The Fast Food Review...

Its 7pm and I’m at the Miami International Airport. I am feeling so relieved. I did not have (still don’t) have my passport. With the intensity of the TSA, I was afraid the least I would have to go though would be a strip search. This was because the lady I had spoken to over the phone had said that they would have to carry out an intensive screening process to verify my identity if I didn’t have my passport or any American issued photo ID. Fortunately, the issue was resolved with no need for strip searches or anything remotely close to that. Gees, I love America!

Since I checked in two hours early for the above mentioned reasons, I decided to grab a bite from the fast food outlet next to my boarding gate. The place is called Manhattan’s Famous. What a waste of time! The slogan on it is “More than just the best hot dog.” I don’t know about the dog, but the rest of that statement should read “also the crappiest burger and fries.” Just looking at the food made me upset. However, as an African boy raised the way I was, you never discriminate food regardless how it looks. So I tried the food and as you can tell, that meal was an absolute struggle. I doubt if beggars on the street would eat that.

This unfortunate incident prompted me to go ahead and share some of my experiences in relation to fast food. I thought I would give a little insight and some reviews of some of the fast food outlets that I have been to since I have been in the US. I spent quite a lot of time going to different places and trying out different things that they had on their menu so as to give a fair judgment. The restaurants I am going to talk about are McDonalds, Burger King, Pollo Tropical, Taco Bell, Chipotle, KFC and Subway.

McDonalds:   This is by far the outlet that I visited the most. Probably as many times as all the others combined.  Compared to McDonalds South Africa and fast food outlets in general, McDonalds offers a nice greasy menu that is guaranteed to make you fat in no time. However, if taken in moderation, like all things, the burgers are great and the fries are excellent. The soda, like all soda in America, is watered down and I absolutely hate it.

Burger King:             At first, I totally hated BK because on my second day in the US, my friend and I got the worst service in a BK outlet. As a result, I did not set foot in BK for another month. However, when I finally got over it and tried another BK branch, the service wasn’t so bad and neither was the food. The large triple whopper meal was the most filling meal I had in any outlet. However, for the first time in my life I was able to taste meat that didn’t taste like meat. The patties tasted like they weren’t really beef. As a result, I never went back.

Taco Bell:      After watching all the Taco Bell commercials during NBA matches with the really cool-sounding announcer, I had so much hope for the franchise. However, this was my biggest disappointment. Don’t get me wrong. Taco Bell has the best bargains in the nation. With $5 you can get a meal that you probably won’t be able to finish and if you do, you will be full for days. Problem is, the quality of the food is below par. I’m not a Mexican food specialist but that’s probably the worst Mexican food out there. Even the Mexican restaurants in Cape Town are better. I think the Taco Bell team took the ‘fast’ part of Fast Food and decided to make their food so fast that there is no quality or any attention to detail. A lot of people like it. I can’t stand it!

Subway:         Probably the healthiest of all the above franchises, it is also one of the best. Besides a funny smelling atmosphere in the branch close to the hotel I stayed, there was nothing to complain about Subway. Nonetheless, the fate of your meal is in the hands of the attendee as he/she makes your Sub to his/her best (sometimes worst) abilities. The Subs are absolutely delicious and since they are also healthy, there is no reason anyone would think it was weird that I used to have subway twice, sometimes thrice a day (before the McDonalds addiction)

KFC:               I had KFC once so I don’t know if my assessment of the chain is fair. It was the worst thing ever! The chicken was dry and the fries were bad. Not even the KFC in Zimbabwe is that bad and it’s not even really KFC. I honestly think it was just that one restaurant that I went to that was really bad because if all KFC’s are like that, then I don’t know how that franchise is surviving. So I guess my conclusion is based on a worst-day-scenario assessment. Nevertheless, I am not going back to KFC.

Pollo Tropical:          I had a few meals at this restaurant and I don’t have much to say for it. It tasted like home cooked food made by a freshman who has never had to cook anything in his/her life. The pork tasted like it was boiled, rather than fried or grilled.

Chipotle:        Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know why I even included this on Fast Food Restaurant reviews. I guess it’s because that’s what it is. However, this is the best thing ever!! After having looked for a branch for close to two months, I finally found it on one of my expeditions into the unknown. It was as if I had found treasure in a hidden cave. It is the opposite of Taco Bell in terms of food quality. The food is above par for fast food outlets yet it won’t cost you over $10.

