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Find the Black Label

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Empty beer bottles
Part of our tour at SAB in Newlands was a round of beer appreciation whereby each person in our small tour group was presented with three glasses of beer. Based on the criteria that sets it apart from the others the challenge was to identify which of the three was Carling Black Label.

Previously we'd learned that Black Label is super filtered so the beer has a very clear and clean look about it. Many beers are fairly bitter, but we learned that compared to others Black Label isn't very bitter. (If I recall correctly it's because the Black Label recipe uses less hops than other beers). The final thing that I recall is that Black Label has a distinctively fruity smell.

Even though I took careful note of Black Label's signature properties - I regrettably failed correctly identify the beer! I immediately and correctly discarded the first beer, but ultimately failed to identify the correct glass. In my defence though, I still think someone mixed up my glasses! ;)

Click here to find my little album of photos taken while on the tour.

65,600,000 Bottles of beer on the wall

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Bottles of beer
Do you remember that song?

"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall....

The cellars at SAB in Newlands are capable of holding over 21 million litres of beer (about 65 million bottles) at any given time! I'm guessing that the writer of that song sure was lucky not to have been standing in front of this conveyor belt!

I've been posting photos with the word yeast in them over the past two days. An interesting thing that I learned while on the tour was that SAB add on average 3 tons of yeast to each fermentation tank and that six day's later they remove three times as much - that's 9 tons of yeast! Isn't that just crazy!? Don't you wish that your bank could do the same with your money? :)

I think this was the last bit of useful information that I remember from the tour. At this point in the factory I (for some strange reason) become so thirsty that all I could think about was the beer tasting at the end. But, hold on there, allow me to keep this short and tell you more about that tomorrow!

Yeast pitching agitator?

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Pitching the yeast
One of our readers correctly pointed out that yesterday's photo must have been taken at South African Breweries in Newlands. SAB produce many different beers and other alcoholic beverages in their seven breweries located in six provinces across the country, including Carling Black Label - the first beer I remember taking a liking to!

After visiting the main control room at SAB we headed down to a huge room with a maize of impeccably clean stainless steel pipes that seemed to head in every which way. While the rest of my group was lectured on the process followed in this room, I took the opportunity to capture a few pictures that I'll be sharing with you. This brings me to today's photo - a series of important-looking red buttons that appear to control something called a Yeast Pitching Agitator.

I know precious little about brewing beer (yes, perhaps I should have paid closer attention) but from the little bit of reading that I did it seems as though "pitching the yeast" refers to the process of adding the yeast to the raw and bubble-less beer (known as "wort"). As for the agitator - it appears as though its role in the process is to activate the yeast in the wort by means of physically stirring the mixture.

Do you know how agitators in breweries work? If you do, please leave a comment to explain it more completely! :)

Don’t worry mum, it’s only a little yeast

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Yeast in a pipe
Yeast is one of those ultra-important additives to many of the yummy foodstuffs that we enjoy. An interesting fact is that archaeologist's discoveries in Egypt have proved that the use of this fungus in the baking process goes back thousands of years. I wonder who discovered that mixing this particular fungus with dough would cause the bread to rise. Isn't that just an odd thing to try doing?

During my last couple of day's of vacation (of which today is the last) I took a tour of a certain establishment. Based on this photo where in the world do you think I found myself?

Why we love Wembley Square

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Sinn's Restaurant in Wembley Square
Perhaps the reason for all the fuss around Wembley Square stems from the trendy style that the small centre with it's restaurants, coffee shops and boutique shops oozes. Or, perhaps it's because of the natural light that streams through the glass ceiling and doors that gives the square it's outside feel, but keeps it protected from the enthusiastic wind and rain that our fair city is known for.

Personally, I think it's both of these, plus that S-Bar (part of Sinn's Restaurant) has comfy couches and low tables that friends can gather around to enjoy drinks and tapas. Whatever the reason - the spot remains a great place to relax with friends and soak up the City. :)

Spring specials at Sinn’s

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Moroccan Spicy Chicken Salad

Sinn's Restaurant in Wembley Square (map) is a favorite for many of Cape Town's inhabitants. I was recently invited to visit to try their R50 spring lunch specials - and oh, what a treat it was!

