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Friday, February 6, 2015

BRT Bus Drivers, Insane or on Drugs?




I know very well that  most Danfo drivers are usually on cheap drugs, some of them are even repented area boys and it's not surprising that they drive and act like so.


My headache is not with Danfo bus drivers because they are who they are ‘’Danfo drivers” but what’s up with the BRT Bus Drivers? I thought BRT bus drivers were supposed to be more literate, properly trained and tested, a bit learned hence they would know to drive responsibly, this is not so from my observation.
Most BRT bus drivers are very reckless drivers, they drive as if they own the road, they have no respect for other commuters or even pedestrians, if either your feet or your car gets in their way, anything can happen, by ‘’anything can happen’’, I mean they can intimidate you with their long bus or go as far as hitting  you and not apologise . No wonder most of the then good looking buses now look scruffy and rickety.

 



On our way to work this morning a BRT bus was forcefully trying to get in front of our car, our car was nearly pushed off the bridge and we almost hit a pedestrian who rained curses on us. The bus driver didn’t even stop to ask if we were fine, he just sped away like nothing happened. I shouted ‘’animal!’’ from our car, hoping the wind will take the message to the maniac driving that BRT Bus.

On what basis are these careless people employed as drivers, not just drivers but commercial bus drivers responsible for conveying several lives? I managed to get down the plate number but there was no number to call behind the bus.

My personal suggestion is for all BRT Buses to have ‘’please call…… if I am driving recklessly’’ printed behind them for all to see. If drivers know that apart from costing innocent people their lives, driving recklessly can also cost them their daily bread (since it seems they have no regards for human and even animal lives) they might just re-consider and drive a bit more cautious
While I was still fuming over the bus driver, I remembered that dearest shared his ex-driver’s story with me just a few days ago.  Dearest got a phone call while driving from his ex-driver and was wondering what the purpose of the call could be. The guy called to say that he was driving the BRT bus right behind him, dearest looked in his mirror and confirmed it was true, he greeted him briefly and quickly hung up. He then said to me ‘’Spy, this guy was driving a bus filled with passengers, he didn’t try to hunk his horn and wave, but he called me holding on to his mobile phone not even using hands-free.’’( by the way dearest’s phone is synched to his car, so his phone was on speaker). I know a lot of people use their phones while driving, some people go as far as sending BBMs and text messages, we all know right from wrong (we keep toying with our lives and those of many others). Some BRT drivers and other commercial vehicle drivers have also joined in using phones while driving (without using phones they already drive like maniacs, imagine how crazy they would drive while using phones), God protect us!
 
The plate number of the crazy BRT bus driver today, LND 440 XM BRT Bus I001. Don’t even know what to do with it.


Monday, January 12, 2015

Finally 2015....



Happy New Year!

Happily I wish everyone a happy new year and I am not just saying it, I mean it very much. A lot of people just say "happy new year", "compliment of the season", to them they are just words you say when you see somebody for the first time in January or maybe February it has no weight what so ever in their minds.

For me , especially after 2014 , when I wish anyone a happy new year I am saying" I wish you a very happy new year, may God bless this year, may you laugh this new year, May God keep you truly happy and may he listen to every of your heart desires"! So guys here i am wishing you a happy new year at the top of my voice" HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"

As they say there is a reason for everything I have my reasons for praying happy new year into people's lives instead of just saying it.

Last year  especially towards the end was eventful in a sad a way. One of our friends. lost his wife who was just 35years old, been married for barely 3years and had an 18months old daughter, it was very sad!  Then came December while I was cracking my head thinking of the best Christmas party I could organize for my family, my sister called me one morning saying "Have you heard what happened ..." My heart was already beating fast , I said "what happened again ooo"then she said my Aunty's husband ( my uncle by marriage) died. I was like "what?!" He was 50years old with a 21 year old son, a 17 year old daughter and a 47year old wife. It was terribly sad. I didnt know when I started to count down to the new year, I was just tired of hearing bad news. 

