Teppanyaki

We went out for teppanyaki at Onami tonight. Teppanyaki is a Japanese-style cuisine where you sit around a flat grill and the chef chops and cooks everything in front of you.

But this was unlike any teppanyaki I've had before. My meal was SEVEN courses:

Cabbage Salad

Broccolli with onions and peppers

Shuyu Tofu

Stir-fried vegetables

Stir-fried rice

Miso soup

Carmelized pineapple with custard

The best part, though, was that the chef had Jeremy cook the stir-fried rice! I wish I had had my camera as he did the "Japanese egg roll" and tossed the rice like a pro!

Golf Club Membership

I never thought this would happen to me, but I am now a member of a golf club. Or, I should say that Jeremy is a member of a golf club, and I am a de facto member as his spouse. Since I don't play golf, I don't think I'll take much advantage of the membership.

As you might imagine, gold clubs in Africa are a bit different, and more affordable, than in America. Since I haven't actually visited MY golf club, I have to go by what Jeremy has told me. A major difference is having to deal with monkeys on the course. They don't attack the players or try to steal the balls, but sometimes they do hang out at the tee box or along the course, and it's a bit unnerving to turn your back on a nearby monkey to concentrate on your swing. Another fun thing is that the club has a specific rule regarding safari ants. Safari ants travel in colonies eating anything that comes in their path - grass, plants, fruit, your toes, or anywhere on your body if they happen to crawl up your leg! So, the golf club rules are that if your ball lands in the path of safari ants, you get a free drop, meaning you can move the ball away from the ants with no penalty.

For now, we are still probationary members, which means any full member can ask management to rescind our membership if he feels we are unsuitable for the club, or act like jerks on the course. Since I don't know much about golf club etiquette, it's probably safest for me not to visit the club until our membership is fully approved. :)

Hiking in Karura

We went hiking today in Karura Forest. Karura is only a 5-minute drive from our house. It was a great hike...and we only went through part of the forest. We saw a small waterfall and marveled at the locals playing in the polluted water. And we walked through a small cave with some sleeping bats. Hopefully we'll go back again soon.

Birthday Celebration

My birthday fell on Easter weekend this year. Since I had a four-day weekend off work, we traveled to Diani, on the Kenyan coast of the Indian Ocean. For my birthday, we went to Ali Barbour's Cave Restaurant.

Ali Barbour's is set in an actual coral cave, with the rooftop opening to a beautiful starlit sky. It also offered the first gourmet meal we've had since leaving Washington DC. As a couple who enjoys going out to nice restaurants, we were so happy to be in a romantic restaurant eating delicious, creative food served by courteous staff.

Our concierge had made the reservation for us and obviously mentioned it was for a birthday, because the maitre d' asked whose birthday it was when we arrived. As we ate appetizers, main course, and then dessert, I was on guard for an embarrassing birthday moment. But we finished dessert and nothing had happened yet, so I figured I was in the clear. As the server picked up our dessert plates, she leaned towards Jeremy and said "I would like to be seeing you." Jeremy looked confused, so I translated for him: "She wants to talk to you for a minute." He spoke with her briefly and then sat back down at the table...and I knew it was coming. From behind me I heard voices singing "Happy Birthday," a small cake with a sparkling candle was placed in front of me, and I was handed a big cake knife.

As the servers faded away, Jeremy and I laughed and laughed that we had already eaten dessert and now had to stuff down this cake that the staff had kindly prepared for us. Jeremy told me that when the server pulled him aside she said "we have a cake...when do you want it?" And he's thinking "uh...before we ate dessert" but instead said "now would be good." It was a long meal, but makes for a good story!

More driving adventures in Nairobi

It's awesome to be riding in a cab...at night, in the rain...watching the windshield fog up because the defroster doesn't work, and the driver swiping at the windshield with his hand in a desperate attempt to see out. To top it off, we run into a ditch because he can't see where the road ends and cuts a corner too close.

What's up with the supermarket employees?!

Customer service is basically a foreign concept in Kenya, so you learn pretty early on to lower your expectations. But the supermarket employees here have the strangest habit that I just don't understand:

I'll be going down the aisle slowly, looking for something on the shelves...or I'll be picking up a couple items comparing them, and a nearby employee will stop what he's doing and watch me or sometimes move closer to me. He won't ask if I have a question or need help, but he's basically hovering and watching me. It's really annoying and unnerving. Maybe they've been taught this in their customer service class...to be available for questions...but it ends up coming off like they need to keep an eye on me or I might steal something off the shelves. This happened to me four times today during my trip to the store, and I was about ready to scream. Instead I looked back at one of them until he turned away and moved along.

Kenya milk

Aahh, Kenya. We bought this milk yesterday and by today it looked like this. I've never seen milk separate before. What's even better is that on one of our roads trips out of town, there were people selling small jugs of milk on the side of the road. Yum...milk that's been in the 80 degree Kenya heat for hours!