Click here for a map to where I took this photo.
General
Public telephones in South Africa
Coin-operated phones are blue, while cardphones are green... so your guess is as good as mine in this case. I unfortunately failed to check these phones (at the V&A Waterfront). For plenty of information about how to phone to and from South Africa, read this article on the SouthAfrica.Info website - it's pretty informative. Alternatively, if you'd simply like some information about Telkom's phonecards, you'll find the information here.
Phonecards can be purchased from shops that display the Telkom logo. Visit this page on their site for more information.
The Golden Seal of the Table Bay
The golden statue was erected in honour of an old fisherman, Oscar, who often spent time fishing off a nearby pier. Oscar, reportedly, made friends with a seal who use to visit him each morning. The fisherman occasionally use to feed the seal some of his bait, or sometimes even fish that he'd caught. The story on the Table Bay's site is a typical ad copy, so be sure to conjure up a warmed heart when reading about the seal from the hotel's perspective. ;) You'll find their page here.
A call to save Cape Town City Ballet
Cape Town City Ballet opened it's doors *way* back in 1934, and today faces the possibility of closing up shop for ever. Even though I hadn't planned to write about ballet, I've just realised that the photo that I'd intended to post fits the theme - in some manner at least. :)
Ballet is indeed an art, and for the dancers involved with Cape Town City Ballet, it is a way of life. If you feel that you would like to support this organisation, please visit the Save Cape Town City Ballet website. There's a huge "donate" button towards the bottom of the homepage.
Thanks to Chris and The Forge Web Creations for bringing the cause to our attention and for setting up the Save Cape Town City Ballet website. You guys rock!
Gumboot dancers
If I remember correctly, they danced the dance to a popular song by South African kwaito singer Mandoza (pronounced Mun-dor-za). Take a moment to listen to the song here, but note that unless you speak Zulu you have little hope catching the lyrics. :) Nevertheless, if you've never heard it, crank the volume pretty loud and enjoy the beat!
A school outing
About once each term, when I was in primary school, our teacher would organise a class outing to some place like the botanical gardens, some historical monument, or once simply to the slopes of Table Mountain (where we learned about geology).
We found this group of school kids seated on the grass at Mouille Point (map), opening their snack packs as two or three very strict-looking teachers ensured that they were (reasonably quiet) and well behaved. :)
The Waterfront from Signal Hill
We live in a very special city folks. Cape Town <3. :)
Stained glass windows
The new clear glass windows looked awesome - they let in so much light, and made the building appear welcoming from the outside. I think my aversion to stained glass may simply be because (even though some would not say) I love minimalist décor, and stained glass is perhaps simply too busy for my brain to make sense of. :D
Autumn and Winter in Cape Town
The arrival of autumn and winter conjures mixed feelings in me. On the one hand I love hot days and warm evenings, but on the other hand, the autumn and winter light together with the cool crisp air sets the scene for beautiful photo opportunities.
Oh, and this year, besides these both, we'll be having a fantastic June/July - roll on 2010 FIFA World Cup! :)
Beautiful Llandudno beach
I believe also that Llandudno is also an awesome place to surf, and not only because of the easy-going waves, but also because of the beautiful mountain and beach view that you have when standing on your board. It's simply breathtaking.
Mussels on a bed of grey rock
Given that one actually needs a permit to remove even mussels from the ocean, I have to wonder if she was breaking any laws by gobbling that little one...
A busy Long Street at night
Long is a one-way, with it's parallel neighbour, Loop, running in the opposite direction. This particular section is near the top of the road - where it's pretty safe to walk around at night. The middle, or bottom is a lot quieter and not necessarily quite as safe, and I guess is a place that I'd only really walk around during the day.
