New Years Eve…still no final plans for a party. All I know is that I’m picking up Xav from the airport at close to 11pm.We’re going to wing it from there. We have a few options, but nothing set in stone, I’ll try to find out what he is up for, before making a decision. I fear however, that his flight from New York will have been a tiring one.
It’s the last day of 2008. Personally, the close to this year couldn’t have come quick enough and for a lack of a better word it’s been a ‘kak’ (‘kak’ for those of you who do not understand Afrikaans is a vulgar word meaning: poo) year, perhaps the worst one that I’ve ever experienced.
I don’t even want tempt fate by saying that next year cannot be worse, but the chances are slim. I have a feeling though, that 2009 will be a much better year, a great one even and can’t wait for it to roll in. Throughout the day, I’ll try to think of New Years resolutions and discard the negativity of the past.
A lot of people don’t believe in New Years resolutions, they argue, that one doesn’t have to wait till the new year before making changes. True, one doesn’t have to; but it is good to have a tangible start and finish - ask anyone who has worked in the Project Management paradigm (I’ve been fortunate to have done so previously), milestones are important in projects and in life. The New Year is such a milestone. And this year can be seen as a project gone horribly wrong.
Sure, not everything has been negative, there’s obviously been some positives. I’ve met some terrific new people, but then again, I’ve also lost a few near and dear to me… This year has provided me with a point of departure. And like in a bad project it’s provided me with some references to learn from and to grow.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Will Power
Damn it! It’s difficult to muster up the will power to write. I’m not certain if it’s because I’m on holiday and feel resistance against anything that resembles work or the fact that I’ve been keeping myself preoccupied... But whatever it is, it’s taking up all my strength to do this right now.
Had such a great evening last night, as I said yesterday, I was feeling the whole domesticated vibe and cooked up a storm. I made a pretty mean lasagne and had an impromptu dinner with some friends. Ahh a very relaxed, chilled evening with some food and mates.
Sorry but that’s all I could put down today, time for a little nap. I guess that answers my question then. I’m just too damn lazy to write!
Had such a great evening last night, as I said yesterday, I was feeling the whole domesticated vibe and cooked up a storm. I made a pretty mean lasagne and had an impromptu dinner with some friends. Ahh a very relaxed, chilled evening with some food and mates.
Sorry but that’s all I could put down today, time for a little nap. I guess that answers my question then. I’m just too damn lazy to write!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Catch Up
I’m sure all of you have one of those friends that no matter how long you’ve been apart or what has happened, that when you get together you just get on like a house on fire.
I’m fortunate enough to have a few friends like that; and had the pleasure of catching up with such a friend. One of my best mates from when I was a kid in East London, David was in town and we decided to meet up over breakfast, at good old Arnold’s (one of the friendliest, best-value-for-money spots in Cape Town).
It’s been a while since I’ve seen ol’ Dave, at least a few years; but when we met up it seemed like we could pick up from where we last left off. We chatted about the good old day’s, found out what each other has been up to, in the recent chapters of our lives and really had a good time reconnecting. It didn’t feel awkward; it wasn’t weird; there was just this sense of familiarity.
The only difference really between now and then is that we’re bigger, hairier (at least he is…I don’t grow much body hair) and perhaps a little wiser (doubtful – but possible).
So, not much happening today – pretty chilled - that’s why I’ve decided to do the domestic thing: cook and do the odd chore around the flat.
I’m fortunate enough to have a few friends like that; and had the pleasure of catching up with such a friend. One of my best mates from when I was a kid in East London, David was in town and we decided to meet up over breakfast, at good old Arnold’s (one of the friendliest, best-value-for-money spots in Cape Town).
It’s been a while since I’ve seen ol’ Dave, at least a few years; but when we met up it seemed like we could pick up from where we last left off. We chatted about the good old day’s, found out what each other has been up to, in the recent chapters of our lives and really had a good time reconnecting. It didn’t feel awkward; it wasn’t weird; there was just this sense of familiarity.
The only difference really between now and then is that we’re bigger, hairier (at least he is…I don’t grow much body hair) and perhaps a little wiser (doubtful – but possible).
So, not much happening today – pretty chilled - that’s why I’ve decided to do the domestic thing: cook and do the odd chore around the flat.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Turbulence
Hoorah! I just landed in Cape Town and I’m glad to be on the ground!
The plane ride back from PE was less than pleasant. I haven’t experienced such a bumpy, turbulent flight in years and sat with my heart in my stomach for the entire journey.
It’s been quite a whirlwind tour of PE. I got to see a lot of old friends, spent some time with the family, surfed and ate a lot, but it’s good to be back in Cape Town. I think it’s time to knuckle down and get ready for the new year ahead.
The plane ride back from PE was less than pleasant. I haven’t experienced such a bumpy, turbulent flight in years and sat with my heart in my stomach for the entire journey.
It’s been quite a whirlwind tour of PE. I got to see a lot of old friends, spent some time with the family, surfed and ate a lot, but it’s good to be back in Cape Town. I think it’s time to knuckle down and get ready for the new year ahead.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Port Elizabeth Premiere of Tunnel Rats
I finally watched, Tunnel Rats! My friends and I organized a mini-premiere last night as part of my birthday.
I spoke to Darryn earlier in the day and asked if we could use his place to screen my movie debut. He has a pretty sweet projector and sound set-up that would really simulate a theoretical experience. He agreed to have it at his house. So everything was set.
I didn’t know about their plan, but as a joke I arrived with a little black bow tie as an addition to my very casual dress. My friends however, surprised me by arriving in full formal wear, which enhanced the authenticity of our premiere night. Bryan even organized a fine bottle of bubbly for the occasion.
I was blown away. It’s not every night that there is a black tie event in ol’ PE, so it was quite a change to see the guys and girls all dolled up.
The movie is best described as a war horror, filled with gore and depicts the futility of war. The action scenes were great and in my opinion, there was some good character development, given the relatively short duration in which the film maker had to do it in.
It was a strange experience for me to relive some of the scenes and recount the performances from some of the actors, especially due to the different angles (that I experienced) in addition to the accompaniment of mood music and scores.
The entire experience was very special and one which I think I will always remember fondly. I could not have asked for a better ending to my birthday.
I spoke to Darryn earlier in the day and asked if we could use his place to screen my movie debut. He has a pretty sweet projector and sound set-up that would really simulate a theoretical experience. He agreed to have it at his house. So everything was set.
I didn’t know about their plan, but as a joke I arrived with a little black bow tie as an addition to my very casual dress. My friends however, surprised me by arriving in full formal wear, which enhanced the authenticity of our premiere night. Bryan even organized a fine bottle of bubbly for the occasion.
I was blown away. It’s not every night that there is a black tie event in ol’ PE, so it was quite a change to see the guys and girls all dolled up.
The movie is best described as a war horror, filled with gore and depicts the futility of war. The action scenes were great and in my opinion, there was some good character development, given the relatively short duration in which the film maker had to do it in.
It was a strange experience for me to relive some of the scenes and recount the performances from some of the actors, especially due to the different angles (that I experienced) in addition to the accompaniment of mood music and scores.
The entire experience was very special and one which I think I will always remember fondly. I could not have asked for a better ending to my birthday.
Friday, December 26, 2008
It's my Birthday and I'll Cry If I Want To
My folks won’t stop feeding me. Every time I leave the house and come back there’s another massive meal on the table. Every time I finish a tube of Pringles, there’s another tube, waiting. There seems to be an endless supply of food and snacks in the Ou residence that keeps replenishing itself. No wonder I was a fat kid.
Not that I’m complaining of course, it’s just a lucky thing I’ve been surfing as much as I have been. While I’ve been home, I’ve surfed 5 times in 3 days clocking up at least 12 hours of water time. Constantly paddling and thus, thankfully, burning calories. Otherwise I might end up incapacitated, incapable of leaving the house due to overeating.
Hmmm surf, eat, surf, and eat some more…It’s not a bad way to spend the rest of my life. Well, I have two more meal obligations to attend to today, lunch with some friends and dinner with the family later this evening. You see it’s my birthday (thank you everyone for the well wishes).
Another year older and hopefully wiser; I’m officially closer to my thirties, on the other side of an exuberant twenty and should probably start to act more responsibly. I should probably begin thinking about my long term future goals, ditch the pie in the sky ideas, and think about settling down and taking safer routes in my career, relationships and other life choices…
“Should” is the operable word. I’m just not sure if I’m capable of listening to conventional wisdom anymore. I’ve abided by it for way too long and have nothing to show for it. So I dare to dream, and to dream big. I hope – no - believe that it is merely a matter of time before these dreams come to fruition and that everything will eventually fall into it’s place.
Not that I’m complaining of course, it’s just a lucky thing I’ve been surfing as much as I have been. While I’ve been home, I’ve surfed 5 times in 3 days clocking up at least 12 hours of water time. Constantly paddling and thus, thankfully, burning calories. Otherwise I might end up incapacitated, incapable of leaving the house due to overeating.
Hmmm surf, eat, surf, and eat some more…It’s not a bad way to spend the rest of my life. Well, I have two more meal obligations to attend to today, lunch with some friends and dinner with the family later this evening. You see it’s my birthday (thank you everyone for the well wishes).
Another year older and hopefully wiser; I’m officially closer to my thirties, on the other side of an exuberant twenty and should probably start to act more responsibly. I should probably begin thinking about my long term future goals, ditch the pie in the sky ideas, and think about settling down and taking safer routes in my career, relationships and other life choices…
“Should” is the operable word. I’m just not sure if I’m capable of listening to conventional wisdom anymore. I’ve abided by it for way too long and have nothing to show for it. So I dare to dream, and to dream big. I hope – no - believe that it is merely a matter of time before these dreams come to fruition and that everything will eventually fall into it’s place.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
Christmas Eve. Not even a few minutes off the plane and I found myself surfing solid 4ft perfect waves at my beloved Millers. But before such blessings could be bestowed upon me; there, of course, had to be some tribulations.
On arriving at PE airport, my brother and I were harassed by the police; apparently we look really dangerous (maybe even mafia-like) as they pulled us aside, began interrogating me and made me open my bag to inspect its contents. It was a mild inconvenience as my poor dad had to wait patiently, as they sifted through my delicates looking for things of a dubious nature. At least there were no cavity searches. However, being the only oriental people on board and also being the only two people questioned; it makes me wonder if we were not the subjects of blatant discrimination...
Whatever. I quickly put that behind me, jumped into the car with my best mate Bryan and scored big, finding Millers cranking and resembling the Point in J-Bay, except only better. Three hundred meter rides were the order of the day. I found myself a bit shaky as I haven't been in the water for a while and was riding a board that was shaped for me, when I was 14 years old. I've come a long way since those days and my manliness has outgrown the vehicle once fit for a boy. Otherwise, it was probably the best surf I've had in the last 4 years.
What a welcome home; I'm not certain how it works but like clock work, every Christmas there is a guarantee of good waves in PE.
Surfing works up quite an appetite, which is perfect, as our Christmas Eve dinners are traditionally bountiful and I celebrated with the family in true oriental fashion at the Golden Coast, Chinese restaurant. The family and I enjoyed ourselves with much feasting.
This morning ,I was up ridiculously early, before the rest of the family. So I sneakily snuck out for quick surf before coming back home to exchange gifts. So far, my Christmas has been perfect. I just can't wait for lunch!
I'm wishing you all a Merry Christmas and hope that everyone is having as a terrific time as I am.
On arriving at PE airport, my brother and I were harassed by the police; apparently we look really dangerous (maybe even mafia-like) as they pulled us aside, began interrogating me and made me open my bag to inspect its contents. It was a mild inconvenience as my poor dad had to wait patiently, as they sifted through my delicates looking for things of a dubious nature. At least there were no cavity searches. However, being the only oriental people on board and also being the only two people questioned; it makes me wonder if we were not the subjects of blatant discrimination...
Whatever. I quickly put that behind me, jumped into the car with my best mate Bryan and scored big, finding Millers cranking and resembling the Point in J-Bay, except only better. Three hundred meter rides were the order of the day. I found myself a bit shaky as I haven't been in the water for a while and was riding a board that was shaped for me, when I was 14 years old. I've come a long way since those days and my manliness has outgrown the vehicle once fit for a boy. Otherwise, it was probably the best surf I've had in the last 4 years.
What a welcome home; I'm not certain how it works but like clock work, every Christmas there is a guarantee of good waves in PE.
Surfing works up quite an appetite, which is perfect, as our Christmas Eve dinners are traditionally bountiful and I celebrated with the family in true oriental fashion at the Golden Coast, Chinese restaurant. The family and I enjoyed ourselves with much feasting.
This morning ,I was up ridiculously early, before the rest of the family. So I sneakily snuck out for quick surf before coming back home to exchange gifts. So far, my Christmas has been perfect. I just can't wait for lunch!
I'm wishing you all a Merry Christmas and hope that everyone is having as a terrific time as I am.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Pandas for Peace
The gift panda’s from China have arrived in Taiwan. And just in time for Christmas too. After decades of squabbling between the two countries; the pandas, which are apparently used by China as a symbol to woo over rivaling countries and to help promote peace; have finally been sent to my home island of Taiwan.
It sounds ludicrous to think that panda’s could be used to ease tensions, but if you think about it, they certainly do take the term “warm and fuzzy feeling” to a whole new level. Panda’s resemble over sized raccoons, they lumber around and are so cute that one cannot help but smile and give a goofy grin when encountering them; thus making China’s strategy to distribute these guys a good one. They quickly disarm their enemies of any untoward feelings.
Hmmm I sure do wish I could get a panda for Christmas (although not the “warm and fuzzy” kind)
I’m heading back to good ol’ PE a little later so I’m looking forward to just chilling out with the family and old friends for some yuletide cheer.
It sounds ludicrous to think that panda’s could be used to ease tensions, but if you think about it, they certainly do take the term “warm and fuzzy feeling” to a whole new level. Panda’s resemble over sized raccoons, they lumber around and are so cute that one cannot help but smile and give a goofy grin when encountering them; thus making China’s strategy to distribute these guys a good one. They quickly disarm their enemies of any untoward feelings.
Hmmm I sure do wish I could get a panda for Christmas (although not the “warm and fuzzy” kind)
I’m heading back to good ol’ PE a little later so I’m looking forward to just chilling out with the family and old friends for some yuletide cheer.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Pen. Mightier than the Sword.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this more than once, but I’m on an eternal quest of self improvement. Ernst gave me a book entitled Writing Well – The Essential Guide by Mark Tredinnick, an award winning writer to help me do just that.
Lately, when people ask me what it is that I do for a living, instead of replying that I’m just a boring software developer, I reply that I’m an aspiring writer. I’m beginning to believe that, that is what I’d like to be, a writer of sorts; even if it is just for fun.
Never having any formal training, it will be a troubled journey of developing style, improving my vocabulary and stringing together, sensible sentences. I’ve always enjoyed writing, I penned for my school newspaper and won an award for it. An exchange teacher, Mister Hendricks from the States also commented once, that he thought I should become a journalist.
At the time, I shrugged it off never even considering perusing it as a hobby, but somewhere in the deep recesses of my fading memory, it must have been lingering and recently, after neglecting my right brain because of concentrating on making software, my passion for writing resurfaced.
Now, I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy developing software, but I feel that I’m a creature that requires balance. I need to balance the amount of activity taking place both on the right, as well as the left side of the cerebrum.
Dreams start somewhere; not being one to sit idly by and just allow fate to take its course, I’ve tried to apply some pressure on destinies hand and make my own future in a realm that I’d like to explore more. The digital age has provided me with this blog as a medium to help develop my skills, to voice my opinions and to try create a coherent prose; as time goes by I’ll start to reveal my intentions and elaborate on the bigger picture of what this fanatical blogging has been all about.
Hopefully, after working through this book, this essential guide; I’ll be able to learn how to be a better wordsmith, improve my literary skills (Holy Jinkies Batman! I'm finally able to use 'literary' in a sentence) and avoid the fau paxs that many untrained writers experience.
Lately, when people ask me what it is that I do for a living, instead of replying that I’m just a boring software developer, I reply that I’m an aspiring writer. I’m beginning to believe that, that is what I’d like to be, a writer of sorts; even if it is just for fun.
Never having any formal training, it will be a troubled journey of developing style, improving my vocabulary and stringing together, sensible sentences. I’ve always enjoyed writing, I penned for my school newspaper and won an award for it. An exchange teacher, Mister Hendricks from the States also commented once, that he thought I should become a journalist.
At the time, I shrugged it off never even considering perusing it as a hobby, but somewhere in the deep recesses of my fading memory, it must have been lingering and recently, after neglecting my right brain because of concentrating on making software, my passion for writing resurfaced.
Now, I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy developing software, but I feel that I’m a creature that requires balance. I need to balance the amount of activity taking place both on the right, as well as the left side of the cerebrum.
Dreams start somewhere; not being one to sit idly by and just allow fate to take its course, I’ve tried to apply some pressure on destinies hand and make my own future in a realm that I’d like to explore more. The digital age has provided me with this blog as a medium to help develop my skills, to voice my opinions and to try create a coherent prose; as time goes by I’ll start to reveal my intentions and elaborate on the bigger picture of what this fanatical blogging has been all about.
