Tag Archives: people

Off to work!

• • 6 Comments

Off to work
A very common way of transporting employees to work sites is on the back of a bakkie or on a truck like this one.

I'm fairly sure that at some stage it became illegal to transport people in this manner - but even with several recent tragedies related to this form of transport it remains common practice. I guess the reality is that for many small businesses it's completely impractical and too expensive to have a bakkie to transport goods and materials to a work site and a minibus to transport the workmen.

It's one of those difficult debates to have because I can assure you that if the workmen are faced with a choice to take transport like this, or find their own way to a work site, or lose their job, they'd jump onto the back of this truck in a flash.

The reality is that most people believe that an accident won't happen to them - so they're happy to take chances like this. Call me over-cautious or a wet blanket, but Russian roulette - it isn't my game. :)

That’s some attitude

• • 9 Comments

That's some attitude
I waited for the train to stop and for people to start disembarking. While I was down on one knee (not "down on one knee" like that though) the guy to the left stepped out of the train onto the platform, keeping his eyes fixed on me all the while that the train stood still. I, of course, doggedly pretended not to see him.

I wondered at the time what he may be thinking. I could just imagine that it was something like "WTF? Crazy white boy!". (Said in a BA Baracus accent of course.) :D

Security services

• • 10 Comments

Man and his dog
Working as a security guard must be one of the most stressful jobs. On the one hand it's probably mostly metronomically monotonous, and on the other hand you never know when you're going to face off against a criminal that possibly has less than you to lose, and possibly less regard for your life than a Cinderella's step mother did for her's.

This guard (I forget his name unfortunately) stopped me as I walked past and asked if I could take his photo. He said that he'd look up Cape Town Daily Photo on Web so that he can download his pic. Here's hoping that he does just that! :)

Spaza Shops

• • Leave a reply

A spaza shop
This was one of the informal shops located along the Fan Walk during the World Cup. Spaza shops are informal shops that often operate in peoples homes, caravans, or similar structures. According to Spazanews there are about 100,000 such shops located across the country, bringing in a combined turnover of 7 billion Rand each year!

Combined, imagine what buying power they would have!

Chalk on the ground

• • 2 Comments

Chalk drawings
I remember drawing pictures with chalk many years ago in primary school. Not on the floor of course - our teachers would have had a problem with that - but rather on large pieces of cardboard.

When I saw these guys I wondered if their time wouldn't be more well spent doing the same with some kind of super-hardy paint. The chalk will wash away with the first, or perhaps second, rains but having these kinds of paintings in appropriate places could be quite a feature. Don't you think?

A boy and his vuvuzela

• • Leave a reply

A boy and his vuvuzela
This photo shows just how easy it is to blow a vuvuzela. This kid was blowing the horn like a regular pro football supporter - full of gusto.

The vuvuzela aside - doesn't this photo show the good degree of racial unification that's happened in our country over the last 15 to 20 years?

A three-headed Argentinian fan

• • Leave a reply

A three-headed Argentinian fan
When looking at photos of matches after the event it's always sad to see an optimistic fan that would have been crushed by the outcome of the match. In this one Germany thumped Argentina pretty convincingly and any die-hard fan would certainly have been utterly depressed.

I don't follow Argentinian football, so I'm unsure why he would have these heads strapped to his ears. Dalma and Gianna, as I understand, are Argentinian hero, Diego Maradona's daughters - so this does seem a little odd to me...

Loveless Uruguay

• • Leave a reply

A Uruguaian supporter
Uruguay must have received very little love from South Africa during the World Cup after what many deemed to be extremely dubious football tactics and practices. Fortunately these things blow over fast and South African's in general don't hold grudges for very long at all. By the end of the World Cup we'd forgiven them and moved on to celebrating The Beautiful Game.

Don't you just love that people are so passionate about their team that they're prepared to go to all the effort of painting their faces like this? This guy was just one of many that went that extra mile. :)

Another beautiful winter’s day

• • 4 Comments

Taking a walk
Even though it's winter, we've been having pretty good weather. Although, I guess you noticed from the photo that even though the sun is shining in our African city, the air is cool enough to warrant at least a light coat.

I've been wondering whether or not, due to the great winter weather, we'll be having water shortages during the summer months. Perhaps it would be prudent of us to start working on a slightly more water-wise gardens.

Netherlands, football and South Africans

• • 4 Comments

Netherlands!
It's amazing to see how much South African support Netherlands has had in this World Cup. I wasn't at the previous match that the team played in Cape Town, but friends said that the city was a sea of orange with everyone dressed in the Dutch colour.

