Air Bnb adventures!

Sign up for air bnb and get 25$off your first 75$trip. Follow me on Twitter @clarabelswt to get the link and enjoy the trip from air bnb.

SAROVA SALTLICK GAME LODGE

March 2018 and the office is so boring, being a branch office, most people had the feeling that it was just the branch that was boring since the rest of Kenya seemed to be having fun. The year started rough with incidences here and there, mistakes, meetings and lots of stern conversations. My desk being so swell, I really did not have the time to engage in the ‘fact find mission’ on why the branch was such a boring place to be; however, I was ready to participate in any plans that came up to make the office a more lively and homely place to be at. So yeah a fun committee was formed best believe the Kenyan National government teaches its citizens a lot and let’s just say it was only fair if we borrowed a leaf 🙂 .The committee came up with this amazing plan that was pocket friendly and still within the coast but yet again a couple of days to the trip…7/30 folks only made the commitment. I know I felt like bailing on this considering the fact that a good number of the folks on board were mainly acquaintances but i still gave it a shot and here goes the adventure.

Saturday April 28^th 2018

The morning pick started as early as 0400hrs and I was among the last to be collected from the CBD at 0500hrs. The crisp chilly morning had us all quiet in the van and covered in tiny blankets. The driver was left with the company of the gentle whispers from the radio that could hardly be heard from the back of the Safari van. The van…she was a beast with tyres screaming out loud ‘ I am from Michelin and not Pirelli 🙂 , the fresh roar of the engine, smooth switch in gears as we drove off and zero emission from the exhaust was a safety assurance in the wild. Yes, I love cars and had to inspect the basics of this ride. Slowly day light brightened the environment and so did the attempted chill that came with the morning fade off. The coast is hardly ever cold but at this time of the year Kenya gets a bit cold hence the reason why I refer to the chill as attempted. The squad now gets into an upbeat mood and convos get loud, laughs more vibrant as the whispers from the radio now disappear. ‘John what music do you have in this thing? and can we give you a flash disk…’ a common phrase from any Kenyan squad on a road trip and that just means let’s get the party started 😉 The music goes up and the van just warms up in the most magnificent way right before we stopped for breakfast at MacKinnon road. I bet most of you have spotted the curio shop on the road but never really known that they serve scrumptious meals as well. Breakfast was earlier planned so by the time we got there our food was ready in a few minutes. Fried beef, chicken, tea and chapatis heavy as it was we finished it all. Some face beats for the girls a little freshening up by all, a few pictures and off we drove into Taita-Taveta county. Tummies now full the only next thing to be emptied was the cooler box that we had stuffed with liquor earlier. The party was great already and the small office representation now turned into good friends with chuckles and jokes here and there. No ground rules set except for bring all the fun music and jokes to make this trip the best of them all.

We arrived at Voi at around 1100hrs and filled up our cooler box with more supplies from a local store at a petrol station since we were headed into a deep area and generally supplies were cheaper at a station away from the main lodge. The terrain now exceptionally beautiful with the few rains already transforming the environment into a vibrant green. The hills stood majestic at a distance with perfect cloud cover and oh the temperatures were just perfect. The drive was so breathtaking, the country feel was so crunchy and air so crisp I could feel the freshness with every breathe making this one of the best choices I ever made. Travel has never been a wrong choice from my experience anyways. We then got to a dirt road now with the Sarova signage clear every few meters and one or two animals grazing on the tantalizing vegetation cover.

1230HRS and we check in at the Taita Taveta Lodge, this is the central check in point for guests at the Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge. We were a happy group of people and there were many other groups of tourists from all over the world. The locals were a hand full though just goes to show how we need to tembea Kenya a bit more as locals.

Taita Taveta Lodge is also the place where we had lunch and this being sarova, it was definitely a ten! All filled up and set we headed back into the dirt road and drove in now seeing more animals and the Safari feel in full gear. The views got more natural and we spotted the lodge rooms standing on the stilts from afar and all of us were all so wowed and taken aback by the beautiful architecture of the salt lick lodge from afar. Serenity redefined!