On arrival I was unsure of which dish to try, but Thomas Sinn (owner and, from what I can gather, head chef) had a special smaller serving of five of the six dishes lined up me to try out. What you see in this photo is the Moroccan Spicy Chicken Salad - harissa-coated chicken with lettuce, chick peas, cherry tomatoes, and a toasted sesame seed dressing. I have to say that it was indeed pretty yummy!

This treat was followed up with Chicken Korma (perhaps my favorite), Cajun Chicken Burger, Fried Black Mussel Noodles, and finally Black Lentil Bobotie. Even though I had reduced portions I'm sure you can imagine I practically rolled out of the restaurant - very satisfied. :)

As mentioned, the Chicken Korma was my favorite, but the seared taste of the cajun chicken was a pretty close second. While I don't normally eat mussels (I don't like the fishy taste) the Fried Black Mussel Noodles, I have to admit, was pretty awesome - none of that nasty fishy taste! And, the last course, the Black Lentil Bobotie? Well, I don't eat bobotie but even though I was pretty full by the time this dish arrived, I very almost finished it (especially after a vegetarian friend emphasised how healthy lentils are!). :)

Paid parking in the Cape Town CBD

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Paid parking
Previously Cape Town had parking meters into which you'd drop your coins. Traffic wardens would walk around and check if folk had put money into the meters, and if not (of if the meter had expired) attach a traffic fine to your vehicle.

A few years back this all changed - I suspect because, at night, people started stealing these little treasure chests on poles. Today we have officials wearing bright yellow and green bibs manning (almost) each street in the CBD. When you park, they ask you how long you expect to be staying and bill you on the spot for the amount of time that you estimate. On your return, if you'd overstayed your quoted time you pay up the difference, or get a refund if you were under time.

I normally quote the shortest time that I think I may need, take my receipt, and pay the difference upon my return. Most often I overpay and leave the difference to the official - who normally gladly accepts the difference with a smile. :)

Woodpecker?

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Woodpecker
I found this little guy poking around between the weeds in our grass. I'm certainly not an ornithologist, or even a bird-watcher, but based on the look of this bird I'd guess that it's a Woodpecker of sorts.

Please leave a comment here if you know exactly what kind of bird this is.

Macarons, they’re so good they must be bad

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Macarons

It's embarrassing yes - the sign "Parisian Macaroons" spells the name of this delicate French biscuit (of sorts) incorrectly. It's not macaroon (phonetically ma-ca-roon) it's macaron (phonetically ma-ca-raun). You won't believe how many people get the spelling and pronunciation wrong. Macaroons are in fact something completely different to these lovely macarons - see the photo on the Wikipedia article on macaroons.

Kerry-Anne bought a few of these lovelies when visiting Ladurée in Paris earlier this year - later to discover that Daniela's in the Cape Quarter sells macarons that (to me) taste exactly like the one's that she babied on the flight from Paris to South Africa!

If you haven't yet tasted one of these - visit Daniela's and spend R10 to buy one - you'll love 'em!

The King Protea, South Africa’s national flower

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King Protea
The King Protea is the largest of all Proteas and extremely prolific in the Western Cape - which I guess may have contributed to it being designated as the country's national flower. Isn't it just a work of art?

An interesting fact is that the King Protea isn't only grown for export in South Africa, but also in New Zealand, Australia and even Hawaii! If you're interested in reading more about Proteas - or in fact about South African flora in general - visit the PlantZAfrica website. The site's pretty dated, but if you'd excuse it's '90s design there's plenty of information that you may find very useful. :)

Things that money can buy

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Bathroom mirror
While it's true that in itself money can't buy happiness, I think you'll find many people who have a lot of it would argue that it can help enable happiness. For example, if you find yourself hating cooking and cleaning day in and day out, being financially able to hire someone to do this for you allows you to enjoy your true passions; the things that make you happy - like painting, biking, or hiking perhaps. Perhaps, in the same way, having beautiful things your home helps enable happiness - that is, if you enjoy beautiful things of course.

I'm not saying that money, and the beautiful things that one's able to purchase or do with it, can change unhappy situations (like a bad marriage or a crummy job) into happy ones. What I am saying is that while money can't fix unhappy situations it can, in some way, buy happiness.

If you're wondering why I'm being so philosophical - this is the thought I had after visiting the beautiful Victoria Bathrooms shop that I mentioned in my previous post. :)

Foxgloves and fynbos

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Foxgloves
These Foxgloves are of the flowers that you'll find growing in fields around the Western Cape. These particular ones, as you may have gathered, I found on Tygerberg Hill during a recent visit. I find the way that sun lights them up awesomely beautiful!

