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.

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)

Our summer home.

‘Summer home‘ because it’s the time of year that we escape the fierce Hong Hong heat and humidity for the cold, wet climate of Cape Town.

A Cape Town where indeed all four of us were born, but only the parents were raised.

A Cape Town where the Missus and I have (emotionally and physically) built a home that we have kept for as long as we have been married. A home where we escape to once every two years when Hong Kong gets waaay too hot.

Friday, 30 December 2011

As we are in this reflective mood, 2011 New Year’s Eve… I put together this collage of images I took during our 2-month sojourn in Cape Town in 2011.

Just to say Thank You, Baie Dankie and Trammakassie.

May God Bless you… Cape Town.

Till we see you next time.

Have a Perfect Year.

Maybe I should clarify that… flying to Dubai on the biggest passenger aircraft in the world: the Airbus A380.

I just read in Die Burger that German carrier Lufthansa had their A380 fly over Cape Town as part of a naming ceremony.

Cape Town is not able to host an aircraft the size of the A380, hence the fly-over and my family and I having to fly a smaller airplane on the Dubai-Cape Town leg of our trip home.

Die Burger reports that the A380 is:

* a double-decker aircraft

* has four engines

* seats up to 525 people in three classes

* is 3m longer than the Boeing 747-400

* it’s wingspan is 15m longer than that of the Boeing 747-400

One such resource is online publications.

We have been staunch supporters of The Taxi (more on them later) ever since they had their first sound online as a radio station.  The Taxi, on their part put us in contact with a Cape Town publication (print and online) called Full Circle Magazine.

Full Circle has a print edition and online edition for both the Southern and Northern suburbs of Cape Town.

As we are based in Hong Kong, we of course enjoy the online edition of Full Circle.  In fact, since I still have a home in the Nothern Suburbs (which I maintain every time I go home) it’s been a REAL resource insofar as finding building- and maintenance contractors are concerned.

Of course we will also consult Full Circle in planning the entertainment part of our month-and-a-half back home!

You can read more about Full Circle online by clicking here.  The link to their online edition can be found from the main page.

Excuse me making a big deal of it, but when one has been away from home for a decade, seeing family and friends only once every two years… you will understand why we are all looking forward to the trip.

In a month’s time my family and I will board the biggest airplane on the world, Emirates’ A380 en-route to Dubai (via Bangkok).

Two years ago I bought a Lonely Planet guide for the United Arab Emirates that has been gathering dust in my rented storage locker. Thankfully I can finally retrieve it because we will be staying over in Dubai for 4 days.

The kids are still busy writing their final examinations and when that is all done and dusted, the serious planning around what we want to see and what road-trips we will be doing back home, will begin.

I’m going to share some of the information we gather about tourist attractions in South Africa right here on Howzit-HongKong.com

If internet service has improved back home (it was pretty useless and moerse expensive last time around), I also plan to keep you abreast of what we are doing and seeing on our trip around South Africa.

Stay tuned…

African sunrise. A stunning sunrise on approach to OR Tambo Airport in Joburg (Pic: Mike Jansen, 2009)

Shortly after being named at the top of TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Best Destinations, Cape Town was named as the continental winner of the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Environment awards.  The honour was bestowed on the City for it’s 2010 Green Goal Programme.

The IOC Sport and Environment Award is presented every two years to members of the Olympic Movement for their contributions in the field of sustainable sport and the environment. The Host City Cape Town Green Goal programme was nominated by FIFA in its capacity as a sporting federation affiliated with the IOC and was supported by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Commission (SASCOC).

The Green Goal team ensured that the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cape Town was an environmentally responsible event that was measured against international good practice and found to be “outstanding”.

IOC President Jacques Rogge, who gave an opening speech at the Conference in Doha, applauded the winners for their dedication to the environment.

“Sport is a powerful tool for positive change,” President Rogge said. “Our task is to ensure we use that tool for the benefit of the planet we share. We owe that to ourselves and to the future generations who will inherit this earth. The winners here tonight have embraced this concept and are worthy recipients of the IOC Sport and Environment Award.”

(Source: SA Good News)

Dignitaries at the World Conference on Sport and the Environment in Doha

Add Howzit-HongKong on Twitter by adding @BlitzBokke

TripAdvisor is one of the biggest travel websites with millions of visitors flocking to the site for reviews and other travel tips.

The site rates Table Mountain and it’s myriads of walks, as well as the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens as “Top-Rated Things to Do,” while it’s Review reads:

Cape Town glistens at the southern toe of the African continent.

Amazing sites, from Robben Island, Nelson Mandela’s former prison, to tourist brochure-views at Blaauwberg Beach and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, are within easy driving distance of “The Mother City”.

Sun worshippers, surfers and divers flock to nearby white sand beaches and azure waters under Table Mountain. The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve provides sweeping sea vistas, hiking trails and wildlife encounters.

Well Done to the Mother City!

Have you Voted for Table Mountain Yet?

While typing this story, I’m also listening to TheTaxi.co.za where Soli Philander & Colin Jones are chatting to Dean Liprini, a South African independent Archeo-Astronomer/Researcher/Author/Geomancer. Have a look at Dean’s website to read some amazing facts about Cape Town and Table Mountain in particular.

This interest of mine is what moved me to start the Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions here on Howzit-HongKong.com (we should re-start that feature soon!).

The weekly feature showcased some of the Cape Town/South African/International music and musicians that I love and associate with home and that I like to play in my apartment here in Hong Kong, especially at sunset.

I have featured the likes of (my kids’ tick tock lady) Tina Schouw, Sankomota, Lesley Kleinsmith, Dave Grusin, Sadao Watanabe, to name but a few.

This past weekend, I had to visit my regular IT mall in Sham Shui Po because I had to upgrade my WiFi network in the apartment.  I also went around to one of the stalls selling DVDs and as always I picked up 2 real DVD GEMS! (For HK$30/R30 each nogal!) You guessed it: both jazz and both groups have a connection with Cape Town.

The Fourplay DVD was recorded Live at the Cape Town International Convention Centre while Incognito (a British acid jazz band that was started 32 years ago) is a favourite among Capetonians of my generation.

The FourPlay concert, as I mentioned, was recorded live in Cape Town and it was a real treat to hear and see how my compatriots responded when the band played classics like 101 Eastbound (below) by Bob James (keyboards) Nathan East (bass) Larry Carlton (guitar) and Harvey Mason (drums):

I should visit Sham Shui Po more often.

FourPlay Live in Cape Town

Incognito - 30th Anniversary

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We were even moved to make a video about the Cape Town landmark; the song in the clip was written and performed by a son of the Cape Town soil, Charl Pilwan.

In fact, the Campaign managers liked the video so much, they posted it on the Campaign website!

Voting is open until July 2011 and winners will be announced in November this year.

PLEASE get your vote counted.

It is the right thing to do.

For all South Africans.

Read this article by SAPA:

Cape Town could benefit to the tune of R1.4 billion a year if it is named one of the New7Wonders of Nature, a tourism hospitality and leisure research company has found. (Read the article here)

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Listen to Table Mountain Ambassador Soli Philander only on The Taxi

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