Ecco Il Café is still one of my favourite coffee spots in Cape Town, in particular I really like the one situated in the BMW Show Room, situated in the Foreshore (there are two more that I know of, one near the Foundry in Green Point and the other in Long Street). Where you also get to, quickly pick up a new vehicle, with your daily coffee…
The food and coffee there is always top notch! And the staff are amazing, instead of giving you an order number they take down your name…and when your order is ready they call out your name instead, it makes you feel VIP, as if you’re first name basis there. With so many great restaurants and eateries in Cape Town, it’s the little things that set one apart; and a lot of other establishments could learn a thing or two from the friendly people at Ecco.
You’ll find some of the best latte artists there too …I have a picture of a coffee with my face “drawn” in it, and it was done by an ex Ecco Barista by the name of Peter…unfortunately I’m not sure where Peter has gone…but it’s still evident today that they take their latte art tradition seriously.
If you are also an avid fan of design and architecture I’d suggest you go check out the The Mini Showroom(Mini as in the cars… not a really dinky show room) and pick up a Mini, to go with the Beamer... It just so happens that Lauren designed the place and gave us a guided tour of it. The show room has a neo-futuristic, 50’s American diner feel to it and reminds me of something out of Back to the Future Part 2. Man I watched that movie recently…and it’s still as good as I remember it to be.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Bon Appetit
Two things in life are certain: Death and… I make the best damn Lasagne... Now you may probably think that I’m exaggerating here but it’s true, the only reason I haven’t publicized this before is because I don’t want Italians to be ashamed that an Asian dude makes better pasta then them…although everyone knows that the concept of Pasta actually came from the orient…noodles…anyone?
After having a pretty tough week, being sick and working way too many hours, my work somehow decided to stick the guy with the flu in an ice box…well it was close, it was actually a server room filled with computer equipment and some insane cooling equipment to keep the equipment from overheating. I don’t know, but I think someone out there has it in for me; and wants to see if I’ll catch pneumonia. Anyways for some reason when I’m sick I seem to crave comfort food.
There are one or two dishes I enjoy more, but in general Lasagne is pound for pound my favourite meal. So on my way home from work I decided to pick up some goodies to make some. Finding me in the kitchen these days is pretty rare, it seems that I’m always preoccupied with other stuff…but it doesn’t mean I can’t cook.
The mere fact that I enjoy food so much would suggest that I should be pretty good at combining flavours and delivering a pretty tasty meal but where I’m good in that department I’m completely lacking in the technical department and pretty darn clumsy… I once somehow spilled an entire pot of boiling water on myself…I was just extremely lucky to be wearing the thickest jacket imaginable, and it saved me from certain, 3rd degree burns.
I also tend to use all the wrong utensils, for example when I cook I love using pots. I don’t like pans even when it comes to frying stuff. Which I suppose is not so weird, considering my mom refuses to use any other knife to prepare food with except a trusty bone cleaver…I think it’s an oriental thing and should probably follow suit, but I’m not going to risk my fingers seeing that I’m already very accident prone.
I digress, my point was that if you do find me in the kitchen I like to make it count and I’ve probably made enough Lasagne to feed 8 people…I’d let everyone taste some but it’s actually that good, that I fear I’d be hassled ad nauseum, for the recipe… which I carry with me to the grave by the way. So without further a due, I have some eating and sleeping to attend too.
After having a pretty tough week, being sick and working way too many hours, my work somehow decided to stick the guy with the flu in an ice box…well it was close, it was actually a server room filled with computer equipment and some insane cooling equipment to keep the equipment from overheating. I don’t know, but I think someone out there has it in for me; and wants to see if I’ll catch pneumonia. Anyways for some reason when I’m sick I seem to crave comfort food.
There are one or two dishes I enjoy more, but in general Lasagne is pound for pound my favourite meal. So on my way home from work I decided to pick up some goodies to make some. Finding me in the kitchen these days is pretty rare, it seems that I’m always preoccupied with other stuff…but it doesn’t mean I can’t cook.
The mere fact that I enjoy food so much would suggest that I should be pretty good at combining flavours and delivering a pretty tasty meal but where I’m good in that department I’m completely lacking in the technical department and pretty darn clumsy… I once somehow spilled an entire pot of boiling water on myself…I was just extremely lucky to be wearing the thickest jacket imaginable, and it saved me from certain, 3rd degree burns.
