New place for everyone to try out!

Hi all!

A return to the blog-land for our family. And this time with a new recommendation for good food!

Our family just tried out this place near Ang mo Kio Jalan Riang called The Cajun King! We had a feast of lobsters! Mussels! And fish and chips!!! They even serve crab and prawns too.

Our family ordered 3 whole lobsters (two in original boil and 1 in king spice), 2 portions of mussels in garlic butter sauce (awesome!) and 3 portions of fish and chips served with sweet potato chips (delicious!!!).

The seafood was sweet and fresh and the entire concept of eating with a bib and eating out of plastic bags was refreshing. It was a unique dining experience!

We highly recommend it!

Cool huh

So.... i've been going to the gym regularly, at least twice a week and each time its about 2 hours long.... but i've also still been putting on weight around my face. Don't ask me why, everyone says I've gotten chubbier on the face but I still feel my body looks the same. :(

Well, thats not the point of the post today... although it is the reason why I have developed a habit to smack my face many times throughout the day hoping that the force can reduce and tighten this baby fat away. But maybe all its doing, is just make my face even more swollen... hmmm, its a mystery.

Anyway, so I go to the gym at a nearby hotel. Love the equipments, they have this treadmill that you can watch TV from, AND it even has an iphone dock to charge your phone, play your music and record your workout! I absolutely love it!. I also love the other things they have like a good area for doing sets and lay out the exercise mat, female size rubber dumbells that are easy to use and exercise balls of varying sizes to practice stability and exercise your core muscles! It is a very lovely gym indeed. More so is the shower room which comes with this amazing steam room (eucalyptus scent each time) and a nice big open area to change and relax. Each time i go to the gym, i pay 1500Ksh, which is equivalent to almost 20 singapore dollars.

Its been about 6 months since i started using the gym regularly and my routine is really standard. Run for 45 minutes, do weights, sets, exercise balls, dumbells for another 45. Steam and relax for the next 3o minutes. I always come out of the gym looking like a lobster with my red glowing skin and wet hair. I go after work around 7.00pm and stay till 9.00pm most of the time skipping dinner or just having a small bite at home after. Yes, i also wonder why i dont lose weight or why my face is still round like a watermelon. But i think its because those days that i do not go to the gym, im having Pasta, Oily chinese food and drinking lotsa wine and beer every time.

My friends who go to the gym with me always laugh when they see me work out... this is how they describe it.. "there are 6 treadmills lined up next to each other in a row, on it are...Big black guy, big black guy, big black guy, oops small chinese stacey, big black guy, big black guy. Hahahaha". Alamak, i guess i do stand out in this gym.

So... interestingly enough.. all of you know that I always go and get coffee in the morning at this coffee place near my house. One morning, i was grabbing my coffee as usual and a white guy sits down opposite me.

This is the conversation:
Him: "Hi! you always go to the gym at crowne hotel right?"
Me: "Hi, yes i do. Do you go there too?
Him: "Yes! I always see you around"
Me: "Really?"
Him: "You always go on to the treadmill! and you always have your earphones plugged in"
Me: "I do!"
Him: "So what are you doing here in Nairobi"
Me: "I work here..." (and then a few more minutes of idle chat around where do I come from, where does he come from, what do I do for a living, what does he do for a living, introduce our names...")
Him: "So i'll see you at the gym tonight then?"
Me: "Sure, im going there tonight'
...
Then we meet in the gym and chatted for awhile
Me: "So where do you live"
(He tells me he lives at a place that is really near me)
Me: "Oh great! Can you give me a ride home later"
Him: "Sure!'
(When we get into the car...)
Him: "Hey have you had your dinner?"
Me: "Nope, i wasnt intending to eat tonight"
Him: "That won't do. You are coming dinner with me tonight"
(Off we went for dinner in town)

Haha, cool huh.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hello Family!

So I'm posting 2 posts in one day. But thats because the previous posts was already in my drafts, I just never got round to publishing it.

Before I go on any further, I would like to say Happy Chinese New Year to my beloved family members, big and small! May you be healthy, prosperous, succcesful in everything you do this year! May you be blessed with happiness with each passing day! Even though im far away from you all, please know im thinking of all of you all the way from Kenya! This will be my first time celebrating CNY away from you guys and I feel lost! Truly...

I keep searching for some familiarity here in Nairobi so what I did was host a CNY party at my place and invited friends over. And to inject some CNY in this party, this is what I did:

• I made all of them wear Red/ Pink or Purple


• I made them all bring 2 oranges to the house.


• I cooked Ba Kut Teh and Tao Yu Bak with Heng hua Mee Sua (What I always eat at my grandma's house).


• I prepared a madeshift "Lo-hei" with smoked salmon and introduced this concept to them.


• I persuaded my friends to cook auspicious food like fish, duck and vegetables so I would have 8 dishes altogether (a very lucky number of dishes).

