My time in Kampala is nearly up... Time to go back!

It's nearly one month since i touched down in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. I have been working in the new environment, new culture for nearly a month. I met lots of new friends and just started to gel into their lifestyle and that's i need to be back to Malaysia again. I have been experiencing different food and different lifestyle and different culture... Am i having a culture shock? Yes, but now i'm okay...

Anyway, I'm looking forward to back to Malaysia to catch up with my friends. Folks, will have to go out to yamcha yamcha eh!... Yup! I will be back to Malaysia next week. How long i will be staying in Malaysia... still yet to decide... maybe a month or so ... depends on when i will be coming back to Kampala again.... :p

Soon I will miss my new friends here and the fresh air in Kampala city... the daily security check before we entered the building... The nice gym and friendly fitness manager + his staff in Sheraton Kampala... not to forget my every day gym buddy, Mary... She will miss me soon :-p Mary don't be lazy eh!... U have to hit the gym even i'm not here in Kampala.

Last but not least, the privilege that i got in Kampala, Uganda... the respect to a consultant from outside the country. The happening place on every Friday and Saturday night that i could not sleep until 4am... Not that i was partying every Friday, Saturday... just the loud music that made me awake until 4am... The apartment that i stayed are surrounded by different theme bars... from the local African to the Expat kind of bars... I haven't had the chance to visit all of them :-)

All of these will be temporary put aside until i'm coming back to Kampala again... Malaysia here i come... It's nice to be home :-p

Tiring Gym session...

I was working hard to achieve nice nice body before i go back to Malaysia for my first vacation. I wanted to proof all my friends wrong about i will put on weight in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. In fact, i think i have built to have better body shape than i had in Malaysia... :-p

My gym buddy, Simon, KW, YK, Little gray dot(yet to be)... here i come, since you people think that i will definitely put on weights... hahaha :-p U will be surprise, i took out the challenge and working even harder than in Malaysia!...

BTW, Isaiah (used to be my Personal Trainer in Malaysia), i have successfully maintained my body shape even better than i was in Malaysia. My six packs is coming out with my 40 reps of sit up and leg raise; bridge and side bridge for 2 mins... now i could felt my abs is so sore...

Besides, i also working out on my chest, back, bicep and tricep... not forgetting my shoulder too... :-p

Sigh!... i felt soreness on my whole body including the chest, lat muscle and etc... after a hard workout yesterday and today... I think i need a nice steam bath and sauna to relax myself after tomorrow gym session... :-p

So, should i post a half naked upper body picture to show the result? hahaha :-p errrr... i don't think so as i'm shy ;-)

Bahai Temple trip

Last weekend, my colleagues has organized a short trip out of the so called "my square box" hehehe :-p This time we went to Bahai Temple. This is a worship place Bahai Faith.

A Bahá'í House of Worship, sometimes referred to by its Arabic name of Mashriqu'l-Adhkár (Arabic: مشرق اﻻذكار), is the designation of a place of worship, or temple, of the Bahá'í Faith. The teachings of the religion envision Houses of Worship being surrounded by a number of dependencies dedicated to social, humanitarian, educational, and scientific pursuits, although none have yet been built to such an extent.^[1][2]

Only eight Houses of Worship have been built around the world, with a ninth soon to be constructed in Chile. Bahá'í communities own many properties where Houses of Worship remain to be constructed as the Bahá'í community grows and develops further. The Houses of Worship are open to the public, and are exclusively reserved for worship, where sermons are prohibited and only scriptural readings may be read. Most Bahá'í meetings occur in local Bahá'í centres, individuals' homes, or rented facilities.^[1]

We rented two taxis from Kampala downtown to the Bahai Temple on the other hill called Kikaya Hill. The journey there was kind of adventurous... going through all the unpaved road :-) You need to have a good driving skill to drive in Kampala...

Road with lots of pothole...

Lady carried her child walking besides the road

Downhill road

Not able to drive in a straight line with lots of holes

Finally we reached the Bahai Temple... the only Bahai temple in Africa.

