Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Wetin de happen? A Short Guide to Freetown.
I realize the blog has been rather silent lately. That is for two reasons: One, my thoughts as of late have not been so pithy as to be articulated in fifteen minutes of writing; and two, I feel that the market for blegs* has been cornered by all sorts of witty young economists, august New England economists, aid workers, and two of my best friends.
Therefore, I take the move that one low-budget publication inevitably takes when it finds itself short on regular content: Move to magazine format. Today, I introduce to you to the first of a highly irregular set of issues, a culmination of 6 months of note-taking: "Wetin de happen? A Short Guide to Freetown".** Sadly, no glossy photos because the internet isn't fast enough.
Supper
The Senegalese Restaurant, on Wilkinson Road, just east of Basha Bakery with the green neon light. The "Fish Attieke" is the best plate in town, delicious after squash or tennis at the nearby Young Sportsmen's Club. Grilled snapper with chopped onions, tomato, docile pepeh sauces and attieke, a delicious starchy dish made from cassava.
Indochine, Aberdeen road, just west of Paddy's. Take all the good--not great, but good--Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants in California and take the arithmetic mean. Then add a fishpond, pleasant red lanterns and surprisingly novel sliding glass doors.
Mamba Point, just off Bottom Mango Roundabout, is like "the club" in Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter, but with 100 more members, flat screen television, excellent pizza and consistently cold Star beer on draught. Popular Tuesdays.
Alex's on Half Moon Bay, just east of the Aberdeen junction, serves excellent seafood overlooking a placid bay. Lanterns made of dried pufferfish make a cozy, quiet bar. Try the fried ginger crabs or the vegetarian groundnut stew.
Bars
Atlantic, on the south end of Lumley Beach, is the expat bar, run by two excellent barmen. Legend has it that the elder, Mr. Bah--who is likely the best bartender in the country-- has been there for 30 years. Get a Campari and soda with lime and watch the waves crash from a the comfortable couches. Karaoke and live music occasionally, but more often, 90's alternative rock and 2008 R&B.
Aces. The new owners of Boogie's (North of the Cape Sierra roundabout) have set up a huge new space, with billiards, ping pong, a full dance floor, and outdoor fish & chips joint. Superb, relaxed alternative to Paddy's. Live music Thursdays; most recently, the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars.
The Office is a second iteration of the Accra hotspot. Just like a conference room in the Yuyi ministerial office building, it's filled with bulky, awkward furniture, which can make it difficult to dance. Full of smoke, but it does have rare imported beers like Boddington's Pub Ale. Also bottles of Dom, corks slowly drying out, on the top shelf.
Krio Wendy's. Downtown, at the corner of Bathurst Street and Pademba Road. Essentially a storefront selling (domestic brew) Guinness and Star , a bunch of chairs on the street, and really, really good music. Relaxed office worker crowd, best on Fridays.
Paddy's, in Aberdeen is still really the only place where you can dance until dawn. A week out of the month you can do it under moonlight. The party starts around 1am. Just watch out for the interminable surprise performances by lip-syncing rap groups and sermons by loquacious MCs. The spicy roast meat makes an excellent late night snack.
Brunch (nothing really opens until 8:30am)
Bliss Patisserie on Wilkinson road, next to Freetown Supermarket is really just the best. Perfect croissants and great coffee. The Lebanese Breakfast is the best dish on the menu.
Crown Bakery, on Wilberforce Street downtown, is quiet in the mornings, and bustles later on with the downtown lunch crowd. The kitchen has decent pastries and tasty sandwiches. A few vendors there sell week old issues of the Economist, making it a hit with World Bank consultants and the local business crowd.
Country Lodge, the ritzy hotel at the top of the hill, has a hearty English breakfast and an expansive, airy view. For later in the day, they make a good pink gin.
Basha Bakery, on Wilkinson road has Freetown's comfort food. Get there early and get the half tomato, half cheese pie. The zaatar vegetable pie is a good bet as well.