I guess the reason is obvious, and that is that many white South Africans are of Dutch descent and after our own team exited the World Cup they default to support the team of their forefathers, Netherlands.

Don't you just love the couple in this photo? :)

Knots of guns

• • 2 Comments

Waterfront Guns

Isn't she cute? I sat on my haunches to take a photo of the gun as this little girl jumped up to take a closer look.

You may recall a photo of a similar knotted gun (also at the Waterfront) that I posted in 2007. Several similar guns, decorated in various countries' colours, have been made for the World Cup football event. The one in this photo is obviously decorated in the South African flag's colours, and you can see the knot tied in the barrel just behind the little girl's head. :)

Nowhere to hide!

• • 3 Comments

Fans and Cameras
No matter where you find yourself in the V&A Waterfront it's absolutely impossible to escape cameras. Whether it's a professional SLR kit, a point 'n shoot camera, or a phone camera - it seems like everyone is trying to capture the moment.

Can you imagine South Africa trying to implement photography restrictions like they've done in London? Wowie, impossible I say! :)

Soccer stars of the future

• • Leave a reply

Future football kids

Cape Town's V&A Waterfront has over the last few days been buzzing with people from all over the world. It's like the colours in our Rainbow Nation have overnight multiplied several times over... it's awesome! People are smiling, singing, and dancing all over the place. Flags are flying and vuvuzelas are blowing - and on that note (ha ha) it's not only Africans walking with vuvuzela in hand. :)

Don't you just love the attitude that's written all over the these kids' faces? They look so proud to be dressed up in all their gear. :D

The first day of the Football World Cup

• • 5 Comments

Celebrating the first match

I left work at about lunchtime, collected Kerry-Anne from home and headed into Cape Town to join thousands of football fans at the V&A Waterfront to watch the 2010 Football World Cup opening ceremony.

The Waterfront was alive with people excitedly preparing to watch the ceremony and first match. We watched the ceremony at the amphitheatre, very proudly reflecting on what our little country at the tip of the large African continent has achieved in so little time. I don't think any of us really comprehend the amount of effort, planning and expertise that went into organising every detail of this event. From the stadiums and the roadworks to the planning of dance routines, coaching of kids, and preparing to receive thousands of foreign visitors... it's all been executed pretty darn awesomely!

From our restaurant table at Wang Thai, Kerry-Anne and I proudly watched our team, Bafana Bafana (ranked 83rd in the world), play a great game against Mexico (ranked 17th), drawing 1-1 after 93 minutes. We left the packed restaurant after the match, had some coffee at a nearby coffee shop, and then slowly walked over to the Cape Town Stadium for the match between France and Uruguay.

This was the first time that we'd visited the stadium, and I have to say to the team who put it together: wow, you did good! I didn't realise that a stadium could be so beautiful!

A beach silhouette

• • 3 Comments

A couple's silhouette
This couple ambled slowly along the walkway next to Lagoon Beach (map), talking while the sun set. The sun was bright and the patterns in the sky beautiful. The view was almost a painting.

I spent the day at a conference and slept over at the Lagoon Beach Hotel (to the left in this photo). While the room was perfectly good, in fact - pretty nice, I have to advise that if you ever find yourself staying over, make sure that you're as far away from the entrance to the underground parking as is possible. :)

Gumboot dancers

• • Leave a reply

Gumboot dancers
Kerry-Anne once learned a gumboot dance for a show that she performed in along with a few other dancers. When you're use to seeing a group of black men performing the dance, it's wildly different to see a group of woman do the same. :)

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!

Walking your dogs on Llandudno beach

• • 1 Comment

Llandudno Beach
The number of beaches on which one is allowed to walk your dogs is fairly limited, so I was surprised to see this lady walking her three dogs on Llandudno beach (map).

I never paid attention to the sign that indicates the restrictions, but I presume that walking dogs is allowed because it seems to me that the beach is the only place where residents of the little suburb would be able to do so. Llandudno is built on the slopes of the mountain that lead down to the water's edge, so the chance of finding a nice open field on which your dogs could run is pretty much nil. :)

The Undefind – living the dream

• • 1 Comment

Gareth James, The Undefind

The Undefind (that's right - it's spelt without an "e") is a Cape Town-based band that's on a mission to make it in the world of full-time music. It's often said that American musicians have it easy, but South Africa's music market is so small and the number of good bands so large that it makes surviving purely as a musician a huge challenge.

The Undefind are a reasonably young band of five, and according to their website they are all full-time musicians. Gareth (guitarist and lead vocalist, pictured in this photo) recently enlisted two of the band members, Chris (bassist) and Jeanré (drummer), to start up a three-piece acoustic version on of the band, which will be playing quieter sets at local restaurants and bars.

Check out their latest music video, Fragile Skin, below; and if you like it, take a moment to vote for them here on the KFM Homebrew Top 10 list.

Treat-a-friend-to-coffee day

• • 5 Comments

Drinking water at Truth Coffeecult

Truth Coffee opened its doors just off Buitengracht Street a few months back, and eventually, after wanting to visit for so long, and hearing reports of how awesome the coffee was, I decided to inaugurate the first "Treat-a-friend-to-coffee day", and experience the legendary heavenly drink.

And heavenly it was. Few people know how to make good coffee, but somehow David seems to get it right every time. (Perhaps you remember the article that Kerry-Anne wrote about Origin Roasting, David's previous venue?)

Now, you may notice something strange about the photo. Yes! No coffee! The truth is (if you'll excuse the pun :D ) that the coffee was so good that we finished it only moments after it landed on our table, leaving us with the freshly filtered bottle of water you see on our table (that I'm fairly sure cost only R15 - a bargain, even though I didn't get to keep the pretty bottle!). :)

A different perspective

• • 3 Comments

An old man

For some time I've been wondering what it's like to get old and how much you, your personality and your outlook on life, actually change over the years. I know many people over the age of 60 (which I believe is the new 50 ;) ) and while it's evident that years of life have taken their toll on their perspective on life, there are a few that I know who are somehow different, and have somehow retained a youthful outlook on life.

People say that "getting old" is simply a state of mind, and I find myself wondering how much control one has over the change in this state of mind. I wonder whether or not in 30 years' time I'll have a similar and (mostly) unjaded approach to day-to-day living.

I took this photo at Hussar Grill in Camps Bay a little while ago.

Ballet class at the UCT School of Dance

• • Leave a reply

Ballet practice at UCT School of Dance
After my last post reporting on AquaBallet at the V&A Waterfront, I was invited to take photos of Cape Town City Ballet dancers practising at the UCT School of Dance (see this map).

What I can say about the experience is that it's strangely intimidating walking into a full ballet class, camera in hand. But it seemed as though the dancers were friendly enough, and soon I was clicking away without any fear that they'd bandy together in a circle around me, hissing and snarling. :D

Okay, they weren't *that* scary... I guess that's just my picture-oriented mind getting carried away. Truth be told, I sat in a corner for most of the time clicking photo after photo and listening to Professor Triegaardt directing the dancers - "No, look that way...", "Less cheek to cheek, more eyebrow to eyebrow...", "Throw the balls that way and try not to hit the camera." :)

How to support Cape Town City Ballet

Cape Town City Ballet is a non-profit organisation, so if you have a passion for ballet and would like support the art, visit this page for more details.

Shopping for the holidays

• • Leave a reply

Shopping for clothes
In addition to the inevitable madness of Christmas shopping, it's summer and a huge proportion of us are on holiday. Shops are overrun with large families shopping in troupes, girlfriends shopping together for summer fashion, couples walking slowly from store to store and (of course) tired-looking shop assistants.

It's certainly not a time to be spent in the shops. As Christmas draws close the madness will cease - for a day or two - and then it'll be back to large families shopping in troupes, girlfriends shopping together...

As a side note, I'm interested to hear how this December's retail earnings compare to those of the last few years. Perhaps it's just that I've avoided the shops as far as possible, but it seems to me as though spending is somewhat depressed.

Do something different – Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset concerts

• • 3 Comments

Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert

Summer has arrived in Cape Town, and with it the annual open-air Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset concerts. If you're coming to Cape Town between now and 4 April then check out the lineup and book your spot online with Webtickets. (Oh, and I'm not kidding when I say that you shouldn't delay - tickets do sell out fast).

The music styles range from rock to orchestral, so there's pretty much something for everyone's taste. Even if you're not into the particular music of the day, the crowd's vibe, the beautiful botanical gardens, and the Cape Town sunshine makes any concert worth the time.

Let me say again that if you'll be in Cape Town over the period, do make an effort to get to at least one concert. It really is something different and memorable. Even if you're alone, the people are so friendly that you're bound to make friends. (All that you need to do is to take some wine, beer, and snacks along to share. ;) )

Just for interest's sake, some of the awesome bands that we'd like to go and see are Prime Circle, Just Jinjer, The Dirty Skirts, aKING, Zebra and Giraffe and Flat Stanley.

