Okaeri ~ I'm home (Part 3)

The following day we set out quite early as we will be going somewhere further out of Cape Town - Cape of Good Hope.

On the way there, we passed-by Simons Town, a lay-back but beautiful town. Blessed with a beautiful beach, whales & penguins, it is a hot tourist spot. First we went to a gem/mineral shop which have a huge variety of gems stones. At its front garden there is a area with tons of gems stones lying on the ground and the customers can purchase packets to pick the gems stones. The lower floor of the shop is where they show case many types of their gems product. The upper floor is a place where customers can watch the production/polishing process.

We wanted to view penguins but overshot. Just when we thought of turning back, we saw many people stopping at the road side watching whales. There were actually 2 small whales in the sea but none of it did the "free-willy" jump out of the water...haha...but at least it sprouted some water into the air. Cool! We then decided to go see penguins when we return from Cape of Good Hope. It's sure a tiring drive to Cape of Good Hope as it was mostly driving around mountains. It's such relief when we reached our destination and the beautiful environment simply took our fatigue away.

Returning to Simons Town, we went to see the African Penguins. I had always thought that Penguins only exist in Antartica! They were so cute and innocent looking that you will feel like taking one away! haha...

"Why this guy kept taking photos of me..?"

"Hey, stop taking photos of me NOW!"

"Oi! I say STOP!!! I'm no alien!"

"Hmph..."

Okaeri ~ I'm home (Part 2)

19 Oct 2008

We headed out for Table Mountain, the famous flat top mountain in Capetown. Thank goodness it was sunny day on that particular day cos only on sunny day people are allowed to be on the mountain top. It was said that on the mountain top one will be able to see the entire city very clearly in front and the ocean behind. The cable car floor will begin to turn 360deg. while on it's way going up wor...

Unfortunately, our cable car was engulfed by thick clouds on our way up to the mountain top so we were unable to see the city and ocean. We were just one cable car behind to see the view! This was my first time being in (moving) clouds, literally. It's like being in heaven or in the movies. The visibility was very bad and it's SO cold such that my grandma ended up hiding in the cosy cafe! I was shivering and jumping around to keep warm...haha...stupid me was wearing slippers! As time was pretty limited that day, we were unable to walk throughout the entire path which is about 1km plus. However we came across a round table-like thing which have indications of the direction of many places and its distance. Interestingly, we found Singapore and Port Elizabeth (place i'm at currently) grouped together!

Okaeri ~ I'm home (Part 1)

16 Oct 2008

其實很久以前就很想用中文來寫部落格的, 總覺得用中文比較能夠表達意思, 但又覺得打中文實在太費時了吧! 現在剛到了Cape Town, 感覺時間變較慢拍了些, 在寧靜的環境下寫這一個部落格.

一眨眼, 漫長的3年就這樣的過去了. 其實, 在要離開的時候才發現有好多事情沒發覺, 沒去做. 例如, 跟身邊的好友多聊天多認識. 昨天離別時真是給了我一大驚喜也一大感動. 都說了嘛, 越多人越難離開. 不過, 在大家的祝福之下, 飛行過程和入關都非常的順利!

再次感謝大家!

Btw, 我的 movie marathon plan 一大失敗! 看第一部電影時, 還不到一半就睡著了! 結果醒來後便重新看過. 在這次的飛行過程只看了2部電影, 可以說是破了最低的紀錄吧!
也因為睡夠多了, 一點也不覺得有時差也不用再多睡...也算不錯啦. 天氣非常晴朗, 看起來好像大熱天一樣, 但卻是15/16度喔!

吃晚餐後，我們去了Century City. 這是在Cape Town非常大的一個shopping mall，　我想因該比Vivo City還大吧？很不錯的是說現在的店都會開得比較晚，　不然以前不是看電影就是準備見周公了！其實這裡看部非常便宜喔，　最便宜的有＄２耶。

回家的路程裡，經過了Cape Town的情人坡。這個坡為什麼浪漫呢？在車上看沒什麼特別，　但站在坡上感覺就不一樣了！看著下面無邊境的黃黃白白的城市
燈光，　抬頭看無邊境的數百星，　只有兩個字能夠形容：　歲阿 (hokkien)！


17 Oct 2008

(Ok...enough chinese typing practice!)
It takes strong mentality to step out the warm bed in the morning, which makes me wonder how my bro is able to do so much earlier than me! While slugging in the bed I saw a really cool sight outside. There's a solid looking white cloud hanging above the city, like the alien ship in the movie Independence Day! After breakfast, we went to fix my bro's car exhaust which cracked when I drove yesterday..yeah yeah...i'm sure it's due to wear and tear! While waiting for the repair, we were browsing around when Susan-jie suddenly burst out laughing and asked what's the article attached on the nearby lamp post: "Die Burger"

Haha..it's sure funny when you read it using your english dictionary in your head. In actual fact, it is a Afrikaans newspaper meaning "The Citizen". Well, this used to crack me up when I first saw it without any knowledge of Afrikaans, but it's real fun for a foreigner! Yeah...DIE BURGER!

Although the repair takes just about 30 mins, it surely blow a hole in my pocket...We then went to my bro's university b'cos he has some extra lessons. It's really far from where we reside. The university looked so ancient but I think that's what makes it valuable!
Situated high above the city makes it so honorable, with plants creeping up every wall
possible and a mountain backing the school makes the surrounding scenery really astonishing.
I don't mind studying there but hey, it's way too far! We stroll around the school grounds
and at the centre there's a Eight Trigram fountain with birds flocking in taking baths and
free-flow of drinks. Way above the school is a memorial for the school's creator i suppose..looked so grand with a statue of a guy on a horse overseeing the entire city. Cool!

After lunch, we drove out to a strawberry farm (without my bro cos he have to study..aww....). where you can pick fresh strawberries from the fields. Each KG of strawberries you pick will cost just about $3 and that exclude the amount you (secretly) eaten while picking! So by the time after picking, you'll already have a buffet of strawberries and a basin of strawberries for those at home! Honestly, I've never taste such fresh and tasty strawberries before. However, I suffered some injuries cos no one told me to wear long pants...There's flies that bites! OMG, I didn't know flies like houseflies that bites more ferociously than a mosquito! Guess they are the protectors of those cute strawberries which I do not hesitate to take a bite on too!

Polkadraai Strawberry Farm~~~

Strawberries still growing...to be eaten soon...

Lotsa strawberries to be picked!

Welcome Strawberry Boy!

Weee~~~the scarecrow don't seem scary at all?

S.B. showing off his biggest pick!

Drooling...? (it's already eaten...)

Devouring her strawberry secretively...

Sharing some with the scarecrows...

S.B. follows suit...

Total picks =....

.....

4kgs of strawberries..excl. those in our tummies...

For dinner, we had fire-stoved baked pizza. It's so nice that everyone forgot to snap photo of it! I loved it cos it's so fresh. First you will place your order, they will start making the base from the dough, topping will then be placed before baking it in a fire-stove. It is also nice that we can replace the topping that we don't want from the menu with other toppings provided. For our order, we don't want onions and we can replace it with other toppings like extra cheese, avocados, etc. I like it cos it makes more sense, isn't it? And they will ask whether you want cheese at the bottom or on the top...huh? Most importantly, it taste so good. Guess there's nothing much to do here than to eat and sleep? No wonder the people here are so big, as in....you know.