian standard, the evening did not turn out as planned. Instead, the 70th birthday party turned out to be a blast with a great mixture of good seventies music and hiplife, food and drinks. We stayed till after midnight, then briefly passed Monsoon ( at this point our 'entourage' consisted of about 8 of us friends of La Baselette, a Dutch/Swiss film crew here to film the elections and a Swedish/Asian couple. We headed to the Office and as usual I was right, referring to it as an overcrowded, small and cold place, but within thirty minutes of arriving the crowd had reduced to a point where we could enjoy the music and even have a bit of space to dance.

However, after the suffering rehabilitation I suffered the whole of Sunday (mostly sprawled on my bed), this although I stuck to my no-drinking-till-Christmas plan, means that I realised age, or simply the lack of going out really does take a toll on you and so it may be a while before you'll hear of me being out and about again. Then again, I'm sure there'll be enough election parties (Nov 4 and Dec 7) and maybe a teeny birthday party for myself in a few weeks time where I can sip some Halleluya wine and still enjoy a bit of socialising!

Where to eat in Airport Residential Area

Ok, so on request by Sijui, I am to list places to eat in Airport Residential Area that are not too "ex-pat heavy" (my words, not hers). I was going to mention Goka, the Nigerian restaurant, but apparently it's shut down. Unfortunately the rest of the places are probably ex-pat hangouts, but almost everywhere is these days.

Well, Neighbourhood, shouldn't be. Found on the road leading up to Fiesta Royale junction (orange house on the right side of the road) it's a pool-table hangout for younger guys, but the rooftop is breezy and the burgers were good (at least when I was there), it's quite a nice place for an after work drink.

Round the corner, the next left turn when heading towards Fiesta Royale, on the right side of the road you'll find Choco Pain, a little café with some pastries and from what I hear, nice baguettes too.

From Neighbourhood, heading towards the other and, the t-junction into the residential area, on the right side of the road before you hit the t-junction, there's a Lebanese restaurant, that used to serve delicious sharwarmas, unfortunately last time I was there, it wasn't that good. However, they also have an ice-cream bar and a play area for children.

On the Nyaho Road Clinic Road, heading towards where you cross the railway, there's Poke House, a place renowned in Accra (and to which I still haven't been!). Here, you can get traditional Ghanaian food and snacks like kebabs or fried yam and pepper.

There's also Cuppa Cappuccino on 3rd Close for a breakfast coffee and opposite it, the place formerly known as Jazz Tone. For a nice evening meal, the Italian restaurant, Michelangelo's is recommended (directions please!)

Unfortunately Airport isn't my area of expertise, but I hope the guide helps. For other good places, visit Old Bob's Place in Osu (Papaye down and left, it's on the left side of the road as the road bends right), either for drinks with the loyal regulars or for a scrumptious dinner, have banku and tilapia at Blue Gate (Papaye down on the left side of the road), have drinks, fried rice and chicken at Celsbridge in Labone around 7p.m. on a weekday and enjoy a cozy but relatively cheap dinner at Le Must. And of course, a smoothie from Smoothy's is a must, I recommend Boneshaker (best suitable for anyone, who like me, does not like banana in drinks).

Does anyone have more tips for Sijui?

English?

It seems I'll have to start blogging in English again not to exclude my non-swedish speaking friends. Not sure how long it will last though, sorry poet, can't make any promises. Enjoying the jazztones coming from the British Council, much better than the noise that could be heard from there an hour ago when they were hammering away.

What to do on a Friday night in Accra? Am I really going to drive straight home? Looks like it, Virgo seems busy, may pass H's office but if I do I'll just end up staying longer than I should. Actually should go home and get ready for the busy weekend. Haven't even had time to be nervous about tomorrow's most intimidating event!

Not sure about this writing in English...I immediately become aware of the fact that others read the blog, which means that the character of it will change, but maybe for the better? Only time will tell...