Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Beginnings

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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*.

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.

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...

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...

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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...

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!