We had a few minutes in our rooms then headed out for an evening safari which started at exactly 1600hrs. Several other travellers with their vans and the drivers coordinated on the walkie-talkies every so often on where to find the animals. The lions, the wild beasts the dikidikis, zebras, heart beasts, and more were all scattered within the vast park. This being a wet season, most animals were away in the deeper sides of the park and it wasn’t so easy to spot as many animals as one would during the dry season. In the dry season, the animals come into the lodge in search of water at the waterholes below the stilts and food. I reckon the name salt lick may have gotten its origin from these iconic manmade waterholes under the stilts at the lodge.

The season did not make the lodge any bad in fact I loved it then since the views were so serene and we still spotted herds of buffaloes, zebras, dikidikis and more grazing until the sunset. We then got back to the lodge just after sunset and the stilts looked so beautiful lit up from a distance as we approached the lodge.

Dinner started from 1900hrs onward and I must say the service was exceptional with the staff working efficiently and timely; hardly did we have to seek for help with anything since the waiters served us at the right time. After dinner, some guests continued having convos and chill at the lobby and others went down the underground tunnel and bunker that had ground level windows to see the night creatures. This being a wet season, there weren’t so many animals on sight but we still appreciated a few creatures. Guests are now allowed to go to bed at their own time but highly discouraged from getting out of the lobby since there is a risk of bumping into wild animals as the lodge has no electric or man-made perimeter walls.

SUNDAY 29^TH April 2018.

The day starts with the guests stepping out for the morning safari with hopes of spotting more animals and in this case the king of the jungle for us since we spotted two lions from very far the previous day. We were lucky to spot a lioness and her two cubs just chilling, we also saw a few more animals then drove back to the hotel for breakfast and check out.

We checked out at around 1100hrs and the drive back was extremely therapeutic. We got to know each other better via exciting games and opened up to each other and till date the trip remains special to the seven of us. The trip brought us together and made us understand each other better us colleagues and in the end strengthen our relationships as individuals. Sarova Salt Lick Game Lodge is highly recommended and stands highly rated in my travel experience.

Have a lovely travel Tuesday!

Taking Stock Four

 

Loving the woman I see in the mirror each morning and acknowledging that it is all by the grace of the Almighty that my mornings start with more smiles and nights end with a heart and mind filled with gratitude.

Adding; good, fabulous and healthy things into my life.

Believing; more in myself

Counting; my blessings

Daring; to get started on bigger and better things this New Year, 29 got here this month and she is saying we are ending the twenties with a major statement!

Engaging; better with my clients as we get ready to have the business on its feet soon.

Finding; no space for negative thoughts.

Gearing; to a bigger and better new year.

Humming; ….some Lira song in my mind as I type this since I speak no South African language but I love her music to bits.

Inking;  finally found what my next tattoo will read so psyking up to get inked soon.

Jazzing; through TAKE Five! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzpnWuk3RjU Has to be the best of Jazz.

Keeping; family closest,sisters’ wedding had me appericiating the fact that there is no greater love and true friendship than what family gives.

Longing; to travel, need to travel in a grand way see and explore …alone…maybe…not sure… we will see *smiles*

Managing; my work schedules and plans very well.

Numbering ….well not really but rather counting my blessings.

Observing; the weather and realizing that the cold was real in Malindi this year and now the heat is back.

Putting; God before all my endevours

Quitting;.. nothing really no habits giving me the need to stop.

Reminsing; on all good times.

Stressing; that this stock is all about gratitude and I need not stress on things I cannot change.

Unbelievably; faboulous!

Viewing; more rooftop sunsets and enyoing my solitude.

Wishing ;nothing but success to my newly married sis and her husband

XO; sending hugs and kisses  to….

Yawning; …its bed time..

Zooming; finding reason to always put on a sharper lens when facing each day. So many lessons to learn and pick.

 

And we made it before October ends we published!!

Hoping October was nothing but HAPPY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FOREVER BEGINS