Delicious, downtown, on the corner of Siaka Steven's and Wellington Street. Expensive, but wholly worthwhile Indian food. Great for an upscale business lunch. Try the samosas and the veggie burger too. If they say they don't have something, as many restaurants do, call around 10am the next morning, and they'll prepare it for lunch.
Diaspora, downtown, Priscilla street. Pleasant cafe with hearty African food, tasty ginger beer and an intriguing bookshop. Will deliver to your office.
StopPress, on George Street, two blocks down from Siaka Stevens, two blocks down from Siaka Steven's street, serves a mean cassava leaf in the shade of a wonderful tropical bower
Cafe de la Rose, at the bottom of Howe Street, downtown, has excellent African food and fish. The second floor is open air and breezy, with a view of Freetown's downtown shore front.
Beaches (all in Western Area)
Sussex is a slip of yellow sand separated from the land by a massive lagoon that disappears twice daily with the tide. Stay at Florence's Resort (alternately called "Franco's," after Florence's older Italian husband who potters around while his wife keeps the books). You'll get the best seafood and the most romantic rooms in Sierra Leone.
Bureh has the only surf in the country, few people and wonderful camping spots. A young hostelier named Prince Williams and "The Bureh Beach Boys" will provide excellent chop, security, and a bonfire. Ask them for anything, except the oysters.
Lakka, the closest to town, has great water for more intrepid swimmers. It has a Hard Rock restaurant, named for, well, the rock on which it stands. A big smiley chef named Paul runs an excellent fresh seafood grill further down the beach and a defunct hotel surprisingly still has a clean swimming pool, great for children, thanks to the contientious work of an athletic lifeguard and dignified waiter.
Lumley is the beach in town. Great for afternoon jogs and popular for soccer. Most don't swim, but the water is probably no worse than in New Jersey or Santa Monica.
Number 2 River has a pleasant guesthouse, but is often crowded on weekends. Take the riverboat up to the cascades and see monkeys and the secret society bush. Hike along the beach, past Tokeh beach, to Number 1 River, the site of the super-secret British High Commission beach cabana.
Miscellany
Sports. It's hard to stay fit in Freetown, but running at Lumely, or in the Hash Harriers, is a great way to try. Tennis and squash are also big. For those lacking the dough to join the tony Golf Club or Country Lodge, try the Young Sportsmen's Club on Wilkinson road. Ask for Bico, the tennis pro. There's also an affordable gym off Bottom Mango Roundabout with a fairly good set of weights.
Souvenirs. Big Market, downtown, has antique wooden masks, wonderful necklaces, old coins, fresh honey and handicraft kitchen accoutrement.
Haircutting, Spa and Massage are all available at Chinatown for excellent prices and of high quality. No English, just Krio and Chinese.
Banking. ProCredit Bank, on Rawdon Street and at the Lumley end of Wilkinson Road, has the most quickest and friendliest service in town, and the only ATMs that let you draw cash from foreign VISA cards. To give you an idea of their dedication to efficiency, staff speak about "the German way of banking," since that's where the holding company is based. They're also less likely to "misplace" incoming foreign transfers, as some of the big commercial banks have been known to do.
Groceries. This town ain't got no Whole Foods, and eating can get monotonous really quickly. Here are some key foods to get and where to find them:
Five Things You've Just Gotta Love
Okadas. Motorcycle taxis are the quickest way to get around, relatively safe, and the easiest way to meet an ex-combatant.
Marching Bands. Their sounds are somber and brassy, and somhow hopeful. They can be heard during downtown parades by secondary school students and civil society groups, and, most frequently, at the front of funeral processions.
Leicester Peak is the highest point in town, with soaring views of the ocean, the city, and the valleys behind, as well as the roof of the American embassy. Clever design, Foggy Bottom. Paved access.
Banana Island, is just a boat ride away from Kent beach, with kind people, a cozy guesthouse, snorkeling, bat cave, and 16th century artifacts from the Portugese slave trade.
