Monday, October 12, 2009

A Brief Tour of Lagos

It was Sunday. A day of sleeping and resting, so even the hotel staff were surprised when we ordered breakfast at 6.30 am. We would be picked up at 10 after 7 to attend the 7.30 am mass. Plan for the day was a short tour of Lagos and then off to Bombay Palace to test out their famous Sunday buffet.

 

First off, some of the interestingly dressed people after church.

 

Lagos church

Lagos church

Lagos church

Funky little boy in Lagos church

Excited little girl at Lagos church

 

Someone parked the bus in the wrong floor.

DSC05684

 

The Lagos race course.

DSC05689 Lagos Race Course

 

Welcome to the Lagos General Hospital. It occupies quite a large compound and where it end stands the Shell building. Shell is not on Victoria Island, but on the mainland where rentals are much cheaper.

Lagos General HospitalWhen the lagos GH ends, the Shell building startsShell building in Lagos  

 

A nice mosque in the middle of Lagos town.

 Mosque in downtown Lagos

 Mosque in downtown Lagos

 Mosque in downtown Lagos

Mosque in downtown Lagos

 

The mosque is locate in the heart of the market. Reminds me of the Masjid Jamek mosque in the heart of KL. Pictures below are of the street vendors along the streets close to where the mosque is. This is the only time, early Sunday morning, when car can pass through. From Monday to Saturday, this place is filled to the brim with people.

Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market

Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market Lagos market DSC05742 DSC05743

 

This is a famous monument in Lagos but I don't know its name or what it means (yet).

Famous monument in LagosFamous monument in Lagos 

 

We passed the port, saw some rusted, old ships, pipe laying barges and even a luxury yacht hotel.

Old, rusted ship Luxury Cruise Hotel Lagos port Lagos port Rusted ship at Lagos port

 

The Lagos Cultural Arts Center.

Lagos Cultural Arts Center

 

Typical shop lots in Lagos town. Reminds me of the older part of Penang and KL.

Typical shop lots in Lagos. Typical shop lots in Lagos. Typical shop lots in Lagos. Typical shop lots in Lagos. Typical shop lots in Lagos.

 

Football on a cool Sunday morning. Did you know that Lagos and Liverpool are on the same time zone? Yup, we’re both on GMT+0100, so we get to watch the matches at 4 pm in the afternoon while KL watches it at 11 pm!

Football in Lagos on a cool Sunday morning

 

Pictures below are of the trucks at the port. Most of the trucks are second hand MACK trucks from the US. Most vehicles in Lagos are second hand vehicles imported from the US or Europe.

Compressed truck anyone?  DSC05790 DSC05792 DSC05798 Second hand MACK trucks for saleDSC05800

 

Crude oil storage tanks at the port.

Crude Oil storage tanks   

Crude Oil storage tanks

 

The international airport.

Lagos International Airport Lagos International Airport Lagos International Airport Lagos International Airport

 

Air force jumbo planes parked at Lagos International airport.

Air force jumbo planes parked at Lagos International airport Air force jumbo planes parked at Lagos International airport

 

How’s this for electrical wiring?

Electrical wiring

 

7-UP anyone?

The 7-UP Company in Lagos

 

Chinatown – red fortress wall. Couldn't get a decent picture.

Chinatown in Lagos

 

This is why engineers build redundancy into systems!

(Hint: Missing tire)

DSC05841

 

More pictures of another Lagos market, with a name that rhymes with Shoe. Apparently it was one of the biggest markets in Lagos until it was forced to undergo some major renovation recently.

Market in Lagos     Market in Lagos   Market in Lagos    DSC05857 Market in Lagos Market in Lagos Market in Lagos Market in Lagos

 

DSTV – the Malaysian equivalent of Astro. And just like Astro, there’s no reception when it rains. But unlike Astro, there’s close to 100 channels for you to choose from. And you can watch all the football games live on different

 DSTV - Nigerian equivalent of Astro.

 

A family dressed in traditional clothes after a Sunday morning mass.

Happy family in traditional outfit in lagos, going home after Sunday mass

 

While another family on four hops onto a motorcycle and heads home.

Happy family in traditional outfit in lagos, going home after Sunday mass

 

Lagos National Stadium, and its entrance

DSC05851

Market in Lagos

 

The army camp at the outskirts (I think) of Lagos. Lagos is so huge. With a population of close to 15 million people, it dwarfs Kuala Lumpur for sure.

DSC05844

 

Caught this guy with a small sewing machine on this head. I don't know if he’s selling it or he’s a tailor for hire.

tailor for hire?

 

Satellite dishes. A very common sight in Lagos. The Internet is highly dependent on such massive devices or else you end up with hopeless Internet access like what I have at the Somerset Hotel at Osborne.

 Satelite dish

 

We ended up the day with lunch at the famous Bombay Palace. Apparently they have a good buffet from 12 – 5 pm every Sunday. Everyone talks about it. So we decided to try it.

And…

With just around 10 dishes for N2200 per person or RM52.8 (drinks not included), it just isn't as good as the buffet back home. But comparatively to the high prices of food in Lagos, this is a steal. No wonder people come here every Sunday.

Bombay Palace Restaurent in Lagos  Bombay Palace Restaurent in Lagos Bombay Palace Restaurent in Lagos

 

Lastly, meet Favour (left) and Kelvin, the two wonderful young gentlemen who man the bar at the hotel we’re staying and refuse to provide free alcohol to us!

Favour and Kelvin

 

I have more pictures but they don't tell a story. I don't know if all the above pictures painted a proper picture of Lagos – its difficult to compose a picture in a moving car.

 

Next week we plan to buy some cloth from one of the markets. Maybe then I should be able to get some good pictures.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kenneth, I did not think a camera could truly capture and convey an experience -- in fact, I was convinced of this -- until I saw your pictures of Lagos. Thank you, ===Shamash==

pauline26 said...

Thank you Shamash. It was difficult trying to capture those shots while in a moving vehicle. But I think credit goes to my 5-year old Sony camera :)

Thanks for the visit.