So 2014 ended! Whew! I am still thankful though. A lot of great things happened in 2014. I got marriedšŸ˜„ ( took so long settling into my new life and home, hence my absence from the blogging world.)

I believe in new year resolutions, I think it adds structure to my life, though sometimes it's a bit hard to follow it/ them through the year.

This year my main resolution is to be happy, to live a life filled with happiness, to work on surrounding myself with happiness and to be the definition of a genuine happy person. So God help me!

How was 2014 for you? Do you believe in new year resolutions? What is your resolution(s)


PS
Another resolution is to continue to promote good customer service in Nigeria.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

That special usher at my wedding.

 

 


 
 

I have a thing for good hostess and ushers at weddings. That was why during my wedding planning I made emphasizes on having good ushers not necessarily good looking ones, as long as they were efficient I was fine. I have been to many weddings with beautiful ushers, nicely dressed pretty ladies but that's about all they are good for, to look at. Ask them to get you something to eat or drink and they never come back and when you are on your way to the bathroom you see them standing somewhere else watching the bride and groom have their first dance. Those were not the kind of ushers I wanted at my wedding. I wanted energetic girls who were ready to help my guests and that was exactly what I got.

My engagement and wedding were at Yard 158 And 10degrees both at Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos. They are fairly big venues. At least Yard 158 accommodated  our 1200 guests nicely while 10degrees accommodated our 1500 plus a few extras Ok!



My joy became complete when some of our guests complimented the ushers and said they never stopped coming to ask what they(our guests) wanted and if they needed anything, they were real hostesses.

The Usher who was appointed to me, Seun, was a very nice and efficient lady. When she was first introduced to me I thought she was a bit extra, she asked me what I wanted to drink and if I was ok what seemed like 10times in the space of 5minutes. After a while I decided to take advantage of her efficient spirit, I sent her on errands, asked her to call me a few people and made her get me cold Amstel malt a few times. She never at any point frowned or disappeared or complained she did everything I asked her with utter joy(well so it seemed) and took up the job of fanning me while I was dancing. She was a very good lady. She did such a fantastic job that when she said it was time for her to leave, I gave her a very nice tip, she so deserved it.



Two days after our engagement ceremony (traditional wedding)  I started looking for the silver sandals that i wore before changing into more comfortable shoes while I was dancing, I remembered Seun the super Usher holding on to the shoes but that was all I remembered, so I got the event coordinator to give her a call and ask her but she said she gave the shoes to my friend who said it wasn't true.

I was heart broken my beautiful shoes were missing I had only worn them for a few hours, I hadn't even rocked it at all and that Seun girl that I already liked so much and wanted appointed to me on our wedding day, did she now steal my shoes.? I was sad! But my sister encouraged me by saying that they were only shoes, people lose more than that at their parties, so I took my mind off it. Only to get a bbm in the middle of the night from my friend saying she found my shoes. I was so happy, the next morning I called the event coordinator to apologise and help me pass the message to Seun that I found my shoes and would like her to be assigned to me on our wedding day. They did! Seun was once again very good at what she did, she was a super usher, she made sure I was ok at my own wedding!

 
 
Seun is an Usher from Zapphhaire Events...

Monday, February 17, 2014

The newly married woman :)



Guess who's back? 

 


Guess who's back as Mrs D!?!!


Hi guys, I have missed you guys so much! I am so sorry I didn't keep to my promise of updating every week. Wedding planning and preparation was crazy! It was almost hard to keep up with anything. There were days when I was sooo excited, days when I  was anxious and days when I worried about the carnival called wedding we were having.

I remember two weeks before when I took my dress to one of my designer friends just to make sure everything fitted well! That was the best decision I made in a very long time! My dress was big!! Like two sizes bigger! I was "scared" no not even scared "AFRAID!!!!". I had lost too much weight if it wasn't for my sister who testified that my wedding dress was my exact size when I bought it , my chief bride's maid and designer friend Iysha wouldn't have believed I bought my right size. Iysha seeing that I might collapse from fear quickly assured me that she would salvage my dress and it would fit perfectly and she did exactly that, infact made me another dress to change into for our after party since that outfit also didn't fit!

