How to survive your first Escape Room

 Escape rooms seem to be popping up all over the country and Escape Hunt is the latest addition to The Light in Leeds. If you haven’t been to an Escape Room before, the concept is that you and your team get locked in a themed room which is filled with puzzles and codes which you have to solve in order to escape within a time limit.

At the moment, it contains two World War Two themed rooms and I was invited down with some of my friends to try it out during their press launch. Having never been to an escape room before, I was slightly concerned that my friends from work were going to see the controlling psychopath side to my personality that I usually don’t bring out (LOL) but thankfully we managed to stay calm and escape. We absolutely loved the experience we had with our games master, Noel. He talked us through how we’d get into the room and have to work the clues out from there and how he’d be watching us the whole time and listening to our conversations so he could give us a nudge in the right direction if necessary – which turned out to be fairly frequently! 

Though I can’t give away the clues as it would ruin the game, the idea is to break through a series of codes and puzzles in order to find and destroy a bomb which was planted by a spy. When we first walked in, I did just think to myself ‘but what the hell do we do first’ as we weren’t given any prior instructions but after searching the room, it became clearer and we moved from clue to clue and eventually got out with two minutes to spare. 

At Escape Hunt in Leeds, as there are two rooms, there is an opportunity to go against each other in teams, which we had originally planned to do, but we were advised to go in as a six. After doing the Escape Room, it became quickly apparent that we definitely needed everyone’s different skill sets and we’d have struggled in a team of three.

As it was my first Escape Room experience, I wanted to share some of my tips to getting out in under an hour.

1. Go with colleagues. I found that because I went with friends from work, we already know how to work together and to listen, plus you can’t lose your shit entirely in front of your boss. I think for a first time escape room experience where you don’t know what your doing, this makes it a whole lot easier as it could definitely break up a friendship.

2. Listen to what people are saying. Even if you think it’s wrong, let everyone’s voice be heard, simply because it stops people getting pissed off and wound up.

3. Work together but also play to your strengths. When solving the first few clues, we worked together and tried to be methodical but after that, we ended up splitting up a bit – making it very hard for Noel who was trying to keep track of how we were doing from the outside!

4. Wear a watch. I didn’t do this but as we couldn’t take our phones in with us, it meant we had no concept of time whilst we were in there and towards the end, that meant that we started to panic that we were running out of time.

5. Check everything and then check it again. It’s really easy to miss clues because you haven’t searched enough – but at the same time, if it’s bolted down, take that as meaning you shouldn’t be trying to move it!

I absolutely loved my Escape Hunt experience and would 100% recommend doing it as a team building activity. It is £25 per person and before we went, we thought it was quite pricey, but for the amount of fun we had, I’d say it’s worth it for an occasion or event. Thank you to Escape Hunt for inviting us down, to our games master Noel who made it a fantastic experience and to Maz, Hannah, Hollie, Luke and Juan for coming with me.

Read More »

My first festival

Anyone who knows me in person could tell you that I’m not an outdoorsy person, but this summer, I had my first festival experience. And let me tell you, whilst it was fun, my limit is definitely the decidedly middle class Carfest North (aka the charity festival that Chris Evans puts on for Children in Need) and Leeds fest is 100% out of my remit. My mum got day tickets for me, her and my sister for Christmas and having never been to a festival before, I had zero clue what to expect.

After the extreme summer 2018 heatwave, I headed on over to Chester with jeans, tshirts and trainers and it was the night before which saw me raiding the nearest H&M for an emergency sweatshirt and trying on my sister’s spare anorak. This anorak in particular was from when she volunteered at the Manchester Marathon and had ‘marshall’ written across the back. Excellent, well done me.

When we arrived, it was drizzling and though we got there at around 11am, we managed to park pretty close to the entrance – it was very organised in terms of getting people in so there was very little queuing. As festivals go, it isn’t massive but there’s plenty going on throughout the day. Our first stop was the world record attempt at the main stage for the most people stood in the formation of the Scouting logo – the link here is that Chris Evans is an ambassador for Scouts. I’ll happily admit that I only got involved as ‘world record holder’ looks great on my Tinder bio and the purple ponchos we had to wear for the occasion came in handy throughout the day.

As we missed the heatwave, at least it meant that when there were showers during the daytime, we could run for cover – the festival put up extra tents originally so that people could find shade, whereas actually we ended up under there to avoid the rain. As it was cooler, being able to sit outdoors in a breeze but not be a sweaty mess was really nice. We actually found that the vintage cafe, which was in a marquee, was the best place to just relax as it was very reasonably priced (£15 for a pot of tea for two, an Americano and two massive slices of cake, one of which was gluten free). It was outside the vintage cafe that we spotted Chris Evans and my mum was absolutely over the moon to get a photo with him. We ended up back there a second time later in the day too, plus it was a lovely area to wander around the vintage stalls.

