Fashion and Style

Although Nairobi is definitely a greener city than many others, it can sometimes feel like we are surrounded by concrete and construction, and personally this can be overwhelming at times! This is why I love going to restaurants like Zen Garden and the Arbor - the outdoorsy ambience serves to remind me that Nairobi is STILL more than your average concrete jungle. I was super excited to learn that there's yet another restaurant I can add to my beautiful ambience list - Amani Ya Juu  (or Amani Garden Cafe, not sure which is the correct name :) ). Amani ya Juu literally means 'peace from above', which I think is quite beautiful.   When a friend suggested meeting here for lunch one warm Saturday, I naturally jumped at the chance! To drink, I ordered their iced tea, which was quite lovely and refreshing in this weather! Also, my new thing is iced tea, especially flavoured. For mains, I ordered a cup of tomato soup and grown up grilled cheese (it had salami, pesto and mozzarella)

Allow me to introduce you to my friend, Grief . He has been walking with me since April and I do wonder when I may be left alone... Is there an FAQ for losing someone? Asking for a friend - not Grief , but me this time. It's been a little busy in my mindspace recently - you see, Grief is quite popular and since he started hanging out with me, he has all these other friends who've decided to join the party. Confusion . Waking up and feeling like it may be an ordinary day - but something, somewhere feels off, what could it be? Confusion . Having those around our family think that we're doing fine - how can they not see? Rage. She kind of roams around with no clear target - sometimes she's concerned with how modern medicine failed us, how they didn't detect how serious it was in time, how something, SOMEWHERE, might have saved my uncle. Gratitude . 26 years - I had 26 wonderful years to learn from him. Cut short though they may be, I'm grateful for every single day

Lucca , at the Villa Rosa Kempinski, Nairobi, is an Italian restaurant I'd long been meaning to check out, but never quite got around to. Naturally, when the opportunity came to go, I jumped at it! I've heard a lot of good things, so I was eager to check it out. Friday night dinnertime found a friend and I at Lucca. I'd checked out their menu  in advance, but of course, hadn't quite yet decided what I wanted.  The ambience was warm and welcoming - think of a nicer deli vibe, which was comforting, especially considering this was still during Nairobi winter. The reception was also warm and welcoming - I was led to my well laid out table by a smiling server. Their mixologist's creations looked very interesting! (However, I would recommend a quick spellcheck before they next print out their menu). We opted for the Remy old fashion, and the Professor gin and tonic. Professor gin and tonic Remy old fashion Both were amazing and refreshing, and I'll definitely be going

If anyone asks me to recommend the best Indian restaurant in Nairobi, I'll definitely say Haandi . Hopefully this doesn't come as too much of a surprise to you, but if it does, or if you disagree, you're very welcome to change my mind! I'm always open to new experiences. I don't go to the actual restaurant as often as I would like. Their ambience is lovely, but the location itself isn't too exciting. It was a Sunday family lunch, and we were celebrating my parents' 39th anniversary (woo!), so you can imagine that we ordered quite a bit ;) In the interest of being true to what I write, I'll only cover the dishes that I personally tried out of those we ordered. Before we begin - a huge kudos to Haandi for their service. We got great service and attention from our server as well as the manager on duty. The manager made sure to understand why we were there, gave us some lovely recommendations, and also helped us proactively adjust the portions we needed when

Empathy and compassion. Empathy and compassion. Empathy and compassion. Empathy and compassion. Empathy and compassion. Empathy and compassion. It's an internal mantra I've been experimenting with this month, inspired by the person I'm lucky to call my best friend, rock and role model - and I'll be the first to admit, I had no idea it would be so hard! Where did this stem from, first of all? As I've probably mentioned before, I believe in continuous self-improvement, and sometimes this entails experimenting with different things that may work for the stage I find myself in. One of the things that I strive to practice is being a kinder, more understanding person - both to those around me, strangers or otherwise, and to myself. I admire those people who ALWAYS exude compassion and strength - my best friend being one of them - and strive to learn from them when I can. So, back to empathy and compassion. It's something I've been saying to myself when I encounter

It's been a while since I'd been to Soi , a Thai restaurant at Dusit, so I definitely wasn't going to refuse this as a lunch location a few weeks ago! The location is definitely convenient (for me, in this case ;) ), and I'm a fan of their ambience which may trick you into believing you're not in Nairobi. To drink, I chose the Soi eleven sling - Longon gin shaken with fresh pineapple, lemon and sweet Thai basil, and soaked in tropical bitters and lemon soda. While I did enjoy this - it was refreshing and not too heavy for (what was supposed to be) a light Saturday lunch, I do think the aesthetic could've been improved. The plastic straw didn't do much for me (or the environment, I presume). Soi eleven sling To start off, we ordered the Peek gai thod kha-min (deep fried chicken wings marinated with turmeric, fish sauce and garlic, served with Thai BBQ sauce). I really enjoyed these! They were amazing and flavourful, and the garlic came through perfectly. They