I left Iysha's place that day supper happy and thankful that I had thought to try on my dress again before the wedding. Being an Efiko, I bought my dress about 6 months before our wedding, and it hung in my mum's wardrobe for five months before our wedding day. But I was so thankful for Iysha, you wouldn't even notice the amendment(s). 

I also had to go on an Amstel Malt diet. I drank at least one Amstel malt a day and milo some nights, thanks to my bff/chief bride's maid's advice and supervision,  I was able to put on a little weight before the " D" days. I didn't make a typo by typing ""D" days" Our wedding activities lasted 3weeks! We had 4 different events!!!

The first one was our engagement ceremony/ traditional Wedding  with 1000guests
The second was our Nikkai and reception party with 1500guests
The third was our Chapel Wedding and Lunch 100guests
The fourth was thanksgiving and thanksgiving party 150guests

I promise to tell you about each one. I had to put something today:)



 





Saturday, November 30, 2013

Count down to my wedding

Hi Guys! Sorry I have been away for a while, wedding preps has taken over lol. My wedding is in 6weeks and my mind and head have been everywhere. From excitement to nervousness to anxiety. All sorts of emotions have been popping up but I am thankful to God for everything.

While I am doing my best to make sure the wedding day goes well, my mum has been inviting people away, it's turning to a carnival, I don't know how else to stop her. We had a little talk yesterday about her taking it easy on inviting more, more and more people but the conversation didn't do anything to her very long guest list. She keeps telling everyone "we are having a wedding". God help us

The wedding industry is something else, when I say something else I mean expensive! People make so much money off weddings , I am almost having second thoughts on my career path.

Two days ago I went to our venue just to ask some questions because dearest wouldn't let me rest, he wanted to know  what the length and breadth of the venue measured, me I don't like errands like that but I went there anyway, when I asked the lady there for the measurement she looked shocked "what do you want to use it for ?" She asked, I told her dearest wanted it to design the floor plan, she smiled and politely said they did not give that information out (I am very sure she didn't know the measurement) I wasn't surprised. She decided to take me through the terms and conditions. I listened like a good student nodding as she read through each paragraph until she mentioned that we had to use their bouncers and pay for them. I was like "can you re-read that?" After paying so much for the venue she was now insisting that we have to use six of their bouncers and pay twelve thousand Naira for each of them! Why did I not read this terms and condition before we chose this our venue? I told her that I would have to call her later because we have a security company giving us security for free for the wedding. She insisted we had to get at least six bouncers from them and it's our choice if we decide to get more from elsewhere... Everyone just wants to make extra money.

Anyway I would write more about the good and bad services I have encountered especially during this wedding planning time. I have missed you guys and would also try to write at least once a week.
Have a wonderful week ahead x

Monday, September 23, 2013

Nasty Nurses...Ruining Visions Of The Church


As a new Catholic convert (dearest and I decided to keep to one religion so that we can help each other grow together spiritually ) I am now very interested in anything Catholic. This was why I started taking interests in the Catholic Church Clinics. I have heard so much about Catholic Church hospitals, I know some family members who have gotten treatments from there and family friends who don't go to any other hospital other than the Catholic Church clinic. Whenever I asked why, they said the price charged at the hospital is very moderate compared to private hospitals and the service given is more decent than that of government operated hospitals plus the added advantage of good doctors.  They swore that they'd never go to any other hospital other than the Catholic Church Clinic. Well I was happy for them (that they love the hospital ) but stuck to my own hospital.

Today, I got the opportunity to visit a Catholic Church hospital, my brother in law's mum was admitted at St Leo's Catholic Church clinic Ikeja. I went to visit her after work. I was fascinated by the hospital building, the simplicity but yet very modern facilities and furniture. I kept praising God for such a good place. All the rooms well fully air conditioned including the reception area, their bathroom was decent and sparkling, I couldn't help but say "up Catholic Church" lol. But my excitement went crashing when my sister asked the nurse a question and it was just very obvious that she didn't want to help out, her attitude was wrong, she shrugged  her shoulder and walked away saying she'd come back but she never did. Then another nurse came by, I greeted her but she barely answered.
Though a few of the nurses were nice,  majority of them had some sort of attitude that said "don't ask me for anything please" I mean, what's the point of studying to be a nurse if you don't love and cannot be kind to other human beings? The body who founded the clinic did so so that people can come there, feel comfortable and get good quality medical care and.services, but the nurses there just make all the beautiful facilities and vision incomplete.