Hopefully, after working through this book, this essential guide; I’ll be able to learn how to be a better wordsmith, improve my literary skills (Holy Jinkies Batman! I'm finally able to use 'literary' in a sentence) and avoid the fau paxs that many untrained writers experience.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Festivus for the Rest of Us
Murphy’s Law strikes again, the first real day off, plans to go to the beach, ruined, as unexpectedly the skies open and water descends upon us from the heavens.
It never rains here in Cape Town during the summer; but I’m not even certain why I’m surprised that it is; I should have expected that my plans would have been foiled, it happens all the time. By now, I should have learnt to expect the unexpected…
Much to the detriment of my neighbours, I’m stuck indoors today armed with only my guitar to keep me occupied. So as ear plugs become handy and the ruckus begins; I’m plucking away, warming up my vocal cords and making one heck of a noise.
Two more days left before boarding the plane to go back to my folk’s place in Port Elizabeth. Can’t wait to go home to celebrate Christmas with the family and gorge myself silly with holiday feasts. It’s customary for me to put on weight over the festive season; in fact I’m disappointed if I don’t, because the amount of weight I put on is directly proportional to the amount of enjoyment I’ve experienced.
You have to love this time of the year, I’m afraid I’ll be spending the rest of the year in the gym, undoing the damage done by the excessive eating which is caused by the subsequent feasting.
Traditionally, I put on at least a kilogram a day. That’s not bad going if I do say so myself, so this year I’m aiming a little higher and I wouldn’t be surprised, if upon my return, they have to roll me out of the plane.
It never rains here in Cape Town during the summer; but I’m not even certain why I’m surprised that it is; I should have expected that my plans would have been foiled, it happens all the time. By now, I should have learnt to expect the unexpected…
Much to the detriment of my neighbours, I’m stuck indoors today armed with only my guitar to keep me occupied. So as ear plugs become handy and the ruckus begins; I’m plucking away, warming up my vocal cords and making one heck of a noise.
Two more days left before boarding the plane to go back to my folk’s place in Port Elizabeth. Can’t wait to go home to celebrate Christmas with the family and gorge myself silly with holiday feasts. It’s customary for me to put on weight over the festive season; in fact I’m disappointed if I don’t, because the amount of weight I put on is directly proportional to the amount of enjoyment I’ve experienced.
You have to love this time of the year, I’m afraid I’ll be spending the rest of the year in the gym, undoing the damage done by the excessive eating which is caused by the subsequent feasting.
Traditionally, I put on at least a kilogram a day. That’s not bad going if I do say so myself, so this year I’m aiming a little higher and I wouldn’t be surprised, if upon my return, they have to roll me out of the plane.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Degustation
Oh, what a night. Thanks to Sam for organizing an incredible dinner at the restaurant of arguably, one of South Africa’s best chefs.I’ve read a lot about Richard Carstens’ acclaim, such as him being awarded the 2005 Eat Out Chef of the year title, during his tenure at Lynton Hall in Durban, but have never had the fortune to experience his culinary genius; until last night that is.
Carstens, after years of eluding the Cape Town restaurant scene has finally graced the mother city with his presence and opened up a fantastic new restaurant called Nova. The food is purely indescribable and excites the palette with its well thought up combinations of taste and texture.
Special mention must be made of the hostess, in the red dress, who made the experience all the more enjoyable. Her lovely manner and her witty repertoire, made for what seemed like a brief but short-lived “relationship”, okay so maybe relationship is a bit of a strong word to use, more like just an exchange of banter, whatever it was it seemed to fill the void of the fairer gender that has been missing from my life these days (Yes, I am a sad loser) Alas it was never to be and we had to part our separate ways once the evening drew to a close *sigh*.
Carstens, after years of eluding the Cape Town restaurant scene has finally graced the mother city with his presence and opened up a fantastic new restaurant called Nova. The food is purely indescribable and excites the palette with its well thought up combinations of taste and texture.
Special mention must be made of the hostess, in the red dress, who made the experience all the more enjoyable. Her lovely manner and her witty repertoire, made for what seemed like a brief but short-lived “relationship”, okay so maybe relationship is a bit of a strong word to use, more like just an exchange of banter, whatever it was it seemed to fill the void of the fairer gender that has been missing from my life these days (Yes, I am a sad loser) Alas it was never to be and we had to part our separate ways once the evening drew to a close *sigh*.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Come ye Come All
It’s only been a day of holiday and already apathy’s grip on me, has tightened. Can you believe I almost forgot to write in my journal? I was lucky that I remembered now, otherwise with all the other things going on later, I would have certainly, completely forgotten.
Hmmm where should I start? Oh yes (see how my brain is stuck in first gear)! Last night I joined the circus, well not really, it was actually a birthday party for five different people, although I only really knew one of them, Victoria. The theme of the party though was the circus, so Joe and I went as mimes, slash, clowns.
It was quite funny to see the reactions of some passers by while on our way to the party. Watching two clowns driving past, in the middle of the day must be quite an unnerving experience. We even had a group of models at FTV café dropping their jaws, speechless, while running an errand …I bet not every guy in town can say that, that has happened to them before.
I’m not sure why on earth we decided on our attire as neither me nor Joe, particularly likes mimes or clowns. It’s rather strange though, when you dress up as one, you really do feel the need to get into character (seriously, try it). We very impromptly performed…okay, maybe practiced a few hours beforehand; a few little skits and at one point I even contemplated on following the other party goers and miming their behaviour. Knowing how much they annoy me, I feared that I may have been beaten up and quickly decided against it.
I have to say I’m seriously impressed at the extent at which people go to dress up these days. Some people went so far as getting make up artists and unless they actually revealed their true identities could have stayed completely incognito.
Ahhh such buffoonery, such fun.
Hmmm where should I start? Oh yes (see how my brain is stuck in first gear)! Last night I joined the circus, well not really, it was actually a birthday party for five different people, although I only really knew one of them, Victoria. The theme of the party though was the circus, so Joe and I went as mimes, slash, clowns.
It was quite funny to see the reactions of some passers by while on our way to the party. Watching two clowns driving past, in the middle of the day must be quite an unnerving experience. We even had a group of models at FTV café dropping their jaws, speechless, while running an errand …I bet not every guy in town can say that, that has happened to them before.
I’m not sure why on earth we decided on our attire as neither me nor Joe, particularly likes mimes or clowns. It’s rather strange though, when you dress up as one, you really do feel the need to get into character (seriously, try it). We very impromptly performed…okay, maybe practiced a few hours beforehand; a few little skits and at one point I even contemplated on following the other party goers and miming their behaviour. Knowing how much they annoy me, I feared that I may have been beaten up and quickly decided against it.
I have to say I’m seriously impressed at the extent at which people go to dress up these days. Some people went so far as getting make up artists and unless they actually revealed their true identities could have stayed completely incognito.
Ahhh such buffoonery, such fun.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Elation
I'm so happy.I can finally taste it. It's here. My last day of work. Just 8 more hours left, then I'm off for two weeks. *Manic Laughter*.
When you start being able to taste intangible things like happiness, then there's only two explanations as to what is wrong with you. You've either gone crazy or experiencing an extreme bout of euphoria. There's a fine line between the two, but there is a difference. I'm elated. Besides the couple of days I had off last month, I haven't had a proper break in close to two years. I'm counting down the minutes...
I had a random night of fun last night. "Random" is such a random word to use, but it's the only word I can use to describe it. After the most boring Body Corporate meeting ever, I decided to go do a few laps in the pool at the gym. Upon my return, I bumped into one of neighbours Alejandro, a native to Margarita Island just off the coast of Venezuela. His girlfriend, Desi had just arrived off the plane from London and he suggested we all go to Karma to enjoy a night of Latin American dancing (apparently this happens every Thursday night...I never knew this).
Let me clarify, I can't do the salsa or samba; so going with someone who is actually from Latin America was going to be an education. At the venue, I discovered that there is a micro community of Brazilians, Phillipinos and other internationals living in Cape Town. What a weird experience, I was in my own town, but felt like I was in another part of the world.
Everyone was so welcoming, offering me to sit with them, sharing their drinks, trying to accommodate me, teaching me to samba and showing me a good time. I think it's got something to do with the way I look. But foreigners often think that I'm also from out of town and always seem to be interested as to how I ended up in South Africa too. More often than not, they're really eager to show me the ropes...in my own city! It's weird but I really enjoy it, it opens my eyes and I see how other people experience Cape Town; when this happens, I begin to really appreciate what an amazing place I live in.
What a great evening. Now, if only the clock would just hurry up...
When you start being able to taste intangible things like happiness, then there's only two explanations as to what is wrong with you. You've either gone crazy or experiencing an extreme bout of euphoria. There's a fine line between the two, but there is a difference. I'm elated. Besides the couple of days I had off last month, I haven't had a proper break in close to two years. I'm counting down the minutes...
I had a random night of fun last night. "Random" is such a random word to use, but it's the only word I can use to describe it. After the most boring Body Corporate meeting ever, I decided to go do a few laps in the pool at the gym. Upon my return, I bumped into one of neighbours Alejandro, a native to Margarita Island just off the coast of Venezuela. His girlfriend, Desi had just arrived off the plane from London and he suggested we all go to Karma to enjoy a night of Latin American dancing (apparently this happens every Thursday night...I never knew this).
Let me clarify, I can't do the salsa or samba; so going with someone who is actually from Latin America was going to be an education. At the venue, I discovered that there is a micro community of Brazilians, Phillipinos and other internationals living in Cape Town. What a weird experience, I was in my own town, but felt like I was in another part of the world.
Everyone was so welcoming, offering me to sit with them, sharing their drinks, trying to accommodate me, teaching me to samba and showing me a good time. I think it's got something to do with the way I look. But foreigners often think that I'm also from out of town and always seem to be interested as to how I ended up in South Africa too. More often than not, they're really eager to show me the ropes...in my own city! It's weird but I really enjoy it, it opens my eyes and I see how other people experience Cape Town; when this happens, I begin to really appreciate what an amazing place I live in.
What a great evening. Now, if only the clock would just hurry up...
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Following the Sun
Arggggg 2 days, my patience is wearing thin. I can't take it anymore. I want holiday now! I'm like that obnoxious, impatient kid who can't wait till Christmas morning to unwrap his presents...
Stopped off at the Loading Bay yesterday evening for a coffee before heading to Pierre's new flat. While I was there, I thought I'd see how the Friends of the LB Wall was coming along. So far so good. Phase one is complete and all the tiles are up. However, there is more to come; according to JP they're also going to put up some cool lighting to accentuate the feature.
Pierre invited us to his new flat for dinner last night. The flat is this massive, art deco gem hidden in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. It's incredibly spacious and is perfect for hosting indoor soccer and action cricket games...In case you were wondering, that was just a joke, Pierre probably wouldn't mind (bless his kind, generous heart), but I just wrote that for effect to illustrate how much space there is.
Pierre lives an incredible life following the sun, spending 6 months here in, the summer of Cape Town dealing in real estate at Morning Star Properties and the rest of the year in Ibiza chartering his boat to holiday-goers seeking a good time. If you find yourself ever in the need of finding property in the Cape or in need of a boat ride in Ibiza ; his friendly, professional approach is a refreshing change from the normal, clinical manner that is apparent in this day and age.
I aspire to travel more and to call many prime locations around the world my home. Hopefully one day it'll be a reality, but again I grow impatient...
Stopped off at the Loading Bay yesterday evening for a coffee before heading to Pierre's new flat. While I was there, I thought I'd see how the Friends of the LB Wall was coming along. So far so good. Phase one is complete and all the tiles are up. However, there is more to come; according to JP they're also going to put up some cool lighting to accentuate the feature.
Pierre invited us to his new flat for dinner last night. The flat is this massive, art deco gem hidden in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. It's incredibly spacious and is perfect for hosting indoor soccer and action cricket games...In case you were wondering, that was just a joke, Pierre probably wouldn't mind (bless his kind, generous heart), but I just wrote that for effect to illustrate how much space there is.
Pierre lives an incredible life following the sun, spending 6 months here in, the summer of Cape Town dealing in real estate at Morning Star Properties and the rest of the year in Ibiza chartering his boat to holiday-goers seeking a good time. If you find yourself ever in the need of finding property in the Cape or in need of a boat ride in Ibiza ; his friendly, professional approach is a refreshing change from the normal, clinical manner that is apparent in this day and age.
I aspire to travel more and to call many prime locations around the world my home. Hopefully one day it'll be a reality, but again I grow impatient...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Holiday Mode
Hallelujah! I can walk again, well, at least I'm not limping as much. I woke up and it seems my foot is healing up quite nicely, quite nicely indeed. There's barely any pain left, unless I really apply pressure to it. By this time next week I'll be able to run again...
3 days left until I'm on leave. The office is starting to resemble a ghost town (cue tumble weed) with most of my co-workers already gone. I'm trying to wrap up some work at the moment, but am finding it difficult as a lot of the people I need to talk to, to finish up are not around anymore. Since I can't really do anything of significance my mind has gone into holiday mode, so, although I may appear to be at work physically, my brain is elsewhere; it's already relaxing on the beach soaking up the rays, drinking Pina Coladas (my brain is an alcoholic, not me, I swear) and doing as little as possible. Hence why these notes are also getting shorter, less philosophical and also less witty.
Ahhh if only relaxing and doing nothing were already a reality. The closer it approaches the longer it seems to take to get here.
3 days left until I'm on leave. The office is starting to resemble a ghost town (cue tumble weed) with most of my co-workers already gone. I'm trying to wrap up some work at the moment, but am finding it difficult as a lot of the people I need to talk to, to finish up are not around anymore. Since I can't really do anything of significance my mind has gone into holiday mode, so, although I may appear to be at work physically, my brain is elsewhere; it's already relaxing on the beach soaking up the rays, drinking Pina Coladas (my brain is an alcoholic, not me, I swear) and doing as little as possible. Hence why these notes are also getting shorter, less philosophical and also less witty.
Ahhh if only relaxing and doing nothing were already a reality. The closer it approaches the longer it seems to take to get here.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Water Baby
I’m trying to stay off my feet. My right foot is getting better, but my left foot is still giving me hassles, which makes, even walking from my car to the sand on the beach quite a hefty chore. As a result of my injury, I haven’t been able to do any of my normal cardio.
To help my sanity, I tried to get some pool time and do a few laps. I figured that swimming would be a great option to get my cardiovascular workout, burn some calories and escape the heat at the same time. The only problem is that I haven’t swum in years, and I’m extremely unfit for the pool. I still managed to squeeze out 30 lengths, but not without almost drowning.
I started off very leisurely; well at least what I thought was leisurely, doing 2 lengths at a time, taking a break and then carrying on…only, as time went by, each length felt longer and longer. It didn’t help that every time I tried to gasp for breathe that I gulped down water instead, eventually I felt like I was going to sink like a lead balloon…
There’s nothing like getting a little bit of sunshine to brighten up ones mood. I spent the rest of the day chilling on Camp’s Bay beach admiring the view (ambiguity intentional). The sun seems to have sapped my energy. I think it may be time for a little siesta...
To help my sanity, I tried to get some pool time and do a few laps. I figured that swimming would be a great option to get my cardiovascular workout, burn some calories and escape the heat at the same time. The only problem is that I haven’t swum in years, and I’m extremely unfit for the pool. I still managed to squeeze out 30 lengths, but not without almost drowning.
I started off very leisurely; well at least what I thought was leisurely, doing 2 lengths at a time, taking a break and then carrying on…only, as time went by, each length felt longer and longer. It didn’t help that every time I tried to gasp for breathe that I gulped down water instead, eventually I felt like I was going to sink like a lead balloon…
There’s nothing like getting a little bit of sunshine to brighten up ones mood. I spent the rest of the day chilling on Camp’s Bay beach admiring the view (ambiguity intentional). The sun seems to have sapped my energy. I think it may be time for a little siesta...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Gone Fishing!
I'm feeling exceptionally lazy, so today's entry will be an extremely short installment. Remember the good old day's? (some of you reading this may be to young to have lived through the era of small, family-run convenience stores) when you'd visit your local grocer, only to be met by a sign that read "Gone Fishing" or be "Be back in 5 minutes". Although as I recall, they were never away for just 5 minutes and I'd always stand there, like an idiot, waiting. Well, this paragraph marks my proverbial "Gone Fishing" or be "Be back in 5 minutes" sign. At least it shows that I'm vigilant enough to put something up, but I guess I'm just too darn lazy to do anything more...till tomorrow y'all.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Love Actually
It’s a weird feeling to feel like an outsider.
Last night I was supposed to go see Deep Dish (a big House act) with the rest of my mates, but because I injured my feet. I could barely stand or walk, let alone dance, so it was pointless for me to go.
The rest of the rat pack got together at Dan’s place and were psyching each other up, with some loud uplifting house and pre-party drinks and snacks. I went to that as well, but it was strange because my destination afterward, was not a big party, but the better end of my comfy futon at home to watch a couple of DVD’s.
While everyone else was getting excited for a big one, I was just sitting in the corner, chilling with my fruit juice and observing, watching everyone else have a good time. It was definitely not a bad feeling - just different.I wasn’t in the same frame of mind and felt a little bit - left out. It’s difficult to explain, but you feel as if you’re some sort of intruder stealing some of the vibe so to speak.
I was a little bummed to miss the party, so as a consolation, I treated myself to my favourite Lasagne in town, at a place called Nonna Lina. It’s great because Antonello, the owner and one of my old neighbours, knows exactly what I want before I even sit down. I’ve tested a lot of Lasagne’s around Cape Town, but Nonna Lina’s is still in my opinion the best. I know Lasagne can be subjective, but there’s something about theirs that always makes me feel happy afterward.