Upcountry Fruits. Star fruit and delicious red bananas can be found in the interior.
---------------------------
*Websters lexiconographers, I hope, are currently debating whether "blegs" is the plural form of "blog post."
**Readers may find directions in this guide so self-refferential as to become difficult to interpret. Therein lies the fun of Freetown. When in doubt, just ask someone on the street, they'll show you.
Therefore, I take the move that one low-budget publication inevitably takes when it finds itself short on regular content: Move to magazine format. Today, I introduce to you to the first of a highly irregular set of issues, a culmination of 6 months of note-taking: "Wetin de happen? A Short Guide to Freetown".** Sadly, no glossy photos because the internet isn't fast enough.
Supper
The Senegalese Restaurant, on Wilkinson Road, just east of Basha Bakery with the green neon light. The "Fish Attieke" is the best plate in town, delicious after squash or tennis at the nearby Young Sportsmen's Club. Grilled snapper with chopped onions, tomato, docile pepeh sauces and attieke, a delicious starchy dish made from cassava.
Indochine, Aberdeen road, just west of Paddy's. Take all the good--not great, but good--Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants in California and take the arithmetic mean. Then add a fishpond, pleasant red lanterns and surprisingly novel sliding glass doors.
Mamba Point, just off Bottom Mango Roundabout, is like "the club" in Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter, but with 100 more members, flat screen television, excellent pizza and consistently cold Star beer on draught. Popular Tuesdays.
Alex's on Half Moon Bay, just east of the Aberdeen junction, serves excellent seafood overlooking a placid bay. Lanterns made of dried pufferfish make a cozy, quiet bar. Try the fried ginger crabs or the vegetarian groundnut stew.
Bars
Atlantic, on the south end of Lumley Beach, is the expat bar, run by two excellent barmen. Legend has it that the elder, Mr. Bah--who is likely the best bartender in the country-- has been there for 30 years. Get a Campari and soda with lime and watch the waves crash from a the comfortable couches. Karaoke and live music occasionally, but more often, 90's alternative rock and 2008 R&B.
Aces. The new owners of Boogie's (North of the Cape Sierra roundabout) have set up a huge new space, with billiards, ping pong, a full dance floor, and outdoor fish & chips joint. Superb, relaxed alternative to Paddy's. Live music Thursdays; most recently, the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars.
The Office is a second iteration of the Accra hotspot. Just like a conference room in the Yuyi ministerial office building, it's filled with bulky, awkward furniture, which can make it difficult to dance. Full of smoke, but it does have rare imported beers like Boddington's Pub Ale. Also bottles of Dom, corks slowly drying out, on the top shelf.
Krio Wendy's. Downtown, at the corner of Bathurst Street and Pademba Road. Essentially a storefront selling (domestic brew) Guinness and Star , a bunch of chairs on the street, and really, really good music. Relaxed office worker crowd, best on Fridays.
Paddy's, in Aberdeen is still really the only place where you can dance until dawn. A week out of the month you can do it under moonlight. The party starts around 1am. Just watch out for the interminable surprise performances by lip-syncing rap groups and sermons by loquacious MCs. The spicy roast meat makes an excellent late night snack.
Brunch (nothing really opens until 8:30am)
Bliss Patisserie on Wilkinson road, next to Freetown Supermarket is really just the best. Perfect croissants and great coffee. The Lebanese Breakfast is the best dish on the menu.
Crown Bakery, on Wilberforce Street downtown, is quiet in the mornings, and bustles later on with the downtown lunch crowd. The kitchen has decent pastries and tasty sandwiches. A few vendors there sell week old issues of the Economist, making it a hit with World Bank consultants and the local business crowd.
Country Lodge, the ritzy hotel at the top of the hill, has a hearty English breakfast and an expansive, airy view. For later in the day, they make a good pink gin.