Muahaha.. All in all, we had a very good dinner, I even brought out some old games the family used to play on Christmas that was tucked away on my laptop. Everyone had fun and we ended the night with Karoke!

Well, I still feel i'm missing more celebrations but who knows, maybe within the 15 days of chinese new year, I might do another crazy party again!

Missing all of you,

Cheers,

Stace

Unique Kenya Drive

One day, I just wish my updates could be nearer to the date of the event rather than 2 weeks later.

My first weekend back in Nairobi, got invited by my Thai friend to follow him around Kenya on a long driving trip to catch fishes with other fish enthusiasts whom he have befriended over Facebook.

Alright - And now I can hear my family's barrage of questions and thoughts going through their head.

"What Thai friend?!"..
"Stacey doesnt do long driving trips.. Stacey sleeps after 5 minutes of being in a car, she can't survive long car trips"...
"What exactly are fish specialists?!"...
"Wait a minute, Stacey doesnt fish!"...
"Who the hell does something so dangerous like meeting random strangers they befriend over facebook and in god forsaken places like Africa!"... and then back to..
"What Thai friend?!"

So here were the facts:

1. We drove to sooo many towns in Kenya, some so rural, landmarks in there are not even marked on google. I have been to places even the local kenyans have never been to before.


2. We drove at least 700km one way... started at 6am on sat morning, landed at our first rest stop only at 12pm, continued driving till 8pm where we rested for the night. On sunday, we started our journey from 9am till 9pm back home. Hee Hee.


3. I can proudly say... I did NOT sleep half the car journey away. But I will sheepishly admit that i might have slept like one quarter of it, which is a huge achievement for me.


4. I know every single song in my iphone because we were playing music over and over and over again.


5. I can pee in any place. ANY place.


6. I fished in swamps and ditches and mud ponds that was filled with toads, crickets, beetles and mosquitoes.Well, most of the time, i watched them fish but i did try it once on my own. :)


7. I learnt more about fishes than I thought I would ever in my life.


8. I enjoyed myself. Tremendously.
   

It was truly a unique experience because I saw Kenya in a different light rather than do the usual touristy stuff and see well-visited places. This was really... roughing it out. :) This was really a different kind of thing altogether, completely out of my element, completely ignorant, completely spontaneous and then, completely fun and wacky.

Some pics of this glorious weekend drive where you can see the scenery, the Car ferry, we did stop by a beach for a few hours so you can see some of the beach shots. Mostly, the scenery was just beautiful and utterly serene.

And here are some pictures of the actual fishing places we went to. Yes, be shocked and disgusted. But hey, you never know if you like it unless you try it! And I was well geared, I had fishing nets, wellington boots to trugde along the mud in. It was actually cooler fishing in a skirt than jeans... so all in all, I had a swell time. You can see some of the animals we caught :)

Stacey's greatest expedition ever

A week before I flew back to Singapore for the December holidays, I received a rather spontaneous invitation by the Thai Embassy boys to follow them on a trip to Mount Kenya. I hesistantly agreed to go along on this 4 day 3 night trip, because climbing Mount Kenya has always been one of my "die die must-go, must-do" list in Africa. A day before the actual climb, it was a flurry to gather all the equipment and gears that was needed such as good waterproof hiking boots, thick ski jackets, gloves, scarves, backpacks, altitude sickness pills, sleeping bags etc. We had to scour so many places and borrow from other people, but i guess we pulled it off and got all the necessary stuff we needed.

Started off Saturday bright and early to meet the rest of the group at the Thai Embassy. It was going to be 5 of us (3 guys, 2 ladies - 1 lady was 50 years old!). We drove 3 hours to the base, met up with our guide and started our walk from an altitude of 2400m. For a group of 5, we were going to be accompanied with 8 porters (who will carry all our barangs), 1 cook (who will prepare fantastic meals for us as we will come to learn in the next few days) and 2 guides (1 who was pure annoying and one who was basically absent for most of the time). Was a relatively hot day and after just 3.5 hours of walking, we reached our first base, the Met station which was now at 3000m. Everyone's energy was quite high, it was an easy day, we settled in a quaint cabin lodge, eating our dinner of Beef with Mash potatoes while the outside temperature hovered around 10 degrees. Some pictures of the lodge can be seen below:

Sunday morning, we started our 7 hours trek! The terrain changed from a tropical jungle feeling (imagine the treetop walk in Singapore landscape) to one that was open, vast and filled with tall, brown grass and huge plants and flowers. The group kept things light by taking lotsa pictures, jumping around, horsing around and playing with the wildlife we came across. Unfortunately, this wildlife was limited to chameleons (Haha I can imagine all my aunties reading this shuddering at the picture below, because this family has an inborn fear of anything lizard-like).Walking for 7 hours straight was not easy and everyone was getting tired but imagine our excitement when we were trekking and starting to get bored cause we were seeing the same landscape over and over and out of the blue... The fog lifts, and we see the peak! The sight of these snow capped mountains right in front of us just gave us that burst of energy to make it to our second base by mid-day! You can see below the photos we took with the majestic view of the peak as we were walking towards the camp! It's so beautiful! Had an early dinner (pasta and fish) because our wake up call, believe it or not, was 1am. We needed to start ascending before sun-rise so we can reach the summit before 6am. The most torturous day of my life had just begun. Within an hour, our landscape changed from grass, to rocks to ice. Moving around with the just the help of moonlight was an unbelievable experience. At this altitude of 4200m, we were struggling to breathe, to move and the cold was taking a toll on us. Where we used to take a break once every hour, we find ourselves crawling at a snail pace and taking a break every 15 minutes. At least everyone came prepared with walking sticks, gloves, scarves, caps and thick jackets to fight the icy wind. I thought I was pretty fit, going to the gym and all regularly but nothing could have prepared me for the intensity of this climb. After 6 hours, we literally started to MOUNTAIN CLIMB, with the help of wire cables, we were pulling ourselves up rocks, climbing and scaling towards the peak. PURE EXHAUSTION, But completely worth it. When we took out last step to reach the top and we saw the flag waving high, that feeling of accomplishment and pride and joy is simply immeasurable.

The climb down was ardous to say the least, that Monday itself, we were walking for close to 17 hours in total and at the end of the day, when we reached the 3rd camp at 8pm that night, I was completely lifeless and drained. Only the next day, was some semblance of energy restored back to me. I have never known exhaustion to that state before and looking back, I really do appreciate this experience because now I know I can endure much more than I thought.

Throughout this climb, unknowing to us in the beginning, each day was going to be more and more difficult and our expectations on just how physically strenuous it was going to be was superceded in every way. Just as we thought we could no longer take it, beyond the point of exhaustion, we were always pushed to continue on and find more strength to take another step further. When we started out this journey, we were told that climbing mount kenya is more about being mentally strong than physcially fit, because it boils down to determination and focus. And after climbing, I realize how true that statement was because it was soo easy to give up during the climb and if we as a group did not stick together and encouraged each other, if we did not keep sight of our end goal, we could not have reached the top and made it back successfully. I wouldnt say this was a life changing experience but it certainly pushed me to my limits and made me see what I could achieve with my own strength.

My expedition to Mount Kenya was enlightening and meanginful. I didnt just come back with awesome pictures and a boast to say i've climbed a mountain. I think, I grew a little more and found a little more inner strength, and that i'm sure you all will agree is infinitely more powerful and useful to this little girl from Singapore.

Wow! It's been ages hasnt it!

Hi everyone!

I havent been updating this blog with my adventures in Nairobi because of 3 reasons mainly
1) Who updates blogs when you have facebook! I've been updating my statuses on facebook every day even with pictures. Let's face it, its easier to update with one liner statuses versus a whole story typed out. So come add me on facebook and check out my daily status.

2) There hasnt been any adventures to speak about! Its mainly shuttling between work and back home, gym some days. Then back to work. On weekends mainly i've been lazing around, trying out the best way to cook week-long food. (What I call week long food is basically food i can cook and keep for one week to bring to work).

3) It's hard to maintain communication with my family when it is mostly a one way communication! I would love to hear back from the family on what is happening in Singapore! The only time I get news is when we announce the menu for saturday gatherings or on tickets to Chiang Mai. - Thats not alot of news for this girl who is 6000 miles away!

Anyway, i'll try to make a more conscientious effort to update the blog. I would also love to hear from Tracy! You can use this blog too and tell us what is happening in the land of the Queen and King!

Anyway, just want to say thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes i received from you. It was nice to know i was remembered! :) Love you all!

Till next time,
Stace

Who knew?

Have I told u guys recently I have found a church to go to every Sunday? It's called Nairobi Pentecostal Church and it's exactly like what you see in the movies. The whole church is filled with Africans, and the worship starts off like the scene from sister act, with ladies singing and belting. It's awesome fun.

I'm the only Chinese there and I do get some stares when I walk in. But since it's a place of worship, guess they can't judge me too much here. Anyway, the people here dress really well to go church, they wear suits, they wear ties and long dresses. I felt so bad when I wore flip flops. And the people like to squeeze up to each other, just because church is always full and everyone doesn't mind touching the person next to him/her. Takes a while to get used to I think.

Anyway, last Sunday, I was feeling so lazy to church, I called my driver to pick me up to drop me off at a mall. Before I knew it, he had mistakenly took me the front door of my church! He thought I wanted to go to church, haha I couldn't say no since it was such an obvious sign that Someone wanted me to go church that day. :)

Well, this is one of my established routine every weekend. Of course, I still do climb mountains, go gym, go to the malls to hang out. It's a typical and relaxing way to spend Saturday's and Sunday's. But of course, every Saturday, I will still be thinking that I'm missing out on our family weekly reunion.

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Location:Mawensi Rd,Nairobi,Kenya