I woke up that morning, prepared to shut that party down.
Single malt whisky, The Singleton was launching its 12-year-old whisky at a party happening at The Sencillo Beach House, Ilashe. A ton of influencers and cool kids were going to be there, and I’d gotten an invite.
I’d been looking forward to this day for weeks. It was the 1st of October (the first public holiday that’d come along in a while) so it was the perfect day to do something meaningful. In this case, something meaningful meant killing myself with enjoyment.
While staging a fashion show in front of the mirror all in the name of finding the right outfit, it began to drizzle. I thought it’d be the kind that’d fall for a few minutes and stop, so I went into the shower undeterred. When I emerged, it was raining cats and dogs. The clouds were so black that for a second, I wondered if the rapture had happened and I’d been left behind.
Mother Nature was really about to do me dirty and ruin the fun day I’d planned.
The area my house is situated in is a mess. If a group of people sneeze at the same time, it floods. So I knew that getting to the Island (the party’s venue) from Isolo (where I live) with heavy rain would feel like an obstacle course designed by satan himself. I was determined to not miss this party, though, so I got dressed, got a cab, and headed out. Obstacles be damned.
That day, traffic and floods came together and were like:
The ride took forever.
The invite said to be at Bics Gardens in Lekki by 12 PM where a boat would convey everyone to the beach, and I was terrified that I was going to miss it. What would I do? Go back home and spend the day sleeping?? Was NO ONE going to see the bomb outfit I had on???
After two gruelling hours in traffic – and almost driving into a ditch the driver couldn’t see because it was covered by floods – we got to Bic Gardens at 11:54 AM. As I got out of the car and sprinted in, I reminded myself to ask for the number of Lekki’s Babalawo because it didn’t look like it had rained there at all. Luckily, the boat hadn’t left yet so I got on and settled in.
And immediately began to think of every ocean disaster movie I’ve ever seen.
Thankfully, we got to the beach without the boat being swallowed up by a supernatural whirlpool (à la The Odyssey) and the party began. Good vibes, amazing food, banging music, and enough The Singleton whisky to take down an elephant soon made me forget everything I’d been through earlier in the day. Aje Butter, OSi Suave, DJ Spinall, DJ Tgarbs, Chef Fregz, Kemi Smallz, Nara Ozim, Uche Odoh, and Sharon Ojong were just some of the influencers I partied with. Check out these pictures:
You know what? Watch this video. When you do, you’ll see why I was willing to walk through fire to be at this party:
