In his November 20, 2011 article for TimesLive.co.za, Neil Pendock, who describes himself as ‘South Africa’s leading independent drinks commentator…’ writes about Birch’s  war-of-words with Hong Kong businessman and socialite Sir David Tang (formerly he of Shanghai Tang).

I am happy to say that Su has since contacted me and clarified her side of the tiff as follows:

Dear Mike,

I want to assure you that WOSA is totally committed to the Hong Kong and Chinese markets and are doing as much as we can with our very limited funds.

We were active at 4 shows in China last year, one of which was in Hong Kong and brought WOSA Wine Workshops to Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

These master classes were presented by some of our best winemakers to a large audience of Hong Kong sommeliers and trade.

I presented at the Wine Futures Hong Kong seminar in November.

We are planning to be at 5 shows this year, the first of which is Vinexpo Hong Kong in May.

We have translated our promotional material in to Mandarin and building our first Mandarin website in the next few months.

WOSA does not sell wine, we just try to grow awareness and promote a positive image.

If you have some great ideas on how to get more wine sold in Hong Kong,we’d like to to hear them. But budget is always a problem.

Our bottled wine exports to China (unfortunately I don’t have Hong Kong separately) are up 90% for the 12 months ended October 2011.

I guess everywhere in the world you have politics, and quite why Mr. Pendock found it necessary to make such a huge fuss about my comment in an online lifestyle magazine about not wanting to go on holiday in China (where I have done some travelling) is not something I understand. Going on holiday and doing business are two very different things.

I hope this sets the record straight.

Best

Su

On my usual Sunday-morning walkabout, I took some images of the SA shelf at the Jason’s store in Tsim Sha Tsui’s K11 mall.

Of course Cape Town temperatures often exceed 30degrees celsius so we had no understanding of that song, other than our dad doing it so well… all the time pottering around on our Yamaha electric organ. He did too. Also, chestnuts aren’t big in South Africa so that entire experience was lost on us as kids.

Until I moved to Asia.

I first encountered chestnuts (and cold Decembers) living in Northern Taiwan.

Roaming Taipei city, shopping for Christmas gifts, I often encountered street vendors selling hot, roasted chestnuts to eager passers-by.

But it was here in Hong Kong that I grew to love not only the hot nuts, but also the smell of the coal fire and roasting nuts being churned manually on the streets of this bustling city.

I bought some today just outside the Tin Hau MTR and took some pics:

One pound of roasted chestnuts coming up…

Here’s the great Nat King Cole…

Since my first post on this issue I’ve been at a loss of words on this issue but today, on my usual trawl of the South African daily papers, I probably found (one of the reasons) for the discrepancy.

Seems the head honcho of the SA Wine Export marketers (WOSA), one Su Birch have been in the thick of things as far as SA Wines’ import attempts into Hong Kong/China is concerned. And NOT in a good way.

Read this report from TimesLive…

Seems Su Birch has not exactly endeared herself into the local wine inport/export community with her comments.

More to follow…

Mike Jansen

(Hung Hom)

Hong Kong has cancelled all package tours to Bangkok as the floodwaters advanced on the Thai capital.

The move – which affects around 50 tours and 1,500 people – will stay in force until November 1, said the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council.  It follows the issue of a red travel alert for Bangkok by the Hong Kong government.

The alert is the second most serious travel warnings in a three-tier system and advises people to avoid all non-essential travel to areas seriously affected by flooding.

According to the Thai authorities, 28 provinces have been hit by the flooding which has affected the lives of around 2.5 million people and caused at least 366 deaths since mid-July.

The floodwater is now advancing into the capital and threatening the main commercial districts, electricity supplies and transport services, prompting the government to declare a five-day special holiday to allow people to prepare for the floods.

At present, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport is operating normally. However, the city’s second airport, Don Muang, which normally operates around 100 domestic flights a day, has been closed because of flooding on the runways.

So, if you’re planning to fly to Thailand, don’t dispair. Simply fly intoSuvarnabhumi International Airport, catch a connecting flight to Phuket or Koh Samui and enjoy the Island Life!

It’s still dry out there.

Koh Samui Aiport… the prettiest airport in the world!

This morning (South African time, about noon here in Hong Kong) I shared a tense few minutes with many other passionate Capetonians when we tuned into Twitter and the internet (live stream) to await the announcement of  the winner of the Design Capital of the World for 2014.

Back home, supporters were watching a live stream from the IDA Congress in Taipei while I and many others were following the #WDC2014 hash-tag on Twitter.

I could never have imagined that following a Twitter hash-tag (#) could be THAT nerve-wracking!

Eventually, at about 12:20pm (Hong Kong time) the message came through:

Cape Town had won the bid and was announced as the 2014 World Design Capital.

Here in Hong Kong I could almost hear and feel the outburst of excitement and relief after months of hard work from the Congress Hall in my former home-away-from-home of Taipei (where the Bid Team was in attendance).

Back in the Mother City friends and supporters were assembled at the Field Office to watch a live stream from Taipei.

In fact, once again Twitter made the gap so much narrower as many people were Tweeting pics live from the Field Office.

Supporters gather at the Field Office in Cape Town this morning (Pic: Itswhatiminto.com)

For those of you who do not know what the title means and how Cape Town WILL benefit from the honor, I suggest you read Rashiq Fataar’s excellent blog Future Cape Town.

In the meantime, in honor of the Mother of all Cities, here’s a tune from Xavier Naidoo called “Zeilen aus Gold” (Lines of Gold).

While he is a German citizen by birth, Xavier’s parents both hail from the Mother City and if you watch the video, you’ll notice that the Boytjie still has a strong link and love for Cape Town.

