Tag Archives: celebration

Photo of the year 2010 – a City Daily Photo theme day

A boy and his vuvuzela

Even though we habitually miss it, each month the City Daily Photo members have a theme day on which they publish photos representing a particular theme.

As is traditional on 1 January, today's theme is "Photo of the year 2010"; most CDP bloggers take this annual opportunity to post what they or their readers believe to be their best or most beautiful photo of the preceding year. We've decided to interpret the theme a little differently and post not the best photo of the year, but rather a photo that we feel portrays the greatest highlight of our city's 2010 calendar: the Football World Cup that was held in South Africa during June and July.

Visit our June and July archives to see more daily photos taken around the time of the World Cup.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of the City Daily Photo Theme Day.

Two-faced and scary in Cape Town

Two-faced
Parents, hide your kids faces! This puppet-thingy was just plain scary.

I was there (on the fan walk in Cape Town) so it's easy for me to see, but did you notice the two faces? Yes sure, they look friendly enough, gut they remind me of an angry parent telling their kids that they have eyes in the back of their heads... which to be fair, my mother at times also had to have. :)

Do New Year’s with ABBA at the V&A Waterfront

AquABBA at Aqua Festival

"I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay - Ain't it sad?"

After the brilliant performance by Johnny Clegg on Saturday we found ourselves at the Aqua Festival's AquABBA show at the V&A Waterfront. What a spectacular spectacle it was - especially with the likes of Amra-Faye Wright (cast as Velma Kelly in The Broadway Company's musical, Chicago), Jody Williams (winner of SA Idols 2007) and the members of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra gracing the stage. Other artists taking part were Craig Urbani (known, amongst many other things, for his role in the SA soap-opera Isidingo), Chrissy Caine, and Alistair Izobel.

They sang all ABBA's best-known hits, as well as a few songs from the musical Chess (which was written by Benny and Bjorn, of course); and by the time they got to "Thank you for the music" the crowd was on their feet, singing and dancing along. Kerry-Anne pointed out that the setting was absolutely perfect for an ABBA tribute show, as the harbour backdrop was very reminiscent of Mamma Mia.

If you don't yet have plans for New Year's Eve, (and especially if you're going to be at the V&A Waterfront anyway), consider booking your seat for AquABBA - I believe the ticket price includes not only the show, but the NYE afterparty at the Aquarium as well.

I've put together an album of photos from the performance. Check it out here.

Christmas Pavlova

Christmas Pavlova

Look, I'm not going to lie. I'm exceedingly proud of this dessert. I should confess right away that I didn't make the meringue shells from scratch (I did have to put in a heck of a lot of effort to actually track them down, though, so I think I deserve at least some of the credit), but I did make the Chantilly cream, cook up the blueberry coulis, and assemble the whole decadent, sugary creation. I also managed to cut it and dish it up, which, as you'll know if you've ever tried to cut a meringue, was no mean feat either.

I'm also exceedingly proud of the fact that Paul and I managed to do every single bit of our Christmas shopping, food and all (we hosted Christmas lunch at our house this year), between 7.30pm on the 23rd and 6pm on the 24th. Without any screaming matches or nasty incidents of trolley rage! For two people who are severely organisationally-challenged, this is quite an achievement. (Want to know the best part? The entire house was clean again by 9pm. Every dish washed, every piece of wrapping paper thrown away.)

This year, I was feeling particularly nostalgic, so I made sure that the menu included reminders of family members who are no longer alive and the Christmases we shared when I was little. For instance, there were smoked oysters and TUC biscuits for my father's parents (TUC biscuits were a staple snack food in their house), sage and onion stuffing for my mother's mother (I'd always thought she made it from scratch until one day I saw my mother buying a box of ready-made Paxo mix at the supermarket :P), and pickled eisbein for my brother (the last two Christmases I spent with him both involved eisbein, and he was an absolute expert at cooking it).

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a really special day. For those of you fortunate enough to have your whole family with you, treasure these days and moments - one day the memories you're building will become more important than you could imagine.

