Finding Balance

I often forget how Table Mountain can affect the weather in Cape Town. The weather is beautiful today…at least it is in town. I decided that I’d tried to soak up some rays in the Camps Bay area and perhaps catch a surf at Glen Beach, but turned out that not only were the waves manky but the weather was too, even though it is literally a few kilometres from town to Camps.

Seems like the mountain was blocking the clouds and bad weather… in any case I was determined to make use of the sun and ended up at the top of Kloof Street at Café Paridiso, I usually hang out near the bottom of the street and often forget about the cool deli’s and cafes along the top stretch. I don’t do it intentionally but there are so many good spots along that road that sometimes you get distracted by all the ones at the bottom that you never make it all the way up.

At Café Paridiso I had an awesome seafood salad called the Salade De La Mer which was actually, extremely tasty. I chose a salad because I’m on a bit of a mission to lean down again. The weather today reminded me that summer is right around the corner, and it was probably a good idea to lose the spare tyre that I’ve gained over the winter.

Call it what you will, vanity or even me just being plain pedantic, but previously having been involved in a nutrition company; I’ve become a lot more conscious of my health and what type of shape I’m in. Besides, I’ve done the overweight thing, and it’s not really all that pleasant. I never intend on being back in that position so I like to try keep things in check.

One of the biggest fallacies about trying to lose weight is that you should starve yourself. Being a food lover like myself, as I’m sure you have realized if you’ve been following my posts, I can honestly say you can still enjoy food and keep in shape, in fact you can still enjoy eating out and keep in shape. It’s all about choosing the right things off the menu and creating a balance; living an active lifestyle and not overindulging in certain things…

Surfs Up

The ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) world tour arrives in South Africa this week and kicks off at the fabled Super Tubes in Jeffrey’s Bay. The idea that surfing is a summer thing and the whole concept of an Endless Summer is a myth particularly here in South Africa, when winter actually brings the good waves. I remember my brother and I almost getting hyperthermia on one or two occasions when my mom, accidentally forgot us at the beach, in the dead middle of winter…in those cases we’d actually sit under the cold outdoor shower to keep warm, as the water from the shower would be higher than the surface temperature.

All through my teen years, I was constantly ragged on by others; about growing up surfing in Port Elizabeth and how consistently small the waves were there. (I also lived in East London which is ironically, the most consistent surf destination in South Africa…but I didn’t surf back then) While that might have been true, I’d argue that the waves in PE are right up there with the best when it does eventually get going! However most times that argument fell flat and I’d have to fall back on the “J-Bay is only a 30-minute drive away” trump card. It worked, and silenced my critics every time!

J-Bay is a world class surf break and is considered to be the best right-hand breaking wave on the planet. There were times during Uni where I had to weigh up the opportunity cost of either attending Economics lectures or catch a wave in J-Bay with some old PE surf rats like Mush and Jono Scheepers, needless to say it was a no-brainer and J-Bay won on countless occasions… In most cases it’s a sleepy town, but come competition season the place comes alive and becomes a circus of freaks entertaining us with their tricks, including one Mister Robert Kelly Slater.

I’ve followed Kelly’s career for years, way back when I was little grom (young surf dude) circa 1990, when Kelly blazed onto the scene and surfed in the Quiksilver Lacanau Pro in France, against my favourite surfer of all time Tom Curren. While Kelly might have lost in that heat it paved the way for an unbelievable career, including winning 8 world titles.

This year he is going for his 9th and chances are, if he wins Billabong Pro J-Bay he would have it sealed up. Perhaps not crowned the new world champ, but he would have accumulated such an insurmountable tally of points that it would just be a mere formality to wrap it up. As he has already won 3 of the 4 tour events, and the only person who is actually participating on tour to win an event (The other event was won by a wild card entrant). Besides Kelly I'm also cheering on young local upstart Jordy Smith who is being hailed as the new Kelly Slater!

Should you be an avid surfer, and have never been. I suggest that you take a road trip and check the event out. It’s a phenomenal spectacle. And if you’re feeling up to the challenge try catching a wave amongst the Pro’s, if ever you thought you were hot stuff, like I used to… you might be in for one humbling experience.

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.