Sunday, December 30, 2012

FOOD AND DRINK :CAN HAVE YOU HOSPITALISED TOO-TO MY BEST PEOPLE IN 2012


In our life and this stressful hospitality industry where there is plenty of food and drink.Where what is deemed litter is food,you are carried away and stop watching what you eat or drink in the process because the abandance of it clouds the mind to judge goodlife from healthy life.









There are people who give us the reason to go on despite all the tantrams that are thrown at us in the line of duty.We go home and sleep on their lap after a good shower and they insist we are workaholics for areason.These are the people that i want to single out in this post at the end of the year.

To the woman who brought to me the magic of  rediscovering the loudest laughter ever,joy,peace and above all LOVE in our innerself.She has taught me that one can give up a job because love must win.She has proved that lies can be cooked but cant be preserved because they have the weakest elements in them to survive the test of time.May be iam giving a heavy text in this post than any other before.This deserves that weight,density because they have shaped the solidity of my patience.

To my wife:hendrina who was once a waiter(a well experienced one) and gave me a beautiful daughter who is a factory of our joy.She tells me my love for blogging has grown from a hobby to another something she didnt know,something that might be a career on its own.To my daughter she cringes away each time  i keep jabbing in my keyboard yet dinner is being served.........'daddy its mommas dinner time"........

  • This year that ends tommorrow by midnight its her year because without her by myside when my health nosedived and lost all the courage to undergo my prescribed ''regular excersise".To watch my diet and stick to what she prepared under a close reference to doctors advise all changed in a month. Eat,eat babe she softly said to me.
  • To my mother whom i cried on her lap too as a her small child that i was unwell and she said as long as she is alive she will help me get better,that made me stop crying.
  • To my father who will always standout as my biggest pillar(i have no words to praise him)
  • To my brother Elijah,he called my line like telephone operator.
  • To my boss Thandi,she always called and in response to my hoarse voice a day was added for bed rest.
I have realised that working in this industry where food is the material we work with we tend to forget that food too can kill. We therefore need to be careful in the choice of the food we eat.













This poem goes to my strong woman.Reminiscing the times i spotted her as the one.

WAITRESS ON TABLE    H

in green she lowers to me,
wait
serve me the open chambo garnished by your killer grin
desert?,Never, your number will do
this tall debris built my fault
spillages printed all over,poor me!
cruets yawn void,dont mind
trust no calculator,keep change
may need room service at four,bring crockerly empty though
be my take away for now and ever
am waiting
waiter!
for our outside catering



Friday, December 28, 2012

UNPUBLISHED ARTICLE 2012:TOURISM INDUSTRY AND CURRENT ECONOMIC JAZZ


I also gave out my "expert views" on tourism with the economic situation that hit us hard early 2011-2012 unfortuanately i did not post it on your your blog dear followers and finding it lying around i thought justice in the world could mean posting what i thought in this period of time- Isaac Chikwere Kasenjere
                                                                                       

TOURISM  INDUSTRY  AND this ECONOMIC JAZZ!

The fuel shortage, scarcity of forex and soured relations with the west might be  a result and am not sure if the latter is the cause of this wobbling economy we all dread now. Tourism industry has not been spared with this retrogression to development.Infact its among the top list of the industries hit by this economic tsunami. Whether its forex shortage that has seen hotels registering the highest percentage of cancellations or no-shows this year, unofficial statistics from the lakeshore resorts tout 60-70% ,but that matters less now.
Managers should get cracking and review afew tactics on their revenue management and strategic direction on their propertys dashboard. All these things however should accommodate the current “national recession “if that word can be re-coined.
This is the time Managers should be innovative enough to trade even when expenditure shall equal the sales. This is better than no sales at all .Mind you the hospitality product is perishable. Managers are on the rush to reduce hotel rates that one wonders where on earth these rates were when some of our wallets were still fat before an animal called devaluation of kwacha played predator.
Reducing rates is not the only solution, it’s part of it.The irony of adjusting rates  down is that hotel owners expect more traffic into their hospitality property,however experience has also revealed to me that we have never seen hotels with cheap rates to trade at 100% occupancy 24/7.Customers will always ask “whats in it for me?”even when your rates are the lowest. Demand shall always be created if satisfaction has been spelt in full by the guest.
Creative measures should be applied by coming up with tailor made products to a spectrum of guest.The chef should come up with menu well engineered that does not only look at dietary needs  or names to sell yet  same taste and colour . I should remind hotelier that this should not mean lowering the menu food price you have but a new menu that should respond to the winds of economy.Restaurant patrons should not fumble for the last coin in the pocket for the same thing we offered last time they came .Hospitality units should start selling value not rate or price because price and rate are not a service they seek and pay for.