Dearest…

Usually I don’t write at this time 1333hrs on a Tuesday, not a holiday, a day at the office with my earphones on trying to find a song to make me always remember, you know, that song you want to always have you remembering the memories, those memories that can only be, those that can only remind you of, those that can only make you feel a certain typa’ way, memories surreal, memories so honest; a rare to find today. … I intend not to put a full stop to this piece since that’s the exact same way I hope this story will turn out, turn out into that one, one we will never stop having memories made, he said, “I still have a lot of interest in the coast…” then he said, I will be back in a week maybe… and we’ll have a burger ….the buckeye type.”  I haven’t found that song yet as Lauryn plays on, he loved her … he liked the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill…. that song, The Ex factor,  he loved … he understood my likings never had to explain a throwback jam or a def jam poetry episode/joke, you know the old school ones the ones with Mos Def and that guy.. ya’ll must know him – “ I met this girl when I was eight years old, and what I loved most  she had so much soul” *smiles*….his style only had me feeling homed… like this was just what my life needed ; to have a drink on Sunday like its Friday… to not be scared of talking of my bad habits and draining my last Mpesa 20 bob just to enjoy a cigarette without getting the funny feeling or look… to not feel weird when the solitude lasted days with neither of us feeling bothered… I have grown to love my own space maybe, a thing that will get me by, this ‘goodbye’ it shouldn’t be a goodbye because I know it’s for bigger and better things….I called my sister who said; cry if you have to, laugh if you have to but always rise up and perhaps this is for the best… he would say the same thing and I promise to cry if I have to or laugh if a have to when we have that burger at buckeye…  then my desk gets swell – with work and this time my eyes are swell too, the crying… it’s happening then I think this is selfish… he is a dreamer and he like Common sings, he will still keep dreaming and maybe this was for the better…so  I shouldn’t be selfish ….then I ask?….  am I mourning already?… so fast you know,  we move  from denial to anger then bargain then depression then acceptance (DABDA)… I was angry why did he not say this earlier like when we last hang out…chilled out with a movie then as usual work came in between my phone ringing – his phone ringing constant rewinding then suddenly we just need to leave and handle our office matters… he said in that conversation… “I can’t leave like that..” then hang up so he just did not tell me…overthinking, that’s what I am doing now but hey, the DABDA is only at bargain heading to depression then I realize I have a Furaha (brandy) in the fridge at home ….tonight I’ll be drinking with a broken heart not dreaming with it like John Mayer… I smile and I know he had his drink too; perhaps thinking,  how do I break this to her …oh well, I will drink to no full stops today hehe not haha hoping that we will drink again and just as it were not worrying about tomorrow and feeling like I will brave through the hangie so it doesn’t matter  let me have a good one… we toasted to many things that birthday that had us handling all things maturely and yes we agreed If it works out fine if not fine as well, it’s now three months later and I guess it worked out …the friendship… you know I never told him I write … today I just went back to that place, that place of therapy and realized it’s been months since I did this, wrote , about my feelings….used my keypad to wipe the tears, used my keypad to find my balance and it feels good… feels so good to know I still have a heart that can feel a typa’ kinda way… and if this made me write then these memories have forever to be made and this friendship only begins and gets better…all the best and goodbye George…

Malindi will miss you…

Always,

Clara

SONGS IN PLAY  – Forever begins- Common, Used to love you – Lauryn Hill, I want you Common, John Mayer – Dreaming with a broken heart.

 

 

TAKING STOCK 3

Gratitude is one great virtue and there is so much to say thanks to in this existence since life is the best gift.

Cheers to life and here’s my third stock take.

Allowing: myself to be happy with each day and as always letting lose to all great things

Betting: next year will be a better year in the Formula one season for team Ferrari.

Congratulating: The Mercedes benz team on their great performance and lifting the trophy once again.

Dancing: not really I am such a pathetic dancer.

Engaging: Myself in loads of work, the last few months have been crazy busy at work and all that keeps me going are the success stories!

Falling: right in love! Yes.. I like somebody and it feels so nice and perfect after such a long time.

Getting: younger with each birthday it was great having cake at work with my colleagues but I insist I feel younger than 28!

Having:  a great time in Malindi, I fell in love with the town from day one. Finding a location to stay within kilifi county has been hard but Malindi just made it so easy.

Insisting: on positivity and feeling and looking younger than 28!

Joining; no more chamas or saccos! Enough said!

Knocking off my debts. The year started rough working on almost knocking off all debts.

Listening to Meghan Trainors  – Like I’m gonna lose you and loving the strings!! http://youtu.be/Ka97IsD7PIo  The strings in this performance are outta this world amazeballs!

Mending – all the burnt bridges within my extended family and just taking it easy

Nibbling– I will define this, I am enjoying small meals and in turn enjoying my food I am one of those people who have the worst eating habits but nibbling on food is proving to be helpful

STATS: Total time creating taking stock Three 30 minutes.