Basha Bakery, on Wilkinson road has Freetown's comfort food. Get there early and get the half tomato, half cheese pie. The zaatar vegetable pie is a good bet as well.
Delicious, downtown, on the corner of Siaka Steven's and Wellington Street. Expensive, but wholly worthwhile Indian food. Great for an upscale business lunch. Try the samosas and the veggie burger too. If they say they don't have something, as many restaurants do, call around 10am the next morning, and they'll prepare it for lunch.
Diaspora, downtown, Priscilla street. Pleasant cafe with hearty African food, tasty ginger beer and an intriguing bookshop. Will deliver to your office.
StopPress, on George Street, two blocks down from Siaka Stevens, two blocks down from Siaka Steven's street, serves a mean cassava leaf in the shade of a wonderful tropical bower
Cafe de la Rose, at the bottom of Howe Street, downtown, has excellent African food and fish. The second floor is open air and breezy, with a view of Freetown's downtown shore front.
Beaches (all in Western Area)
Sussex is a slip of yellow sand separated from the land by a massive lagoon that disappears twice daily with the tide. Stay at Florence's Resort (alternately called "Franco's," after Florence's older Italian husband who potters around while his wife keeps the books). You'll get the best seafood and the most romantic rooms in Sierra Leone.
Bureh has the only surf in the country, few people and wonderful camping spots. A young hostelier named Prince Williams and "The Bureh Beach Boys" will provide excellent chop, security, and a bonfire. Ask them for anything, except the oysters.
Lakka, the closest to town, has great water for more intrepid swimmers. It has a Hard Rock restaurant, named for, well, the rock on which it stands. A big smiley chef named Paul runs an excellent fresh seafood grill further down the beach and a defunct hotel surprisingly still has a clean swimming pool, great for children, thanks to the contientious work of an athletic lifeguard and dignified waiter.
Lumley is the beach in town. Great for afternoon jogs and popular for soccer. Most don't swim, but the water is probably no worse than in New Jersey or Santa Monica.
Number 2 River has a pleasant guesthouse, but is often crowded on weekends. Take the riverboat up to the cascades and see monkeys and the secret society bush. Hike along the beach, past Tokeh beach, to Number 1 River, the site of the super-secret British High Commission beach cabana.
Miscellany
Sports. It's hard to stay fit in Freetown, but running at Lumely, or in the Hash Harriers, is a great way to try. Tennis and squash are also big. For those lacking the dough to join the tony Golf Club or Country Lodge, try the Young Sportsmen's Club on Wilkinson road. Ask for Bico, the tennis pro. There's also an affordable gym off Bottom Mango Roundabout with a fairly good set of weights.
Souvenirs. Big Market, downtown, has antique wooden masks, wonderful necklaces, old coins, fresh honey and handicraft kitchen accoutrement.
Haircutting, Spa and Massage are all available at Chinatown for excellent prices and of high quality. No English, just Krio and Chinese.
Banking. ProCredit Bank, on Rawdon Street and at the Lumley end of Wilkinson Road, has the most quickest and friendliest service in town, and the only ATMs that let you draw cash from foreign VISA cards. To give you an idea of their dedication to efficiency, staff speak about "the German way of banking," since that's where the holding company is based. They're also less likely to "misplace" incoming foreign transfers, as some of the big commercial banks have been known to do.
Groceries. This town ain't got no Whole Foods, and eating can get monotonous really quickly. Here are some key foods to get and where to find them:
Fresh yoghurt and feta cheese - Monoprix supermarket. Fresh tofu, Chinese cabbage, and real Chinese ingredients - The Chinatown grocery store. Fruit - Wilkinson Road, between Monoprix and Atsons, has the nicest stuff. Pineapples and bananas are all year around, papaya come from Oct-January, Mango from January-June. Fresh Fish - Meet a reliable fisherman and make an arrangement, or go outside Kroo Town Road Market at around 4 in the afternoon. Produce - Kroo Town Road Market is the best, with a wide array of leafy greens and vegetables. Most supermarkets have stands outside which sell most of the same stuff, though for a higher price. Imported Wine and Beer - It's hard to find a decent selection of beer; St. Mary's supermarket has the best. Go for cheaper wines, particularly the Argentines, as the more expensive ones sit around for longer, and often go bad. Bread - Decent French bread tends to be sold near roundabouts late in the evening. Salvonne Bakery, on the corner of Percival and Siaka Stevens streets downtown, has fresh raisin bread and muffins every morning after 8:30.
