chocolate cake

Only those of you who have travelled will understand taking photos of food... but this was actually the best chocolate cake in the world. It was warm and gooey in the middle, perfectly rich but not too rich, with smooth vanilla ice cream to contrast. And it was in Ghana, and an hour out of Accra.

For anyone who is in Ghana and wants to know where to get this heavenly food, we were on our way up to the Aburi Botanical gardens. It's probably about ten minutes before you get to Aburi, on the right hand side, 'Hillburi', a restaurant and conference centre, with the promise of chalet accommodation in a few months. The restaurant looks over the Akuapem hills and has stunning views back to Accra. The food is fantastic, the infinity pool clean and cool, and the staff friendly and attentive. We had to fill in a questionnaire and everything.

the movies, ghana style

A friend and I went on saturday to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the new cinema complex in Accra. It's quite bizarre to have popcorn and sit in big cocooning cinema seats after having fought with the tro tro drivers of Accra on the way to get there, but at last I'm getting used to these crazy contrasts of culture that hit you daily.

What I'm not used to was the African way of watching films. Before it started, I'd say the cinema was about a quarter full, but of course, it filled up as the film was in progress - and not just the trailers, not even just the first few minutes; all the way through people were walking in!

There's a constant hum of chatter too. And people getting up and walking out. Mobile phones ring all the time. The gentleman next to me took a phonecall halfway through, wittering away. I very politely told him not to do it again. The lady next to Katie left when her crying baby wouldnt keep quiet, and was replaced by someone else. And a couple of rows in front of us people were taking pictures of the screen on their phones. And the sound kept going towards the end. I don't appreciate the interruptions to me and my beloved Harry Potter!

the non cocktail cocktail party

We are having a cocktail (‘drinks and small chops’) party after work today as a bit of a company re-launch. Sounds about as exciting as a cold teabag to me. Thing is, I don’t think there’s going to be any cocktails. Which is flaw no. 1 in the evening. I would be a lot happier if I could sit in the corner sipping away on a mojito. Or seven.

It looks like beers to me.

Also, no one seems bothered about concept of driving home after cocktail party. So even if they do have mojitos I shall be able to sip only a half, being the only person who actually has a conscience.

We have a new logo as the 'four men' are no longer legally ours. Can you picture the four men, red and leaning to one direction? Well the new logo, with all the imagination of a fridge, is those four red men mutated into four red blocks all sloping in the same direction as the four men, shaded in the same way.

In the same 'imagination of a fridge' vein, they are currently decorating our balcony in the Ghanaian style which is: wrap bits of material around the pillars and drape them over the windows Roman-style. I could have done waaay better with a few fairy lights. We now have rosettes which makes the place feel like a gazebo wedding off of a bad American chick-flick.

Next, I asked one of the girls what the dress code was for tonight, and to make it easier, what they'd be wearing, and she said oh just this and gestured to what she is wearing; a navy suit with a pink top, so I made an 'o ok' kind of noise and she said 'so can you find someting pink disting' - well no Linda I’m not going to come in exactly the same clothes as you are wearing, that would just be weird.

So really I'm none the wiser on Outfit. Can't go home and come back in exactly what I was wearing all day; that would be weird. Can’t go for my usual uniform of jeansandatop, as what we Brits view as casual chic Ghanaians view as shabby. And not shabby chic. And I don’t wanna go African if the girls aren’t going African. Oh look there’s the Obruni looking like a plonker in a big floaty print dress. Nope.