& Union for drinks

• • 3 Comments

& Union Beer Salon

We had the chance for the first time to visit & Union (yes, that's And Union) for drinks and a light snack last Friday. We had an awesome evening, not only due to the fun people that we met up with, the exclusive selection of imported beer, and the yummy bratwurst snacks, but also because we were fortunate to be treated to a few dozen songs by photographer and musician, Andy Lund (pictured here, on the right).

As you may have gathered, summer has arrived in Cape Town. Days are getting longer and evenings are getting warmer - which means that restaurants have started spilling over into the open air, creating an awesome party vibe throughout the city. I love this time of year!

If you're looking for directions to & Union, no worries, here's a map. :)

Silicon Cape – first networking event

• • 1 Comment

Silicon Cape networking event

I've mentioned previously that we've met several people visiting from our sister city, San Francisco, who've said that Cape Town reminds them of home. San Francisco's Silicon Valley is a world-famous hub of technology and innovation and has been the birthplace of Internet stars like Google and Facebook.

A year or more ago a small group of successful entrepreneurs, one of whom had already relocated his Internet startup's Head Office to San Francisico, gave birth to the vision of Silicon Cape. Cape Town, and even South Africa, is filled with bright developers, business people and entrepreneurs, and the idea behind Silicon Cape is to encourage the birth of Internet startup businesses and to promote local and foreign investment in the industry.

Tuesday evening saw the first official networking event that brought together developers, entrepreneurs, marketers and investors. The evening started with a couple of talks, followed by eating, drinking and a lot (a lot) of networking. :)

If you're interested in getting involved with Silicon Cape, take a moment to sign up on the website. Make a few friends, and keep your eye open for the next networking event.

Robyn Hobson – actress, model and a smidgen of geek

• • 5 Comments

Robyn Hobson, Cape Town actress and model

If you've been following our blog for any length of time, then you'll know that Cape Town has plenty of beautiful buildings, beaches, mountains and farmlands. But that's not all, of course... the city also has more than its fair share of beautiful women. To illustrate this point, we'll introduce you to one of them.

Kerry-Anne and I met up with the beautiful Robyn Hobson for a quick lunch (which turned into rather a long lunch) at Andiamo - an Italian restaurant at Cape Quarter in De Waterkant.

The name @robynhobson popped into our Twitter feeds a while back, after her first visit to a geek-filled 27Dinner. What caught our attention first was that she's an FHM model, and second, that she was quite unlike any model stereotype we'd ever imagined - she's friendly, smart, and funny (no, not the laugh-at, but the laugh-with kind of funny :D). Robyn's just finished her final exam as a Business Science student, and now plans to focus on her acting career for a while.

Please take a moment to visit Robyn's FHM profile, and if you think she's deserving and like the idea of a beautiful brainy actress from Cape Town winning the competition (we do!), click the button and vote for her. :)

Procreation

• • 3 Comments

Carrying kids

Stats SA estimate that by the end of the year the Western Cape (the province in which we live) will hold about 11% of South Africa's total population. That's about 5.4 million people! An interesting fact that I've noticed is that many young couples (such as Kerry-Anne and myself) don't yet have kids and many aren't planning on doing so. I wonder if this is a world-wide trend.

I'm dedicating this blog post and photo to all the parents of Cape Town and the surrounding areas who've had kids and are thereby ensuring the circle of life in the Cape. I often marvel at parents' ability to deal with screaming babies, hyper-active toddlers and the plain naughty kiddies. I simply don't know where you find the energy and how you manage to do this - respect!

Careful with your cash

• • 8 Comments

Careful with your cash

I'm not saying that the subject in this photo is a conman, but I have often seen someone who looks a lot like him wandering around the V&A Waterfront area, apparently asking people for money. I don't think it's common to see this at the Waterfront, so it's kinda weird and unexpected when someone asks you for cash. I think people are often taken by surprise and hand out their money to guys who use this as a regular form of income.

Perhaps it's bad of me, but I've become a lot more skeptical of people asking for money than I previously was, and the internal battle rages on, as I try to decide who's just a chancer and who deserves a break.

Watching people pass on by

• • 2 Comments

Relaxing at the Waterfront

While we were sitting at Java Jive Cafe in the Waterfront, an older couple came to sit down at a nearby table. They stayed for just a few minutes, seemingly to take a break whilst watching all the people walking past.

Do you ever sit in a public place and just watch people passing by? I find it interesting to watch what people do and how they interact. One Christmas eve Kerry-Anne and I spent an hour or two sitting at a local mall just watching the harried shoppers rushing to and fro with grim expressions on their faces. Amidst the Christmas rush it was in a way refreshing to sit down, withdraw from the "mob mentality", and just relax.