A hotel room has  a tv set,airconditioner, a table and chair ,soap,towels and usual turndown service.What have you done to change  the features,how many occupants are you allowing this time for a night and amenities added to the room package.Whats on your breakfast menu,add some  most liked food items and remove the  less liked  items by your guests. Human beings will keep on getting married even in times of war,so in this time of economic slump deliberate packages should be made available to such couples, may be a photo shoot , a free massage or a personalized  table with a name  on it. This shall be enough 100 times slot  advert if you may like it that way.What managers should look out for is not the ceiling of 100% occupancy but the demand that comes with it ,so any occupancy over 50% shall see figures  soaring.
All I am saying is hoteliers should come up with adjusted packages with new values and features to catch the eye of the guest.Whether you are adjusting upwards or downwards that is your homework with your Accountant. You need a guest who has cash in the pocket and is also willing to spend it at your place. Ignoring the target market demands is letting your tables gather dust in the restaurant and rooms echoe with sounds of vacancy.
While smaller and broadrange of tailor made products should be created, diversification should also be a catchword as we struggle through this time.Our product should stretch beyond food ,drink and bed.
Our culture is one product that is worth forex in question.Engaging a group of villagers  for cultural evenings can only cost little and plough back into the hotel coffers.A lodge along the lake shore can use more than lake Malawi as a product.They can use the yao culture and its history.Same works for a lodge in Mzuzu. Lets shift our mindset from just waiting for business of bed and  breakfast only. Sightseeing or day activities will see places that are now relying on to make more money even when the occupancy is zero.
The directive by government to have foreign guests pay in foreign exchange should not only be seen as easy go for hospitality owners.There are challenges  that should be expected ,therefore knowing this challenge will prepare the attitude  of staff and wording of interacting with guests to communicate this Press release by Reserve Bank of Malawi.Scenarios of guests booking out of the hotel because they were ignorant of the currency to pay shall if not already  be rampant.Therefore it is my theory that upon reservation this change should be communicated   or risk customer emberassment which always goes with a  cost to a hotel  and our competitor a stone throw can benefit from this mistake.This might also see guests spending little in our revenue centres  if  we leave the job  of spreading the message of this new law  with the Government alone. The excuse can only be “I have already changed my forex to kwacha”.Managers cannot afford  to see their licence be snatched away because they failed to assist the government the regulation of forex.

ZOMBA GYMKHANA GOLF COURSE UNPAID EXCURSIONS

The very first time i cut through Gymkhana Golf course going up Hotel Masongola(of course i wont forget this :"built in 1886),i spotted a lot of Golf players.Wondered how things in sports quickly changed at how instead of playing it with the regular club and that little ball all i saw were  couples  dotting the course with books.Books and books and teenagers outnumbered the adults.I was well imformed that this place is another Study 'huge specious" room  in the city.

How i wish i had something to study!,at the thought of the aftermath of any slight branchoff to help study a few beautiful ladies i saw reading but lonely.Whether they were a serious crop among the crowed  to sit alone or they were out of the market that much i did not establish.Next time i buy a newspaper and read my favourite classfied ads"vacancies'wanna make Gymkhana Golf course the best place to read them.

The Gymkhana Club, old Residency of the first commissioner of Nyasaland  to me is another face of Zomba City,who can resist its dilapidated state its a kind of  its ancient statement that it speaks and renoverting it,expanding it is what man can do to rape the virgin history that it embodies. Let it be old!look old! history is never new.