After Nonna Lina, I went home to watch a couple of movies. The two films I watched were very contrasting, the first one I saw was the goriest, most violent movie of the decade namely John Rambo (the 4th in the series) and the second movie was a soppy, romantic comedy called Definitely Maybe, starring Ryan Reynolds (one of my favourite actors), which depicted the complexity of love and how, not everything goes according to plan. From past experience I would have to agree, that love and relationships are a complex subject matter, and have only once experienced something that has gone completely smoothly, but even that in the end, did not work out.
Oh, did I mention I pigged out to a truck load of junk food while immersed in film. You might have noticed already that I have an unnatural passion for food. Well, so far; food has never failed me. It never judges me, never criticizes me and is always there when I need some comforting. So until some woman comes along that I can say the same about…this love affair will, in all probability, continue.
Last night I was supposed to go see Deep Dish (a big House act) with the rest of my mates, but because I injured my feet. I could barely stand or walk, let alone dance, so it was pointless for me to go.
The rest of the rat pack got together at Dan’s place and were psyching each other up, with some loud uplifting house and pre-party drinks and snacks. I went to that as well, but it was strange because my destination afterward, was not a big party, but the better end of my comfy futon at home to watch a couple of DVD’s.
While everyone else was getting excited for a big one, I was just sitting in the corner, chilling with my fruit juice and observing, watching everyone else have a good time. It was definitely not a bad feeling - just different.I wasn’t in the same frame of mind and felt a little bit - left out. It’s difficult to explain, but you feel as if you’re some sort of intruder stealing some of the vibe so to speak.
I was a little bummed to miss the party, so as a consolation, I treated myself to my favourite Lasagne in town, at a place called Nonna Lina. It’s great because Antonello, the owner and one of my old neighbours, knows exactly what I want before I even sit down. I’ve tested a lot of Lasagne’s around Cape Town, but Nonna Lina’s is still in my opinion the best. I know Lasagne can be subjective, but there’s something about theirs that always makes me feel happy afterward.
After Nonna Lina, I went home to watch a couple of movies. The two films I watched were very contrasting, the first one I saw was the goriest, most violent movie of the decade namely John Rambo (the 4th in the series) and the second movie was a soppy, romantic comedy called Definitely Maybe, starring Ryan Reynolds (one of my favourite actors), which depicted the complexity of love and how, not everything goes according to plan. From past experience I would have to agree, that love and relationships are a complex subject matter, and have only once experienced something that has gone completely smoothly, but even that in the end, did not work out.
Oh, did I mention I pigged out to a truck load of junk food while immersed in film. You might have noticed already that I have an unnatural passion for food. Well, so far; food has never failed me. It never judges me, never criticizes me and is always there when I need some comforting. So until some woman comes along that I can say the same about…this love affair will, in all probability, continue.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Of Absent Mind
Sometimes I think if you had to replace my brain with a grapefruit, I’d be less absent minded. A few recent events have helped me reinforce this theory.
Besides running in the wrong shoes, (I should have known better); and really hurting myself. A few days ago, I left the headlights of my car on, at Kristi’s birthday party. At the end of the evening when attempting to start the vehicle to go home, all I got when expecting the engine to fire up was the deathly silence of…ummm a non-running engine. Good thing, Karina decided to leave at the same time and helped me jump start my car - otherwise I might have been in a sticky situation.
Last night, I locked myself out of my flat; there’s a latch on the door that automatically locks itself. I installed it because, ironically, I figured I’d be too absent minded to remember to lock up every time I left home. The funniest thing though, was the fact that I was dressed only in a pair of swimming trunks and just had a towel in my possession. I didn’t even have my phone with me.
I had to convince the guard in the lobby of our complex, to use his phone, so I could get a hold of my brother, for him to come home and let me in. Other residents of the complex thought that it was strange to see some guy standing around in the lobby half-naked…. I’m certain that everyone knows me as the weird, half-naked guy now.
More and more, I find that we are becoming dependant on technology. Our brains are getting lazier and lazier. Gone are the days of remembering telephone numbers, these days we simply enter a number into our phones and let technology do the rest. It’s sad really. The only number I can remember besides my own; is my home number in Port Elizabeth. So when trying to get my brother to help me, I had to indirectly call my father to call him.
I think it’s about time they invent something to prevent mind absenteeism, I don’t know, like maybe some sort of hard drive chip thing, that integrates with your brain. If they did, it would be sweet, because seriously, I need an upgrade.
Besides running in the wrong shoes, (I should have known better); and really hurting myself. A few days ago, I left the headlights of my car on, at Kristi’s birthday party. At the end of the evening when attempting to start the vehicle to go home, all I got when expecting the engine to fire up was the deathly silence of…ummm a non-running engine. Good thing, Karina decided to leave at the same time and helped me jump start my car - otherwise I might have been in a sticky situation.
Last night, I locked myself out of my flat; there’s a latch on the door that automatically locks itself. I installed it because, ironically, I figured I’d be too absent minded to remember to lock up every time I left home. The funniest thing though, was the fact that I was dressed only in a pair of swimming trunks and just had a towel in my possession. I didn’t even have my phone with me.
I had to convince the guard in the lobby of our complex, to use his phone, so I could get a hold of my brother, for him to come home and let me in. Other residents of the complex thought that it was strange to see some guy standing around in the lobby half-naked…. I’m certain that everyone knows me as the weird, half-naked guy now.
More and more, I find that we are becoming dependant on technology. Our brains are getting lazier and lazier. Gone are the days of remembering telephone numbers, these days we simply enter a number into our phones and let technology do the rest. It’s sad really. The only number I can remember besides my own; is my home number in Port Elizabeth. So when trying to get my brother to help me, I had to indirectly call my father to call him.
I think it’s about time they invent something to prevent mind absenteeism, I don’t know, like maybe some sort of hard drive chip thing, that integrates with your brain. If they did, it would be sweet, because seriously, I need an upgrade.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Two Dead Feet
I regret running with the wrong shoes.
Well, I'm not sure if it's just the shoes or my terrible running style. But whatever it is, my feet are killing me and I can barely walk. While at the gym yesterday evening, Xav asked me if I wanted to go for a run at the reservoir. Figuring that it would be better than being cooped up indoors, I said yes. The only problem was that the shoes that I wore were not ideal for running.
After two laps, I could feel that my feet, knees and back were not happy. I should have stopped. But instead I continued for another two which was a very bad idea.
So bad in fact, that I've been waddling around like a penguin all day. I'm trying not to concentrate on how much my feet hurt right now, i think that the repetitive stress on my feet have caused some bruising...Arggg that'll teach me to run with the wrong shoes.
Well, I'm not sure if it's just the shoes or my terrible running style. But whatever it is, my feet are killing me and I can barely walk. While at the gym yesterday evening, Xav asked me if I wanted to go for a run at the reservoir. Figuring that it would be better than being cooped up indoors, I said yes. The only problem was that the shoes that I wore were not ideal for running.
After two laps, I could feel that my feet, knees and back were not happy. I should have stopped. But instead I continued for another two which was a very bad idea.
So bad in fact, that I've been waddling around like a penguin all day. I'm trying not to concentrate on how much my feet hurt right now, i think that the repetitive stress on my feet have caused some bruising...Arggg that'll teach me to run with the wrong shoes.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Feeding Frenzy
Taking me to a buffet is like chumming water in false bay. It gets pretty ugly and the feeding frenzy is quite embarrassing especially for the person accompanying me.
Yesterday was DVT's year end function, held at Simon's in Groot Constantia and they laid out quite a smorgasbord. Candice who accompanied me to the function said she wasn't embarrassed by the amount of food that I managed to consume; but my work colleagues, Rikesh, his fiance Leshni and a few others were shocked - they've only heard of my legendary appetite, but you really have to experience it first hand to get to grips with its magnitude.
I guess since Candice has known me for a while, she's grown accustomed to my crazy binge eating, but if that didn't embarrass her, then my terrible dancing did. My company's generosity was enjoyed by all and it's kind of nice to see your colleagues, in a more relaxed atmosphere and out of the work environment.
Speaking of generosity the kind folk at Vida have given me some freebies to give to Coffee Club this Saturday. I'm really just writing this for the sake of accountability; but I have in my possession, 30 complimentary coffee cards. I wouldn't do it...but it did cross my mind to keep it a secret and cash in on the bounty for myself. It obviously wouldn't be ethical - but when it comes to freebies - screw ethics. Well, since I've publically acknowledged receiving them, I guess I can't exactly get away with not handing them out on Saturday...
Yesterday was DVT's year end function, held at Simon's in Groot Constantia and they laid out quite a smorgasbord. Candice who accompanied me to the function said she wasn't embarrassed by the amount of food that I managed to consume; but my work colleagues, Rikesh, his fiance Leshni and a few others were shocked - they've only heard of my legendary appetite, but you really have to experience it first hand to get to grips with its magnitude.
I guess since Candice has known me for a while, she's grown accustomed to my crazy binge eating, but if that didn't embarrass her, then my terrible dancing did. My company's generosity was enjoyed by all and it's kind of nice to see your colleagues, in a more relaxed atmosphere and out of the work environment.
Speaking of generosity the kind folk at Vida have given me some freebies to give to Coffee Club this Saturday. I'm really just writing this for the sake of accountability; but I have in my possession, 30 complimentary coffee cards. I wouldn't do it...but it did cross my mind to keep it a secret and cash in on the bounty for myself. It obviously wouldn't be ethical - but when it comes to freebies - screw ethics. Well, since I've publically acknowledged receiving them, I guess I can't exactly get away with not handing them out on Saturday...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sweat Shop
Gross! The one thing I hate about summer is waking up drenched in a pool of my own sweat juices.
Happened to me again last night...don't look at me like that, and don't try to hide the fact that it's never happened to you before. All I know is my sheets go through the washing machine a lot more frequently when summer comes. Besides the sweat, I often wake up to blotches of blood on my sheets too, due to me squashing some stupid mozzie (oh, did I mention I hate mozzies), while it attempts to leach, the sweet nectar of life from my body, in my comatose state.
Every year this sweat debacle happens and every year, I regret not being proactive and installing or buying an air conditioner. When I finally wake up to the fact that it's too darn hot and think it's a great idea to get one, guess what they're either already sold out or the waiting list to get one installed is so long that by the time its installed it'll already be winter again . Well this year...guess what, it's probably more of the same, and I fear I've already left it too late.
Ahhh when will I ever learn. Maybe not this year but definitely the next, I'll have my act together!
Happened to me again last night...don't look at me like that, and don't try to hide the fact that it's never happened to you before. All I know is my sheets go through the washing machine a lot more frequently when summer comes. Besides the sweat, I often wake up to blotches of blood on my sheets too, due to me squashing some stupid mozzie (oh, did I mention I hate mozzies), while it attempts to leach, the sweet nectar of life from my body, in my comatose state.
Every year this sweat debacle happens and every year, I regret not being proactive and installing or buying an air conditioner. When I finally wake up to the fact that it's too darn hot and think it's a great idea to get one, guess what they're either already sold out or the waiting list to get one installed is so long that by the time its installed it'll already be winter again . Well this year...guess what, it's probably more of the same, and I fear I've already left it too late.
Ahhh when will I ever learn. Maybe not this year but definitely the next, I'll have my act together!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Jazztacular
I saw a flying saucer last night!
Or at least I thought I did, until I realized that it was just a satellite orbiting the earth. But still it was pretty cool to see something whizzing around in the sky...got my heart rate up a bit, I was that excited.
What a beautiful evening. Well, at least until the wind started howling. I spent most of the latter part of the evening on the rooftop of the Waiting Room, gazing at the stars and chilling to the sound of Rus Nerwich on saxophone.
I love jazz, or at least certain types of jazz and I am definitely a big fan of the blues. Unfortunately, not many others in my friendship circle are. Most of them are into the house music scene, so I usually end up at the jazz-blues places by myself.
The thing that attracts me to jazz is how quirky it can be, especially with all the improvisation. Improv distinguishes an amazing musician apart from a good musician, it seperates the mice from the men, so to speak; and allows for creative interpretation. Blues is cool too and also has that element of improv but it's pretty easy for anyone half decent to get into the groove and play. With jazz it's different, it's exciting and a jazz musician needs to be slightly eccentric. A good jazz musicians plays notes that would ordinarily be completely out of place, totally off key, but for some reason when they play it, it just fits together.
Jazz confuses me, I certainly can't play it, at least not well and I have massive respect for anyone who can. Maybe the fact that I'm not skilled enough to master it, is where its appeal lies. As humans we often want the things we can't have, don't have or can't do; and the lure of the unknown or unmastered has always been part of my nature.
Or at least I thought I did, until I realized that it was just a satellite orbiting the earth. But still it was pretty cool to see something whizzing around in the sky...got my heart rate up a bit, I was that excited.
What a beautiful evening. Well, at least until the wind started howling. I spent most of the latter part of the evening on the rooftop of the Waiting Room, gazing at the stars and chilling to the sound of Rus Nerwich on saxophone.
I love jazz, or at least certain types of jazz and I am definitely a big fan of the blues. Unfortunately, not many others in my friendship circle are. Most of them are into the house music scene, so I usually end up at the jazz-blues places by myself.
The thing that attracts me to jazz is how quirky it can be, especially with all the improvisation. Improv distinguishes an amazing musician apart from a good musician, it seperates the mice from the men, so to speak; and allows for creative interpretation. Blues is cool too and also has that element of improv but it's pretty easy for anyone half decent to get into the groove and play. With jazz it's different, it's exciting and a jazz musician needs to be slightly eccentric. A good jazz musicians plays notes that would ordinarily be completely out of place, totally off key, but for some reason when they play it, it just fits together.
Jazz confuses me, I certainly can't play it, at least not well and I have massive respect for anyone who can. Maybe the fact that I'm not skilled enough to master it, is where its appeal lies. As humans we often want the things we can't have, don't have or can't do; and the lure of the unknown or unmastered has always been part of my nature.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Alone by a Tree
It's going to be a busy week, my calendar is already chokka block with events as is the case when the crazy season descends upon us. Coming to the close of the year, people begin to unwind and celebrate achievements, forget about tribulations and generally just try to have a jolly good time.
This week I have an end of year function, a Christmas dinner, a birthday celebration, a farewell and an international music act to attend. Which means that it doesn't leave too much time for myself. Contrastingly, I'm a social creature, but with that said I really do appreciate my own company and more and more I find it necessary to have a moment to myself; just enough time to take a breather, gather my thoughts and not to lose my own identity.
Yesterday evening I did just that and found myself a little secluded spot. Looking into the distance watching as the day drew to a close and the sun began to set (a fitting comparison to the closing of the year methinks). Stuck in time, with a multitude of colours merging into the azure sky; it dawned on me what an extreme year of change it has been for myself, experiencing: the loss of loved ones, a change in career path, a plethora of new faces and friendships made and a rekindled sense of self-respect.
I sat acknowledging and perhaps finally accepting how little, of how everything fits together, I understand; and succumbing to the fact that life needs to take its course; and with everything there is a season and a reason.
What a great way to spend the last minutes of the weekend. Just me. At peace. Alone by a tree.
This week I have an end of year function, a Christmas dinner, a birthday celebration, a farewell and an international music act to attend. Which means that it doesn't leave too much time for myself. Contrastingly, I'm a social creature, but with that said I really do appreciate my own company and more and more I find it necessary to have a moment to myself; just enough time to take a breather, gather my thoughts and not to lose my own identity.
Yesterday evening I did just that and found myself a little secluded spot. Looking into the distance watching as the day drew to a close and the sun began to set (a fitting comparison to the closing of the year methinks). Stuck in time, with a multitude of colours merging into the azure sky; it dawned on me what an extreme year of change it has been for myself, experiencing: the loss of loved ones, a change in career path, a plethora of new faces and friendships made and a rekindled sense of self-respect.
I sat acknowledging and perhaps finally accepting how little, of how everything fits together, I understand; and succumbing to the fact that life needs to take its course; and with everything there is a season and a reason.
What a great way to spend the last minutes of the weekend. Just me. At peace. Alone by a tree.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Good Life
Ahhh dear Panacotta Girl, it’s seldom that I trust my dessert selection to another person, but when Panacotta Girl (who’s real name I’ve long ago, purposefully, forgotten) is around I entrust the fate of the end of my meal to her…after all she did introduce me to the Panacotta at Col Cacchio, changing my life forever... serious.
She may well be the best waitress in the Cape Town - maybe even the world. It’s a pretty big responsibility; because if I’m not satisfied, peoples heads roll!
Her choice last night was nothing less than excepted. After a marvelous time at Caveau picking off the Tapas menu, the best way to eat in my opinion; she selected the Crème Brule an orgasmic explosion of taste, to end off a perfect meal and thus no one had to be killed.
I had such a fantastically, food-filled, social day yesterday; which all started off with coffee club; it was followed by Karisa’s Mad Hatter birthday at Café Paridiso, where I was feeling like a glutton and had two main meals.
The late, afternoon weather was perfect for a dozy afternoon siesta on the beach; after which the meal at Caveau sustained us through a brief stint at Karma for a little shimmy and shake. The day ended off with a refreshing swim and some general poo shooting around the pool, with some good people. Ahh I do believe I have a taste for the good life!