Hallway outside the worship hall...

Me in front of Bahai Temple... The only temple in Africa continent

The bahai temple is built with a well maintain garden... A very beautify garden...

Since the temple is located up the hill, from the garden we would be able to see the Kampala City :->

Kampala City from Bahai Temple Garden

We left the Bahai temple after 1 hour of photo snapping and chilling out there. It was a peaceful place with a beautiful garden. You must be wondering why there was no picture on the inside of the building which is the worship hall... unfortunately... photo taking is not allowed in the hall. So i could not get any picture to show all of you.

Anyway, folks thanks for your patients and sorry to keep all of you waiting ...

More pictures : http://www.flickr.com/photos/7986917@N03/tags/bahaitemple/

I'm back online ....

The internet was down for 4 days... finally, it's back up again :-)

Anyway, for the past three days, I was having a lots of meeting together with my new team in the project. Guess what? I have my first taste of the African food :-) The African food is nice and it tastes superb. I like the steam sweet potatoes, yam and banana with the peanut sauces. And the mutton with some sauce, I just don't know what kind of sauce but it's Yummy! :-p I will have more African food with my new team members here in Kampala moving forward... they are going to bring me for lunch in some local restaurants nearby our workplace.

BTW, I got few Guru to teach me Luganda (the language of Uganda) too. I'm going to pick up the language. Anyway, it has been a busy week and it's Friday now. I will be hitting the gym in a short while and go to my boss place to have dinner and chill out there after my gym session.

Ciao!

Leaving for Bahai Temple - Kampala

I'm all set to take more picture today ... the weather is not as sunny as few days back... Looks like it's going to rain. But anyway, we are leaving for Bahai Temple in 45 mins... :-p

This is the 2nd time that i go out from the square where i stayed. I'm very comfortable to go from my apartment to the gym @ Sheraton Kampala. And now i'm expanding my comfort zone to cover more places i.e some market that selling fresh fruits and vegetables beginning next week.

Stay tune folks ... will post some nice picture of Bahai temple ... :-)

BUSY! ....

Need to get lots of things done by end of today... :-p

Only survivor is also gone :-p

I was suffering from Mosquitoes buzzing for the past two days until last night... I was sleeping soundly after i got this mighty insect spray from my colleague. hehehe :-p The only survivor has also gone after i used the spray... :-)

I slowly recovered from not enough sleep from the previous two nights... Guess what? for the past two days, I was a walking zombie during the day and became tiny vampires' meal during the night... sigh! Thanks to the Farco Rapid Kill... I got back my sleep. :-p

On my last entry, couple of you would like to know why mosquitoes tends to buzz in human's ear... I google and found this interesting statement and hope this answer your question...

A ranger at a local park told me that since mosquitoes are attracted by the smell of carbon dioxide, given off by us when we exhale, perhaps the mosquitoes benefit from our jumping about when they try to buzz us, causing more breathing and more carbon goodness. Another expert said it was a little warning sign, a gift from nature, like a snake’s rattle. Another said the tone attracts the male. Then why in MY ear? Does anybody really know? (extracted from Why do mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ear?)

4 die 1 survived...

Yesterday night was a bad night for me.... I was trying to sleep early but unfortunately the aircon got cut off deal to the voltage irregularity... Anyway, whenever the aircon is cut off... the next thing u will felt the blood sucking friends flying around your ear to say hello... :-p

Due to the room was quite hot and stuffy... I have no choice but to accept the situation... something keeps bother me and making tiny little noisy... I woke up by these mosquitoes and would not be able to continue to sleep... so i read some article in the net with my laptop.

