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shoppers<br />
THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
19AFTER<br />
YEARS,<br />
Christmas<br />
FINALY A<br />
WITH MY MOTHER
SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
THE WORLD<br />
COMES TO KIGALI<br />
THE NEW HEINEKEN ® 65CL BOTTLE<br />
2<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
A NOTE FROM OUR<br />
EDITOR<br />
MD’s FOREWARD<br />
As 2013 draws to a close, let us thank the<br />
Almighty God for having kept us well and<br />
enabled us to get this far. Our maiden issue<br />
was a success and we thank all our readers<br />
for the continued support, we are excited to<br />
be releasing our second issue during this<br />
festive season as we all share in celebrating<br />
our achievements and reminiscing on the<br />
2013 memories.<br />
As a business, the year has not been without<br />
its “rollercoaster moments” including,<br />
economic strains, increased competition etc.<br />
but through it all, our position in the industry<br />
is much firmer, confidence in our strategy<br />
is much stronger and our optimism for the<br />
future is much brighter.<br />
The year we marked five years since we<br />
started our operations in Rwanda. We<br />
attribute our success to our wonderful<br />
staff and supportive customers who have<br />
believed in us and continued to enjoy our<br />
products and services. Here is to many more<br />
years to come.<br />
Finally, as we get into the festive season, I<br />
am pleased to convey my warm greetings<br />
and best wishes. I urge you to use the<br />
occasion to enjoy and share with the less<br />
fortunate, your families and friends within<br />
reasonable bounds.<br />
On behalf of the whole Simba supermarket<br />
team, we would like to wish you a Merry<br />
Christmas and a prosperous new year,<br />
2014.<br />
Justine Ngarame<br />
Managing Director,<br />
Simba SuperMarket<br />
If you were to ask me what<br />
my favorite time of the year<br />
is, my immediate answer<br />
without a doubt would be<br />
Christmas time and followed<br />
closely by my birthday. Well<br />
my birthday month is a topic<br />
for another day.<br />
The laughter, joy, arguments and love that<br />
come about when a family comes together<br />
during Christmas season cannot be traded<br />
for anything else in the world. Members of<br />
the gamily come from different parts of the<br />
country and from all over world to spend<br />
quality time with their loved ones.<br />
It’s a period when gifts are exchanged,<br />
selflessness is expressed, and it’s indeed a<br />
season to be jolly<br />
For this issue we take you on journey of<br />
exciting stories. We integrate an African<br />
cuisine and the western cuisine to make up<br />
an exciting Christmas menu that will leave<br />
every member of the family with a smile on<br />
their faces.<br />
We also cover a heartwarming story about<br />
a family separated for nineteen years and<br />
they finally get to enjoy Christmas together<br />
this year after that long period of separation.<br />
Come with us on a journey as we explore<br />
South Africa one of the leading tourism<br />
destinations in the world.<br />
The festive season brings along many events<br />
that we have to dress up for; therefore<br />
the fashion section will cater for that with<br />
an array of flamboyantly colored outfit’s<br />
suggestions for both men and women.<br />
A individuals also tend to binge eat, having<br />
that in mind our health and fitness sections<br />
offers us guidance on how to keep off the<br />
extra calories as well as shedding them off<br />
as we go on with the holiday festivities.<br />
Schools are closed and we have to keep the<br />
little ones busy, this issue has recommended<br />
children’s movies that the whole family<br />
can enjoy together. A coloring section and<br />
a children’s book review section for its<br />
important that we intellectually engage the<br />
children at all times and this includes the<br />
school holidays.<br />
Remember we would love to hear from you<br />
so feel free to share with us your views in<br />
regards to our second issue,<br />
On behalf of the whole <strong>Shoppers</strong> magazine,<br />
I would like to take this opportunity to wish<br />
you,our esteemed shoppers and readers a<br />
merry Christmas and a happy new year.<br />
May this season be filled with joy, love and<br />
God’s abundant blessings.<br />
Yours,<br />
MaryAnn N.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
shoppers<br />
inside this issue...<br />
Simba Supermarket features<br />
8 News<br />
18 - 21 After 19 years of separation, finaly a<br />
chrismas with my mother<br />
10 Products<br />
18 - 21<br />
22 - 25<br />
When growing up during our younger years my<br />
parents lived in different provinces. My dad had<br />
to work in the city while my mother stayed in the<br />
village. My younger sister and I stayed with our<br />
mother in the village and we regularly visited our<br />
father in the city.<br />
The Fashion Designer<br />
54<br />
58<br />
72<br />
74<br />
78<br />
Regulars<br />
Family Finance<br />
Gadgets and gizmos<br />
Home Decor<br />
Gym and Fitness<br />
Beauty and Cosmetics<br />
34 - 35<br />
26 - 28<br />
30 - 31<br />
Every moment i create something and see<br />
a satisfied customer, that right there is a<br />
memorable moment.<br />
Ladies in color<br />
Fashion trends come and go! Some trends are<br />
rather short lived while others refuse to fade.<br />
Even experts in the fashion industry state that<br />
we are living the future today.<br />
Men in color<br />
82<br />
98<br />
1<strong>02</strong><br />
106<br />
109<br />
Let’s cook<br />
The thirty-year-old single woman<br />
Relationaships<br />
Lets go out<br />
Entertainment<br />
Being a guy sometimes limits your bottoms to<br />
dark denim, dark denim, or what’s that other<br />
one? Dark denim. Lol. But worry no more. It<br />
is time to color your wardrobe with colorful<br />
pants,bags,blazers and shirts.<br />
112<br />
114<br />
Book reviews<br />
Movie reviews<br />
37 - 38<br />
34 - 35<br />
The entertainer<br />
I was born 23years to a Ugandan mum and a<br />
Rwandan dad. My parents named me NKUSI<br />
ARTHUR my friends gave me several alias that<br />
go I go by depending on where I am or what am<br />
doing.<br />
116<br />
117<br />
Let’s play<br />
Kids section<br />
37 - 38<br />
Lets go travel<br />
destination: south africa<br />
50 - 53<br />
40 - 47<br />
Situated at the southern tip of Africa, South<br />
Africa has a landmass of 1 233 404 km² edged<br />
on 3 sides by a nearly 3000km coastline washed<br />
by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic.<br />
The young job seeker<br />
A CV is the most flexible and convenient way<br />
to make applications. It conveys your personal<br />
details in the way that presents you in the best<br />
possible light.<br />
50 - 53<br />
51 random and interesting facts<br />
about Africa<br />
6<br />
Africa is the second largest of the earth’s seven<br />
continents and makes up approximately 22% of<br />
the earth’s total land area.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
SIMBA SUPERMARKET NEWS<br />
Charity work:<br />
On the 29th of June 2013 as a way of<br />
commemorating the 1994 Genocide<br />
against the Tutsis through CSR, Simba<br />
supermarket staff visited seven families<br />
comprising of twenty three orphaned<br />
children at the Indera village in Gasabo<br />
district. These are households that have<br />
no parents and the children are left to<br />
fend for themselves. The eldest children<br />
in the family are the ones left with the<br />
soul responsibility of taking of care of the<br />
younger ones.<br />
These families luck exposure to basic<br />
necessities and thus our visit. During our<br />
visit, we donated blankets, clothes and basic<br />
food stuffs. We also selected three young<br />
adults and offered them employment in our<br />
various departments.<br />
They are currently undergoing training so<br />
as to enable them to take up their new<br />
job positions. As we carry out our CSR we<br />
believe in offering sustainable solutions and<br />
believe that these young adults will now be<br />
able to provide for their families accordingly<br />
that which they did not have before.<br />
The 16th Rwanda International Trade Expo 2013<br />
The Rwanda International trade expo is<br />
an event that attracts many exhibitors<br />
international, regional and local. As local<br />
retail we also took part in the event. We<br />
also managed to scope various awards<br />
during the gala night. In the category of<br />
Retail and distribution we were awarded<br />
the 1st Best Exhibitor trophy.<br />
In the overall category we also managed<br />
to scope the 3rd Best Exhibitor Award.<br />
We dedicate these awards to our team<br />
that worked tirelessly and effortlessly in<br />
the planning and execution of our expo<br />
stand. We also thank all the people who<br />
visited our stand and more so thank the<br />
committee in charge of the selection of<br />
the best exhibitors for acknowledging our<br />
efforts.<br />
Lastly we would like to wish you all a merry<br />
Christmas and happy and prosperous New<br />
Year.<br />
SIMBA SUPERMARKET – UNLIMITED<br />
SHOPPING AT ONE SHOP<br />
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SIMBA SUPERMARKET<br />
PRODUCTS<br />
Bed set<br />
- Adult Bed set Rwf 2,089,250<br />
This set includes (Bed, wardrobe, side drawers<br />
and A dressing table)
SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Bed set<br />
- Baby Bed set Rwf 1,156,200<br />
This set includes (bed, wardrobe, study table)<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
The Table:(solid wood)<br />
- dinning Table<br />
- casserole bowl<br />
- Cup with Saucer<br />
- Flower<br />
Rwf 917,100<br />
Rwf 12,800<br />
Rwf 2,450<br />
Rwf 44,250<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Sofa set<br />
- sofa set<br />
- Tv Cabinet<br />
- Coffee Table<br />
Rwf 1,394,800<br />
Rwf 632,200<br />
Rwf 232,650<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
COVER STORY<br />
19AFTER<br />
YEARS,FINALY A<br />
CHRISTMAS<br />
WITH MY MOTHER<br />
My Story: by Olivia Ntambara<br />
When growing up during our younger years my parents<br />
lived in different provinces. My dad had to work in the city<br />
while my mother stayed in the village. My younger sister<br />
and I stayed with our mother in the village and we regularly<br />
visited our father in the city.<br />
The year 1994 is a year I will forever live remember. I was<br />
only seven years old. My dad picked us from the village so<br />
that we could accompany him to the city for our routine<br />
visits. I remember on that day I unusually cried because<br />
I wanted our mother to come with us but she had to stay<br />
behind little did I know that it would be our last goodbye.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
When growing up during our younger years<br />
my parents lived in different provinces.<br />
My dad had to work in the city while my<br />
mother stayed in the village. My younger<br />
sister and I stayed with our mother in the<br />
village and we regularly visited our father<br />
in the city.<br />
The year 1994 is a year I will forever live<br />
remember. I was only seven years old.<br />
My dad picked us from the village so that<br />
we could accompany him to the city for<br />
our routine visits. I remember on that day<br />
I unusually cried because I wanted our<br />
was disaster, houses were burnt, children<br />
crying, people running up and down, it was<br />
total chaos. I remember the look on my<br />
father’s eyes when he was told that my<br />
mother had perished in one of the houses<br />
that had been set a blaze, he did not show<br />
an ounce emotion, however deep down I<br />
knew he was devastated and needed to be<br />
strong for us.<br />
We searched for her for the next two days<br />
but in vain. As things got worse in the<br />
country we flee to South Africa.<br />
Days turned to months, and months<br />
As the years went by I learnt how to live<br />
with the idea that my mother was no more<br />
and that she wasn’t coming back.<br />
We finished our secondary education and<br />
our college education wishing that our<br />
mother would be there to see what had<br />
become of her daughters, wishing to hear<br />
her say “am proud of you my babies”.<br />
As the saying goes, east to west home is<br />
best, call it cliché but home is truly best<br />
in the 2012 and we made the decision<br />
to come back home. To be more precise,<br />
all these years, would she still love us,<br />
would she recognize us, how would we all<br />
react, I could not wait to go to the village<br />
and meet her.<br />
The next morning we took a bus and<br />
headed to the village to reunite with our<br />
long lost mother. I could not remember<br />
how she looked so as we walked through<br />
the village I wondered if every woman we<br />
came cross could be her. On arrival to the<br />
homestead, we were welcomed by many<br />
family members, family members that we<br />
never knew we had and who too thought<br />
we had died during the genocide.<br />
Word came to us that my mother was<br />
heading to my aunt’s place where we<br />
were, hundreds of thoughts rushed<br />
through my mind, I wondered how I would<br />
react, would I cry, would I freeze or would<br />
I scream with joy, would she give me the<br />
assuring mothers hug that I had yearned<br />
for so many years, MY OWN MOTHER’S<br />
EMBRACE.<br />
blood rushed down my spine and my heart<br />
skipped a thousand beats. At the sight of<br />
her little girls (not so little anymore) she<br />
sobbed and trembled on the ground, she<br />
opened her arms wide and gave us the<br />
warmest, loving hug I’ve ever received.<br />
At that point my tears had disappeared<br />
and I was overwhelmed with disbelief of<br />
seeing her in front of me. She too could<br />
not believe that it was her daughters<br />
standing beside her. It was as though we<br />
were dreaming .She looked just like my<br />
little sister and she had my hands, she was<br />
so graceful and so humble.<br />
As we sat on the floor with no words<br />
spoken we simply quietly stared at each<br />
other and deep down in my heart, soul and<br />
mind I knew without a doubt that she was<br />
our mother. The whole room was filled<br />
with emotions and with a smile and tears<br />
in her eyes she kept saying ‘abana banjye<br />
baraho” (my children are alive).<br />
the most priceless gift and a second chance<br />
to have her in our life. We had been given<br />
a new lease of life.<br />
We had lost 19years of our lives together<br />
and as you can imagine we had a lot of<br />
catching up to do. We stayed up all night<br />
telling her about our life and her telling<br />
us of hers. She told us stories about our<br />
childhood, her pregnancy with us, our birth<br />
and many other adventures of her life<br />
before and after the genocide. She also<br />
revealed to us that when the killings began<br />
she had also taken off to Kigali in search of<br />
us and that is how we missed each other<br />
and we ended up being misinformed of her<br />
supposed death.<br />
To me she was the piece that had been<br />
missing in my life for all these years. Today<br />
we are still getting to know each other and<br />
building that mother daughter relationship.<br />
I am more than grateful to have my<br />
mother back into my life.<br />
19 years had passed and finally the<br />
moment I had dreamt and wished for<br />
had was here. My aunt shouted at the<br />
top of her voice “bana, mama wanyu<br />
yahageze” (children your mother is here)<br />
At that moment my life felt complete and<br />
nothing else mattered but her. I remember<br />
sitting there and saying a prayer, giving<br />
thanks to God for he had blessed us with<br />
I cannot wait to spend the first chrimass<br />
with my mother this December and spend<br />
many more with her. Indeed I am blessed.<br />
*Forgiveness*reconciliation*peaceNev<br />
er Again.<br />
mother to come with us but she had to stay<br />
behind little did I know that it would be our<br />
last goodbye.<br />
A few days later the Rwanda genocide<br />
began and the whole country was in<br />
turmoil. To a child my age at that time, this<br />
turn of events did not make any sense. All I<br />
knew is that I had a father and mother who<br />
would by all means keep my sister and I<br />
away from harms way.<br />
The killings began and my dad’s main<br />
concern was to get to my mother so that<br />
we could all be together and find a way<br />
to get us all to safety. My father bravely<br />
drove to the village to look for my mother.<br />
As we approached the village all we saw<br />
turned to years. For the next years of my<br />
life I lived without a mother. My teenage<br />
years were the most difficult ones. Every<br />
mother’s day I would cry and wish she was<br />
alive, every time I saw my friends with their<br />
mothers I would shed a tear and wished<br />
for what they had.<br />
I longed for her presence, longed to hear<br />
her say she loved us, longed for her love<br />
and care for her hug and smiles. Longed to<br />
hear her say that things would be ok when<br />
the going got tough. I tried to be strong<br />
as I knew It was even more difficult on my<br />
father having to be a single dad of two<br />
teenage girls.<br />
on 1st of July 2012, we arrived in Kigali,<br />
Rwanda, even though I hadn’t been here<br />
since I was a kid I felt a sense of peace and<br />
belonging, this land of a thousand hills was<br />
my home.<br />
That evening when we had just arrived,<br />
my father called to check up and see how<br />
we were doing and out of the blue he<br />
uttered the words I had longed to hear for<br />
the past 19year. He said….“Olivia!! mama<br />
wanyu araho Murwanda” (your mother is<br />
alive in Rwanda) it was as though I was<br />
hearing things, I made him repeat to me<br />
over and over until it sunk in that she was<br />
really alive. That night I went to bed with<br />
so many thoughts in my mind, how did she<br />
survive the genocide, where had she been<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Fashion<br />
the<br />
Designer<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Designer Profile:<br />
patrick muhire<br />
Fashion House:<br />
inkanda house<br />
What is the Origin of the name<br />
“Inkanda house?<br />
Inkanda is a traditional wear that is<br />
particularly worn by women and is made<br />
from the bark of a tree or Animal skin.<br />
How it started?<br />
I used to enjoy adjusting my mums and<br />
sisters clothes when I was growing up but<br />
surprising enough, I never saw myself ever<br />
venturing into fashion and design as a<br />
matter of fact I wanted to be a doctor but<br />
I ended up doing a business management<br />
course in university.<br />
As fate could have it, in 2008 when my<br />
sister was planning her wedding, we could<br />
not get outfits that people were comfortable<br />
in or were pleased with, we walked into the<br />
best fashion houses at that particular period<br />
of time but none of the outfits we saw was<br />
good enough. One and a half weeks to the<br />
wedding we still had not gotten clothes for<br />
the whole bridal party and you can imagine<br />
the panic state my sister was in. I decided to<br />
do something about it. I came up with the<br />
designs for the whole bridal party’s outfits.<br />
A week after the wedding, I started getting<br />
calls from different institutions asking<br />
me to designs for them for example NUR<br />
Butare was having their annual Miss NUR<br />
beauty pageant, I shortly found myself<br />
organizing the event and doing designs for<br />
the outfits of the different categories of the<br />
competition. The event was quite a success,<br />
in that I also got phone calls from other<br />
learning institutions to such Kigali Institute<br />
of Education, Kigali Institute of Science and<br />
Technology and FSB.<br />
“every moment i<br />
create something<br />
and see a satisfied<br />
customer, that right<br />
there is a memorable<br />
moment.”<br />
Eventually I had to quit my daytime job<br />
in the Marketing department at Sulfo<br />
to concentrate on this new and exciting<br />
venture of design. I was initially working<br />
from home before I got my office that is<br />
now INKANDA HOUSE based in Gikondo just<br />
above Gacinya police station.<br />
Which are some of the projects<br />
you have worked on?<br />
I have participated in various exciting<br />
projects locally and internationally.<br />
• University Pageants - MISS NUR-<br />
Butate, Miss K.I.E, Miss K.I.S.T<br />
• Miss East Africa – Rwanda Chapter<br />
• Miss Rwanda 2012<br />
• Rwanda Fashion Festival<br />
• Bagilinkanda Fashion show<br />
• Miss Big Rwanda<br />
• Kigali Fashion week<br />
• Bruxelles Summer Fashion Show<br />
• Le’Sama – Congo Brazaville<br />
• FESPAM – Congo Brazaville<br />
What is your favorite fabric?<br />
I love working with cotton because I believe<br />
it is a fabric that is skin friendly and works<br />
well in any climatic condition for example on<br />
a hot sunny day, it doesn’t get sticky when<br />
one perspires like other materials and it’s a<br />
flexible material to work with.<br />
Who is your clientele?<br />
My main clientele are women and especially<br />
young brides to be of all ages, shapes and<br />
sizes. The brides to be not only want their<br />
dresses made but also outfits for their<br />
braids maid/matrons, ushers and men in<br />
their traditional or religious wedding line up.<br />
I also have other clients who would want<br />
custom made dresses for parties, office<br />
functions or events they wish to attend for<br />
example cocktails, dinner and weddings just<br />
to mention but a few.<br />
Others also come to have their office wear<br />
tailor made.<br />
Fashion show organizers are also my<br />
other main clients. They normally<br />
request me to do designs that are<br />
for a particular category in the<br />
show.<br />
What is your most<br />
memorable<br />
moment?<br />
Every moment<br />
I create<br />
something<br />
and see a<br />
satisfied<br />
customer, that right there is a memorable<br />
moment. Seeing a face brighten up with<br />
satisfaction brings me joy. However if I was<br />
to narrow down to one particular moment,<br />
I would have to choose two moments<br />
in particular. In 2011 I participated in a<br />
fashion event in Congo Brazzaville called<br />
Salon Africiane de Mode et de L’Artisanat<br />
(Le SAMA) and I was named The Most<br />
Unique and Creative designer.<br />
The other moment was when I participated<br />
in a Solid Africa charity event and I was the<br />
only artist who was able to make sale of their<br />
paintings during the day and evening event.<br />
I was also requested to design and sew a<br />
dress during the evening part of the solid<br />
Africa event which I did and it mesmerized<br />
people. That moment right there was simply<br />
priceless.<br />
Where do you see the Rwanda<br />
fashion industry in the next five<br />
years?<br />
Rwanda is growing very rapidly in all sectors<br />
may it be in the social, political or economic<br />
sectors. In this regard, I therefore believe<br />
that is the fashion industry is not lagging<br />
behind in growth. Everyday something<br />
is changing. I envision more people<br />
appreciating local designs and buying more<br />
of locally made clothing,more fashion shows<br />
for designers to show case there designs.<br />
I also envision Rwanda being the hub of<br />
fashion in East Africa and Africa as a whole<br />
with time.<br />
Where do you see Inkanda House<br />
in the next five years?<br />
Inkanda house is also growing in one way<br />
or the other. My vision is to see Inkanda<br />
house diversify into other facets of fashion;<br />
teaching fashion design to young people<br />
who are passionate and enthusiastic about<br />
fashion.<br />
Also be a place where artistic talent is<br />
being nurtured, have a school of makeup,<br />
hairdressing and Art (drawing/painting). I<br />
want Inkanda to be a house hold name in<br />
Rwanda.<br />
What is your advice to any up<br />
and coming Rwandan fashion<br />
designer?<br />
I have a simple model that I use when<br />
advising people in matters of fashion:<br />
Simply be passionate, have a sense of<br />
creativity, and believe that you are capable<br />
of making it. From that point onwards the<br />
way is upward.<br />
Apart from fashion design what<br />
else do you enjoy doing?<br />
When I’m not designing clothes I spend that<br />
time drawing paintings. That is also another<br />
way of generating income as I pass time.<br />
Am planning to do an art exhibition soon<br />
once am done with a collection am currently<br />
working on.<br />
What is your philosophy?<br />
Everyone is beautiful in one way or the other.<br />
Once you appreciate yourself regardless of<br />
your shape or size, the beauty in you will<br />
automatically be seen and appreciated by<br />
those around you. Always work with what<br />
you have.<br />
I love working with<br />
cotton because<br />
I believe it is a<br />
fabric that is skin<br />
friendly and works<br />
well in any climatic<br />
condition for<br />
example on a hot<br />
sunny day, it doesn’t<br />
get sticky when one<br />
perspires like other<br />
materials and it’s a<br />
flexible material to<br />
work with.<br />
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LETS<br />
SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
LOOK<br />
GOOD<br />
LADIES - COLOUR BLOCKING<br />
By Georgie Ndirangu<br />
» Fashion trends come and go!<br />
Some trends are rather short lived<br />
while others refuse to fade. Even<br />
experts in the fashion industry state<br />
that we are living the future today.<br />
Every day, every month, something<br />
new comes up and shortly after, a<br />
new trend takes over and dominates<br />
the last which fashionistas now term<br />
“so last season”. Color blocking or<br />
block color or color riot as some would<br />
refer to it, is one of the styles that has<br />
refused to fade away and that’s why<br />
i feel its important to tackle it in this<br />
issue.<br />
26<br />
During the festive season there are many<br />
plans or “progie” as we often refer to<br />
them, in the city. There is a party here, a<br />
