As our compatriots back home come to terms with the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup (no more football games, fan-parks, dressing up, drinking!) here in Hong Kong I will also be packing away my Vuvuzela.  I will add it to my collection of collectables that I take home every time we make the trek to Cape Town, to be displayed in my home bar.

In fact, after a month of posting almost exclusively about the World Cup, it’s time to also end this feature here on Howzit-HongKong.com and concentrate on the local goings-on.

So, here’s to the Vuvuzela.

Thanks for the “noise” !

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals ended on a high note at Johannesburg’s Soccer City last night.

Not only did a very deserving Spain beat the Netherlands to claim their first World Championships ever, but South Africa sent all the players, visiting administrators and tourists off with a spectacular Closing Ceremony.

After a month of extreme euphoria, heightened nationalism, spectacular football and non-stop partying (not to mention very late nights for those of us who watched from Asia) all that is left to say about the World Cup (very succinctly) is:

Well Done South Africa!

You did us proud.

Here are some of my favourite images from last night’s Closing Ceremony:

(Pics: Simon Christophe/Monirul Bhuiyan/AFP)

If there was ever a prize for the most dedicated fans, the Dutch football supporters who followed their team around South Africa, will walk away with it.

In fact, they didn’t just follow their team around South Africa, they literally followed them around the world, taking an overland African trek all the way from the Netherlands to South Africa by car, truck, minibus and bus!

I am getting ready to watch the 2010 World Cup Final at my usual hang-out in Tsim Sha Tsui East and earlier this evening, I saw these equally dedicated Dutch fans near Sticky Fingers in TST East:

It is a fact that the 2010 World Cup has brought South Africa a huge amount of marketing exposure.

While there were so many doubting Thomases before the kick-off of the world’s biggest sports event (both locally and abroad), most people are now more than convinced that South Africa has indeed managed to pull it off with aplomb.

Brand South Africa has never in the history of the new South Africa encountered this amount of exposure in all the corners of the world…

…except in Chicago.

What wrong with this picture? (Cheers to SA Promo Magazine on FaceBook for the pic)

Eish!  What more is there to say?  One would think that with the might of the American media machine behind them, WGN would get this right.

WGN9 is a television channel in the US city of Chicago.  We wanted to link to their website, but the bumbling idiots do not deserve it.

Forgive them, they live on an island…

Then of course, there is the report from Rugby15.co.za on Facebook telling of the New Zealand reporter asking the Springbok media manager (with a straight face nogal) what “TRIBE” Springbok fullback Gio Aplon is from.  Needless to say, the Bok media man could not keep a straight face and could not stop laughing.

In this day and age.

Fooi tog!

Former BlitzBok & Springbok fullback Gio Aplon faces the Kiwi media in Auckland. (Pic: Gallo Images)

You may have noticed from my previous posts, especially this latest one, that I am a moerse (huge) fan of South African Portugese-style chicken outlet Nando’s.

While I absolutely adore their sauces (don’t get me started on the peri-peri chicken livers!) I also love what they do with their ad-campaigns.

Their latest one takes a swipe at US socialite Paris Hilton who was recently arrested in Port Elizabeth on suspicion of dagga (marijuana) possession.

Hilton was subsequently released without charges being laid, but the “fall-guy”, reported to be an ex-Playmate was ordered to leave the country within 14 days, very conveniently well after the World Cup will have ended.

Oh, to be above the law…

(Read about the arrest of Paris Hilton here)

Last night the family and I visited our local “fanpark,” the Empire Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui East to watch a scintillating match between the Netherlands and Brazil.

The groundfloor was already packed to the rafters by the time we arrived, so we made our way to the first-floor balcony.

The kids made themselves comfortable on the floor and we joined the crowd cheering and groaning (and blowing our vuvuzelas!)

Until this drol decided he had to fumigate his restaurant.

I’m all for eating at restaurants without roaches and rats scurrying around and would have been fine with Mister Gasmask cleaning his establishment.

Had he been fumigating behind closed doors.

The restaurant’s wall facing the mall is a ventilated structure while the door consists of mere horizontal bars.

So all the patrons watching on the first-floor also got fumigated.

Mr GasMask was not happy about my complaints but thankfully I got the mall security to stop him.

Fans of Brazil were also not happy because their team was beaten by the Dutch.

While typing this, the family is getting to ready to head out to our “regular” Hong Kong-style fanpark:

The Empire Centre in Tsim Tsa Tsui East’s Empire Centre, a mere 10 minutes’ walk from our Hung Hom apartment.

The reason?  Only one of the biggest games to date at the 2010 Football World Cup back home: Brazil vs. The Netherlands.

The family has really come to the 2010 World Cup Party and embraced the huge South African event.  I have to add here that they are not really the sporty kind.

However, the 2010 World Cup is another thing.  It doesn’t come around every time especially in one’s own backyard, even though one is not there.

But we are there.

We are there in GEES!

And we’re showing it.

I hope that you Saffas out there in Hong Kong-land will also be showing your African-ness and support Ghana at 02h30 (tomorrow morning) when they take on Uruguay.

