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...
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Thursday, December 18, 2008
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...
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!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
What's Your Age Again?
Either I have a freakishly large appetite or the KFC Fully Loaded Box Meal is a bit of a joke! I finished the supposedly “Man Sized” meal comfortably even after having 2 packets of Doritos, a cup cake, a piece of tart, scrambled eggs, beans and chorizo sausage on toast and 3 scoops of ice cream. Hooray for cheat day Saturday. Hmmm perhaps the KFC marketing team should go back to the drawing board seeing as this man is only 5ft nothing and barely pushing 60kg!
So I made a slight mistake organizing the coffee club at Gelato Mania this morning…seeing as how they only open at 12:30, but thankfully there was an awesome spot called Miss K right next door to serve as back up until Gelato Mania actually opened. Miss K is great and has tons of awesome little treats, the whole vibe, setup and food reminds me of my favourite Jozi breakfast spot called Tashas.
Raeanne’s Birthday yesterday evening at Relish was tons of fun. The birthday girl and Paul surprised us with some party accessories, and throughout the course of the evening, as a party rule we had to wear these monkey masks. Should ever you were caught not wearing the mask you were fined and had to do a shooter. Seeing as how I’m on a mission to lean down, meaning 6 days of extreme dieting eating ridiculously bland food I want to make sure that the torture I’m enduring is worth it, the last thing that you will catch me touching is anything containing alcohol.
Because of this I had the mask on almost permanently. I even kept it on while going to the bathroom. It was quite entertaining when some guy walked in, and Ernst and I greeted him while both wearing our masks…I’m sure that he thought he had walked into the bathroom, through some trans-dimensional worm hole and into another world.
After a while I grew pretty comfortable behind the mask and actually developed a new persona! Since no one could identify who I was behind the mask (except for perhaps the name which had been written our foreheads), I got up to all sorts of mischievous activities, for example trying some cheesy lines on some poor promotion girls. My M.O. was: I was wearing the mask because my face had been horribly disfigured while trying to save a bunch of babies from a burning orphanage…for some reason though I think they saw through it…
Tonight is Suzelle’s 21st, ahh to be 21 again. Do you remember when you were very young, and how massively conscious of your age you were? I mean you’d never forget how old you were would you? I remember when people used to ask: “How old are you little girl? 5?” I’d answer “Firstly I’m NOT a girl, I’m a boy and I’m actually I’m 18 and ¾.” So it was quite a foreign concept to me that older folks could “forget” how old they were. Sometime mid-week this week was the first time that I’ve forgotten my own age, I had to work it out by subtracting my birth year from the current year….this is seriously not a good sign, it most probably means I’m pushing on and soon becoming an old man.
So I made a slight mistake organizing the coffee club at Gelato Mania this morning…seeing as how they only open at 12:30, but thankfully there was an awesome spot called Miss K right next door to serve as back up until Gelato Mania actually opened. Miss K is great and has tons of awesome little treats, the whole vibe, setup and food reminds me of my favourite Jozi breakfast spot called Tashas.
Raeanne’s Birthday yesterday evening at Relish was tons of fun. The birthday girl and Paul surprised us with some party accessories, and throughout the course of the evening, as a party rule we had to wear these monkey masks. Should ever you were caught not wearing the mask you were fined and had to do a shooter. Seeing as how I’m on a mission to lean down, meaning 6 days of extreme dieting eating ridiculously bland food I want to make sure that the torture I’m enduring is worth it, the last thing that you will catch me touching is anything containing alcohol.
Because of this I had the mask on almost permanently. I even kept it on while going to the bathroom. It was quite entertaining when some guy walked in, and Ernst and I greeted him while both wearing our masks…I’m sure that he thought he had walked into the bathroom, through some trans-dimensional worm hole and into another world.
After a while I grew pretty comfortable behind the mask and actually developed a new persona! Since no one could identify who I was behind the mask (except for perhaps the name which had been written our foreheads), I got up to all sorts of mischievous activities, for example trying some cheesy lines on some poor promotion girls. My M.O. was: I was wearing the mask because my face had been horribly disfigured while trying to save a bunch of babies from a burning orphanage…for some reason though I think they saw through it…
Tonight is Suzelle’s 21st, ahh to be 21 again. Do you remember when you were very young, and how massively conscious of your age you were? I mean you’d never forget how old you were would you? I remember when people used to ask: “How old are you little girl? 5?” I’d answer “Firstly I’m NOT a girl, I’m a boy and I’m actually I’m 18 and ¾.” So it was quite a foreign concept to me that older folks could “forget” how old they were. Sometime mid-week this week was the first time that I’ve forgotten my own age, I had to work it out by subtracting my birth year from the current year….this is seriously not a good sign, it most probably means I’m pushing on and soon becoming an old man.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Writer's Block
Hmm… What can I write about? What can I write about? I’m starting to learn that it’s pretty difficult to come up with something to write about every day. Usually I’ll just write about anything that pops into mind, but seeing as how I’m slightly brain dead right now nothing's really jumping out or grabbing my attention.
I could potentially write about the rugby game (Springboks vs Wallabies) I watched earlier this morning, but seeing as I wrote a little bit about rugby last week and how we lost today I’m not really in the mood to delve too much into the match. I could also potentially write about how I've been successful in my two week break from coffee; and how today I was euphoric to sip on a good Rwandan Musasa from the Origin, the real stuff, with caffeine in - not that fake decaf crap that I've been using as a substitute; but for some reason that’s not really inspiring me either.
I could go into my views with regards to that guy from the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema and his talk about “eliminating” the opposition and how it completely freaks me out, but I don’t really want to tackle a depressing issue, particularly on a chill out day such as this one.
What I really need is something to stir up my creative juices, some sort of inspiration… a muse even; just to break the doldrums of my writer’s block, so that I can actually get going and put some words out there. There’s simply nothing worse than when you can’ think of anything. It’s like driving a car that won’t get out of first gear...