So I am now typing the last part of this article a week later in a McDonalds restaurant in Times Square, New York. After going over the above reviews, I realized that I was complaining about something in almost every restaurant. Am I going to change my views? No! Its fast food ladies and gentlemen; if it’s not one thing it’s the other. In any case, it’s bad for you. Also, this experience with fast food outlets made me realize something. Sometimes things that seem really cool on TV aren’t exactly that cool. In some cases they are actually uncool. So be careful what you go around telling people about things you have never had.

Please be advised that this blog post was eventually posted a few weeks later from a lab at The University of Cape Town. Procrastination…

Read More

My Apologies

So it has been a while since I posted anything on this blog. The main reason being that since my last post, I had been traveling a lot. I actually never simultaneously had a real internet connection and blogging time. However, I am back in South Africa with several blog posts that I wrote when I was traveling between, cities, states and countries. I will try post them every now and again rather than posting them all at once.

Once again, these are just experiences being shared.

Enjoy!

Read More

The boy is back...

If you know me well, you will know these two things about me. Firstly, I am not a big fan of the dark, and secondly, I am terrified by heights. So how is it that I find myself at 11 pm sitting on the balcony of the 36^th floor apartment that I have called home for the past 4 days? But how can I not? I have the view of one of the most breathtaking skylines I have ever seen. Below me on the right is the stunning Knight Concert Hall of the Adrienne Arsht Centre for Performing Arts. A little further down on the left is the American Airlines Arena. With the architectural competition in the downtown Miami skyline, AAA is not exactly eye candy, but the fact that it’s the home of the Miami Heat makes it kind-of-a-big-deal. A lot further down, right in the heart of downtown Miami, is a building that made me think I was in Singapore the first time I saw it, (I so badly want to go there) or in Dubai (oh, I’m actually going there) The Miami Tower – Florida’s 8^th tallest building – is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever come across. I can’t help but stare and imagine what was going through the architects’ minds as they designed this brilliant structure, which is lit in blue for the Christmas season.  So you can see how I, a tenant in the tallest building in midtown Miami, (14^th in Miami) can overcome all my fears and relax in view of such beauty. I would love to say, “Back to reality,” but we never left, this is reality.

The Adrienne Arsht Center

A lot of people have asked me where I have been and why I have been so quiet on the blogsphere. In all honesty, even though I seem to be having a great time now, the last couple of weeks have been a little harsh. From tiring days at work, to running back and forth between Social Security offices, after Boston, I have had to realize that being independent and far away from home takes a lot of responsibility. Having been ‘homeless’ for about a week and moving from one hotel room to the other and staying with friends in some not-so-homely neighborhoods, I have not been in the right mind state to write. However, its not all as gloomy as it might sound. Everything that happened was part of the plan. It was like going to the gym after a long time knowing that for the next few days your body is going to ache. Lessons were learnt and the man continues to grow. I am pretty sure that the “gym sessions” will pay off. I can already feel myself building life ‘muscle’ that I need. It’s only a matter of time before the abs start showing and the shirt starts ripping.

My actual view from the balcony. Ironically, I got this photo off the internet

That being said, I am back and will try and fill in the huge gap that I left in my adventures while I have been out here. With only two weeks left in Miami, I have a lot more to look forward to but will try hard as I can to get you all up to speed by the time I leave. I trust you have been well. Until next time, I am going to continue staring at the Miami Tower and try figure out where on the streets of Harare we could build something similar….I might be here all night!

The Miami Tower

Read More

The last 33 days...

December 3^rd 2010 – a day before two of my favorite people’s birthday (Jay Z and Rachel Jetter) – I arrived in “the land of milk and honey.” Over the past 33 days, I have endeavored in several adventures. Some of these adventures have been fun and successful. Others haven’t been as much fun, but they were always successful. This is a brief summary as to what I have been up to.