Wine farms and wine dams
Incidentally, D'Aria is the home of the popular Poplars restaurant (map). I'm not huge fan of the restaurant, but many people love it, so I do think that it's worth a try at least - perhaps it's your kind of place. :)
Girl in the window
I found the beautiful young lady in this photo stuck in the window of a restaurant, and I'm willing to give 100 points to the first person able to tell me the name of the restaurant! :)
A horse, a field, and a dog
I don't know much about horses, but what I learned is that they must be *really* shy animals, and certainly not too keen on having their photo taken. As soon as I approached with my camera they backed off - far away from the fence.
ps. Oh, about the dog... there was no dog, but "A horse and a field" seemed like a rather dull title for this photo. ;)
A graffiti hammock
Some would say that this is “just graffiti”, or perhaps the defacement of the wall. But I think (and I trust that I’m not the only one) that there really is something awesome about it. Did you notice the text, and the care with which the dots and little lines have been drawn? Some people have such a talent for art. Me on the other hand… I’m really brilliant with stick-figures. :D
Graffiti frustration
Mr Pickwicks – a “dodgy” restaurant on Long
Kfm and Mitsubishi
Kfm is a local (as in "not national") radio station that plays mostly pop and commercial music, and seems to have wide appeal among Capetonians. In this photo you can see two of their new branded Mitsubishi "Ground Patrol" 4x4s, which roam the streets, handing out prizes to avid Kfm listeners. Click here to read more about them.
Bar on fire
In a previous post I mentioned Che Latino Café in Brackenfell. While sitting outside trying desperately to even vaguely fit in with an entire crowd of friends that I didn't know, out of the corner of my eye I spotted an intense red glow coming from the bar area.
I jumped up to... take a photo and capture the moment. Naturally. :) But I found that the bar wasn't really on fire; the barman was squirting a flammable liquid along its length, creating this spectacular scene. What was surprising to me was that the patrons seemed to hardly even notice that the bar they were sitting at had flames leaping from it! (Leading me to believe that this was more of a regular thing than a special occasion.)
Another tough day in Cape Town
Being surrounded by all this beauty ALL THE TIME is such a burden. I do hope you feel sorry for us.
County Fair’s chickens
I recently had the opportunity to visit a friend who lives on one of County Fair's farms. County Fair is one of the large broiler rearers in South Africa - to the left of this photo are the large structures that house the chickens.
I have to say that the visit to the farm made me somewhat sad. While I know that many will say "they're only chickens", I can't escape the fact that theirs must be a terrible existence. Kerry-Anne buys only free-range chicken and eggs, and while there's a chance that free-range chickens don't necessarily have a much better life than the non-free-range variety, at least they do get to potter around outside in the sunshine.
Take a moment to visit Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary's blog. The sanctuary rescues farm animals, and the blog tells their stories. (They also have some great farm animal photos :) ).
Press the button
What would *you* do if you saw this button on a wall? Isn't it just screaming out to be pressed? If you're anything like me, then you'd probably want to push it just to see what it does. Maybe it wouldn't be quite so irresistible if it were labeled something less tempting and more useful - like, perhaps... "BELL". :)
Cars and movies
It's fairly well-known that many international movie producers shoot films in Cape Town, and to be honest, it's kinda weird seeing familiar sights in Cape Town represented as being in another country.
One of the tag-along industries that has developed alongside film-making is the rental of cars - specifically old cars like this Pontiac GTO. Who would believe that there's actually enough money to be made renting out old cars to support more than one such business? There's one business not far from where we live that does just this, and I just discovered Cape Cars who appear to have an assortment of cars specifically for film shoots! I wonder how many other businesses make their livelihood from Hollywood and Bollywood film shoots, and whether or not I should get in on some of the action... :)
Emergency taxi phone
In February I told you about Rikkis Cabs, and how you really should use them if you find that you or perhaps your designated driver has had a little bit too much alcohol to drink and you need a ride home.
So next time that you're out, keep your eyes open for phones like this one - they put you directly in touch with Rikkis who will dispatch a taxi to you in a dash. Alternatively, keep their number, 0861 745 547, on your cell phone (perhaps under "Taxi") just in case you need them some day.
