Lifestyle

The evening began three and a half hours late as organizers scrambled to get the hall ready and begin the competition. Attendants milled around the entrance in those hours, patiently waiting for the pageant to begin.

“Single, married, busy or lazy,” reads an advertisement posted inside the compound of Bole Arabssa Condominium. With the huge number of ads posted here and there, it is very unlikely for a person to notice a particular ad. But this one stands out, the color, size and layout demands attention.

Stormy clouds, unpredictable rain and hail, road traffic getting increasingly worse, horrid queues for taxis, muddy roads that hardly ever consider pedestrians, the stifling air of Addis Ababa can feel much worse during kiremt months.

“'Out Of The Past' was the name of the store, and its products consisted of memories: what was prosaic and even vulgar to one generation had been transmuted by the mere passing of years to a status at once magical and also camp.” These are the opening lines to Gil Pender’s novel in Woody Allen’s Midnight to Paris.

Tesfaye Adal sits in his small bookstore, waiting for customers, guarding his books.

A sport that has entertained since mid-19th century in some countries is yet to take shape in Ethiopia.

With the Capital’s growing appetite for innovation and commercialization, the interior design industry has exploded in popularity in recent years. Property developers and professionals have started showing genuine interest in the way buildings are designed, accessorised and marketed; and if there is one thing that the market is saying, it is that the future belongs to interior design.

What do these three things have in common: an old baby shoe, a cow horn and a computer monitor? Well, they all have been used to make an innovative garden art in one of the forgotten corners of the capital.

It’s Tuesday Wanderlust at La Lyonnaise, a cozy French Bistro located around Bole, few meters away from Sheger Building and dozens gather to eat tortilla española and salad. La Lyonnaise hosts these weekly nights serving a distinctive dish from a certain country and immersing customers in that country’s culture for a few hours. Tuesday’s Spain themed night was no different.

A few years ago, meeting up with friends for colourful concoctions at the juice bar for lunch, joining a nearby dance class after work, meditating with a beautiful view of the sunset, going out for an evening walk, or seeking help of a professional for weight loss programs were the activities of a handful of people.