barbecue there, a wedding, a family<br />
get-together or just hanging out with<br />
a couple of friends. As ladies there is<br />
pressure to always look good regardless<br />
of the occasion and you always have to<br />
put your best foot forward.<br />
Color blocking has hit our city with a<br />
bang anywhere you look, you’ll see color<br />
blocking being achieved. It’s a hard trend<br />
to pull off, but this season the ladies seem<br />
to be giving it their best shot! However,<br />
I feel sometimes people do not really<br />
understand what color blocking is all<br />
about.<br />
Here are my two cents on what this<br />
concept that people have taken up and<br />
really run with is all about:<br />
What is color blocking:<br />
Color blocking is a style that allows<br />
different colors coordinate and<br />
compliment each other. There are many<br />
ways to color block either with patterns,<br />
graphic prints, bold colors, or solid neutral<br />
tones.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
The Disaster:<br />
One has to be very cautious because the<br />
mixing of colors can end up in a disaster,<br />
especially bright, vibrant colors suitable<br />
for summer. If you get it wrong, you could<br />
end up looking like a rainbow, and believe<br />
me that isn’t a good look.<br />
What works well:<br />
So what’s the best way of working with<br />
block colors? You need to know what<br />
colors work well together. Red and blue<br />
is obviously the most common color<br />
combination, matching a vibrant red with a<br />
bright blue works well.<br />
Yellow and green is another color<br />
combination, which works well, along with<br />
purple and green. What I like to do is start<br />
off with two colors, then when you feel<br />
more confident with working with block<br />
colors opt for three. Try not to exceed<br />
three or four color, remember the rainbow<br />
I mentioned earlier on.<br />
Neutralizing the look:<br />
Neutralizing the block colors is another<br />
handy tip. A neutralizer is something,<br />
which cancels out the vibrant tone of the<br />
color, such as layering a blue boyfriends<br />
jacket over a vibrant red shirt, or a grey<br />
boyfriends jacket over a purple blouse. This<br />
really draws less attention to the block<br />
coloring and is perfect for maybe the less<br />
confident when it comes to achieving this<br />
look.<br />
Color wheel:<br />
Choose shades that have the same level of<br />
intensity. You can’t team fluro yellow with<br />
blah purple – make sure that each piece<br />
has the same amount of grunt otherwise<br />
the look will be unbalance. More so, a color<br />
that works for your skin tone and personal<br />
style- and make sure all the colors flatter,<br />
not just one or two. It is advisable to wear<br />
colors that are two steps away from each<br />
other on the color wheel as shown below:<br />
DONTS:<br />
DON’T: Jumble your hues. Be strict. The<br />
key to successfully pulling this look off is<br />
restraint.<br />
DON’T: Add prints, stripes, floral or<br />
patterns of any kind when color blocking an<br />
outfit – it’s a fast track to circus clown.<br />
DON’T: Accessorize with bags and shoes<br />
in the same shade as your outfit – this look<br />
belongs to 1985 and it needs to stay there.<br />
Color blocking is about balance and the<br />
confidence to do so. Have look good and<br />
have fun color blocking.<br />
Remember: one can still color block even<br />
with the outfits you wear to work and still<br />
look professional elegant classy and sassy.<br />
Accessorizing:<br />
Accessories can also be used to achieve<br />
more color. Such as wearing Red<br />
boyfriends jacket to a yellow blouse,<br />
attaining the color combination of red and<br />
blue and a pair blue skinny pants. They can<br />
also be used to neutralize the look, maybe<br />
opting for a black chunky chain to draw<br />
less attention to the block coloring and<br />
attention to your choice of neck accessory.<br />
You could also wear some red rose lipstick<br />
to add that extra glitz to the look.<br />
Body Trick:<br />
Know your shape and use color to work it.<br />
If you’re pear shaped opt for darker colors<br />
on your bottom half. If you have a tummy<br />
avoid horizontal blocks across the stomach,<br />
minimize a large bust with a darker shade<br />
on top; maximize a smaller décolletage<br />
with the reverse. Color blocking looks great<br />
on an hourglass shape when you cut the<br />
look in half - right on the waistline.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
MENIN<br />
COLOR<br />
By Georgie Ndirangu<br />
Being a guy sometimes limits your bottoms<br />
to dark denim, dark denim, or what’s that<br />
other one? Dark denim. Lol. But worry no<br />
more. It is time to color your wardrobe<br />
with colorful pants,bags,blazers and shirts.<br />
1.SELECT YOUR BEST COLOR<br />
Select a color that suits your skin tone...do<br />
not go for colors that are too bright if your<br />
light and also do not go for colors that are<br />
dull if you are light skinned. Choose a color<br />
that you feel comfortable in.<br />
2.EMBRACE NEUTRALS<br />
Don’t break the style rule: Color on the<br />
bottom means neutral on top. One pop of<br />
color is enough to make a statement—too<br />
much and you’ll end up looking like a<br />
rainbow.<br />
3.CHOOSE THE RIGHT TYPE OF<br />
FOOTWEAR<br />
The right shoes can make or break an<br />
outfit. Something with too much color, like<br />
a multi-colored sneaker could ruin your<br />
look. Go for a color that either matches<br />
your shirt or your blazer.<br />
4.SELECT AN OUTFIT THAT FITS<br />
Color attracts attention,so do not wear<br />
something like baggy red pants. Choose a<br />
denim that fits you properly,boot cut pants,<br />
fitting shirt or a nice fitting blazer.<br />
5.THE OCCASSON<br />
Wear different colors to the right occasion.<br />
It would be odd to wear bright yellow to a<br />
funeral. Tone down the type of color you<br />
choose to wear to the office.<br />
Finally, wearing a complete suit<br />
doesn’t mean you can not wear neon<br />
brights,ofcourse you can, be creative or<br />
rather more adventurous, be colorful.<br />
Merry chrismass to you all. Be blessed.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Coca-Cola, The Contour Bottle Design and “open happiness” are trademarks of the Coca-Cola Company. ©2013 The Coca-Cola Company.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
enternainer<br />
By: Arthur Nkusi<br />
the<br />
Who is are you:<br />
I was born 23years to a Ugandan mum<br />
and a Rwandan dad. My parents named<br />
me NKUSI ARTHUR my friends gave me<br />
several alias that go I go by depending on<br />
where I am or what am doing. The aliases<br />
included: a.k.a.s KAROKARO a.k.a RUTURA<br />
a.k.a DIASPORA .<br />
Growing up:<br />
Most of my younger years were spent<br />
in Uganda, however we later moved to<br />
Rwanda in 1997. Seeing as my mum is<br />
from Uganda and my father is Rwandese<br />
I guess that make me half cast right? NO?<br />
hahaha.<br />
Introduction to the entertainment:<br />
My father Mazimpaka Jones Kennedy who<br />
is an actor and a performer too, introduced<br />
me to a woman who would change my<br />
life completely. She molded me and made<br />
me the person I am today her name is<br />
HOPE AZEDA artistic director of Mashirika<br />
performing Arts group and Media<br />
Company. She gave me the opportunity<br />
to perform with this gifted group of<br />
performers and from there the sky was the<br />
limit.<br />
Performances:<br />
I joined Mashirika where I started acting<br />
dancing and singing and developing my<br />
God given talent and explored my passion<br />
in performance arts. With Mashirika, I<br />
have been part of several performances<br />
in Rwanda and around the world. In<br />
2004 I was part of a mega performance<br />
that toured several European countries.<br />
In 2005 we also toured Scotland for G8<br />
SUMMIT. In 2006 and 2008 we toured<br />
the UK where we were performing a very<br />
powerful played dubbed Africa’s hope. We<br />
also toured USA in 2012 for Rwanda day<br />
performance.<br />
Sky is the limit:<br />
Through the exposure and experience<br />
I had gotten over the years, in 2010 I<br />
formed my own group that does comedy<br />
called COMEDY KNIGHTS. My team and<br />
I developed the art of COMEDY that<br />
we performed in Rwanda, Uganda and<br />
Burundi. This year we plan on taking it to<br />
Kenya.<br />
Because of he various things am involved<br />
in or I do, some people know me as a<br />
comedian others as an actor others as a<br />
dancer. I am also a radio comedian and<br />
presenter at K FM and also MC in various<br />
events around the country.<br />
Why Entertainment genre:<br />
As I mentioned earlier, my first contact with<br />
entertainment was with my father who is<br />
not only a mentor but also my motivator.<br />
His love for the arts trickled down on me. I<br />
believe it is through him that I developed a<br />
passion for it. Needless to say, it’s a family<br />
thing.<br />
Most memorable stage moments:<br />
When I performed the first time in the<br />
Amahoro stadium, it was actually my first<br />
day on stage infront of 30,000 people<br />
Most embarrassing moment on stage:<br />
When I forgot my line on stage and I had<br />
to improvise that was during the 2008 tour<br />
in UK…I really felt it, but as an actor you<br />
cannot show the audience that you made<br />
a mistake, you play along and hope that<br />
the rest of the cast members will move<br />
with the flow until you gain back your<br />
momentum.<br />
It’s hilarious because only you the cast<br />
member know the blunder that has just<br />
occurred. At this point team work is very<br />
important. Then as team you laugh about<br />
it later when recapping the whole show.<br />
Do tell more:<br />
A part from theatre and my radio job,<br />
I am also a student at Mount Kenya<br />
University persuing a bachelor’s degree<br />
in communication and mass media<br />
am also a business man and do event<br />
management. Basically I choose not to limit<br />
myself. I seize opportunities when they<br />
present themselves or are presented to<br />
me. Did I also mention that I am an MTN<br />
ambassador which I love?<br />
Strongest attribute:<br />
I am a social guy and I use it to study<br />
people and make my comedy skit also<br />
helps me to live with others. I love being<br />
around people. Am on guy who cannot<br />
survive when left alone in an island.<br />
Weakness:<br />
I am not good at saying NO. Sad huh?<br />
What annoys you or ticks you off:<br />
Its very simple, do be rude to me, do<br />
not be verbally abusive or aggressive to<br />
me. Talk to me am right here.. no need<br />
for shouting or any form of aggression<br />
because am sure I know any problem<br />
you may have with me can be solved in a<br />
diplomatic manner.<br />
What brings you joy and happiness:<br />
LOVE. I SIMPLY LOVE, LOVE!<br />
Role model:<br />
An American comedian called Kevin hart… i<br />
love his work. He has the craziest and most<br />
hilarious comedy scripts ever.<br />
Inspiration:<br />
LIFE inspires me. I always want to be<br />
one step ahead of it…MY MUM USED TO<br />
TELL ME IF YOU DON’T WORK…LIFE WILL<br />
TEACH YOU HOW TO WORK!!!!!<br />
Fashion Style:<br />
I love wearing CHECKED SHIRTS jeans and<br />
converse shoes, that’s why people call me<br />
KAROKARO<br />
Predict the Future:<br />
I see myself as icon of comedy in<br />
RWANDA…..just like David Beckham is an<br />
icon of football<br />
Last words:<br />
I want to wish all a merry Christmas and a<br />
happy new year. Remember to Laugh Love<br />
and live.<br />
LIFE inspires me. I<br />
always want to be one<br />
step ahead of it…MY<br />
MUM USED TO TELL ME<br />
IF YOU DON’T WORK…<br />
LIFE WILL TEACH YOU<br />
HOW TO WORK!!!!!<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
THE<br />
YOUNG<br />
JOB<br />
SEEKER<br />
By Ms. Wait<br />
Curriculum vitae can be defined<br />
as an outline of a person’s<br />
educational and professional<br />
history, usually prepared for job<br />
applications; it is therefore the<br />
primary medium of presenting<br />
yourself as a candidate for a<br />
job to a prospective employer.<br />
Another name for a CV is a c.v.<br />
A CV is the most flexible and convenient<br />
way to make applications. It conveys your<br />
personal details in the way that presents<br />
you in the best possible light.<br />
A CV is a marketing document in<br />
which you are marketing something:<br />
yourself! You need to “sell” your skills,<br />
abilities, qualifications and experience to<br />
employers. It can be used to make multiple<br />
applications to employers in a specific<br />
career area.<br />
But many of job seekers do not give proper<br />
attention and care in preparing their CVs<br />
accurately. As a result, many potential job<br />
seekers do not get calls for job interviews<br />
to get the opportunity to present and prove<br />
their potential.<br />
A good CV can put you in the running for<br />
that job you’re after.<br />
Some basic rules of CV writing<br />
are:<br />
• Keep your CV to a<br />
maximum of 2 sides of A4<br />
paper;<br />
• Use one font for your<br />
CV; use the bold style for<br />
headings and the regular<br />
style for the text of the CV;<br />
• Write your CV in a logical<br />
order; start with your most<br />
recent experiences first;<br />
However this is dependent<br />
on the type of cv format<br />
you are using for there<br />
are three types of formats<br />
mainly : chronological<br />
cv, Functional c.v. and<br />
combination c.v.<br />
• Make sure your spelling is<br />
correct; ask someone if you<br />
are not sure. Grammatical<br />
errors are a total turn off to<br />
a potential employer.<br />
• How to make Your Content<br />
Shine<br />
1. Create titles that will catch<br />
the employer’s eye. Take a<br />
look at your job titles. Are they<br />
interesting and descriptive?<br />
Instead of saying you were<br />
a cashier, say you were a<br />
customer service professional,<br />
or rather than saying that<br />
you’re a secretary, say you are<br />
an administrative assistant. Do not use a job title that<br />
is misleading, however. Simply think about how well<br />
the job title describes the work, and how interesting the<br />
title is. #*For example, “Manager” does not describe<br />
who or what a person manages. “Sales Staff Manager”<br />
or “Executive Manager” may be more descriptive and<br />
desirable job titles on a c.v.<br />
2. Use keywords strategically. You want to be sure<br />
that your c.v contains all of the proper keywords for<br />
your industry, and the particular job for which you are<br />
applying. Therefore, look at what words the employer<br />
uses in the advertisement. If an employer lists research<br />
as a required skill, be sure to include the word ‘research’<br />
or ‘researched’ in at least one job description or skill<br />
set you include on your c.v. Avoid using every keyword<br />
mentioned in the job posting, however, or your resume<br />
will look suspicious.<br />
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3. Use action verbs to describe your<br />
responsibilities and accomplishments.<br />
This will highlight your skills and your<br />
ability to do the job for which you are<br />
applying. Choose verbs that describe<br />
your responsibilities and then make sure<br />
to begin the descriptions of your duties<br />
with these verbs. For example, if you<br />
were a receptionist, you may want to use<br />
verbs such as ‘scheduled’, ‘assisted’, and<br />
‘provided’. You can do this by saying you<br />
‘scheduled appointments’ ‘assisted clients’<br />
and ‘provided administrative support.’<br />
4. Spell check and proofread your c.v. This<br />
step cannot be overemphasized. Proofread<br />
your c.v several times. Have someone<br />
else proofread it. Then, have another<br />
person further removed from you read it.<br />
Spelling and grammar errors in a c.v will<br />
get it discarded regardless of your skills<br />
and experience. Watch out for spelling<br />
mistakes, grammatical errors, incorrect<br />
contact information, typos, and misuse<br />
of apostrophes, plurals, and possessives.<br />
Double check to make sure that your<br />
formatting is correct, and that you didn’t<br />
forget any important information.<br />
What to present in your resume.<br />
1. Title<br />
Your name will come first in the title. It<br />
should be in ‘bold’ format and in a larger<br />
font (avoid using your nick name). Then<br />
write your address (your present address<br />
where you can receive mails by post),<br />
phone number and email address. This<br />
portion will be on the center of the page to<br />
draw the attention.<br />
2. Career Summary<br />
This is mostly applicable for the persons<br />
having experience more than 4-5 years.<br />
State the sectors of your experience in<br />
maximum 6 to 7 lines. State in short the<br />
achievements of your career (if any).<br />
3. Career Objective<br />
This section is generally applicable for the<br />
fresh candidates or the candidates with<br />
little experience (1- 2 years). Mention<br />
the immediate goal of your career in this<br />
part. Also mention how your experience<br />
and potential match with the position you<br />
are applying for. Bring up your positive<br />
skills for the position. It is important to<br />
write your career objective according<br />
to the criteria mentioned in the job<br />
announcement. Give emphasis on the ways<br />
you can make contribution for the company<br />
and what is your expectation from the<br />
company.<br />
4. Experience<br />
For the experienced candidates, this section<br />
should come before the ‘Educational<br />
Qualification’ section.Things that you should<br />
mention in your experience details are as<br />
follows:<br />
• Organization name<br />
• Designation<br />
• Time Period – From & To (March<br />
2010 – February 2013)<br />
• Job Responsibility<br />
• Special Achievement<br />
NB: If you have working experience in<br />
different positions in a same organization,<br />
mention it in different phases.<br />
- State your most recent experience first<br />
and then mention one by one your other<br />
experiences in the Resume following<br />
Chronological Order which is to end with<br />
your first experience.<br />
It is better not to mention experience of<br />
short and insignificant experience. Try not<br />
to have long gap of time between the jobs.<br />
5. Education & Training<br />
Education & training part should come<br />
before experience part for a fresher. You<br />
will mention your degrees in education part<br />
with the following information.<br />
• Name of degree (Such as SSC, B.Com,<br />
B.A)<br />
• Duration of course<br />
• Name of institutions and board.<br />
• Year of Examination and date of<br />
publishing result (if necessary),<br />
• Result and achievement (if any)<br />
You should mention your most recent<br />
degree first like your experience part, then<br />
mention the other degrees by turn.<br />
Remember that you should mention<br />
‘appeared’ if the final result is not yet<br />
published. Please mention ‘ongoing’ if you<br />
are continuing any program. You need not<br />
to mention the result of any degree if any<br />
of the result is a very poor one. Remember<br />
that, it looks odd if you mention the result<br />
of one degree and avoid another.<br />
If you participate in any particular<br />
A CV is a marketing<br />
document in which<br />
you are marketing<br />
something: yourself!<br />
You need to “sell”<br />
your skills, abilities,<br />
qualifications and<br />
experience to<br />
employers. It can<br />
be used to make<br />
multiple applications to<br />
employers in a specific<br />
career area.<br />
training program that supports your work<br />
experience, you should mention it. Mention<br />
the training institution, topic and duration<br />
of training. You can place the list of training<br />
right after the education part.<br />
6. Additional Information<br />
The information that does not fall in the<br />
above mentioned parts but is related with<br />
the job must be shown in this part. For<br />
example:<br />
• Professional Achievement<br />
• Award<br />
• Language Proficiency<br />
• Computer skills<br />
• License, government identity, publications<br />
and authorization.<br />
• Voluntary work etc.<br />
7. Reference<br />
In this section, you should not mention<br />
the name of any close relative as referee<br />
in reference part. Referees should be<br />
the persons who have seen you closely<br />
in your student life or working life. You<br />
must mention the phone number, address<br />
and e-mail (if any) of your referee. It is<br />
better to mention two or three persons<br />
as referees. It is important to inform your<br />
referee that you have mentioned his name<br />
as referee in your CV.<br />
All the best in preparing your curriculum<br />
vitae.<br />
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SA FACTSHEET<br />
Geography:<br />
Situated at the southern tip of Africa,<br />
South Africa has a landmass of 1 233 404<br />
km² edged on 3 sides by a nearly 3000km<br />
coastline washed by the Indian Ocean and<br />
the Atlantic. It is bordered in the north<br />
by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and<br />
Mozambique, and also wraps itself around<br />
two independent countries, the Lesotho<br />
and Swaziland.<br />
Capitals:<br />
South Africa has 3 capitals: Cape Town<br />
(Legislative), Pretoria (Administrative) and<br />
Bloemfontein (Judicial).<br />
Political system:<br />
A well-known fact about South Africa<br />
is that since 1994 we have enjoyed<br />
democratic government, the apartheid<br />
policies of the past overthrown. Our<br />
constitution is regarded as an example to<br />
the world, and enshrines a wide scope of<br />
human rights protected by an independent<br />
judiciary. The country is headed by a State<br />
President, Jacob Zuma, of the African<br />
National Congress (ANC).<br />
Economy:<br />
A lesser-known fact on South Africa is that<br />
it has achieved steady economic growth<br />
in gross domestic product (GDP) since<br />
the late 90s. The country, regarded as an<br />
emerging market, has a well developed<br />
financial sector and active stock exchange.<br />
Financial policies have focused on building<br />
solid macroeconomic structures.<br />
The country’s central bank is the Reserve<br />
Bank.<br />
Tourism:<br />
Since the demise of apartheid, international<br />
tourist arrivals have surged, making<br />
tourism one of the fastest growing sectors.<br />
The tourism industry is well-established<br />
with an exciting sector of emerging<br />
entrepreneurs.<br />
The country is strong on adventure, sport,<br />
nature and wildlife travel and is a pioneer<br />
and global leader in responsible tourism.<br />
Population:<br />
The South African population of more than<br />
47m people is extremely diverse.<br />
Africans are in the majority, approx. 80%<br />
of the population, followed by the white<br />
population approx. 4,4m; the coloured<br />
population approx. 4,2 million and the<br />
Indian/Asian population at approx. 1,2m.<br />
Currency:<br />
South Africa’s currency is the rand, which<br />
offers visitors great value for money. The<br />
rand comes in a range of coins (R1 = 100<br />
cents) and note denominations of R10,<br />
R50, R100.<br />
Climate:<br />
South Africa has a temperate climate and<br />
is known for its long sunny days, hence<br />
the title: ‘Sunny South Africa’. Most of the<br />
provinces have summer rainfall, except for<br />
the Western Cape (winter rainfall).<br />
Winter is from May to August; Spring from<br />
September to October; Summer from<br />
November to February and Autumn is from<br />
March to April.<br />
Communications:<br />
South Africa has an exceptionally welldeveloped<br />
communications infrastructure.<br />
A number of cell-phone providers provide<br />
national coverage and there are wellestablished<br />
landline phone networks.<br />
Internet and Wi-Fi are easily accessible in<br />
most urban areas.<br />
Provinces:<br />
There are 9 provinces in South Africa,<br />
namely: Eastern Cape, Free State, Western<br />
Cape, KwaZulu-Natal; Gauteng, North<br />
West, Northern Cape, Limpopo and<br />
Mpumalanga<br />
National Symbols:<br />
The South African flag is a much-loved<br />
symbol of patriotism and other significant<br />
national emblems include: National bird:<br />
blue crane; National animal: the springbok;<br />
National fish: galjoen; National flower:<br />
protea and National tree: the yellowwood.<br />
Languages:<br />
South Africa is a multi-lingual country and<br />
there are 11 official languages including:<br />
English, Afrikaans, isiNdebele, isiXhosa,<br />
isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Siswati,<br />
Tshivenda and Xitsonga. Composed by<br />
Enoch Sontonga in 1899, the Xhosa hymn<br />
‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika is South Africa’s<br />
National Anthem<br />
Religions:<br />
Almost 80% of South Africa’s population<br />
is Christian. Other major religious groups<br />
include Hindus, Muslims, Jews and<br />
Buddhists.<br />
A minority don’t belong to any of the major<br />
religions. The Constitution guarantees<br />
freedom of worship.<br />
Water:<br />
let's<br />
go<br />
travel<br />
DESTINATION<br />
South Africa<br />
by The Gallivanter<br />
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Tap water is potable. However, ensure<br />
that you take bottled water with you when<br />
travelling to remote rural areas and the<br />
bush.<br />
Animals and Plants:<br />
South Africa has been declared one of the<br />
18 megadiverse destinations in the world.<br />
As a pioneer and leader in responsible<br />
tourism, South Africa has numerous<br />
conservation projects to protect its natural<br />
heritage - travellers can support and take<br />
Africa are: OR Tambo International Airport<br />
(Johannesburg), Cape Town International<br />
Airport and King Shaka International<br />
Airport (Durban) as well as 90 regional<br />
airports including the Kruger Mpumalanga<br />
International Airport (KMIA) in Nelspruit.<br />
Travel by Road and Rail:<br />
South Africa has an extensive road<br />
infrastructure including national highways<br />
and secondary roads. Speed limits are<br />
set at 120 kilometres on highways; 100<br />
Health and safety:<br />
South Africa is well-known for its medical<br />
skill since Professor Christiaan Barnard<br />
performed the first successful heart<br />
transplant in 1967.<br />
There are many world-class private<br />
hospitals and medical centres around<br />
the country, especially in the urban<br />
centres. Most of South Africa is malariafree,<br />
but always check with the game<br />
reserves you’re planning to visit and<br />
take precautions if necessary. Make sure<br />
The country is one of the world’s top<br />
destinations for intrepid travellers to<br />
discover everything they’re looking<br />
for... and more. With over 21 National<br />
Parks, eight World Heritage Sites,<br />
3,500 kilometres of pristine coastline,<br />
a phenomenal climate and awesome<br />
adventures ranging from shark-diving to<br />
surfing, historic trails to wine tasting, South<br />
Africa is guaranteed to provide you with<br />
the unforgettable journey of a lifetime.<br />
Its spectacular scenery, friendly people,<br />
paleo-tourism. In one day alone, you could<br />
come face-to-face with some of the most<br />
beautiful natural wonders of the world,<br />
experience a unique wildlife encounter,<br />
indulge into the fine foods on offer or<br />
simply kick back and enjoy the tranquillity<br />
of a country that thrives on the warmth of<br />
its people, culture and diversity.<br />
Just to put things into perspective, some<br />
of the accolades received by South African<br />
Tourism (www.southafrica.info) in the<br />
the World’s Top Cities. Seven South African<br />
hotels made it into the Top 15 of Africa’s<br />
best hotels.<br />
In the 2012 Reader’s Travel Awards by<br />
the UK’s Guardian, South Africa was voted<br />
the world’s third favourite long-haul<br />
destination, after Japan and Cambodia.<br />
Beating off competition from Dublin and<br />
Bilbao, Cape Town was named as the<br />
World Design Capital for 2014 at the<br />
International Design Alliance Congress in<br />
part in many of these projects. The country<br />
is home to the famous Big Five (rhino,<br />
elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo).<br />
Electricity:<br />
The South African electricity supply is<br />
220/230 volts AC 50 HZ. With a few<br />
exceptions (in deep rural areas) electricity<br />
is available almost everywhere.<br />
Airports:<br />
The 3 major international airports in South<br />
kilometres on secondary roads and 60<br />
kilometres in urban areas.<br />
Entry requirements:<br />
South Africa requires a valid yellow fever<br />
certificate from all foreign visitors and<br />
citizens over 1 year of age travelling<br />
from an infected area or having been in<br />
transit through infected areas. For visa<br />
requirements, please contact the South<br />
African Embassy situated in Kacyiru here in<br />
Kigali, Rwanda.<br />
you have the latest safety tips from the<br />
establishment where you will be staying<br />
and take common sense precautions as<br />
you would<br />
South Africa as a Destination<br />
South Africa’s scenic beauty, magnificent<br />
outdoors, sunny climate, cultural diversity<br />
and reputation for delivering value for<br />
money have made it one of the world’s<br />
fastest growing leisure – and business –<br />
travel destinations.<br />
world-class infrastructure make it one of<br />
the most desired destinations in the world.<br />
The sector was given a massive boost by<br />
the successful hosting of the World Cup in<br />
2010, when the country received a recordbreaking<br />
8.1-million foreign visitors.<br />
The country is highly diverse in terms of<br />
its climate, culture, tourist activities and<br />
infrastructure, catering for every tourism<br />
niche, from business, eco- and cultural<br />
tourism through to adventure, sport and<br />
recent past include:<br />
Thirty-six South African beaches have been<br />
awarded international Blue Flag status for<br />
excelling in safety, cleanliness, the provision<br />
of amenities and setting and maintaining<br />
environmental standards.<br />
The prestigious Condé Nast Traveler’s<br />
2012 Readers Awards named South<br />
Africa’s glorious scenery as the best in the<br />
world, while Cape Town features second in<br />
Taipei.<br />
Shamwari Game Reserve was named as<br />
the leading safari lodge in the 2012 World<br />
Tourism Awards, the Blue Train won the<br />
luxury train award, while Fairmont Zimbali<br />
was named as Africa’s leading tourism<br />
development project.<br />
South Africa won 32 awards of a total<br />
57 categories in the 2012 World Travel<br />
Awards for Africa, including leading African<br />
airport, beach destination, family resort,<br />
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city hotel, conference venue, safari lodge<br />
and spa resort.<br />
The 2012 World’s Best Awards survey<br />
by international travel magazine Travel<br />
+ Leisure saw two South African hotels<br />
– Singita Sabi Sand and Royal Malewane –<br />
listed among the world’s top 10 for service.<br />
Wilderness Safaris won a responsible travel<br />
award, recognising the tour operator’s<br />
efforts that cover 40 projects and its joint<br />
ventures with local communities.<br />
Cape Town was in the top 25 best<br />
destinations in the world, claiming eighth<br />
place in Trip Advisor’s Travellers’ Choice<br />
Awards 2012. The city was also voted<br />
the world’s favourite city for 2012 in<br />
the Telegraph Travel Awards, ahead of<br />
Vancouver and New York.<br />
Cape Town’s cricket ground at Newlands<br />
was named as the second best test venue<br />
in the world by The Cricketer magazine.<br />
The Botanical Gardens – Kirstenbosch, have<br />
been listed by National Geographic as one<br />
of the world’s best picnic spots.<br />
Table Mountain was voted in as one of the<br />
world’s new Seven Wonders of Nature in<br />
2012.<br />
The above list of accolades is by no means<br />
exhaustive, and we would require many<br />
more pages in this magazine to list all of<br />
them, including rave traveller reviews,<br />
in the recent past. According to www.<br />
southafrica.net, South Africa’s top ten<br />
attractions are:<br />
Top 10 South Africa’s attractions<br />
Cape Town & Cape Peninsula<br />
Cape Town glistens at the southern toe of<br />
the African continent, and its climate and<br />
spectacular scenery make it so inviting.<br />
Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula up to<br />
Cape Point, are famous for scenic beauty;<br />
celebrity beaches; Table Mountain; whalewatching;<br />
world-class shopping, nightlife,<br />
food & wine; and a laid-back atmosphere.<br />
The Winelands<br />
Discover the joys of SA’s award-winning<br />
wines and cuisine along any of the<br />
beautiful Cape wine routes, taking you<br />
through green valleys and historic towns.<br />
Garden Route<br />
Known as South Africa’s Eden, the<br />
famous Garden Route traverses an<br />
area rich in natural beauty and charm,<br />
attracting adventure-seekers and outdoor<br />
enthusiasts.<br />
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Johannesburg<br />
South Africa’s pulsating African heartbeat<br />
is felt in the ‘City of Gold’ with its<br />
endless opportunities for shopping,<br />
entertainment, freedom tours and eating<br />
out. Johannesburg is the place to go to<br />
mix big-city culture, shopping, dining and<br />
nightlife with outdoor adventures, up-close<br />
wildlife encounters and visits to historical<br />
sites. Explore caves and nature reserves, or<br />
visit a traditional village by day, then enjoy<br />
dinner at a hip cafe or five-star restaurant.<br />
And if you’re a shopper, bring an extra,<br />
empty suitcase. With malls, open-air<br />
markets and places that blend the two,<br />
you’ll find plenty of unique souvenirs.<br />
Robben Island<br />
The island’s most famous prisoner, Nelson<br />
Mandela, has turned this institute of<br />
brutality into a symbol of the triumph of<br />
the human spirit over enormous hardship.<br />
Kruger National Park<br />
This world-renowned park of nearly 2<br />
million hectares features 16 ecosystems.<br />
Spot the Big Five on a 4x4 game drive or<br />
walking safari. For those a less expensive<br />
option, Kruger National Park has a<br />
number of spotlessly clean rest camps<br />
with accommodation to suit every need.<br />
These range from basic huts and tents with<br />
communal washing facilities to more luxury<br />
bungalows with en-suite bathrooms and<br />
other modern conveniences.<br />
Soweto<br />
South Africa’s largest and most famous<br />
township was a hotbed of anti-apartheid<br />
activity. Visit Freedom Struggle sites and<br />
eat at a shebeen or township restaurant.<br />
Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve<br />
Most famous for God’s Window, the<br />
panoramic splendour of the Blyde River<br />
Canyon makes it ideal for scenic drives and<br />
hiking trails.<br />
Durban beachfront<br />
For those with fun and sun on their minds,<br />
SA’s sunshine city has something for the<br />
whole family - golden beaches, surfing and<br />
a marine park.<br />
South Africa has a temperate climate and is known for its long sunny days, hence the title: ‘Sunny<br />
South Africa’. Most of the provinces have summer rainfall, except for the Western Cape (winter<br />
rainfall).<br />
Winter is from May to August; Spring from September to October; Summer from November to<br />
February and Autumn is from March to April.<br />
Wild Coast<br />
Rugged and untamed, the Wild Coast offers<br />
deserted beaches, dolphins, horseback and<br />
hiking trails, cosy hotels, golf, gambling,<br />
mystical history, Xhosa heritage and the<br />
Hole-in-the-Wall.<br />
All in all, it will take much more than one<br />
short trip to take in all that South Africa<br />
has to offer. I would know; since my very<br />
first trip into Johannesburg in the year<br />
2000, I have gone back numerous times,<br />
and my appetite for the place seems<br />
insatiable.<br />
A trip highly recommended during<br />
this Christmas period.<br />
Merry Christmas<br />
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ATM locations<br />
Withdraw Cash at any of the following sites:<br />
1.Kimironko(KIE)<br />
16.Gikondo(Merez Ptrl Station)<br />
2.City market<br />
17.Kigali Airport(Kanombe)<br />
3.Kimironko(Rabana hotel)<br />
18.UPU(Campus)<br />
4.Nyamirambo (Merez Ptrl station)<br />
19.UNR(Campus)<br />
5.Kabeza(Mary Mercy market)<br />
20.Rubavu(Merez Ptrl Station)<br />
6.T-2000 SUPERMAKET<br />
21.Rusizi(COOPIKA Market)<br />
7.Gikondo(MAGERWA CLEARING OFFICES)<br />
22.Rubavu(KBC Bus Terminals)<br />
8.Gisozi(Gas Oil Ptrl Station)<br />
23.Huye(SP Ptrl Station)<br />
9.Kicukiro(M Line petrol station)<br />
24.Head Office ATM 1<br />
10.Kacyiru Novotel(Source oil petrol station) 25.Head Office ATM 2<br />
11.Kigali City(Engen Ptrl Station)<br />
26.Head Office ATM 3<br />
12.Kacyiru(RNP Road)<br />
27.Head Office ATM 4<br />
13.Kanombe(IPS ptrl station)<br />
28.City Plaza Branch ATM<br />
14.Kinamba(H Ptrl station)<br />
29.Nyamirambo Branch ATM<br />
15.Gishyushu(Good Sun Supermarket)<br />
30.Nyabugogo Branch ATM<br />
POS locations<br />
Pay with your card at any of the following Merchants:<br />
31.KBC Branch ATM<br />
32.Remera Branch ATM<br />
33.Giporoso Branch ATM<br />
34.Kimironko Branch ATM<br />
35.Kicukiro Branch ATM<br />
36.Rwamagana Branch ATM<br />
37.Ruhango Branch ATM<br />
38.Muhanga Branch ATM<br />
39.Nyanza Branch ATM<br />
40.Huye Branch ATM<br />
41.Nyamagabe Branch ATM<br />
42.Rusizi Branch ATM<br />
43.Rubavu Branch ATM<br />
44.Musanze Branch ATM<br />
Pay with your Card at any Ecobank Visa POS Machine<br />
My Ecobank Card<br />
Make Purchases by<br />
POS all over the world<br />
Online Shopping<br />
Withdraw cash on<br />
over 1600 ATMs worldwide<br />
1.Dstv/Telediskigali<br />
2.Simba Supermarket<br />
3.Simba -Pension Plaza<br />
4.BOURBON-Mtn Center<br />
5.BOURBON-Coffee Utc<br />
6.BOURBON-Airport<br />
7.BOURBON-Airport<br />
8.BOURBON-Kct<br />
9.Uwimana Patrice<br />
10.Woodland Supermarket<br />
11.Restaurant Chez John<br />
12.New Cadillac - Club<br />
13.NAKUMATT-UTC<br />
14.NAKUMATT-KCT<br />
15.Karisimbi Restaurant<br />
16.Pharmacie Continental<br />
17.La Decouverte Utc<br />
18.Polyclinic La Croix Du Sud<br />
19.Satguru Travel Tours<br />
20.Lemigo Hotel<br />
21.Pharmacie Conseil Kacyiru<br />
22.Pharmacie Conseil Kgl City<br />
23.Rwandair Utc<br />
24.Sundown Bar Kimihurura<br />
25.Neja Cosmetic Utc 37.La Classe Restaurant<br />
26.Sport View Hotel<br />
38.Sicom Apartment Ltd<br />
27.Polyclinic La Croix Du Sud 39.Tigo Rwanda Muhima<br />
28.Magasin Sharma<br />
40.Tigo Rwanda Utc Center<br />
29.La De Couverte City Plaza<br />
30.Saint Anne Hotel Musanze<br />
31.L’oreal Cosmetic Kct<br />
32.Museaum Café(Gisozi Memorial)<br />
33.Gisozi Memorial Reception<br />
34.Discovery Rwanda Youth<br />
35.Golden Hills Hotel<br />
36.La Divice Ltd Super Market<br />
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51 RANDOM AND<br />
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT<br />
Africa<br />
by The Gallivanter<br />
The current population of Africa is nearly one billion people. Due<br />
to rapid population growth in the continent over the last 40 years,<br />
its general population is relatively young. In many African states,<br />
more than half of the population is under the age of 25.<br />
1. Africa is the second largest of the earth’s<br />
seven continents and makes up approximately<br />
22% of the earth’s total land area.<br />
2. With the inclusion of the disputed Western<br />
Sahara territory and the island nations<br />
off the continental coast, there are a total<br />
of 54 independent nations in Africa.<br />
3. The current population of Africa is nearly<br />
one billion people. Due to rapid population<br />
growth in the continent over the last 40<br />
years, its general population is relatively<br />
young. In many African states, more than<br />
half of the population is under the age of<br />
25.<br />
4. Africa is the most centrally located of all<br />
of the continents with both the prime meridian<br />
(0 degrees longitude) and the equator<br />
(0 degrees latitude) passing through it.<br />
5. The primary region of Africa is often<br />
called sub-Saharan Africa and excludes the<br />
mostly Islamic countries of North Africa:<br />
Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,<br />
Libya, and Egypt. Sub-Saharan Africa<br />
includes 42 nations on mainland Africa and<br />
the six island nations.<br />
6. While Africa makes up about 16% of the<br />
world’s population, fully one quarter of the<br />
world’s languages are spoken only in Africa.<br />
7. Arabic (in various dialects) is the most<br />
common language spoken in Africa with<br />
about 170 million speakers, primarily<br />
residing in North Africa. In the continent as<br />
a whole, there are over 2,000 recognized<br />
languages spoken.<br />
8. Nigeria is the most populous country<br />
in Africa, with an estimated population<br />
of 125–145 million people. Egypt is the<br />
second most populous country with over<br />
76 million people.<br />
9. The most populated city in Africa is the<br />
Egyptian capital of Cairo with an estimated<br />
17 million residents in the metropolitan<br />
area.<br />
10. The largest country in Africa is Sudan<br />
with a total area of 967,490 square miles<br />
(2.5 million square kilometres), and the<br />
smallest country is the island nation of The<br />
Seychelles with a total area of just 175<br />
square miles (453 square kilometres).<br />
11. Population experts estimate that there<br />
are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups<br />
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(tribes) in Africa. Nigeria alone has more<br />
than 370 recognized tribes within its<br />
population.<br />
12. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa<br />
and the second-largest freshwater lake<br />
in the world, covering an area of 26,830<br />
square miles (69,490 square kilometres).<br />
13. The Nile River, which drains into the<br />
Mediterranean Sea at the north-eastern<br />
edge of Africa, is the longest river in the<br />
world with a total length of 4,132 miles<br />
(6,650 kilometres). It is formed from the<br />
juncture of two smaller rivers: the White<br />
Nile and the Blue Nile.<br />
14. Africa contains the world’s largest desert,<br />
the Sahara, which makes up an area<br />
greater in size than the entire continental<br />
U.S.<br />
15. Egypt is the most popular tourist<br />
destination in Africa, attracting around 10<br />
million visitors per year.<br />
16. While Egypt is mostly well known for<br />
its pyramids, the Republic of Sudan actually<br />
has 223 of its own pyramids, double the<br />
number of pyramids in Egypt. Smaller and<br />
steeper than their Egyptian counterparts,<br />
the pyramids of Sudan are not nearly as<br />
famous.<br />
17. Four of the five fastest land animals<br />
reside in Africa: the cheetah, the wildebeest,<br />
the lion, and the Thomson’s gazelle.<br />
All of these animals can run at speeds<br />
above 50 miles per hour, with the cheetah<br />
reaching a top speed of about 70 miles per<br />
hour.<br />
18. Africa is home to the world’s largest<br />
living land animal, the African elephant,<br />
which can weigh between 6 and 7 tons.<br />
19. The novel Tarzan of the Apes, set in<br />
Africa and published by American author<br />
Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, created<br />
such a compelling image of Africa and the<br />
book’s title character that a New Orleans<br />
newspaper writer only half-jokingly suggested<br />
that if Tarzan were to run for<br />
president in 1929, he would receive as<br />
many votes as incumbent president Herbert<br />
Hoover.<br />
20. The deserts of Tunisia housed the<br />
original Star Wars movie sets for the film's<br />
planet Tatooine. More than 30 years after<br />
the premier of the first movie in the series,<br />
the sets are still very well preserved and<br />
visitors to Tunisia can even stay in Luke<br />
Skywalker’s home.<br />
21. Africa is the poorest and most underdeveloped<br />
of all of the continents, despite<br />
its wealth of natural resources. The average<br />
poor person in sub-Saharan Africa is<br />
estimated to live on just $.70 a day.<br />
22. More than 17 million people in<br />
sub-Saharan Africa have died of AIDS, and<br />
experts estimate that at least 25 million<br />
more people in Africa are HIV-positive.<br />
23. Approximately 90% of all cases of<br />
malaria worldwide occur in Africa, and<br />
3,000 African children die each day from<br />
its effects.<br />
24. Scientists believe Africa was once<br />
joined with Earth’s other continents in a<br />
super-continent called Pangaea. While Asia<br />
and South America split from Africa in the<br />
late Cretaceous epoch (roughly 80 million<br />
years ago), the African continent remained<br />
relatively stable and has not moved much<br />
throughout time. Geologists believe the<br />
large island of Madagascar split from the<br />
African continent as early as 160 million<br />
years ago.<br />
25. Central eastern Africa is believed by<br />
most scientists to be the origin place of<br />
both humans and great apes. The earliest<br />
remains of the modern human species<br />
Homo sapiens have been found in Ethiopia<br />
and date to roughly 200,000 years ago.<br />
26. The scientist Charles Darwin was the<br />
first to suggest that the ancestors of human<br />
beings may have originated in Africa.<br />
However, prejudicial attitudes toward the<br />
continent made many people in the Western<br />
world highly resistant to the idea until<br />
well into the twentieth century.<br />
27. In 1974, the skeleton of “Lucy,” a<br />
hominid who lived approximately 3.2<br />
million years ago and has been considered<br />
a common ancestor to the human family,<br />
was discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia. In 1979,<br />
a 165-foot trail of the earliest hominid<br />
footprints was discovered in the Kibish<br />
region of Tanzania. The two discoveries<br />
indisputably marked north-eastern Africa<br />
as the birthplace of humanity.<br />
28. Throughout human prehistory, Africa<br />
contained no major nation-states and<br />
was inhabited primarily by small groups<br />
of hunter-gatherers. Scientists believe<br />
that cattle were domesticated by huntergatherers<br />
in Africa as early as 6000 B.C.,<br />
long before the advent of agriculture on<br />
the continent.<br />
29. The oldest literate civilization in Africa<br />
is the Pharaonic civilization of ancient<br />
Egypt. Historical records date the rise of<br />
the Egyptian state to about 3300 B.C. and<br />
the fall from influence at 343 B.C., making<br />
it one of the world’s oldest and longestlasting<br />
civilizations.<br />
30. Europeans first began exploring the<br />
northern coast of Africa around 332 B.C.,<br />
when Alexander the Great came into Egypt<br />
and established the city of Alexandria.<br />
The Roman Empire soon after began to<br />
integrate much of North Africa’s Mediterranean<br />
coastline into the Roman system.<br />
31. While there are several different theories<br />
regarding the origin of the name “Africa,”<br />
most etymologists believe the name<br />
derived from Afri, the title for a group of<br />
people who dwelt in North Africa near<br />
Carthage around the third century B.C.,<br />
and -ca, the Roman suffix for “country” or<br />
“land.”<br />
32. Ancient Greeks and Romans originally<br />
used the term “Africa” to apply only to the<br />
northern region of the continent. In Latin,<br />
the word Africa means “sunny,” and the<br />
word Aphrike in Greek means “without<br />
cold.”<br />
33. By the first century A.D., Africa had<br />
been subdivided by geographers into three<br />
distinct regions: Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia.<br />
The last term was more or less used to<br />
describe the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.<br />
34. The African region of Ethiopia is featured<br />
prominently in several ancient Greek<br />
dramas and poems. The Greek poet Homer<br />
mentions Ethiopians in both the Iliad and<br />
the Odyssey as a “blameless race” and<br />
“amongst the noblest of men.”<br />
35. Islam became a prominent influence<br />
in North Africa by the seventh century<br />
A.D. and spread into sub-Saharan Africa<br />
through trade routes and migration. The<br />
population of North Africa is still considered<br />
widely Muslim today.<br />
36. Prior to the colonization of the African<br />
continent, historians believe Africa was<br />
made up of as many as 10,000 different<br />
states and autonomous groups, ranging in<br />
size from small family groups of huntergatherers<br />
to large kingdoms.<br />
37. While slavery has been practiced in<br />
Africa all throughout recorded history,<br />
Africa is the only continent to have a large<br />
percentage of its inhabitants transported<br />
elsewhere for slave labour. Historians<br />
estimate that approximately 7–12 million<br />
slaves were transferred from Africa to the<br />
Americas between the fifteenth and nineteenth<br />
centuries.<br />
38. Only two African nations have never<br />
been under European colonial power: Liberia,<br />
an independent nation settled largely<br />
by African Americans, and Ethiopia, an<br />
Orthodox Christian nation known in Europe<br />
as Abyssinia. The rest of the continent was<br />
colonized by European imperial powers<br />
in the nineteenth century “scramble for<br />
Africa.”<br />
39. During the 1950s, colonized African<br />
states began to fight for independence<br />
from imperial rule with Libya being the first<br />
African nation to declare its independence.<br />
The independence movements brought<br />
great hope and inspired U.S. civil rights<br />
leaders like Malcolm X to fight for increased<br />
freedoms at home.<br />
40. South Africa was one of the first<br />
African nations to gain its independence<br />
from colonial rule after the imperial period.<br />
However, black residents of the state lived<br />
under a forced system of segregation<br />
called Apartheid (meaning “separateness”)<br />
until 1994 when the country held its first<br />
democratic elections with universal suffrage.<br />
The famous civil rights leader Nelson<br />
Mandela was elected as president.<br />
41. The Second Congo War, which began<br />
in 1998 and involved eight African nations,<br />
is the largest war in African history. An estimated<br />
5.4 million people died as a result<br />
of the war and its aftermath, making it the<br />
deadliest worldwide conflict since World<br />
War II. The war officially ended in 2006,<br />
but hostilities still continue today.<br />
42. Africa is currently politically organized<br />
into the African Union, a federation created<br />
in 2001 and consisting of all of Africa’s nations<br />
except Morocco.<br />
43. Islam is currently the largest religion<br />
in Africa, with Christianity following closely<br />
behind. These two religions make up 85%<br />
of the continent’s population, while just<br />
15% of the population are nonreligious or<br />
follow traditional African religions.<br />
44. While Africa is the second largest of the<br />
earth’s seven continents, it has the shortest<br />
coastline, due to very few jutting edges and<br />
bays in its landscape.<br />
45. Among the native population of Africa,<br />
there are more physical variations than on<br />
any other continent in the world.<br />
46. There are fewer people with Internet<br />
access in the entire continent of Africa than<br />
in New York City alone.<br />
47. The average life expectancy on the<br />
African continent ranges from 74 years in<br />
the island nation of Mauritius to just under<br />
32 years in sub-Saharan Swaziland.<br />
48. Two of the most popular sports in<br />
Africa are soccer (called football) and<br />
cricket. Both sports were introduced during<br />
colonial times and have flourished on the<br />
continent due to the international success<br />
of African teams.<br />
49. A popular fashion statement in eastern<br />
Africa is to wear a kanga, a large cotton<br />
cloth with a message printed on it. Kanga<br />
are worn by both men and women and<br />
they originated during the nineteenth<br />
century in Zanzibar and Mombasa.<br />
50. The “evil eye” is a term that originated<br />
in North Africa and the Mediterranean and<br />
is widely believed to cause harm, especially<br />
to the sick and vulnerable. In Morocco, it is<br />
common for men and boys to decorate the<br />
backs of their cloaks with bright red eyes<br />
to reflect back and cast off the look of the<br />
evil eye.<br />
51. In Tunisia, images of fish are often<br />
used to protect against evil. New buildings<br />
often have fish bones or tails embedded<br />
in them as they are built, and cars have<br />
brightly coloured plastic or cloth fish attached<br />
to them to provide protection to the<br />
people inside.<br />
Adapted from www.randomhistory.com<br />
Africa is the poorest<br />
and most<br />
underdeveloped of<br />
all of the continents,<br />
despite its wealth of<br />
natural resources.<br />
The average poor<br />
person in<br />
sub-Saharan Africa is<br />
estimated to live on<br />
just $70 a day.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Family Finances<br />
Planning the Family Holiday<br />
By Michael W<br />
At some point in our busy lives, all of us<br />
need rest and a change of routine. The<br />
importance of holidays cannot be ignored<br />
and they can give us distance from the<br />
busy hectic environment around us.<br />
Holidays give us a timeout where we can<br />
reduce anxiety and stress levels by just<br />
taking some time to ourselves to relax and<br />
reflect on our lives. Many things suddenly<br />
become crystal clear when you are away<br />
from your daily routine and a holiday could<br />
give you the chance to make decisions that<br />
may have felt more complicated at home.<br />
The time spent away from home can focus<br />
you and help you achieve your goals. Take<br />
some time to set targets for when you<br />
get back and think about what it is that<br />
really makes you happy. Many of us have<br />
our work and social lives out of balance,<br />
and get caught up in the monotonous 8-5<br />
routine. Taking some time to yourself,<br />
away from the office, is crucial and can<br />
even improve your performance when you<br />
return to work.<br />
The benefits of taking a holiday can be<br />
considerable if you spend your time away<br />
in a positive and healthy way. You don’t<br />
even have to venture far from where you<br />
live or spend a huge amount of money.<br />
Just taking a week away to concentrate on<br />
yourself will create significant benefits for<br />
both your mental and physical health.<br />
Here are 10 super reasons why you should<br />
dig out and dust off that old suitcase<br />
pronto.<br />
1. REGAIN YOUR FITNESS<br />
Experts believe that we can reclaim up to<br />
30 percent of our fitness just by going on<br />
holidays. Vacations force us to exercise<br />
because we walk greater distances, swim,<br />
chase the kids around and play sports. Just<br />
standing upright instead of sitting down at<br />
a desk all day help you look and feel fitter.<br />
Regular movement during the day also<br />
boosts your circulation and gets your blood<br />
pumping which ups your heart rate and<br />
immune system.<br />
2. REBUILD YOUR BODY<br />
Without the stress of the nine to five grind<br />
our bodies have enough time and freedom<br />
to repair themselves. It’s easier for our<br />
system to fight sickness when we’re on<br />
holidays because it’s not working so hard<br />
trying to fend off all the other environmental<br />
baddies. It’s a widely accepted truth<br />
that chronic disorders, such as back pain,<br />
migraines and sore throats, also disappear<br />
when we’re on a break.<br />
3. BREATHE EASIER<br />
Ever camped in the mountains or upcountry<br />
and thought, “Wow, the air feels clean<br />
here?” Well, you’re right. City pollution<br />
means the air in urban areas is more congested<br />
and dirty. To give your lungs and<br />
bloodstream a chance to clear you need<br />
around 72 hours in pure, fresh air every<br />
few months.<br />
And where will you find this? In holiday<br />
spots that are less populated, towns that<br />
are high above sea level, and places that<br />
are near rainforests. Your lungs are built<br />
to repair themselves so as long as you give<br />
them time to dispel any unwanted carbon<br />
monoxide you should be breathing better<br />
in no time.<br />
4. FEEL INSPIRED<br />
If you’ve lost your gusto for work then<br />
it’s time for an inspiration top up. Visiting<br />
places that move you and doing things<br />
that you’re passionate about are an instant<br />
fast-track to idea heaven. Stagnant surroundings<br />
make for a bored and dull you,<br />
so get your juices flowing by pumping<br />
some good endorphins into your body. And<br />
how do you do that? Sunlight, laughter,<br />
healthy food, exercise, and fresh air are all<br />
guaranteed to have you bouncing off the<br />
walls with enthusiasm.<br />
5. RECONNECT WITH YOUR<br />
PARTNER<br />
Tiredness and stress are instant sexual<br />
zappers. Holiday sex on the other hand,<br />
is always hot. So the best way to reclaim<br />
that intimacy and passion is to move out<br />
of your boring, old bedroom and get it on<br />
somewhere foreign and fabulous like a<br />
secluded mountain cabin or a seaside bed<br />
and breakfast. Studies have also shown<br />
that female and male fertility rates are<br />
higher outside of polluted and congested<br />
cities. Bonus!<br />
6. HEIGHTEN YOUR SENSES<br />
Takeaway food, cigarette smoke, pollution<br />
and sickness all affect our sense of taste<br />
and smell. So if you truly want to enjoy a<br />
nice, wholesome meal you need to do it on<br />
holidays.<br />
7. SLEEP BETTER<br />
Lower stress levels and the relative peace<br />
and quiet that comes with any good holiday<br />
are key in helping you catch up on lost<br />
sleep. There is a reason why traffic controllers<br />
are required to take break every 15<br />
minutes, you know! Cities are noisy and<br />
traffic, boisterous colleagues, nasty neighbours<br />
and exuberant air-conditioning can<br />
all raise your cholesterol, blood pressure<br />
and the likelihood of headaches. So find<br />
somewhere peaceful to chill out and turn<br />
the volume down in your head.<br />
8. DO YOUR KIDS A FAVOUR<br />
An increasing number of children are<br />
growing up in a family where both parents<br />
work full time. Not only does this means<br />
that parents are missing out on quality<br />
time with their family, but children are being<br />
forced to hang out with their mum and<br />
dad when they’re stressed, tired, moody<br />
and touchy. So why not do everyone a<br />
favour and take some time off together?<br />
9. BE MORE PRODUCTIVE<br />
Ever ventured into the countryside and<br />
thought, “Wow the hills are so green and<br />
the sky is so blue?” There’s a good reason<br />
for that you know. We’re so used to the<br />
drab greys and blacks of the city that our<br />
eyes forget how much we love colour. The<br />
same goes for our brain cells too. Seeing<br />
and doing the same thing every day reduces<br />
our mind’s efficiency so we need new<br />
stimulants to ensure we’re operating at our<br />
peak. This means taking a holiday will help<br />
you perform better at work when you get<br />
back. Is there a better excuse than that?<br />
10. BECOME A NICER PERSON<br />
When you strip away the hustle and bustle<br />
of the working week, you get to the core of<br />
who you really are.<br />
Below, the Practical Travellers’ as-scientific-as-possible<br />
guide to planning the perfect<br />
vacation:<br />
RELISH THE ANTICIPATION<br />
Planning early brings many people more<br />
joy than the actual vacation.<br />
So booking your trip well ahead not only<br />
gives you an edge when it comes to logistics<br />
(getting the best room and often the<br />
best deal), it also helps build anticipation,<br />
which can boost happiness. Not to mention<br />
that planning early decreases the stress of<br />
a last-minute scramble.<br />
LONGER ISN’T NECESSARILY<br />
BETTER<br />
If a leisurely one- or two-week vacation is<br />
not possible, you might try taking multiple<br />
short trips. In fact, taking several three- or<br />
four-day trips — providing multiple opportunities<br />
to experience the pleasure of<br />
anticipation — may even be more beneficial<br />
than one long vacation.<br />
In other words, if you take only one big<br />
vacation a year, then it’s over and there’s<br />
nothing to look forward to until next year.<br />
That does not mean every vacation should<br />
be a quick weekend jaunt. There should<br />
be a balance between travel time (and the<br />
inevitable hassles that come with it) and<br />
vacation days at your destination.<br />
WHATEVER YOU DO, MAKE YOUR<br />
TIME COUNT<br />
While the length of your vacation may vary,<br />
some experts believe true relaxation can’t<br />
be rushed.<br />
Give yourself permission to slow down<br />
leading up to your trip by taking a few days<br />
for packing and for wrapping things up at<br />
work. Building in time to wind down at the<br />
end of your trip by lounging by the pool<br />
instead of running around sightseeing also<br />
helps avoid coming home exhausted.<br />
DITCH THE SMARTPHONE<br />
There are no definitive studies on how to<br />
best manage the inevitable e-mail pileup<br />
back at the office. The answer, experts say,<br />
depends on you.<br />
For those who simply can’t disconnect,<br />
check e-mail only at a certain time and<br />
stick to it. For those who really want to get<br />
away from it all, but don’t trust their ability<br />
to ignore their smartphone, travel to places<br />
where connectivity is not an option.<br />
PROTECT YOURSELF WITH A<br />
CAREFULLY WRITTEN<br />
OUT-OF-OFFICE MESSAGE<br />
You might consider doing what a couple<br />
of my colleagues have suggested: adding<br />
a day or two to your return date on your<br />
out-of-office message to give yourself<br />
time to catch up before new e-mails start<br />
pouring in.<br />
LOSE YOURSELF IN AN ACTIVITY<br />
Doing activities that completely absorb us<br />
can be good while on vacation. Research<br />
has found that people who use their time<br />
productively are happier than people who<br />
are idle.<br />
That doesn’t mean you have to take an<br />
intensive yoga or rock-climbing course.<br />
Indeed, Staying busy doesn’t have to be<br />
physical: simply exploring the local culture<br />
can be beneficial. Consider taking a cooking<br />
class while in Italy instead of simply eating<br />
out, or sign up for an in-depth tour of an<br />
archaeological site while in Egypt instead of<br />
lying by the pool.<br />
END ON A HIGH NOTE<br />
It has been demonstrated in studies that<br />
people tend to judge experiences largely<br />
on peak moments, either good or bad, that<br />
stood out — regardless of how long the<br />
experience lasted (a phenomenon called<br />
the “peak-end rule”).<br />
While it is not always possible to end a<br />
trip with a positive experience (especially<br />
if flights are involved), planning at least<br />
one special activity (an epic meal, a scenic<br />
hike) can make a difference. After all, it’s<br />
the highlights we tend to brag about to our<br />
friends when we return.<br />
Try using a vacation checklist as you plan<br />
and prepare. And most importantly, try not<br />
to stress about the “perfect” vacation but<br />
rather just make the most of the time you<br />
have with your family!<br />
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VACATION PLANNING CHECKLIST<br />
DECIDE WHERE TO STAY<br />
• List your top 3 choices with pros and<br />
cons of each<br />
• Research package deals<br />
• Find accommodations that meet your<br />
needs<br />
MAKE TRAVEL PLANS<br />
• Create a budget; consider vacations as<br />
part of overall expenses. Think about<br />
vacations as part of your regular<br />
household budget<br />
• Involve your family. Discuss plans and<br />
expectation and set limits together<br />
to avoid arguments or unplanned<br />
expenses<br />
• Setup a specific vacation savings account<br />
and initiate autopay credits into<br />
this account<br />
• Book accommodations<br />
• Book airline tickets, reserve rental<br />
cars, etc<br />
• Purchase tickets for any events or<br />
attractions<br />
TO DO BEFORE YOU GO<br />
• Request time off work<br />
• Arrange for a house or pet sitter<br />
• Put a hold on mail/newspaper delivery<br />
• Pay bills that will be due during your<br />
time away<br />
FOR THE CALENDAR<br />
• Record your vacation dates<br />
• Reschedule appointments and activities<br />
that conflict with your vacation<br />
• Make a loose schedule of activities for<br />
the trip<br />
FOR THE SHOPPING LIST<br />
• Supplies and gear for your destination<br />
• Gift for your hosts if you’re staying in<br />
someone’s home<br />
• Gifts for friends and neighbors who<br />
take care of your house, lawn, or pets<br />
benefit of having itemised and<br />
traceable expenses<br />
AFTER YOUR TRIP<br />
• Compare your initial budget with<br />
actual costs. If you see that you went<br />
off track, don’t beat yourself up.<br />
Discuss with your family and attain<br />
consensus on what you could do<br />
differently next time<br />
• Pay bills pertaining to the holiday as<br />
soon as possible. Taking care of the<br />
costs of one trip will free you up for<br />
both necessary regular expenses and<br />
for saving up for the next trip!<br />
The benefits of taking a holiday<br />
can be considerable if you spend<br />
your time away in a positive<br />
and healthy way. You don’t even<br />
have to venture far from where<br />
you live or spend a huge amount<br />
of money. Just taking a week<br />
away to concentrate on yourself<br />
will create significant benefits for<br />
both your mental and physical<br />
health.<br />
DURING YOUR TRIP<br />
• Stick to your Budget. Regularly balance<br />
what you are spending against<br />
what you planned and adjust when an<br />
where necessary<br />
• Use your credit or debit card wherever<br />
possible. It is safer and easier than<br />
carrying cash, and you have the added<br />
Time spent planning your holiday is always an investment<br />
in the time you’ll get to spend relaxing once you get away.<br />
Spend some time now, and just think one or two things<br />
through so that you can get out there and have the best time<br />
possible without any of the worry or stress.<br />
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GADGETS<br />
AND<br />
GIZMOS<br />
reviews<br />
HTC One | MacBook Air 2013 | Beats by Dr. Dre PILL | SONY SMART WATCH<br />
By: Oscar Odida - info T3<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
HTC One<br />
he HTC One is a smarphone<br />
that has been built with one<br />
purpose, to revive the ailing<br />
fortunes of its maker by<br />
being not only the best Android smartphone<br />
out right now, but also by remaining<br />
the best handset in months to come (Samsung<br />
Galaxy S4 we’re looking at you).<br />
To even stand a chance of doing this it’ll<br />
need to be as fast as the Google Nexus 4,<br />
as beautiful to look at as the<br />
Sony Xperia Z and then also boast the kind<br />
of feature set that we’ve now seen from<br />
the Samsung Galaxy S4.<br />
This then all has to be wrapped up in a Full<br />
HD package that won’t weigh a tonne but<br />
still boasts a build quality that would make<br />
the iPhone bow its head in shame. No<br />
pressure then.<br />
HTC One: Size and build<br />
Well to start off with the iPhone 5 can start<br />
blushing because in terms of build quality<br />
the HTC One is almost flawless. A precision<br />
machined aluminium body is then seamlessly<br />
joined to the rest of the phone using<br />
a technique which leaves no gaps, and we<br />
mean none at all.<br />
It’s certainly on a par with Apple’s own<br />
standards and even though we’ve only had<br />
a short time with the S4 we’re going to go<br />
ahead and say that its got that safely beat.<br />
All that aluminium must surely translate<br />
into weight then? Well at 143g it’s not the<br />
lightest smartphone being safely trumped<br />
by both the BlackBerry Z10 and the Galaxy<br />
S4. That said it never becomes noticeable<br />
instead giving the feeling of being sturdy.<br />
This is then carried across with the 137.4<br />
x 68.2 x 9.3mm dimensions which put it as<br />
being just slightly thicker than the iPhone<br />
5.<br />
On the top you’ll find the power/lock button<br />
and on the side is the volume rocker,<br />
which, from a design point- of-view is the<br />
weakest aspect of the phone. On the front<br />
you’ll notice two rectangular grills which<br />
is where HTC has managed to cram two<br />
speakers for stereo sound.<br />
HTC One: Features<br />
The One comes with an almost unrecognisable<br />
Android 4.1.2 thanks to HTC’s<br />
latest version of its Sense UI. Whereas with<br />
the HTC One X you could still see hints that<br />
there was Google’s operating system lurking<br />
underneath the One has almost entirely<br />
ditched all of this for a cleaner experience<br />
that offers less hassle.<br />
The most notable addition is BlinkFeed, a<br />
news aggregator that can be customised<br />
using your social networks and by adding<br />
a number of compatible news sources. In<br />
principle it’s a brilliant idea however we<br />
found that day to day it’s just not customisable<br />
enough and with only pre-approved<br />
news sources available it never truly feels<br />
like a rival for Flipboard.<br />
This could of course change over time as<br />
more are added but for now it’s just not<br />
the revelation we were expecting, some-<br />
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thing that’s made even more disappointing<br />
when you realise that it’s permanently<br />
placed as one of your homescreens.<br />
HTC One: Screen<br />
The HTC One comes with a 4.7-inch<br />
1080p Full HD display sporting a ludicrous<br />
468ppi. When you first look at it the effect<br />
is actually underwhelming thanks to the<br />
large black expanse of an, as yet, unused<br />
BlinkFeed, however take a few pictures<br />
or head over to YouTube and you’ll soon<br />
realise the error of your judgement.<br />
It’s a stunning panel that produces dazzling<br />
levels of contrast and colour reproduction<br />
and while we know the current trend is to<br />
go bigger, we’d argue that HTC has absolutely<br />
nailed it with this 4.7-inch offering.<br />
HTC One: Camera<br />
The HTC One sports a 4MP Ultrapixel camera.<br />
Yes you saw correctly, Ultrapixel - not<br />
Megapixel. All camera sensors are broken<br />
up into tiny photosites, each photosite<br />
then translates into one pixel so while the<br />
HTC One has less of these than most of its<br />
rivals, it’s actually still taking up the same<br />
amount of physical space because the<br />
photosites are much bigger. This means it<br />
can collect a lot more light and then in turn<br />
produce much better looking photos.<br />
While the Ultrapixel story may prove a tad<br />
confusing for buyers, thankfully the theory<br />
does translate into real life with the One<br />
producing some of the best images we’ve<br />
seen from a smartphone camera, so much<br />
so that we’d place it in the same league as<br />
the Nokia PureView 808. Its ability to capture<br />
low light images is exceptional while<br />
colour reproduction is outstanding.<br />
Along with the Ultrapixel camera is HTC<br />
Zoe, a new feature which takes 20 images<br />
whilst also recording a short three second<br />
video clip. The advantage of this is that not<br />
only do you have a short clip (known as a<br />
‘Zoe’) for social networks but you can also<br />
drag through the video and pick a picture if<br />
you’d rather just send a still.<br />
It’s unlikely that you’re going to be using<br />
the Zoe mode on a day to day basis, but<br />
that’s not to say it’s no good. It works really<br />
well but if you’re going to send a video it’ll<br />
probably be longer than three seconds and<br />
if you wanted to take a picture you’d probably<br />
either do it separately or find an app<br />
that lets you take a picture while you’re<br />
recording.<br />
HTC One: Performance<br />
Under the hood you’ll find a 1.7GHz quadcore<br />
processor along with 2GB of RAM,<br />
which combined makes the HTC One one<br />
of the fastest smartphones on the planet.<br />
While we would question the need for<br />
such an overt amount of power it certainly<br />
means that navigating the One is absolutely<br />
seamless with no lag whatsoever when<br />
gaming, playing video or through heavy<br />
multi-tasking.<br />
One thing we will note is that the One did<br />
get quite hot when downloading large<br />
apps from Google Play or when playing<br />
a high-resolution game like Real Racing.<br />
While it certainly isn’t as bad as the Xperia<br />
Z it definitely seems to be a trend that is<br />
appearing as smartphones get more and<br />
more processing grunt.<br />
HTC One: Battery<br />
While HTC hasn’t provided an official battery<br />
life for the HTC One what we have<br />
learnt is that the experience can be wildly<br />
differing. We’ve had some comments complaining<br />
that the battery life is woefully bad<br />
whilst others describe it as on par. In fact<br />
we’d differ with all of these and say that it’s<br />
actually not bad at all.<br />
If you’re going to spend your day mainly<br />
texting, tweeting and browsing then you’ll<br />
get a comfortable day’s usage with the One<br />
finally beginning to complain by the late<br />
evening. If however your commute is filled<br />
with Real Racing, heavy data usage and a<br />
serious dose of YouTube then we’d probably<br />
recommend having a charger at work.<br />
HTC One: Verdict<br />
The HTC One has placed Samsung in a<br />
unique position. When the Samsung Galaxy<br />
S3 came out it simply became the best<br />
Android smartphone available making it the<br />
only true rival to Apple’s iPhone by default.<br />
With the Galaxy S4 however things have<br />
changed, HTC has been suffering from<br />
declining sales and in order to regain a<br />
fraction of its lost market share the company<br />
needed to not only create the best<br />
phone it has ever made but also the best<br />
Android phone.<br />
So while Samsung’s upcoming sequel may<br />
appear to be a veritable powerhouse we<br />
can confidently say that the HTC One is the<br />
best Android smartphone you can buy right<br />
now.<br />
KONKA<br />
MOBILE PHONES<br />
AVAILABLE AT SIMBA SUPERMARKET<br />
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MacBook Air 2013<br />
ut the 2013 MacBook Air<br />
(MBA) next to the last three<br />
iterations of Apple’s slimline<br />
wonder and you’d need an<br />
eye keener than a laser hawk to spot any<br />
difference.<br />
In fact, the only external change since the<br />
MacBook Air 2012 is the array of dualmicrophones<br />
on the left flank, replacing<br />
the single mic. Everything else is the same;<br />
unibody aluminium construction, Face-<br />
Time HD cam, Thunderbolt port, MagSafe<br />
2 power connector, even the weight -<br />
1.08kg. But this is no bad thing.<br />
The 11-inch MacBook Air remains a pinnacle<br />
of laptop design, sporting a full-size<br />
keyboard yet being light enough to carry<br />
around all day, slimmer than a copy of T3<br />
magazine and swanking a footprint not<br />
much bigger than an iPad.<br />
It’s no surprise that it adorns many a<br />
commuter lap and, if IT departments allow<br />
it, it’s seen in many a business meeting.<br />
We’ve seen a few Ultrabooks attempt similar,<br />
and some are truly noteworthy – the<br />
Asus UX31 Zenbook and Dell XPS 13 – but<br />
with the Cupertino sheen the MBA continues<br />
to be a laptop built for the modern day.<br />
However, to see what’s really changed, we<br />
need to go under the bonnet.<br />
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch:<br />
Features<br />
However, before we get into what’s new,<br />
we’ll just come out and say it: where was<br />
the Retina screen upgrade?<br />
Ok, so battery performance could be compromised<br />
(we’ll come onto that) by such<br />
a potentially energy-zapping display, but<br />
the inclusion of Intel’s new Haswell ULT,<br />
with its low-power tendencies, should have<br />
been a match for any jump in screen drain.<br />
We’re just so used to the pin-sharp resolutions<br />
of the iPhone 5, iPad 4 and the latest<br />
MacBook Pros, see.<br />
Nevertheless, standout improvements<br />
here are Apple’s claimed ‘all-day’ battery<br />
life (see below), Intel’s fourth-gen Intel HD<br />
Graphics 5000, faster RAM (now LPDDR3,<br />
expandable to 8GB), two USB 3.0 ports<br />
and the latest 8<strong>02</strong>.11ac Wi-Fi adapter. All<br />
of which we’ve seen on various Windowsbased<br />
laptops.<br />
The aforementioned dual-mic tech is also<br />
nothing new to the world of laptops but is<br />
a welcome addition to the new MBA line,<br />
improving speech clarity by reducing background<br />
noise. It’s a marked improvement<br />
when using Skype or FaceTime.<br />
Our MBA came with OSX Mountain Lion<br />
rather than the impending Mavericks,<br />
expected later this year. As for backlit keys,<br />
Bluetooth 4.0, iLife, stereo speakers and<br />
ambient light sensors, they’re all correct<br />
and present on this latest iteration. An<br />
SDXC card slot only appears on the 13-<br />
inch version and ethernet lovers will still<br />
have to purchase a USB adapter for £25.<br />
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch:<br />
Performance<br />
With regards to processing power, the new<br />
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MBA can be supplied with Intel’s dual-core<br />
i3, i5 (1.3GHz) or i7 (1.7GHz) CPUs. The<br />
previous non-Haswell-sporting gen started<br />
at i5 (1.7GHz) and ran to i7 (2.0GHz). Our<br />
model was a 1.3GHz Intel Core i5 with<br />
4Gb of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM running OSX<br />
Mountain Lion and it zipped along. With a<br />
256Gb SSD keeping the system quick and<br />
cool (128Gb comes as standard), the new<br />
MBA zipped along.<br />
Apple claims that its latest flash storage<br />
is 45 per cent faster than the previousgeneration<br />
MBA. In our real-world testing<br />
(employing both general and hardcore<br />
tasks over a week), we’d say performance<br />
times were slashed by milliseconds rather<br />
than seconds, but it’s definitely faster to<br />
‘wake’ after flipping the lid open from<br />
standby.<br />
With the passage of time (and constant<br />
addition/removal of files and apps) things<br />
will inevitably start to slow, but even when<br />
loading the system with 150Gb of ‘stuff’,<br />
large files were transferred and loaded in a<br />
flash and even processor-hungry programs<br />
such as our image-heavy iPhoto ran<br />
smoothly.<br />
The most noticeable improvement was<br />
with its Wi-Fi capability. Now running the<br />
8<strong>02</strong>.11ac standard and using the new<br />
8<strong>02</strong>.11ac/beamforming-toting Airport Extreme,<br />
we experienced a much more stable,<br />
quicker wireless connection at longer<br />
distances than the previous-gen MBA.<br />
Interestingly, while the four-bar Wi-Fi connection<br />
icon remained at full strength on<br />
both new and old MBAs, the actual delivery<br />
of data was far quicker on the new model.<br />
Safari remained lightning quick and we<br />
could AirPlay non-stuttery content from<br />
one end of a 100ft garden to the livingroom<br />
based Apple TV. Good for garden<br />
parties, we guess.<br />
Apple claims the new Intel HD Graphics<br />
5000 can push polygons 40 per cent faster<br />
than the last model. We tested a variety<br />
of HD video content – up to 1080p – and<br />
games to find a slightly smoother experience<br />
than before, but not wildly different<br />
from what we’ve been used to for the last<br />
year.<br />
The brace of USB 3.0 ports also offers<br />
much faster file transfer, ramping up<br />
speeds to a ‘theoretical’ 5Gbps. In practice,<br />
it owns USB 2.0, with Thunderbolt zooming<br />
along even faster. You just need the<br />
peripherals to match.<br />
Put alongside the similarly priced 13-inch<br />
MacBook Pro, most users probably won’t<br />
see a performance difference (apart from<br />
the Retina screen), which is remarkable<br />
considering the MBA’s size. It also seems to<br />
run a bit cooler than the last MBA.<br />
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch: Screen<br />
As aforementioned, the 11.6-inch LEDbacklit,<br />
16:9, 1366x768-res screen hasn’t<br />
changed since 2010, but the graphics have.<br />
The Intel HD Graphics 5000 can support<br />
dual display (2560x1600 resolution on<br />
an external monitor) and mirroring to an<br />
Apple TV.<br />
When OS X Mavericks arrives, with its<br />
improved mirroring features, this graphics<br />
upgrade will really come into its own.<br />
Screen output is controlled via Thunderbolt<br />
– HDMI only appears on the MacBook Pro<br />
range.<br />
Pumped all the way up, brightness copes<br />
with all-but-nuclear light conditions and<br />
colours are rich. It just lacks the crispness<br />
and vivaciousness of the Retina screens<br />
we’re all becoming used to.<br />
With iOS 7’s colourific design appearing on<br />
iPhones and iPads in the next few months,<br />
the MBA’s screen might look even more<br />
flat. Viewing angles are what they were –<br />
not bad for such a small laptop, but only<br />
really designed for one-person-straight-on<br />
use.<br />
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch:<br />
Battery<br />
At the WWDC 2013 Keynote, the MBA’s<br />
main feature upgrade was centred around<br />
battery life. Having a decent tank for most<br />
of the day will be essential for those who<br />
require a portable laptop lifestyle, so to<br />
hear Phil Schiller announce the new models<br />
with capacity to run for an entire day<br />
before needing a re-juice was impressive.<br />
Apple says the 11-inch model can now<br />
last for nine hours as opposed to five, with<br />
eight-hours’ iTunes playback and 30-day<br />
standby time. We didn’t have chance to<br />
test the latter, but were impressed with the<br />
claims, eking out around seven hours of<br />
‘casual’ use (web browsing, emailing, typing)<br />
and just over six hours movie playback.<br />
Of course, a multitude of factors will influence<br />
these figures; up the ante in terms of<br />
screen brightness, device charging, wireless<br />
connection, visually demanding websites/<br />
applications and the power will drain much<br />
quicker.<br />
But it’s still formidable for a laptop of this<br />
size and power. As a portable work tool,<br />
or power-less companion to a long flight/<br />
commute, it’s still at the top of its game.<br />
Little we’ve seen compares to it.<br />
MacBook Air 2013 11-inch:<br />
Verdict<br />
So, an incremental upgrade to the previous<br />
model. We’ve seen Apple do this before<br />
(iPhone 4 to 4S) – the difference here<br />
being an increase of performance and a<br />
drop in price - the new 11-inch MBA starts<br />
at £849. We’re disappointed rather than<br />
annoyed that Retina didn’t find its way into<br />
this iteration and think that if you have the<br />
last MacBook Air, it’s not worth upgrading<br />
just yet.<br />
However, in performance terms, it’s comparable<br />
if-not-better than its heftier 13-<br />
inch MacBook Pro cousin. In short, we’ve<br />
come away thinking that the world’s best<br />
laptop just got better. When OSX Mavericks<br />
is available for (a presumable) upgrade<br />
later in the year, introducing more portable<br />
iCloud features, it might make the decision<br />
for those teetering on the Windows 8/Mac<br />
fence much easier.<br />
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Beats by Dr. Dre - Pill<br />
eats by Dre transformed<br />
the headphone market with<br />
standout looks, bass devouring<br />
quality and cool musical<br />
heritage, but with the superb<br />
Jawbone Jambox, Philips Shoqbox and<br />
Braven 600 already impressing, can the<br />
Beats Pill offer anything new to the Bluetooth<br />
speaker market?<br />
Beats Pill: Size and build<br />
Measuring 19cm long, 4.5cm across and<br />
weighing 0.31kg, the Beats Pill is slightly<br />
longer and considerably slimmer than the<br />
Jambox. It comes with a snug fitting case<br />
and carabineer clip making it neatly port-<br />
able.<br />
Build quality is solid, with rigid metal grills<br />
and rubberised plastic middle section and<br />
back. It’s available in black, white and red.<br />
The Beats Pill looks good, but unlike the<br />
Beats headphones it lacks a ‘wow’ factor.<br />
Fan boys will love the red glowing ‘b’ but it<br />
just isn’t all that exciting. With the Libratone<br />
Zipp featuring Cashmere cladding<br />
and the Jabra Solemate sporting sneaker<br />
treads, the Beats Pill feels a bit 2010.<br />
Beats Pill: Controls and connections<br />
Setting up the Beats Pill is as easy as it<br />
should be. If you’ve got a smartphone/tablet<br />
with NFC technology, just turn on your<br />
Bluetooth, touch it on the discrete NFC<br />
logo and the Beats Pill will do the rest. For<br />
everyone else, just push the big red ‘b’ and<br />
pairing should be seamless.<br />
Controls are minimal with power, volume<br />
and pairing buttons. There’s a MicroUSB<br />
port for charging and 3.5mm line in and<br />
out for wired connections.<br />
In the box you also get a good quality –<br />
Beats Studio style 1.5m, 3.5mm to 3.5mm,<br />
cable USB 2.0 charging/data cable and AC<br />
power adapter.<br />
Beats Pill: Calls<br />
Making and receiving calls using the Beats<br />
Pill is good, although you might find the<br />
quoted 30m range a little ambitious. The<br />
built-in speaker sounds fine and volume<br />
levels stay consistent, so you’re not deafened<br />
when your Mum calls.<br />
Beats Pill: Battery<br />
With a quoted battery life of seven hours<br />
the Beats Pill is a little sickly compared to<br />
the 10hr Jawbone Jambox. Not a disaster,<br />
and more than sufficient for a day Chillin’,<br />
Chillin’, Chillin’.<br />
Beats Pill: Sound quality<br />
For a small, portable speaker the Beats Pill<br />
sounds great. On a par with the Jambox<br />
and quite a bit cheaper, it offers a fine<br />
Bluetooth alternative. And it’s impressively<br />
loud for the size, with enough grunt to annoy<br />
the neighbours.<br />
But the Beats Pill has one major flaw; it<br />
can’t handle bass. In fairness it tackles<br />
the big beats and driving low frequencies<br />
about as well as the competition, but for<br />
a company designed, built and promoted<br />
around the promise of delivering dance<br />
music ‘as the artist intended’ we expected<br />
so much more.<br />
Beats Pill: Verdict<br />
With its slender styling, competitive pricing,<br />
solid build and Beats by Dr. Dre branding<br />
the Beats Pill will sell faster than Viagra.<br />
It’s a neat proposition with excellent packaging,<br />
quality peripherals and seamless<br />
NFC connectivity.<br />
If you’re looking for a portable speaker<br />
with simple controls, effortless connectivity<br />
and better than average sound you’ll not<br />
be disappointed, but if you’re expecting Dr.<br />
Dre inspired trouser flapping bass don’t be<br />
surprised when it all goes a bit limp.<br />
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Sony Smart Watch<br />
Showcased at IFA 2013, the<br />
Sony SmartWatch 2 is the<br />
latest gadget to join the smart<br />
watch arena and is set to go<br />
head to head with the new Samsung Galaxy<br />
Gear and the older, Kickstarter-funded<br />
Pebble watch.<br />
The idea is that you can read texts, check<br />
emails and keep up to speed with social<br />
networks without having to spend the<br />
arduous few seconds it takes to take your<br />
smartphone out of your pocket.<br />
Sony SmartWatch 2: Size and<br />
build<br />
The compact, square clock face sports<br />
a slick design and features the round,<br />
textured power button as on the Sony<br />
Xperia Z and the brand new Sony Xperia<br />
Z1. Aside from the power button, there are<br />
no physical controls - instead, there’s a<br />
touchscreen with the telltale Android controls<br />
- back, home and menu. There’s also<br />
a covered microUSB slot for charging.<br />
The supplied plastic strap (available in a<br />
choice of colours) is fairly standard, but<br />
nicely designed, while<br />
the black metal strap (available separately)<br />
adds a more premium touch.<br />
Sony SmartWatch 2: Features<br />
The Android 4.0-toting watch connects<br />
to your smartphone via Bluetooth 3, with<br />
one-touch NFC pairing. You can use the<br />
screen to answer or reject calls, you can’t<br />
actually take them through the watch as<br />
there’s no speaker or microphone, so you’ll<br />
have to take your phone out for that, or<br />
hook up a Bluetooth headset.<br />
Sony SmartWatch 2: Screen<br />
The SmartWatch 2 sports a pint-sized 1.6-<br />
inch LCD screen with a 220x176-pixel resolution,<br />
giving it a pixel density of 176PPI.<br />
So far, we’ve only had the chance to try<br />
out the watch in a well-lit room, where the<br />
screen looked bright and the colours were<br />
vibrant. However, the real test will be using<br />
the screen is bright daylight - something<br />
that we’ll be looking at in our full review.<br />
The touchscreen capability is nicely responsive<br />
and feels just like using a smaller<br />
version of one of Sony’s Xperia smartphones.<br />
Sony SmartWatch 2: Apps<br />
According to Sony, they’ll be around 400<br />
apps available at at launch includeing a<br />
lot of the big names that you’d expect, like<br />
Facebook and Twitter.<br />
Sony SmartWatch 2:<br />
Verdict<br />
The Sony SmartWatch 2 looks like a neat<br />
little gadget, although the new Samsung<br />
Galaxy Gear arguably has more features,<br />
such as a camera. Having said that, we like<br />
the design of the Sony watch and we look<br />
forward to trying it our more thoroughly<br />
when we’re out on the go with an Android<br />
phone.<br />
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HOMEDÉCOR<br />
The bedroom<br />
by Shivani Parekh<br />
With busy lives full of family, friends and<br />
work, our bedroom is oftentimes the place<br />
we go to relax and escape everyday life.<br />
When done right, a bedroom is a stressfree<br />
private sanctuary full of soothing<br />
colors, comfortable bedding and plush pillows.<br />
Setting that tone is often a challenge,<br />
especially when kids often take precedence,<br />
but a quick makeover can easily transition<br />
even the most in-trouble space.<br />
As you redesign your bedroom, be sure to<br />
consider what both you and your significant<br />
other prefer. Your suite is all about you, so<br />
don’t worry about using popular trends or<br />
appealing to the kids. Because there aren’t<br />
many significant remodeling changes to<br />
make, figuring out your furniture layout is<br />
the biggest decision you need to make. By<br />
the time you add dressers, nightstands,<br />
armoires and a bed, your space can easily<br />
get cramped, so it’s important to figure out<br />
what layout provides enough storage yet<br />
still leaves open space to move around.<br />
Once you’ve settled on furniture, take time<br />
to find a color scheme and decorations that<br />
reflect your personality. In the end, if adding<br />
new decor and furniture isn’t enough,<br />
you can turn yourbedroom redesign into<br />
a renovation by creating your own master<br />
suite, complete with sitting room and<br />
master bathroom.<br />
How do I determine my bedroom<br />
layout?<br />
Before you buy a new furniture set, be<br />
sure to consider the room size. Even<br />
though you might need three dressers and<br />
two nightstands, you might not have the<br />
space. Measure the furniture and visualize<br />
where it will go so you can judge what will<br />
fit where. Be sure to leave plenty of walking<br />
space, and double check that drawers<br />
and cabinets have enough room to open<br />
properly. When picking your bed spot, think<br />
about windows and doors. Even if you have<br />
blackout curtains, placing a bed underneath<br />
a window might be a bad idea, while even<br />
the smallest crack in the door can stream<br />
hallway light in as you try to sleep.<br />
How do I pick my bedroom color<br />
scheme and decor?<br />
Although your color scheme is often a<br />
personal opinion, there are some colors<br />
that are more relaxing and therefore better<br />
suited for your sleeping spot. Studies have<br />
found that people with blue bedrooms<br />
often get more sleep because of the<br />
calmness it elicits. Brighter colors may<br />
lead to a better mood, but it also might<br />
keep you up longer at night. If you have a<br />
significant other, you should also consider<br />
using neutral colors so everyone<br />
stays happy. Purple and pink might be too<br />
feminine, so try variations of green, gray or<br />
brown instead. When it comes to decor, try<br />
to keep photographs out of the room for<br />
added romance, and don’t clutter the space<br />
with knickknacks — it can be over stimulating<br />
and case intimacy or sleep trouble.<br />
How can I create a master suite?<br />
For those looking for a master escape<br />
instead of just a nice place to sleep, try<br />
adding a sitting room, master bathroom<br />
and walk-in closet. Create your own<br />
personal reading nook by buying a relaxing<br />
chaise lounge, day bed or sofa. You can<br />
even add a fireplace and wet bar or coffee<br />
bar for those cold nights.<br />
Finally, ensure you get time in the<br />
bathroom each morning by installing one<br />
just for you. You can add a relaxing bathtub<br />
and makeup vanity for a complete getaway<br />
from it all, and be sure to include a nice<br />
closet to store your large (and expanding)<br />
clothes collection!<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
GYM AND FITNESS<br />
NO MORE EXCUSES:<br />
Workouts For<br />
Its Christmas holiday season, and there<br />
are 101 wimpy excuses for not working<br />
out—and I know because I’ve used all of<br />
them. I’m tired. My favorite show is on<br />
TV. I’m hungry.<br />
I really should reorganize my kitchen<br />
cabinets or bedroom wardrobes; I need<br />
to meet up with friends and family. My<br />
friends are coming over.<br />
Small Spaces<br />
The list of excuses can go on and on.<br />
I mean we all have those excuses we<br />
term as being very valid. But when the<br />
weather is really nasty or you’re<br />
super-busy, you have a valid reason for<br />
forgoing exercise, right? Wrong, I say<br />
stop it with the excuses already.<br />
My advice, all you need to do is simply<br />
organize our time a bit better. If we wake<br />
up at six thirty, all we need to do is just<br />
your time a bit. Wake up at six and<br />
workout for thirty minutes then you start<br />
you routine as from six thirty, and there<br />
you have it A WORKOUT.<br />
Here are 7 simple at-home workouts,<br />
many of which can be done in no more<br />
than 20 minutes. However you would<br />
need to make a simple investment in<br />
dumbbells and bicycle.<br />
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1. Kickboxing<br />
Get ready for kung fu fighting. Even if your<br />
last attempt at a choreographed fitness<br />
class was a flop, I just like me was, with<br />
patience and practice, kickboxing (whether<br />
you opt for the dance-style gym variety or<br />
a boxing gym session that actually involves<br />
wearing gloves) is a boredom-proof<br />
workout that burns anywhere from 700 to<br />
1,000 calories an hour, helps to sharpen<br />
your brain, and provides built-in muscle<br />
sculpting. And anyone can do it<br />
2. Jumping rope<br />
Jumping rope is amazing for your body. All<br />
you have to do is look at a boxer’s tight,<br />
toned body to know it’s a major fat-blaster.<br />
You’re toning your upper and lower body<br />
at the same time, while quickly boosting<br />
your heart rate. The result: 73kg person<br />
can torch more than 350 calories in 30<br />
minutes.<br />
Don’t have the room to swing the rope?<br />
Try ghost jumping. This involves mimicking<br />
the movement without the actual rope. It is<br />
just as effective in keeping your heart rate<br />
up. To keep it interesting, try doing fast<br />
intervals with short recoveries in between,<br />
challenge your balance by jumping on one<br />
leg, double-dutch with the kids, or jump to<br />
the beat of your favorite songs.<br />
3. Body-weight workouts<br />
No barbells, dumbbells, or resistance<br />
bands? No problem. Your own body is the<br />
best piece of equipment you own. You can<br />
get an amazing workout in a small space<br />
by mixing and matching basic moves like<br />
lunges, squats, mountain climbers, planks,<br />
and pushups. Squats and lunges tone your<br />
legs and butt, and push-ups are great for<br />
your chest and arms. Planks and mountain<br />
climbers are fantastic for your abs.<br />
up your bike in your living room. You<br />
turn on your stereo and play your favorite<br />
past paced music, or you could put your<br />
favorite TV show or movie on the TV and<br />
pedal away. Whatever your setup, expect<br />
to sweat: 80kg person burns between 159<br />
calories to 476 calories in 30 minutes of<br />
cycling. We recommend you get a rubber<br />
trainer mat to put underneath you to<br />
protect your floors.<br />
5. squat<br />
Stand with right foot forward, a 5- to<br />
8-pound weight in left hand. Squat; touch<br />
weight to floor as right hand lifts. Stand, lift<br />
left knee, touch right hand to right left in<br />
front of you. Squat then stand; touch right<br />
hand to left foot behind you; that’s 1 rep.<br />
Do 24 reps; switch sides and repeat.<br />
6. Line hops<br />
Step or hop sideways over a stretched-out<br />
jump rope for 2 minutes.<br />
7. Tipsy bridge and lift<br />
Lie on your back, feet hip-width apart,<br />
flexed left foot on a yoga block or telephone<br />
book, right foot on the floor. Keeping<br />
shoulders and head neutral and abs tight,<br />
lift hips so your body forms a straight line<br />
from shoulders to knees.<br />
Lower down, then lift right foot, bringing<br />
knee in toward chest. Return foot to floor;<br />
that’s 1 rep. Do 24 reps, then switch sides<br />
and repeat.<br />
8. Biceps and arm circles<br />
Stand with legs slightly wider than hipwidth,<br />
a 2kg – 4kg dumbbell in each hand,<br />
elbows bent and palms up. Keeping spine<br />
straight, squat and circle left hand up and<br />
in toward your shoulder in a circular motion<br />
(as if beckoning someone toward you);<br />
reverse to lower hand. Do 16 reps, then<br />
switch sides and repeat.<br />
9. Fast feet<br />
Step quickly forward and backward over a<br />
stretched-out jump rope for 2 minutes.<br />
10. Triceps with a twist<br />
Lie on back with knees bent, a 2kg – 4kg<br />
dumbbell in right hand lifted so weight<br />
is over shoulder. Let knees fall left while<br />
bending right elbow until end of weight<br />
touches floor near ear. Straighten right<br />
arm while lifting hips, legs, head, and<br />
shoulders. Lower gently down. Do 24 reps,<br />
then switch sides and repeat.<br />
11. Roll over and sit up<br />
Start lying on stomach, chest lifted, arms<br />
stretched overhead and legs straight.<br />
Roll to right onto your back, bending knees<br />
slightly and bringing arms halfway down;<br />
curl up to sitting position as arms move<br />
back overhead. Curl back down, and roll<br />
back over onto stomach. Do 16 reps, then<br />
switch directions and repeat.<br />
12. Cross crawl<br />
Raise your arms, then lift left knee and<br />
bring right elbow down to meet it. Repeat<br />
on opposite side; alternate for 2 minutes,<br />
moving as quickly as possible.<br />
13. Stretch<br />
Finally Stretch your arms, neck and legs<br />
and all parts of the body so that the body<br />
can relax. You’re done!<br />
Visit : http://www.prevention.com<br />
: http://www.health.com<br />
Your own body is the best<br />
piece of equipment you own.<br />
You can get an amazing<br />
workout in a small space by<br />
mixing and matching basic<br />
moves like lunges, squats,<br />
mountain climbers, planks,<br />
and pushups.<br />
Aim to do 3 sets of 10 reps for each move.<br />
To boost your calorie burn, keep rests<br />
between each move no longer than 20 to<br />
30 seconds. To amp calories even more,<br />
add a 1-minute cardio blast—like jumping<br />
jacks—between each set.<br />
4. Indoor cycling<br />
If you love logging miles on the open road<br />
on our a thousand hills, consider setting<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
Beauty ACNE<br />
AND<br />
COSMETICS<br />
By Hajila Kimeria<br />
So what happens if you don’t have perfect<br />
skin?<br />
You know her, that girl who does just about<br />
everything to destroy her skin-sleeping<br />
with make-up, not getting enough rest,<br />
eats just about any food with no allergic<br />
reactions, and worst of all washes her face<br />
with detergent bar soap but it never gets<br />
affected. While for you, that one day you<br />
brushed against some dust, you had a major<br />
acne break out that took two or more<br />
weeks to clear out and another 2 months<br />
to clear the dark marks and spots…<br />
I decided to write this particular piece<br />
about acne because despite being a makeup<br />
artist, loving beauty and beautifying<br />
people; I have struggled with acne since I<br />
was a teenager and my experience is that<br />
beauty products and beauty lessons rarely<br />
cater for the rest of the women who have<br />
mild to serious skin conditions and acne.<br />
A lot of the products out there work for<br />
people with balanced skin but for the rest<br />
of the people like us, you just find yourself<br />
moving from product to product trying to<br />
find a permanent solution that will bury<br />
your acne for good. It’s a long topic so for<br />
now I’ll just list a few general and universal<br />
tips of things I’ve read about and have<br />
done to control acne.<br />
A short story about acne<br />
“Acne vulgaris (cystic acne or simply acne)<br />
is a common human skin disease, characterized<br />
by areas of skin with seborrhea<br />
(scaly red skin), comedones (blackheads<br />
and whiteheads), papules (pinheads), pustules<br />
(pimples), nodules (large papules) and<br />
possibly scarring.”<br />
What some of that greek simply means in lay man terms is:<br />
I’m not talking about that small skin colored rash or pimple you<br />
get once in a while or that once a month menstrual pimple. It’s<br />
basically like a whole host of ‘menstrual type’ pimples all over<br />
your face and other areas of skin with the densest population<br />
of sebaceous follicles; like the upper part of the chest, and the<br />
back.<br />
Regular pimples and acne comes to the surface and you can<br />
pop it (don’t do that) but cystic acne feel like big hard and<br />
sometimes painful bumps under your skin filled with blood and<br />
puss and takes weeks even months to clear out.<br />
Some causes of ACNE<br />
Hormonal factors - hereditary or diet caused<br />
Genetic - Some people are predisposed to have acne because of<br />
inheriting those genes<br />
Psychological – stress in general bad for your health<br />
Infectious - Propionibacterium acnes (P.acnes) is a bacterium<br />
widely concluded to cause acne<br />
Diet - Some foods especially those high in sugars, or dairy<br />
products have been shown in some people to cause the flare<br />
ups of acne, pimples and rashes.<br />
General guidelines and tips of how to get rid of<br />
hormonal or cystic acne<br />
Your current lifestyle is contributing to your acne because what<br />
goes inside your body is just as important as what goes on it,<br />
that is; topical creams, make-up and cosmetic products. What<br />
you are eating combined with your environment and living<br />
conditions can and will affect the health of your skin.<br />
Seeing as genetics predispose you to get acne and hormones<br />
might take a little longer or require expensive therapy to con-<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
trol; your diet is one of the factors that you<br />
can work on controlling the most in order<br />
to clear up your acne.<br />
- Drink about 1litre of water a day<br />
to flush out impurities and toxins from your<br />
body. When impurities accumulate in your<br />
body and have no outlet, one of the outlets<br />
is through the skin in the form of acne.<br />
- Avoid drinking sodas and juices<br />
with artificial sugars and preservatives.<br />
Research has shown a connection between<br />
having high sugar content in your blood<br />
and acne, Other than acne high blood<br />
sugar causes loads of other problems.<br />
Instead drink homemade fresh juices or<br />
homemade brewed green tea-plain with no<br />