Am I alone in this, or is there anyone else who lives in suburban Cape Town who also thinks that it would be awesome to have a well-kept, but completely Fynbos and wildflower garden instead of manicured grass, popular shrubs and flowers?

Accidents and adverts

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N1 Highway
The flyover bridge that you see on the left is Eastern Boulevard. Keeping left takes you to the northern suburbs of Cape Town via the N1 highway whereas keeping to the right leads to the southern suburbs.

The sign may not look that large in this photo, but did you notice the huge advert for the iPhone 4 against the side of the building on the left? That poster looks absolutely huge when viewed from your car on Eastern Boulevard. Because it's located next to a part of the road where lanes merge and traffic is accelerating out of the city, I find it dangerously distracting - especially if the advert is particularly eye-catching.

I've actually erected a mental block, forcing myself not look at the sign when traveling along that stretch of road!

A big big wheel

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A big big wheel
Ah, I guess this photo makes it as clear as daylight as to where we were. This picture doesn't really do justice to how high up you feel you are when in the Wheel of Excellence at the Waterfront!

Although the fairly large gondola is said to take 8 passengers, don't believe them - unless of course you're one of 8 skinny teenagers. :) I'd guess that you'd rather more comfortably seat 6 people in one of these air conditioned cabins... again, unless of course you're 6 boerseuns * from Pretoria!

The ride around and around and around was extremely smooth, and very pleasant. It's clear that the workmanship leveraged to build this wheel was of the best quality and that the mechanics are well looked after - unlike the rides that I remember going on at the various fairs that I visited as a kid.

Speaking of fairs - remember the rides at the Goodwood Show Grounds? Check this pic out!

* Afrikaners sometimes tend to have huge, burly, sons and the word boerseuns is an affectionate term for these. You could literally translate the word as "farmer's sons".

Pictures from the sky

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Table Mountain

Two days ago I posted a photo of a sign that is located inside the gondolas of The Wheel of Excellence, found just outside of the V&A Waterfront. This photo of the city was taken as we were reaching the apex of the wheel - isn't the view just superb?

Speaking of the V&A Waterfront... there's a competition that (I'm sure you'll agree)  you have to enter. The prizes range from helicopter flips, to cruises, complimentary dinners and even an overnight stay in a Marina apartment. To win all that you have to do is take a photo and write a short story telling what you love best about the Waterfront. Check out the full list of prizes and submit your entry here.

I'm sure it's needless to say that if you win the dinner-with-friends or the private movie screenings you'll be obliged to invite Kerry-Anne and myself along. ;)

Microlight trips in Cape Town

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Microlight over the ocean

Besides for experiencing the weather yourself, you know it's a great day in Cape Town when you hear the buzz of microlights in the air. The winds in Cape Town get so strong, gusty and difficult to predict that I've never seen a microlight or hang-glider out except on beautiful, clear and mostly-windless days.

If you'd like to take a microlight flip in Cape Town take a look at Aquila Microlight Safaris - from their site it looks like it'll cost you between R500 and R1000. I've never taken a trip with them, so I can't vouch for the experience, but I can only imagine that you'd get some great photos from the open-air cockpit of a microlight!

I did some hunting around and I can't seem to find anywhere that one's able to hire a microlight in Cape Town, so for the moment taking a flip as a passenger may be your only option. If you do know of a place, please be so kind as to leave a comment on this post.

Have you seen these lights before?

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Restaurant lights
I took this photo at a popular restaurant in the Cape Town vicinity. It's near the ocean and they serve great sushi. Do you recognise these ceiling lights; have you seen them before?

If you're sure that you've seen these lights before, leave a message here and name the restaurant! :)

Public prosecutors

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Public prosecutors
Public Prosecutors are the people who represent the State in criminal cases. They're the people who decide what charge should be levelled against an accused and are also responsible for building the case that ultimately convicts guilty parties.

You may have heard about people such as the "National Director of Public Prosecutions" in the much publicised cases against various politicians and high-powered businessmen. The National Director is the top prosecutor in our judicial system supported by a hierarchy comprising the Deputy National Director, Directors, Deputy Directors and finally the Public Prosecutors mentioned in this photo.