Okadas. Motorcycle taxis are the quickest way to get around, relatively safe, and the easiest way to meet an ex-combatant.
Marching Bands. Their sounds are somber and brassy, and somhow hopeful. They can be heard during downtown parades by secondary school students and civil society groups, and, most frequently, at the front of funeral processions.
Leicester Peak is the highest point in town, with soaring views of the ocean, the city, and the valleys behind, as well as the roof of the American embassy. Clever design, Foggy Bottom. Paved access.
Banana Island, is just a boat ride away from Kent beach, with kind people, a cozy guesthouse, snorkeling, bat cave, and 16th century artifacts from the Portugese slave trade.
Upcountry Fruits. Star fruit and delicious red bananas can be found in the interior.
---------------------------
*Websters lexiconographers, I hope, are currently debating whether "blegs" is the plural form of "blog post."
**Readers may find directions in this guide so self-refferential as to become difficult to interpret. Therein lies the fun of Freetown. When in doubt, just ask someone on the street, they'll show you.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
Playing tonight, Thursday, 11:00pm, at Aces, the bar formerly called Boogie's, on the lagoon near Alex's and the Casino. Boogie's used to be quite seedy, but the new owners are apparently trying to swank things up a little with live music every Thursday. What a great band to kick off their new venture!
The group's heart-warming story here.
The group's heart-warming story here.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Grant has a blog
with a great title: Mo'dernity Mo'Problems. Big ups. Perhaps he will post more frequently than I have been doing lately.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Great Achievements in Technology
In Heathrow's Terminal Five, the have created a metal detector that can see laptops through your bag, omitting the need to remove them. Amazing.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Christmas in a Welfare State
Last night, on Christmas Day, my traveling companion and I collected our left over Christmas dinner (lentil soup with carrots, spinach and andouille sausage) and left the flat to distribute it, along with oranges, baguette and cigarettes, to the homeless of Paris. Our vin chaud (mulled wine) proved to difficult to transport, and so we left it at home.
Much to our chagrin, we could not find enough people to give to! In the park outside Notre Dame, and on the steps of the various churches in the Marais, we could not find a single homeless person. We found just two, on Rue Rambuteau, near the Centre Pompidou, and they already had sandwiches. What a wonderful Christmas gift, to know that in this city, there were so few in need.
Coming from Los Angeles, I was shocked. My old neighborhood in the county that has ~ 79,000 homeless on any given night was full of homeless. The city's failure to provide comprehensive mental health and addiction services and housing, along with the American government's relatively stingy social service system make Los Angeles the city with the most homeless West of the Mississippi. Though little data has been collected in Paris, there are estimated to be around 10,000 homeless in the city--though analysts suggest the actual figure might be 2 or 3 times higher due to measurement error--making, based on my math, per capita homelessness in Paris much lower than in Los Angeles, even when accounting for underestimation of the population.
What's so interesting about this all is that the city has roughly the same quantity and quantity of homeless services--emergency beds, counseling, and so forth--as does Los Angeles. The reports I link to above decry the same failures and paucities. It must be, therefore, that France's broader government programs, giving cheap health care, subsidized housing, and general welfare to the less fortunate, have kept people off the street. That's pleasant, tangible reminder of the virtues of the welfare state.
Merry Christmas.
PS - Pictured above is La République by Honoré Daumier (1848), one the funniest caricaturists of all time.
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