honey milk or sugar.<br />
Green tea has lots of antioxidants to clear<br />
out toxins. You shouldn’t stop living and<br />
restrain yourself from drinking juice and<br />
sodas but do it in moderation like two<br />
times a week or on weekends. Personally<br />
once I stopped drinking sodas and artificial<br />
juices, I found myself craving sugary drinks<br />
less often.<br />
- It only makes sense to also avoid<br />
junk foods and foods with preservatives,<br />
grease and oils. These are more complex<br />
for your body to break down and have little<br />
or no nutritional value. They just increase<br />
the number of impurities in your body and<br />
breathe more life into your acne.<br />
- Now depending on where you get<br />
milk from, you do want to watch out for<br />
milk and dairy products because sometimes<br />
milk may have the hormones and<br />
steroids that have been fed to cows that in<br />
turn cause a hormonal imbalance in your<br />
body.<br />
- Wear less make-up, preferably<br />
oil free powder based foundations and<br />
mineral foundations. There are some good<br />
brands of make-up out there, I especially<br />
love the Artistry compressed powder and<br />
Artistry mineral foundation. These don’t<br />
clog up my skin and feel light.<br />
- Exercise so as to help your body<br />
metabolize faster and in turn sweat out<br />
and excrete toxins and impurities.<br />
- Find yourself a good acne<br />
cleanser with benzoyl peroxide or an acne<br />
soap and use it once a day at night, and in<br />
the morning use something gentle to avoid<br />
further drying out the skin. You might think<br />
that by cleansing more or using the acne<br />
cleanser you are doing your skin a favor<br />
but you will instead give it an irritation.<br />
- Finally - take supplements. You<br />
need to understand that depending on your<br />
body and age, you begin to extract less and<br />
less out of foods so will need to add some<br />
extra vitamins into your diet. Great skin<br />
health vitamins are supplements containing<br />
biotin, vitamin A, antioxidants and fish oil/<br />
omega 3 supplements.<br />
I take Nutrillite’s Primrose plus with vitamin<br />
A and Evening primrose oil to balance<br />
out my hormones and Nutrillite’s Ocean<br />
Health Omega 3 supplements, amongst<br />
others, daily to improve my skin.<br />
Stay positive and don’t be ashamed or<br />
embarrassed by your acne. There are days<br />
when I avoided leaving the house or going<br />
for social functions, especially day time<br />
ones because I was embarrassed about<br />
how I looked and worried about what people<br />
think and say. Being in the beauty field<br />
I am expected to have perfect flawless skin<br />
so you can understand the undue pressure<br />
I added on to myself which probably turned<br />
into stress, which turned into acne…<br />
I hope even our ‘flawless skin’ sisters learn<br />
something from this article and I encourage<br />
you as supportive sisters to be sensitive<br />
about the feelings of people with acne<br />
by understanding what causes it and that<br />
some of it is out of their control.<br />
How you ask questions or comment about<br />
the person’s skin can really cause the<br />
person self-esteem issues which most of<br />
the time only increases their acne.<br />
Acne is normal there is nothing wrong with<br />
you and you are not the only person with<br />
acne even when it seems so, it is also not a<br />
permanent condition and can be<br />
managed and controlled by you in<br />
conjunction with whichever acne treatment<br />
you are undergoing.<br />
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SIMBA SHOPPERS MAGAZINE - THE CHRISTMAS ISSUE<br />
COOKING UP A STORM<br />
FOR C HRISTMAS<br />
Let’s cook<br />
BY Anataria Karimba<br />
I love the smell of spices from the food<br />
cooking in the kitchen on Christmas day.<br />
This day is best celebrated with a good array<br />
of home cooked dishes enjoyed by family and<br />
friends.<br />
Today's recipes are a combination of western<br />
cuisine and African cuisine to create an<br />
exciting and hearty feast that allows the<br />
whole family to engage and participate in the<br />
whole preparation process of every meal in<br />
this menu.<br />
Merry Christmas to you and your family be<br />
blessed and enjoy!<br />
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STARTERS<br />
Mini chicken and Vegetable platter<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 1/4 cup soy sauce<br />
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce<br />
• 1 tablespoon honey<br />
• 12 chicken drumettes<br />
• 125g sugar snap peas, trimmed<br />
• 1 large carrot, cut into sticks<br />
• 2 celery stalks, cut into sticks<br />
Method:<br />
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a baking<br />
tray with foil.<br />
Combine soy sauce, tomato sauce and<br />
honey in a bowl. Add chicken and stir to<br />
coat. Arrange chicken, in a single layer,<br />
on prepared tray. Bake, turning twice, for<br />
30 minutes or until golden and cooked<br />
through. Set aside to cool.<br />
Place peas in a small, heat proof bowl.<br />
Cover with boiling water. Stand for 3 minutes.<br />
Drain. Rinse under cold water.<br />
Pack chicken and vegetables in lunchboxes.<br />
Fish Fingers<br />
Ingredients:<br />
500ml of sunflower oil, for deep frying<br />
320g of fish fillet, skinned and cleaned<br />
200ml of lemonade<br />
110g of plain flour<br />
1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of black pepper<br />
To Serve<br />
1 lime, quartered<br />
4 tbsp of tartar sauce<br />
Method:<br />
• Preheat the deep fat fryer to 180°C.<br />
Alternatively, fill a deep saucepan with<br />
sunflower oil to halfway and, using a<br />
cooking thermometer, heat to 180°C<br />
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together<br />
the lemonade and flour to make the<br />
batter. Set aside<br />
• Cut the cod fillets into 8 individual<br />
pieces<br />
• Dip each fish piece in the lemonade<br />
batter until completely covered<br />
• Carefully lower the fish into the deepfat<br />
fryer or saucepan and cook for 4<br />
minutes, or until golden brown and<br />
crispy<br />
• Lighten it up<br />
• Deep-frying should not make food<br />
excessively greasy. The trick is to keep<br />
the oil hot enough and not leave the<br />
food in it for too long<br />
• Remove the pieces from the fryer<br />
using a slotted spoon and set aside<br />
to drain on kitchen paper. Season to<br />
taste with salt and pepper<br />
• Serve with the lime segments and<br />
some dollops of tartar sauce<br />
Vegetable Samosa<br />
Ingredients<br />
• Wrapper Dough<br />
• Flour — 1 1/2 cups<br />
• Salt — 1 teaspoon<br />
• oil — 1/4 cup<br />
• Water — 6 to 7 tablespoons<br />
• Filling<br />
• Oil — 1/4 cup<br />
• Onion, minced — 1/2 cup<br />
• Gingerroot, minced — 1 tablespoon<br />
• Ground coriander — 1 tablespoon<br />
• Russet potatoes, peeled, cooked and<br />
cooled — 5<br />
• Peas — 1 cup<br />
• Salt and pepper — to taste<br />
• Oil for deep frying<br />
Method<br />
1. Mix the flour and salt together in a<br />
large bowl. Rub the shortening or lard<br />
into the flour with your hands until it<br />
forms crumbly mixture. If using oil,<br />
simply stir in.<br />
2. Pour 5-6 tablespoons of the cold<br />
water into the bowl and mix it in with<br />
a spoon until it forms a knead-able<br />
mass. Drip in rest of cold water if<br />
needed.<br />
3. Remove the dough to a lightly floured<br />
surface and knead for about 10 minutes,<br />
or until silky smooth. Return to<br />
the bowl, cover and let rest the dough<br />
rest for about 30 minutes.<br />
4. Meanwhile, heat the 1/4 cup oil in a<br />
sauté pan over medium flame. Add<br />
the onions, ginger and coriander and<br />
sauté until the onions just start to<br />
brown, 4-5 minutes. Remove from<br />
heat.<br />
5. Add the cooked potatoes to a large<br />
bowl and lightly mash with a large<br />
fork or potato masher. The potatoes<br />
should be mashed but still chunky. Stir<br />
in the sautéed onion mixture, peas<br />
and salt and pepper to taste.<br />
6. Return the wrapper dough to a lightly<br />
floured work surface and roll it into<br />
a long rope. Divide the dough into<br />
16 pieces and roll each piece into a<br />
6-inch circle. Cut each circle in half.<br />
7. Bring the cut sides of each 1/2-circle<br />
together to form a cone. Moisten the<br />
edges with a little water and seal well<br />
with your fingers. Put about 2 tablespoons<br />
of filling into each cone. Fold<br />
down the wrapper dough and seal<br />
again with a little water. Repeat with<br />
the rest of the dough and filling and<br />
set the samosas on a baking sheet to<br />
dry, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.<br />
8. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or about<br />
1 1/2 inches in a deep pot to 360°.<br />
Deep fry the samosas in small batches<br />
until browned on all sides and heated<br />
through. Serve with lemon wedges.<br />
Zucchini /Courgette Brochette<br />
Ingredients:<br />
TO PREPARE THE BBQ SPICE RUB:<br />
• 60 g salt<br />
• 60 g ground black pepper<br />
• 60 g sweet paprika<br />
• 10 g garlic powder<br />
• 15 g Cayenne powder<br />
• 5 g chilli powder<br />
• A large pinch dried thyme<br />
• 6 medium-sized zucchini courgettes,<br />
washed and cut into 5cm x 5cm<br />
• 3 medium-sized red onions, peeled<br />
and cut into 6 wedges<br />
• 3 red bell peppers, seeded, and cut<br />
into 5cm x 5cm pieces<br />
• Olive oil to coat<br />
• BBQ spice rub to taste<br />
• Salt to taste<br />
• Freshly ground black pepper<br />
• A few wooden skewers<br />
Method:<br />
TO PREPARE THE SPICE RUB:<br />
• Mix the ingredients together. Set aside<br />
till ready to use.<br />
• Place the vegetables on the skewers<br />
in this order — zucchini, onion, pepper,<br />
zucchini, onion, pepper, and zucchini.<br />
Rub the brochettes with a little olive<br />
oil.<br />
• Sprinkle the salt, pepper and a generous<br />
amount of the BBQ spice rub<br />
evenly on the brochettes.<br />
• Grill the brochettes over medium heat<br />
for approximately 8 minutes on each<br />
side or until the vegetables are tender<br />
but not mushy.<br />
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Pineapple Glazed Prawns<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 5 cups large-dice pineapple (from 1<br />
large pineapple, about 5 pounds)<br />
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar<br />
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar<br />
• 1/4 cup soy sauce<br />
• 2 medium garlic cloves<br />
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper<br />
• 36 extra-large prawns (about 2<br />
pounds), peeled and deveined<br />
• Vegetable oil<br />
• 12 (10-inch) metal or wooden skewers<br />
Method:<br />
1. Combine 2 cups of the pineapple, the<br />
sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic<br />
in a blender and blend on high until<br />
smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour into<br />
a medium saucepan and bring to a<br />
boil over medium heat.<br />
2. 2Skim off any foam and reduce heat<br />
to low. Simmer until glaze is thick and<br />
syrupy enough to coat the back of a<br />
spoon and has reduced to about 3/4<br />
cup, about 30 minutes. Stir in cayenne<br />
and set aside to cool slightly, at least<br />
5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a gas or<br />
charcoal grill to high (about 400°F) or<br />
a grill pan over high heat until very<br />
hot.<br />
3. Skewer 1 shrimp, making sure to pass<br />
the skewer through the thick portion<br />
and the tail portion, and then skewer<br />
1 piece of the remaining pineapple.<br />
Repeat, alternating between the two<br />
and leaving no space in between, until<br />
you have 3 shrimp and 2 pineapple<br />
pieces per skewer. Brush the skewers<br />
on one side with the glaze.<br />
4. Rub the grill with a towel dipped in<br />
vegetable oil, place the skewers on the<br />
grill glaze side down, and brush the<br />
other side of the skewers with more<br />
glaze. Continue brushing and turning<br />
every few minutes until the thick portions<br />
of the shrimp are white and firm,<br />
about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from<br />
the grill and serve immediately.<br />
MAIN DISHES<br />
Grilled Chicken with Potatoes<br />
Grilled Chicken with Potatoes<br />
Ingredients<br />
• butter, for greasing<br />
• 1.6kg chicken, whole<br />
• 2 x garlic, whole head, halved through<br />
the<br />
• middle<br />
• 100ml wine, white<br />
• 100ml chicken stock<br />
• rosemary, sprigs<br />
• 6 x bay leaf (leaves)<br />
• 1kg potato(es), halved and quartered<br />
if large<br />
• 1 x lemon(s), cut into wedges<br />
Method:<br />
1. Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3.<br />
Brush a large roasting tin all over with<br />
butter and smear some over the skin<br />
of the chicken.<br />
2. Place the chicken in the tin and arrange<br />
the potatoes around it. Put the<br />
halved garlic heads in the tin, pour<br />
over the white wine and stock, then<br />
cover with foil and place in the oven.<br />
Cook for 1 hr then remove the foil and<br />
give the potatoes a shake. Add the<br />
herbs and<br />
3. lemon wedges, then cook uncovered<br />
for 50 mins.<br />
4. Turn the heat up to 220C/fan 200C/<br />
gas 7. Cook for 30 mins more, then<br />
remove the chicken and potatoes from<br />
the pan. Cover the chicken loosely with<br />
foil and leave to rest on a plate for at<br />
least 10 mins before carving. Keep the<br />
potatoes warm.<br />
Pork Ribs<br />
A slow roast in the oven makes these ribs<br />
tender, succulent, and delicious.<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper<br />
• 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar<br />
• 3 tablespoons chilli powder<br />
• 4 slabs pork spareribs (about 2 1/4<br />
pounds each)<br />
• 1 1/2 cups Tangy Barbecue Sauce<br />
• oil, for brushing<br />
Method:<br />
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix together<br />
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon salt,<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, the sugar,<br />
and chilli powder. Rub seasoning<br />
evenly over both sides of ribs. Transfer<br />
ribs, bone side down and slightly<br />
overlapping, to 2 rimmed baking<br />
sheets. Cover tightly with parchmentlined<br />
foil, and bake until tender, 2 1/2<br />
to 3 hours.<br />
2. Divide barbecue sauce in half; reserve<br />
1 half for serving. Heat grill to<br />
medium-high. Brush grates with oil.<br />
Remove ribs from baking sheets, and<br />
grill, turning occasionally and brushing<br />
with barbecue sauce, until charred, 2<br />
to 5 minutes. Cut between each rib<br />
to separate. Serve with remaining<br />
barbecue sauce.<br />
Baked ribs can be refrigerated for up<br />
to 1 day. Let stand at room temperature<br />
for 1 hour before grilling.<br />
Spicy Beef Kebabs/ Brochette<br />
Equipment<br />
• You’ll need 12 x 15cm long bamboo<br />
skewers<br />
Ingredients<br />
• 1kg diced beef (such as topside)<br />
• 1 1/2 tablespoons pepper steak<br />
seasoning<br />
• 2 tablespoons olive oil<br />
• 1 red onion, chopped<br />
• 1 lemon, rind grated, juiced<br />
• 2/3 cup roasted cashew nuts roughly<br />
chopped<br />
• 2/3 cup coriander, chopped<br />
Method:<br />
Soak bamboo skewers in water for 30<br />
minutes. Drain. Cook rice following absorption<br />
method on packet.<br />
Place beef into a bowl with pepper steak<br />
seasoning. Toss to combine. Thread beef<br />
onto skewers. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of<br />
oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add<br />
onion. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until<br />
soft. Add cooked rice, lemon rind, 2 tablespoons<br />
of lemon juice, cashews and coriander.<br />
Toss to combine. Season with salt.<br />
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan, char-grill or<br />
barbecue plate over high heat. Reduce heat<br />
to medium. Add remaining 2 teaspoons of<br />
oil. Add beef skewers. Cook for 3 minutes<br />
each side.<br />
Chicken Liver<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• Chicken liver – 1 lb<br />
• Oil – 4 tbsp<br />
• 1 Onion(chopped)<br />
• 5 Cinnamon (broken into pieces)<br />
• 2 Potatoes (peeled and diced)<br />
• Salt for taste<br />
• Warm water – 90 ml<br />
• 4 pieces of Garlic(crushed)<br />
• 4 Tomatoes diced<br />
Frozen green peas – 100 gm<br />
3 Green chillies<br />
1/2 tsp Garam masala powder<br />
For the paste:<br />
• 2 table spoons Water<br />
• 2 tsp Coriander powder<br />
• 1 tea spoon Cumin seed powder<br />
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder<br />
• 1/2 tea spoon Chilli powder<br />
Method:<br />
1. Clean the liver, remove all the skin<br />
and cut roughly into 1.5 cm pieces.<br />
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat.<br />
3. Fry the onions and cinnamon, until the<br />
onions are soft.<br />
4. Add the potatoes, salt and stir-fry the<br />
potatoes for about 2 minutes.<br />
5. Add some water, cover the pan and<br />
simmer until the potatoes are tender.<br />
6. Heat the remaining oil over medium<br />
heat in a heavy bottomed wide pan.<br />
(A non-stick or cast iron pan is ideal<br />
as the liver needs to be stir fried over<br />
high heat.)<br />
7. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 sec.<br />
8. Add the spice paste, lower the heat<br />
and stir fry for about 2 minutes.<br />
9. Add half of the tomatoes, along with<br />
some of the juice, stir and cook for<br />
further 2-3 minutes, breaking the<br />
tomatoes with the spoon.<br />
10. When the mixture is fairly dry, add the<br />
liver and adjust heat to medium high.<br />
11. Stir-fry the liver for 3-4 minutes.<br />
12. Add the remaining tomatoes and the<br />
juice, stir-fry for 5-6 minutes.<br />
13. Cover the pan and simmer for about<br />
8 minutes.<br />
14. Add the potatoes, green peas, green<br />
chillies and the remaining salt and<br />
cook for a minute or two.<br />
15. Adjust heat to medium and cook uncovered<br />
for further 5 minutes.<br />
16. Stir in the garam masala powder and<br />
remove from heat.<br />
Fish steamed in Banana leaves<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 500g fish,<br />
Grind together:<br />
• 2 cloves garlic<br />
• 2 green chillies<br />
• 1 tbsp. chopped lemon leaves, or peel<br />
• 1 inch fresh turmeric root or 1 tbsp.<br />
turmeric powder<br />
• 1 inch ginger<br />
• ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper<br />
• 4 tbsp. grated coconut<br />
• Handful skinned roasted peanuts<br />
Method:<br />
1. Mix the ground paste in enough<br />
coconut milk so as to make a thick<br />
sauce. It should not be runny. The<br />
above quantity should do for roughly<br />
500-600g fish.<br />
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2. Smear the fish generously with the<br />
paste, coating carefully all over. Tear<br />
some squares of banana leaf. Take a<br />
banana leaf, hold it over a flame for a<br />
few seconds, this softens the leaf and<br />
makes it easy to fold the leaf.<br />
3. Pack 4-5 strips of prepared fish to<br />
a square. Sprinkle a pinch of salt, if<br />
necessary. Fold over into a packet, pin<br />
down with cloves or tie with banana<br />
fibre or toothpicks. Prepare all the<br />
packets this way.<br />
4. Steam the packets for 30 minutes or<br />
bake them.<br />
5. Do not undo the packets before serving.<br />
It is the privilege of the diner to<br />
enjoy the puff of aroma that issues<br />
with the steam on unpacking the fish.<br />
Beans in Coconut Sauce<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 1 lb red kidney beans, soaked overnight<br />
in water<br />
• 8 cups water<br />
• 1 tablespoon olive oil<br />
• 2 white onions, diced<br />
• 3 plum tomatoes, diced<br />
• 2 garlic cloves, minced<br />
• 1 cup coconut milk<br />
• salt and black pepper, to taste<br />
Method:<br />
1. Drain the beans (after soaking overnight<br />
in water).<br />
2. Put the beans and water into a<br />
stockpot.<br />
3. Simmer over medium heat for 1 to<br />
1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are<br />
tender.<br />
4. Drain and return the beans to the<br />
stockpot.<br />
5. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over<br />
medium heat.<br />
6. Sweat the onions, tomatoes and garlic<br />
until tender.<br />
7. Add the onion mixture to the beans.<br />
Add the coconut milk and bring to a<br />
simmer over low heat.<br />
8. Cook for 5 minutes.<br />
9. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.<br />
10. Serve warm!<br />
Mushroom Sauce<br />
Ingredients<br />
• 170 g of thinly sliced mushrooms<br />
• 1/4 litre of milk<br />
• 15 g of butter<br />
• 1 heaped tbsp of flour<br />
• olive oil (or vegetable oil)<br />
• salt and pepper<br />
Method<br />
1. Heat a little olive oil and melt the butter<br />
in it.<br />
2. Add the mushrooms and sauté until<br />
the mushrooms are soft and dark in<br />
colour.<br />
3. Remove the pan from the heat and<br />
set aside.<br />
4. Add the flour and pour in the milk.<br />
5. Mix the ingredients together, stirring<br />
continuously.<br />
6. Return the pan to a medium heat and<br />
cook the sauce, stirring constantly<br />
until it thickens.<br />
7. Season with salt and pepper and cook<br />
for 5 – 8 minutes.<br />
8. Serve hot.<br />
SIDE DISHES<br />
Chapati<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 2 cups flour<br />
• 3/4 or 1 cup water (depending)<br />
• 1/4 teaspoon salt<br />
• melted butter<br />
Method<br />
1. Mix all ingredients together; divide into<br />
fourths.<br />
2. Roll each into a circle; spread thinly<br />
with melted butter.<br />
3. Roll up like a small jellyroll and then<br />
roll it into a coil.<br />
4. Roll flat again<br />
5. Shallow Fry in a hot heavy skillet until<br />
brown on both sides.<br />
Biriyani<br />
Ingredients<br />
For the stew:<br />
• Half a raw papaya<br />
• A glass of fermented, sour milk (Kivuguto)/natural<br />
yoghurt<br />
• 6 big tomatoes<br />
• 6 big onions<br />
• 5 cloves of garlic<br />
• A stem of ginger (or approx. 100<br />
grams)<br />
• 100 grams dried cumin seeds<br />
• 2 small tins of tomato paste Salt to<br />
taste<br />
For the rice:<br />
• 1 kilogram of rice<br />
• Yellow or orange food colouring<br />
Preparing the stew:<br />
• Grind the dried cumin seeds to a<br />
powder<br />
• Slice the tomatoes; grind the garlic,<br />
ginger and papaya.<br />
• Put the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and<br />
papaya in a blender, together with the<br />
tomato paste and 2 cups of water.<br />
• Blend the ingredients to a smooth<br />
paste.<br />
• Cook the paste on medium heat,<br />
including the cumin seeds, for about<br />
10 minutes.<br />
• When the stew is boiling, add the<br />
chicken and the sour milk and add salt<br />
to taste<br />
• Let the stew cook until the meat is<br />
very tender (the sour milk and raw<br />
papaya soften the meat).<br />
• Peel the potatoes and let them soak<br />
for a few minutes in food colouring, so<br />
that they get an orange glow.<br />
• Fry the potatoes in oil, like crisps, but<br />
do not slice them up; simply cut them<br />
in two’s or four’s depending on the<br />
size of the potato.<br />
• Add the fried potatoes to the stew.<br />
• Slice the onions and fry them in the<br />
same oil as the potatoes.<br />
• Add three quarters of the fried onions<br />
to the stew, save the rest to add to<br />
the rice as decoration when serving it.<br />
• When the potatoes and onions are<br />
fried, add a cup of the oil used to fry<br />
them to the stew.<br />
• Add (little) water and/or salt to taste,<br />
depending on the texture of the stew.<br />
• Preparing the rice:<br />
• Wash and clean the rice if necessary.<br />
• Cook the rice according to the instructions<br />
on the packet.<br />
• When the rice is almost dry, add a<br />
little food colouring to it by making a<br />
small hole on top and putting in the<br />
food colouring. Spread out the food<br />
colouring over different parts of the<br />
rice, but not everywhere. When the<br />
rice is ready, gently stir it so that the<br />
colour is spread out.<br />
• Sprinkle the leftover fried onions on<br />
top as decoration.<br />
Serve the rice and stew separately. You<br />
can serve this dish with fresh chilli paste<br />
and a salad<br />
Plantains/ Mizuzu<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• A few ripe plantains<br />
• (Un-ripe plantains are usually green<br />
in colour and hard. As they ripen, they<br />
become more yellowish in colour and<br />
a little softer, and when they are getting<br />
too ripe, they start to have more<br />
and more black patches, and they are<br />
really soft).<br />
• Vegetable Oil<br />
Method:<br />
1. Put oil into a fry pan/saucepan, about<br />
½ inch (or about 1½ centimetres) high,<br />
and place on fire on low heat.<br />
2. In a bowl or plate, slice or dice each<br />
plantain as follows (I’m assuming the<br />
plantain is lying down, so vertically<br />
means cutting along the circumference,<br />
and longitudinally means cutting<br />
along the length).For larger slices,<br />
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slice the plantains either vertically, or<br />
diagonally, so that each slice is about ¼<br />
inch (or about ½ centimetres) thick.<br />
For smaller pieces, cut the plantain<br />
into two of four parts longitudinally,<br />
and then slice vertically<br />
3. Place the cut pieces into the hot oil,<br />
spreading over the bottom of the pan.<br />
4. Turn over when the bottom sides are<br />
golden brown in colour. (Some people<br />
prefer them more yellowish in colour,<br />
and some darker brown…any is fine<br />
because as long as the heat is low, the<br />
plantain will be cooked).<br />
5. Let the other side get brown to the<br />
same consistency as the first side.<br />
6. Remove using a spatula or large<br />
spoon.<br />
7. Depending on the ripeness of the<br />
plantain, you may want to put the<br />
fried plantains on some napkins first<br />
to soak up some of the excess oil.<br />
Sukuma Wiki<br />
Ingredients<br />
2 tablespoons oil<br />
1 Onion<br />
2 or 3 Tomatoes, chopped<br />
2 Pounds of Sukuma Greens, chopped<br />
Salt<br />
Method<br />
1. Melt shortening in a pot and add the<br />
onions.<br />
2. Stir well and sauté for a bit.<br />
3. Add tomato and sauté.<br />
4. Add Sukuma and sauté for a short<br />
time.<br />