She may well be the best waitress in the Cape Town - maybe even the world. It’s a pretty big responsibility; because if I’m not satisfied, peoples heads roll!
Her choice last night was nothing less than excepted. After a marvelous time at Caveau picking off the Tapas menu, the best way to eat in my opinion; she selected the Crème Brule an orgasmic explosion of taste, to end off a perfect meal and thus no one had to be killed.
I had such a fantastically, food-filled, social day yesterday; which all started off with coffee club; it was followed by Karisa’s Mad Hatter birthday at Café Paridiso, where I was feeling like a glutton and had two main meals.
The late, afternoon weather was perfect for a dozy afternoon siesta on the beach; after which the meal at Caveau sustained us through a brief stint at Karma for a little shimmy and shake. The day ended off with a refreshing swim and some general poo shooting around the pool, with some good people. Ahh I do believe I have a taste for the good life!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Scorcher
I’m suffocating from the heat. You think coming from tropical island origins, I’d be able to handle it, but no, not me. I think I’m built for moderate climates about 25 Degrees Celsius, warm and sunny is ideal, but the prediction of a whopping 35 is just too much and it’s already starting to feel like I’m melting and struggling to breathe.
I hate Taiwan in the summer, it’s usually close on 40 every day and the humidity is over the 100% mark, there’s nowhere in South Africa that can even compare with, not even Durban. When you walk out of that plane for the first time you’re hit by the heat and it feels like you’re walking into a brick wall. If you try to take a cold shower there is no refuge, the water is still boiling. The only solution is to hide indoors in an air-conditioned environment.
The biggest problem is that I just become really dehydrated from sweating, it’s ridiculous just from running from the car to the front door, I sweat so much that it looks like I’ve just jumped into a pool. Personally I don’t think I’d be able to survive in extreme temperatures and will be one of the first to go when the global warming phenomenon starts becoming more apparent.
We had a great coffee club meet at Mugged on Roeland Street this morning. Often when we have meets at a new venue, the service is usually a bit under par, as the venue is not used to such a large group.
But Mugged really came to the table and handled the 28 strong attendees with poise and made our morning thoroughly enjoyable. The food is great and reasonably priced, but for me the coolest thing about Mugged; is that it’s right around the corner from where I live so in future if I get lazy, I’ve found a great venue to host it; where I can just roll out of bed and walk there. Awesome!
I hate Taiwan in the summer, it’s usually close on 40 every day and the humidity is over the 100% mark, there’s nowhere in South Africa that can even compare with, not even Durban. When you walk out of that plane for the first time you’re hit by the heat and it feels like you’re walking into a brick wall. If you try to take a cold shower there is no refuge, the water is still boiling. The only solution is to hide indoors in an air-conditioned environment.
The biggest problem is that I just become really dehydrated from sweating, it’s ridiculous just from running from the car to the front door, I sweat so much that it looks like I’ve just jumped into a pool. Personally I don’t think I’d be able to survive in extreme temperatures and will be one of the first to go when the global warming phenomenon starts becoming more apparent.
We had a great coffee club meet at Mugged on Roeland Street this morning. Often when we have meets at a new venue, the service is usually a bit under par, as the venue is not used to such a large group.
But Mugged really came to the table and handled the 28 strong attendees with poise and made our morning thoroughly enjoyable. The food is great and reasonably priced, but for me the coolest thing about Mugged; is that it’s right around the corner from where I live so in future if I get lazy, I’ve found a great venue to host it; where I can just roll out of bed and walk there. Awesome!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Invasion of the Tall Ridiculously-good-looking People
Attended the Vida bar launch in Camps Bay yesterday evening. The Vida boys have decided that the Camps Bay Vida should be a coffee spot by day and a cool chill bar at night. With the impressive setting right on the front step it's difficult not just to relax, sip on a couple of (in my case virgin) cocktails and watch all the beautiful people walk by....
I've noticed that there seems to be an infiltration of the tall ridiculously-good-looking into the mother city recently and am starting to feel extremely midgety again. Not that I don't appreciate the additional eye candy; my only complaint is that I feel extremely claustrophobic when surrounded by the tall mountain-ranges of people - I struggle to breathe. You're probably thinking it's because of the sublime beauty that some of them posses - but it's not. I'm convinced it's because tall people have access to all the best air and leave nothing for us shorter folk. Stop hogging all the oxygen, darn you! So I know my logic may be skewed, seeing as how air gets thinner with altitude, but if you can come up with a better explanation then I might just listen.
I've noticed that there seems to be an infiltration of the tall ridiculously-good-looking into the mother city recently and am starting to feel extremely midgety again. Not that I don't appreciate the additional eye candy; my only complaint is that I feel extremely claustrophobic when surrounded by the tall mountain-ranges of people - I struggle to breathe. You're probably thinking it's because of the sublime beauty that some of them posses - but it's not. I'm convinced it's because tall people have access to all the best air and leave nothing for us shorter folk. Stop hogging all the oxygen, darn you! So I know my logic may be skewed, seeing as how air gets thinner with altitude, but if you can come up with a better explanation then I might just listen.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
For our Friends
Yay. It's official I'm a friend of the Loading Bay. The LB, as I like to call it, has come up with an awesome concept of putting up a wall in the store dedicated to its loyal customers. Basically they've cordoned off a section of their wall and are putting up some tiles with the names of a few selected individuals engraved on them. There's a small fee that you have to pay, but it basically pays for itself as you get 10 free cups of coffee and discounts off everything for life...not to mention covering the cost of the tile itself.
I think the wall is limited to about 50 tiles at the moment and I'm one of the few that have reserved to be immortalized in the LB's Friends Wall. Watch this space because they always seem to come up with some new and exciting ideas.
Speaking of great idea,s they held a Lebanese themed evening last night, which show cased an all Lebanese food menu. Very interesting and very tasty too, I love trying new, different types of food and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think they've come up with this thing, where every Wednesday is a different theme and I've heard rumours of a champagne and crayfish evening...you'll bet your bottom dollar that I'll be there for that one.
After the LB, I went to FTV (what's with all the abbreviations in today's post) to thank the management team for their kind offer. After, I think, Marius read my post about how I'm a sad loser and never really celebrate my birthday; he sent a message to say that FTV would like to help me celebrate this Friday - sadly it was a little bit too short notice to get friends to attend. But in any case, I'm sure that FTV will be a great place to party this weekend - with or without me (I may suffer from delusions of granduar but I'm certainly not going to claim that I'm the life of any party). Thanks for the message though, much appreciated.
I think the wall is limited to about 50 tiles at the moment and I'm one of the few that have reserved to be immortalized in the LB's Friends Wall. Watch this space because they always seem to come up with some new and exciting ideas.
Speaking of great idea,s they held a Lebanese themed evening last night, which show cased an all Lebanese food menu. Very interesting and very tasty too, I love trying new, different types of food and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think they've come up with this thing, where every Wednesday is a different theme and I've heard rumours of a champagne and crayfish evening...you'll bet your bottom dollar that I'll be there for that one.
After the LB, I went to FTV (what's with all the abbreviations in today's post) to thank the management team for their kind offer. After, I think, Marius read my post about how I'm a sad loser and never really celebrate my birthday; he sent a message to say that FTV would like to help me celebrate this Friday - sadly it was a little bit too short notice to get friends to attend. But in any case, I'm sure that FTV will be a great place to party this weekend - with or without me (I may suffer from delusions of granduar but I'm certainly not going to claim that I'm the life of any party). Thanks for the message though, much appreciated.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Cloud 9
Wow I feel like a new man. I feel like I'm on cloud 9. I'm in such a good mood this morning, it's amazing what a little bit of sleep can do.
You might have noticed by now; that I don't really know how to do anything in moderation. So instead of following the prescribed dosage of one sleeping pill, I knocked back a couple, just for good measure. In minutes after doing so, I felt extremely drowsy and had to retire to bed. I got close on 11 hours sleep last night.
It's amazing how sleep deprivation can effect your moods, I know for myself, that the erraticness of my mood is indirectly proportional to the length of sleep I receive. In other words the less I sleep the more moody I become.
Got some great news; the office is going to be closing up a bit over the Christmas period, so it looks like I'll have close to two weeks of Holiday. I'm really looking forward to it, need a bit of a break. Unfortunately they've left it a bit late for me to plan anything, but at least I'll be home in PE for the Christmas weekend.
Things are looking up.
You might have noticed by now; that I don't really know how to do anything in moderation. So instead of following the prescribed dosage of one sleeping pill, I knocked back a couple, just for good measure. In minutes after doing so, I felt extremely drowsy and had to retire to bed. I got close on 11 hours sleep last night.
It's amazing how sleep deprivation can effect your moods, I know for myself, that the erraticness of my mood is indirectly proportional to the length of sleep I receive. In other words the less I sleep the more moody I become.
Got some great news; the office is going to be closing up a bit over the Christmas period, so it looks like I'll have close to two weeks of Holiday. I'm really looking forward to it, need a bit of a break. Unfortunately they've left it a bit late for me to plan anything, but at least I'll be home in PE for the Christmas weekend.
Things are looking up.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A Fateful Day
Today is Ernst’s birthday. I can’t believe that a year ago I was still based in Johannesburg. It sounds clichéd, but time really has flown. Being one of my best friends, I arranged especially to fly down, last year, to help celebrate his 30th. And as I recall, I came only for the weekend. On the actual, big day, I had to leave early, due to limited flights.
Not even a few hours after I had left, Ernst, while relaxing by the pool, in the Victoria Alfred Junction Hotel met Lauren and began what has been and still is a whirlwind romance. Talk about serendipitous. Not only does he celebrate his birthday today but also his 1 year anniversary with a very special person. Hollywood could not have scripted it more romantic! I thought I had bought him a pretty cool present, but it seems as if it was no comparison to the gift that fate had decided to bring.
Speaking of serendipity, while randomly going out for a bite to eat yesterday eve. I bumped into Lauren at Willoughby's in the waterfront. Lauren bounced off an idea about making Waffles in bed for her man and asked me what I thought of that idea...I told her, if my girl friend had to make me waffles in bed - I'd marry her (take note future prospective wife). It's true what they say, the way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Well, at least it is in my case.
I apologize if this entry doesn’t seem to flow; I’m very tired and my brain is not working very well. I struggled to sleep again last night and have been up since 2am this morning, as a result I have finally given in to pharmaceutical aid, and have bought some strong sleeping pills, to help in such cases; when I’m in dire need of sleep.
I predict that as soon as I have finished typing out this entry I’m going to finish dinner, knock back a couple of pills and call it a day.
Not even a few hours after I had left, Ernst, while relaxing by the pool, in the Victoria Alfred Junction Hotel met Lauren and began what has been and still is a whirlwind romance. Talk about serendipitous. Not only does he celebrate his birthday today but also his 1 year anniversary with a very special person. Hollywood could not have scripted it more romantic! I thought I had bought him a pretty cool present, but it seems as if it was no comparison to the gift that fate had decided to bring.
Speaking of serendipity, while randomly going out for a bite to eat yesterday eve. I bumped into Lauren at Willoughby's in the waterfront. Lauren bounced off an idea about making Waffles in bed for her man and asked me what I thought of that idea...I told her, if my girl friend had to make me waffles in bed - I'd marry her (take note future prospective wife). It's true what they say, the way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Well, at least it is in my case.
I apologize if this entry doesn’t seem to flow; I’m very tired and my brain is not working very well. I struggled to sleep again last night and have been up since 2am this morning, as a result I have finally given in to pharmaceutical aid, and have bought some strong sleeping pills, to help in such cases; when I’m in dire need of sleep.
I predict that as soon as I have finished typing out this entry I’m going to finish dinner, knock back a couple of pills and call it a day.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Take a Hike!
I felt like a new man this morning. Not a hundred percent sure what it is, but my spirits are up and I'm feeling like I'm full of pep and rearing to go. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that it's the start of a new month, my birthday month for that matter.
My birthday sucks, it's on Boxing Day and I don't normally celebrate it. Since it's the day after Christmas; most of my friends are usually on holiday, away somewhere with their families and if they are around; they're normally too tired from the aftermath of celebrating the day before. At most, I'll usually be home in Port Elizabeth and have a home made dinner with a tight knit group of friends. More often than not it's just me, the family and Wang, my other brother, who's real name is Bryan (Bryan is his slave name) whom my family adopted years ago while living in Port Elizabeth. We'll sit around the dinner table finish our meals and eat some type of cream cake or better yet an ice-cream cake. That's it, and that's how it's been done for years, simply a very simple tradition. Ahhh good times.
Every couple of years when I'm in Taiwan on my Birthday, members of my extended family, some whom I really couldn't tell are related to me will try and out do each other to make up for my modest and lack of celebrations. Poor, poor, uncultured and uneducated South African boy they will think to themselves and try to throw some feasts of epic proportion to make up for years of absence in my life. So in the space of a week, I might celebrate 10 times - more than enough, to stock pile and make up for a few birthdays.
Usually one of my Grandfathers will win the battle in out doing each other. They would never spend money on themselves, or even for their own children for that matter, but for their grand kids the sky is the limit. I remember once, one of my grandfathers even took me on a holiday to Japan. When I was very young, I was quite a spoilt little boy, such so, that my parents finally intervened and had to tell them to stop spoiling me and my brother. A very good move on my parents behalf, as otherwise we would probably not be quite as well adjusted members of society as we are today.
We were supposed to spend Chritsmas in Taiwan this year, but due to the strength of the rand and my grandfathers untimely illness, it was decided best not to.
I've gone on quite a tangent it seems, I was supposed to be explaining my good mood, but somehow veered off on a completely different train of thought. Weird how that happens. Anyways, I reckon the good mood is courtesy of all the endorphins generated from all yesterday's exercise.
As I was on my way out of the gym early in the morning, I was met by Candi, Andi and Gabi whom with their feminine whiles, somehow convinced me to go on a hike off the Silvermine trail in Table Mountain National Park. The hikes are organized by Marcus every Sunday; already tired, I was at first reluctant; but trekking along, I grew more fond of the idea and actually thoroughly enjoyed it...even with the lactic acid build up and the inability to walk properly, I'm still in high spirits. Bring on the rest of week!
My birthday sucks, it's on Boxing Day and I don't normally celebrate it. Since it's the day after Christmas; most of my friends are usually on holiday, away somewhere with their families and if they are around; they're normally too tired from the aftermath of celebrating the day before. At most, I'll usually be home in Port Elizabeth and have a home made dinner with a tight knit group of friends. More often than not it's just me, the family and Wang, my other brother, who's real name is Bryan (Bryan is his slave name) whom my family adopted years ago while living in Port Elizabeth. We'll sit around the dinner table finish our meals and eat some type of cream cake or better yet an ice-cream cake. That's it, and that's how it's been done for years, simply a very simple tradition. Ahhh good times.
Every couple of years when I'm in Taiwan on my Birthday, members of my extended family, some whom I really couldn't tell are related to me will try and out do each other to make up for my modest and lack of celebrations. Poor, poor, uncultured and uneducated South African boy they will think to themselves and try to throw some feasts of epic proportion to make up for years of absence in my life. So in the space of a week, I might celebrate 10 times - more than enough, to stock pile and make up for a few birthdays.
Usually one of my Grandfathers will win the battle in out doing each other. They would never spend money on themselves, or even for their own children for that matter, but for their grand kids the sky is the limit. I remember once, one of my grandfathers even took me on a holiday to Japan. When I was very young, I was quite a spoilt little boy, such so, that my parents finally intervened and had to tell them to stop spoiling me and my brother. A very good move on my parents behalf, as otherwise we would probably not be quite as well adjusted members of society as we are today.
We were supposed to spend Chritsmas in Taiwan this year, but due to the strength of the rand and my grandfathers untimely illness, it was decided best not to.
I've gone on quite a tangent it seems, I was supposed to be explaining my good mood, but somehow veered off on a completely different train of thought. Weird how that happens. Anyways, I reckon the good mood is courtesy of all the endorphins generated from all yesterday's exercise.
As I was on my way out of the gym early in the morning, I was met by Candi, Andi and Gabi whom with their feminine whiles, somehow convinced me to go on a hike off the Silvermine trail in Table Mountain National Park. The hikes are organized by Marcus every Sunday; already tired, I was at first reluctant; but trekking along, I grew more fond of the idea and actually thoroughly enjoyed it...even with the lactic acid build up and the inability to walk properly, I'm still in high spirits. Bring on the rest of week!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Ship Steering
6am is hell of a early to be up on a Sunday morning, but I’m up in any case. Sunday is basically the only day I have the opportunity to sleep in, so it’s rather annoying that my body clock has decided to wake me up. I lay around tossing and turning for a bit and couldn’t get back to sleep, rather than wasting my effort, I decided to do something a little productive and write in my daily journal.
The only problem is, I don’t know what to write about, there’s about a million things processing in my head at the moment, but none really worthy of being penned. Nothing is harder than trying to force something to happen when, well, it doesn’t want to happen. Whether it’s this blog entry, trying to fall back asleep or one of the many challenges that face you in life. I guess it’s sometimes a good philosophy to just go with the flow and see what happens. To accept that sometimes we are merely spectators watching a play unfold before us.
Sadly, the result of such an approach is that more often than not, not everything turns out the way we envisage it, however we just need to accept whatever the outcome and make the best of whatever situation arises. It’s really difficult and I’m still trying hard to find that balance as when to let things go and when to take control of the proverbial wheel and steer the ship on its course.