2010 Football World Cup draw celebrations in Long Street, Cape Town

Brazillian football supporter
Following on from my previous post about the 2010 World Cup draw - after walking down from where we'd parked, we arrived at the security checkpoint, where our bags were checked and metal detectors were used to scan for weapons. That was the easy part. From then on we battled the crowd to work our way to a spot where we could see one of the large television screens.

The road got so crowded that we could hardly move at times, and the police eventually closed the gates to prevent any more people from entering Long Street. Apparently there were in excess of 120,000 people in the street! Still, everybody was having fun and it seemed there were smiles permanently etched on most people's faces.

From early afternoon, the stage (which was way up ahead of us) had hosted popular bands and entertainers; and all evening we had stilt-walkers, huge puppets walking over the crowd, and topless dancers keeping us entertained. (Nah, I'm kidding about the topless dancers. ;) ).

The crowd quietened down as the live telecast of the final draw started playing, and huge cheers erupted each time one of our national heroes was introduced. There was a palpable sense of collective pride at what South Africa and its people have managed to achieve. All in all, the atmosphere was fantastic - a taste of what visitors can expect to experience during next year's World Cup.

Take a look at our photo album for more shots from the Long Street party.

Getting to the 2010 football draw in Cape Town

Walking to the Football draw in Long Street
After work Kerry-Anne and I rushed in to the city to be a part of the 2010 World Cup Football celebrations. If you're not aware of what was happening - it was the final draw of who would play against who in the first round of matches.

Contrary to what I thought, traffic in Cape Town was a breeze, although finding parking close to Long Street (where the festivities were being held) was next to impossible. We eventually found a spot somewhere far above Long Street and took a brisk walk down to Long Street past groups of excited people - many talking about how awesome it'll be in June next year.

The evening was awesome, and in a little while and I'll write follow-up article with more detail about what happened along with a photo album that'll give you a feel for what it was like in Long Street.

Let the party begin!

2010 football sign

Tomorrow is a beeeeg day in Cape Town. Just in case you didn't know, South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup next year. Yes... of course you knew that. :) Have a look at the banner on the building to the left - it's one of a number of banners put up by Cape Town Tourism to promote Cape Town as one of the 2010 World Cup host cities.

Anyhow, tomorrow is when we'll have our first glimpse of what we can expect come June next year. The final draw to determine the tournament groupings is taking place tomorrow in Cape Town, and the city is gearing up for quite a party. People have been hearing helicopters and fighter jets overhead for a few days now; someone spotted David Beckham having dinner at the One & Only Hotel this evening; and apparently Charlize Theron is in town. I don't think it would be melodramatic to say that there's a real sense of excitement and expectation hanging in the air.

Tomorrow evening a whole lot of VIPs and media will be gathering at the Convention Centre for the official draw, while the rest of the plebs party it up at the special party venue being prepared in Long Street. An estimated 700 million people are expected to watch the draw live on television tomorrow, in 200 countries all across the world. If you're one of them, keep an eye out for us. We'll be in Long Street with all the other plebs. :D

Oktoberfest at Stellenberg High

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest, a 16-day (sometimes 17-day) festival held in a (super) large field in Germany is celebrated in many countries, including South Africa, with plenty of beer, all kinds of traditional German food, a traditional-style band and plenty of dancing.

Stellenberg High School (which Kerry-Anne attended for 5 long years) held their first Oktoberfest celebration this year as a fund-raising event. Given that it was the first time they've attempted this, we'll forgive them for the tiny selection of Bavarian food, solitary brew of beer, and lack of beautiful woman dressed in traditional German beer-lady attire (and yes ladies, the lack of handsome young lads in traditional weird long-shorts and braces too). :)

But seriously, the event seemed to have huge support from the community and everyone there seemed to be having an awesome time. I have a feeling that next year's Oktoberfest is going to be a rocking event. Best make sure that you get there!

Birthday party!