I also tend to use all the wrong utensils, for example when I cook I love using pots. I don’t like pans even when it comes to frying stuff. Which I suppose is not so weird, considering my mom refuses to use any other knife to prepare food with except a trusty bone cleaver…I think it’s an oriental thing and should probably follow suit, but I’m not going to risk my fingers seeing that I’m already very accident prone.
I digress, my point was that if you do find me in the kitchen I like to make it count and I’ve probably made enough Lasagne to feed 8 people…I’d let everyone taste some but it’s actually that good, that I fear I’d be hassled ad nauseum, for the recipe… which I carry with me to the grave by the way. So without further a due, I have some eating and sleeping to attend too.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sleepless in Cape Town
I had one of those nights last night where, you know you’re tired and you just want to go to bed, but for some reason you just can’t fall asleep because Mister Sandman missed the beat. It’s was probably because of my over-active imagination again and probably because I had way to much stuff going on in my head…
So what better to do than to put on some really chilled tunes; and relax to the sound of some soothing melodies by the king of chill himself Jack Johnson? I whipped on his new appropriately named “Sleep through the Static” album and as I began to listen, all my thoughts seemed to disappear as I floated into a deep slumber.
I initially bought the CD, to help keep me occupied on one of my long solo road trips…Although come to think of it, it probably wasn’t a good idea…because in hindsight the album is pretty mellow and it could have caused me to fall asleep at the wheel, perhaps causing me to swerve off the road, colliding into a group of dairy-bearing cows, thus causing an even greater shortage of dairy in an already under-supplied market, and thereby propelling the dairy prices upwards in an astronomical fashion…it’s a bit of far stretch, but it could have happened! (Now you know what keeps me up late at night)
As much as I enjoy the CD though, I must be honest and say, compared to his others, this is probably my least favourite. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that I was expecting too much …but to me it loses some of it’s Jack Johnson feel because this album seems a little bit over-produced and the songs seem a little bit repetitive. However with that said, in good ol’ Jack style, he still delivers a pretty solid, all round, easy listening album…
So what better to do than to put on some really chilled tunes; and relax to the sound of some soothing melodies by the king of chill himself Jack Johnson? I whipped on his new appropriately named “Sleep through the Static” album and as I began to listen, all my thoughts seemed to disappear as I floated into a deep slumber.
I initially bought the CD, to help keep me occupied on one of my long solo road trips…Although come to think of it, it probably wasn’t a good idea…because in hindsight the album is pretty mellow and it could have caused me to fall asleep at the wheel, perhaps causing me to swerve off the road, colliding into a group of dairy-bearing cows, thus causing an even greater shortage of dairy in an already under-supplied market, and thereby propelling the dairy prices upwards in an astronomical fashion…it’s a bit of far stretch, but it could have happened! (Now you know what keeps me up late at night)
As much as I enjoy the CD though, I must be honest and say, compared to his others, this is probably my least favourite. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that I was expecting too much …but to me it loses some of it’s Jack Johnson feel because this album seems a little bit over-produced and the songs seem a little bit repetitive. However with that said, in good ol’ Jack style, he still delivers a pretty solid, all round, easy listening album…
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Just Shoot Me!
When most people take the day off, even if it is sick leave they’re pretty glad that at least they had a day of rest…but if you’re in the IT industry you know, in the back of your mind, you just know that there is some work, lurking, waiting, to come back and bite you in the poo-poo factory!
Well I’m finally home, close to 10 pm and I have yet to have a bite to eat …yip, welcome to the IT industry my friends. After getting back to work, thinking that perhaps I’d be well rested to tackle the day, the sudden barrage of urgencies to release software, came flying at me, and with it, you guessed it increased levels of stress…and yet another dip in the ol’ immune system department!
When you become a software developer, you think “Cool, I’ll get to do some coding…write a cool, killer, application!” But what they don’t tell you is that you also , “auto-magically”, a word I made up by the way, also become a an expert in the fields of business, computer architecture, database administration, automata theory, server side coding, client side coding, hardware architecture…you get the picture. You suddenly become the all encompassing gambit of “Computer Guru” the guy who is supposed to know it all…which is kinda cool, but never, never true…and are expected to come up with solutions to an infinite possibility of problems, which is also fine should you be doing so leisurely.
