When I Travel to different parts of the world
HARARE – So here I was random passenger side in my friends car and I kept seeing these signs. I was definitely hungry and ready to eat, my friend on the other hand has a big breakfast before Sunday Church Service.
HARARE – Just as I thought let me do a photoshoot before I post new content let me share what I have been up to regarding my HAMBA African print clothing business.
This year I have been more about mass production of main styles to increase output. Ever since I started outsourcing tailoring services off site I had to streamline my costs.
So this is what I have made so far
ZIMBABWE – Technological solutions to common problems regarding travel come in different forms. Whether you want to find a restaurant, activities or know foreign currency rates – an app is your best bet.
Either you get fit to look better or you get fit for survival. I have learnt how fitness teaches a lot on life. A special event happened as I ran up the hill at Kopje with police rookies.
The Kopje Hill
The latter is the community of people who use fitness and sport to earn a living. Sensei Mugove Muhambi is a martial arts guru who also trains, he has managed to earn respect in body building and martial arts sport as well as where he grew up, Epworth.
Mona, is a top boxer a female one who I met in February this year and again in June training. She lost a lot of baby weight in 6 months when she took a break from her sport. She has taught me a lot about my form when boxing, which is good and has room for perfection.
LESSON: What these sports champions have taught me is working hard WILL change your life, and nothing worth having comes easy.
My trainer Lazzie always fought with my attitude of quitting at what I hated, like running…I couldn’t run because I hated it. He let me do it alone and learn how to face my fears alone, I went on break and ran my first 5 kilometres run in Maputo. I went on another break in Malawi and did Cross fit while away. My abs remain to make a high-definition appearance and while I have to strength to do it, I am more determined to prove to him that I am QUEEN.
Lazzie, Me and Verily (L to R)
LESSON: In life your challenges are yours to face, a coach or mentor believes in you but the decision is yours
Another fitness king is Lawson, my first and last fitness battle was for his birthday. I was unfit but determined to exercise before I went to Zanzibar in February. I had only been fit for a month and a half. As honest as he is, a Pastor, he confessed his truth about how hideous my body was before Lazzie helped me reach a good level of fitness. See when you are starting a new challenge, people see your potential and hard work before you are good. I was at the front row and I was bigger but very focused. When I trained with him, he admitted that indeed my mental strength was insane and strong.
Lawson Kopje Class for all….was unexpected and we were never ready
LESSON: It is never about what others think of your challenge, your brain has to be in the game and the rest of people will sit and learn.
My final lesson is improvement is important, from aerobics step class to outdoor to boxing to crossfit to hill running my next task is tire exercises at home. My abs and glutes remain to be perfected like my sisters who have amazing below 60kg runner bodies.
Home tyre center
I have upped my home exercise game and I am ready for my tire exercises at home. Bring it! 13 kg down already and I am ready!
x.o.x.o
rob
Malkerns Swaziland – the headline show of the evening was Jah Prayzah and the 3rd Generation Band.
Marasta in the air…Mukudzei Mukombe
30 minutes before the show was to start fans from around Africa wore military clothing and were waving the Zimbabwe flag. Making sure they are right by the stage.
Nicknamed Musoja by his fans, as an army chanted “Jah Prayzah Jah Prayzah Jah Prayzah” as the band setup their instruments a marimba, saxophone, guitar and the usual sound check.
When the man of the moment arrived on stage smartly dressed in his signature look, the crowd went ballistic.
As I secured the front standing a young fan from South Africa asked me,
“Are you from Zimbabwe, how do I say I LOVE YOU in Shona.”
Immediately after learning the most important words to her at that moment she screamed, “Ndinokuda!” So that her Man Crush, Mukudzei Mukombe could hear in his own language her affectionate words.
It dawned on me that Zimbabwe has produced another musical superstar in music, his good looks have also made him a hunk to many fans.
Not one to dissapoint the uzumba musician managed to charm the crowd with the choreography, energy as he waved his locks and smiled at the crowd.
His ability to dance and maintain his vocal ability through his high energy songs. It is a shame his back up singer…the one who replaced gonyeti was a beautiful woman but her voice was more UGLYISHA…eish…sister kure ne microphone please!
Jah Prayzah with his best backup dancer and singer… I nicknamed her Tete
An hour set could not be enough as he sang “Mwanasikana anodiwa nehama”, Watora Mari we would have liked to hear Ngoda as well.
The final song was Mdhara Achauya…the most viral song of all his tracks.
However the dance section, where the music plays was cut short. That was the best song of his album that is being sung across cultures, an extended version for live performances would have been great for live performances… maybe as an opener.
ChiArmy chacho chakanyanya!
Still a world class act who stole the show at Bushfire Festival in Swaziland.
xoxo
robz
It was a beautiful warm day and cool evening in Maputo as Azgo Festival fever filled the air.
Limited stock of the backpacks. A few will be made available from us. Source @ms_tatchai Instagram
Many guests sipping on the famous beer 2M known as the flavour of the coastal town at the event. Unfortunately the demand was higher than expected and the bar system proved inefficient if one did not speak Portuguese to grab attention.
Never the less the shopping stalls for African arts crafts and inspired designer clothes were abuzz with shoppers from around the world.
A main attraction was the electric performance by Freshly Ground who make a statement of activism in their song.
A moment to reflect was when Zolani heard a fan make an inappropriate comment about her removing her panties for him. As an african wife, mother and powerful woman she did not let this comment go. She addressed him by cussing at him for not being man enough, “fuck you” pulling a finger.
The audience was stunned; after explaining how the violence towards women in South Africa is fatal if we continue to ignore and condone such comments we will not progress. It was unaaceptable behaviour despite the situation.such abuse verbal and physical creates a dangerous scenario of women being treated as objects owned by all men.