This is a clear example of how employees can ruin dreams of  employers. I didn't like the nurses at all. Honestly, I am still confused why they took that route to study nursing.

Anyway I love the whole idea behind the Catholic Church clinic, I love that it is moderately priced, I love the idea of the father coming to pray for the patients, I like the idea of the crucifix on top of the door frame, I love that I felt God was in that hospital but I didn't like the nurses, I liked their uniforms but the attitude in the uniform stunk.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The proposal story....FaƧade


 

Our Engagement Cake


On 22nd of May 2013 , several hours into my birthday, dearest called to say he wanted to take me to dinner. I lamented in my mind, I didn't want to go for dinner, I already told dearest a night before that my girls wanted to take me out even that,  I was trying to bargain with them to move it to the weekend. Dearest didn't care and said I could invite my friends to join us for drinks after we had had our dinner. My friends didn't object to dearest's suggestion though I was a bit reluctant to go out after having such a long but happy day with all my family who all came to hang out with me at work.
I headed to FaƧade where dearest said we would be having dinner. I was met right by my car by him himself apologizing for not sending my cake to work. We entered through the door and were welcomed by a waiter who led us to our seat, dearest chose our seats, not long after we were given a menu.

The waiter who was manning our table wasn't that experienced though he tried his best to give us good service, it was obvious that he was struggling (probably his first job  as a waiter) dearest asked if I'd like a bottle of champagne, I said Yes because it was my birthday  (on a normal day, I would have probably said No on an ordinary day and ask for a glass) I knew it would be impossible to finish the bottle on our own before my friends arrived, but we were celebrating so it was cool. After the champagne was brought, the waiter came back to tell us that the champagne was more expensive than the price that was printed on the menu, dearest made a few comments very unlike him not to question further or to say he didn't want it any more. He asked the waiter to open it.

Our food, we wanted to share, didn't know portions were small


There was nice music playing in the background, the ambiance was perfect. Our food arrived, it was actually very nice, though the portions were quite small. I remember that  before we placed our  order for food, we asked the waiter what a particular meal on the menu was, he was unable to tell us. I like to go to restaurants where waiters are familiar with their menus.
 
The birthday and proposal cake

Anyway not long after we finished our food, dearest received a phone call,  he said the cake was downstairs he wanted to go get it. I waited patiently until I saw the waiter carrying my cake with a sparkler on it and dearest behind him, I got very excited, the cake was placed in front of me and I took pictures away, dearest asked if I liked the cake, I told him that  it was beautiful and the fact that it was pink made it more magical, he asked me to take a closer picture of it only then did I notice that the cake didn't only read "happy birthday' but "will you marry me" I screamedddd and almost fell to the floor, my scream brought me more surprises because my family, friends, and dearest's friends all started appearing! I was so shocked, apparently they had all been waiting downstairs waiting to make a surprise appearance.



Dearest had invited them all earlier asking them to keep the invite a surprise without telling them he was going to propose. So he got on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so excited I didn't even remember to say yes lolll. So he asked after a few minutes of kneeling "did you say yes baby"  then I finally said "yesssss"
I was in so much shock, I was burying my face Lol..Dearest still kneeling and hugging me

It was marvellous. I was so so proud of my darling dearest. Everyone came and looked at the ring and congratulated us. It was the best birthday ever.

The staff at FaƧade were excellent, I only wished our waiter was more educated on the menu and I didn't like that the champagne price on the menu wasn't the same as what was charged. Their food tasted very nice. nice place, nice ambiance.

FaƧade is a Thai Restaurant located at 10 Bishop Aboyode Cole, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria