Happy Friday! I hope your work week ended well and that you are all set to have a rocking weekend! Now that we’ve had that break I promised, it’s time to get back to our series. This week, I’d like to know more about buying groceries in your city. Continue reading
Category Archives: Beverages
Featured Posts
7 Things to Do in & Around Mwanza
If you are anything like I used to be, you might think that Mwanza is a small, sleepy, upcountry town--in the guise of a city--with few interesting things to do in and around it. After spending a few days in Tanzania’s second largest city, I’ve changed my mind: I now ...
African Barrick Gold Tour, Day 2: Community Development Projects in Buzwagi & Bulyanhulu
After spending the first day of the tour visiting African Barrick Gold's open-pit Buzwagi mine, and a few community development projects in the nearby area, the second day of the tour was...
Bacardi – White, Black, Gold?
When I say ‘Bacardi Rum', what image comes to mind? If you are like me, until very recently, I pictured a bottle of clear liquid with the words Bacardi written across it. Is that what you visualized? Well, you wouldn't be very wrong if you also envisioned...
Body N' Soul Gym, Kilimani, Nairobi
I am thoroughly in love with the gym I go to! I have been a member for over four years and, truly, I can't imagine what would ever make me go elsewhere! I love Body N' Soul, that's its name by the way, because it is extremely clean, has a lot ...
Durex Play 2-in-1 Massage Gel
Hmmm...today's post is going to be just a little raunchy because I would like to tell you about a great sexual find that I made recently. If you are uncomfortable with discussing sex or things related to it, then I suggest you read no further...
Olepolos Country Club
Before I made it out to Olepolos Country Club, I used to often find myself in conversations like the following: Speaker 1: Yesterday, I had a great day hanging out with friends at Olepolos. Biche: Olepolos? Where's that?...
Road Trip: Mugumu (Mara) to Arusha—Tanzania
I am chuckling at the title of this post. If you knew where in Tanzania Mugumu and Arusha were--and what lies between these two towns--you'd understand why: the title of this post is a huge understatement for the experience I'm going to share with you...
TEDxDar 2011--Who Killed Zinjanthropus?
It occurred to me recently, during a phone conversation with my cousin Vive, that though I had talked a lot about TEDxDar on Facebook and Twitter before it happened, I never came back to you, my blog readers, to tell you how it went...
The Eat to Live Diet: Lose 20 Pounds or More in Six Weeks – Safely by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
We are now done with the first two months of 2009. How are you doing with keeping your New Year's resolutions? What were your New Year's resolutions this year? Were they the usual: quit drinking or...
Touring Northern Tanzania (Mwanza, Mara, Butiama, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Arusha)--Twitter Roundup
As those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter might know, I spent the end of last week visiting Northern Tanzania--Mwanza, Mara (including Butiama), the Serengeti National Park...
Konyagi vs. Uganda Waragi
Image Credit: SpiritsReview.com/EABL.com
Not too long ago, I met up for the first time with a reader of this blog who recently relocated to Dar es Salaam from Kampala. Although we had never met before, we found that we had a lot in common including that our parents had completed their graduate studies at the same University in the US (at the same time and knew each other) and that we shared a common friend. Our first encounter was an interesting one where we shared our life stories and spoke about things we could both relate to such as the differences and similarities between life in Uganda and Tanzania. This we discussed at length. Our discussion went as far as to include the spirits produced in each country. My new acquaintance and I were both familiar with Uganda Waragi, the Ugandan spirit, but she had never tasted Konyagi, Uganda Waragi’s Tanzanian counterpart. She asked me how I thought the two compared. That question was the inspiration for this post. Continue reading
Thirsty for Dawa
I’m feeling thirsty. No, not that kind of thirst – water can do nothing for me right now. I mean THIR-STY thirsty. Catch my drift? (It’s Friday, don’t think too hard! 
) So…this evening, I’m going to take inspiration from all the honey and lemon that I have been handling for my hair and make a Dawa. What? You don’t know what a Dawa is? Continue reading
Will That Double be Gilbey’s or Gordon’s?