Gosh darn it, I’m just not feeling it. Think Benny, think! What on earth could I write about? I wonder if the great writers of our time such as Ernest Hemingway or Oscar Wilde ever suffered from such lackluster days?
At this rate I’ll be sitting here till tomorrow with absolutely nothing to post…
I could potentially write about the rugby game (Springboks vs Wallabies) I watched earlier this morning, but seeing as I wrote a little bit about rugby last week and how we lost today I’m not really in the mood to delve too much into the match. I could also potentially write about how I've been successful in my two week break from coffee; and how today I was euphoric to sip on a good Rwandan Musasa from the Origin, the real stuff, with caffeine in - not that fake decaf crap that I've been using as a substitute; but for some reason that’s not really inspiring me either.
I could go into my views with regards to that guy from the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema and his talk about “eliminating” the opposition and how it completely freaks me out, but I don’t really want to tackle a depressing issue, particularly on a chill out day such as this one.
What I really need is something to stir up my creative juices, some sort of inspiration… a muse even; just to break the doldrums of my writer’s block, so that I can actually get going and put some words out there. There’s simply nothing worse than when you can’ think of anything. It’s like driving a car that won’t get out of first gear...
Gosh darn it, I’m just not feeling it. Think Benny, think! What on earth could I write about? I wonder if the great writers of our time such as Ernest Hemingway or Oscar Wilde ever suffered from such lackluster days?
At this rate I’ll be sitting here till tomorrow with absolutely nothing to post…
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Catching a Panda
Today’s lesson will be on: "How to Catch a Panda in a Coffee Bar". Now you may be wondering why on earth you would want to catch yourself a Panda - But a "Panda" is a term that Ernst and I came up with for an elusive beauty. I’m not a hundred percent certain why we chose a Panda but perhaps it’s because Pandas are rare, and should ever you see one; if single you are by nature compelled to make a move, as they are rather scarce and you may not have another opportunity for quite some time.
Yesterday I saw such a Panda at one of my favourite local coffee stores. Now should I have employed these next four fail-proof, but imperative steps I may no longer be single…serious:
Step 1. Send over a shot of espresso
Step 2. Grin
Step 3. Wink
Step 4. Send over a soppy note with your name and number
With the exception of the last 8 or 9 times it has worked for me every time! But the important thing is that you get the order correct! I somehow always manage to get Steps 2 and 3 mixed up…No need to thank me guys, if it doesn’t work for you and you’re not completely satisfied with this advice, you’ve obviously done something wrong.
PS It looks like my little prediction came true. Kelly Slater won Billabong Pro J-Bay 2008.
Yesterday I saw such a Panda at one of my favourite local coffee stores. Now should I have employed these next four fail-proof, but imperative steps I may no longer be single…serious:
Step 1. Send over a shot of espresso
Step 2. Grin
Step 3. Wink
Step 4. Send over a soppy note with your name and number
With the exception of the last 8 or 9 times it has worked for me every time! But the important thing is that you get the order correct! I somehow always manage to get Steps 2 and 3 mixed up…No need to thank me guys, if it doesn’t work for you and you’re not completely satisfied with this advice, you’ve obviously done something wrong.
PS It looks like my little prediction came true. Kelly Slater won Billabong Pro J-Bay 2008.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Fake Coffee
The last two days have been hell. I finally understand the true meaning of Vida e Caffe ("Coffee is Life") because without it I seriously feel like I'm dead (I assume this is what heroine addicts feel like when they go cold-turkey). I got home yesterday evening and was so tired and useless that I even missed the gym. I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. This morning when I finally woke up I was still tired, even though I got double the dosage of my normal sleep.
This morning was terrible, convulsing and foaming at the mouth (okay perhaps not that bad) but with my head pounding, I was stumbling around as if drunk. A lot of people, have been giving me moral support and telling me of similar stories of when they kicked their smoking habit or quit coffee (I think there should be a support group for people like us). I'm really appreciative of the support in this trying time. But for the record I have no intention of quitting coffee, quitting is for losers (and I ain't no loser). In fact I can't: "Coffee is Life" remember and caffeine is not the only reason that keeps me hooked. It's the taste too...that mind blowingly, bitter, chocolaty, goodness.
Damn I love the taste. I was determined to go the entire day without anything, just water but eventually I gave into temptation. I ran off to the closest coffee shop and even settled for a decaff Americano (fake coffee) just so I could try trick my senses into believing that I was feeding it with that sweet black nectar. Decaff coffee is to coffee drinkers what Nicotine patches are too smokers; not nearly as satisfying...but at least it takes the edge off.
The day is almost done I'm feeling more human. I think that it's because I might finally have kicked the caffeine dependency. I can't imagine it getting much worse...
This morning was terrible, convulsing and foaming at the mouth (okay perhaps not that bad) but with my head pounding, I was stumbling around as if drunk. A lot of people, have been giving me moral support and telling me of similar stories of when they kicked their smoking habit or quit coffee (I think there should be a support group for people like us). I'm really appreciative of the support in this trying time. But for the record I have no intention of quitting coffee, quitting is for losers (and I ain't no loser). In fact I can't: "Coffee is Life" remember and caffeine is not the only reason that keeps me hooked. It's the taste too...that mind blowingly, bitter, chocolaty, goodness.
Damn I love the taste. I was determined to go the entire day without anything, just water but eventually I gave into temptation. I ran off to the closest coffee shop and even settled for a decaff Americano (fake coffee) just so I could try trick my senses into believing that I was feeding it with that sweet black nectar. Decaff coffee is to coffee drinkers what Nicotine patches are too smokers; not nearly as satisfying...but at least it takes the edge off.
The day is almost done I'm feeling more human. I think that it's because I might finally have kicked the caffeine dependency. I can't imagine it getting much worse...
Friday, July 4, 2008
Crazy Mad Science
My friend Ryan sidetracked me quite a bit today when he sent me a link (with regards to some Quantum Mechanics stuff) about these physicists who (for god knows what reason) decided to shoot a particle beam through these two holes or slits with this back wall. The theory goes that if they were shooting particles through the slits the particles would then make a mark in the form of two bands on the wall. However if they were not particles they would create an interference wave pattern.