5. Add 1/2 cup water (optional) and then<br />
salt to taste.<br />
6. Let the mixture simmer until the Sukuma<br />
has reached a desired tenderness.<br />
Green Beans with lemon and garlic<br />
Ingredients<br />
• 1/2 kg green beans<br />
• 1/3 grated large shallot<br />
• 1 garlic clove<br />
• 2 tbsp lemon juice<br />
• Zest from 1 lemon<br />
• 3 tbsp olive oil<br />
• 1/2 tsp fresh parsley<br />
• Salt and pepper to taste<br />
Method<br />
1. Top and tail the green beans (chop off<br />
the ends)<br />
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to<br />
a boil. Cook the green beans in the<br />
water for 5 to 6 minutes; drain. Cool<br />
beans for about 10 minutes.<br />
3. In a small pan, melt the butter and<br />
the garlic together over very low heat.<br />
Cook for 2 minutes, being careful to<br />
avoid browning the butter. Remove<br />
the pan from the heat, and allow the<br />
garlic to sit in the butter for an additional<br />
5 minutes.<br />
4. Remove the garlic from the butter and<br />
discard. In a large bowl, combine the<br />
lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic infused<br />
butter, parsley, grated shallot, sea salt<br />
and a dash of pepper.<br />
5. Add the beans to the bowl and toss<br />
with the lemon juice mixture. Taste<br />
and adjust<br />
6. seasoning to your taste.<br />
Kachumbari<br />
Ingredients:<br />
4 medium tomatoes, sliced<br />
2 medium onions, finely chopped, washed<br />
with salted water, and drained<br />
½ cup fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice<br />
1 cup finely chopped cilantro, Dhania or<br />
parsley<br />
Method:<br />
Arrange the tomatoes on a serving platter<br />
with onions on top. Sprinkle the parsley<br />
(or cilantro) over the top. Splash the lemon<br />
juice over all. Serve Cold.<br />
Coleslaw<br />
Ingredients:<br />
200g white cabbage, finely shredded<br />
2 large carrots grated<br />
1 tsp. mustard<br />
60g sweet corn<br />
2 tsp. white wine vinegar<br />
75g mangoes roughly chopped<br />
Salt & freshly ground black pepper<br />
1 tbsp. mayonnaise<br />
Method:<br />
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix<br />
together well, then cover and chill for<br />
1hour before serving.<br />
DESSERT<br />
Rainbow Fruit Skewers<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 12 Strawberries<br />
• 6 orange segments (from 1 large<br />
orange), cut in half<br />
• 12 1” chunks of pineapple<br />
• 1 Watermelon, peeled and cut into 12<br />
1” chunks<br />
• 2 large Mangoes cut into chunks<br />
• 12 seedless grapes<br />
Method:<br />
Lay out 12 bamboo skewers. Prepare your<br />
fruit. Slide a strawberry to the top of the<br />
stick; next add chunks of orange, pineapple,<br />
watermelon, mangoes, and a grape. Repeat<br />
for each skewer.<br />
Grilled Cinnamon Pineapple<br />
Ingredients<br />
• 1/2 of a pineapple, cut into spears<br />
• 1/2 cup brown sugar<br />
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon<br />
Method:<br />
1. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon<br />
in a large zip lock bag. Add the<br />
pineapple spears, close the bag tightly,<br />
and shake it so that the cinnamon and<br />
brown sugar coats the spears. Place<br />
the pineapple in the refrigerator for at<br />
least 30 minutes.<br />
2. Pre-heat your grill to medium heat,<br />
around 350-400 degrees.<br />
3. Place the pineapple spears on the grill<br />
and turn them every few minutes.<br />
4. Grill the pineapple until it is cooked to<br />
your liking.<br />
Frosted Fruit Cup<br />
A cake-based fruity treat<br />
Serves: Six<br />
Time required: 20 minutes<br />
• 6 slices of readymade Swiss roll<br />
• 1¼ cup assorted fresh fruits of<br />
your choice (apples, oranges, melons),<br />
chopped<br />
• 1 cup fresh cream, whipped and<br />
sweetened<br />
• ½ cup grated chocolate<br />
• 6 cherries for decoration<br />
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Method:<br />
1. PLACE one Swiss roll slice in each of<br />
the six bowls or stem glasses. Arrange<br />
the fresh fruit on top. Fill the sweetened<br />
whipped cream into a piping bag<br />
fitted with a star nozzle.<br />
2. Pipe out cream stars on the fruits.<br />
Sprinkle with the chocolate chips<br />
or grated chocolate and top with a<br />
cherry. Chill before serving.<br />
Fruity Biscuit Pudding<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 1 packet bourbon biscuit<br />
• 1 cup mixed fruit – (melons, pineapple,<br />
bananas, apples, orange, grapes)<br />
• 100 gm semi sweetened cream<br />
• Grated chocolate<br />
• 1 Tbsp sugar<br />
• 1 cup water<br />
Method:<br />
Mix 1 tbsp of sugar and 2 drops of lime to<br />
the fruit and keep aside.<br />
Split each biscuit and dip it lightly in sugar<br />
syrup and layer it on a dish (wet it).<br />
Spread fresh cream over it. Sprinkle<br />
chopped fruits. Again spread cream.<br />
Decorate with grated chocolate or plain<br />
roasted nuts.<br />
Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.<br />
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COCKTAILS<br />
Tropical Surprise<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 1 medium mango, stoned, peeled and<br />
sliced<br />
• 3 passion-fruits, halved and seeds<br />
scooped out<br />
• 2-3 tbsp vodka<br />
• 1 medium pineapple, peeled and<br />
roughly chopped<br />
• 300ml (½ pint) double cream, whipped<br />
• 1 cup melon, peeled and sliced into<br />
wedges<br />
Method:<br />
• Reserve 4 slices of mango for the<br />
decoration and chop the rest. Mix with<br />
the seeds from 2 of the passion fruits<br />
and the vodka, and share between 4<br />
glasses.<br />
• Stir most of the chopped pineapple<br />
into half the cream and add to the<br />
glasses. Then add a layer of melon<br />
wedges and the rest of the pineapple<br />
and top with remaining whipped<br />
cream.<br />
• Place the mango slices in the cream<br />
and use some pineapple leave to<br />
decorate each dessert. Spoon the<br />
remaining passion fruit seeds over the<br />
top and chill until required, but eat on<br />
the day of making.<br />
Melon Quenchers<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups cantaloupe, honeydew,<br />
or watermelon puree*(about a quarter<br />
of a 4 lb. melon)<br />
• 3 ice cubes<br />
• 1/4inch slice fresh ginger, grated<br />
• Plain low-fat yogurt<br />
• 1 – 2 teaspoons honey<br />
• Shredded lime peel (optional)<br />
• Plain or flavoured sparkling water<br />
Method:<br />
In blender container combine melon puree,<br />
ice cubes, ginger, a teaspoon or two of yogurt,<br />
and honey. Blend just until mixture is<br />
frothy and smooth. Pour into serving glass.<br />
Add additional honey to adjust sweetness.<br />
Stir in lime peel to taste. Add sparkling<br />
water to fill glass.<br />
Serve with Frozen Melon Drink Skewers.<br />
Serve immediately.<br />
To Puree Melon:<br />
Coarsely chop melon and transfer to<br />
blender container. Cover and blend<br />
until smooth. If needed, stop motor and<br />
press fruit down into blades with rubber<br />
spatula or spoon and continue to blend<br />
until smooth.<br />
Fruit Sparkler<br />
Ingredients:<br />
1 bottle (25.4 ounces) cold white sparkling<br />
grape juice<br />
1/2 cup thawed frozen apple juice concentrate<br />
1 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract<br />
1 bottle cold club soda<br />
2 cups cut-up fresh fruit such as berries,<br />
grapes and oranges<br />
Method:<br />
Mix juice, concentrate and Extract in large<br />
pitcher.<br />
Stir in club soda and fruit. Serve immediately<br />
in tall ice-filled glasses.<br />
Purple Fruit Cocktail<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 200 g black grapes (seedless)<br />
• 100 g fresh pineapples, finely chopped<br />
• 100 g apples, finely chopped<br />
• ½ tsp cumin powder<br />
• A pinch of salt<br />
Method:<br />
• Blend the fruits with a little water<br />
to obtain a smooth mixture. Strain<br />
through a sieve. Add water to get the<br />
desired consistency. Add the cumin<br />
powder and salt and mix well. Serve in<br />
tall glass over crushed ice.<br />
Eggnog<br />
Ingredients:<br />
3/4 cup egg beaters (equal to three eggs)<br />
3 tbs sugar<br />
2 tsp vanilla<br />
1/4 tsp cinnamon<br />
1/8 tsp nutmeg<br />
2 1/4 cups milk<br />
2oz Cool Whip (about 1/4 of a regular sized<br />
tub) More can be added for extra creaminess.<br />
Mix all ingredients together until well<br />
blended and creamy. Egg beaters uses<br />
pasteurized eggs, so there is no risk of salmonella,<br />
but we recommend you consume<br />
all you make within 24 hours.<br />
Mango Bubbly<br />
Ingredients:<br />
• 600 ml Mango juice<br />
• Pink Champagne chilled<br />
Method:<br />
• Divide the mango juice between 6-8<br />
Champagne flutes.<br />
• Top up with Champagne.<br />
• Stir gently to mix and serve immediately<br />
Strawberry Martini Crush<br />
Ingredients<br />
12 fresh rosemary sprigs<br />
6 fresh strawberries<br />
3/4 oz. simple syrup<br />
1 1/2 oz. Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth<br />
2 oz. cranberry juice<br />
Method:<br />
Muddle rosemary, raspberries, and simple<br />
syrup in a mixing glass. Fill halfway with<br />
ice and add vermouth and cranberry juice.<br />
Shake 8-10 times. Double-strain into a<br />
chilled martini glass. Garnish with strawberries<br />
speared by a rosemary sprig.<br />
Baileys Spiced Coffee<br />
Ingredients<br />
2 oz. Baileys with a Hint of Coffee<br />
1 oz. fruit-flavoured liqueur<br />
Method:<br />
Layer pear-flavoured liqueur first. Then top<br />
with Baileys with a Hint of coffee. Garnish<br />
with nutmeg and a grind of seasoned pepper,<br />
and enjoy.<br />
The Flash<br />
Ingredients:<br />
5 slices cucumber<br />
3 pieces fresh melon<br />
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice<br />
2 oz. 209 Gin<br />
1/2 oz. organic simple syrup<br />
Method:<br />
In a pint glass, muddle fresh cucumber,<br />
melon, and lemon juice. Add ice, simple<br />
syrup, and gin. Shake vigorously and strain<br />
into stemmed cocktail glass. Garnish with<br />
sliced wheels of cucumber and melon.<br />
Sweet Vodka<br />
Ingredients:<br />
vodka<br />
1 tsp. honey<br />
2-3 ice cubes<br />
Shake ingredients together and serve in<br />
a tumbler. Garnish with a piece of fresh<br />
ginger.<br />
Sweetini<br />
Ingredients:<br />
Sweet Red Wine<br />
1oz Vodka<br />
0.5oz cranberry juice<br />
0.5oz lime juice<br />
Method:<br />
Fill your shaker with ice and add all the<br />
ingredients. Shake until cold. Strain into a<br />
martini glass and garnish with lime.<br />
Alcoholic Eggnog<br />
Ingredients:<br />
8 large eggs<br />
4 egg yolks<br />
1 cup granulated sugar<br />
5 cups whole milk<br />
1 1/2 cups Rum<br />
1 cup bourbon<br />
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract<br />
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg<br />
2 cups whipping cream<br />
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2 tbsp. superfine sugar<br />
Method:<br />
1. in a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, yolks,<br />
and granulated sugar until smooth.<br />
Pour into a large, heavy-bottomed<br />
saucepan. Stir in milk, gradually,<br />
blending well with each addition. Heat<br />
slowly over very low heat, stirring<br />
steadily until the mixture reaches<br />
160-170° F on an instant-read thermometer.<br />
The custard should be thick<br />
enough to coat the back of a spoon: If<br />
you draw your finger across the back<br />
of the spoon, the line will remain distinct<br />
and the custard sauce is done.<br />
2. Pour the custard through a finemeshed<br />
sieve into large bowl. Stir in<br />
vanilla the rum, bourbon, and nutmeg.<br />
Let mixture cool, then cover with<br />
plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold,<br />
at least 3 hours and or up to 1 day.<br />
3. Just before serving, whip cream to<br />
very soft peaks, beating in superfine<br />
sugar as you go. Gently fold into custard<br />
mixture until incorporated. Serve<br />
from a chilled punch bowl or ladle into<br />
individual martini glasses, garnishing<br />
with grated nutmeg if desired.<br />
MERRY CHRISTMAS<br />
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THE THIRTY-YEAR-OLD<br />
SINGLE WOMAN<br />
the island of lost men<br />
By Ciku Muriuki<br />
When a woman gets to my age (15 years<br />
old with 15 years of experience), and she is<br />
still single, there is a flurry of attempts to<br />
“hook her up”. Everyone she knows wants<br />
to set her up with their single brothers,<br />
sons, nephews, friends, neighbors, butchers...because<br />
God forbid she gets to the<br />
dreaded 35 without a husband. (I mean,<br />
what is it with 35? What happens then? Is<br />
there an apocalyptic event that takes place<br />
in one’s ovaries as soon as one arrives<br />
at that age? But I digress.) People start<br />
inviting you to all sorts of events; where<br />
they will “casually” introduce you to an<br />
acquaintance of theirs, then sidle away,<br />
leaving you and this complete stranger<br />
staring at each other, knowing that you’ve<br />
just been had. Often, these wildly transparent<br />
efforts are pointless, but sometimes,<br />
you are introduced to a guy whom you<br />
find interesting enough to agree to go on a<br />
date with.<br />
This happened to me a few months ago.<br />
One of my best friends had been talking<br />
about this guy, saying that I had to meet<br />
him. She talked him up like she was going<br />
to earn some sort of pimp allowance, waxing lyrical about his devastating good looks, his<br />
intelligence, his razor-sharp wit, and the fact that he ALWAYS smelt very, very good. Ok,<br />
you may think that last one is a little over the top, but you have to understand. Having<br />
met my fair share of men who smell like they have just finished a 12 hour shift at the local<br />
council dump, this was a very important selling point for me.<br />
Love cannot blossom if I’m holding my breath and counting the seconds until you leave<br />
so I can stagger out onto my balcony to take desperate gulps of clean air. No sir. A man<br />
needs to smell like he at least has an on-going relationship with a bar of soap and a<br />
shower stall. So anyway, after her thirtieth PowerPoint presentation extolling this man’s<br />
virtues, I caved and allowed her to set something up.<br />
When a woman gets to my age (15 years old<br />
with 15 years of experience), and she is still<br />
single, there is a flurry of attempts to “hook<br />
her up”. Everyone she knows wants to set<br />
her up with their single brothers, sons, nephews,<br />
friends, neighbors, butchers...because<br />
God forbid she gets to the dreaded 35 without<br />
a husband.<br />
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A few days later, my phone rang, and the<br />
caller ID displayed an unfamiliar number.<br />
Normally, I don’t take calls from numbers<br />
that I don’t know, but I knew that this guy<br />
was supposed to call, so I answered. As<br />
soon as I heard his voice, I gave my girlfriend<br />
a mental high five.<br />
This man had the kind of voice that you<br />
could listen to all day. Heck, he could read<br />
the phone book, and I’d hang on to every<br />
word. We made polite conversation, he<br />
threw in the occasional witticism and I had<br />
to physically restrain myself from giggling<br />
like a 13 year old at a Justin Bieber concert.<br />
Plans were made for us to meet the<br />
next weekend, and we decided to do lunch,<br />
which seems perfectly harmless and not<br />
quite as serious as dinner, and I was left to<br />
contemplate profound and world-changing<br />
matters like what I was going to do with<br />
my hair and what I was going to wear.<br />
Now at this point, I will take a moment to<br />
explain what women go through when they<br />
are preparing for a date, especially a first<br />
date. I don’t think men fully grasp the hysterics<br />
we women go into. I mean, if I make<br />
a good first impression, I already have a<br />
foot in the door. I actually know of women<br />
who rehearse what they are going to say in<br />
front of the mirror. Personally, I think that<br />
is a little out there – come on, it’s a first<br />
date, not the Oscars. A lot of time and effort<br />
goes into deciding what to wear. I want<br />
to look alluring, and not like I work at night<br />
on a street corner, if you catch my drift. My<br />
makeup has to play up my best features,<br />
while not giving the impression that my<br />
friend Bobo the Clown stopped in to help.<br />
Is my dress too short or too tight? Fashion<br />
is not the only thing to be considered under<br />
this most powerful microscope.<br />
What should I order? My personal rule is<br />
that I never order pasta on a first date,<br />
because slurping and Bolognese sauce<br />
trickling down my chin into my cleavage is<br />
NOT a good look. How far will I allow the<br />
night to go physically? That is the inside<br />
of a woman’s head as she prepares for a<br />
date. It is a very busy place, believe me.<br />
The day of our date dawned, and I spent<br />
the morning at the salon. I chose a style<br />
that was simple, yet sophisticated – no<br />
need to give him the impression that this<br />
was some great annual event. I got home,<br />
put on a simple yet pretty dress and a pair<br />
of sandals and set off to meet him.<br />
As I got out of my car, I took a few more<br />
calming breaths and walked into the restaurant.<br />
I had texted him earlier, telling him<br />
what I would be wearing so that he would<br />
know me when he saw me. Now, the very<br />
worst part of a blind date is walking into<br />
the venue and standing at the entrance,<br />
looking around, trying to manage your<br />
expectations, because the person you are<br />
meeting could look like the back of a bus.<br />
I stood there, looking around, and then<br />
caught sight of a very tall, very handsome<br />
man walking towards me with a smile on<br />
his face. I didn’t smile back because he<br />
could very well have been smiling at some<br />
unseen person behind me, and I’d be left<br />
standing there looking like a grinning idiot.<br />
However, the guy stopped in front of me<br />
and said my name with a question in his<br />
voice, and I heaved a giant sigh of relief. He<br />
looked exactly how he sounded…wide smile<br />
revealing almost perfect teeth and dimples,<br />
well groomed moustache and goatee…I<br />
had to hand it to my girlfriend. She wasn’t<br />
wrong when she told me how handsome<br />
he was.<br />
He led me to our table and pulled out a<br />
seat for me, and I mentally gave him fifty<br />
points for chivalry. We ordered, and proceeded<br />
to have the most interesting conversation<br />
I had had with a man for a long<br />
time. He was charming, witty, and best of<br />
all, he listened. I had been on dates where<br />
the guy went on and on about himself, his<br />
accomplishments, his house, his car, and<br />
would barely let me get a word in, so this<br />
man was a pleasant surprise. He quickly<br />
put me at ease, and we chatted our way<br />
through the main course and desert. When<br />
he had settled the bill (a gentleman always<br />
pays on the first date, ladies), much to my<br />
delight, he asked,<br />
“May I take you to one of my favorite<br />
places?”<br />
He clearly didn’t want our date to end! So I<br />
asked where, and he laughingly told me not<br />
to worry, he wasn’t trying to abduct me,<br />
where we were going was very public. We<br />
got into our respective cars, and I followed<br />
as he drove into the national museum. I<br />
gave him another 50 points: a man with<br />
culture. I had not been to the museum<br />
since I was in high school, so I was seeing<br />
everything with brand new eyes. We spent<br />
the rest of the afternoon soaking in the<br />
sights and talking about everything from<br />
art to music and family, and when we<br />
parted, he asked if he could call me that<br />
evening. Of course I said yes.<br />
He never called.<br />
I’m not even kidding. Days turned into<br />
weeks, as my emotions swung between<br />
confusion, irritation and anger. I could not<br />
understand what had happened. I thought<br />
it was one of the best dates I had ever<br />
been on. He had complimented my appearance.<br />
He had laughed at my jokes, as I<br />
had laughed at his. He had told me things<br />
about himself and his family. He had even<br />
extended the date – we had only discussed<br />
meeting for lunch, but we parted at 6 pm. I<br />
had not committed a single social faux pas.<br />
I talked to my girlfriend, and she couldn’t<br />
understand it either, because apparently<br />
he had texted her that day during her date,<br />
telling her that I was very attractive. We<br />
were both completely befuddled.<br />
After it became crystal clear that I was<br />
never going to hear from this man again, I<br />
consigned him to The Island of Lost Men.<br />
What is this mythical place, you ask? Well,<br />
this is an alternate universe where men<br />
with whom you thought you had a real<br />
connection with get sucked into. This is<br />
where they disappear to without a trace.<br />
This is the reason they don’t call, or text,<br />
or tweet, or instant message. There are<br />
many wonderful men stuck in the Island<br />
of Lost men, unable to communicate with<br />
the women sitting by the phone waiting for<br />
them to call.<br />
Self-delusion is a powerful thing, folks,<br />
meanwhile MERRY CHRISMASS TO<br />
YOU AND YOURS.<br />
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RELATIONSHIPS<br />
MARRIAGE ADVICE FROM A DIVORCEE<br />
by Gerald Roger<br />
The Internet is a very interesting place that<br />
we tend frequent while at work, at school<br />
at home, In bus while taking a walk. Most<br />
of us use the Internet to interact with each<br />
other via social media sites, when doing<br />
research, reading an online newspaper or<br />
blog and of cause for the dissemination<br />
of information. While online, we often<br />
come across the craziest or most weird,<br />
entertaining, encouraging and informative<br />
articles. Some times we just read them and<br />
move on, other times we share them with<br />
our friends and relatives for the purposes<br />
of either keeping each informed or for the<br />
sole purpose of entertainment.<br />
I came a cross this very interesting and<br />
heart warming piece from a recently<br />
divorced transformational leader / motivational<br />
speaker who admitted that there<br />
were a lot of things he could have done<br />
differently to save his marriage.<br />
Read it through and let us know what you<br />
think about it. I hope we all learn a thing<br />
or two from this article.<br />
“Obviously, I’m not a relationship expert.<br />
But there’s something about my divorce<br />
being finalized this week that gives me<br />
perspective of things I wish I would have<br />
done different… After losing a woman that<br />
I loved, and a marriage of almost 16 years,<br />
here’s the advice I wish I would have had...<br />
1) NEVER STOP DATING. NEVER EVER<br />
take that woman for granted. When you<br />
asked her to marry you, you promised to<br />
be that man that would OWN HER HEART<br />
and to fiercely protect it. This is the most<br />
important and sacred treasure you will<br />
ever be entrusted with. SHE CHOSE YOU.<br />
Never forget that, and NEVER GET LAZY in<br />
your love.<br />
2) PROTECT YOUR OWN HEART. Just as<br />
you committed to being the protector of<br />
her heart, you must guard your own with<br />
the same vigilance. Love yourself fully, love<br />
the world openly, but there is a special<br />
place in your heart where no one must<br />
enter except for your wife. Keep that space<br />
always ready to receive her and invite her<br />
in, and refuse to let anyone or anything<br />
else enter there.<br />
3) FALL IN LOVE OVER and OVER and<br />
OVER again. You will constantly change.<br />
You’re not the same people you were when<br />
you got married, and in five years you will<br />
not be the same person you are today.<br />
Change will come, and in that you have<br />
to re-choose each other everyday. SHE<br />
DOESN’T HAVE TO STAY WITH YOU, and if<br />
you don’t take care of her heart, she may<br />
give that heart to someone else or seal you<br />
out completely, and you may never be able<br />
to get it back. Always fight to win her love<br />
just as you did when you were courting<br />
her.<br />
4) ALWAYS SEE THE BEST in her. Focus<br />
only on what you love. What you focus on<br />
will expand. If you focus on what bugs you,<br />
all you will see is reasons to be bugged.<br />
If you focus on what you love, you can’t<br />
help but be consumed by love. Focus to<br />
the point where you can no longer see<br />
anything but love, and you know without a doubt that you are the luckiest man on earth<br />
to be have this woman as your wife.<br />
5) IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO CHANGE OR FIX HER… your job is to love her as she is with<br />
no expectation of her ever changing. And if she changes, love what she becomes, whether<br />
it’s what you wanted or not.<br />
6) TAKE FULL ACCOUNTABILITY for your own emotions: It’s not your wife’s job to make<br />
you happy, and she CAN’T make you sad. You are responsible for finding your own happiness,<br />
and through that your joy will spill over into your relationship and your love.<br />
7) NEVER BLAME your wife If YOU get frustrated or angry at her, it is only because it<br />
is triggering something inside of YOU. They are YOUR emotions, and your responsibility.<br />
When you feel those feelings take time to get present and to look within and understand<br />
what it is inside of YOU that is asking to be healed. You were attracted to this woman because<br />
she was the person best suited to trigger all of your childhood wounds in the most<br />
painful way so that you could heal them… when you heal yourself, you will no longer be<br />
triggered by her, and you will wonder why you ever were.<br />
Allow your woman to JUST BE. When she’s sad or upset, it’s not your job to fix it, it’s your<br />
job to HOLD HER and let her know it’s ok. Let her know that you hear her, and that she’s<br />
important and that you are that pillar on which she can always lean. The feminine spirit is<br />
about change and emotion and like a storm her emotions will roll in and out, and as you<br />
remain strong and unjudging she will trust you and open her soul to you… DON’T RUN-<br />