GYMKHANA GOLF COURSE

While i have a few essays,poems published in my real name i have also struggled to have my name sustained in the glory of print  media so with the above experience i dropped a few lines that made this poem become with a pseudoname/penname VERY BLACKHONEY AND MILK. hopping i have one guy who cannot publish my poem with my real name on it,get it from me i thought the editor might think thats a new kid on the block!
TITLE: GYMKHANA GOLF COURSE EXCURSIONS
 BY   :  blackhoney and Milk
a cross a green carpet
tourists of circumstance
dotted on the cource like golf balls
at books,swatting away the buzzing illiteracy
others staring,studying each others
but your nostrils,your all
mugging in to win a pal on to their hole
flipping through pages of thoughts,that roll over the place
and spread carefully,butter way
and sweet like sugar it feels
when exam calls but panic
non the chapters read
lead to failure of academics
pass in love that see them hungry and angry
who forgets Gykhana golf course
with rubbers left unused when lust takeover
still,who said there is "no hurry in Africa"
Controlling these students of love might be difficult  i only plead to them that may they stop littering Gykhana Golf Course,i dont care if their rubbers are used or unused  Gykhana is one place i call monument of its stature and a club every tourist should stop to admire and spend a little fortune for sure.

GYNKHANA CLUB house


Wednesday, December 26, 2012

PARTY-POOPERS NOMORE!-USE CUTLERY THIS FESTIVE SEASON

With the invitations flowing in your inbox or post office box you can only  be successful to turn down a few and some are really difficult to duck them away.You better get ready to show up at a formal dinner that demand table skills.We all learn these things as we grow ,afterall all our childhood we have been using hands to eat our dinner hahahah.Come on these are the things you need to know .I have used this setting to really make you a star tommorrow or anyday this festive season and you will hold the folk the right side of your hands and jab on the right foodstuff.Am i good or good, am not being a smart guy if you read am just being that coward for once to alert myself too how to hold these shinning items because i was once caught offguard when one card read "Remember family matters ,we have your part for a speech"

I was not ready to be crown  a party-pooper,i revisted my college skills on eatery and wham-bam-i got it at last by using my dummy cutlerly(dont ask why coz that time less visitors meant less utensils was a single guy beggining to mingle).



a. Napkin
b. Side plate and butter knife for dinner rolls
c. Salad fork
d. Fish fork
e. Dinner fork
f. Service plate.
g. Dinner Knife
h. Salad knife
i. Soup spoon
j. Red wine glass
k. White wine glass
l. Water glass
m. Dessert fork and spoon

  • Do not panic  start from the outside of your cover setting, and go your way towards the  plate: soup spoon first, then fish knife and fork, then service knife and fork. Use the outside knife and fork for the first course (entrĂ©e), and then simply work inwards for each subsequent course.

  • Knives are always to the right, and forks are always to the left.


  • The soup spoon, will always be on the extreme right if being served as a first course, or second in from the right if being served as a second course.


  • Dessert cutlery will always be at the top of the place setting with the fork facing right and the spoon positioned above this with the bowl facing left.

  • Big events  events, we start with  hot food and cold for foods wait for the host to announce dinner and wait until the head of the table starts.
    Dinner rolls or bread is on your left . Butter each bread roll upon the need to eat. Always use the napkin when you want to spit food out of your mouth.

    Last time i finished eating using these utensils i sighed and i told my friends and said "MAY I GO AND WASH MY HANDS"...........Where is the WC.?  and saw a waiter figuring out what all this meant..........hahahha  dude eat with cutlery from the west speak like them.

    Friday, December 14, 2012

    ULENDO KUDYA KUGONA GOES ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

    Keep you intouch with the world of tourism,the blogger decided to follow you people because facebook that is  a platform for the global village.https://www.facebook.com/ulendokudyakugona?ref=hl tweeter: @chekasenjere

    The blogger has also added new gadgets where followers are able to translate into other launguages.

