Interesting Nairobi Roads - Rose Avenue, Kilinani

Rose Avenue runs from Ngong Road to Dennis Pritt Road but unlike other roads it is not straight, in two sections you actually have to drive for a short while on other roads just to get back to Rose Avenue. You can see this in the map below, the route in blue is Rose Avenue from Dennis Pritt Road to Ngong Road.

https://goo.gl/maps/Rg1Wl

Rose Avenue is the location of a quite a number of interesting places including The Royal Thai Embassy, The National Spinal Injury Hospital, Maina's Barber and Classic Salon and three hotels namely The Waridi Paradise Apartment Hotel, The Monarch Hotel and The Best Western Premier. Rose Avenue is very popular with pedestrians because it cuts right through Kilimani. It would be more popular with motorists if those contracted would actually finish constructing Rose Avenue. Sections of it have been completed to the delight of those of us looking for shortcuts through Kilimani, however some sections make for a difficult driving experience. The section of Rose Avenue from Lenana Road to Jabavu Road had been left unfinished for the last two years but it looks like some attempt is finally being made to complete construction. The section of Rose Avenue from Arwings Kodhek Road to George Padmore Road is in the worst shape. Most of this section is still dirt and lots of rocks making for a very rough drive. I was curious who was responsible for constructing this section so I took a picture of the sign placed at this section. I don't understand why the contractor namely Ragot Ltd never completed construction.

Last month I wrote here about street lighting in Nairobi and its seems that the Nairobi County Government has decided that Rose Avenue finally deserves proper lighting. It looks like street lights have been installed in most sections of Rose Avenue but I won't be able to tell their success unless I drive through at night; which I plan to do in the near future. For those curious about daytime driving conditions of Rose Avenue take a look at a video I shot of my drive through Rose Avenue. I filmed my drive through Rose Avenue twice, once starting at 4:15pm from Dennis Pritt Road to Ngong Road and once again at 5:15pm using the same route. This was on the 30th January 2015.

    

In one part of the video I refer to construction debris left on the side of the road, this is on the section of Rose Avenue from Lenana Road to Jabavu Road. I thought that was from some work on the road but I now realize it must be from when the street lights were being installed. Hopefully the debris will be cleared soon so pedestrians can use the sidewalk instead of putting themselves in danger by walking on the road. I also mentioned a sign in the beginning of the video but now realize unlike the one on Arwings Kodhek Road, this sign refers to the contract issued by the Nairobi County Government to install street lights on Rose Avenue. Hope you enjoy the video and find it informative.

UPDATE : 3rd March 2017

I have taken down the video because Rose Avenue has been repaired over the past year and apart from the section near Kilimani Police Station the road is okay.

The Best of Lee Min Ho

With Gangnam Blues soon to be released as his first leading role in a film, I decided to take a look back at some of Lee Min-ho's dramas. I realized there weren't that many clips of his dramas online so I decided to make one. The video is a compilation of my favorite scenes in Lee Min Ho's dramas.
It is longer than expected but I hope you like it.
I would like to say thanks to all the subbers who make enjoying kdrama possible for all of us.
For those who would like to skip some parts, the video is arranged as follows:

6. Mackerel Run 00:06
5. Boys Before Flowers 04:41
4. Faith 18:30
3. Personal Taste 21:33
2. Heirs 25:17
1. City Hunter 43:46

The content of the video is very skewed with my favorite kdrama City Hunter receiving the most attention followed by Heirs. Enjoy.

Fashion King - A drama I should never have watched

Once upon a time my favorite drama was Fashion King but it has now become one of the worst dramas I have ever watched, all because of the horrible ending. It had a promising start, the plot was great, the male lead was interesting, the female lead was cute and sexy. At one point I was so into Fashion King that I actually downloaded a raw episode(without subtitles) just to see what happens next. I made it through 5 min before giving up and deciding to wait for the subbed episode.
The first time around, I watched Fashion King all the way until episode 18 then decided to wait and watch the last two episodes together. I'm glad I did that because I don't how I would have reacted to that ending without being prepared.
The first indication that anything was wrong was when I went online to download the last two episodes and saw how the comments section had blown up. People were talking about the last episode using some pretty strong language. Some were actually asking for the writer, producer and director to be fired because of the last episode.
Of course in hindsight there were indications that something was up way before the last episode. The interactions between the male lead Kang Young-gul and female lead Lee Ga-young could often be frustrating and the viewer was sometimes left wondering if she really loved him. Anyway that was in 2012, I decided to forget about Fashion King and move on.
Last night I finally watched the last two episodes and I really regret it, I mean what the hell how can it end like that? As an avid drama watcher I am used to sad endings and sometimes even ambiguous endings but this ending is by far the worst I've watched so far. The second male lead Jung Jae-hyuk interfered by intercepting a letter so Young-gul and Ga-young don't meet in New York. In the end Ga-young goes to New York with Jae-hyuk and Young-gul is shot dead, drunk and alone in a pool wearing a fur coat while on the phone with Ga-young. telling him she misses him. All I could think was how sad and pathetic an ending for such a complicated character.
Fashion King has made me wary of kdramas, I still love watching drams but if an ending like that can happen once whose to say there won't be another one. Of course Fashion King isn't the only drama with a horrible ending, before watching Fashion King I would have said the worst drama I had watched was a Chinese drama called Summer's Desire. I am sure other people have their own ideas about what is the worst drama they've watched. The ironic thing is that there are actually parts of Fashion King I liked and still remember fondly but whenever I do that horrible ending comes to mind. I am going to find another drama to watch soon to be a palate cleanser and hopefully the disgust I feel will fade with time.