AWAY WHEN SHE’S UPSET. Stand present and strong and let her know you aren’t going<br />
anywhere. Listen to what she is really saying behind the words and emotion.<br />
9) BE SILLY… don’t take yourself so damn seriously. Laugh. And make her laugh. Laughter<br />
makes everything else easier.<br />
10) FILL HER SOUL EVERYDAY… learn her love languages and the specific ways that<br />
she feels important and validated and CHERISHED. Ask her to create a list of 10 THINGS<br />
that make her feel loved and memorize those things and make it a priority everyday to<br />
make her feel like a queen.<br />
11) BE PRESENT. Give her not only your time, but your focus, your attention and your<br />
soul. Do whatever it takes to clear your head so that when you are with her you are fully<br />
WITH HER. Treat her as you would your most valuable client. She is.<br />
12) BE WILLING TO TAKE HER SEXUALLY, to carry her away in the power of your<br />
masculine presence, to consume her and devour her with your strength, and to penetrate<br />
her to the deepest levels of her soul. Let her melt into her feminine softness as she knows<br />
she can trust you fully.<br />
13) DON’T BE AN IDIOT…. And don’t be afraid of being one either. You will make mistakes<br />
and so will she. Try not to make too big of mistakes, and learn from the ones you do<br />
make. You’re not supposed to be perfect, just try to not be too stupid.<br />
14) GIVE HER SPACE… The woman is so good at giving and giving, and sometimes she<br />
will need to be reminded to take time to nurture herself. Sometimes she will need to fly<br />
from your branches to go and find what feeds her soul, and if you give her that space she<br />
will come back with new songs to sing…. (okay, getting a little too poetic here, but you get<br />
the point. Tell her to take time for herself, ESPECIALLY after you have kids. She needs<br />
that space to renew and get re-centered, and to find herself after she gets lost in serving<br />
you, the kids and the world.)<br />
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15) BE VULNERABLE… you don’t have<br />
to have it all together. Be willing to share<br />
your fears and feelings, and quick to acknowledge<br />
your mistakes.<br />
16) BE FULLY TRANSPARENT. If you<br />
want to have trust you must be willing<br />
to share EVERYTHING… Especially those<br />
things you don’t want to share. It takes<br />
courage to fully love, to fully open your<br />
heart and let her in when you don’t know<br />
i she will like what she finds... Part of<br />
that courage is allowing her to love you<br />
completely, your darkness as well as your<br />
light. DROP THE MASK… If you feel like<br />
you need to wear a mask around her, and<br />
show up perfect all the time, you will never<br />
experience the full dimension of what love<br />
can be.<br />
17) NEVER STOP GROWING TOGETH-<br />
ER… The stagnant pond breeds malaria,<br />
the flowing stream is always fresh and cool.<br />
Atrophy is the natural process when you<br />
stop working a muscle, just as it is if you<br />
stop working on your relationship. Find<br />
common goals, dreams and visions to work<br />
towards.<br />
18) DON’T WORRY ABOUT MONEY.<br />
Money is a game, find ways to work<br />
together as a team to win it. It never helps<br />
when teammates fight. Figure out ways to<br />
leverage both persons strength to win.<br />
19) FORGIVE IMMEDIATELY and focus on<br />
the future rather than carrying weight from<br />
the past. Don’t let your history hold you<br />
hostage. Holding onto past mistakes that<br />
either you or she makes, is like a heavy<br />
anchor to your marriage and will hold you<br />
back. FORGIVENESS IS FREEDOM. Cut the<br />
anchor loose and always choose love.<br />
20) ALWAYS CHOOSE LOVE. ALWAYS<br />
CHOOSE LOVE. ALWAYS CHOOSE LOVE.<br />
In the end, this is the only advice you need.<br />
If this is the guiding principle through which<br />
all your choices is governed, there is nothing<br />
that will threaten the happiness of your<br />
marriage. Love will always endure.<br />
In the end MARRIAGE isn’t about Happily<br />
ever after. It’s about work. And a commitment<br />
to grow together and a willingness<br />
to continually invest in creating something<br />
that can endure eternity. Through that<br />
work, the happiness will come.<br />
Marriage is life, and it will bring ups and<br />
downs. Embracing all of the cycles and<br />
learning to learn from and love each experience<br />
will bring the strength and perspective<br />
to keep building, one brick at a time.<br />
These are lessons I learned the hard way.<br />
These are lessons I learned too late.<br />
But these are lessons I am learning and<br />
committed in carrying forward. Truth is, I<br />
LOVED being married, and in time, I will<br />
get married again, and when I do, I will<br />
build it with a foundation that will endure<br />
any storm and any amount of time.<br />
If you are reading this and find wisdom in<br />
my pain, share it those those young husbands<br />
whose hearts are still full of hope,<br />
and with those couples you may know who<br />
may have forgotten how to love. One of<br />
those men may be like I was, and in these<br />
hard earned lessons perhaps something<br />
will awaken in him and he will learn to be<br />
the man his lady has been waiting for.<br />
The woman that told him ‘I do’, and trusted<br />
her life with him, has been waiting for this<br />
man to step up.<br />
If you are reading this and your marriage<br />
isn’t what you want it to be, take 100%<br />
responsibility for YOUR PART in marriage,<br />
regardless of where your spouse is at, and<br />
commit to applying these lessons while<br />
there is time.<br />
MEN- THIS IS YOUR CHARGE: Commit to<br />
being an EPIC LOVER. There is no greater<br />
challenge, and no greater prize. Your<br />
woman deserves that from you.<br />
Be the type of husband your wife can’t help<br />
but brag about”<br />
BE FULLY<br />
TRANSPARENT.<br />
If you want to have trust<br />
you must be willing to<br />
share EVERYTHING…<br />
Especially those things<br />
you don’t want to share.<br />
It takes courage to fully<br />
love, to fully open your<br />
heart and let her in when<br />
you don’t know i she will<br />
like what she finds... Part<br />
of that courage is allowing<br />
her to love you completely,<br />
your darkness as well<br />
as your light. DROP THE<br />
MASK… If you feel like<br />
you need to wear a mask<br />
around her, and show up<br />
perfect all the time, you<br />
will never experience the<br />
full dimension of what love<br />
can be.<br />
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LET’S GO OUT<br />
KGL<br />
by Remmy Lubego<br />
KGL Fast Food gets price friendly<br />
and more fun<br />
If you haven’t been to KGL Fast<br />
Food, you probably haven’t been<br />
out for a good meal or for a<br />
fun packed night with friends<br />
and family at what’s currently<br />
considered Kigali’s number one<br />
spot. Some people even refer to<br />
it as ‘home to Kigali’s best food<br />
and music.<br />
To spice it up all, this festive<br />
season is the right time to dine,<br />
wine and party at Kigali Fast<br />
Food for they recently launched<br />
theme nights that will have food<br />
and drinks at considerably reduced<br />
prices. The theme nights<br />
took effect as from September<br />
2013. These theme nights that<br />
are meant to entertain their ever<br />
growing clientele. “Let no one<br />
say that Kigali city is boring during<br />
the week no more”<br />
‘Since we opened, we’ve had<br />
the most faithful patrons who’ve<br />
been around day in day out so<br />
we’re trying to pay back their<br />
loyalty by giving out these<br />
discounts and also introducing<br />
theme nights to create a unique<br />
experience not seen anywhere<br />
else in Kigali’ explained Price<br />
Muhoza, Kigali Fast Food’s CEO.<br />
Muhoza, also informed us that<br />
the new schedule is meant to<br />
ensure that there is something<br />
for everyone any day of the<br />
week.<br />
Furthermore, each theme night<br />
will comes with special menus<br />
and drink offers that you will not<br />
find anywhere else in Kigali.<br />
Every Monday, patrons celebrate<br />
the best of Reggae music in a<br />
night dubbed ‘Reggae Night’.<br />
Drinks such as Mutzig are on<br />
offer where by when a patron<br />
buys one he or she is entitled to<br />
another one absolutely free. Food packages<br />
such as quarter chicken with chips and a<br />
soda will also be at reduced and favorable<br />
prices.<br />
Tuesdays features the best of RnB and<br />
slow Jams in night dubbed ‘RnB and Slow<br />
Jam’ night.<br />
This night, also called ‘Bolognaise Tuesday’<br />
has specials on pasta dishes such as with<br />
chicken mushroom pasta, spaghetti bolognaise<br />
for going for absolutely favorable<br />
prices and the best part of it all is that<br />
all the above come with a glass of fresh<br />
juice (mango, passion, pineapple and tree<br />
tomato). On this night there other special<br />
discounts on Smirnoff cocktails.<br />
It’s ‘Afro Night’ on Wednesdays and apart<br />
from the numerous African hits played, it’s<br />
also a night for Africa’s most delicious food;<br />
nyama choma, washed down by Tusker<br />
Malt. With one nyama choma leg comes<br />
three tusker malt beers. For one nyama<br />
choma arm you get two tusker malt beers.<br />
If you buy three tusker malt beers, you get<br />
one brochette (goat/beef).<br />
Thursday is fun filled with an ‘Old school<br />
– Jam Session’ night that features a live<br />
band component (3 piece band) where performing<br />
customers have the chance to win<br />
a 3 litre Skol Beer Bottle. For anyone who<br />
buys three Skol beers, you get one free<br />
and buying one pizza gets you a complimentary<br />
mini pizza.<br />
Weekends are special and KGL Fast Food<br />
knows that. ‘Variety Night’ is the theme for<br />
both Friday and Saturday and you will not<br />
only dance and listen to all genres of music<br />
but also be treated to some pleasant food<br />
such as burgers at friendly prices as from<br />
9pm<br />
Sunday is reserved for ‘Oldies’ and new<br />
jack swing kind of music. KGL gives you a<br />
chance to reminisce on the good old days<br />
with that kind music. The special for that<br />
day are BBQ spare ribs with a glass of<br />
house wine, fresh juice, soda or a bottle of<br />
water that is meant to help you begin the<br />
weekend fresh like a cucumber!<br />
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ENTERTAINMENT<br />
“Life seems to go on without effort when I am<br />
filled with music.”<br />
George Eliot<br />
“Music can change the world because it can<br />
change people.”<br />
Bono<br />
To spice it up all, this festive season is the right<br />
time to dine, wine and party at Kigali Fast Food<br />
for they recently launched theme nights that will<br />
have food and drinks at considerably reduced<br />
prices. The theme nights took effect as from<br />
September 2013. These theme nights that are<br />
meant to entertain their ever growing clientele.<br />
“Let no one say that Kigali city is<br />
boring during the week no more”<br />
Despite all the theme nights listed above,<br />
Kigali Fast Food menus are also available<br />
for anyone who wishes to order from them<br />
and they entail a variety of dishes from<br />
burgers to pastas to nyama choma.<br />
KGL Fast Food is also known for its ample<br />
and secure parking, so don’t have to worry<br />
about you vehicle as you have fun for there<br />
is 24hr security.<br />
Now that you know about it, mark your<br />
calendar for a date with Kigali Fast Food<br />
for this festive it’s going to be a ball. I wish<br />
you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new<br />
year.<br />
lyrics<br />
Justine Timberlake<br />
“Mirrors”<br />
Aren’t you somethin’ to admire?<br />
Cause your shine is somethin’ like a mirror<br />
And I can’t help but notice<br />
You reflect in this heart of mine<br />
If you ever feel alone and<br />
The glare makes me hard to find<br />
Just know that I’m always<br />
Parallel on the other side<br />
Cause with your hand in my hand and a<br />
pocket full of soul<br />
I can tell you there’s no place we couldn’t<br />
go<br />
Just put your hand on the glass<br />
I’ll be tryin’ to pull you through<br />
You just gotta be strong<br />
‘Cause I don’t wanna lose you now<br />
I’m lookin’ right at the other half of me<br />
The vacancy that sat in my heart<br />
Is a space that now you hold<br />
Show me how to fight for now<br />
And I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy<br />
Comin’ back into you once I figured it out<br />
You were right here all along<br />
It’s like you’re my mirror<br />
My mirror staring back at me<br />
I couldn’t get any bigger<br />
With anyone else beside of me<br />
And now it’s clear as this promise<br />
That we’re making<br />
Two reflections into one<br />
Cause it’s like you’re my mirror<br />
My mirror staring back at me, staring back<br />
at me<br />
Aren’t you somethin’, an original<br />
Cause it doesn’t seem merely assembled<br />
And I can’t help but stare, cause<br />
I see truth somewhere in your eyes<br />
I can’t ever change without you<br />
You reflect me, I love that about you<br />
And if I could, I<br />
Would look at us all the time<br />
Cause with your hand in my hand and a<br />
pocket full of soul<br />
I can tell you there’s no place we couldn’t<br />
go<br />
Just put your hand on the glass<br />
I’ll be tryin’ to pull you through<br />
You just gotta be strong<br />
I don’t wanna lose you now<br />
I’m lookin’ right at the other half of me<br />
The vacancy that sat in my heart<br />
Is a space that now you hold<br />
Show me how to fight for now<br />
And I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy<br />
Comin’ back into you once I figured it out<br />
You were right here all along<br />
It’s like you’re my mirror<br />
My mirror staring back at me<br />
I couldn’t get any bigger<br />
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With anyone else beside of me<br />
And now it’s clear as this promise<br />
That we’re making<br />
Two reflections into one<br />
Cause it’s like you’re my mirror<br />
My mirror staring back at me, staring back<br />
at me<br />
Yesterday is history<br />
Tomorrow’s a mystery<br />
I can see you lookin’ back at me<br />
Keep your eyes on me<br />
Baby, keep your eyes on me<br />
‘Cause I don’t wanna lose you now<br />
I’m lookin’ right at the other half of me<br />
The vacancy that sat in my heart<br />
Is a space that now you hold<br />
Show me how to fight for now (please<br />
show me, baby)<br />
I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy<br />
Comin’ back into you once I figured it out<br />
You were right here all along<br />
It’s like you’re my mirror<br />
My mirror staring back at me<br />
I couldn’t get any bigger<br />
With anyone else beside of me<br />
And now it’s clear as this promise<br />
That we’re making<br />
Two reflections into one<br />
Cause it’s like you’re my mirror<br />
My mirror staring back at me, staring back<br />
at me<br />
You are, you are the love of my life [x10]<br />
Now you’re the inspiration for this precious<br />
song<br />
And I just wanna see your face light up<br />
since you put me on<br />
So now I say goodbye to the old me, it’s<br />
already gone<br />
And I can’t wait wait wait wait wait to get<br />
you home<br />
Just to let you know, you are<br />
You are, you are the love of my life [x8]<br />
Girl you’re my reflection, all I see is you<br />
My reflection, in everything I do<br />
You’re my reflection and all I see is you<br />
My reflection, in everything I do<br />
You are, you are the love of my life [x16]<br />
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BOOK REVIEWS<br />
A home without books is like a body<br />
without a soul - Cicero<br />
1. The five people you meet in<br />
heaven – By Mitch Albom<br />
2. The Secret – Rhonda Byrne<br />
3. Woman Thou Art Loosed<br />
– By T.D Jakes<br />
4. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari<br />
- by Robin Sharma<br />
If you enjoyed Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays<br />
With Morrie, you will be pleased that his<br />
latest work, The Five People You Meet in<br />
Heaven, does not suffer in comparison. A<br />
made-for-TV movie, released this February<br />
on DVD, Five People is about how<br />
each person we meet, though appearing<br />
insignificant, are part of the vast web of<br />
interconnection that affects our life. Eddie<br />
is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped<br />
in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a<br />
seaside amusement park. His days are a<br />
dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.<br />
Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in<br />
a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl<br />
from a falling cart. He awakens in the afterlife,<br />
where he learns that heaven is not<br />
a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where<br />
your earthly life is explained to you by five<br />
people. These people may have been loved<br />
ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them<br />
changed your path forever. It is a definite<br />
page turner.<br />
Have you been wondering about what ‘The<br />
Secret’ is all about. Well its a book, which<br />
discusses the Law of Attraction and how<br />
to use it in your life. The book introduced<br />
people to the concept that their thoughts<br />
may influence not only their actions, but<br />
the experiences that they bring into their<br />
lives as well.<br />
One of the insights the book shares is The<br />
Law of Attraction, the principle that you<br />
attract whatever you focus your energy<br />
on (good or bad), works with relationships,<br />
possessions, goals, and anything else you<br />
are able to focus on -- even your own<br />
health.<br />
The book shares other insights and specific<br />
strategies to use, gives a history of the<br />
use of the Law of Attraction, and provides<br />
examples on how it’s worked in the lives<br />
of various people, making it an interesting<br />
and informative read.<br />
This book speaks to the heart of every<br />
woman irrespective of you might be going<br />
through. The book tells the story of a<br />
young woman who must come to terms<br />
with a long history of sexual abuse, drug<br />
addiction, and poverty. From the early<br />
age of being brought up by a single mum<br />
who has different men of which one of the<br />
abuses her and takes her innocence at the<br />
young age of eight years.<br />
The balm of that book will soothe all<br />
manner of traumas, tragedies, and disappointments.<br />
For the single parent and the<br />
battered wife, for the abused girl and the<br />
insecure women, there is a cure for the<br />
crisis. In this soft word for the sensitive ear,<br />
there is deep cleansing for those inaccessible<br />
areas of the feminine heart. It’s a<br />
wonderful and motivational read.<br />
The book takes the form of a fable about<br />
Julian Mantle, a high-profile attorney with<br />
a crazy schedule and a set of priorities that<br />
center around money, power and prestige.<br />
As such, Mantle represents the values of<br />
our society.<br />
The story is told from the perspective of<br />
one of his associates, who admires Mantle’s<br />
great success and aspires to be like him.<br />
But when Mantle has a heart attack, he<br />
drops out of the game and disappears. He<br />
sells all his possessions and goes to India<br />
to seek a more meaningful existence.<br />
When he comes back, he’s a changed man.<br />
Really, it’s as if he’s a completely different<br />
person. He’s learned from some mythical<br />
Himalayan gurus who give him mystical<br />
and yet practical advice, which he shares<br />
with his former associate (and the reader)<br />
it’s a fable, and it’s one that will certainly<br />
make you give some thought to your life,<br />
your goals, your dreams and how your<br />
daily habits help you reach those dreams.<br />
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1. Silver Linings<br />
undiscouraged, Pat moves back in with his<br />
parents and devotes himself entirely to<br />
becoming the man his wife always wanted<br />
him to be. But it’s an uphill battle. Until Pat<br />
meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a beautiful<br />
young woman whose life also has not<br />
turned out the way she wanted. Together,<br />
the couple will try and navigate through<br />
their lives and stay true to who they are,<br />
always just one adventure away from a<br />
unique friendship, and possibly even love.<br />
Rating : 5<br />
2. Life of Pi<br />
MOVIE REVIEWS<br />
Director : David O. Russell<br />
Run Time : 2hr <strong>02</strong> minutes<br />
Director Ang Lee<br />
Run Time : 2hr 07minutes<br />
Pat Peoples (Bradley Cooper) is a man<br />
always trying to look on the bright side of<br />
life – the title of the story takes it’s name<br />
from the expression that “every cloud has<br />
a silver lining.” Released from the hospital<br />
after losing his wife to another man,<br />
Pat believes this age-old adage is just the<br />
ticket to trying to win her back and get his<br />
life on track. Trying to remain resolutely<br />
The film is based on Yann Martel’s comingof-age<br />
survival tale. A 16 year-old Indian<br />
boy’s passage to a new life in America<br />
aboard a freighter ends in a shipwreck in<br />
the Pacific as the lone survivor. He is left to<br />
fend for himself on a life raft with an orangutan,<br />
a hyena and a hungry Bengal tiger.<br />
He has to find a way to survive it all.<br />
Rating : 4.8<br />
3. The Hobbit Unexpected<br />
Journey<br />
Director : Peter Jackson<br />
Run Time: 2hr 41mins<br />
The mvie follows the title character Bilbo<br />
Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest<br />
to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of<br />
Erebor, which was long ago conquered by<br />
the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the<br />
blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo<br />
finds himself joining a company of thirteen<br />
dwarves led by the legendary warrior<br />
Thorin Oakenshield.<br />
Their journey will take them into the Wild;<br />
through treacherous lands swarming with<br />
Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant<br />
Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.<br />
Although their goal lies to the East and the<br />
wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first<br />
they must escape the goblin tunnels, where<br />
Bilbo meets the creature that will change<br />
his life forever... Gollum. Here, alone with<br />
Gollum, on the shores of an underground<br />
lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not<br />
only discovers depths of guile and courage<br />
that surprise even him, he also gains<br />
possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that<br />
holds unexpected and useful qualities... A<br />
simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of<br />
all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin<br />
to know.<br />
Rating 4.9<br />
4. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax<br />
Director: Chris Renaud / Kyle Balda<br />
Time: 1hr 35mins<br />
The Lorax, an adaptation of the classic tale,<br />
of a forest creature who shares the enduring<br />
power of hope. The animated adventure<br />
follows the journey of a 12-year-old<br />
as he searches for the one thing that will<br />
enable him to win the affection of the girl<br />
of his dreams. To find it he must discover<br />
the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet<br />
charming creature who fights to protect his<br />
world.<br />
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LETS PLAY SUDOKU:<br />
How to Play:<br />
These puzzles are intended for those who are new<br />
to Sudoku and are just developing their Sudoku<br />
solving strategies. Difficulty is not only determined<br />
by how many numbers are given but also by which<br />
numbers and their placement in the grid. Start by<br />
checking for the most frequent number and work<br />
row by row and column by column around the grid.<br />
How to Play:<br />
The rules of Sudoku are surprisingly simple. Just<br />
Count One to Nine!<br />
Every column, row, and 3×3 square must contain<br />
the numbers 1 through 9 exactly once.<br />
Every Sudoku puzzle has exactly 1 solution that can<br />
be solved logically without guessing.<br />
entertainmment<br />
Standard Sudoku Puzzle<br />
This one is as easy as the first one. However challenge<br />
yourself a bit more. Apply the same rules as<br />
stated in the first one. Have fun.<br />
Books AND Movies<br />
It’s always good to keep the<br />
children busy by providing for them<br />
one source entertainment or the<br />
other. However, as parents ensure<br />
that this forms or sources of<br />
entertainment are not only<br />
entertaining but also educative or<br />
informative to the children. We<br />
dedicate this page purely for the<br />
little angels at home.<br />
Kiddie Movies<br />
THE ICE AGE MOVIES<br />
Ice Age 1 – Sub Zero Heros (20<strong>02</strong>)<br />
Set during the Ice Age, a sabertooth tigerc<br />
called Diego, a sloth called sid, and a wooly<br />
mammoth called Manny find a lost human<br />
infant, and they try to return him to his<br />
tribe.<br />
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Ice Age 2 – The Meltdown (2006)<br />
Ice Age 3 – Dawn of the Dinosaurs<br />
(2009)<br />
Ice Age 4 – Continental Drift (2012)<br />
Manny, Sid, and Diego discover that the Ice<br />
Age is coming to an end, and join everybody<br />
for a journey to higher ground. On<br />
the trip, they discover that Manny, in fact,<br />
is not the last of the wooly mammoths.<br />
When Sid’s attempt to adopt three dinosaur<br />
eggs gets him abducted by their real<br />
mother to an underground lost world,<br />
Manny and Diego set out on an exhilarating<br />
attempt to rescue him.<br />
Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon<br />
another adventure after their continent is<br />
set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they<br />
encounter sea creatures and battle pirates<br />
as they explore a new world.<br />
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Creativity is Imagination<br />
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