There are two major things that I have been doing since I got here—the first is working. Although I have worked in many different fields prior to this trip, this is the first time that I have worked full time in a field that has nothing to do with my potential future job fields (Engineering or Finance). Currently, I am working in the Hospitality Industry at a golf resort in Aventura, Florida called The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort and Club. More specifically, I work in the Cascata Grille, a restaurant within the hotel. Although the hospitality industry is no easy place to work, especially for people with little or no patience, the experience has been fulfilling so far. With the likes of James Caan, Jack Nicholson and Michael Jordan (a regular!)  among the resort’s guests, there is always a sense of enthusiasm when one goes to work and sees who has checked in. I mean, big names mean big tips right? Moreover, with such big names and other big businessmen always coming into the resort, there is always an opportunity for networking and eavesdropping on “rich talk.” Along with a bunch of other South Africans working at the resort on the same program, l live about half an hour away in Fort Lauderdale. This is a perfect place to stay given the proximity to Las Olas Boulevard and the short drive from downtown Miami.

The other activity I have spent half my time partaking in is tourism. Not as a business or industry, but being a tourist myself. Seeing that I am in such a beautiful state with more to offer than one can handle,  I think that failure to spend at least a week touring the place would be offensive not only to myself, but to Mother Nature as well. As a result, I went all out and toured as much as I could! With my favorite touring partner, Sabrina, in town for the week, we took to the streets, the waterways and the beaches of Fort Lauderdale and also did a bit of Miami. We went to every part of this place that we could go to within the given time period. From Fort Lauderdale beach, Las Olas Boulevard and riverfront, the Science Museum, the all too famous Sawgrass Mills, to the even more famous Ocean Drive on South Beach. We did so much that after that week, I felt like I had lived in Fort Lauderdale for about a year yet I had only been here barely a fortnight. Superb food at some of the finest restaurants only made the experience even more memorable. My favorite night was probably at a sports bar a couple of blocks from our hotel. Watching the Celtics game while having the best pork chops ever and a disgusting beer on the side, who could ask for more? Although I did a lot of touristy stuff, I believe one would need at least a month of just traveling and sightseeing before they can claim to have exhausted what this place has to offer.

In-between work and travel, there have also been other adventures. The bus rides probably being the biggest highlight. It’s like the bus is a TV show and every ride is an episode. You see some of the weirdest things ever on the bus. I have also enjoyed going out while I have been here. The nightlife, of course, is quite intense. Within 48 hours of being in the country I was being shown the ropes by Kuda and Kelvin. Yes, trust me to find a bunch of Zimbabweans everywhere I go. I mean, they are everywhere anyway. New Years Eve with the South African group that I live and work with was lots of fun as well. We kinda took over every place we went into. Felt like I was back in Cape Town, in Long Street, in The Dubliner. Good times!!

I hope this has to shed more light as to what I have been up to. From here on, its real talk people! I hope this post will help readers understand some of the things I will be referring to in my posts to come.

Read More

READ IT, IT IS HERE....FINALLY!!

The hardest time to say something is when you have so much you want to say, but don’t know where to begin. It’s 11.40pm. The date is Monday, December 27, 2010. I have just finished my usual junk food dinner and I have my glassful of Dr Pepper next to my computer. For many days I have been in this same situation yet nothing has materialized. However, now I am out of excuses as to why I should put away writing this first article. I have no option, but to let my electronic pen bleed on this electronic paper…

On the 2^nd of December 2010, I left Cape Town to pursue a dream - more like a fantasy, that I had had ever since teenage hood. Over the years, this burning desire has been fueled by different raison d'êtres. At one point it was academic ambition, at another point it was romance. Later on, the motivation was to see the country and what it has to offer in terms of my future. More recently, with a new found love for travel, the drive to pursue the dream was merely just to see the country, no strings attached. However, by the time I left South Africa, all the above factors played a part in my finally putting my foot down and actually living that dream…

So, I would like to welcome you to my blog, an attempt to chronicle my time in the United States of America. I will be writing on an array of topics ranging from my life in this country and how I perceive life in this country to be, a comparison of South Africa/Zimbabwe and USA (the countries that I have lived in), my travels within the USA and many other topics. Please be advised that any views posted on this blog will based on what I would have experienced, mostly first hand, but will in no way be conclusive as I am only going to be in this huge country for a meager 3 months…

I hope that you will find this blog informative and will answer some of the questions that most people have been asking me about my trip. Feel free to send me any questions or topics that you would like me to write on. Being an engineer in training, my creativity in the writing department is very limited. So enjoy the blog. Next post will be up soon. Will try and write regularly so that I keep you all up to speed…

Read More