Romance of the Condor Heroes - Latest remake of wuxia drama Return of the Condor Heroes

I was browsing Viki.com recently looking for something to watch and came across Romance of the Condor Heroes. Based on the title I was hoping it was a remake of either Legend of the Condor Heroes or Return of the Condor Heroes. I was glad to see it was a remake of Return of the Condor Heroes which is my favorite wuxia drama. Wuxia is a genre of Chinese fiction referring to the exploits of martial arts adventurers in Ancient China. Return of the Condor Heroes is the second in a trilogy of wuxia novels written by Louis Cha(Jin Yong). The first being Legend of the Condor Heroes and the third is Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.
I have enjoyed watching Return of the Condor Heroes(2006) many times and I was happy to see there was a remake. Honestly the Condor Trilogy probably has the most remakes of any television series to date, they are just that popular. According to Wikipedia the earliest drama adaptation of Romance of the Condor Heroes was a drama produced in Hong Kong in 1976. Every few years since then another remake has come out, the latest before this one being in 2006. There is even an anime adaptation, produced in 2001.
Romance of the Condor Heroes has 50 episodes, I have watched up to episode 20 and so far so good, I like it. The problem with remakes is that they cannot avoid a comparison to previous drams. All the time I was watching I kept thinking about the 2006 version and how it had depicted the same scenes. The greatest difference is in improved graphics; obviously Romance of the Condor Heroes has been produced with better technology so the graphics are better. The story line so far is pretty much the same however the latest remake has gone into more detail into the background and motivation of the characters and the times they live in which has made the drama more fun to watch.
I couldn't stop myself from comparing the lead characters from both the 2006 version and this one. In my opinion Liu Yifei who plays Xiaolongnü in the 2006 version is more beautiful than Michelle Chen who plays the same character in Romance of the Condor Heroes. I can't make much of a comparison on their acting but so far Michelle Chen has portrayed the character well. Huang Xiaoming was great as Yang Guo in the 2006 drama and so far Chen Xiao who plays the same character in Romance of the Condor Heroes has been good.
Hopefully the good performances continue and Romance of the Condor Heroes can become my new favorite wuxia drama.

Nairobi: A Holiday Ghost Town no more

For the first time since I can remember I spent the entire holiday season, both Christmas and New Years in Nairobi and I discovered an interesting thing, Nairobi has changed. Most people travel out of Nairobi for the holiday season: either upcountry or to the coast. The fascinating thing about living in Nairobi is that even people like me who were born here do not consider Nairobi to be their hometown. Your hometown is usually where your grandparents live or where your parents were born; so when the holidays roll around the exodus begins, and Nairobi becomes a ghost town.
At least that's what used to happen, I was shocked during this holiday season to discover that quite a number of people remained in Nairobi. Shops like Nakumatt stayed open right through the holidays and I found a surprising number of people walking and driving in the city during this period as well. I don't know if people didn't have the money to travel out of Nairobi or if there has been a fundamental shift in how Nairobi residents spend their holidays. Of course entertainment venues in the city took advantage in higher numbers staying during the holidays to provide special programs. There were a number of large concerts held around the city celebrating the New Year.
One of the things I love about living in Kenya is seeing how things change over time, most of the time the change is positive and makes you feel great about the direction the country going towards. I am anticipating even more changes throughout 2015 and can't wait to see what happens next.

Happy New Year!!!

Thank You to all to all who have visited my blog in the past year and I hope you enjoyed my writing. I wish all my readers a prosperous 2015 and I hope all your dreams for the next year come true.