I believe that both are necessary, if we live our lives too candidly without regard of consequence, things quickly start to fall apart; however if we are too controlling we will most likely be dealt a harder hand in dissapointment.
The only problem is, I don’t know what to write about, there’s about a million things processing in my head at the moment, but none really worthy of being penned. Nothing is harder than trying to force something to happen when, well, it doesn’t want to happen. Whether it’s this blog entry, trying to fall back asleep or one of the many challenges that face you in life. I guess it’s sometimes a good philosophy to just go with the flow and see what happens. To accept that sometimes we are merely spectators watching a play unfold before us.
Sadly, the result of such an approach is that more often than not, not everything turns out the way we envisage it, however we just need to accept whatever the outcome and make the best of whatever situation arises. It’s really difficult and I’m still trying hard to find that balance as when to let things go and when to take control of the proverbial wheel and steer the ship on its course.
I believe that both are necessary, if we live our lives too candidly without regard of consequence, things quickly start to fall apart; however if we are too controlling we will most likely be dealt a harder hand in dissapointment.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Biting the Hand That Feeds You
The stupid hamster bit me. Luckily it didn’t draw blood, so at least I don’t need a Tetanus shot, but still, I feel betrayed. You raise the little critter, give it a home, then wham! It nibbles on your finger like an entrée!
Speaking of nibbling, woohoo for waffles, I had a Belgium waffle earlier from Gelato Mania with Kinder Joy gelato and Ferrero Rocher chocolate sauce. It could well have been the greatest (definitely sweetest) 10 minutes of my whole week.
Have you ever had that urge to get something off your chest, but you weren’t sure if it were the right thing to do or say? But if you didn’t you might completely regret it? I find myself in that predicament all too often and again, today, find myself wanting to do something that I’m not sure if I should.
I've always adopted the gung ho attitude of rather just get it over and done with but in past experience sometimes it's just better to let certain things slide on by, as often, instead of the result you expect it just opens up a whole can of worms…
Speaking of nibbling, woohoo for waffles, I had a Belgium waffle earlier from Gelato Mania with Kinder Joy gelato and Ferrero Rocher chocolate sauce. It could well have been the greatest (definitely sweetest) 10 minutes of my whole week.
Have you ever had that urge to get something off your chest, but you weren’t sure if it were the right thing to do or say? But if you didn’t you might completely regret it? I find myself in that predicament all too often and again, today, find myself wanting to do something that I’m not sure if I should.
I've always adopted the gung ho attitude of rather just get it over and done with but in past experience sometimes it's just better to let certain things slide on by, as often, instead of the result you expect it just opens up a whole can of worms…
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
The trouble of waking up really early in the morning during a work day is that by midday it feels as if it should already be the end of the day. Technically you've spent more hours awake compared to if you had woken up later.
The only way I survive when that happens is by overdosing on coffee. So guess what, I'm already on my 5th or 6th cup today, I had to keep alert as I had some important meetings to attend. As a result my eye has developed a nervous twitch, I've got heart palpitations and I feel as if I'm having an out of body experience, but at least I've stayed awake and brought my A-game to the table.
The other problem with waking up ridiculously early is the fact that there is absolutely nothing to do, no one is awake and nothing is open. I sat there bored out of my mind staring at the wall, I even resorted keeping myself entertained with some work before the gym opened up its doors.
The only way I survive when that happens is by overdosing on coffee. So guess what, I'm already on my 5th or 6th cup today, I had to keep alert as I had some important meetings to attend. As a result my eye has developed a nervous twitch, I've got heart palpitations and I feel as if I'm having an out of body experience, but at least I've stayed awake and brought my A-game to the table.
The other problem with waking up ridiculously early is the fact that there is absolutely nothing to do, no one is awake and nothing is open. I sat there bored out of my mind staring at the wall, I even resorted keeping myself entertained with some work before the gym opened up its doors.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Abomination
I may be pregnant! Yeah, you heard right, at least all the evidence is pointing in that direction!
I'm not certain I know what's going on with my body at the moment, some have told me that it may be the after affects of the flu that I recently had. But lets look at the evidence as to why I've come to this damning conclusion: Firstly I've been experiencing quite a lot of heart burn and headaches as of late; and yesterday besides feeling incredibly hot; in the evening. before going to bed, I had a sudden craving for Spur Spare Ribs (the craving was particularly specific, it had to be Spare Ribs and it had to be from Spur). This morning I started feeling queezy. Not to mention the fact that I've never in my life menstruated - missing menstrual periods are another clear symptom of pregnancy.
Bar the fact that it's anatomically impossible for me, a male, to bear children, and the fact that I've been abstaining like a priest... I'm starting to believe that I may not be male at all but instead some abomination of nature, tending more toward the female species than my physicality would suggest.
Woman have been ignoring my manliness ever since I can remember and for some reason decide to have "men-bashing" or "baby-talk" sessions with me in plain sight, accepting me, almost as if I were one of their own. I'm not certain what it is that I project that would suggest that I would be interested in such feminine topics, but have concluded that it must be some hormonal imbalance in my mutant genetics that lull woman into a false sense of security. Also, just the other day a woman off the street approached me and asked : "Please Miss can I have some change?"
Whatever. Maybe I'm just being paranoid with an over-active imagination, but I'm a risk manager and at the moment I'm managing for the worst possible scenario. If I am indeed about to bear a child I'm thinking of the name... Jules, it's asexual enough to fit either a boy or a girl, if it is human at all of course...
I'm not certain I know what's going on with my body at the moment, some have told me that it may be the after affects of the flu that I recently had. But lets look at the evidence as to why I've come to this damning conclusion: Firstly I've been experiencing quite a lot of heart burn and headaches as of late; and yesterday besides feeling incredibly hot; in the evening. before going to bed, I had a sudden craving for Spur Spare Ribs (the craving was particularly specific, it had to be Spare Ribs and it had to be from Spur). This morning I started feeling queezy. Not to mention the fact that I've never in my life menstruated - missing menstrual periods are another clear symptom of pregnancy.
Bar the fact that it's anatomically impossible for me, a male, to bear children, and the fact that I've been abstaining like a priest... I'm starting to believe that I may not be male at all but instead some abomination of nature, tending more toward the female species than my physicality would suggest.
Woman have been ignoring my manliness ever since I can remember and for some reason decide to have "men-bashing" or "baby-talk" sessions with me in plain sight, accepting me, almost as if I were one of their own. I'm not certain what it is that I project that would suggest that I would be interested in such feminine topics, but have concluded that it must be some hormonal imbalance in my mutant genetics that lull woman into a false sense of security. Also, just the other day a woman off the street approached me and asked : "Please Miss can I have some change?"
Whatever. Maybe I'm just being paranoid with an over-active imagination, but I'm a risk manager and at the moment I'm managing for the worst possible scenario. If I am indeed about to bear a child I'm thinking of the name... Jules, it's asexual enough to fit either a boy or a girl, if it is human at all of course...
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Out the Box Thinking
So i got tired of playing the bubble game last night and decided I'd take some short cuts to beat everyone in our mini-competition. All one needed to do to validate their high score was to take a screen shot as proof of their achievement.
After a few hours wasting my time, I decided the game was frivolous and opened up my favourite image editing tool to up my score a bit. They called it cheating...I called it out the box thinking. Whatever. No rules were established upfront in any case - so if a screen grab was all we needed - I win.
After a few hours wasting my time, I decided the game was frivolous and opened up my favourite image editing tool to up my score a bit. They called it cheating...I called it out the box thinking. Whatever. No rules were established upfront in any case - so if a screen grab was all we needed - I win.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Bubble Trouble
I fear that my daily blogs may become a thing of the past.
I received a game earlier, that may consume most of time in the near future. It's called Bubble Shooter and is highly, highly addictive. The concept of the game is really simple: you get different colour bubbles, and as the player, you aim and try to match up at least three bubbles of the same colour. When you do, they burst. The trick is to try to get a lot of bubbles in one go, you get more points that way; you can even try to isolate other colour bubbles and if they are, they burst too. Its along the same vein as Tetris, only better...
There is mini competition going amongst me and some of my friends, being uber competitive and geeky I will win, and win by a large margin. I wasn't one of PE's top Quake 3 players for nothing you know, and there is no ways I'm going to lose in some silly bubble game...gosh, who knew computer geeks had such big egos?
That's enough blogging. I have some winning to do.
I received a game earlier, that may consume most of time in the near future. It's called Bubble Shooter and is highly, highly addictive. The concept of the game is really simple: you get different colour bubbles, and as the player, you aim and try to match up at least three bubbles of the same colour. When you do, they burst. The trick is to try to get a lot of bubbles in one go, you get more points that way; you can even try to isolate other colour bubbles and if they are, they burst too. Its along the same vein as Tetris, only better...
There is mini competition going amongst me and some of my friends, being uber competitive and geeky I will win, and win by a large margin. I wasn't one of PE's top Quake 3 players for nothing you know, and there is no ways I'm going to lose in some silly bubble game...gosh, who knew computer geeks had such big egos?
That's enough blogging. I have some winning to do.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Stunt Rat
Found a nice little surprise in my Inbox this morning, courtesy of my good friend Darryn. I received a couple of screen grabs, one of me getting killed and another of my name in the credit list from the movie (Tunnel Rats) that I was roped into (doing some stunts). It still hasn't come out in South Africa , so besides the trailor I have yet to see any scenes, let alone any scenes with me in it.
It's super sweet to finally get some evidence of my involvement, the experience was so surreal that after such a long time, it seems like only a faded dream. Remember, I'm a boring software developer by profession, so doing stunts for an action film is certainly not part of my day to day activities, only with Paul's expert guidance and training sessions was I able to pull it off.
As I recall Action Dan had a strange, if not misplaced confidence in my ability to play dead and decided to kill me off on a number of occasions. I remember in one particular take, I was killed not once but twice and somehow had to get shot, die, crawl out of the camera's line of view, have my makeup and costume adjusted; just to run back into picture and get killed again. Being killed so many times, the make-up and costume department did well to hide my ugly mug, but I think in one instance there is a semi-close up of my face where I'm actually recognizable (Look Ma! I'm on the silver screen!).
Working on set for the first time was a real eye opener, I felt like a kid again; absorbing new information and trying to take in as much as I could. Tristan, my roomie for the shooting of the film, and I tried to get involved in every area of stunting that we could: we helped out with rigging, performance and doing general errands. After a while we even got so used to handling the AK47s and M16s (assault rifles), we lead some of the training and demonstration sessions for the "new recruits" and in some cases even tested out a couple of rigs. I'm not even an adrenaline junkie, but in one of the tests they threw me out of a 15 m high tree...blind-folded!
Besides the amazing adventure, the cast and crew were all great and I've made some really amazing, life-long friends. I'd have to say that of all the things that I've ever done, doing this film ranks right up there with one of the coolest and most gratifying experiences of my life.
It's super sweet to finally get some evidence of my involvement, the experience was so surreal that after such a long time, it seems like only a faded dream. Remember, I'm a boring software developer by profession, so doing stunts for an action film is certainly not part of my day to day activities, only with Paul's expert guidance and training sessions was I able to pull it off.
As I recall Action Dan had a strange, if not misplaced confidence in my ability to play dead and decided to kill me off on a number of occasions. I remember in one particular take, I was killed not once but twice and somehow had to get shot, die, crawl out of the camera's line of view, have my makeup and costume adjusted; just to run back into picture and get killed again. Being killed so many times, the make-up and costume department did well to hide my ugly mug, but I think in one instance there is a semi-close up of my face where I'm actually recognizable (Look Ma! I'm on the silver screen!).
Working on set for the first time was a real eye opener, I felt like a kid again; absorbing new information and trying to take in as much as I could. Tristan, my roomie for the shooting of the film, and I tried to get involved in every area of stunting that we could: we helped out with rigging, performance and doing general errands. After a while we even got so used to handling the AK47s and M16s (assault rifles), we lead some of the training and demonstration sessions for the "new recruits" and in some cases even tested out a couple of rigs. I'm not even an adrenaline junkie, but in one of the tests they threw me out of a 15 m high tree...blind-folded!
Besides the amazing adventure, the cast and crew were all great and I've made some really amazing, life-long friends. I'd have to say that of all the things that I've ever done, doing this film ranks right up there with one of the coolest and most gratifying experiences of my life.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Normality
I’m starting to feel myself again, being back in the gym this morning helped. I’m taking it easy though, not pushing very hard and trying to keep my heart rate low. Grabbed my usual Sunday morning cuppa from the Vida afterward and feel as if things are falling back into place.
I’m not certain how my Sunday became so busy, usually they’re supposed to be relaxing, instead I’ve been zooming around doing odds and ends, picking up people from the airport and helping a friend with some software related stuff. Not that I mind too much, because I’d rather be busy than bored, doing nothing.
I’m not certain how my Sunday became so busy, usually they’re supposed to be relaxing, instead I’ve been zooming around doing odds and ends, picking up people from the airport and helping a friend with some software related stuff. Not that I mind too much, because I’d rather be busy than bored, doing nothing.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Emasculated
The Showroom Cafe in the Grand Daddy Hotel (previously known as the Metropole) on Long Street is a really cool place for breakfast it seems. Being the little sister of the acclaimed Showroom Restaurant in the foreshore, I was really excited to try it out and organized a table for the coffee club well in advance. The cafe is supposed to be simple, no fuss, but still loaded with tasty favourites; and breakfast this morning, exemplified that experience.
Yesterday evening was Andi's birthday celebration. Unfortunately, still feeling slightly under the weather; I only made the first bit of the celebration at Wakame for a drink or two. I did however try to make up for my lack of appearance by getting her some body butter from the Body Shop (I hope you appreciate it Andi because I feel slightly emasculated going shopping there). I must admit, I feel like a bit of a fish out of water in that store and am not certain what half of that stuff is for, but I'm told that girls love it and I'm someone who likes to try explore new territories.
Due to my limited knowledge in the body products area, my general rule of thumb is to go with whatever smells good enough to eat, just a word of caution though,do not eat the products as they taste nothing like they smell and are guaranteed to make you hurl - not that I would know of course, because I wouldn't be dumb enough to eat them *cough* *cough*.
Just to balance the blog off with something more masculine, as I fear all this talk about products has just boosted the levels of oestrogen ...how about the Boks vs Englad game at Twickenham today huh? Anyone going to catch that? That's the sweater knitting finals not the rugby game just in case you were wondering.
Yesterday evening was Andi's birthday celebration. Unfortunately, still feeling slightly under the weather; I only made the first bit of the celebration at Wakame for a drink or two. I did however try to make up for my lack of appearance by getting her some body butter from the Body Shop (I hope you appreciate it Andi because I feel slightly emasculated going shopping there). I must admit, I feel like a bit of a fish out of water in that store and am not certain what half of that stuff is for, but I'm told that girls love it and I'm someone who likes to try explore new territories.
Due to my limited knowledge in the body products area, my general rule of thumb is to go with whatever smells good enough to eat, just a word of caution though,do not eat the products as they taste nothing like they smell and are guaranteed to make you hurl - not that I would know of course, because I wouldn't be dumb enough to eat them *cough* *cough*.
Just to balance the blog off with something more masculine, as I fear all this talk about products has just boosted the levels of oestrogen ...how about the Boks vs Englad game at Twickenham today huh? Anyone going to catch that? That's the sweater knitting finals not the rugby game just in case you were wondering.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thanksgiving
I haven't been myself lately, in particular the last week or two. To be honest, I'm not sure exactly what it is that I'm going through. All I know is that I wake up in the morning filled with emotion and negative thoughts and honestly I don't know how to turn that around. People say that being positive is about choice. What if it isn't? It's not like I'm not trying. From the get go; I'm feeling down, angry, emotional - so I tell myself, no that's not how I should be feeling. I try my best to lift myself, but regardless of the bravado, things slump and seem to turn out badly. I get frustrated and soon feel down again.
I know that my behavior has been one of self indulgence and believe me when I say, if I knew how to get over this more quickly, I would. Perhaps I'm trying too hard to force it, perhaps I should just let it be and not give myself a deadline? I'm strange that way, I'll say "Okay, that is as long as you are allowed to feel down. Now, get over it already". Clearly, it's not working. It just seems to manifest itself later when I don't expect it. Apparently, it's not the first time I've been like this, I don't remember it, but my parents recall that when I was about 5 or 6 years old something happened and because of it, I wouldn't speak to anyone for 6 months. Everyone began to worry. I reckon I became introverted, to work out what was going on with myself.
Close to 20 years later, and I find myself in a similar situation, only this time, I've taken a different approach in handling things. I've been very vocal about how I'm feeling, in the form of this blog. This will sound strange, I don't particularly like airing my dirty laundry in public, I'm actually a very private person - I'd rather hide behind closed doors and deal with it by myself, but for some reason it feels like there is some greater purpose as if by documenting what I'm experiencing, it could help someone else who's reading it...when I started writing about 7 months ago I made a commitment, I told myself that I would write an honest account of what was going on in my life and how I was feeling.
A lot has happened in the past year and to the best of my ability I've tried to stand by that commitment; even if I've felt like I'd be revealing too much. Again, I'm strange that way, if I make a promise; even if it's to no one in particular I'll try my utmost to hold up my end of the agreement.
