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Showing posts from April, 2016

Munch N' Madurai: Restaurant Review

It's been a while since I've had South Indian (yes, that is a bit of a broad generalisation) food and I'm not very familiar with it either, so I decided to try Munch N' Madurai out last week. Located in Ngara, at Mellow Heights, I first came across it when I signed on a new client in the same building. I passed by to pick up a menu, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that Munch N' Madurai served non-vegetarian food (and Punjabi food too). I know it sounds weird, but I've never been to a South Indian restaurant that serves non-veg before. Since I knew I'd be frequenting the building two to three times a week, I planned to go on a specific day last week, and my cousin (of News Cafe review fame) came with me. We went to the restaurant at 2:30, and being a weekday, it was relatively empty. The ambiance of Munch N' Madurai is very low key- think booths and a cafeish vibe. Now, I'm really not a lassi person (which is weird, I know, being Punjabi an

Keeping Memories Alive

7,836. A seemingly random number, but it's not. It's actually the exact number of images I have in my camera roll right this second- and it's bound to go up by the end of the day. Between sharing pictures among family members spread out across countries and continents, cute forwards, and pictures for my blog, my camera roll somehow spun out of control, and now, if I want to find a particular picture from a special occasion, I have a pretty hard time with it! I've also experienced, on occasion, the surprise of going through my camera roll to find a particular picture, and stumbling across others which I had completely forgotten I'd taken! I know from chatting with friends and family that I'm not the only one who has this problem. We may be the generation who's taking the most pictures- but we're also the generation who's enjoying them the least.  Perhaps with ease of access has come lack of appreciation- no more carefully planning a shot, as we can ju

The River Cafe: Restaurant Review

I'd been to the River Cafe at Karura before with friends, but in my excitement at all the food (no surprises here), absolutely forgot to take usable pictures or make any notes. Fortunately, we decided to have our April YWSE board meeting there, and so I warned all my fellow women in advance- be prepared to eat, so that I can do a review (and boy, did we eat)! You'll also be pleased to know that this time, I remembered to take Bob along (my DSLR who's been in the closet far too long- literally). First of all, for those of you who're not in Nairobi, Karura Forest is an absolutely beautiful location, and is very popular for hiking and events. The River Cafe is a recent addition, and the forest lends to the enchanting ambiance in a way that words can't really fully do justice to. The day we were there for lunch, it started off as being really sunny, but toward the end it became cloudy and rainy- and I LOVED it. The River Cafe is usually pretty busy- reservations need t

The Kenyan Nomad: Reader Feedback

From time to time, I like to reach out to my readers, old and new, and find out what they think of the blog, and what they'd like to hear about in the future. I'd very much appreciate it if you took the time to fill out this form- I promise it shouldn't take longer than 3-5 minutes. Have a wonderful Saturday, everyone! http://goo.gl/forms/P5a6s6i58R

360 Degrees Pizza: Restaurant Review

On the 25th of March, I had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend, and there's no way this can ever happen without food! So we chose to meet at 360 Degrees Pizza , at ABC Place on Waiyaki Way, and I thought this'd be a fun way to get in a restaurant review too. I'd been to 360 once before, but didn't get a chance to do the review then. The ambience of 360 is really fresh and lively; the day we went for lunch was unbearably hot (thank goodness the rains are finally upon us), and so sitting in a shaded area that was open and allowed us to enjoy the breeze was VERY nice! I can easily see 360 being a place I could go for a casual coffee and dessert with friends, or a more formal dinner if need be.  As it was a holiday (Easter Monday), they were still serving their brunch menu at lunch time. While I didn't go for brunch food, there was no way I was going to turn down a mimosa (prosecco with passion juice in this case).  Mimosa with my New Orleans keychain incons

Bold and Badass: Vava Angwenyi

I first met Vava at the Sankalp Forum in Nairobi, a little over a month ago. We were at one of the sessions, a 'service provider speed dating session', designed to put entrepreneurs together with service providers. I was there as a service provider, and she as an entrepreneur. While we spoke for no more than 5 minutes, I was impressed by her, and wanted to know more. I heard great things about her from others too. Naturally, I spoke to her about the YWSE (Nairobi) network, and thought that it'd be great to have her as a speaker. Little did I know how soon this was to happen! This past Monday (the 4th of April), was our monthly "How She Does It" YWSE dinner. Despite the rain and awful Nairobi traffic, Vava showed up, and managed to captivate her audience very easily! Vava Angwenyi, Founder of Vava Coffee Vava aims to make bold and badass (her own words) decisions in all that she does- a phrase that quickly caught on and proved to be quite inspirational to the rest

News Cafe: Restaurant Review

First of all, if my recent restaurant experiences have taught me anything, it's that I need to start carrying my DSLR around more. In other words, apologies for the pictures- they really could've been better! News Cafe is a South African chain that recently opened franchises in Nairobi- the Sarit Centre branch opened in December, 2015. I've passed it a few times- once even went and grabbed a table, but wasn't really feeling the menu that day. Last Thursday was dismally hot. Picture the kind of day where the heat is actually physically exhausting. Plus, since a four day weekend was coming up, I think the air of impatience around us didn't do much to help! I was planning to run a few errands after I left my client's office, so thought that grabbing lunch on the way was a good idea; I knew there was no way I'd want to leave the (relative) coolness of my house if I went there first. My cousin was headed in the same direction, so he suggested that we go to News

How to Adult: Personal Financial Management Tips

What exactly is personal financial management? A quick definition: "The efficient and effective management of money to accomplish objectives." Definitely a skill I wish I had picked up 6 years ago! A few months ago, I attended a training on the topic hosted by the Young Women Social Entrepreneurs (Nairobi) network (of which I'm now a board member). The trainer was my eldest sister, and I really wish I'd thought to ask her about this before! Since attending the training, I've become much better at saving, which is especially helpful now that I'm working as an independent consultant. Who knew it could be as easy as this? What do I want you to take away from this post? Learning how to manage your finances is an achievable goal- not in the distant future, but soon. Financial independence is not something you need to worry about. What are some of the mistakes we make when it comes to managing our money? Not prioritising savings Having a very vague idea of where you