For those who do not understand German, the translation can be found here. Failing that… just ask Western Cape Premier Helen Zille to translate.

(Thanks to my cuz Grant Jansen who introduced me to this infectious tune on The Taxi)

Cape Town is indeed GOLD.

The time difference between New Zealand and Hong Kong has meant that we haven’t been required to rise as early as our compatriots back home.

The Pool stages of the competition has just concluded with the final Pool match between Ireland and Italy with Brian O’Driscol’s team running out victors over (former Bok coach) Nick Mallet’s Italians.

The Irish victory now means that South Africa has a rather more tough quarter-final match against fellow Tri-Nations side Australia.

Here are all the quarter-final match as well as the schedule (Hong Kong time):

Quarter Finals

Saturday 08/10 – 13:00 Ireland – Wales (Wellington)

Saturday 08/10 – 15:30 England – France (Auckland)

Sunday   09/10 – 13:00 South Africa – Australia (Wellington)

Sunday   09/10 – 15:30 New Zealand – Argentina (Auckland)

If you’re a Twitter-user, add us for all the latest from RWC.  We are on @BlitzBokke

Some Apple enthusiasts had camped out for nearly two days to secure a place at the head of the line and be among the first to walk through the doors of the new store on Saturday.

The store is located on two floors linked by a glass spiral staircase in Hong Kong’s upscale International Financial Centre Mall, in the city’s central business district.

The Cupertino, California-based company’s products are wildly popular in mainland China.

The Hong Kong store follows the opening of a third Shanghai store on Friday as the company boosts its presence in a key market. It also has two stores in Beijing.

Source:SAPA

Pics: Jason Beerman/CNNGO

If, like me you’re a moerse Apple-fan, you will be over the moon to hear that it’s only seven slapies till we get our own fully-fledged Apple Store here in Hongkers!

No, in case you were wondering, not one of the many Apple Resellers dotting the SAR landscape… a REAL Apple Store like this one in Beijing:

Next Saturday, September 24th will mark the highly anticipated opening of the Apple Store in ifc Mall.

The 20,000 square foot, 2-story space will be the 1st official Apple store in Hong Kong, and the 5th in China, with stores in Beijing and Shanghai already wowing the mainland with their i-popping design and technical delights.

The ifc Apple Store will give tried-and-true Mac lovers and up and coming Apple aficionados alike the chance to take advantage of Apple’s stellar retail services.

Apple Store Hong Kong

ifc Mall

Central, Hong Kong

http://store.apple.com/hk

The 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) will kick off with, what the Kiwi-organisers have promised, much-fanfare on Friday 9 September.

The 6-week long tournament will start with a spectacular Opening Ceremony  at 7.30pm (NZT) on Friday, September 9.  The 4-hour time-difference means that HongKongers will be able to tune in at 3:30pm. 

The Opening Ceremony will be followed by the opening match between hosts New Zealand and Tonga (4:30pm HK time).

For those of you fellow-HongKongers who have missed today’s Sunday Morning Post, we have included the full RWC tournament schedule, complete with Hong Kong time, in this post (below).

France assistant coach Emile Ntamack receives a traditional Maori hongi during the official welcome ceremony for his squad at Orakei Marae in Auckland (Pic: Getty Images)

For breaking news on RWC 2011 as well as the HSBC Sevens World Series, add @BlitzBokke if you’re a Twitter user.

(Additional picture of the Maori Warrior by Getty Images)

Here are some images of previous Saffa Rugby get-togethers:

And who can forget that epic evening at Delaney’s Irish Bar in WanChai in 2007:

Simply click on the schedule below and PRINT according to your own computer configurations.

The widow of former African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Walter Sisulu died on 2 June at her home in Linden, Johannesburg. According to news reports, she suddenly fell ill, coughing blood, and paramedics who rushed to the scene were unable to revive her.

Her family expressed their sorrow at her death, but said that it comforted them to know that she and her beloved husband of 59 years were no doubt together again.

Like former president Nelson Mandela, the elderly widow cast a special vote at her home the day before the country turned out to vote for their local municipal representatives. According to the ANC’s Gauteng spokesperson Dumisani Ntuli, she was in high spirits and hoping that her vote would inspire others to support the ruling party.

Ntuli added that election day, 18 May, was especially meaningful to MaSisulu, as she was fondly known, because it was her late husband’s birthday.

Reunited: the late Walter & Albertina Sisulu

The Sisulus, a lawyer and a nurse married in 1944 at a ceremony in which Mandela was the best man. The couple had five children and adopted four others.

Although MaSisulu had no interest in the political struggle when she married, it wasn’t long before she was fighting at her husband’s side, working to bring apartheid to an end and see in a new democratic government. Like him, and many others, she endured imprisonment, banning and exile.

She was instrumental in the 1955 launch of the Freedom Charter, and took part in the historic march on the Union Buildings, the seat of South Africa’s government, by 20,000 women in 1956 in protest against the oppressive pass laws.

She became national co-president of the liberal United Democratic Front at its inception in 1983.

Later she joined the ANC Women’s League and was elected deputy president, and in 1994 she became a member of Parliament before retiring in 1998.

Several of the Sisulu children have themselves become leaders in the democratic South Africa. Max Sisulu is the speaker in the National Assembly; Beryl Sisulu is South Africa’s ambassador in Norway; Lindiwe Sisulu is the minister of defence; Zwelakhe Sisulu is a prominent businessman; and daughter-in-law Elinor Sisulu, married to Max, is a well-known author and human rights activist.

(Source: SouthAfrica.info)

Goodbye and thank you, Ma Albertina…

Rest well.