The gist is that they have some pretty funky machinery out there that measures these things and records the results in a database. All great! The weird thing though, was that every time they viewed a record of the result on the computer the particle that they fired made a mark on the wall, however every time they didn’t view it and instead deleted the record, they only saw interference…
Pretty much what it means is that only if you “observed” the particle would it exist! Kind of like the whole philosophical debate “If a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it actually make a sound?” Except now there was kind of proof for the case, that if you weren’t there to hear the falling tree, then it actually did not make a sound.
When I was younger, in primary school, my friend Jonathan’s dad, Prof Leitch who is a Professor in Physics used to conduct all these crazy experiments. He’d often try to explain these crazy theories to us. But barely being able to grasp the basics of Newton’s Laws. Quantum physics completely made our brains explode! Strangely not much has changed since then.
In my limited understanding of Quantum Physic I gave the link to Ernst, (who really digs the stuff)… in return he sent me a reference about Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle which kept me happily occupied, and further distracted me from my real work. Heisenberg describes some pretty interesting stuff with regards to particles; and how if you try to locate a particle, its velocity becomes uncertain; also how if you determine the velocity of a particle, its position then becomes uncertain…
Besides having my brain blasted, I came across a really new and cool coffee place on Kloof Street, in fact it’s so new that it doesn’t even have signage outside yet (perhaps it's because noone had observed the sign yet...). The place is called Java Lounge, Origin one of my favourite coffee spots, supply their beans and train their baristas. Best of all they had a coffee special (I think it ends soon though). R5 for a cappuccino…freakin’ score!
The gist is that they have some pretty funky machinery out there that measures these things and records the results in a database. All great! The weird thing though, was that every time they viewed a record of the result on the computer the particle that they fired made a mark on the wall, however every time they didn’t view it and instead deleted the record, they only saw interference…
Pretty much what it means is that only if you “observed” the particle would it exist! Kind of like the whole philosophical debate “If a tree falls in a forest but no one is around to hear it, does it actually make a sound?” Except now there was kind of proof for the case, that if you weren’t there to hear the falling tree, then it actually did not make a sound.
When I was younger, in primary school, my friend Jonathan’s dad, Prof Leitch who is a Professor in Physics used to conduct all these crazy experiments. He’d often try to explain these crazy theories to us. But barely being able to grasp the basics of Newton’s Laws. Quantum physics completely made our brains explode! Strangely not much has changed since then.
In my limited understanding of Quantum Physic I gave the link to Ernst, (who really digs the stuff)… in return he sent me a reference about Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle which kept me happily occupied, and further distracted me from my real work. Heisenberg describes some pretty interesting stuff with regards to particles; and how if you try to locate a particle, its velocity becomes uncertain; also how if you determine the velocity of a particle, its position then becomes uncertain…
Besides having my brain blasted, I came across a really new and cool coffee place on Kloof Street, in fact it’s so new that it doesn’t even have signage outside yet (perhaps it's because noone had observed the sign yet...). The place is called Java Lounge, Origin one of my favourite coffee spots, supply their beans and train their baristas. Best of all they had a coffee special (I think it ends soon though). R5 for a cappuccino…freakin’ score!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Benny's Day Out
Today marks the first time I've ventured pass Kloof Street (the area that I work) for lunch! This may sound pretty insignificant to most people, but for us poor saps who hold an office job marred with time restrictions and strict controls it's a pretty big friggin' deal...
I ventured out toward the Foundry, situated in Green Point which is actually not that far...probably less than a 5 minute drive; but just the thought of escaping the confines of the office were more satisfying than if I were to have flown to Europe. "On that side of the world" (the Foundry...not Europe): the sky seemed bluer, the grass greener, and the coffee all the more sweeter.
I met up with some mates at the old family favourite, Ecco Il Cafe and tucked into a pretty sweet Thai Chicken burger, and a cappuccino made with love (the barista even made a heart in my coffee...although I'm pretty certain that this didn't mean anything as they did this for everyone else in the store too). Which reminds me, tomorrow evening is Latte art evening at Origin, where you get to practice and learn how to make some cool latte art...hopefully by the end I'll be able to pour a Mona Lisa!
My first escape to freedom (lets hope it's not the last) however exciting, was short lived, and I had to rush back to the office...in which time I almost drove over two pedestrians; seems like walking in the middle of the street is some sort of new crazy, adrenaline filled fad in the city center.
I ventured out toward the Foundry, situated in Green Point which is actually not that far...probably less than a 5 minute drive; but just the thought of escaping the confines of the office were more satisfying than if I were to have flown to Europe. "On that side of the world" (the Foundry...not Europe): the sky seemed bluer, the grass greener, and the coffee all the more sweeter.
I met up with some mates at the old family favourite, Ecco Il Cafe and tucked into a pretty sweet Thai Chicken burger, and a cappuccino made with love (the barista even made a heart in my coffee...although I'm pretty certain that this didn't mean anything as they did this for everyone else in the store too). Which reminds me, tomorrow evening is Latte art evening at Origin, where you get to practice and learn how to make some cool latte art...hopefully by the end I'll be able to pour a Mona Lisa!
My first escape to freedom (lets hope it's not the last) however exciting, was short lived, and I had to rush back to the office...in which time I almost drove over two pedestrians; seems like walking in the middle of the street is some sort of new crazy, adrenaline filled fad in the city center.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Coffee Overload
WOWA! Definitely hit the upper limit of the caffeine tolerance today, started with a quick Vida on my way to work. Even though my work has it's own coffee machine...it's never as good. So on the way from the car park to my office I always tend to sneak in, to grab a quick cuppa...there's also a shorter route from my car park to the office, but somehow I always manage to take the more "scenic" coffee route.