Editing – Ongoing …. J

Fun rating – 4stars!

Stay Thankful Beautiful people!

WATAMU

My current view as I write this…

Sometimes I take so much time before finding the right words to express myself and bring my readers to the exact same feeling that I am in when penning my adventures. To get it right you have to use the correct words and literally just marry them together, today my wordings are topped up by the perfect views from the Moorings floating restaurant in Mtwapa. I am lucky to have lived just a few meters from it since it was only four years old back in 1998.

Music playing- oldies ‘You are just too good to be true can’t take my eyes off of you , you feel like heaven to touch I wanna hold you so much….’ ,  Amy Winehouse – Mr. Jones (remember her from back to black? Total brilliance) with one or two sneak -ins of Bruno mars catching grenades then back to Jason Miraz and Cobie Calait – Lucky and the playlist continues to be mind – blowing. My 270 degrees view comprises of bright skies, blue waters, green plantations, the Mtwapa Bridge, more plantations a beautiful house several palm trees, boats and a cocktail  perfect!

Thank God my laptop keeps charge for long so I can write on and drink on until the sun goes down. You know what, it gets more romantic because Moorings have mastered this candle lit thing well done so you can take it  into the night and just be easy. The prices are on the higher side, beers are at 250ksh – 500ksh depending on the brand.

Last weekend, my travel adventures led me to a last minute decision to spend a few days and nights at the Sabasaba Villa in Watamu.

Watamu is one of those  places where you just have to visit, you know – no imagination or thinking or make belief can come close to the exact feeling watamu has on you. Over the years, I had my made up thoughts about the place and always made a quick stop during work trips. Never spent days and nights there. I am headed back there in less than two weeks just so to have another priceless weekend since one was just not enough.

Watamu is a small town located along the Mombasa – Malindi highway; it is close to Malindi town. The name loosely translates to ‘the sweet people’ originated from the slave days where it is said that the people were easily lured to captivity using sweet things by Arab slave traders. It is known to be one of the best tourist destinations globally with several five star hotels setting up and recently voted one of top 10 beaches in Africa.

I stayed at SabaSaba Villa, a stylish and artsy 9 room place that takes its name from the beautiful view of all the seven islands that one can see from the highest point of the house.  Saba means seven in Swahili.

 

On arrival in the mid afternoon, I was met by John who showed me to the dining area where we had late lunch. The meals were generally well made. The dining area has a perfect view of the ocean, a pool, a man-made mini beach, beautiful gardens and well kempt interior décor that blends perfectly with the architect’s creation of the master piece. Simplicity always has me tickled and sabasaba is insanely simply but beautifully put together.

   

There is also a bar right next to the pool and the nights were merry I tell you. My friends were so easy and everyone was just warm and perfect making the best company for the few days. You can choose to enjoy the entire house alone at a higher rate of course, which I highly recommend for honeymooners or close groups.

 

A tour around the house through all the nine rooms that are all well done got me acquainted to my new home. The rooms range from singles, doubles, to a maximum of three beds and for the first time I saw a bed designed from rock. Someone explained how convenient that was *wink* each room was sparkling amazing and I was impressed at the same time not pleased by the fact that all this had been lying idle for quite  some time.

The open bar was the next stop and for people doing this in groups, please get stocked up on the booze and just enjoy! We are lucky we had Charity who was so perfect with mixing the cocktails- she did her magic! The pool was pleasant the temperatures perfect and my friends swam into the evening. It was soon late and our dinner was served under the stars; I must say I loved the fish! The open bar kept us up until late.

Remember the well-designed bedrooms I spoke about… hmmmm… let’s just skip to the morning where from mine I could see the sunrise from my bed. I mean I did not have to get out of bed to enjoy the magical sunrise I just moved around with it staring at me. You know the house was so perfect and if I was to share another aspect of it, it would go like …

The intimacy the house brings forth is great. Breakfast was served through the morning since I had mine at 10am with no worries. After that, we discovered what more watamu had to offer and day one went like this

Day one:

A walk to the love islands when the tide is low. Several other houses and lodges are located in the area and they all look attractive. The heat was insane so you need loads of water and sunscreen to keep hydrated. We walked into the Ocean and there is a spot where the water never goes away creating a sweet shallow point where people head out to enjoy themselves. The water was perfect and some brave souls opted to head up the rocky area to see more of the vast ocean. I chose to enjoy the pond and catch up some more with my friends having fun at sea. Many couples of all races were there further making it clear why it is called the love island- they all looked so sweet. Later in the afternoon we headed back to the house just so to be safe since the water comes back and the entire landscape gets swallowed up by the mighty sea waters.