I thought YEEEES Zolani YEEEEES you are standing up for us because even in our work environments we have to ignore it because we make excuses for violence against women.
A break made the band announce a call for political reform, speaking about HIFA and the song that got them deported on arrival The controversial Chicken To Change dedication to Robert G. Mugabe. Having a Zimbabwean guitarist in the band.
Not one to shy away from the unspeakable she dedicated it to many of the African leaders including Zuma.
The bold approach is one where you listen and decide whether you are in agreement with them or not. Politics seem to be very divisive for many who rather celebrate our similarities despite differing ideologies (Heineken ad anyone?).
To a packed audience the festival returnees gave their all to their fest goers. The crowd danced to their breakout song – “Doo Be Doo” and the World Cup 2010 official song “Time For Africa” was a hit and unifying song to end their one hour slot at the festival.
Crowds continued to throng the one day event to listen to Brazilian Maria Gadu and Boss AC who rapped Portuguese hip hop. The whole world gathered in celebration for Azgo Festival
Language a barrier we made one friend at the fest who wasnt Anglophonetic and too bad for me also unable to speak the language
xoxo
robz
– via @hambanow
A month since my last blog post but more than a year since I have been completely open and blogger like on this platform. So here I am, Concrete Jungle Fashionista back to do what I began years ago, which is share too much information.
For the past three years I was defined by my employer so in May I quit my job to pursue a project I call freedom. The freedom project was when I decided it was time to turn my life around.
A complete change started when I was miserable in my job for over 12 months of absolute misery, then I started gaining weight. It crept up slowly over several months of eating crap and not moving an inch.
I went to the Doctor and my body was in bad shape from all the misery at work. See people say that work things should not affect you, but it does get to be a stress at a certain point. It stemmed from actual harassment from people abusing power to make my experience hell. The sad thing is the level of presence of these individuals when they greet me as if they care how I am. (Bish Please).
I got prescribed mild anti depressants, instead of medicating myself while under misery I decided to fight off the negative energy through exercise.
In two weeks I realized how exercise is like fighting for a dream, putting in the work discipline and mental resilience taught me this was more about my need to start my venture as hamba now and have FREEDOM.
Back with a bang!
So here I am free to express myself and mostly live my dream and running away from negative feeling. Exercise has given me a level of achievement I cannot imagine to explain.
In 6 months I have lost 13 kilograms and have learnt a lot about hard work and myself in the process.
So far the leap of faith has resulted in events in my life I will be sharing weekly, more than once that include the following,
Travelling around Africa for festivals
Debut Fashion Collection in Lilongwe
The truth about travel tips and sheer comedy when traveling
Here is to a new chapter in my life, it feels good to be back and stronger than ever before😍!
x.o.x.o
robz
The flag, That Flag of Zimbabwe is now commonly known as #ThisFlag, can no longer we worn as a scarf, as 2016 revealed a rebellion associated with wearing it as a scarf. So how can we show off Zimbabwe, even as a souvenir to tourist.
Meet AMAZIMZIM, or simply AMZZ A Zimbabwean clothing line that says, I am a Zimbabwean, in a proud manner.
African print adds flair to any outfit. It says absolute African and modern when accessories are clad in fabrics inspired by AFRICA.
Ola from Moçambique! HAMBA now my travel company is going to African festivals and we saw backpacks at Azgo Festival and bought ourselves one for the laptop baggage.
I got tourist price as my chaperone wasn’t prepared for the haggle as I am a genius at it. I ended up buying an extra bag and after asking my close people they loved the bag. Turns out this is a hot trend in accessories. Street wear Afro chic every fashionista should own.
Limited stock of the backpacks. A few will be made available from us. Source @ms_tatchai Instagram
I only have a few with $40 each, $70 for two, or $100 for three patchwork bags. I also have earrings and bangles in supply. Having got myself some souvenir Tshirts as well.
A trendy backpack in Kitenge
There is so much inspiration out there on this must have trend.
Source Pinterest
xoxo
Robin
Emirates’ focus on meeting and exceeding customer expectations both in the air and on the ground were recognised on Wednesday 26th April 2017 with four accolades at the Business Traveller Middle East 2017 Awards.
At a ceremony attended by key travel industry executives, Emirates was crowned
“Best Airline Worldwide”,
“Airline with the Best First Class”,
“Airline with the Best First Class Lounge” and “Best Frequent Flyer Programme”.
Earlier this month, Emirates was recognised as the ‘Best Airline in the World’ at the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards for airlines. The award was based on thousands of reviews Emirates received from the TripAdvisor community over the past twelve months. Emirates was the most positively reviewed airline in the industry over that period of time.
Emirates has also announced that all of its flights to Spain will be operated by the iconic A380. In addition to the existing double daily A380 service to Barcelona, the airline will operate a double daily A380 service to Madrid, significantly boosting seat capacity from Dubai to Spain. This change enables more A380 to A380 connections to and from key business and leisure destinations such as Australia, China, South Korea and South East Asia with just one stop in Dubai.
The links between Madrid and Emirates extend far beyond the airline’s double daily service. Emirates has been a proud sponsor of Real Madrid since 2011.
Emirates, which flies daily from Lusaka and Harare to Dubai, will provide an all-A380 service from Melbourne when it upgrades its third daily flight from the Australian city, EK408 and EK409, from a Boeing 777-300ER to an A380 operation.
The move will add 945 seats per week to the Australian city from 25 March 2018, representing a 10% increase in capacity. This means Emirates customers can enjoy even more seamless “A380 to A380” connections via its hub in Dubai to 18 points in the UK and Europe.
(News brief from Langmead and Co. )
Concrete Jungle Blog 