“BUT” and I say “but” very emphatically, if you add in a limited time frame, a budget, and limited resources. You start panicking; desperately clawing for answers, ego too bloated to admit not knowing the answers, and even if you did admit nobody would care…the following becomes your mantra “ GOOGLE is my friend, GOOGLE is my friend …“
Anyways enough of my ranting, “Get back to work slave!” I think I’m beginning to hear voices in my head…perhaps it’s the caffeine finally poisoning my brain? But who cares I need more coffee…there is much work to do, much before the night is done!
Well I’m finally home, close to 10 pm and I have yet to have a bite to eat …yip, welcome to the IT industry my friends. After getting back to work, thinking that perhaps I’d be well rested to tackle the day, the sudden barrage of urgencies to release software, came flying at me, and with it, you guessed it increased levels of stress…and yet another dip in the ol’ immune system department!
When you become a software developer, you think “Cool, I’ll get to do some coding…write a cool, killer, application!” But what they don’t tell you is that you also , “auto-magically”, a word I made up by the way, also become a an expert in the fields of business, computer architecture, database administration, automata theory, server side coding, client side coding, hardware architecture…you get the picture. You suddenly become the all encompassing gambit of “Computer Guru” the guy who is supposed to know it all…which is kinda cool, but never, never true…and are expected to come up with solutions to an infinite possibility of problems, which is also fine should you be doing so leisurely.
“BUT” and I say “but” very emphatically, if you add in a limited time frame, a budget, and limited resources. You start panicking; desperately clawing for answers, ego too bloated to admit not knowing the answers, and even if you did admit nobody would care…the following becomes your mantra “ GOOGLE is my friend, GOOGLE is my friend …“
Anyways enough of my ranting, “Get back to work slave!” I think I’m beginning to hear voices in my head…perhaps it’s the caffeine finally poisoning my brain? But who cares I need more coffee…there is much work to do, much before the night is done!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Challenge? I Love a Challenge! Gladiator Ready!
I’ve had the flu for the last couple of days and after struggling through the morning at work, I finally decided to go see a doctor yesterday afternoon. I’m not sure why, but I have this aversion to visit the doctor, perhaps it’s because as a kid I spent a lot of time in hospitals being poked and prodded due to my heart murmur. But since I had the flu less than a month ago and was struggling again yesterday, I finally concluded that I wanted to be rid of this bug sooner rather than later…
I’m not exactly sure what medications the doctor has put me on, but whatever it is, it’s seriously strong. After visiting him, I came straight home and have been knocked out, only waking up from time to time to have a small bite to eat and take more medication. I think I’ve been asleep for 28 hours of the last 32 hours since seeing him.
Because of this, yesterday I put up a blog entry that was only one line long, and you probably wondered “What’s the point? Why even bother putting up an entry if it’s only going to be one line?” It’s been about a month since I’ve started blogging, and it’s probably a good time to explain my idea and why I even bothered posting a blog that was a line long…
If you’ve been following my blog, you might have noticed that I’ve posted a blog entry every day since the first one…The idea I had when I first started was that regardless of what happened I was going to write an entry everyday for the rest of the year; just on random stuff, my thoughts and my general day to day happenings. It would serve almost like a daily account of a year in my life, a daily journal if you will.
I’m not sure if anyone actually even reads these entries or much less cares, but I thought that it would be a cool personal project and since I used to really enjoy writing and haven’t put my writing skills to use in years, I’d do it…just to see if I could! You see: I like challenging myself even if the challenge seems dumb…probably better if they are dumb because then no-one else would attempt them and it would mean that I’d accomplished something unique. I guess I’m a little bit strange that way.
I already know of a few difficulties ahead but at the same time have already planned my way around these problems: for example, later on in the year when I go overseas, I probably won’t have an internet connection to post, but I figure I’ll carry a notebook around and write in that until a connection finally became available for me to post…
I’m not exactly sure what medications the doctor has put me on, but whatever it is, it’s seriously strong. After visiting him, I came straight home and have been knocked out, only waking up from time to time to have a small bite to eat and take more medication. I think I’ve been asleep for 28 hours of the last 32 hours since seeing him.
Because of this, yesterday I put up a blog entry that was only one line long, and you probably wondered “What’s the point? Why even bother putting up an entry if it’s only going to be one line?” It’s been about a month since I’ve started blogging, and it’s probably a good time to explain my idea and why I even bothered posting a blog that was a line long…
If you’ve been following my blog, you might have noticed that I’ve posted a blog entry every day since the first one…The idea I had when I first started was that regardless of what happened I was going to write an entry everyday for the rest of the year; just on random stuff, my thoughts and my general day to day happenings. It would serve almost like a daily account of a year in my life, a daily journal if you will.