Yes, I know. I’ve written my share of posts about alcoholic beverages. First, there was the post on rum, then the one about wine, and more recently ones on gin and cocktails. I write these posts not because alcohol is always on my mind (disputable by some 
), but rather because I am fascinated by all the different alcoholic beverages that exist and the even greater variety of drinks that result when you mix these beverages together or with other non-alcoholic beverages. For instance, think about how different a rum and coke is from a vodka and coke, even though both look the same and vary only by the clear spirit used in making each drink. Then compare the latter to a Bloody Mary (a cocktail made of vodka and tomato juice), the difference this time being the mixer used.
Well, that’s all great and good, but today I would like to talk about a difference that is a little more subtle. Imagine making the same drink, say a gin-and-tonic (G&T), and varying the type of gin used. Do you think this difference would be noticeable to anyone other than the greatest connoisseurs of gin? Continue reading
Let’s Talk About Cocktails
In the comment sections of this and this post, some readers and I shared our views on the quality of cocktails served at some of Nairobi‘s most popular bars and nightclubs. In this discussion, Mercury Lounge and Casablanca were named as establishments that were thought to serve good cocktails, while Hidden Agenda and Soho’s came up as places to avoid when in search of a good cocktail. Continue reading
Ethiopian Coffee
When I was at University, I used to drink cups and cups of coffee. I’d drink coffee during the day to get me through boring lectures (especially when I hadn’t had enough sleep the night before) and at night to keep me awake while studying. It was in those days that I developed my taste for coffee: dark and sweet, preferably with no milk. Continue reading
Del Monte Juices
When I was growing up, the breakfast table at my parents’ home always included a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice. Breakfast was never complete without this! Somehow, when they moved to Kenya, during my teen years, that habit came to an end. Instead, at breakfast, my parents chose to serve packed orange juice. Still, they tried to make sure that the juice we drank was as healthy as possible. My father was particularly attentive in making sure that the juice we bought had no added sugar. This is how I was first introduced to the Del Monte juice brand. Continue reading
How to Make a Perfect Cup of Hot Cocoa (or The Importance of Following Instructions)
When I was in primary school, my older brother and I always looked forward to our afternoon cup of hot cocoa. We’d make it with four cubes of sugar (without our mother’s knowledge) and loved to have it with buttered baguette, which we took great pleasure in dunking into our hot drink. (CM, if you are reading this post, I particularly mention dunking the buttered baguette because you always seemed so shocked to see us do this). Continue reading
Did I Imagine Grant’s Gin?
Of all the drinks in the world, I must admit: I am partial to gin. There’s nothing quite like a well mixed G&T (gin and tonic – especially if the gin in question is Gordon’s Special Dry London Gin), and this my family knows well (trust me, I tell you this for a reason ).
The story of this post took place about a year ago, in Dar-es-Salaam, where I’d gone to visit my parents. My father, knowing my love for gin, often makes sure to have a bottle available for me when I first arrive to visit. It’s a little father-daughter thing that we have going.
On this particular visit, I was going home after quite a trying time in my life, and on top of visiting my parents would also be finding two of my three siblings at home (yippee!). I was really looking forward to going home, and as the day on which I traveled progressed (I was going to arrive home in the evening), I began to look forward too to the Gordon’s G&T that my father would surely have waiting for me. Continue reading
“African Tea”
I come from a people who are truly committed to their tea drinking. On my mother’s side of the family, every time really is tea time (I am sure some of you, my readers, can relate to your mothers being like this too. ) When I say tea, I do not mean the wimpy mixture of tea and water that is served to you at most establishments, where you get to mix the water and tea in your cup as you serve the tea. By tea, I mean the potent, fierce stuff that is cooked on a stove and served in flasks that’s to be drunk at scalding hot temperatures. Do you now know what I am talking about? Sometimes, it’s more commonly referred to as “African Tea”. Continue reading