Party girls

When I blogged about Altydgedacht Wine Estate after our recent wine tasting expedition, I had no idea that we'd soon be back for another birthday party. A friend of ours invited us, along with about 25 of her other friends, to celebrate her 30th birthday at the estate... and boy, were we impressed. The venue was beautifully prepared, the food was exquisite, the wine just great and the service impeccable.

We had an awesome time partying the night away between two rows of absolutely huge wine barrels, and the great thing about the venue was that because we were far away from any neighbours, we could play the music as loudly as we liked without having to be considerate.

Thanks for an awesome evening!

Lung cancer, sharks and SCUBA divers

Diving in a Shark Tank

The words cancer and shark evoke a common reaction in many people. Both induce a sense of fear. Lung cancer is one of the most difficult forms of the illness to treat, but, however dire the situation, it would seem as though it is treatable.

The two ladies in the photo, Leni White and Teresa Renier, are in fact lung cancer survivors! What makes them special is that even though most doctors would strongly caution against SCUBA diving after beating lung cancer - these two ladies still dive, with no apparent ill effects.

The two ladies, having beaten cancer, took on the other fearsome challenge in support of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, when they dropped themselves into a tank of sharks at Cape Town's Two Oceans Aquarium. Although they were understandably a little nervous, all went well and they left the tank heroes in their own right. Read more about their story here, in BizCommunity's medical news section.

Disclaimer: Kerry-Anne and I are not in the medical field and don't suggest that you should do anything without consulting your physician first. If you've survived lung cancer and would like to dive, please consult your physician and, as Leni and Teresa do, understand the risks.

The Giraffe House – a real giraffe in Cape Town!

The Giraffe House

Not only does The Giraffe House have this bouncy plastic giraffe (don't you love his smile? :) ), but they have a real one too! Right here in Cape Town, just down the road from Stellenbosch! I did catch a few (well, actually plenty of) shots of the tall and timid animal, but that I'll show you in Monday's post.

We've been meaning to visit The Giraffe House for some time now, so when we were given the choice of going to our godchild's 6th birthday party HERE or a "boring adult cake-and-tea"... erm... there was no contest. Definitely, The Giraffe House! The cool thing about the place was that they don't only have a giraffe, but also an assortment of other animals, some of which I'll show you on Tuesday and perhaps Wednesday.

Thanks, Ethan, for having a birthday and convincing your mom to take us all to The Giraffe House!

Worldwide Photo Walk, Cape Town

Nelson Mandela

As many of you will probably know, today is Nelson Mandela's ninety-first birthday. Co-incidentally, it's also the day on which groups of photographers took to the streets of their towns and cities armed with cameras, to take part in the second global Worldwide Photo Walk.

After our late night at Wakame, I momentarily regretted signing up for the walk, as it meant getting up in time to meet the rest of the group near the planetarium in Cape Town at 8am. But somehow I dragged myself out of bed, drove through to town, and met up with a group of about 20 photographers. We spent the next two to three hours walking the streets of Cape Town, spending quite some time in the well-known open-air St George's Mall. In retrospect I was glad that I didn't bail on the outing - the weather was fantastic, the other photographers were friendly and fun, and there were almost too many great opportunities for photos.

We'll be posting more of the photos from the walk over the next few days; but for now, let me close by wishing you, Madiba, a happy birthday and brilliant next year!

The rain in Cape Town

Shortmarket Street in Cape Town

... falls mainly on Greenmarket Square. Well, not actually. The rain in Cape Town has been falling pretty much everywhere over the last day or two, and in rather large quantities too.

We had to go into the city for a friend's birthday party, and both wondered at times whether it wouldn't have been better to take a motorboat or canoe instead of our car. There's been flooding in quite a few areas, including Camps Bay, Newlands and Somerset West. Fortunately our neighbourhood seems to have escaped with a bit less rain than everywhere else, so we weren't affected in any way (apart from getting a bit wet walking from our car to the restaurant from which this photo was taken).