The mosquitoes were so difficult to chase away from my room... at the end i was trying to catch and kill the mosquito... Managed to kill 4 and left one... :-p

Is the gym value for money :p

Finally i decided to sign up for a month membership at the Sheraton Kampala Kidepo Gym... I'm getting back my gym life... hurray! Now, I'm hitting the gym everyday to maintain my nice nice body :-p BTW, I'm working hard to archieve my 6 packs which has due long time ago. Hopefully i would be able to become one of the magazine cover in Malaysia or maybe magazine for Uganda too... hehehe :-p

Last Thursday i.e. Uganda Independent day, I decided to sign up the gym for a month. I will revisit the membership after one month. Anyway, I'm very happy with the Sheraton Kampala Gym facilities, the gym membership includes the swimming pool, gym, sauna/steam bath, Tennis, Squash and USH10,000 discount for the massage. Don't ask me how much is the gym membership eh!.. It definitely way expensive then Fitness First :-p

* the picture is taken from Sheraton Kampala website

Is the gym value for money compare with Fitness first?
I would definitely say no. The equipment in FF is much more advance... the classes is much more better ... here classes need to pay extra and the step class sucks... even i could teach steps here (i'm not an advance steps participant back in FF) :-p Moreover, there are No bodypump, No bodycombat, no RPM, no Bodybalance, no Pilate too ... Sigh! :-(

Is the gym value for money compare to other gym in Kampala?
Yes, the gym surrounding Kampala is ranging from extremely expensive to those cheaper gym i.e. local gym. Those cheaper gym was not so hygiene and was so crowded. I went to a gym in the Africana hotel (a local hotel)... the gym was quite okay with the price they offer (still more expensive than FF)... but unfortunately i need to wait for 30 mins to do my workout on one machine ... until i have no mood to continue. Kidepo gym in Sheraton Kampala is nearer to my work place and apartment ... so it's only walking distance to go to the gym... and it's within the safer zone... where else the other gym in Africana still walking distance but it located in a not so safe place... I rather pay more to get my safety assurance here in Kampala. :-p

Anyway, since i have choosen to come to Africa, i shouldn't be complaining too much ... hehehe it's my choice to come over to Africa thought. So, the current gym that i have is good enough in the city of Kampala... :-) I'm glad to have my gym life back!

Uganda independent Day

Wasuze otya nno?

Today is a national holiday for people of Uganda. The Uganda people celebrated the Independence day on the October 9th 1962.


The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, within which it shares borders with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, which encompassed a portion of the south of the country including the capital Kampala. (powered by Wikipedia - uganda)

I'm staying @ Kampala Road which is the main financial and government district of Kampala city. There was a very small version of independence parade this morning. I managed to capture some shots...






The theme for the clebrations is: “Working for the common good of Uganda–A necessary requirement for the protection and solidification of our independence.”

Btw, here is the national anthem of Uganda :-)
Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty (listen here )
Oh Uganda! may God uphold thee,
We lay our future in thy hand.
United, free,
For liberty
Together we'll always stand.
Oh Uganda! the land of freedom.
Our love and labour we give,
And with neighbours all
At our country's call
In peace and friendship we'll live.
Oh Uganda! the land that feeds us
By sun and fertile soil grown.
For our own dear land,
We'll always stand,
The Pearl of Africa's Crown.


Happy Independence Day @ Uganda Africa...

World biggest Hut...

I visited the world biggest hut made by straw in Kampala city Uganda. Kasubi Tombs is the place where the world biggest hut located. Inside this hut, there were the burial ground for the 4 Buganda King.



This site has been granted the World Cultural Heritage by Unesco... Hurray! I visited a Unesco Heritage in Africa.

Man preparing for the maintenance work @ the hut

The roof @ the world largest hut

World largest hut

Ugandan student was listening to the story about Buganda

African chess

BTW, i learnt three vacabulary of Luganda (i.e. the Uganda local language).
Uganda people = Muganda
Uganda kingdom = Buganda
Uganda Language = Luganda

So Anyone can guess what is Malaysian, Malaysia and Bahasa Malaysia in Luganda?

No Transport!

I was having an assignment in an area office @ the hilltop about 10km from the building i'm working. Due to lack of transportation, my new colleague (who is an ugandan) and I have decided to walk from downtown Kampala to one of its Suburban. The walk took us about 45-60 mins uphill... The hill was very slopy and i was sweating all along the way. When we reached the office @ Nakesaro, I was all sooth with my own sweat.

