Papaye: Anyone for Fast Food, Ghanaian style?

When I first arrived back home in Ghana in 2004, I was under the impression that this fast-food joint, which goes by the name "Papaye" was Ghanaian. This, despite the fact that a number of retail outlets in this country are owned and run by the Lebanese! In any event, even more interesting was my investigation into the name, which was a non-starter, really, 'cos I arrived at the conclusion that with a name like "Papaye", it was probably the Lebanese owner, probably married to a Ghanaian woman, who might have heavily influenced him--or not.

Either way, in Ghana, the word "papa", apart from meaning "father", also means "good". So "papaye" means "doing good", which is quite odd why a Lebanese would choose that name, unless he/she considered it an expression of corporate social responsibility?


Oh well. The food is not bad. You have to wait in an air-conditioned place like the picture below. The counter is on the immediate left. After some twenty minutes of waiting, you get your order, with the customary receipt, which you can find below:

At the time I ordered the food (28 November, 2005), you can see from the receipt that I ordered 3 GRILLED CHICKEN and RICE, which has got to be the favourite of Ghanaians;-) The chicken is usually a quarter, and out of this world. Very well-condimented, even if I do say so myself;-)) The rice can be a bit TOO much for one person, and very often, you can have the rest the following day.

Would I recommend Papaye? Certainly! One dish is now ç29,000, or just under $US2.9. Is that cheap--by Ghanaian standards-- for a dish like that?

enjoy the day!

[pictures taken from my SAGEM My-x-7]

A Snapshot of Central Region (Elmina Beach Resort)

Hello all, I know it's been a while; if you check my last post (12 January, 2007) on Reflecting the Eccentric World of E.K.Bensah, you'll find that I am "under the weather". I am far better now, thankfully.

It is precisely for that reason I thought I ought to write something in here to let my regular readers and otherwise know that I am ok and haven't stopped the blogging enterprise! This post originally found itself on one of my other blogs, but it's for the pictures that I am re-posting here.

This is where the whole staff stayed from 17-21 December for our annual review. It's in the Central Region, a typically tourist region for all the greenery and proximity to the ocean...

...where I played some basketball with a colleague's son...

...worked out in the gym of Elmina Beach Resort for three mornings...

...and enjoyed the beautiful landscape set against the ocean.

Great to be back in Accra, but definitely missing the place!

May this New Year 2007 bring you ALL you desire and much, much more!

tags:
elmina beach resort; ghana; central region;
happy new year;

Well done, Bank of Ghana!...(We're 50 days to Ghana's 50th Anniversary!!)

My parents and I were very happy yesterday evening to see this blue-and-yellow pamphlet, that is lying on my keyboard. It's from the Bank of Ghana, detailling the whys and wherefores of the re-denomination scheduled for July. In fact, ever since the announcement late last year of the redenomination of the Ghana cedi, such that
10,000 Ghanaian cedis will become, as from July this year, 1 NEW Ghanaian cedi, there have been a number of (silly) jingles on the radio, and a banner (quasi-permanent) on the front page of the Daily Graphic newspaper, and other newspapers so that the public becomes used to the "conversion".
This is what the government-supporting private paper, The Statesman wrote about it in its review of the year, 2006:

"The biggest change in the Ghanaian economy of 2006 was the announcement of the new Ghana Cedi, which will be launched in July 2007. Four zeros will be knocked off our current currency, making one new cedi equivalent to ¢10,000 in today’s money."

The pamphlet answers the following questions:

1. why is there a need for redenomination?


2. what is replacing the old notes and coins?


3. what will be the relationship between the old and new notes and coins?


4. will I lose value if I exchange my old notes and coins for new notes and coins?


5. does it mean that the cedi is going to be devalued or revalued?


6. what happens to the old notes and coins when the new notes and coins are introduced?


7. what happens after the transition period?


8. will this exercise lead to price increases?


9. will this affect my wages and salaries?


Simply put -- and I am deliberately referring to #5, which might be of relevance to non-Ghanaians -- from July going, $US1 will be equivalent to 92Ghanaian PESEWAS. This is if we are operating from the assumption that currently $US1=9,200 Ghanaian cedis.

I find it all exciting.

Without a doubt, when at the annual conference of the incumbent government--the New Patriotic Party(NPP)--that was held in the Eastern region at the beginning of the year, the President John A Kufuor said that the new currency would be equivalent (almost) to a dollar, it made the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)quiver in its boots. Just a bit.

What I do know is that time is the only thing that will hold the real truth of it all...;-)

tags:
ghana cedi;ghana new currency;accra;50 days to Ghana's jubilee;

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all...It's Ghana's JUBILEE YEAR!!

May the winds of fortune that I command blow your way and beyond;-)) May all your blogger and non-blogger dreams, wishes and desires come to pass--wherever you may be;-)

I truly apologise for the absence, but the beginning of December saw some intense activities at the office, including spending some four nights in a hotel, going home; and another four nights in another hotel outside the capital for the organisation's annual review. More pictures to follow from this visit!

I am using these pictures because suffice-to-say, the hotel atmosphere inhibits any serious cogitation or consideration for blogging! There's too much DSTV on tv to bother about blogging!;-))


In my parent's car in town during Christmas eve, near the famed-37 area, because the biggest building in that area is the 37 military hospital. Destination?...


...MaxMart, the Lebanese retail store that boasts two big stores, including this one, in the capital, and where many non-Ghanaians and Ghanaians -- of the middle class kind, might I cheekily add -- shop. Everything can be obtained here, some slightly below and at par with the Ghanaian market, or slightly above. You get your Belgian chocolates here; your Kellogs; your major multinational brands, includinig Nescafe, etc...

See those red number plates on that merc? It belongs to a diplomat (in Ghana, red plates are diplomatic plates, which include "CD"), so that already tells you what kind of "calibre" or class comes to shop here;-)

Oh yeah, the President John A Kufuor, in his New Year speech declared the Jubilee Year for Ghana "open". Wanna find out more about Ghana's

fiftieth

year of existence? Please click here: http://www.ghana50.gov.gh

tags:
accra christmas; ghana; ghana jubilee; ghana 50;