During the day, there are loads of activities and things to watch including a swing dance class where my mum and I learned the Charleston, a massive parade through the show ground and even a motorcross stunt show. A personal highlight for me was during the parade when the ‘unicorn’ (AKA a white horse with a sparkly cone stuck to it’s forehead) had a shit halfway round. Absolutely magical. The motorcross stunt show was incredible, with the riders doing loads of tricks whilst flying through the air. There’s plenty of other stuff going on too, including a carnival with loads of rides, flower crown making, cactus decorating, sheep racing and some driving experiences.

When it comes to food, there was street food in every single area though my sister struggled to find anything remotely healthy as she’s both gluten free and on Slimming World. I however had a gyros from Eat Like a Greek who I’ve seen before in Trinity Kitchen and that was delicious. Other than a gyros and cake, I didn’t end up eating much else but there was pretty much every cuisine going. The portaloo situation was also pretty good considering it was day three - the story of poo girl from Leeds Fest 2010 had filled me with horror and dread. Even at the end of the day, they were about as clean as they could be, with stewards there ready and waiting with loo roll refills.

As the daytime activities drew to a close, we headed over to the main stage for the music which started around 5pm (though there was a swing band and smaller artists on other stages throughout the day). We managed to get sat towards the back which was fine by us as any closer and we’d have had to have stood which we didn’t really fancy with five hours of music ahead of us. And it was closer to both the bar and the toilets. Pint of cider in hand, we watch Billy Ocean, The Feeling and about half a set from Texas before the heavens truly opened. It was at this point where we relented and left before the Carfest Supergroup and Madness – it was a shame to miss those acts but it was absolutely pouring with rain and we were soaking wet through so made a run for the car.

Overall, it was a fun day and definitely something different. The things we planned in to see and do like the parade and swing dance class were really fun and if I was to go back, I’d aim to see more of the motorcross stunt shows and the general driving on the track. Ifyou’re a massive petrolhead, into vintage or have a family, it’s definitely a great day out and even for someone who isn’t, it was still a fun experience. Would I go again? I think it would depend on the acts who were playing, but I wouldn’t say no – for around £80 a ticket, it’s not a cheap day out but if you’re a fan of at least two of the main acts, I’d say it’s worth it.  Have you ever been to Carfest North? Would you go? Let me know in the comments.

Read More »

Nigerian Comedian, Bovi Ugboma as he broke 3rd TV in one year

 Nigerian Comedian, Bovi Ugboma, has put up his last son, Chuchu, ‘for sale’ after the latter broke the third TV in the year.

The funnyman took to his Instagram Story to share pictures and videos, as he cautioned his son for breaking the television.

One of the pictures was captioned, “For sale! He broke the third TV in a year.”

In one of the videos, Bovi’s voice was heard questioning his crying son, “Who broke the TV? You’re crying. Are you not the one that broke the TV?”

Chuchu is the third of Bovi’s children. The comedian got married to Kris in 2007 and they have three children together.

See screenshots of Instagram story (@officialbovi):

Read More »

I cry regularly –Bimbo Akintola

 Ever wondered how ace actress, Bimbo Akintola, pulls off her crying scenes in movies effortlessly? Ponder no more as she has revealed the secret behind it. The star actress revealed that it is easy for her to shed tears because she is a passionate person.

She further went on to say that she cries regularly.

“I cry out of frustration. When I am upset, I cry. I am one of those people that cry easily because I am a very passionate and emotional person. If I am frustrated, I can cry. If I am angry and you ask me to explain myself, I would cry, I am that kind of person; so I cry regularly,” she said.

The delectable actress further revealed that she is not throwing in the towel any time soon when it comes to her career because it is the reason for her existence. She added that there is only one reason that would make her quit acting.

“I have several mummies in the industry and I am like them. I have Taiwo Ajai-Lycett who I know would act till the day she dies; I know Joke Silva would act till the day she dies and I will act till the day I die. I can never get tired or walk out of this profession. Acting is my reason for being; it is one of the main reasons for my being,” Akintola said.

In her most recent project, ‘93 days,’ the star actress played the role of Ameyo Adadevoh, the brave physician who died while ensuring that the Ebola virus did not become an epidemic in the country.