If I don't have enough coffee in my system I'm not productive, period...today in contrast to yesterday I was a little hyper. Yesterday I only had one cup, and this only happened late in the morning, as a result I made tons of mistakes, my brain was slow and I was about as productive as a bull in a china shop...exactly! I wasn't productive at all in fact I was completely anti-productive.
Today in contrast I had 3 cups of coffee by 10am, and was as sharp as a tack. I was firing off really constructive advice to our clients in our weekly Friday meetings. After which I loaded up on some more coffee, corrected all the bad work I did yesterday, finished my work for today, and on top of that did some additional research. Hoohoo somebody stop me...seriously somebody stop me. All this caffeine is making me feel weird...am I supposed to feel like I'm having an out of body experience? And is my left eye supposed to twitch like this?
If I don't have enough coffee in my system I'm not productive, period...today in contrast to yesterday I was a little hyper. Yesterday I only had one cup, and this only happened late in the morning, as a result I made tons of mistakes, my brain was slow and I was about as productive as a bull in a china shop...exactly! I wasn't productive at all in fact I was completely anti-productive.
Today in contrast I had 3 cups of coffee by 10am, and was as sharp as a tack. I was firing off really constructive advice to our clients in our weekly Friday meetings. After which I loaded up on some more coffee, corrected all the bad work I did yesterday, finished my work for today, and on top of that did some additional research. Hoohoo somebody stop me...seriously somebody stop me. All this caffeine is making me feel weird...am I supposed to feel like I'm having an out of body experience? And is my left eye supposed to twitch like this?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Fair Trade
If anyone is paying attention it’s Winter Solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere. Being the shortest day of the year I thought that it was ironic that the sun made a brief appearance, seeing how it’s been cloudy, dark and rainy for days on end in Cape Town.
Theoretically after this day we are past the dead of winter and should be making our ascent towards spring, perhaps the sun was just a sign that summer is on its way, and gives me hope that the worst of the winter is behind us…
Just a thought on the topic of Fair trade which was brought up by Dave Donde at Pecha Kuche a couple of nights ago…is that it seems that consumers these days are pretty ignorant when it comes to purchasing not just coffee but products in general. Using coffee as an analogy, people are generally naïve of the fact that the cappuccino, that one is drinking in a café is the product of some pretty damn hard labour way back in the value chain and perhaps the result of exploitation of some poor guy in Ethiopia, Guatemala or other big coffee producing country. There’s a great documentary about this called Black Gold that all coffee lovers should go see.
Dave brought up a good point that the commodity price of coffee is approximately $1.30 per kilo while the Fair Trade price of coffee is approximately $1.60 per kilo, and he made the point that 30 cents is not a lot for the poor farmer back in Ethiopia. For those of you who attended Pecha Kucha he mentioned that the Origin Roasting Company have, to date never paid below the $5 mark. While you may think that this is bad business and that they are getting a raw deal…
I think the point he was trying to make is that they have developed relationships with their various coffee co-ops, and with that guaranteed the quality of the coffee berry which they purchase from them. At the same time, they've made sure that the farmers are well compensated. This relationship that they have developed is what brings about the term “relationship coffee” that you may have heard being thrown around from time to time.
At the end of the day, I think the less demand there is for products being produced via exploitation, means that less people would be exploited; and the less people are being exploited, means that quality of products they produce would be better. Without trying to sound like I’m trying to push a bunch of hippie crap, I believe that consumers should try to be more aware of what they are purchasing and where the end product originates from. This way people can all do their bit to alleviate the exploitation of the less fortunate and make way for social and sustainable economic development. Imagine, there could be a bunch of little kids in China being whipped to stitch those hand made Denims that you’re wearing, not that my dad ever did that to me when he owned his own textile factory…I swear.
Theoretically after this day we are past the dead of winter and should be making our ascent towards spring, perhaps the sun was just a sign that summer is on its way, and gives me hope that the worst of the winter is behind us…
Just a thought on the topic of Fair trade which was brought up by Dave Donde at Pecha Kuche a couple of nights ago…is that it seems that consumers these days are pretty ignorant when it comes to purchasing not just coffee but products in general. Using coffee as an analogy, people are generally naïve of the fact that the cappuccino, that one is drinking in a café is the product of some pretty damn hard labour way back in the value chain and perhaps the result of exploitation of some poor guy in Ethiopia, Guatemala or other big coffee producing country. There’s a great documentary about this called Black Gold that all coffee lovers should go see.
Dave brought up a good point that the commodity price of coffee is approximately $1.30 per kilo while the Fair Trade price of coffee is approximately $1.60 per kilo, and he made the point that 30 cents is not a lot for the poor farmer back in Ethiopia. For those of you who attended Pecha Kucha he mentioned that the Origin Roasting Company have, to date never paid below the $5 mark. While you may think that this is bad business and that they are getting a raw deal…
I think the point he was trying to make is that they have developed relationships with their various coffee co-ops, and with that guaranteed the quality of the coffee berry which they purchase from them. At the same time, they've made sure that the farmers are well compensated. This relationship that they have developed is what brings about the term “relationship coffee” that you may have heard being thrown around from time to time.
At the end of the day, I think the less demand there is for products being produced via exploitation, means that less people would be exploited; and the less people are being exploited, means that quality of products they produce would be better. Without trying to sound like I’m trying to push a bunch of hippie crap, I believe that consumers should try to be more aware of what they are purchasing and where the end product originates from. This way people can all do their bit to alleviate the exploitation of the less fortunate and make way for social and sustainable economic development. Imagine, there could be a bunch of little kids in China being whipped to stitch those hand made Denims that you’re wearing, not that my dad ever did that to me when he owned his own textile factory…I swear.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Brainstorm
Entrepreneurship is an addiction; once bitten it can consume you, your every being and every thought. Some nights you lie awake, conjuring up ideas, brainstorming and wondering when (not if…never if) that one idea will come that will kick some serious ass and be, like…umm totally successful.