Of course, the great thing about Cape Town's winter is that we get all the cold, rainy weather in a few short, intense bursts, and for the rest of the time it's sunny and clear. ;-)

Yola: Synthasite rebooted – the ftv launch party

The Yola launch party at ftv

You may recall us mentioning Synthasite, a Cape Town Internet startup company making it big in San Francisco. Passing the 2 million user mark, and comfortably heading to 3 million, Synthasite has outgrown its name and was recently rebranded as Yola... a free platform on which novices and pros can comfortably build websites from scratch (well, not actually from scratch... rather using the online tools and building blocks made from scratch by the Yola developers!).

The party was plenty of fun - we saw loads of people that we hadn't seen for some time, met a few people we hadn't met before, ate a few snacks and drank a few drinks, danced for a while and generally had a pretty good evening. If you have a spare moment, visit our gallery section where I posted a few extra photos taken at the launch. :)

The Jacksons at fashiontv nightclub

fashiontv
As I mentioned, Kerry-Anne and I were invited to a friend's birthday party at fashiontv on Saturday evening. The theme was to dress like something or someone related to the famous Jackson family. Soon after arriving, I looked around at the stylish patrons in the club and realised that perhaps I'd taken the theme an inch or so too far... but, I'll leave that up to your imagination (and those with access to my Facebook photo gallery). :D

Needless to say, Kerry-Anne complemented the other exceptionally beautiful and sophisticated people. The music was loud, but not loud enough to make my ears uncomfortable; and what was pretty awesome was that while the DJ played, a guy walked around the bar area playing a saxophone in harmony with the DJ's tracks. It really was pretty darn impressive and created an interesting blend of hip-hop and pop music crossed with a live sax performance.

All in all it was a pretty good experience - the club wasn't too crowded and the dance-floor opened fairly late, giving people a chance to socialise. The drinks weren't cheap (about R20 for a 330ml beer), but not unreasonably expensive either, and there were plenty of places to grab a seat if you got tired of standing.

I think we'll have to visit again some time (so let us know when you're looking for a party ;) )!

Freedom Day – 15 years on

Robben Island sunset

The 27th of April is Freedom Day in South Africa. This public holiday marks the start of our first democratic elections in 1994 (the elections were held over 3 days). I wasn't old enough to vote back then (I turned 18 two and a half months later), but I remember that day so clearly. There was an incredible sense of excitement, and news broadcasts showed images of long voting queues snaking their way through dusty township streets, and elderly black people tearfully telling reporters how it felt to finally be able to vote for the first time at the age of 80 or 90. Got to admit, I still get teary thinking about it.

We held our 4th general election last week, and for the first time since 1994 there was a similar sense of excitement and optimism. And it didn't seem to matter who you were voting for either (just as it didn't matter much in 1994) - everyone seemed enthusiastic, and it felt good to be united as a nation in a common activity. Despite all the controversy surrounding our president-elect Jacob Zuma, I think there is a lot of optimism right now amongst people of all political persuasions. It's a fresh start, and a change, and perhaps that's the most important thing for our teenage nation right now.

I found this photo in our archives; it's a month or two old, but I thought it would be fitting to post a photo of the sun setting behind Robben Island to mark Freedom Day.

Tea at the Vineyard Hotel

Musicians at a wedding

I promised to share with you another instalment in our fun-filled Saturday, when we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. For now I'm going to skip the breakfast and lunch parts of our day, and jump right to late afternoon tea.

11 years ago we were married at a huge manor house right next door to the estate of Klein Constantia, about 10 minutes' drive from the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands. On that day, when our afternoon wedding was over, Kerry-Anne and I headed off to the Vineyard Hotel to start our two-week honeymoon. So, I guess that it was a natural choice for me to include afternoon tea at the hotel to bring to a close our anniversary celebration.