Given who these people are I'd say that it's better than one takes heed of the sign and doesn't park on this side of the road. :)

Pillars of the Magistrates Courts

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Pillars of the Magistrates Courts
These are the pillars with which the Cape Town Magistrates Courts in Parade Street are built. To be honest, I'm fairly confused by our country's many courts and their legal processes. We have Magistrates Courts, Regional Courts, High Courts, Equality Courts, Supreme Court, Constitutional Court... to name only a few. See the full list of courts here.

Perhaps it interests you to know that there are about 366 magisterial districts and main magistrates’ offices - and about 1906 magistrates in South Africa; which I guess is a great number of people who on a daily basis have to make difficult decisions over other peoples lives. I guess then it's not strange that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is trying to (or by this time may have) implement an amendment to the Magistrates' Courts act which would make stricter the criteria for appointing magistrates.

Basically the draft bill would require candidate magistrates to have a higher qualification than what is currently accepted and in addition specifically details requirements such as "competence, diligence, dignity and social standing". While not being a reflection on our 1906+ magistrates - I can't say that this would be a bad bill to have passed!

Darling and Parade

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Darling and Parade
After my previous post about the Cape Town Central Library a friend asked exactly where the entrance was located. You'll see the entrance to the library on the right-hand side of this photo - in Parade Street.

Besides for the Central Library, South Africa has two national libraries who've been mandated to "collect and preserve public documents and make the accessible" - according to their website. The one is in Pretoria and the other is in our beautiful Cape Town - near the Company Gardens. We're certainly going to have to visit this treasure chest in Queen Victoria Street soon!

Danger, Xhosa and Wikipedia

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Danger sign
Inkozi (pronounced "ing-caw-zee") is the Xhosa word for danger and in this case is found on a sign posted at the location of an electricity substation in the Wooltru building (mentioned in my previous post).

Even though it's commonly spoken in our Western and Eastern Cape provinces, when considered in a global context, Xhosa is a relatively small language. What I was happy to find out is that there's a Xhosa edition of Wikipedia available! While it is a relatively small edition, with only 115 articles at the time of writing this post, it was once explained to me that it's a major step towards documenting what the Xhosa elders have through the centuries passed on to their children by word of mouth only.

I found this interesting and alternative usage of an abbreviated form of the word, and although I doubt it's legitimacy I found the dialogue at the bottom of the text terribly entertaining. :)

The Wooltru mystery

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Wooltru and City Hall
The building on the left in the photo backs onto Cape Town City Hall and is know as the Wooltru building in Corporation Street. While Wooltru is a huge company that (as I understand) is the cash shell of several other large corporates I've found it extremely difficult to find much useful information about them on the Web.

They have no Wikipedia page and their www.wooltru.co.za site doesn't work and hasn't been indexed by Google. With the exception of a handful of financial articles on fin24.com there really doesn't seem to be much information that someone like myself (who is largely ignorant when it comes to cash shells, reverse takeovers, and other business strategies) would find useful.

Please, if you know more than I do, would you mind leaving a comment to explain what Wooltru is about and how this all works?

A pretty kind of ugly

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A pretty kind of ugly
This sure isn't a well-painted wall, nor is it a beautiful work of art or graffiti - but still, don't you find that this section of wall has some kind of appeal? I'm not sure, perhaps it's the layers of paint, old doors, and damaged walls that cause a tinge of nostalgia towards the things of old.

Many people would jump at the chance of having everything be pristine and new, but don't you think the City would lose some of it's character if, in some way, it were possible that all these building would be restored?

However, I'm torn in two because there's plenty of room for improving the City's surrounding suburbs - and while I'm all for beautifying and uplifting rundown areas, I'd hate to lose all the history reflected in these walls.

Say what?

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Graffiti
I found this piece of graffiti in Salt River interesting - I think it was because of the dark layers of muted colours beneath, covered by the bold white lines. I stood looking at this piece of graffiti for quite some time before realising that either it never meant anything, or I was just not going to see what the artist was trying to say.

Do you have any idea what this could mean, or do you think the artist wasn't an artist, or expressionist, at all?

The Eastern Food Bazaar

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Eastern Food Bazaar

This, my dear friends, is my latest discovery and the answer to the question posed a couple of posts back - the Eastern Food Bazaar (map). A colleague recommended the place, so on this particular day, while in the area, I decided pay them a visit.