For some it takes many tries but, for one Bevan Ducasse, on his first; the dream, is at an arms length away. I remember distinctly, about 10 months ago, Bevan approached me with a crazy pie in the sky idea, as he wanted some techno geeks to bounce his idea off of. Being in Software and at the time starting up my own business, he approached me for some advice and to see if I knew anyone who could help him out or have some input. The first person to come to mind was techno Wunder Kind, Ernst Kuschke.
Ernst is one of a handful of South Africa's Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals), one of the longest running ones at that, and always seems to be ahead of the pack in terms of technologies and their capabilities. This includes both Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies.
At the time Ernst and I had already started our Saturday morning, coffee ritual; and I thought it was good idea to set up a meeting around a productivity enhancing coffee (I wonder how many business deals and good ideas have surfaced over a good cuppa). This by the way is how the Saturday Morning CT Coffee club started. After introducing us to his idea, we began to discuss some semantics and of course the viability of the idea.
After a relative intellect intensive morning, we needed a change of pace and get rid of some excess energy. We some how decided to mission for a surf out in Big Bay. I think it was somewhere between all the caffeine and the salt water in his system, that Bevan all of a sudden decided, with absolute conviction that this idea (hold on guys the idea will soon be revealed…sheesh and I thought I was inpatient) of his would work and that he was going to go for it.
In the end Ernst and I, were unfortunately too preoccupied to get involved in the venture. But close to a year has passed from that day, and the Bevanator (like the Terminator only with Bevan in front) after much blood, sweat and tears has paved much of the ground work, already creating a working prototype, and sealing some big corporate deals.
I’m proud to introduce and be one of the first to write up (sure the Financial Mail might have beaten me to it…but everyone knows that my blog has more clout) on Bevan’s idea: WiWallet a means to simplify the paying of goods by using your cellphone. You heard it here first; WiWallet is going to revolutionize the way that commerce is done.
For some it takes many tries but, for one Bevan Ducasse, on his first; the dream, is at an arms length away. I remember distinctly, about 10 months ago, Bevan approached me with a crazy pie in the sky idea, as he wanted some techno geeks to bounce his idea off of. Being in Software and at the time starting up my own business, he approached me for some advice and to see if I knew anyone who could help him out or have some input. The first person to come to mind was techno Wunder Kind, Ernst Kuschke.
Ernst is one of a handful of South Africa's Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals), one of the longest running ones at that, and always seems to be ahead of the pack in terms of technologies and their capabilities. This includes both Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies.
At the time Ernst and I had already started our Saturday morning, coffee ritual; and I thought it was good idea to set up a meeting around a productivity enhancing coffee (I wonder how many business deals and good ideas have surfaced over a good cuppa). This by the way is how the Saturday Morning CT Coffee club started. After introducing us to his idea, we began to discuss some semantics and of course the viability of the idea.
After a relative intellect intensive morning, we needed a change of pace and get rid of some excess energy. We some how decided to mission for a surf out in Big Bay. I think it was somewhere between all the caffeine and the salt water in his system, that Bevan all of a sudden decided, with absolute conviction that this idea (hold on guys the idea will soon be revealed…sheesh and I thought I was inpatient) of his would work and that he was going to go for it.
In the end Ernst and I, were unfortunately too preoccupied to get involved in the venture. But close to a year has passed from that day, and the Bevanator (like the Terminator only with Bevan in front) after much blood, sweat and tears has paved much of the ground work, already creating a working prototype, and sealing some big corporate deals.
I’m proud to introduce and be one of the first to write up (sure the Financial Mail might have beaten me to it…but everyone knows that my blog has more clout) on Bevan’s idea: WiWallet a means to simplify the paying of goods by using your cellphone. You heard it here first; WiWallet is going to revolutionize the way that commerce is done.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Post Long-Weekend Depression
A quick follow up on yesterdays post, so Mister Brown is apparently the Taiwanese Starbucks! My cousin filled me in, they are also available in Los Angeles, and on her recent travels to Taiwan she said that she stumbled upon a Mister Brown’s Café: “like Starbucks only with more comfortable sofas”, were her words! Absolutely no doubt I’ll be on a mission the next time I’m in that area.
Long weekends are great…my only gripe with them, however is that they never seem to be long enough! Sure if you have a Monday off like we did yesterday, the week is shorter but the “New Monday”…errr that’s Tuesday, takes for freakin’ ever to end. I chalk it up to post long-weekend depression.
The little rest makes one believe that there is hope…hope that one has actually conquered the rat race and no longer have to partake in the grueling labour that is reality. But in actuality it lifts you up; just to send you crashing down again! “Stop playing with my emotions, darn you!”
I reckon if they give you a Monday off they should just cancel the whole week… Along with my plans to institute 3 day work weeks, the cancellation of work on a “long weekend” falls under my “Benny for President” campaign as referred to in a previous post. Are you guys still certain you won’t vote for me?
Sure the country would most probably fall into economic disarray, but I’d be too busy doing state visits to the South of France, eating fromage and baguettes to even notice or to have it have an affect on me…Anyways enough poo shooting… there was some solace amongst the arduous “New Monday” and it came in the form of a skinny, mucho cappuccino from Vida.
Long weekends are great…my only gripe with them, however is that they never seem to be long enough! Sure if you have a Monday off like we did yesterday, the week is shorter but the “New Monday”…errr that’s Tuesday, takes for freakin’ ever to end. I chalk it up to post long-weekend depression.
The little rest makes one believe that there is hope…hope that one has actually conquered the rat race and no longer have to partake in the grueling labour that is reality. But in actuality it lifts you up; just to send you crashing down again! “Stop playing with my emotions, darn you!”
I reckon if they give you a Monday off they should just cancel the whole week… Along with my plans to institute 3 day work weeks, the cancellation of work on a “long weekend” falls under my “Benny for President” campaign as referred to in a previous post. Are you guys still certain you won’t vote for me?