As it happened, we arrived at the hotel just in time to witness another wedding taking place, 11 years after our own. So we sat and enjoyed our cake and tea while watching the bride and groom mingle on the lawn with their friends and family. This small group of classical musicians wandered among the guests, keeping the atmosphere calm and serene. It really was a beautiful wedding. :)

Our wedding anniversary

The Sanctuary Spa

Today Kerry-Anne and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We married fairly young and have been together for quite some time... so here's the challenge to you: leave a comment and guess how many years we've been married. (Hey, family and friends who know, shhhh..... ;) ).

So we normally don't do anything extravagant for our anniversary, but since I missed last year's one due to a business trip (*cough*) to Vegas, I realised that I'd have to make up for it this year. Since I'd like to keep the length of this post within reason, I'll tell you about the main highlight and fill you in about the breakfast, lunch and afternoon parts of our day next week.

We've never been to a health spa; I knew that Kerry-Anne would love it, and since I'm such a *cough* confident guy, I figured that I could put aside my bravado and join my lady for a couple of hours at a spa. So, I did what any smart guy would do and called a (female) friend for some advice. She recommended the Sanctuary Spa at the Twelve Apostles Hotel as "the best spa in Cape Town". And, although we're not experts in the field, she may have been right - the spa was pretty awesome.

We started off our skin rejuvenation journey in something called the Rasul Chamber. You first use some kind of coarse salt (I think) to exfoliate, and then apply a layer of clay (which looks much like real white potting clay)... followed by (yes, guys) a face and hair mask! The chamber then filled with dense steam for about 30 minutes before a fine rain began falling from the ceiling, washing off the products clinging to our skin.

Once we were done in the chamber, we headed off to the flotation pool, then sat in the warm spa bath for about half an hour, enjoying (part of) a bottle of sparkling wine.

At about 12h30 we were taken outside, up to the gazebos (seen in this photo) for an hour-long Swedish massage... which was divine. The gazebos have glass walls that allow you to see the ocean while you're in the room, and the sound of birds twittering and chirping in the surrounding bushes was incredibly relaxing.

I'd love to go into more detail about the experience, but time and the word-count of this post are against me. To get back to the introductory paragraph then, let's hear it: how many years do you think we've been married for?

SA Blog Awards: the results

SA Blog Awards party

So we got all dressed up last night and went off to join about 200 other party people at Chevelle, to find out who the winners were in this year's SA Blog Awards. If you're a regular reader, then you'll probably know that we were nominated in three categories again this year. And if you're somewhere in this photo, then you'll probably know that we didn't win anything this time around. :)

We came second in the Photographic Blog category (the winner was I Wrote This For You) and second in the Travel Blog category (the winner was the Portfolio Collection blog). Strangely, we're not particularly disappointed about not winning - the thing that's meant the most to us throughout the process has been the constant stream of people telling us either in person, or via email or Twitter, or right here on our blog, that they'd voted for us and that they really enjoy and value our photos and our commentary each day.

(We've also had a whole lot of compliments on the new design, by the way, but those compliments must go entirely to Max Kaizen, the creative brain behind this beautiful layout.)

So, from the bottom of my heart, a huge thank you to all of you. Winning awards is not what makes this worthwhile. Knowing that we regularly brighten your day, teach you something, persuade you to get out there and do things, rekindle your memories, or make you want to visit our fabulous city - those are the things that count, and I sincerely hope that we can keep on doing them for a long, long time.

You can see all the results here: SA Blog Awards 2009. And to Chris, Miguel and Tyler, you did a fantastic job in pulling this together - thank you.

Keep that wine on ice for now…

Wine bucket

A big thank you to those of you who nominated us for the 2009 SA Blog Awards - we were thrilled to discover this evening that Cape Town Daily Photo has been selected as a finalist in THREE categories: Best Photographic Blog, Best Travel Blog and Best Group Blog (a category for blogs with more than one author).