Go Ghana.

Make the African Circle BIGGA!

This is how the Ghana flag morfed from the standard to the “Africa-support-Ghana” one:

The real flag:

The latest:

The South China Morning Post‘s PostMagazine of June 27, 2010 carried a story by one Daniel Jeffreys in their regular “Toast rack” feature.

Before I continue, let me come clean by saying that said writer and I share at least one belief and that is:

(Jeffreys wrote) “Democracy and free speech go hand in hand but there has to be a limit.”

Those who know me will know that I also advocate that “too much democracy is not a good thing.”

Anyway, where Mr Jeffreys and I differ is his obvious disdain for our vuvuzela.

To the rant below, all we can say is:

Dear Mr Daniel Jeffreys (who is obviously a sour-puss England football fan) where is your “Gees” ?

(Click on the pic below to read full screen)

I speak under correction, but South Africa must surely be the only country in the world who has witnessed and experienced two national miracles in the space of only two decades.

In 1994, we witnessed and participated in our country’s first-ever democratic elections which heralded the handing over of minority political power without any large-scale violence and bloodshed.

On June 11, 2010 we witnessed the stunning Opening Ceremony of the world’s biggest sporting event.  The first ever event of its kind to be staged on African soil.  An event most believed South Africa was not capable of delivering.  It’s been just over 2 weeks and already pundits are cautiously calling it the grandest football gathering ever.  FIFA should be pleased because before a single ball was kicked, the world body was already assured of the biggest profit from a World Cup ever.

But that is not the 2010 miracle I am referring to.  The miracle is what is happening on the streets of South Africa at this very moment.  South Africans of all hues, backgrounds and persuasions are showing our proud colours; on our cars, on our homes, on our clothes.  In fact, we show our pride in every conceivable way we can.  We are proud to welcome visitors to our country, proud to host  this massive event for a world-wide audience of millions. 

Simply put: we have re-discovered our national identity and we’re celebrating it!

The 2010 World Cup has also given some of us an opportunity to showcase our creativity.  From the huge selection of multi-coloured Makarapa’s, beautifully decorated Vuvuzelas to the ingenious costumes worn to our beautiful new stadiums.

During a gathering to celebrate and to watch a broadcast of the 2010 Opening Ceremony at the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), using her handy iPhone, (name removed on request) read a poem that she had penned in honour of our national football team Bafana Bafana.

WOZA NKOSI

Bafana Bafana, your people are here

We’re proud of you Yellows, and shout a big cheer

Haaikona Group C, Haaikona Group D

Come face our Boys, their power you’ll see!

With love and with passion, vuvuzelas and drums

Makarabas and diski, the magic she comes…

Like an African Queen with fire in her heart

Ke nako, Ke nako, let doubts fall apart

The manna are waiting, the mamma’s are too

The kids on the street are all praising you

The flags they are flying, the spirit we got

The colours are bright, football fever is hot

Madiba is watching – FW too -

They’re longing and praying and counting on you

Gaan kry daardie rainbow, sit dit bo Tafelberg

Wys die res van die wereld, Suid Afrika’s sterk!

Only God has the power to hold you guys up

He helped us before, in the other world cup

He can do it again, let’s fall on our knees

With Ubaba’s support, success is a breeze

Woza woza, Nkosi, come take our hand

Woza lapa, Nkosi, please hold our land

Woza woza, Nkosi, Shosholoza our team

Woza lapa, Nkosi, God Bless Our Dream

For those not familiar with some of the South African-isms:

Woza Nkosi – Come God

Bafana Bafana – Boys Boys

Haaikona – No / By no means / No way

Vuvuzelas – Stadium blow horn

Makarabas – Miner’s hard hat, now decorated soccer fan hat

Diski – South African World Cup soccer dance

Ke nako, Ke nako – It’s time, it’s time

Madiba – Mr Nelson Mandela

FW – Mr FW de Klerk

‘Gaan kry daardie rainbow, sit dit bo Tafelberg, wys die res van die wereld Suid Afrika’s sterk !’ – Go get that rainbow, put it above Table Mountain, show the rest of the world that South Africa’s strong!

Ubaba – Father / God

Shosholoza – Move forward

Woza lapa Nkosi – Come here God

For those of you who still want to get your hands on a vuvuzela here in Hong Kong, make you way over to KFC for their “free Vuvu” promotion. 

While not quite the real South African vuvuzela in both name and quality of plastic, the KFC Vuvu comes pretty close.  It still makes a hellava lot of noise and is sure to irritate the folks over at Wooloomooloo should you blow it inside their establishment.

I noticed that KFC also don’t call their trumpet a “vuvuzela” choosing instead to call it a Vuvu.  While he doesn’t own the copyright to the actual trumpet, the name “vuvuzela” was licensed by the inventor of the iconic World Cup noise-maker, a South African called Neil Van Schalkwyk.

The KFC Vuvu is available in several colours, while you can decorate it with an array of stickers issued with the trumpet.

Click here to hear what the vuvuzela sounds like