“Ain’t No Party like a Lagos Party….”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiSX5pagz8s

I am sure some of you have heard Banky W’s “Lagos Party”. I love that song! Maybe because it reminds me of all the awesome parties I have had the opportunity to attend in Lagos. Lagos people sure know how to party; however, since I discovered Abuja, I think Lagos has some serious competition there. I have spent most of my weekends so far in either Lagos or Abuja, trying to get my partying on before the boys get here. For those of you who have never been to a party in Nigeria, what makes most Nigerian parties awesome is that whether it’s a party in someone’s home, a party hall, or a restaurant you can count on lots and lots of good food and unlimited drinks, and the best part is that you never have to pay a dime! Those of us who have lived in the western world know what I mean….

If you are into clubbing like I am, then there is an additional bonus which is that if you are with the right crowd, when you go clubbing, it’s VIP all the way with lots of bottles on d table so you never have to go to the bar to get a drink! What I don’t like though is the fact that people still smoke in the clubs in Nigeria, for me that is a downer because I have enjoyed smoke free clubbing in the US for years.
So far I have had the most fun in Abuja, my first night there, I went to PLAY in Wuse II. The club had a fairly young crowd and the interior was alright, nothing spectacular, one bar, one VIP section, some tables, and an adequate floor space. The best part for me @ club PLAY that night was the music….. I felt like the DJ was my bodyguard that nite. Looking out for me all night long! The music was so good that although the plan was to spend only an hour there and head to club Blue in Sheraton; I never made it out of there. I will say that the DJ at PLAY that night has the best handle on mixing Nigerian, African, American, and Caribbean music I had ever experienced, so for me that was clubbing heaven! It also helped that I had an awesome dance partner {wink}. The result was that I danced for 3 hours straight that night.
The next day, I did make it to Club blue which was quite impressive. The interior would give top clubs in NY and LA a run for their money. I particularly loved the huge club space and the fact that it had lots of sectioned VIP booths. For some of you the fact that they had dancers entertaining until about 3 a.m. may be appreciated as well. The crowd was the best part for me because it was a very diverse crowd, lots of tourists and visitors of various nationalities and locals of various age brackets. The DJ did an awesome job as well.

I only got to spend one day in Lagos because the weekend I was to go to Lagos, I had to travel to Abuja on Friday to take care of my “Old Passport” (title of my next blog post). I arrived in Lagos on a Saturday which happened to be the last Saturday of the month hence an “Environmental Sanitation day”. Incase you are wandering, Yes! They still do that stuff in Nigeria. For those who do not know what “Environmental Sanitation day” is; In Nigeria, every last Saturday of the month, there is a curfew from 7am to 10am because this time is set aside for people to clean up their environment. In some states, the roads are cleaned by people hired by the Government, everyone is expected to come out of their homes and clean up their neighborhood. Law enforcement officers patrol the roads and cars are pulled over and fines are handed out to those who broke the curfew. For me, this meant that on that Saturday, I had to get to the airport in Abuja before 7am, and when I arrived in Lagos at 8:30am, I had to sit in the airport until 10am.

That Saturday was my friend’s Nikah (muslim wedding). My sister and I were bridesmaids and the bride wanted us to wear a hijab. I had fun wearing a Hijab that day, but I am very glad I don’t have to wear it all the time! They had a lavish reception at Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja. The bride was very beautiful in a long flowing ivory and gold dress. The groom was not looking bad himself in a robe made out of the same fabric. The reception hall was very beautifully set up; I wish I had remembered to pictures. They had a very extensive buffet with well over a dozen dishes, an assortment of salads, and about a dozen different deserts. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, so much that I forgot to take a picture of the buffet to make your mouth water.

That night my sister and I were pretty tired, so we were not up to serious clubbing, but we checked out two Lagos night spots. First, we went to Swe Bar on the Island. They had some musicians performing that night (or maybe just hanging out). We saw Timaya, then MI entertaining on an elevated platform in the club’s VIP section. We left when some other musician, unknown to us came on stage. If you are into meeting the music industry celebs, that may be a good spot. It is located just inside Victoria Island (VI) in “City Mall”. I am not big on celebs, but I did take a picture of Timaya and my sister, he seemed a little ticked off when I didn’t ask to have my picture take with him….

Next we hit Soul Lounge which is located at “The Palms” in Lekki. For me it was a good place to relax, have a drink, and hang out with friends. The play a lot of old school music, everything from all your favorite MJ hits, to Will Smith’s songs¸ I remember hearing most of the songs we stepped danced to in high school that night. If you are into old school music definitely checks it out when you are in Lagos. Auto lounge which is in VI is the club I would recommend for the best mix of new hits in Lagos, I have been there a couple of times and the DJ is pretty good. The Grotto also in VI is not a bad spot either. Anyways Lagos is filled with lots of awesome hang out spots, and there are some great magazines that have compiled the hangouts that Lagos has to offer.

Warri does not have much to offer when it comes to entertainment, but I did take up my colleague when he offered to take my sister and I to “Lady’s night” at Revolution night club. Let’s just say that I would rather stay home while in Warri, until I make enough friend’s to start getting invited to house parties and such. If you ever have to go clubbing in Warri, do burn a cd with all your favorite party songs and take it with you. I say this because when I wasn’t having fun at the club because I was tired of hearing the same old American songs and unfamiliar Nigerian songs played over and over again, my colleague offered the DJ a tip to play some recent songs. The DJ graciously told him that he had no other songs, but will be happy to play our CD if we had one!

That concludes this post, until next time, cheers.