If you've been reading CTDP for a while, then you might recall that we won the award for Best Travel Blog in 2008. This year we have some truly formidable competition in every one of the categories for which we've been nominated, so we're keeping the celebratory wine on ice for now. :)

Of course I'd love you to vote for us, but at the same time I feel strongly that you shouldn't vote for this blog simply because I've asked you to, or because you're my friend, or because you follow me on Twitter: you should vote for this blog if you believe it to be the best in its category. So please visit the SA Blog Awards voting page, have a careful look at the finalists in each category, and then cast your vote for those you feel are most deserving. And don't forget to click on the link in the confirmation email you receive, in order to confirm your vote!

By the way, voting is open to EVERYONE, not only South Africans or residents of South Africa. So even if you live in the USA or the UK, Canada or Germany, Romania or India, or anywhere else for that matter, you can still vote.

AND ONE MORE TIME: Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate us - I'm not sure that you realise just how much your support, comments and encouragement mean to us, especially when it's reeeeally late at night, and, exhausted after a long day, we suddenly realise that neither of us has posted yet... ;-)

Onward and upward

Spiral staircase

Believe it or not, Cape Town Daily Photo turned two yesterday, and we almost forgot all about it! It was only when we heard that it was South African social media site Zoopy.com's second birthday today that we remembered that it was ours too. Since we really love and admire the team over at Zoopy, I stopped by their offices to drop off some age-appropriate birthday goodies this afternoon. They in turn gave me as much cake as I could eat... and then some more to take home. :) (Here's a photo to prove it.)

I almost can't believe that we've been running this blog for two years already. It really does seem like just a few months ago that we were so warmly welcomed into the City Daily Photo community, following our first post. And just so you know, we have no intention of stopping any time soon - certainly not while there is still so much of this beautiful city left to explore.

(By the way, in case you're puzzling over what to give us as a birthday gift, nominations have opened for the 2009 South African Blog Awards. I'm just saying. ;-) )

Cape Cobras: 2009 Standard Bank Pro20 champions!

Cape Cobras win the Pro20 Cricket Series

Yes, it's true! The Cape Cobras are the Standard Bank Pro20 cricketing champions at last! More than 16,000 Capetonians packed Sahara Park Newlands this evening to cheer their team to victory as they played the Gestetner Diamond Eagles (that's Bloemfontein's team) in the Pro20 final. As one of the Standard Bank live-bloggers, I got to watch the final from the very swanky Achiever Box at Newlands - think chic decor, beautiful waitresses, a full bar, comfy couches, a party atmosphere, and a perfect view of the cricket...

More Pro20 goodies:

It was quite a weekend for Cape Town sports fans, by the way. Not only did the Cobras take the Pro20 series, but our local rugby team, the Stormers, managed to eke out a very welcome victory over the Queensland Reds on Friday night, in their Super14 match played at Newlands Rugby Stadium.

Black Day, a contrast to Valentine’s Day

Lingerie Shop

Yesterday had most of Cape Town celebrating Valentine's Day - restaurants were fully booked, and parties all over Cape Town were buzzing. While we were driving to the friend's party that I spoke of yesterday, Kerry-Anne spotted this lingerie shop in Kloofnek Road. Isn't it an awesome display?

To get back to the title of this post - and for the sake of those who are single - did you know that in South Korea there's a tradition that on Black Day (14 April) single people get together for a meal of noodles with black bean sauce? That sounds like an awesome idea! Just imagine, a room full of single people... a room full of possibility. :)

Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day Car

With the way that flower wholesalers increase prices over the days leading up to Valentine's Day, I guess I'm lucky that Kerry-Anne doesn't like red roses. :)

I'd hazard a guess that Valentine's Day needs no introduction to most of the people reading this blog, so I'll not get into explaining its origin, except to mention that it has a definite Catholic heritage. What many will be surprised to know is that in Japan it's traditionally the woman's responsibility to give her partner hand-made chocolate on this day, whereas on White Day (14 March) the man traditionally reciprocates with gifts that are usually more than just chocolate!