Thanksgiving has come and gone in Canada, but it is coming up in the States soon. I like the concept: showing gratitude for the things you have. I couldn't find anything to inspire me yesterday. So I thought I'd approach it from a different angle. I looked for things that I'm grateful for. I'm thankful that I have my family and that I have an amazing bunch of friends, who've been patient with me, I really appreciate that...to be honest I don't know where I would be if I didn't have that right now. So while I may not be beaming today at least I'm grateful.. and that's sure as heck better than being depressed, frustrated and angry.
I know that my behavior has been one of self indulgence and believe me when I say, if I knew how to get over this more quickly, I would. Perhaps I'm trying too hard to force it, perhaps I should just let it be and not give myself a deadline? I'm strange that way, I'll say "Okay, that is as long as you are allowed to feel down. Now, get over it already". Clearly, it's not working. It just seems to manifest itself later when I don't expect it. Apparently, it's not the first time I've been like this, I don't remember it, but my parents recall that when I was about 5 or 6 years old something happened and because of it, I wouldn't speak to anyone for 6 months. Everyone began to worry. I reckon I became introverted, to work out what was going on with myself.
Close to 20 years later, and I find myself in a similar situation, only this time, I've taken a different approach in handling things. I've been very vocal about how I'm feeling, in the form of this blog. This will sound strange, I don't particularly like airing my dirty laundry in public, I'm actually a very private person - I'd rather hide behind closed doors and deal with it by myself, but for some reason it feels like there is some greater purpose as if by documenting what I'm experiencing, it could help someone else who's reading it...when I started writing about 7 months ago I made a commitment, I told myself that I would write an honest account of what was going on in my life and how I was feeling.
A lot has happened in the past year and to the best of my ability I've tried to stand by that commitment; even if I've felt like I'd be revealing too much. Again, I'm strange that way, if I make a promise; even if it's to no one in particular I'll try my utmost to hold up my end of the agreement.
Thanksgiving has come and gone in Canada, but it is coming up in the States soon. I like the concept: showing gratitude for the things you have. I couldn't find anything to inspire me yesterday. So I thought I'd approach it from a different angle. I looked for things that I'm grateful for. I'm thankful that I have my family and that I have an amazing bunch of friends, who've been patient with me, I really appreciate that...to be honest I don't know where I would be if I didn't have that right now. So while I may not be beaming today at least I'm grateful.. and that's sure as heck better than being depressed, frustrated and angry.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Under Cover
I really lacked inspiration to get up this morning, not quite certain how I managed to claw myself out of bed. With that said, I should have stayed there - in bed. I’m still feeling sick, so I'm not sure why I killed myself to get up and even attempt to go to work in the first place.
At the moment, I’m clutching at straws to draw inspiration; I can't afford to make big changes now, so I’m trying anything, even little things like dressing more casually for work, to get me out of this slump. Regardless of what I try, it doesn’t seem to work.
Being sick, my sense of taste is gone, everything tastes like cardboard, I thought I'd be able to cheer myself up with a burger from Rick's Cafe the other day, no use, no taste. Even the milkshake from the Fire and Ice hotel last night wasn't very inspiring, it tasted like slightly sugary water. Life without taste, to me, is no life at all.
For only God knows why, I decided that taking a different car to work might help change things up a bit, so I borrowed my brothers car. In the parking garage, the person who parks next to me, usually parks poorly. Most days, I avoid this by coming in earlier than her, but this morning, she was there, parked, teetering in my lane. I tried to squeeze into my space and be ultra careful, but somehow managed to scrape the rear wheel arch on the right side of the car in any case. Great.
For some reason, my savings, always ends up going towards fixing cars. I hate cars. The day they invent a scratch-proof, unbreakable, never-breaks-down vehicle, I’ll be the first in line to purchase it.
I sat in the office for about 10 minutes, sick and seething; stewing in my own filth and misery. I decided to speak to my manager and call off sick. I’m back at home, under the covers. Today can’t end quickly enough – Don’t call me, I’ll call you.
At the moment, I’m clutching at straws to draw inspiration; I can't afford to make big changes now, so I’m trying anything, even little things like dressing more casually for work, to get me out of this slump. Regardless of what I try, it doesn’t seem to work.
Being sick, my sense of taste is gone, everything tastes like cardboard, I thought I'd be able to cheer myself up with a burger from Rick's Cafe the other day, no use, no taste. Even the milkshake from the Fire and Ice hotel last night wasn't very inspiring, it tasted like slightly sugary water. Life without taste, to me, is no life at all.
For only God knows why, I decided that taking a different car to work might help change things up a bit, so I borrowed my brothers car. In the parking garage, the person who parks next to me, usually parks poorly. Most days, I avoid this by coming in earlier than her, but this morning, she was there, parked, teetering in my lane. I tried to squeeze into my space and be ultra careful, but somehow managed to scrape the rear wheel arch on the right side of the car in any case. Great.
For some reason, my savings, always ends up going towards fixing cars. I hate cars. The day they invent a scratch-proof, unbreakable, never-breaks-down vehicle, I’ll be the first in line to purchase it.
I sat in the office for about 10 minutes, sick and seething; stewing in my own filth and misery. I decided to speak to my manager and call off sick. I’m back at home, under the covers. Today can’t end quickly enough – Don’t call me, I’ll call you.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Number 200 - Practice Makes Perfect
Today marks my 200th blog posts, that means I've been writing in my daily journal for 200, no wait excuse me, 198 consecutive days (on 2 occasions I posted twice in one day). I've gotten writing these notes down to a fine art.
Those of you who think I spend hours on these things are wrong, it takes me about 30 minutes to a maximum of an hour to churn one of these suckers out. Initially, they did take long, sometimes up to 4 hours, I found trying to get my thoughts in order and geting them down in writing, difficult. The more one writes though, the easier it becomes and one soon becomes rather efficient at it. Consistency and tenacity I've learnt is a key ingredient at getting really good at something, whether it be playing a musical instrument, training for a sport or in this case writing down thoughts.
Now, I'm not saying I'm good (I'm not there yet), I'm merely stating that I'm better than I was six months ago. Talent can only get you so far, but there is something about constant practice that keeps you poised in adversity, ever noticed how sportsmen sometimes excel more under extreme pressure, it's probably because they've played the situation in their mind so many times and practiced it so much, that their bodies are programmed to do the only thing that it knows how to do. There is definitely some truth to the old adage "Practice makes perfect".
There have been many days where I've wondered if I should publicly post what I've written, or whether I should even write at all. Somehow I've managed. I thought by the 200th post I would have something profound to say....I guess not, perhaps at the 300th.
Those of you who think I spend hours on these things are wrong, it takes me about 30 minutes to a maximum of an hour to churn one of these suckers out. Initially, they did take long, sometimes up to 4 hours, I found trying to get my thoughts in order and geting them down in writing, difficult. The more one writes though, the easier it becomes and one soon becomes rather efficient at it. Consistency and tenacity I've learnt is a key ingredient at getting really good at something, whether it be playing a musical instrument, training for a sport or in this case writing down thoughts.
Now, I'm not saying I'm good (I'm not there yet), I'm merely stating that I'm better than I was six months ago. Talent can only get you so far, but there is something about constant practice that keeps you poised in adversity, ever noticed how sportsmen sometimes excel more under extreme pressure, it's probably because they've played the situation in their mind so many times and practiced it so much, that their bodies are programmed to do the only thing that it knows how to do. There is definitely some truth to the old adage "Practice makes perfect".
There have been many days where I've wondered if I should publicly post what I've written, or whether I should even write at all. Somehow I've managed. I thought by the 200th post I would have something profound to say....I guess not, perhaps at the 300th.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Mister Grumpy Pants
I'm trying to keep away from over-exerting myself , so I've forced myself to not do any training. Sadly, it is one of the few outlets I have to rid myself of frustrations and I am thus finding myself becoming even more irritable.
I'm regrettably not in the best of moods and it doesn't help that my nose won't stop leaking...while at home, I've resorted to fashioning plugs from toilet tissue and shoving them up my nose, not exactly aesthetic, but at least it does the trick and it means that I can go about my normal activities without having to drip nose juice on everything.
I'm not an invalid when I get sick; you get those who will lie around, incapable of doing anything, and have to get people to wait on them hand and foot. I've grown accustomed to fending for myself. If I were to adopt aforementioned, I'd probably have perished a long time ago, so out of necessity I've developed an "if-my-body-is-capable-let-me-do-it" mentality...the only difference between a healthy me and a sick me is a grumpier demeanor.
Heck, if I knew it wasn't bad for my heart I'd still go training.
I'm regrettably not in the best of moods and it doesn't help that my nose won't stop leaking...while at home, I've resorted to fashioning plugs from toilet tissue and shoving them up my nose, not exactly aesthetic, but at least it does the trick and it means that I can go about my normal activities without having to drip nose juice on everything.
I'm not an invalid when I get sick; you get those who will lie around, incapable of doing anything, and have to get people to wait on them hand and foot. I've grown accustomed to fending for myself. If I were to adopt aforementioned, I'd probably have perished a long time ago, so out of necessity I've developed an "if-my-body-is-capable-let-me-do-it" mentality...the only difference between a healthy me and a sick me is a grumpier demeanor.
Heck, if I knew it wasn't bad for my heart I'd still go training.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Hope
I woke up feeling particularly sorry for myself this morning. Still struggling with the flu, but I knew I had to go into work. They gave me two days off, proviso that I came in on Monday to finish up some stuff.
I've been told that my blog is a decent read, but that the underlying tone is rather depressing. It's taken me a while to write this, but if truth be told I haven't been happy for quite while and it's one of the reasons why I started this daily journal in the first place (as I recall the title of the first entry is entitled Down but Not Out), to try keep track of my progress, record some positive activity and instill some inspiration in my life...
In recent past, I've developed a fake laugh, it kinda sounds like that animated cartoon Goofy's laugh. It's probably not noticeable to the public; but it's almost like a nervous reaction, it's involuntary, but I cringe every time it's delivered, because I know that it's a front to hide my otherwise depressed state.
I guess I'm just tired of fronting, and some of the bottled up angst is starting to manifest itself as aggressive outbursts, which scares me a little. I went to speak to a professional listener, which I doubt I'll be visiting again anytime soon, because all he did was make me realize how unhappy I actually was. What I did take away from the therapist was that I should try face my emotions head on and deal with them as they come, rather than bottle them up. He suggested that I write my feelings down...
I'm struggling to find purpose, to get up in the morning, which is a foreign concept to me. Anyone who knows me well, will tell you that I'm not normally unhappy and that I'm usually filled with positivity. The happy-go-lucky guy that never lets anything get him down. Mostly, I think I'm frustrated, I'm frustrated that every time there is some glimmer of hope it's smothered and squashed - It's bringing out the cynicism in me (which again is foreign).
To name a few things: In the last year and a bit; I've lost faith in love, friendship, humanity...just a small example to illustrate my point (little things like these shouldn't bother me - but they do). On Saturday - I had some leftover food from a braai and was walking down the street, when a beggar asked if he could have it; most probably, as was my assumption, that he was hungry. As is my nature, I obligingly gave it to him - it was some pasta salad and a little bit of leftover fruit salad.
After giving it to him and while I was walking away he called me back to say that I could have the fruit salad back and throw it away because he didn't like it and wouldn't eat it. I was seriously annoyed with his ungratefulness, I called him an "Ungrateful Bastard", and at the time wanted to take one of his crutches and smack him with it, luckily for him, there were people around and I somehow managed to restrain myself and walk away.
I struggle to figure out where I fit into the greater scheme of things, I've developed a sense of self identity but it's difficult for me to place myself in a social context. I've always been different. I'm a first generation Taiwanese - South African (let's not even go into the politics of the difference between Taiwanese and Chinese people - if you think South African politics is confusing, your head will explode with that one) origin, who grew up in a predominantly Caucasian environment, so have never really fitted in. I look different. Never really been fully accepted. And probably why I usually find myself lonely, single.
In Taiwan, it's even more difficult to fit in. I look like everyone else, but I've been brought up different; culturally, I dress different, I talk different, hell, I even act different. And that too can't be accepted, a Banana they would call me, yellow on the outside, white on the inside. In a way, that's even more hurtful, to be rejected by your own kind. I guess that being categorized by the South African government as being "Black" is almost appropriate, as it not only shows how confused the rest of the world is, about placing me, but also reflects my own state of confusion.
Bless my parents, who have always been there for me; but they too can't seem to identify and are not always able to relate to what I'm going through. As in most cases, there is a loss of translation between generations; but added to the rift is a western cultural influence which is undeniable. They were brought up Chinese, I was not; and at times, it feels like we're talking completely different languages.
The only person I think who I can fully relate with is my brother, he was brought up in the same circumstances, yet we are two completely different people (no! we are not twins), him being more intellectual and head strong, while me being more heart. And yet again, we seemingly pass each other - like ships in the night.
I know this much, that in all my confusion I have built my own identity. I've tried to take the best of Eastern and Western influences and have somehow come up with my own, moral framework which at times is even more stringent than both. It has caused me to place high personal expectations on myself and evidently, on others, and I suppose, I become disappointed when these expectations are not met. High personal expectations are a form of self validation methinks and nothing I do is ever good enough... Have I fully accepted myself then?...
Perhaps I'm just highly strung, over thinking things as usual and need a holiday. Although I did ask for one; I still managed, somehow, to get the flu and therefore not really have one (at least I wasn't sick the first half).
Recently, friends have been going out of there way to show me a good time. But I hate it when people try to make me drink, I lack the enzymes to process alcohol, as is the case with most Asian people originating from the Pacific Rim; and while it acts as a mood enhancer for most (I must admit I'll buzz for the first 30 minutes or so), it seems to exacerbate my depression.
So there you have it, if you've noticed a depressing undertone in my writing, you were right.
But you shouldn't worry, I'll find my feet again, I always do. I used today's entry as a bit of an exercise to try help me identify why it is that I'm feeling so down...
I never said that I didn't have issues; but at least I'm trying to work through them. The one thing that I do wake up with, is hope. Hope that the new day would bring about something better, less confusing. I just wish it would get here quicker. I guess, patience is a virtue I need to learn.
I've been told that my blog is a decent read, but that the underlying tone is rather depressing. It's taken me a while to write this, but if truth be told I haven't been happy for quite while and it's one of the reasons why I started this daily journal in the first place (as I recall the title of the first entry is entitled Down but Not Out), to try keep track of my progress, record some positive activity and instill some inspiration in my life...
In recent past, I've developed a fake laugh, it kinda sounds like that animated cartoon Goofy's laugh. It's probably not noticeable to the public; but it's almost like a nervous reaction, it's involuntary, but I cringe every time it's delivered, because I know that it's a front to hide my otherwise depressed state.
I guess I'm just tired of fronting, and some of the bottled up angst is starting to manifest itself as aggressive outbursts, which scares me a little. I went to speak to a professional listener, which I doubt I'll be visiting again anytime soon, because all he did was make me realize how unhappy I actually was. What I did take away from the therapist was that I should try face my emotions head on and deal with them as they come, rather than bottle them up. He suggested that I write my feelings down...
I'm struggling to find purpose, to get up in the morning, which is a foreign concept to me. Anyone who knows me well, will tell you that I'm not normally unhappy and that I'm usually filled with positivity. The happy-go-lucky guy that never lets anything get him down. Mostly, I think I'm frustrated, I'm frustrated that every time there is some glimmer of hope it's smothered and squashed - It's bringing out the cynicism in me (which again is foreign).
To name a few things: In the last year and a bit; I've lost faith in love, friendship, humanity...just a small example to illustrate my point (little things like these shouldn't bother me - but they do). On Saturday - I had some leftover food from a braai and was walking down the street, when a beggar asked if he could have it; most probably, as was my assumption, that he was hungry. As is my nature, I obligingly gave it to him - it was some pasta salad and a little bit of leftover fruit salad.
After giving it to him and while I was walking away he called me back to say that I could have the fruit salad back and throw it away because he didn't like it and wouldn't eat it. I was seriously annoyed with his ungratefulness, I called him an "Ungrateful Bastard", and at the time wanted to take one of his crutches and smack him with it, luckily for him, there were people around and I somehow managed to restrain myself and walk away.
I struggle to figure out where I fit into the greater scheme of things, I've developed a sense of self identity but it's difficult for me to place myself in a social context. I've always been different. I'm a first generation Taiwanese - South African (let's not even go into the politics of the difference between Taiwanese and Chinese people - if you think South African politics is confusing, your head will explode with that one) origin, who grew up in a predominantly Caucasian environment, so have never really fitted in. I look different. Never really been fully accepted. And probably why I usually find myself lonely, single.
In Taiwan, it's even more difficult to fit in. I look like everyone else, but I've been brought up different; culturally, I dress different, I talk different, hell, I even act different. And that too can't be accepted, a Banana they would call me, yellow on the outside, white on the inside. In a way, that's even more hurtful, to be rejected by your own kind. I guess that being categorized by the South African government as being "Black" is almost appropriate, as it not only shows how confused the rest of the world is, about placing me, but also reflects my own state of confusion.
Bless my parents, who have always been there for me; but they too can't seem to identify and are not always able to relate to what I'm going through. As in most cases, there is a loss of translation between generations; but added to the rift is a western cultural influence which is undeniable. They were brought up Chinese, I was not; and at times, it feels like we're talking completely different languages.
The only person I think who I can fully relate with is my brother, he was brought up in the same circumstances, yet we are two completely different people (no! we are not twins), him being more intellectual and head strong, while me being more heart. And yet again, we seemingly pass each other - like ships in the night.
