Introducing Jezebel & Abigail

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2 yappy, fluffy, white doggies belonging to Kelly's dad & step-mom. Jezebel = Maltese. Abi = Westie.

We're house-sitting while Robyn & Margarita are away and the doggies have grown on me (and my allergies are slowly getting used to them). These dogs eat better than some people - Woolworth's rosti grilled chicken every morning (Woolworth's here is like Jason's Gourmet Market in S'pore) & a hand-made dog-bone pet cookie every evening (it's weird when cookies smell like beef).

Abi's the alpha-female who's always patrolling the house, jumping arouns the bushes looking for prey, or watching the cars drive around the bend. Jezebel's the princess who's scared of the dark (seriously, this dog sits down and stays put if there are no lights on), afraid of walking down the stairs (someone has to carry her up & down), and rubs her bum on the floor whenever she's excited (it's freaky & funny at the same time.

PRIVACY!

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The blinds installers came today, and Gaye did her thing (she's in interiors, and blinds are her thing). The dark cherry wood looks fabulous!

...but there's more dirt & dust in the apartment. Can't wait till Clarence builds the cupboards so we can have a major clean up of the place and finally move in!!!!!

...I feel like Chicken tonight

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NANDO'S!!! A South African institution! (i think) serving Peri-peri chicken, originating in S.Africa (I think)... but it's got Portuguese influence (I think). Whatever. It's YUMMY, and much much better for you than KFC (grilled, not deep-fried). You can choose from Lemon & Herb, Mild Peri-peri, Hot Peri-peri, or super hot peri peri chicken (it's probably as spicy as the ramen with 4 chilli's from that spicy ramen place in Far East Square) Kelly says you can get a blow-your-brains-out spicy that's not on the menu (and your chicken comes soaked in the sauce). (...WHY?!)

Kelly had 2 burgers (1 lemon & herb, 1 hot peri-peri) and fries. I had a 1/4 hot peri-peri chicken leg with coleslaw, spiced rice (tastes like something from Little India. No wonder Sonal loved this stuff when we were shooting here) and a Portuguese Roll. Carb overload! ...I could have this again tonite...

Yes, it's Imported!

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It's funny coz while Kelly found some parts of Singapore restrictive & claustraphobic, I'm beginning to feel the same way about South Africa. As it's a country that's got very strict money controls (coz the Rand is so weak), changing foreign currency becomes a 1/2-day affair for locals, having to show all kinds of proof just to change 40 euros into the ZAR (passport, proof of travel ie. air ticket, electric bill for proof of residence, and visa if required). PHWOARRR! (i took for granted the ease of going down to the friendly neighbourhood mama shop to change currency. Ah Neh gives instant cash, no questions asked!)

And everywhere we've been checking out furniture, paint samples, appliances, wallpaper, and also amongst conversations with S.Africans, the buzzword seems to be "It's imported". (I feel like saying "yeah, so...?" since everything in S'pore's imported anyway, from our foreign talent longkang diggers to our water supply) but i guess coz their imports are so tightly controlled too (to protect their local industries from cheap China labour), imports are highly taxed and suddenly having anything from abroad seems to be a status symbol. (so maybe Kelly's got it good with an imported girlfriend? ha!)

The good thing that's come out of this though is there's NO starbucks in sight (actually, I dunno if that's a good thing. I'm craving a Grande no-whip iced cafe mocha- with ice cubes, not blended)... and there are hardly any mass products stores (eg. Burger King, G2000, U2, Esprit, Ikea, etc) around. Most shops carry one-off handcrafted products and the high level of aesthetic is refreshing. Go local!

(except all of these damask wallpapers are "imported")...

Fish & Chips at Hout Bay

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Hout Bay's a little fishing village, and there's a coupla touristy restaurants in the area, but Kelly took me to where the locals go - Fish on the Rocks! Mm Mm Mm... the smell of stinky fish in the air, and where there's fish there are seagulls... and shitloads of... bird shit. EEEE!!

It's all very quaint though - seals were chilling in the water (the zoom on phone-camera is not that powerful), fish & chips came in paper bags printed with newsprint, and the Cape Minstrels came around dancing and singing. :)

My City View

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How's this for the view in the city? ...anywhere you go within the CBD, you look up, and there she is. Beautiful!
(the clouds in this pic are rolling down the mountain like a waterfall)