Since i reached Kampala last week... I don't have idea how many kilometers that i have been walking. I was walking to the gym uphill... walking to the mall downhill and uphill... and walking to the office uphill too... guess what? I also walk up the stair to 10th floor due to the elevator having some issue... Sigh! ;-) A good cardio for me ... hehehe :-p

Fortunately, the weather over here is windy and the temparature is nice for walking compare to back home.

Got Molested....

For my week in Kampala, I was molested nearly everyday... You must be thinking what happened to me? :-p

I constantly being molested by people looking and staring @ me in a kind of different way... But this is quite okay as i already got used to it... btw, it kinds of felt good to get some attention ;-) I also got the other molester i.e. physical molest... Hey! I know i'm not a plant or animal but i'm a human eh!...

Day time
I was molested by those children that came to me for money... the moment i walked down the street in the day time, I usually attracted many children that approach me for money... do i look like a rich guy... yaya! i was like as poor as you... Sigh! some of them just touches my leg... so far no one touches my front... what a relief! :-p

Night time
Last Friday, I was out with my colleagues to explore the bar in Kampala. i got molested again, this time it was three African ladies whom standing near the street. She came around and touched my hand, arm and body... they were so aggresive, trying to pull and talk to me... I just ignored them and continued walking... I was being rude but better to be rude than risking my safety... Anyway, i belief they will not harm me but still be cautious :-) I just wondered why am i always the target... ? hehehe... Maybe i'm white and muscular to them ... ;-p

Guess what? I was buying my lunch this afternoon @ Nando's... Suddenly one lady just touch my butt... ooo... I got a shocked and turned back, she just gave me a smile... how i reacted? Just gave her a smile back too... Anyway, I just got molested again... now i know lady over here like to eat Tofu... especially like to eat the white's tofu :-p muhahahah....

Sunday morning in Kampala...

It's a quiet Sunday morning in downtown Kampala city... I think all of them are in the church by now... Anyway, I'm going to explore the gym @ Sheraton Kampala later. Wanted to give it a try and find out which gym should i sign up with...

From my place to Sheraton Kampala, I need to walk up the hill to the central park. (pic is taken from the balcony where i stayed). There is a nice park besides the Sheraton Kampala. One day i should pay a visit to the park and take some nice shots... Again it's quite difficult to take picture in Kampala... People here are so sensitive towards picture taking, especially when i shown up with DSLR... Sigh!

I was in the kitchen a moment ago, my housemate mess up the kitchen again... all the dirty dishes and left over food was sitting in the sink... It was so damn dirty... I don't feel like cooking my noodles in the kitchen. I think i better just take some snack, hit the gym and have lunch later @ Nandos... sigh!

Sleepless in Kampala...

It's 4am now... I'm still awake, I couldn't sleep coz the mosquitoes are accompany since 1am. The aircon has shut off since then due to the irregularity of the power supply again. SIGH! This time the voltage is too high. The AVS has sent a signal to shutdown the Aircon *Sob Sob*... Give me back my Aircon and sleep.

You must be wondered why i don't use the my Mosi-Guard... but man! the Mosi-Guard is useless in Uganda... Mosquitoes in Uganda don't even scare of my Mosi. Mosi you could retire in Uganda... :-p I think i need to ask the maintenance guy to fix the mosquitoes net for me next Monday. It's important...

Anyway, I was so tired but I couldn't sleep... what a torture Saturday morning :-( This reminds me of a question from Silencer on why am i in Uganda? Good question? Why i choose to suffer with sleepless night in Uganda? Yet, giving up all my family members, friends and my cool lifestyle back home... Anyway, this is part of the package of new experience :-p

A friday nite without TGI Fridays...

What would it be if a Friday night without TGI Friday's? Boring? Guess what? there is no TGI Fridays in Kampala city. *Sob Sob* BTW, this is my 1st Friday night in Kampala City. I'm going out to explore their night life in Kampala.