    Like the bloggers page and comment or ask question about anything hahah,i mean anything to do with Tourism.

    Its easy peasy to keep intouch
    Enjoy.

    Isaac Chikwere Kasenjere

    ULENDO-KUDYA-KUGONA !-travel,food,accommodation : ZOMBA CHILDRENS' SAFE PLAYGROUND CALLED 'SAFE HAVENS"

    ULENDO-KUDYA-KUGONA !-travel,food,accommodation : ZOMBA CHILDRENS' SAFE PLAYGROUND CALLED 'SAFE HAVENS"

    Thursday, December 13, 2012

    ZOMBA CHILDRENS' SAFE PLAYGROUND CALLED 'SAFE HAVENS"

    Zomba, after being declared a full city its still growing  in size and activities.Children will no longer stand in the market square and streets struggling to make ends meet..Zomba Safe Haven is a newly constructed playground for children.Its located adjucent to to Zomba Central Hospital ,behind the Ministry of Agriculture offices.

     
    It is the SAFE MALAWIS belief that Games that children play have an impact in a childs life,all it is needed are initiatives like these to spread around the country to benefit more.Psychosocial support in the formative years of a child is amust.Playgrounds for kids around the world is the organisation that partenered with SAFE MALAWI to come up with the project from AMERICA.This heaven has also considered culture in this journey of moulding kids into responsible adults.Story telling,HIV and Aids lessons will be among the benefits that vulnerable children will get.
    
    
    THE BLOGGER-ISAAC CHIKWERE KASENJERE AND THE AMERICAN GROUP THAT DONATED THE EQUIPMENT FROM AMERICA
     They might eat and dress but they need to play,this is as good as vacation.No more destitutes,Kids rise in criminal cases,SAFE HAVEN will chase away the hell out of our beautiful kids,save them from all the plight and gender based violence from this year as days go by in this period of 16 th days of activism.

    Friday, December 7, 2012

    MALAWI ON TOP 10 DESTINATIONS FOR 2013

    Its not the first time for my country to be recognised as one of the best destination in the world . In 2011 Malawi was recognised as a top ten destination by one travel magazine Wanderlust. In October of this 2012  Malawi was included in two of the ‘top ten lists’  by The Times newspaper.As if that is not enough this Malawi had 3 entries in CNN’s most Stunning Spots in Africa.NOW just this last Month,Globe Spots puts Malawi on number 9 in the TOP 10- must go destinations 2013.
    GLOBE SPOTS is not a travel agent or Tourist insurance company.They are proffessional and keen travellers so they say on their webpage.Our papers and government officials are spreading this good news about our being voted the best destination among the 10 other countries.All i can say is this is good news for Malawi to celebrate and a challenge to ponder over it.
    We need to move with the global winds.Speak the global launguage and put Malawi on their rightful place of top 5 if our infrastructure and presonel are going to be our priorities in this sector.GLOBE SPOTS had these colourful words to publish about Malawi.:
    'Malawi is often overlooked in favour of its neighbours, but this gem of an African country has more than enough to keep travellers enthralled.Having earned their country the nickname of the Warm Heart of Africa, the seemingly always smiling Malawians are without a doubt one of Malawi’s main attractions.
    Another is Lake Malawi, which provides ample beaches for sunbathing, islands for kayaking, fish for snorkelling and diving and even an annual music festival. Add parks boasting the Big Five, the chance to walk and cycle with zebras and antelopes, mountains providing days upon days of spectacular hiking, an ancient steamboat and sunset cruises along the hippo-filled Shire River to the mix and you’ve got yourself a pretty incredible destination. Best of all? You’ll feel as though you have most of it to yourself!''

    
    where you can find Malawi
    For the full list of Global Spots ‘Top Ten’ please click here

    PROFILE 
    Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. Wikipedia
    Currency: Malawian kwacha
    Government: Democracy
    Population: 15,380,888 (2011) World Bank
    Official language: English Language, Chewa language
    The blogger thought you deserve to know. YEWO CHOMENE(Thank you -in Tumbuka)