For those of you who left messages to my dire plea for suggestions of what to do this evening, thank you! I ended up making a simple (really simple) dinner (twice), and setting the table with a single long candle and a hand-picked assortment of flowers. Later in the evening we got all dressed up and went out to a party at a friend's house in Cape Town. It was plenty of fun. :)

Fiery sky

Red-sky sunset

I decided to post this photo today for two reasons. Firstly, the fiery sky symbolises the raging flames that have been ravaging large parts of the Cape over the past few days. Last night's rain and today's slightly cooler weather served only to slow the fires down. We're hoping that this evening will bring more rain so that the firefighters can take a break from the battle.

And then, this photo also reminded me of the fact that it's Valentine's Day next Saturday... and I need help! I still haven't booked anything, and have no clue what we should do. Here are some of the ideas I've had, and suggestions that have been tossed my way:

  • Have dinner at the Ritz in Sea Point: The Ritz has a revolving restaurant on top of the hotel that gives diners 360° views of the city, mountain and oceans. It's a great idea, but the restaurant is already fully booked.
  • Have a picnic at one of the many wine farms around Cape Town: Awesome idea, but I'm not sure at this stage what the weather's going to be doing.
  • Go to the theatre: One of our friends is taking his wife to see Beauty and the Beast at the Artscape Opera House. Strangely enough, Kerry-Anne didn't seem to be particularly taken with this idea, though. Perhaps because she knows I'm not keen on musicals...
  • The big one - a weekend at the famous Kruger Park: We've never actually been to the Kruger Park (can you believe it?), even though it's one of South Africa's major tourist destinations. I thought this was an awesome idea (and discovered that it's surprisingly affordable!), but Valentine's Day is now only a week away and there's no way I'll be able to get leave from work. :(

So really, guys (and girls), if you have any suggestions I'd be very keen to hear them!

Cape Town Daily Photo Reloaded

Cape Town in the World Version of Monopoly

Well, things do look a little different today, don't they? We've been stealthily working on the new version of Cape Town Daily Photo for a few months now, and let me tell you, it's been really tough keeping quiet about it. From the day I saw the first mockups that the wonderful Max Kaizen had designed for us, I knew that this new version was going to be worlds better than our old site.

We've thought and planned and tweaked and played and written and rewritten, and at last we're ready to unveil the basic structure and design of the new site. There's a whole lot more to come though: over the next few weeks we'll be adding quite a number of new pages and features, some specifically for tourists and those unfamiliar with the city, and some that will appeal to locals and regular visitors to Cape Town.

Thank you to everyone who has played a part in bringing this new version of the site into being; I think quite a few of you wouldn't even have been aware of the fact that you influenced our thinking in some way, but it's fairly certain that if I've had any kind of conversation with you about Cape Town Daily Photo over the past five or six months, you've played a part. So, thank you.

Now to the subject of today's photo... remember way back in August 2008 when it was announced that Cape Town had secured enough votes to appear in 3rd spot on the board of the new Monopoly World Version? Well, we finally got to play the new version of Monopoly on Saturday evening, and it was loads of fun, even though I didn't win. ;-) We thought this would be an appropriate photo for the official launch of Cape Town Daily Photo version 2, since we're Passing Go and all (I'm still hunting for the $2M we're supposed to collect, though). If you look carefully, you'll see the Cape Town property card in the front right of the shot.

Another revolution

Ferris wheel at the Cape Town Waterfront

With no particular plans for seeing the new year in, Kerry-Anne and I went through to the Cape Town Waterfront to join the thronging crowds watching the annual fireworks display. We bought tickets for a ride on this ferris wheel just before midnight and watched the new year approach from several metres above the ground.

You may notice that only the "W" in "Ferris Wheel" was lit. As we boarded the giant wheel I wondered whether or not I should be concerned that the ride operators were not even able to keep all the lights in working order... :)

In closing, thanks for spending the last year with us; we've certainly enjoyed ourselves and hope that you've enjoyed sharing in Cape Town each day. We wish you an exciting and fun-filled 2009 with much love, joy and peace!

As of this post we've moved from the Blogger platform to a whole new look and feel using the WordPress framework. The past twenty two months under blogger are still available by clicking on the "archives" link at the top of the page.