The concept is that you browse the half-a-dozen stalls, inspecting each for what  your tummy desire. Once you've memorised your list you pay for the meal at one of two pay points (at the same time specifying if you'd like the food in a take-away container) and then receive in return a printed slip that lists what you've purchased. This slip you present at each of the stalls in exchange for the food you've purchased.

Three things about the visit impressed me. The first thing was how clean each food stall was; the second was how friendly everyone working there was; and the last was how large the portions were - given that most curries were priced between R25 and R30, with the most expensive being R35 (excluding rice and naan)!

In terms of the quailty of the meal - it was great. The Rogan Josh that I had was fairly hot, and I guess the only point that I could criticize the meal on is that there were more bones than I'd expected. However, Indian curries rely on bones for flavour - and for R30 I'd be hard-pressed to feel cheated. :)

Old wooden décor

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Old wooden furniture
I may be dragging out the question that I posed in my second-last post a little, but (besides for the fact that I'm a little behind in these daily photos) there were so many photo opportunities at this place that I've decided to give one more clue before revealing this restaurant's identity and location.

Don't you just love this wooden décor? While it wouldn't suite our house I think it's awesome. Take a close look at the woodwork and imagine a family crowded around a piece of wood, carving out every detail by hand. I kid you not, much of this type of furniture is made by mom, dad and their children.

I find myself thinking of this both as wonderful and sad at the same time. While this kind of family work may instill a great sense of unity it's sad that in many parts of the world kids aren't left to be kids for very long. All too soon the practice of having to earn one's keep become a reality.

A city center photo walk

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Hungry for food
Perhaps it's all the walking, but I always seem to get terribly hungry when out on a photo walk.

Naturally you'd need to be familiar with Cape Town to answer this question... but given this sign and that I was somewhere in the city center - and given my previous photo - where do you think I visited to buy a refreshingly different take-away lunch?

Cape Town City Hall – a different perspective

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Cape Town City Hall
For some reason, and I honestly can't say why, I've never seen the back of the city hall! To help you get some perspective on where this photo was taken - the lower left corner of this photo has the Grand Parade in the distance. You may recall that I posted a photo of this building from a different angle a few months back.

The last time I was in the City Hall was during the mid '90s. At that time it house the Central Library, and I remember spending time in a slightly stuffy, very cramped, slightly dark room that reminded me of a library that you'd be more likely to be visiting if your name were Harry Potter.

I never realised this before now, but on closer investigation I've just learned that in 2008 the library moved to a building located just to the left of this one (if you were facing it's front). Kerry-Anne hasn't read this article yet - but I imagine that on reading she'll be insisting that we soon pay the "new" library a visit. :)

Are we human or are we dancer?

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Adidas on a bike
At first I never realised what this mural was about - but then when reviewing it this evening I realised that it's an advert - for Adidas. Perhaps just like you, I enjoy good clothing, but contrary to many I'm in no way brand loyal. I don't identify myself with a particular brand and have a rather cynical view on, especially, branded clothing.

Many photographers are extremely loyal to the make of camera that they use. I happen to use a Canon camera, but I'd switch to another make in the blink of an eye - provided of course that what I switched to is of similar or better quality.

Isn't it strange how people are affected by branding and marketing? Isn't it interesting how one's opinion can be swayed by a marketing company associating one thing with something that one may aspire to be - like Adidas being associated with this cool-looking guy on a bike?

Marketing and media really do have the power to sway our minds - in a way we're just putty in someone else's hands, and I guess this is partly the motivation on my post about the media and I believe a part of the message behind the The Killers song, Human. See the "Meaning" section of the Wikipedia article if you're unsure of what I'm referring to.

Are you human or are you dancer?

Faith and The Cape of Good Hope

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Faith and The Cape of Good Hope
I found this artwork in the old suburb of Salt River - that's the one just after Woodstock, which borders directly on the City and is named after the (you've got it!) river called Salt River. If you read yesterday's post, you may now have been observant enough to recoignise them in this photo.

Take a closer look and you'll see that today's photo is simply a different perspective on yesterday's one. The main photo from yesterday's post is content of the letter "I" in the word "FAITH".

I have a couple of ideas, but I'm not completely sure what message the artists were trying to convey on this wall. Would anyone venture taking a guess? Please leave a comment on this post if you think you know what they were thinking.