Lunch was served and guys just chilled out in the house, the pool table upstairs, the bar, the living room and any other place that was of preference.

 

Later, it was night is and we dined ‘alfresco’ under the clear night skies and later had more drinks better yet play a few games and relax through the night.

Day Two

We chose to have an out-at-sea day and explore more of this side of the coast. Mida creek was of the next stop. Here’s the thing at a fee of 2000 Kshs, one enjoys a boat ride into the sea to a point where you could do some snorkeling and an area that is exactly the same as the love island. Wonders of creation I must say. Further to that lunch is served at Sudi Island where a cocktail of sea foods offered and lots of delicious foods to dive into. Later there is a guided canoe ride into a mangrove area that looked like a movie scene straight out of Amazon.

When we got to SabaSaba,  the team hosting us at the villa put together a master farewell. The candle lit dinner  was so romantic .

Watamu was a pleasant surprise and I recommend that you visit this beautiful destination as you #tembeakenya. If you decide to stay for a few days, SabaSaba comes highly recommended.

I wish you a happy #TravelTuesday

TAKE ME TO CHURCH – HOZIER

Sexuality…hmm *Deep breathe*

“I have no reason to point a finger at lovers of the same sex or get involved in the preferred bedroom business of people.” I have said this to myself a million times but with each day it gets harder to ignore the subjects of homosexuality, transgender issues and every other upcoming sexual “cool” of this world. It aches me seeing young and old people getting into a culture they fancy from a mile but do not know of the consequences or the truth behind such lifestyles. I respect the sexual decisions made by many but do they have the truth at the back of their minds or are they just money driven decisions that are made in the happy and fun times?  Binyavanga’s Wainaina’s missing chapter of the book One day I will write about this place left me speechless!  (The comments section even more perplexed!). I recently caught Lavern Cox’s The T word show on MTV and I must admit the entire running had my jaw on the ground! I was and I am still speechless about the show.

Sexuality matters are too private to be discussed; a piercing feeling of rage and confusion gives me a tongue-tie making it impossible to word my thoughts on sexuality. This song made me look for the hidden meaning of it. What ran through Hozier’s mind giving such great melody to words written in plain alphabet but filled with so much meaning? The melody is so great and catchy and before watching the video then further getting the meaning I had a superficial translation to it; lining up rows of metaphorical interpretations that were not so off but very superficial. Take me to church By Hozier.”  …. Take me to church I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies...”  Art has the bliss of breaking laws and provoking emotion via the gift of mixing extremes of words in one phrase.

Away from the song, I wondered, was the church the origin of all this? Did it all start from laws that limited many from living life and instead hid in a faith; exploring their animalistic thoughts and eventually manifesting their inevitable human desires on the next person, then the feeling got better with time and it’s now a lifestyle? I do not know… all I know is that societies have considered it special and some even cool as of the 21^st century. The lyrics are catchy the meaning even wilder and I had to keep it somewhere safe on here.

My lover’s got humour
She’s the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody’s disapproval
Should’ve worshipped her sooner
If the Heavens ever did speak
She’s the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday’s getting more bleak
Fresh poison each week
“We were born sick,” you heard them say it
My church offers no absolutes
She tells me worship in the bedroom
The only heaven I’ll be sent to
Is when I’m alone with you
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen

[Chorus x2:]
Take me to church
I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

[Verse 2]
If I’m a pagan of the good times
My lover’s the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
To drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That’s a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We’ve a lot of starving faithful
That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work

[Chorus x2:]
Take me to church
I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I’ll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife
Offer me my deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

[Bridge]
No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean
Amen. Amen. Amen

[Chorus x2:]
Take me to church
I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Taking stock – Two

Noting: That I intended to stop at M in taking stock one but I had so much fun and went on to P.

Melange: French for Mix! Yes, I realized that I can’t stick to one style as I had hoped to blog on Music only when I started in 2011, for that reason I recently gave the blog the new header My Melange translating to My Mix!

