B'bye Cape Town!

OK. So I have a confession to make.

It's been pretty heavy-going on the family front here in Cape Town. But because I've always kept it kinda light-hearted on this site, I didn't really wanna drag everyone else down too. The main thing really though... is that it's not MY illness to talk about so it didn't feel quite right to blab all about it here. I'm sure you understand why I haven't written about it.

All you really need to know is that Kelly's dad is really not well and is currently back in hospital again. The effects of the chemotherapy have worn him down quite a bit.

On the other side of things... you might remember that I previously mentioned I'd be headed off to Europe on a freelance gig soon? Well... I leave for Amsterdam tonight. And I'm also feeling incredibly guilty about it.

This gig I'm about to take on will probably be one of the biggest jobs of my career so far, with a company I've always admired and had great respect for. I never imagined I would ever have the chance to work with them in this lifetime, but here I am. When the opportunity came up and I discussed with Kelly whether I should take it on, he said "Are you crazy?! You HAVE to do it!" ...so he's fully 100% behind me on this.

Except that I'm leaving at an incredibly difficult time now, and will be gone for the next 6 months or so. Depending how it goes with his dad here, Kelly may come and visit in between, and we've been telling ourselves that look - if things get more serious here, I can always make a plan and fly back.

On a completely other... er... what seems like a frivolous note now... I have been looking into Ashtanga shalas in Amsterdam that have early morning Mysore classes. Would you believe that practically none exist?!?

It all seems to be night classes and I'd find it weird to go back to night practice now... that, and also I have been warned that my working hours will be long. So, I doubt I'd be able to make any evening/ night classes anyways.

I have emailed some of the shalas to ask for morning Mysore recommendations and all have said it doesn't seem to work in Amsterdam for some reason. (Hmm... the European lifestyle of rising late?) If anyone has any shala suggestions, I'm all ears.

I AM DREADING THE THOUGHT OF SELF-PRACTICE IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF EUROPE'S COLDEST WINTERS.

Blechhhh. I dunno how you home practitioners do it, it would be quite a challenge in self-discipline for me.

Anyways, it's been nice being back in Cape Town. We only managed to do some touristy things on the first day, so here are some photos from my trip here.


I've always been amazed by Table Mountain. Anywhere you go to in the city, you look up, and there she is in the background. It looks like a matte painting coz it's so unreal.



(We spotted one seal who'd jumped onto shore to bask by the harbour. Picture on the right. It looks like it's behind a cage, but it's not)



We didn't manage to make it to the stadium tour in the end, but drove past it. This is why it looks like a concentration camp up close:


I had to get a document certified the "apostille" way for Amsterdam, and managed to get it done here. I think it's so cute and quaint how they still use ribbons and seals from oldskool days.


And we found these chairs that were cross-stitched with old shoelaces. It is such an incredibly Capetownian thing to do! It's actually a collaboration by Adidas and a local artist at Vida E Cafe (the world's best coffee is here at Vida), who are coming up with projects to recycle old chairs and old shoelaces. Cute.





So... I guess I'll catch up with you guys on the other side... yet again? :)