For the past 1 week, I have drawn so much attention when i walked on the street. I bet tonight i will be the center of the spotlight. I hope i would not create some inconvenience for myself as i heard the African young ladies are very aggresive to get to know the whites... Scary lah! What if i'm not attracting the Africa ladies but attracted the African guy? How?... Anyway, who's care at this moment... just go out there and see what will happen... :-)

Will blog about my experience later eh!... hopefully my colleagues are going together with me so that i was not alone in the bar... at least if something happen to me, I still have someone to rely on :-p

Let's see what will happen.. I gotta to go and get change now as I will meet up my colleagues downstair... we will be going for dinner and later hit the bar as our initial plan :-p

Boda Boda - Faster transportation to cruise around Kampala

What is Boda Boda? hehehe... sound a little weird... :-p
This is a very convenient and fast mean of transportation to cruise around Kamapala city especially during the traffic jam...

Boda Boda is quite dangerous as the driver going like fast and crazy cruising the city from one destination to another destination. So if you are brave enough this will be a better transportation than the "bus". Moreover, Boda Boda is cheap... it's less than USH1,000 (RM2.00). I'm still not that brave to use this means of transportation... :-p Maybe one day i will try thot...

The boda boda was waiting for passenger

Lady was sitting on the boda boda

The lady paid after she arrived @ her destination. How much?

Sunset @ Kampala...

Folks, I managed to capture the sunset @ Kampala yesterday evening from the balcony...
More pictures coming soon. Gotta to hit the office now. Ciao ;-)

Sorry no electricity...

Irregularity of the electricity power supply is a known issue in Kampala city... I was encountered electricity issue since day one when i landed in Kampala... the aircon is up and down when the voltage of the electricity is unstable. It happened almost 6-7 times for the past 5 days. 4 times in the office and 3 times in the apartment. Sigh!

The owner of the apartment has installed this AVS to protect the electrical appliances. The aircon will not be working either the voltage is low or high, same to the others kitchen appliances. Anyway, this is the first time i saw this AVS. It was @ the corner of the room that i stayed.

After experienced this kind of situation, i was glad that back home don't have this kind of issue/problem :-)

Earthquake @ Uganda

I encountered the shaking of the building at about 17:15 in the office... the whole city was shaking due to a mag 4.6 earthquake stroke near the Lake Victoria Region Uganda.

I'm White :-p

The moment i touched down in Kampala Airport @ Entebbe. I was considered white (Ang Moh) by the local.... hehehe :-) In another words, i got Ang Moh Power (AMP)... Matt, i have AMP in Africa eh! Muhahaha....

Case #1: It happened last night when i was eating in the Nandos (yup, the Nandos that Malaysia have). I was looking for Peri Peri Sauce, I went back to the counter and the African lady was so polite and helpful to get the Peri Peri sauce from the other table and passed it to me even though the other table still having their meal. hehehe .... I got the power eh! ... I'll definitely go back to Nandos... :-)



Case #2: Besides, yesterday case, i was treated differently in term of security check in any building @ Kampala. Usually, i will greet them and say hello or good morning to them. The security guard didn't even open my beg to check and just let me past... so the local really trusted the whites :-p

Case #3: Lot's of people trying to strike conversation... I was like Matt (my buddy) in Malaysia... popular :-p Hiak Hiak Hiak... Now i felt what Matt feels. Back to the question from my friends whether i would get an African lady... I have no idea and no comment... :-p

Case #4: It was a disadvantage to be a white in Kampala too. I was charged higher than what they charged the local and Indian especially riding with this so called "buses"... This was a good experience and learning in my life... it was a modified van to transport people from one place to another. So, my new colleagues and I were hitting the gym yesterday evening and we were using this transportation... My first time in the "bus". It cost me RM1.00 for travelling on about 5KM in distance. It was quite dark and we had no choice but take this bus. Anyway, it was a good experience and now i knew how to take the bus to and from the gym. :-) Need to tell them i'm a poor White man too, otherwise they charge me more :-p



So, if you as white as me, as blond as me, as muscular as me... you are qualify to be white in Kampala, Uganda.... hehehe ;-)