Needing: To explain the new header, My Melange.

Ordering: A couple of bottles of this new green revolution to car performance fuel treatment substance XFT by Syntek Global! Revolutionary stuff right there!

Paying: My taxes!

Questioning: My skills as a  future entrepreneur and believing in myself with each day….

Riding: nothing really

Reading: Less Bible verses, a habit I need to refrain from and go back to my daily meditation routines. I need God to work on me in so many greater ways.

Setting: Higher wind surf goals! There’s this place at Serena beach where its 500 bob to have an hour’s long wind surf lesson. The season has been so low and we need to promote local tourism. You only need courage to learn, if you cannot swim, a life jacket always saves the day. *a special post on this to come soon*

Taking: My second stock take only an hour later after the first one, I had so much fun doing it I had to do the second one sooner, lest I forgot my answers that flooded my mind and were aching to be written down.

Uniting; with …. I have no answer!

Vowing: To be the best wife and mother and health entrepreneur one day.

Working: Harder and more serious towards making my Melange fun and cool.

X- XO>> Hugs and kisses to my new readers 🙂

Yearning: To be back in Nairobi, I miss the place so much and it’s only been days now.

Zoning: no one!

STATS: Total time creating taking stock two- 30minutes.
Editing – Ongoing …. 🙂
Fun rating – 4stars!
Stay Happy Beautiful people!

Amaze-ball Tennis Year!

I must admit that the last two weeks have had me in a happy place and I am grateful. I had promised to share on the massive sports engagement I was tied to this past week. Roland Garros was an amazing Grand slam and if you watched it, you will agree that the standard of tennis played in this year’s event must have been the best ever.  Roland Garros, commonly referred to as The French Open is one of the best Grand slams in the ATP world tour. It marks the end of the clay season which is a season that has had a dominance of champions in the past years, with the King and queen of clay being Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. The stamina needed to ace the clay court as I’ve read is in most cases  to do with the speed and ability to return the ball fast , since the bounce on the clay court is swift. Hmm… I need a physics class in further figuring out this logic. In most times, I enjoy the men’s singles in all tournaments and will always follow any other interesting team playing for as long as the players display an impeccable show.

Well, of great moments in the French open, StanIMAL!  Mr. Stansilous Wawrinka the Swiss was no doubt the man of the tournament. The rather gentle 30-year-old lad is by no means the man to watch and if he goes on like this, world number four will soon be a history spot for him. Stan played so well and he’s semi final match with Jo Wilfred Tsonga was a tough battle.  I support Andy Murray, he wows me with his easy-lazy stance but still a muscle to dread during a match as he has a way of putting a good fight but oh well his finishing can be disappointing (no pun).  I had so many great moments this year in the tournament and I even watched the Women’s doubles final making it so hard to pin down one great show aside from the obvious finals. The men’s singles Final was awesome ending with Stan bagging the 1.8M.Euros after a slightly over 3hr long battle and a score of 6-4:4-6:3-6:4-6 against Novak Djokovic, world number one. Aside from the pajama looking shorts Stan had clad on, which was one of the reasons that made him trend on twitter and even became a world number one trend before the end of the match, this was a shock to Novak. In the past Novak has had an easy win in the finals and I was certain that this would be it for him. All the same Stan has a way of making you sweat it through and he practically did that further proving to the world that he is as great as ever. The last grand slam I watched with him in the final was when he faced Rafael Nadal in the AUS Open in 2014, sigh! That was a painful match to watch. Nadal had back problems and Stan sailed to winning, many would think he was lucky but relating this to the match he won at Roland Garros this year and many other impeccable matches he has played, he is a star in the sport: No luck in this one but a fair and square win! Stan made several set points while on serve and he and Novak had a 39 long rally. Wow! The longest rally of the tournament, I’m still so excited to have been present watching the rally from start to finish. You know it wasn’t those rallies you catch in the middle because you were probably replying to a text or doing something on the phone I watched it straight from start and beard the silence in disbelief that the ball was in play for that long.  The feeling is still immense a week later. Stanimal ended up winning and moving up four steps to become world number four as of 8 June 2015.

I had previously mentioned my love for Andy and before the tournament many tennis fans had the feeling that he was going to win the 2015 French open. I was one of them and I was so convinced especially more in the 4 hours and 10 minutes semi final with Novak Djokovic. This match further pressed on the fact that this year tennis was being played at standards never seen before. The drop shots, the ace points, the speed – with a serve speed of as high as 212km/hr, the insanely long match points in the 3rd and 4^th sets all gave me reason to believe that Andy had a shot. Something happened in that last set and my point of poor finishing by him got emphasized. Many have owed Andy’s success to his new female French coach and you could feel the bias in the French audience at the stadium in this one. However, that never made Novak let up, he still played on and easily moved to the finals in a quick 5^th set against Andy.  Point to note is the fact that Andy has really improved his game this year and I am so proud of him. Last year it was a downward trend and I even chose to join team Novak Djokovic because hey! I cannot be facing Arsenal problems in Tennis too! Being an Andy fan took me back to the days I could stand a soccer match and then I supported arsenal, the pain was so much and I sort for joy in Novak this year. Despite my rant there’s this little hope in me that has me wishing Andy a win in Wimbledon in a few weeks if not days to come. Wimbledon being a grass court, he’s got high chances having beat Novak in 2013 and guess what! I watched the victorious battle and it felt so good. I can’t remember the score points but that was a well deserved win of which I see a replay this year. All the best to both Andy and Novak .

In the women’s show, for a minute I thought L. Safarova bagged more money than Serena after winning the women’s doubles final with her mate Mattek Sands and also being runner-up in the women’s singles final but I was wrong. Serena was still the queen bagging more money even when sick; get well soon Mama. Good job to her and her body is one hell of a power house something I always look at in awe (no homo).

I need to come to an end now since I feel I’ve shared enough but before that, I need to mention that uber funny statement made by someone, it went like – “I’m going to swim, play tennis and then sleep in them.” Wawrinka on his shorts to the French newspaper L’Eqipe.- That said ,I  have more reason to follow through to the Shanghai Open  later in the year and I hope for more remarkable and out of this world tennis moments this year.

Stay Happy Beautiful people and watch out for more amezeball Sports posts 🙂

.

Taking Stock – One

I have always enjoyed reading other bloggers stock take shares and wondered what the criteria to a perfect stock take piece was. I realized it’s all about living, having fun and being able to word in adjective what one goes through without thinking so hard. I added some flavor to it by timing myself with each stock take and added a stats section at the end.

Here’s my first experience and I loved it!

Asking:  Why most of you haven’t read my last share ‘IS anybody listening’ https://clarasitati.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/is-anybody-listening/. I would love to know what my readers think about it.

Baking: A lot of carrot cake, I need to practice till I am happy with my skill.

Caring: For my little brother Brian whose just four but super cool to be around, thinking I couldn’t accept the fact that I was gonna be a big sister all over again at 24! Irony is it’s been so cool.

Dreaming: of nothing but success, I have this feeling of some grand breakthrough in my career and life pretty soon.

Enjoying; Time with my thoughts each night more than ever before!

Finding: No point in keeping strenuous relationships.

Giving: More time to my blog and this time I mean it!

Hoping: that my goals come to pass this year, it’s never too late to make a U turn in June!

Ignoring; The fact that I have to go back to A then count down to the next letter since I always get stuck between letters. My friend Ngina would be of great help in taking this stock faster.

Jumping: back to A …..and  now K!

Keeping: Myself busy with lots of cooking and reviving old contacts like Mike.. it’s been 4 years but it all seems like yesterday 🙂

Liking: My new skill with my eyebrows and face, I realized I do a much better job with them and haven’t stopped tweezing my eyebrows all by myself since March, also my skills with the eye pencil have improved!

Meaning:  To reply to all messages and phone calls. It’s been pretty rough for me so my apologies for not spending endless minutes on phone with some of my close friends.

Noticing: That my last sports post was last year! https://clarasitati.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/lets-go-racing/ .The week that passed was amazing with the French Open and Canadian grand prix keeping me grounded to the T.V I have to pen down something this week.

Owning: My happiness only you can do you best!

Pausing: on letter P its been a marathon counting from A down to every alphabet till P!

STATS:

1. Total time creating Taking stock one – 45 minutes. Hope to get faster and more creative with time!
2. Editing – Ongoing …. 🙂
3. Fun rating – 4stars!

Stay Happy Beautiful people!