Sure the country would most probably fall into economic disarray, but I’d be too busy doing state visits to the South of France, eating fromage and baguettes to even notice or to have it have an affect on me…Anyways enough poo shooting… there was some solace amongst the arduous “New Monday” and it came in the form of a skinny, mucho cappuccino from Vida.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Globalisation
The definition of globalization according to Wikipedia is “integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology”. My globalization experience of the day is one based around Mr Brown canned iced coffees.
You can find Mr Brown at Giovanni’s. But I find that it’s rather amusing and confusing that Giovanni’s import their goods from Italy, but Mr Brown is actually a product that is manufactured in Taiwan. A Taiwanese product found in an Italian delicatessen… in South Africa, how bizarre! Unless there are some trade benefits I’m unaware of; I’m pretty damn certain it would be more cost effective to import this particular product directly from it’s source i.e Taiwan.
I suppose now I kinda understand how strange it must have been for this American guy I met in Singapore, when I tried to explain how my family is Taiwanese but I’m actually South African! For some reason he just couldn’t comprehend how an Asian dude could be from Africa!
To be quite honest these canned coffees, are little more than just coffee flavoured milk, but I’ve been addicted to them ever since I was a kid and they bring about some nostalgic Taiwan experiences.To add to their appeal the product was also brought into existence the same year I was born! Perhaps two of Taiwan’s greatest exports to originate from the same year; coincidence?…I think not!
You can find Mr Brown at Giovanni’s. But I find that it’s rather amusing and confusing that Giovanni’s import their goods from Italy, but Mr Brown is actually a product that is manufactured in Taiwan. A Taiwanese product found in an Italian delicatessen… in South Africa, how bizarre! Unless there are some trade benefits I’m unaware of; I’m pretty damn certain it would be more cost effective to import this particular product directly from it’s source i.e Taiwan.
I suppose now I kinda understand how strange it must have been for this American guy I met in Singapore, when I tried to explain how my family is Taiwanese but I’m actually South African! For some reason he just couldn’t comprehend how an Asian dude could be from Africa!
To be quite honest these canned coffees, are little more than just coffee flavoured milk, but I’ve been addicted to them ever since I was a kid and they bring about some nostalgic Taiwan experiences.To add to their appeal the product was also brought into existence the same year I was born! Perhaps two of Taiwan’s greatest exports to originate from the same year; coincidence?…I think not!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Back to the Future
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.
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.
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!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Livin' La Vida Loca
Another morning and another Vida ! I’m a crazy fan of the Vida brand, and love how it has flourished and grown organically, as the marketing fundis might say. Since the very first Vida cappuccino I had, from the Kloof Street branch, a few years back; I haven’t been able to get enough of them. I think I’m addicted to their baked confectioneries, sandwiches and in particular their coffees. Perhaps someone can prove me wrong but I think their stuff is laced with crack!
A lot of Vida’s success amounts to the passion the people, associated with the brand exude. The staff are highly effective, happily friendly and well trained, and because of this: top notch products and service are produced each and every time. I always feel more, lively when an energetic staff member greets me with a “Howzit Bubba! What can I get you?” And perhaps it’s the combination of the energy from the staff and caffeine fix that gets me buzzing for the rest of the day.
Martin Luther King might have had a dream, but I have a loyalty card…so maybe he’s dream may trump my loyalty card but I think the deal you get is still pretty damn dreamy: Basically the deal with the card is you get 10% off of whatever you spend, straight back to the card every time you swipe it…In the beginning I had no clue how the thing worked, but I signed up and swiped it, each time anyways. I figured I went so often that, at some stage, it was bound to pay off. Eventually one day one of the guys cracked, and asked me why I hadn’t used my loyalty card yet, since I must have accumulated a heck of a lot of Vida credits!
Life for a while, after that fateful day was sweet! And I had a free Vida coffee everyday for close to a month. I’ve been swiping my card without using my credits for a while again so as soon as I build up enough credits! I’ll be Livin’ La Vida Loca! Baby!
A lot of Vida’s success amounts to the passion the people, associated with the brand exude. The staff are highly effective, happily friendly and well trained, and because of this: top notch products and service are produced each and every time. I always feel more, lively when an energetic staff member greets me with a “Howzit Bubba! What can I get you?” And perhaps it’s the combination of the energy from the staff and caffeine fix that gets me buzzing for the rest of the day.
Martin Luther King might have had a dream, but I have a loyalty card…so maybe he’s dream may trump my loyalty card but I think the deal you get is still pretty damn dreamy: Basically the deal with the card is you get 10% off of whatever you spend, straight back to the card every time you swipe it…In the beginning I had no clue how the thing worked, but I signed up and swiped it, each time anyways. I figured I went so often that, at some stage, it was bound to pay off. Eventually one day one of the guys cracked, and asked me why I hadn’t used my loyalty card yet, since I must have accumulated a heck of a lot of Vida credits!
Life for a while, after that fateful day was sweet! And I had a free Vida coffee everyday for close to a month. I’ve been swiping my card without using my credits for a while again so as soon as I build up enough credits! I’ll be Livin’ La Vida Loca! Baby!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Swan Song
Last night, turned out to be an awesome evening! It started at my old varsity mate and ex-colleague Simon’s place. He was holding a small, shindig to celebrate his birthday. It was cool because I got to meet up with a lot of old mates and ex-work colleagues whom I have not seen since my return to the Cape.
The evening started off slowly. Since I’m a complete light-weight when it comes to consuming alcohol and don’t really drink, Simon was kind enough to whip me up a cappuccino with his cool, Breville espresso machine. I must say that he has gotten it down to a fine art. Using the Origin, Ethiopian, Yirgacheffe blend I gave him, he made a cappuccino that was on par with many of the leading coffee spots in Cape Town.
Buzzing with caffeine, I needed an outlet for the excess energy and with the Play Station 3 hooked up, some Sing Star and hard liquor going around, you could sense that some down right, craziness was about to get on. Sing Star can be described as Karaoke on steroids, where the Play Station console actually measures your tone, timing etc. It even has a party mode option where you can “battle” out songs with your friends.
