Life is not perfect. It never will be.

Life is not perfect. It never will be
Shonda drummed this line in my head with the episode where Derek Shepherd was killed off Grey's Anatomy.

It's a year of his passing today as a character on the show.

Yeah, I know like every other fan,  I was angry.
She shouldn't have killed off Derek.

Meredith and Derek were supposed to end the series happily ever after.

Derek was never supposed to die.
Shonda broke my heart by killing the best love story on TV.

Immediately after that episode, a lot of fans came up with different version of how Derek should have been written off the show.

But she couldn't have separated them, that would have sucked.
And saying that Derek moved to another city and never got time to come check on his family would not fly with the sort of love shared by Meredith and Derek.

Death was the only option.
That was the perfect example of "till death do us part"

Watching Derek die reminded me of the late 'Kunle Olaifa.
Just as the viewers question Shonda, I questioned God for taking away such perfect individual.

Grey's Anatomy is not going anywhere soon aw there is another season coming up and I am stuck.

I love the show because if it just too real.
Meridith and Christina's friendship reminds me of the friendship that exists between Sandra and I.
She is the Grey to my Yang.

And I was so glad, no favorite character was written off the show last season.
I am a Grey's Anatomy addict and I am proud to be one.

Life is not perfect, and now happy ever after has a new meaning for me.

♥Lara

Togo: A Hidden Gem

The Togolese Republic bordered by  Ghana to the west, Benin Republic to the east and Burkina Faso to the north is well-known for its palm-lined beaches and the footballer Emmanuel Adebayor.

Togo has been on my travel radar for a while. Sandra and I planned to visit last year but we cancelled last minute and settled for Benin Republic (Cotonou and Porto Novo).

So over the Easter holiday,  Togo was the destination of choice.

Why Togo, you may ask, I wasn't ready to go the long distance. I was looking forward to a less touristy holiday, I am not a fan of popular places during holidays.

By February, mind was made up on location and I shared with friends, sadly Sandra was studying for an examination and could not make the trip. After a lot of back and forth and last minute cancellations, 4 of us were confirmed for the trip.

Selfie by Tayo Ige

To save ourselves from unnecessary border stress, we decided to travel with ABC transport. The level of unprofessionalism displayed by the lady I met at their Ikeja office was enough for me to never travel with ABC again in my life. 

Bus fare was N20,000 and extra N2,000 for border fees. The journey was long, as in I will never travel in a luxurious bus (marcoplo) again across border. Lomé to Lagos is meant to be 6 or max 7 hours, we spent 10 hours to Lome and 13 hours back to Lagos. Arrived Lagos by 1 am and had to spend the rest of the night at the ABC terminal in Mile 2. The mosquitoes that sucked my blood that night ehen, malaria came knocking sharp sharp.

I made reservation for a beach front hotel in Lomé since February on Booking.com, the hotel according to the website and reviews only accepts cash, no prepayment option offered. Two weeks to travel date, my friend whose email I used for the reservation, received an email from the hotel owner, requesting she cancel the reservation as hotel is fully booked.

This was major setback and we had to start searching for available accommodation with reasonable price. The search carried us to airbnb  and in the rush to get a place,we made payment for accommodation in the wrong country, Grand Popo, Benin Republic instead of Togo, luckily for us, we lost only 16 Euros service charge to Airbnb. Accommodation was finally sorted a day to the trip.

Accommodation was a 3 bedroom building fully equipped house located in a place called Agodéka (pronounced Agodéké), about 30 mins (car) from Lomé.  The owner of the apartment lives in France but his uncle was around and he was a really nice person. He drove us to the beach in Baguida even paid the swimming fee for Tayo and Tobi, took us to Lomé to find "money changers", in short he was our designated driver for the day. 

Picture by Funmilayo Ajala

The hospitality and generosity of the Togolese people is rarely spoken of or written about, I can honestly say that the people of Togo are among the kindest people I have ever come across in my travels. We met Lina, a receptionist at an hotel close to the apartment, who volunteered to help us call our host's uncle when we could not locate the apartment. She even volunteered to take us to the house,when we finally got the directions. Except from the crazy cab man, everyone else was helpful and nice to us. Thanks to Tayo's limited French, we were able to find our way through.

I did not take a lot pictures on this trip as I was more interested in enjoying the moment and I was happy to release my camera to Tayo. Tobi was eager to play model for us all. Miss Red came visiting while on the trip, so I was left with no choice but watch the water from afar.

Places Visited: 

Cascade de Womé (Womé fall), Kpalime, Togo

Baguida Beach

Independence Square, Lomé 

In all I had just the holiday I wanted. I am glad I did not change my mind on the destination and I am definitely visiting Togo again.

Pictures will be shared in the next post.

Until I come your way again.

♥Lara