2011 was indeed a Perfect Year for the family and I, for it was the year that we spent our mid-year, bi-yearly, two months at what we like to call:
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.
Those who have been following my ramblings on Howzit-HongKong.com will know that there are two things (other than my family) that I am absolutely passionate about: Rugby and Cape Town!
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)
One of the reasons I’m looking forward to come next week, is flying to Dubai.
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
Being an online being, Howzit-HongKong.com is pretty reliant on online resources when it comes to planning the BIG trip home.
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.
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.
TheIOC 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
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Cape Town has once again seen off the challenge of cities like New York (6th), Paris (4th) and Sydney (2nd) when it was crowned as Number 1 in TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Best Destinations.
TripAdvisor is one of the biggest travel websites with millions of visitors flocking to the site for reviews and other travel tips.
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.
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.
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.
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)
Just under a month ago, we alerted you that Table Mountain needed you vote.
The iconic Cape Town landmark was recently named on the shortlist of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition.
Coordinators of the Vote for Table Mountain have been calling for South Africans to cast their vote to have the mountain declared one of the new 7 wonders of nature, and on our previous post, we showed you how you too can cast your vote.
We were pleasantly surprised to see that a video that we made after listening to Campaign Manager Fiona Furey speaking on The Taxi, was posted on the homepage of the Vote For Table Mountain campaign!
If you visit the site (here), our video is the one just above that of Arch Bishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, a patron of the campaign.
Leslie Kleinsmith has been performing on the South African Cabaret and Jazz for a whopping 38 years.
The consummate entertainer is these days known by his stage name of Leslie K Smith.
Due to the fact that it is very difficult to make a career as a musician in South Africa, Leslie has had to find a way to continue his musical career.
Thankfully he has made a name for himself on the international cruise-liner entertainment industry, and as a result, the local music scene still enjoys the talents of one of the Cape most-talented performers.
Mister Entertainer. Leslie performing on the Costa Pacifica (Pic: Flory Turcu on FaceBook)
I have scoured the internet and could only find the following short bio of Leslie Kleinsmith:
Sophisticated, eloquent, and absolutely entertaining are the only words that can describe this crooner. After 38 years in the South African Cabaret and Jazz music industry Leslie K. Smith has deservedly earned the title of Grand Performer.
When he’s not busy in the studio, Lesley is most at home with live intimate performances exuding a stage presence, voice and charisma of performers such as Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, jnr, all of whom where influences in his formative years. His voice, now a sculpted tone of contra-alto leaning toward golden tenor evokes a warmth and pliability that turn great songs into personal innovation of love.
His most memorable performances include a lead role in District 6,
And wowing international stages of the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland and the 1992 Miss World Contest where 600 million television viewers got to see him perform.
His ability to bring true emotion to music goes well with audiences who enjoy romantic inspiration, but it’s almost as though you can get just about any kind of soulful vibe from this “living jukebox”.
Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
Excuse me if I dwell on the issue of Table Mountain and Cape Town, but I just found this fantastic time-lapse video of Cape Town featuring some amazing footage of the clouds (table-cloth) moving over Table Mountain. (Cheers Seth)
From Wikipedia:
Time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. Time-lapse photography can be considered to be the opposite of high speed photography.
If you have a look at the website of the producers Silver Bullet Productions, you will find some more of their creative efforts.
I watched the following time-lapse video in full-screen (HD) on my 27-inch iMac and I can promise you… you’ll be blown away!