I’m not sure if anyone actually even reads these entries or much less cares, but I thought that it would be a cool personal project and since I used to really enjoy writing and haven’t put my writing skills to use in years, I’d do it…just to see if I could! You see: I like challenging myself even if the challenge seems dumb…probably better if they are dumb because then no-one else would attempt them and it would mean that I’d accomplished something unique. I guess I’m a little bit strange that way.
I already know of a few difficulties ahead but at the same time have already planned my way around these problems: for example, later on in the year when I go overseas, I probably won’t have an internet connection to post, but I figure I’ll carry a notebook around and write in that until a connection finally became available for me to post…
Monday, June 2, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Sleepy Seaside Town
The one thing I love about living in Cape Town is the diversity it has to offer, one minute you may be surrounded by tall buildings, the next you’re tasting wines and eating cheese in the wine lands; and later on you might find yourself in a spot that feels like a sleepy little fishing village.
I slept pretty late today, trying to recover from this dang flu, and when I finally woke up, not at my own free will I might add: by my mom, who phoned to see if I were still alive; all the rest I luckily received, made me feel tons better and one of the first signs of a restoration of health is a serious case of the munchies…
As I was deciding what I was going to make, for breakfast; Ernst and Lauren called me up to find out if I was keen on going for a ride to Hout Bay, so I postponed my breakfast for the trip. Before our trip out though, we decided some coffee was in order and missioned to Kloof Street where we opted to get some cappuccinos from Seattle Coffee Company. I think that the Seattle Coffee Co is seriously under rated and offers some really good stuff.
Armed with our coffees we were ready, and drove through to Hout Bay. It might be the middle of winter, but you would never say, with the sun out and the temperature being at least 25 degrees Celsius. We walked around a bit, checking out the fish market at Mariner’s Wharf and afterwards tried to decide where to get something to eat. Hout Bay is allegedly the home of the best Calamari in South Africa, found at Chapman’s Peak hotel and the best Fish and Chips too, found at the wharf. With too many choices, I felt like that old horse that was introduced to me, way back in Economics 101 that died of starvation because it was placed between two pails of hay and couldn’t decide which to eat from.
Eventually we didn’t choose either and ended up somewhere in between, at a place called Dune’s. Our hypothesis was that if the wharf had the best Fish and Chips and the hotel the best Calamari the the place in between must have the best of both worlds! Dune’s is a great spot and the food is great too…and while it might not be the “best” it made up with a killer vibe, and had awesome views of the bay along with fishing boats setting out from the harbour. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast, which only started at 3:30pm.
I slept pretty late today, trying to recover from this dang flu, and when I finally woke up, not at my own free will I might add: by my mom, who phoned to see if I were still alive; all the rest I luckily received, made me feel tons better and one of the first signs of a restoration of health is a serious case of the munchies…
As I was deciding what I was going to make, for breakfast; Ernst and Lauren called me up to find out if I was keen on going for a ride to Hout Bay, so I postponed my breakfast for the trip. Before our trip out though, we decided some coffee was in order and missioned to Kloof Street where we opted to get some cappuccinos from Seattle Coffee Company. I think that the Seattle Coffee Co is seriously under rated and offers some really good stuff.
Armed with our coffees we were ready, and drove through to Hout Bay. It might be the middle of winter, but you would never say, with the sun out and the temperature being at least 25 degrees Celsius. We walked around a bit, checking out the fish market at Mariner’s Wharf and afterwards tried to decide where to get something to eat. Hout Bay is allegedly the home of the best Calamari in South Africa, found at Chapman’s Peak hotel and the best Fish and Chips too, found at the wharf. With too many choices, I felt like that old horse that was introduced to me, way back in Economics 101 that died of starvation because it was placed between two pails of hay and couldn’t decide which to eat from.
Eventually we didn’t choose either and ended up somewhere in between, at a place called Dune’s. Our hypothesis was that if the wharf had the best Fish and Chips and the hotel the best Calamari the the place in between must have the best of both worlds! Dune’s is a great spot and the food is great too…and while it might not be the “best” it made up with a killer vibe, and had awesome views of the bay along with fishing boats setting out from the harbour. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast, which only started at 3:30pm.
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