Day Trip : Worth It!!

1st July 2010

When we consulted the house admin on how to get to certain places, we found out that we could not go to this one particular place, Cape Point, which I really really really wanted to go. Reason being is that there is no public transport going there and both of us do not have international driving license to hire a car. So she suggested we follow on a day tour. I found out about that in the net but at first I thought it was not worth it. But seeing the difficulties that we faced, I am willing to take the tour.

So we paid R545 for a day tour. The driver pick us up at the house around 0830H and later went on to pick up the rest of the pack. We have with us 2 French ladies, one American guy, 2 Indian guy, 2 more American (a guy with his father..sweet kan? but he's married, - yup, I checked the finger, boleh? hehehe...) 2 German guy, a Korean kid (he's still in uni) and a Columbian lady.

Our tour guide, Alex, is very good, he was willing to answer all kind of question. From him we found out that the train rail to Simons Town are out of order, that is why we could only got to Fish Hoek the other day (even people at the station didn't think to tell us that..)

So off we go to our first destination, Hout Bay with options to go to seal island. Both me and Ija went there already via Blue route yesterday, but we did not go to the seal island. So this time, we did. The boat is big but the waves are more nasty, turbulent waves to get to the island. There were few moments that I thought I would have thrown up. The island is not actually an island. Its just a big rock where most of the seals rested.

We bumped into a group of Indonesian that is being sponsored by Coca Cola to watch the World Cup (they won contest maybe..)

Next to Simons Town to visit the penguins, yay!! But we passed by this cliff with magnificent view and stopped to take some pictures,

Nak amik mcm aida, tapi salah shot..;)

We also passed by this part of the Cape Peninsular, they actually drilled onto the hill to make road. It look pretty scary though..

We finally hit Simons Town, we passed by the stone factory that was once used during Amazin Race Asia (the challenge where they have to find 3 marked stone out of thousands other stones) but we did not stopped there. Simons Town is popular of its Boulder's Beach, that is the place where they keep the African Penguin. The birds on its own will destroy their own food by stamping on it, so the center actually put a fence to new plants and opened parts by parts once the plants are ready to be eaten. (Yes, they ate plants apart from fishes..I just knew it too..) Entrance fee is R35 but included in the tour already.

Last but not least is what I have been waiting for, Cape Point!! We got there around 1330H, just about lunch time. At it is included in the package. We did asked for vege menu, as we are not sure what kind of meat that they have. We combined with another van (same co. tour) and the other driver bought us chicken salami, it was nicely wrapped. I told Ija just take it, sebab orang dah belikan, so just being polite, we took the chicken and later left it at the house pantry.

Entrance fee to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve was R70 but it was paid for (in the package). We were driven to the cable car station going up to the light house. There is also staircase for those who opt to do a 'healthier' way. Me and Ija climbed up with majority of the people. The view from the light house was magnificent!!

Next we cycled from the Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope. It was around half and hour cycle downhill. On the way we bumped into ostrich and baboon. We were told not to stop as babboon can get really nasty. We took more pictures here, more here.

We got home exhausted, like any other day and crash to a really good nite sleep ;)

Iniesta, te quiero!!!

España won!!! I didn't sleep a wink, all the time on edge. Finally the best deserving team won!! The Dutch got what they deserve. After that kick on Alonso's chest, De Jong should have been red carded. They were since the beginning aiming for the Spanish players, not the ball. It was a tough match, and yes the Dutch played well, but as Spain supporter I am ecstatic!!! Now the guy in my office should be well shut his mouth up.

One remark that he made when Spain qualifies, 'Ya I was hoping Spain to win, because it will be a lot easier for Netherland to win the cup, compared to playing with the German' So brilliant guy, so much of easy target huh? ;)

I applaud the whole Spanish team, they did great!!! and my no 6 Iniesta just seal the deal ;)

~the cutest capitan ever~

Man of the Match: my man!!!

~they deserves it, seriously!!~

p/s: Nasty counts on the free kicks and yellow card, crazy!!

Birthday & Beautiful World of Cape Town

30th June 2010

It’s my birthday!! I bought Ija a breakfast meal. There is this place in V&A Waterfront, called Love Revenge Cappucino, we had muffins each and I had tea, while Ija chose coffee. The muffin was very big, we could not finish at one go. It tasted healthy too..(not too sweet etc). I forgot to take the pictures. Ija didn’t even remember my birthday, guess she was still excited about the trip and forgot the whole thing ;p

Already bought the ticket to Robben Island yesterday and we went to Waterfront to catch the ferry. But due to bad weather the trip was cancelled and we have to differ to some other day. Since we are already at the waterfront, we decided to catch the Hop On Hop Off bus. For R120 a day, we can choose either Blue or Red route. Since the Red route covers most of the town area, which we can cover by walking, we decided to take the Blue Route. There are 20 stops altogether, but we only managed to stop at few places.

We passed by The Cape Town University, scenic route of Cecil Rhodes memorial, Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Birds Park and few others. The tour is accompanied by audio narration in 17 languages explaining the histories and how certain places got their names. It was very informative and definitely relaxing. We sat on the second deck enjoying the view and chill breeze.

First place that we stop, Hout Bay, it’s a fishing area, with jetty offering services to go to Seal Island. The funny thing is, in the early days, Hout Bays merchant used to issue passport as marketing gimmick to attract people coming to this area. It was until one point, the passport holder tried to enter a European country using that passport and got away with it. Each passengers were given one and in there lies discount coupon to few shops in Hout Bay. We did not really shopped for anything.

We got onto the bus to and later decide on the bus on where to stop next. The bus route pass by few scenic beaches and breathtaking views. We also passed by the famous Twelve Apostle and approach the most expensive area in Cape Town, Sea Point. We decided to hop off there and see how the Upper East side of Cape Town feels like. Conclusion, too many tourist, doesn’t feel like Cape Town at all. But the beaches were incredible, waves were quite high and apparently the area is a surfers area. We also stumbled upon people doing paragliding.

After hanging around for a while, we hop on the bus again (blue bus come once in 45 minutes) and stopped at the city centre. From thereon we did some browsing for souvenirs in the city to be brought home before walking back.

The weather is cold as it is winter now in South Africa. On day time the highest it can get is 19 degC. At night it can go as low as 11 degC. I only took a shower on the evening, as I could not stand the coldness. The bathroom is outside the room, its on the alley going to the living room and its open air (the alley) . So you can imagine, after a bath while walking back to the room, some 2-3 minutes walk is done at 10 degC. (For Malaysian standard, memang tak tahan...). So for my morning pick up, till we get out and get decent breakfast, I need some hot drinks. There is pantry available but was a bit hesitant to cook food there, as I didn't know what was cook in the pots and pans before. (Nak samak..adus...duduk kejap je pon..)

But using the kettle is not a problem, so we stopped by a local convinient store and bought some local tea for my morning pick up ;)

p/s: till today I have not had post birthday cake yet. celebration with family will take place end of month when I go back SP ;)

So Cute!! ;)

I just could not resist watching these and posting it ;)




with Puyol half dressed, and Sergio Ramos kicked the bottled to sort of 'clear' the line...just so cute ;)

Game Day!! Portugal vs Spain

29th June 2010

After first day not going according to plan, we decided to consult the admin of where we stay, they also provides services to book certain trips and activities. So second day we decided to stay in the city since we don't want to be late for the game ;)

We started to climb the Signal Hill (the starting point is like 10 minutes walk from where we stayed) around 10 pm. Bumped into one local guy. He was asking us where to go. Turns out he is concerned about us. We were told to keep our cameras in the bag, the actual place is safe, but getting there, the road is a bit quite. We were also told to be vigilant, do not let any strangers talk to us.

We were the first one that gets to the hill, it was windy and freezing cold, then hill overloking Cape Town city, waterfront and Green Point Stadium. The Noon Gun ceremony was initially intended to signal the sailor, such that when the gun is fired at 12 pm, sailors around Cape Town waters will reset their watch.These days, it was continued in honour of the ceremony.

with one of the navy on duty, Alistair

The other tourists arrived in taxis and vans, seems like we were the only two that climbed by foot ;p After the ceremony, we went down and make way to Bo Kapp, a supposedly Muslim area. There is one restaurant, and we decided to have lunch there. The tagline is 'Malay Cape Food' but when I looked at the menu, only one that I can identify with Malaysia, Pienang Curry (yup, spell that way). The rest is more Indian than Malay, lots of other curries, and main dish is beriyani. But the thing that ticks me the most is this. Anybody ever heard of this?

We didn't even finished lunch when the rain started pouring, and both of us did not have neither rain coat nor umbrella. After lunch, we decided to find a mosque, but most of the mosque are locked, we made way by foot to the city, and bought ourselves raincoats before heading to stadium. The day was getting colder and it was only 2.30pm. Passed by waterfront and the Japanese-Paraguay was shown on the big screen. Not many people as it was still raining.

So we made way to stadium and waited till we can get in. 3 hours before kick off, the gate is opened. There is a fan zone that consist of sponsors camps set up all over. I was like a kid in a candy store jumping from one camp to another. 1.5 hour before kick off, we went to look for our seat. We got the second tier seating despite paying the Category 1 ticket. I saw from my place that Eduardo, Portuguese goalkeeper came out for warm up.

I quickly ran down trying to get a closer look. I got a close up look on the whole team ;)

too bad that my favorite no 6 did not come close..so lelaki ini je la yang enterframe..hehehe...

It was an entertaining game despite the bummer that is only one of my favorite team will advance to q-final. I really enjoyed the live game experience. I was lucky that the ticket that I bought one year ago, is for this particular match. Where and when again I get to see Spain vs Portugal, only Allah knows.

We went back exhausted, partly due to the endless walking, which is compounded by walking in the rain, but satisfied ;)

Journey Begins...Waka-Waka Day 1

We (Ija and I) started our journey in KL Sentral. We planned to take the ERL to KLIA. Since this is Ija's first overseas trip, I insisted on taking the ERL, to mark our journey, plus I think its the most hassle free and green mode going to KLIA. Her family from Shah Alam sent her to KL Sentral and I made my way via Komuter.

Met at 2230H and we board the train to KL Sentral. Checked in to Emirates counter and both metally and physically be prepared to the longest journey we are going to take.

Leg 1 : KL to Dubai (6 hrs) then transit for 5 hrs

Leg 2 : Dubai to Cape Town (9 hrs)

Since Emirates is the official partner for the World Cup, we get live updates on plane for latest results. Touched down in Cape Town at close to 1700H , local time (-6 hrs Malaysian time). We were greeted by the taxi driver, and drove us to Zebra Crossing backpackers travelodge.

It was dark when we reached the backpackers (sunset at 6pm). We book a room for two but since there is some arrangement problem, we were given the room for 6 just for the two of us. We do however have to switch room to smaller ones on Friday when a bigger group check in ;)

Day 1 28-06-2010:

We walked to the water front, breakfast at Mugg & Bean, a famous SA coffee shop chain, then we proceed to city center.

With my folder in hand, trying to take the metro to get to our first destination. Initially we plan to go to Chart Farm near Wynberg for some sightseeing and later head to Simons Town to pay a visit to Africans Penguins. There is a metro line going to those places. The staffs at the station were very helpful. We were told for the two places, we can take the hop on hop off Southern line train for R30 (~RM 15) for all day ride. So we bought the tickets and started our journey. First stop in Wynberg. When we got off, we started asking around on how to get to Chart Farm. To our suprise, not many locals know where the place was. So we started to walk around the Wynberg station area, trying to find our way. We decided to ask one shopkeeper. The owner was nice enough to let one of his boys to show us part of the way but they have some concern look on their face.

The boy can only point us untill the Wynberg Police Station. From there on it is another like 1 hour walk and we were told by locals no taxi goes to that area..hhmm... looking at the sorrounding near us, the town is kinda dodgy place. Many people loitering around and I don't think it will be safe for us to walk another 1 hour or so.

So we decided to board the train and continue our journey to Simons Town. The train stopped at Fish Hoek, and we were told that it was the last stop. Both me and Ija were a bit confused. So we got down and started walking around. Since we could not get to both of the destination on the first day, we decided to go with the flow ;)

We stopped by Kalk's Bay and bought a postcard (yes Shaz, the one that we sent you, as your address is the only one that I can remembers on top of my head) Ask the friendly shopkeeper where can we get a good seafood meal. She quickly points us to Kalky's. We bought a deluxe platter and plan to stop by at St James before heading home.

At St James, we met a local Muslim, Rushaan and exchange contact nos.

It was around 1600H that we started to make a move before it gets dark. We had the deluxe platter for dinner and we could not even finished the fries (it was that much ;)

We did not planned to explore the night life as it is kind of new territory to us and besides, its not advisable by the locals, especially the two ladies.

Am a bit slow updating...so kena sabar la ye? you wanted ALL kan dieya ;)

I am back!!!

Letihnya...touched down last night, sebab excited punya pasal I didn't sleep to catch the Spain vs Germany match. Nasib baik Spain menang, yeay!!!

Lots of things to tell, just in a nut shell, I had the time of my life watching two games at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, first being Portugal vs Spain and second was Germany vs Argentina. I spent 1 week ++ at Cape Town, exploring the beautiful place ;) Nanti ye cite.. !!!