I know this much, that in all my confusion I have built my own identity. I've tried to take the best of Eastern and Western influences and have somehow come up with my own, moral framework which at times is even more stringent than both. It has caused me to place high personal expectations on myself and evidently, on others, and I suppose, I become disappointed when these expectations are not met. High personal expectations are a form of self validation methinks and nothing I do is ever good enough... Have I fully accepted myself then?...
Perhaps I'm just highly strung, over thinking things as usual and need a holiday. Although I did ask for one; I still managed, somehow, to get the flu and therefore not really have one (at least I wasn't sick the first half).
Recently, friends have been going out of there way to show me a good time. But I hate it when people try to make me drink, I lack the enzymes to process alcohol, as is the case with most Asian people originating from the Pacific Rim; and while it acts as a mood enhancer for most (I must admit I'll buzz for the first 30 minutes or so), it seems to exacerbate my depression.
So there you have it, if you've noticed a depressing undertone in my writing, you were right.
But you shouldn't worry, I'll find my feet again, I always do. I used today's entry as a bit of an exercise to try help me identify why it is that I'm feeling so down...
I never said that I didn't have issues; but at least I'm trying to work through them. The one thing that I do wake up with, is hope. Hope that the new day would bring about something better, less confusing. I just wish it would get here quicker. I guess, patience is a virtue I need to learn.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Lasagna Test
Since the first coffee club meet, I have never missed a single one. Until yesterday that is. There was a gap where I lived in Johannesburg and couldn’t make it - but I had my own little coffee club meets, either at Tasha’s in Atholl Square or the Vida in 24 Central anyway.
The reason why I missed it, was because I just needed a break, a break from everything, including commitments or any form of decision making. I’ve spent the entire weekend being selfish and doing what I want to do. It was great, almost liberating in some ways,;I see now why no one ever commits to anything in Cape Town.
I was supposed to meet up with some people at the Organic Market as well, but that didn’t happen either, because I grew lazy and played with my hackie sack by the pool instead (I’ve learnt I’m still not very coordinated with small flying objects).
I did try to organize a dinner with some friends at Zucca at some point though. Zucca is fast becoming one of my favourite restaurants in Cape Town, besides the great food, ambience and exquisitely decorated venue itself, the hospitality is immaculate and one definitely notices the hand of friendliness owing to the family which runs business. I noticed that most of the patrons in the restaurant were repeat clients and were even on a first name basis with the owners.
I organized a table for 6, but as it happens in Cape Town, no one could commit and the party of 6 quickly dwindled down to a party of moi. Usually, restaurants get quite perturbed when something like that happens but the folks at Zucca went out of their way to find me a quiet little table to myself.
When I’m at an Italian restaurant, I have what I call the Lasagna Test. Considering all things equal, I’ll order the Lasagna and test it to see if it is up to scratch in comparison to other Italian Restaurants that I’ve been too. That’s how I compare Italian Restaurants.
Already having the Pizza and being quite impressed, the Lasagna Test was just a mere formality to see if I would recommend and continue my patronage. Needless to say Zucca passed with flying colours. One could tell that the pasta sheets were freshly made and the combination of Bechamel and meat sauce was perfectly combined to produce a near faultless Lasagna.
I’m lying sick in bed again. Which is my own fault actually, I never fully recovered from the flu last week and in particular have been feeling rather ill the last couple of days, but have pushed on in any case – I certainly should not have done that run on the beach earlier in the week, in this condition, as I felt my chest tightening up and I am sure that it has some how contributed to the way I’m feeling now.
As I mentioned previously, I haven’t taken off work in close to a couple years and I wasn’t going to let something like a little flu stop me from enjoying my break either.
The reason why I missed it, was because I just needed a break, a break from everything, including commitments or any form of decision making. I’ve spent the entire weekend being selfish and doing what I want to do. It was great, almost liberating in some ways,;I see now why no one ever commits to anything in Cape Town.
I was supposed to meet up with some people at the Organic Market as well, but that didn’t happen either, because I grew lazy and played with my hackie sack by the pool instead (I’ve learnt I’m still not very coordinated with small flying objects).
I did try to organize a dinner with some friends at Zucca at some point though. Zucca is fast becoming one of my favourite restaurants in Cape Town, besides the great food, ambience and exquisitely decorated venue itself, the hospitality is immaculate and one definitely notices the hand of friendliness owing to the family which runs business. I noticed that most of the patrons in the restaurant were repeat clients and were even on a first name basis with the owners.
I organized a table for 6, but as it happens in Cape Town, no one could commit and the party of 6 quickly dwindled down to a party of moi. Usually, restaurants get quite perturbed when something like that happens but the folks at Zucca went out of their way to find me a quiet little table to myself.
When I’m at an Italian restaurant, I have what I call the Lasagna Test. Considering all things equal, I’ll order the Lasagna and test it to see if it is up to scratch in comparison to other Italian Restaurants that I’ve been too. That’s how I compare Italian Restaurants.
Already having the Pizza and being quite impressed, the Lasagna Test was just a mere formality to see if I would recommend and continue my patronage. Needless to say Zucca passed with flying colours. One could tell that the pasta sheets were freshly made and the combination of Bechamel and meat sauce was perfectly combined to produce a near faultless Lasagna.
I’m lying sick in bed again. Which is my own fault actually, I never fully recovered from the flu last week and in particular have been feeling rather ill the last couple of days, but have pushed on in any case – I certainly should not have done that run on the beach earlier in the week, in this condition, as I felt my chest tightening up and I am sure that it has some how contributed to the way I’m feeling now.
As I mentioned previously, I haven’t taken off work in close to a couple years and I wasn’t going to let something like a little flu stop me from enjoying my break either.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
An Ode to Love
I found an old poem that I wrote years ago, of which I’ve long forgotten for whom and for what reason I wrote it for; but it was when I was a lot younger, way more naïve and still a complete hopeless romantic.
Either way I thought I’d still share it, perhaps someone else will find some truth to the words:
An Ode to Love
Untainted passionate bliss
Translated through a subtle kiss
Her eyes gleam with unspoken attraction
The heart filled with sudden affection
A touch as soft as feathers
More valuable than expensive leathers
The taste of a good red wine
Helps to create a seductive rhyme
The comfort of a warm embrace
The end of his fall from grace
A love which is so pure
A broken heart it could cure
Either way I thought I’d still share it, perhaps someone else will find some truth to the words:
An Ode to Love
Untainted passionate bliss
Translated through a subtle kiss
Her eyes gleam with unspoken attraction
The heart filled with sudden affection
A touch as soft as feathers
More valuable than expensive leathers
The taste of a good red wine
Helps to create a seductive rhyme
The comfort of a warm embrace
The end of his fall from grace
A love which is so pure
A broken heart it could cure
Friday, November 14, 2008
Arrrr I'm a Mighty Pirate
It’s a rare treat for me to walk around the city during the day. Even though I live in the city, I miss the hustle and bustle due to work obligations, so it’s quite interesting to see how it actually springs to life when I’m not around.
Anyways, to cut a boring story short, while walking down somewhere to meet someone (you’ll have to excuse the vagueness of my descriptions here – but no it’s nobody of ill repute in case you were wondering) for an appointment. Out the corner of my eye I noticed a street vendor, trading in medicinal goods, with some Reflex goods. Yip, the Reflex packaging is that damn attractive – man! Whoever’s responsible for that brand here in South Africa sure is/are good.
At first, I thought that the product might have been a rip off, but on closer inspection it was the real deal. I inquired how much it was and the lady gave me a price that was well below our cost of importing even when I was still involved in the company. Unless the Rand has dramatically strengthened and my brother and co have decided to deal with hawkers, the street vendor must have acquired the product through channels of pilferage.
I had the idea in mind to shut down that operation, but on consideration I realized that the poor street vendor was probably just trying to make a living and feed her 5 children somewhere. She probably just sourced the product from someone else in any case; whatever the situation I decided to just let her be.
I’m not going to tell you the exact whereabouts of where this street vendor is, because I don’t want you cheap bastards looking for it and buying products from there (sorry, but I know I’m pigeon-holing everyone here…but I know I’d probably do it too). It just irritates me that some people work seriously hard to get a product like that out and someone comes along, steals it and sells it as their own.
It certainly makes me think twice with regards to the issue of piracy and I’m certain that what I felt today is what some people in the music and film industry feel like when they see all their hard work littered across the internet.
Anyways, to cut a boring story short, while walking down somewhere to meet someone (you’ll have to excuse the vagueness of my descriptions here – but no it’s nobody of ill repute in case you were wondering) for an appointment. Out the corner of my eye I noticed a street vendor, trading in medicinal goods, with some Reflex goods. Yip, the Reflex packaging is that damn attractive – man! Whoever’s responsible for that brand here in South Africa sure is/are good.
At first, I thought that the product might have been a rip off, but on closer inspection it was the real deal. I inquired how much it was and the lady gave me a price that was well below our cost of importing even when I was still involved in the company. Unless the Rand has dramatically strengthened and my brother and co have decided to deal with hawkers, the street vendor must have acquired the product through channels of pilferage.
I had the idea in mind to shut down that operation, but on consideration I realized that the poor street vendor was probably just trying to make a living and feed her 5 children somewhere. She probably just sourced the product from someone else in any case; whatever the situation I decided to just let her be.
I’m not going to tell you the exact whereabouts of where this street vendor is, because I don’t want you cheap bastards looking for it and buying products from there (sorry, but I know I’m pigeon-holing everyone here…but I know I’d probably do it too). It just irritates me that some people work seriously hard to get a product like that out and someone comes along, steals it and sells it as their own.
It certainly makes me think twice with regards to the issue of piracy and I’m certain that what I felt today is what some people in the music and film industry feel like when they see all their hard work littered across the internet.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Take a Break
After a couple of incidents, one in traffic and one at home. I decided that I needed some time out, regroup and think about some stuff. As such, I’ve asked my work for the rest of the week off. I haven’t taken a day off work in close to two years.
The only problem is I don’t think I’m capable of relaxing. Even though I’m off work, I still got up ridiculously early and decided to hit the gym. I spent most of last night and this morning designing a banner and beautifying my public blog space. It’s not a difficult task especially since the gorgeous Josephine (I miss you!) and my mate, Darryn let me use some pictures of theirs. So all I had to do was conjure up my limited image editing skills, which I learnt from uni and play around until I was semi-happy.
After my little spate of design work, I decided that I never really get a chance to visit my favourite coffee spots during the week, so ended up doing a mini-coffee tour of Cape Town. I hit three of my favourite spots: Origin, Loading Bay and Giovanni’s all in a row.
As a result I’m buzzing from the caffeine at the moment, and any ideas of taking it easy has just fallen flat on its face or at least for the next hour or so…
I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, the idea is to relax and take some time to reflect and introspect. I’ve decided not to make any commitments or decisions until Monday and just go with the flow to take up some much needed me-time. I was contemplating just hopping in my car and driving down the coast to look for waves, but decided against it because I’d end up being more tired when I got back.
The only problem is I don’t think I’m capable of relaxing. Even though I’m off work, I still got up ridiculously early and decided to hit the gym. I spent most of last night and this morning designing a banner and beautifying my public blog space. It’s not a difficult task especially since the gorgeous Josephine (I miss you!) and my mate, Darryn let me use some pictures of theirs. So all I had to do was conjure up my limited image editing skills, which I learnt from uni and play around until I was semi-happy.
After my little spate of design work, I decided that I never really get a chance to visit my favourite coffee spots during the week, so ended up doing a mini-coffee tour of Cape Town. I hit three of my favourite spots: Origin, Loading Bay and Giovanni’s all in a row.
As a result I’m buzzing from the caffeine at the moment, and any ideas of taking it easy has just fallen flat on its face or at least for the next hour or so…
I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, the idea is to relax and take some time to reflect and introspect. I’ve decided not to make any commitments or decisions until Monday and just go with the flow to take up some much needed me-time. I was contemplating just hopping in my car and driving down the coast to look for waves, but decided against it because I’d end up being more tired when I got back.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
In Repair
I had a weird day yesterday, an emotional day, in the end a good day but a really long day too. I only caught about an hours sleep the night before (hence the very long bit) and was up bored - so the only logical thing for me to do I thought, was to wait at Wembley Square till the gym opened so I could murder my legs.
I spoke to my mom and dad afterwards; as my mom had to fly back to Taiwain in the morning, unexpectedly, due to my Grandfather falling quite ill about a week ago. History it seems, has a way of repeating itself as this happened not more than a couple of years ago to my father's father.
Work was business as usual, but I had the opportunity to pop out to lunch to visit good old Ernst at his new offices, it's quite a sweet spot in a new development called the Upper East Side in Woodstock. I reckon it will be the Wembley Square of that area, Wembley seriously gave some life to the Gardens area. The cool thing about his new work place is that all the meeting rooms are named after surf spots, well it's cool to us at least, because we surf - kind of - I can count the number of times I've been surfing on my fingers and toes over the last 4 years (seriously not good) - I've become that guy I always used to hate, that stupid, sell-out of a hack that claimed that he used to surf but doesn't anymore, because it's too much of a mission to drive and look for waves.
On my drive to Ernst's offices I noticed that a few blocks in the CBD had been closed off by police and the fire brigade, I figured that it must have been as a result of some accident at a construction that was going up, most probably caused by this outrageous wind that we've been experiencing, courtesy of the cold front; and here i was, thinking that we were at the end of winter. I actually made that whole accident part up, I have no idea why they closed the block off - I just have an over active imagination.
Later, I had a good chat with a couple of old friend and was able to talk about some things that have been playing on my mind that I haven't really been able to tell anyone else, it was pretty emotional; I've been avoiding some of these issues for a very long time and I guess it was good to just talk about them. There's nothing worse than carrying emotional baggage around, because it eats away at you like a cancer.
I think I've gained some clarity and found some peace in letting these issues go, so in the long term I achieved a lot. Times are tough, that is without a doubt - but attitude can make it a heck of a lot easier, it's easier said than done, but finding good, even small things does help.
I spoke to my mom and dad afterwards; as my mom had to fly back to Taiwain in the morning, unexpectedly, due to my Grandfather falling quite ill about a week ago. History it seems, has a way of repeating itself as this happened not more than a couple of years ago to my father's father.
Work was business as usual, but I had the opportunity to pop out to lunch to visit good old Ernst at his new offices, it's quite a sweet spot in a new development called the Upper East Side in Woodstock. I reckon it will be the Wembley Square of that area, Wembley seriously gave some life to the Gardens area. The cool thing about his new work place is that all the meeting rooms are named after surf spots, well it's cool to us at least, because we surf - kind of - I can count the number of times I've been surfing on my fingers and toes over the last 4 years (seriously not good) - I've become that guy I always used to hate, that stupid, sell-out of a hack that claimed that he used to surf but doesn't anymore, because it's too much of a mission to drive and look for waves.
On my drive to Ernst's offices I noticed that a few blocks in the CBD had been closed off by police and the fire brigade, I figured that it must have been as a result of some accident at a construction that was going up, most probably caused by this outrageous wind that we've been experiencing, courtesy of the cold front; and here i was, thinking that we were at the end of winter. I actually made that whole accident part up, I have no idea why they closed the block off - I just have an over active imagination.
Later, I had a good chat with a couple of old friend and was able to talk about some things that have been playing on my mind that I haven't really been able to tell anyone else, it was pretty emotional; I've been avoiding some of these issues for a very long time and I guess it was good to just talk about them. There's nothing worse than carrying emotional baggage around, because it eats away at you like a cancer.
I think I've gained some clarity and found some peace in letting these issues go, so in the long term I achieved a lot. Times are tough, that is without a doubt - but attitude can make it a heck of a lot easier, it's easier said than done, but finding good, even small things does help.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Tomorrow’s Blog Today
I’m feeling rather proactive, so I thought I’d write tomorrow’s blog today…hmmm that sounds a bit like the Reflex (check out the new online shopping feature) slogan “Tomorrow’s Nutrition Today" , which by the way, if you think you’re being particularly witty about and decide to ask me the question: “if I eat tomorrow’s nutrition today, then what will I eat tomorrow?”, rather keep it to yourself. I’ve unfortunately heard it on countless occasions while still on board at Reflex and each time I’ve had to deliver the same fake laugh…
This whole proactive vibe that I’m on is pretty cool though; in addition to the aforementioned feat of writing tomorrow’s blog today, I’ve also pre-cooked and prepped my next four meals and neatly stored them in my freezer, so there’s no excuse for me to be tempted by impulsive junk food habits.
Speaking of nutrition, training and other such things; I think I may have overdid the training a bit. I hit quite a heavy weights session at the gym earlier this morning and then decided to hit another big interval training session this evening; on my run back home from the gym I had a bit of an episode of up-chucking on the side of the road – not particularly pleasant, not particularly elegant and not particularly good for one’s body either.
After a hard session you should feel pushed, but if you’re training correctly you should never throw up. My biggest mistake was that I was using my sessions as an emotional crutch to vent frustrations and pushed a little too hard especially on the last leg; which was probably also not the best of ideas after a bout of flu... perhaps I need to find another vehicle other than training, blogging and cooking to relieve this angst?
This whole proactive vibe that I’m on is pretty cool though; in addition to the aforementioned feat of writing tomorrow’s blog today, I’ve also pre-cooked and prepped my next four meals and neatly stored them in my freezer, so there’s no excuse for me to be tempted by impulsive junk food habits.
