Glamping at Lake Elmenteita

Flamingos in Flight at Lake Elmenteita Serena Lodge
The Rift Valley is best seen in Kenya, so says the hotel guide. For this part of the trip, bookings were made at Lake Elmenteita Serena Lodge. It is a “hut/tent” style of lodge, designed to be the ultimate form of African “glamping”. Located on the conservancy of Baron Delamare, purchased in 1845, the hotel chain, Serena (owned by a famous Indian), opened its first lodging in 2011.
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First Impressions: Kenya

Kenya lettering

They say honesty is key to telling a story. A good story.

The truth is, I’ve never had any desire to visit Kenya, let alone Africa. Maybe Morocco or Egypt but not so much Africa. The savannahs never really called to me the way lush rainforest did.

But I find myself in Kenya, nonetheless, and I decided to make the most out of the opportunity.

Despite being well traveled and organized, I am always aflustered the day of travel. The house has to be cleaned spotless before departure, the dog sent to camp and the cat prepared meals in advanced. It’s a time consuming process and with only half a day to prepare, I somehow made it and arrived at the airport. Of course, without my phone cable. Why does Apple make their phone cables differ for various devices? Money, most likely.

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On Make-Up and Being Myself

Make Up
I’ve toned my make up kit down to 3 pieces: chapstick, salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide

This topic came to me when I saw all these articles about “This is Renee Z?”, which of course, I clicked because I love her role in Bridget Jones. And they were right. She was almost unrecognizable. But no matter how I looked, I couldn’t see where they could have done surgery work. I closed the browser and didn’t want to think too much because I try my best not to read celebrity news. But it bugged me all day. So I did a quick sampling on Photoshop, a stamp clone here and a brush here, and voila, it was the same Bridget (I will always call her Bridget). What was revealed was simply lack of heavy make-up (I added some rosier lipstick, some blush to hide the shine) and also, most importantly, I “tweezed” and “shaped” and “colored in” her eyebrow. Aside from make-up, it was age. She was gracing age “au natural”.
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On Education

On Education
An illustration I did for an ad in college. As you can see, education has been one of my leading causes.

I had an ex-coworker say many times, “I don’t believe in education, especially college. I think it’s a waste of time. Everything I learn, I can learn in the real world.”

This is coming from a man. He’s privileged. He comes from money. He’s white. He is European, French to be exact.
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Seasickness On the Hudson

IMG_7347-0.JPG

The past few months, I had taken up a semi-full time freelance position with an ad agency, allowing myself 3 days weekend, never exceeding 8 hour workdays, and also learning how to balance money for insurance, taxes, rent, and savings. It feels like being an adult while still enjoying my time. I went into the job feeling quite burnt from the last one; weary and heart sickened, I kept my distance and just went about doing my work and not wanting to get too close to the people there.
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Cutting My Hair

My Hair

For a lot of us, hair defines a person. It is our vanity and downfall but it is our pride and joy. The thought of going bald, going grey, or not having the “perfect” hair worries us and often sends us into a manic stress, researching and buying anything to make it better. Even for women who tie their hair up or hide them under wigs and scarves, this is a sort of vanity. We are embarrassed by its unruliness and hide them. We are told by religion to hide our real hair because it’s sacred. We try to fit into society by wearing a wig something that’s not ours so that we don’t stand out.

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On Leaving My Job

Still Life in Complementary Colors
“Still Life in Complementary Colors” –acrylic painting from high school

From the age of 16, I knew I wanted to be a designer, specifically graphic. I couldn’t imagine myself otherwise. So when things had gone downhill the past few months and interviews were few and far between, my conviction as a designer started to waver. Was I even good enough to be a designer? Or will I ever find a job that will make me happy?
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