The first time I grabbed the mic, my competitor turned out to be none other than the house champ himself, Simon. Now, I’ve never been into Karaoke and have actually never, really had any desire to try it out. Strange, seeing that my brothers and sisters in the East have built a billion dollar industry around people publicly humiliating themselves…Surprisingly I didn’t do too badly, we chose to do a song we both knew by The Killers; and I think in the end I only lost by a mere 100 points. Rabbi made the comment that it’s in my heritage to do well…which is probably true, judging by my relatively good performance.
With my confidence on the up, I became a lot more open to the idea and actually had a heck of a lot of fun! I found the only problem was that the girls had the upper hand during the evening. Because in the original Song Star title, it seemed that most songs had such high notes that the only way that the men could compete, was if they were trained to sing falsetto, or lop their testicles off! Luckily, there were some other variations of the title, with some huskier voices, available on hand to even out the playing field.
After leaving Simon’s party, I quickly got cleaned up to meet up with some friends at Karma for what I thought would be a one drink affair. I could not have been more wrong. A large contingent of my friends: Ernst, Lauren, JP, Action Dan, Paul, Xav, Mitch and Kristi had all showed up. Whether independently or together it did not matter, the night was going to be big. Remember how I said I was a complete light weight in the beginning? Well, I was pretty much on my way after only having two shooters, which were dispensed to us by one of Louisa’s very proficient, promotion girls. In my state, I was quick to be on the dance floor throwing some pretty mesmerizing and skillful moves…
This morning; I could definitely feel the effects of the long week, sleep deprivation and the horrendous amount of Jager - two whole shots - had taken it’s toll on me... I was supposed to get up fairly early and meet up with Natalie for morning tea, and at 9:30 am as I enquired to when we were going to meet, it turned out that our times would clash. With that, I thought I’d lie down just a little bit longer…only to wake up again at 1pm…just in time for some Sunday lunch…
The evening started off slowly. Since I’m a complete light-weight when it comes to consuming alcohol and don’t really drink, Simon was kind enough to whip me up a cappuccino with his cool, Breville espresso machine. I must say that he has gotten it down to a fine art. Using the Origin, Ethiopian, Yirgacheffe blend I gave him, he made a cappuccino that was on par with many of the leading coffee spots in Cape Town.
Buzzing with caffeine, I needed an outlet for the excess energy and with the Play Station 3 hooked up, some Sing Star and hard liquor going around, you could sense that some down right, craziness was about to get on. Sing Star can be described as Karaoke on steroids, where the Play Station console actually measures your tone, timing etc. It even has a party mode option where you can “battle” out songs with your friends.
The first time I grabbed the mic, my competitor turned out to be none other than the house champ himself, Simon. Now, I’ve never been into Karaoke and have actually never, really had any desire to try it out. Strange, seeing that my brothers and sisters in the East have built a billion dollar industry around people publicly humiliating themselves…Surprisingly I didn’t do too badly, we chose to do a song we both knew by The Killers; and I think in the end I only lost by a mere 100 points. Rabbi made the comment that it’s in my heritage to do well…which is probably true, judging by my relatively good performance.
With my confidence on the up, I became a lot more open to the idea and actually had a heck of a lot of fun! I found the only problem was that the girls had the upper hand during the evening. Because in the original Song Star title, it seemed that most songs had such high notes that the only way that the men could compete, was if they were trained to sing falsetto, or lop their testicles off! Luckily, there were some other variations of the title, with some huskier voices, available on hand to even out the playing field.
After leaving Simon’s party, I quickly got cleaned up to meet up with some friends at Karma for what I thought would be a one drink affair. I could not have been more wrong. A large contingent of my friends: Ernst, Lauren, JP, Action Dan, Paul, Xav, Mitch and Kristi had all showed up. Whether independently or together it did not matter, the night was going to be big. Remember how I said I was a complete light weight in the beginning? Well, I was pretty much on my way after only having two shooters, which were dispensed to us by one of Louisa’s very proficient, promotion girls. In my state, I was quick to be on the dance floor throwing some pretty mesmerizing and skillful moves…
This morning; I could definitely feel the effects of the long week, sleep deprivation and the horrendous amount of Jager - two whole shots - had taken it’s toll on me... I was supposed to get up fairly early and meet up with Natalie for morning tea, and at 9:30 am as I enquired to when we were going to meet, it turned out that our times would clash. With that, I thought I’d lie down just a little bit longer…only to wake up again at 1pm…just in time for some Sunday lunch…
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
My Engrish is Leary Good!
We’ve all had those days - you know - the ones where nothing seems to go right? Well, I think I just had one…well at least the latter part of my day turned into a tragedy. I thought I’d be really diligent and get my lunch ready for tomorrow, so I made a chicken stir fry thing (I’m trying to eat healthily again), and put it into my neat lil lunch box, but for some odd reason I decided to place it on a hot plate. There is now, a pile of plastic-infused chicken and rice, where my deliciously, prepared lunch used to be. “Smart move, Benny.” Man! My kitchen smells like a massacre!
To make things worse, while that was happening, I was at the gym. When I finished, I had to trudge back home in the pouring rain. Ending the spell of bad luck, as I hopped in the shower…there was no hot water, because someone, I won’t mention who, *cough* Joe *cough*, used it all before me…
Thankfully, not everything that happened to me today was quite so tragic; while at work two amusing things crossed my path.
The first of which was that I was reminded that the 25th May, this Sunday is towel day (towelday.org). Towel day commemorates the life of Douglas Adams, the brains behind Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, in which he stated the importance and the usefulness of towels. Ironically I have a towel over my head as I type, to keep me warm after the damn, cold shower.
I remember Ernst and I gave Katy that book, which by the way is a lot better than the movie, for her birthday and told her that she couldn’t be our friend until she had read it…technically she wasn’t our friend for months, but being the kind of people we are, complacent and desperate for friends, we let her off the hook…you’re lucky we’re computer geeks and don’t know too many people Katy!
