Munene, the journey...

We spent most of new year's eve in transit. We left Ibis Styles Hotel at 10.30am, got to Jakarta international airport, got our tickets to Denpasar (in Bali) and left for Bali about 2.30pm (about 30mins late due to air traffic density at the airport) In transit at Jakarta Airport domestic departures; after check-in on the way to Denpasar Photobombed by Tom Hilde and Tom Jones We arrived in Denpasar around 7pm, where we met with Sunday who had arranged our transportation to Ubud. It took us the next hour and a half weaving through ever narrowing roadways towards Ubud, which is our home for the next six days. The driving in Bali immediately reminded me of Nairobi. Traffic wasn’t too bad, but driving a car involved checking both sides of the mirror because scooters, mopeds and motorbikes weave in and out of lanes at breakneck speed, with little warning or caution. Further, while passing huge vehicles like buses and lorries, our drive honked twice to let the other car know...

With Renuka at IAD before departure for Doha Our journey began at IAD at close to 3pm on Dec. 28. I met up with a couple of my fellow travelers at the airport, including Renuka, Tom Jones, Noah, Jackson. On transit in Doha We got to on Dec. 30 Indonesia about 7 am, on time, aboard the Qatar Airways flight 958 from Doha, Qatar. Duty free cars in Doha! Passport control, baggage claim and passing through customs was a breeze. It took us no more than 20 minutes to alight the aircraft and meet Matt Regan, who had arrived a day earlier, to prepare the way for us. And prepare he did. A section of Soekarno-Hatta Airport di Jakarta Matt gave us the brief on what to do, and how to do it. We withdrew cash from ATM (Matt recommended 1 million rupiah!!!). It felt like a lot, but it turned out to be about $74 bucks (with the conversion being $1 = 13,500 rupiah). The notes were in 50,000s or 100,000s crispy ones. We then got into taxis a...

I first heard this saying, during my second visit to Nigeria. This time, I was in Edo State visiting my in-laws' home town. When food was served, my family, as normal asked for water to wash hands and cutlery to eat the food. Jay, my outspoken brother-in-law, laughed at the request, thinking we were joking. When Jay realized that we were serious, he casually said, while laughing, "Oga, be yourself and use your hands! 'They' are just trying to make money from you by selling anti-bacterial hand washing soap…" I later learnt that my brother Jay meant no harm. In fact, this has almost become a family quote. We use it to remind one another when any of us gets out of line and begins pretending and 'not being ourselves'. No one knows us like family, and this is the best place to be reminded of this. Authenticity in our living is that one thing that we all agree we need more of, yet no one has a generally acceptable principle on how to achieve it. We a...