Speaking of nutrition, training and other such things; I think I may have overdid the training a bit. I hit quite a heavy weights session at the gym earlier this morning and then decided to hit another big interval training session this evening; on my run back home from the gym I had a bit of an episode of up-chucking on the side of the road – not particularly pleasant, not particularly elegant and not particularly good for one’s body either.
After a hard session you should feel pushed, but if you’re training correctly you should never throw up. My biggest mistake was that I was using my sessions as an emotional crutch to vent frustrations and pushed a little too hard especially on the last leg; which was probably also not the best of ideas after a bout of flu... perhaps I need to find another vehicle other than training, blogging and cooking to relieve this angst?
Eyes Glued Shut
It's a little bit freaky when you wake up in the morning and you can't open your eyes (literally). I woke up finding that my right eye was glued shut by some gunk.
A clear sign that my old friend Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis for those of you who are interested in the medical term) had decided to come pay me a visit. Luckily, I learnt as a young whipper snapper to stay calm and use a warm, wet face cloth to gently wipe away the gunk. When my eye eventually opened, sure enough it was as pink as candy floss (yum).
After last weeks flu, I'm sick and tired of being sick, and of course staying at home. Not that I consider Pink Eye being sick really - it can just be mighty infectious (there's non-infectious Pink Eye as well) ; so I figured I'd go about all my normal daily activities: gym, work etc even if it was infectious. If anyone else catches it...well lets call it my little gift. Seriously, no need to thank me.
A clear sign that my old friend Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis for those of you who are interested in the medical term) had decided to come pay me a visit. Luckily, I learnt as a young whipper snapper to stay calm and use a warm, wet face cloth to gently wipe away the gunk. When my eye eventually opened, sure enough it was as pink as candy floss (yum).
After last weeks flu, I'm sick and tired of being sick, and of course staying at home. Not that I consider Pink Eye being sick really - it can just be mighty infectious (there's non-infectious Pink Eye as well) ; so I figured I'd go about all my normal daily activities: gym, work etc even if it was infectious. If anyone else catches it...well lets call it my little gift. Seriously, no need to thank me.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Civic Duty
I was at the Jan van Riebeeck High School, the most logical and probably the closest place to where I currently live for voting registration (in South Africa, you have to register at the place where you are going to vote); when at the last minute, I decided that I was going to keep my registration at the Walmer Town Hall in Port Elizabeth. Not the most convenient, but I figured it would give me an excuse to travel down there during election time and give me an excuse to go see my friends and family….Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.
The trip to the high school wasn’t all in vein however; since I was in the area I thought I’d try out the pizza at Zucca. It is arguably the best pizza I’ve had in Cape Town thus far. The bases are as thin as you like and the toppings and tomato base are fused together to create a flavour sensation that is indescribable. I think I was a Ninja Turtle in my past life, I love pizzas that much.
If I finally figure that I’m being ridiculous about flying all the way to PE to vote, I still have tomorrow to re-register.
The trip to the high school wasn’t all in vein however; since I was in the area I thought I’d try out the pizza at Zucca. It is arguably the best pizza I’ve had in Cape Town thus far. The bases are as thin as you like and the toppings and tomato base are fused together to create a flavour sensation that is indescribable. I think I was a Ninja Turtle in my past life, I love pizzas that much.
If I finally figure that I’m being ridiculous about flying all the way to PE to vote, I still have tomorrow to re-register.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Vampire?
I'm usually pretty happy when the sun is out. I love sun. Unfortunately today, the sun and I are not friends. My skin is still sensitive from the flu, so it aches when it sees the sunlight. I never thought I'd live to see the day that I would actually prefer it to be cloudy and gloomy.
I think that there may be an alternative explanation to this tingly sensation I'm feeling upon entering the light - is it possible that I may have been attacked by a vampire at some point and am in the process of turning??? Dum dum dum (Eery music)! It's the only explanation I can think of that makes sense to me right now. I mean, I may be wrong but it's doubtful, I'm usually right about these things, case in point, remember how right I was with regards to the alien invasion being averted about a month ago?
Well if I were all of you, I'd be watchful of me. Better eat a lot of garlic; carry stakes, holy water and crosses around...you may look a little crazy and smell bad, but it's better safe than sorry... Just a small request though, please don't slay me when I turn, I promise I'll be a good vampire, just throw me some viles of plasma from the blood bank at the hospitals...
I think that there may be an alternative explanation to this tingly sensation I'm feeling upon entering the light - is it possible that I may have been attacked by a vampire at some point and am in the process of turning??? Dum dum dum (Eery music)! It's the only explanation I can think of that makes sense to me right now. I mean, I may be wrong but it's doubtful, I'm usually right about these things, case in point, remember how right I was with regards to the alien invasion being averted about a month ago?
Well if I were all of you, I'd be watchful of me. Better eat a lot of garlic; carry stakes, holy water and crosses around...you may look a little crazy and smell bad, but it's better safe than sorry... Just a small request though, please don't slay me when I turn, I promise I'll be a good vampire, just throw me some viles of plasma from the blood bank at the hospitals...
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sick at Home
I can safely say that after spending a couple of days sick at home, that there is nothing exciting to watch on the idiot box. Trying to entertain oneself without exerting too much energy seems a rather impossible task.
Even worse is that I’ve been trying to catch up on some reading, but the throbbing headache that I have doesn’t make it easy. The only solution I have is to recover faster and to liberate myself from this vegetable like state – I’m trying to “will” myself to health – so far so good, I may not be feeling any better, but there is nothing to disprove my theory that this optimism will work.
In science, the only way to prove that ones theory is incorrect is by disproving it, and since no one has, I am certain that I am accelerating my road to recovery. My, I do have quite an imagination.
Even worse is that I’ve been trying to catch up on some reading, but the throbbing headache that I have doesn’t make it easy. The only solution I have is to recover faster and to liberate myself from this vegetable like state – I’m trying to “will” myself to health – so far so good, I may not be feeling any better, but there is nothing to disprove my theory that this optimism will work.
In science, the only way to prove that ones theory is incorrect is by disproving it, and since no one has, I am certain that I am accelerating my road to recovery. My, I do have quite an imagination.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yes We Can
I woke up in the wee hours of this morning feeling ill: my temperature up, my skin aching, my head pounding - the overdosing of vitamins for the past few days was only a futile attempt to delay the inevitable and inevitably I had caught the flu that my brother had been harbouring.
I went back to bed, oblivious to the changes happening oceans away, only waking to a world changed. A president, a new leader, of the free world had been chosen. And like my flu it felt inevitable. When I first heard of the name Obama spoken to me by a friend, Katy a couple of years back - before his campaign trail - I had a feeling in my gut that it was only a matter of time before his words would be heard, his light would shine and that he would set an example to the world.
To many, Obama’s victory signals change - an end to a struggle, the end of a government who would not listen. But in his acceptance speech, Obama is well aware that this is only the beginning of change - “This victory alone is not the change we seek, it is only the chance for us to make that change.”
I recall whinging about a terrible year and could not recollect anything great that has happened, perhaps I should look at it in a new way, perhaps we needed to struggle to understand the good that we are about to see. Perhaps this is the year where things change for the better, where despair turns to hope, where promises become action and where the persistence to preserve reigns.
I’ve tried to equate Obama’s victory with my personal life. And although not much has changed the situation since my whinging, words to inspire hope have entered my life. The power of speech and the written word should never be taken for granted and every time Obama speaks, it sends shivers down my spine. He inspires hope and hope is something that I – we, all need.
All that I have to do now is to get over this damn flu, and I’ll be ready to tackle the world. Yes, yes I can!
I went back to bed, oblivious to the changes happening oceans away, only waking to a world changed. A president, a new leader, of the free world had been chosen. And like my flu it felt inevitable. When I first heard of the name Obama spoken to me by a friend, Katy a couple of years back - before his campaign trail - I had a feeling in my gut that it was only a matter of time before his words would be heard, his light would shine and that he would set an example to the world.
To many, Obama’s victory signals change - an end to a struggle, the end of a government who would not listen. But in his acceptance speech, Obama is well aware that this is only the beginning of change - “This victory alone is not the change we seek, it is only the chance for us to make that change.”
I recall whinging about a terrible year and could not recollect anything great that has happened, perhaps I should look at it in a new way, perhaps we needed to struggle to understand the good that we are about to see. Perhaps this is the year where things change for the better, where despair turns to hope, where promises become action and where the persistence to preserve reigns.
I’ve tried to equate Obama’s victory with my personal life. And although not much has changed the situation since my whinging, words to inspire hope have entered my life. The power of speech and the written word should never be taken for granted and every time Obama speaks, it sends shivers down my spine. He inspires hope and hope is something that I – we, all need.
All that I have to do now is to get over this damn flu, and I’ll be ready to tackle the world. Yes, yes I can!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Flu Buster
Joe's been sick with a fever lately. And since I've been training quite hard, my immune system is not at its peak performance. I felt like I was catching it and feeling a little out of sorts yesterday evening so I've, again been nailing the Viral Choice and Vitamin B complex to prevent catching it.
I've also been consuming this weird concoction from Kauai called the Floo Fighter, it's some sort a Chai Tea, Ginger, and Tabasco mixture that tastes like death but seems to work wonders - I had a scratchy throat and a bit of a headache earlier, but they've vanished since drinking it. My theory is that the tatse is so terrible that it kills almost everything it comes into contact with, I've proably even put my own life at risk, but because the strongest survive, the virus/bacteria are gone but I'm still here - alive and kicking. I also figured it would be a good idea to stay out of the gym for today to alleviate the chances of it getting worse.
Otherwise holding thumbs for Obama today! I'm really hoping he wins by a landslide, so we don't have to go through the whole electoral college debacle that seemed to transpire in the last couple of US elections.
I've also been consuming this weird concoction from Kauai called the Floo Fighter, it's some sort a Chai Tea, Ginger, and Tabasco mixture that tastes like death but seems to work wonders - I had a scratchy throat and a bit of a headache earlier, but they've vanished since drinking it. My theory is that the tatse is so terrible that it kills almost everything it comes into contact with, I've proably even put my own life at risk, but because the strongest survive, the virus/bacteria are gone but I'm still here - alive and kicking. I also figured it would be a good idea to stay out of the gym for today to alleviate the chances of it getting worse.
Otherwise holding thumbs for Obama today! I'm really hoping he wins by a landslide, so we don't have to go through the whole electoral college debacle that seemed to transpire in the last couple of US elections.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Obama Mania
Tomorrow the 4th November is Election Day in the United States. Although, I may live all the way at the tip of Africa, I'm still watching with great earnest to see what the outcome of these elections will be. Being the world's most powerful country, who ever is at the helm of the Oval Office will inevitably make decisions which could affect the rest of the world.
Living in such interesting times, with the world seemingly, spiraling out of control, the citizens of the US have a big decision on their hand and in my opinion can ill afford to make a mistake. If it were my choice (unfortunately I can't vote), the choice would be simple: Barack Obama would certainly be my choice for president. Besides agreeing with most of his economic and foreign policies; and his effortless poise (unlike an un-named predecessor) when delivering key note speeches (amongst other things); I believe that Obama is the right candidate for the job. Politics aside, his character more than anything is the reason for my endorsement.
From reading his book Dreams From My Father, I've developed a tremendous liking to his honesty, determination and level-headed approach to most issues and events. He seems to be an individual who understands himself, his faults and is willing to correct them through thought and reason. In such turbulence I believe that a leader should posses such qualities.
In the words of Russel Peter's: "Be a man, do the right thing!" - Vote Obama! (If you are a US citizen and can vote of course).
Living in such interesting times, with the world seemingly, spiraling out of control, the citizens of the US have a big decision on their hand and in my opinion can ill afford to make a mistake. If it were my choice (unfortunately I can't vote), the choice would be simple: Barack Obama would certainly be my choice for president. Besides agreeing with most of his economic and foreign policies; and his effortless poise (unlike an un-named predecessor) when delivering key note speeches (amongst other things); I believe that Obama is the right candidate for the job. Politics aside, his character more than anything is the reason for my endorsement.
From reading his book Dreams From My Father, I've developed a tremendous liking to his honesty, determination and level-headed approach to most issues and events. He seems to be an individual who understands himself, his faults and is willing to correct them through thought and reason. In such turbulence I believe that a leader should posses such qualities.
In the words of Russel Peter's: "Be a man, do the right thing!" - Vote Obama! (If you are a US citizen and can vote of course).
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Rejuvenated
Had such a relaxing evening last night, been feeling completely worn out lately and felt like I could be on my way to catching something. So I decided it was a good idea to pop some Viral Choice, Vitamin B, stay at home and go to bed early.
It’s amazing what a little bit of R&R can do for you. I feel like a million bucks today, and quite rejuvenated. Bring on the week, I’m ready…I think.
It’s amazing what a little bit of R&R can do for you. I feel like a million bucks today, and quite rejuvenated. Bring on the week, I’m ready…I think.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Business 101
If their business strategy is to turn away customers I’m going to help them. You see I’m all about helping people, and it was made perfectly clear to me that Café Gainsbourg in Kloof Street wanted to keep their clientele small.
We were supposed to have coffee club there this morning, but due to the poor response from the owner we decided to move to another venue. I had dinner at Café Gainsbourg on Wednesday evening to suss the place out, and to see if it was a suitable location for our club. I spoke to one of the waiters about our little get togethers and indicated that we would like to hold an event there on Saturday. I asked for advice on the best way to approach it. The waiter suggested to arrive on the day, the staff would then make a plan.
After arriving this morning, the club tried to organize seating with a waiter so the members could sit together as a group. As we were rearranging some tables, the owner approached us and told us that we were not allowed to move the tables in her restaurant. She became quite rude and told us that we should have made a reservation. It wasn’t even that full.
I tried to reason with her that I had come in on Wednesday and had spoken to a waiter and that he had said that there was no need for a reservation. She expressed that it was not his restaurant, that it was not how things were done and that I should have spoken to her. I then began to explain to her that I had no idea who the owner of the restaurant was, because of the waiter’s suggestion I did not make a reservation and thought that they would be more that happy to receive about 20 peoples worth of business. I guess I was wrong. She was unswerving and suggested that she did not need our business. Needless to say, the group was quite unhappy with the poor service and decided to move.
I’m certain that one doesn’t need a degree in business to see what type of repercussion her actions will have on her business. She not only turned away 20 willing-to-pay customers on the morning, but perhaps turned them away from ever returning; added to that the poor impression left with the 20 people (in various areas of influence) will most likely spread and deter once-potential customers.
If I were in her position, I would have certainly, tried to have been more accommodating. I’m not sure when things changed, but I miss the good old days when business owners took customers’ needs seriously and adopted “the customer is always right” attitude. Unfortunately, because of today’s incident Café Gainsbourg has lost my support.
It feels like I’ve been ranting a lot in my posts as of late ... It’s not really my style to rant and to be negative; but I’m finding it rather difficult not to, it seems like I’ve recently come across a myriad of people who are rude and have no respect for others.
To break the negativity and spin some positive, good old Arnold’s down the road came to the rescue, and were more than happy to welcome us with open arms. They have great breakfasts for a reasonable price and most welcomingly they have an open door policy and always greet with a smile.
We were supposed to have coffee club there this morning, but due to the poor response from the owner we decided to move to another venue. I had dinner at Café Gainsbourg on Wednesday evening to suss the place out, and to see if it was a suitable location for our club. I spoke to one of the waiters about our little get togethers and indicated that we would like to hold an event there on Saturday. I asked for advice on the best way to approach it. The waiter suggested to arrive on the day, the staff would then make a plan.
After arriving this morning, the club tried to organize seating with a waiter so the members could sit together as a group. As we were rearranging some tables, the owner approached us and told us that we were not allowed to move the tables in her restaurant. She became quite rude and told us that we should have made a reservation. It wasn’t even that full.
I tried to reason with her that I had come in on Wednesday and had spoken to a waiter and that he had said that there was no need for a reservation. She expressed that it was not his restaurant, that it was not how things were done and that I should have spoken to her. I then began to explain to her that I had no idea who the owner of the restaurant was, because of the waiter’s suggestion I did not make a reservation and thought that they would be more that happy to receive about 20 peoples worth of business. I guess I was wrong. She was unswerving and suggested that she did not need our business. Needless to say, the group was quite unhappy with the poor service and decided to move.
I’m certain that one doesn’t need a degree in business to see what type of repercussion her actions will have on her business. She not only turned away 20 willing-to-pay customers on the morning, but perhaps turned them away from ever returning; added to that the poor impression left with the 20 people (in various areas of influence) will most likely spread and deter once-potential customers.
If I were in her position, I would have certainly, tried to have been more accommodating. I’m not sure when things changed, but I miss the good old days when business owners took customers’ needs seriously and adopted “the customer is always right” attitude. Unfortunately, because of today’s incident Café Gainsbourg has lost my support.
It feels like I’ve been ranting a lot in my posts as of late ... It’s not really my style to rant and to be negative; but I’m finding it rather difficult not to, it seems like I’ve recently come across a myriad of people who are rude and have no respect for others.
To break the negativity and spin some positive, good old Arnold’s down the road came to the rescue, and were more than happy to welcome us with open arms. They have great breakfasts for a reasonable price and most welcomingly they have an open door policy and always greet with a smile.
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