Read More »

Govt should revive technical schools –Fidelis Duker

 Have you ever experienced a situation whereby a pipe in your house was clogged?

Yes. In fact, one happened last week. The pipe was leaking at an end called the chamber.

Did you employ the services of a plumber or you fixed it yourself?

I had to employ the services of a plumber because I thought I could not fix it myself. It was after the plumber was through with it that I realised it was even something I could do on my own. In less than three hours, he was through with it and everything was working fine again. I was recently in the United Kingdom in the apartment of my friend and he had a similar problem in his house. He did not call any plumber to fix it for him. He did it himself.

He has all the tools. I guess I was motivated by his ability to do a thing like that. But when it happened to me a week ago, I thought it was complicated until later when I realised I could have done it myself. A blocked drain is very easy to fix. However, if I keep doing everything myself, how will the plumber make money? I think why we still have to give some of these jobs to technicians is to create employment. We have to employ people, and I think this is why the government should bring back the technical schools. 

All the vocational schools we have in this country are nowhere to be found nowadays. Our vocational schools and polytechnics should not be converted into universities. I implore the Federal Government to revive our technical schools so we can have a skilled labour market. This is what was obtainable in the past.

How do you keep your toilet stink-free?

We have disinfectants in the house. Each toilet in the house has a washing point. I also tell my children to wash the toilet after using it so that any person who wants to use it next will not be irritated. It is very important to always keep every part of the home clean as cleanliness is next to godliness.

What home improvement skills do you have?

I know how to mix cement in case I want to fix a scratched surface on the wall. I don’t need to call a bricklayer. I have a shovel and a cutlass. I have a mower for clearing my lawn. I also have some electrical tools for fixing minor electrical faults. I believe these are basic things every homeowner should have and apart from having them, they should learn how to use them. It should not be that you have to call a technician each time there is a fault in the home. There are basic home repairs that should be learned.

Read More »

Koffi opens up on controversial letter

 About two weeks ago, ace comedian, Koffi, posted an open letter on his wall which many thought was to blast\ popular singer Kiss Daniel. This did not go down well with a lot of people and they were quick to react. Singer, 9ice, was one of those that reacted to the letter and he described the comedian as being ‘insensible.’

In an exclusive chat with Saturday Beats, the comic act explained that he wrote the letter to protect the Nigerian entertainment industry.

“In every vocation, there is a society that protects them. Vulcanizers, conductors, have associations that protect them. Entertainment associations do not protect entertainers. That is how businessmen entered Nollywood, started doling out money and they crumbled that sector. The same thing is happening to the music industry and that is why I shouted. These people bring their money into the business, find young boys to sign to their record labels, then they begin to dictate their career path. Tomorrow if Kiss Daniel does not make it, they would drop him and pick another person. By that time, he would have lost his fan base and interaction with people.

Timaya knows how hard he fought to get his career back. J Martins is fighting to get his career back. I know all these things and how they are struggling. When I talk, it is not because of beef but because I need to protect my industry. Kiss Daniel, Ycee, Adekunle Gold, are some of the intelligent people in the industry and we need to push them so that they don’t push them out and bring back the riff-raff. How would an artiste release an album and you did not allow him to go for a radio tour. You don’t allow him to mingle with people and when he is called for interviews, you say you don’t need it. When his career is going down, he would begin to beg. Soul E took his CDs to a radio station and the moment he stepped out, they threw it into the dust bin as big as Soul E was,” he said.

He described as laughable insinuations that his letter was to make him relevant in the industry. Koffi unapologetically added that if his letter did not sit well with anybody then, that is their business.

He said, “It is not an open letter but my comic truth. I write it and post it on my page every Wednesday. If it touches anybody, that is for their pocket. I am a writer who will write the right things and I don’t care what anybody says about it. If they do not see the truth in what I write, then they can as well go and start writing their own column about me. I would write what I see as I see it as a public commentator. It is called comic truth and if they could not see the humour and truth in what I wrote, then to hell with them. I am not their mate, so I can’t take issues with them.

Read More »

 Nigerian Afro-pop singer Joshua Iniyezo, popularly known by his stage name SolidStar is set to begin a music tour to Australia from September 30

The Achievas Entertainment signee made the announcement on his Instagram page on Wednesday.

“Australia, we are coming and I’m super excited,’’he said.

According to the Delta State born singer, the tour will see him thrill music fans in five Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

The “Baby Jollof’’ crooner also announced his highly anticipated album “weed”.

He noted that the album was in its finishing stages.

“It will be one of the best albums ever made in the history of the Nigerian entertainment industry,’’ he said.

Read More »