The second was an email that was forwarded to me, titled “Is Beijing Ready for the Olympics?” courtesy of Karisa. There were a bunch of pictures from a site called www.Engrish.com attached to it; to illustrate just how far the East’s aptitude and handle on the English language had grown in provision for the influx of tourists. My sides were splitting, and I think I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. One thing I’ve learnt today is not to drink coffee while looking at this particular site, because most of my coffee ended up on my keyboard and monitor and not in me, ideally where it should have landed up!
To give you a taste of what I’m talking about, here’s a link for your viewing pleasure: www.Engrish.com. If you think the Engrish site is really far fetched, those who have been to China or Japan will tell you a different story, hey Pleee- siii-rraa (Priscilla in broken Japanese english)?
But if I were you, I wouldn’t be too quick to laugh. The next time you think you’re rocking, with that super, sweet, tattoo of yours. The one in, Chinese calligraphy that’s supposed to translate to something deep like “Love, Honour and Trust” I’d think again…
To make things worse, while that was happening, I was at the gym. When I finished, I had to trudge back home in the pouring rain. Ending the spell of bad luck, as I hopped in the shower…there was no hot water, because someone, I won’t mention who, *cough* Joe *cough*, used it all before me…
Thankfully, not everything that happened to me today was quite so tragic; while at work two amusing things crossed my path.
The first of which was that I was reminded that the 25th May, this Sunday is towel day (towelday.org). Towel day commemorates the life of Douglas Adams, the brains behind Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, in which he stated the importance and the usefulness of towels. Ironically I have a towel over my head as I type, to keep me warm after the damn, cold shower.
I remember Ernst and I gave Katy that book, which by the way is a lot better than the movie, for her birthday and told her that she couldn’t be our friend until she had read it…technically she wasn’t our friend for months, but being the kind of people we are, complacent and desperate for friends, we let her off the hook…you’re lucky we’re computer geeks and don’t know too many people Katy!
The second was an email that was forwarded to me, titled “Is Beijing Ready for the Olympics?” courtesy of Karisa. There were a bunch of pictures from a site called www.Engrish.com attached to it; to illustrate just how far the East’s aptitude and handle on the English language had grown in provision for the influx of tourists. My sides were splitting, and I think I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. One thing I’ve learnt today is not to drink coffee while looking at this particular site, because most of my coffee ended up on my keyboard and monitor and not in me, ideally where it should have landed up!
To give you a taste of what I’m talking about, here’s a link for your viewing pleasure: www.Engrish.com. If you think the Engrish site is really far fetched, those who have been to China or Japan will tell you a different story, hey Pleee- siii-rraa (Priscilla in broken Japanese english)?
But if I were you, I wouldn’t be too quick to laugh. The next time you think you’re rocking, with that super, sweet, tattoo of yours. The one in, Chinese calligraphy that’s supposed to translate to something deep like “Love, Honour and Trust” I’d think again…
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Business Time!
After ending an earlier session at Caprice, that's where all the cool kids hang out on a Sunday by the way. It’s business time!
Another weekend of fun and debaucheries has blitzed by, and tomorrow, well tomorrow my friends its back to business. I always feel relieved when the weekend is over, and can’t wait to get up early in the morning and become a productive member of society again….
Seriously though, it’s going to be the first week of starting a normal routine again, (after a few months of slacking off); and I’m not looking forward to it. Since January, I’ve somehow managed to settle into the comfort zone of apathy, sleeping late eating junk and pretty much lazing around without much focus and motivation.
My work day routine is pretty hectic (or at least I think it is) and goes something like this: I wake up at 5am for the gym, train for an hour; have breakfast and get lunch prepared by 7:30, clean up, get ready for work and be out the door by 8am, graft till 6pm, back in the gym for another hour session, have supper by 8, write my daily blog and then do a bit of studying/programming or meet up with some mates, and hopefully be in bed by 11-11:30pm.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve become so fond and clinically dependent on coffee these days, because without it, the day seems nearly impossible. However painful the weekly routine may seem, I think it is necessary. One day I plan to be successful in all areas in my life, and to achieve this I believe I’ll need to get up early, work hard at it and be pushed.
Rambo says "When a man is pushed cramming a bucket load of stuff in one day becomes as easy as breathing!" Rambo actually used "killing" instead of "cramming bucket loads of stuff in one day" in his version; but for my particular illustration I don't think "killing" is quite appropriate...
There’s also another old saying that goes something like this: "The morning belongs to those who wake early" = that’s it, that’s the saying…think about it…
Another weekend of fun and debaucheries has blitzed by, and tomorrow, well tomorrow my friends its back to business. I always feel relieved when the weekend is over, and can’t wait to get up early in the morning and become a productive member of society again….
Seriously though, it’s going to be the first week of starting a normal routine again, (after a few months of slacking off); and I’m not looking forward to it. Since January, I’ve somehow managed to settle into the comfort zone of apathy, sleeping late eating junk and pretty much lazing around without much focus and motivation.
My work day routine is pretty hectic (or at least I think it is) and goes something like this: I wake up at 5am for the gym, train for an hour; have breakfast and get lunch prepared by 7:30, clean up, get ready for work and be out the door by 8am, graft till 6pm, back in the gym for another hour session, have supper by 8, write my daily blog and then do a bit of studying/programming or meet up with some mates, and hopefully be in bed by 11-11:30pm.
Perhaps that’s why I’ve become so fond and clinically dependent on coffee these days, because without it, the day seems nearly impossible. However painful the weekly routine may seem, I think it is necessary. One day I plan to be successful in all areas in my life, and to achieve this I believe I’ll need to get up early, work hard at it and be pushed.
Rambo says "When a man is pushed cramming a bucket load of stuff in one day becomes as easy as breathing!" Rambo actually used "killing" instead of "cramming bucket loads of stuff in one day" in his version; but for my particular illustration I don't think "killing" is quite appropriate...
There’s also another old saying that goes something like this: "The morning belongs to those who wake early" = that’s it, that’s the saying…think about it…
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