A river swells from little streams
The title of this post is the tagline for The Movement for Good, a group of companies and individuals that have joined together to help foster moral regeneration. The tagline speaks exactly to what I understand their core philosophy to be, and that is that if you and I start doing good things, stop breaking even the most inconsequential laws, and start being "good people", then that will have an effect on our country's general morality.
I'm sure that they don't mean that not picking wild flowers, not speeding, and not watering your garden during water restrictions will prevent violent crimes in the short term, but I rather imagine that the philosophy says that failure to abide by the small laws and sense of morality promotes slightly more significant crime and moral degradation (perhaps in others), which in turn snowballs into a lack of respect for other people's possessions or even lives.
Sure, it's quite a leap to get from contravening small laws and senses of morality to the big issues of theft and violence, but kids learn from their elders and if elders instil good values into children then I really do believe that it could stop the snowball and have a positive effect on crime and morality in general.
Add your stream to the river, visit their website, read up about their focus areas (Safety, Education, Environment, Health, and Youth), and join the movement!
St Joseph’s Marist College, the reprise
My last three photos, and now this one too, were taken at St Joseph's Marist College in Rondebosch. This photo is of the school chapel, the one attached to the bottom of the tower in yesterday's photo. I did some research and turned up a Facebook page called "I went to St. Joesph's [sic] College, Rondebosch".
Visit the page and read the Basic Info section, and then click through to the Wall - it's terribly entertaining and will give you some insight into what life must have been like at the college. I guess it may also cause you to realise that almost everywhere, students are the same. :)
In closing, let me share what I found to be the funniest line from the Basic Info section of the page:
" If you were one of the lucky students to attend St. Joesph's Marist College, you would remember a few of these little things, that make the school a legend:
...
The time a bunch of kids tried to perform and exorcism on the "HAUNTED STATUE" of the Saint! " :D
I wonder if it's this statue to which the writer refers?
Christianity and perspective
According to a 2001 census, 80% of South Africans view themselves as Christian. Of course, what is considered to make one a Christian differs from person to person.
Some South Africans would say that if you go to church every week you're a Christian, while others will attend church only on Christmas Day, and perhaps over Easter. Yet others would claim that going to church means nothing and that it's your belief that makes you a Christian. A large proportion of black South Africans declare themselves Christian even though their Christian beliefs are often a mixture of Western-style Christianity and traditional African culture, beliefs, and ancestral practices.
It seems to me as though this large Christian contingent is quite a mixed bag of variations on Christianity. If you were to dig your hand in to pull out a Christian, each time you did so you may end up with a Christian who believes something vastly different to the previous Christian you pulled out. :D
Books and encyclopaedias
I took this photo while wandering around one of our prestigious Catholic schools, St Joseph's College in Rondebosch (map). St Joseph's has both a junior and a senior school, housed in separate buildings, and clearly places a lot of emphasis on cricket - they have two large cricket ovals, which, according to one of the ex-pupils, is where kids spent most of their days after school and on weekends, batting, bowling, and running after cricket balls.
An interesting thing about this photo is the World Book encyclopaedia in the window. This particular encyclopaedia was first published in 1917, only one year before the school opened its doors. I think it's rather an interesting coincidence that these books and the building in which they lie both originated at around the same time.
Sunday afternoon cricket
A while back we spent the afternoon with friends playing a Sunday afternoon round of cricket. Since that sounds ambiguous, let me clarify that Kerry-Anne and I certainly weren't playing. Andre and I spent the afternoon shooting photos, while Kerry-Anne became the eyes to those not able to attend by live-tweeting the game.
While taking a break from photographing ball after ball, I took this picture. I have to admit that I've always found statues of babies just a smidgen weird. Am I the only one who thinks this or do you feel the same?
(Oh please say I'm not the only one. ;) )