Johanna, Give Me Hope..

ahh.. I just got back from Africa abt an hour ago.. lots of pics this time.. and since I have not updated about my flights for a couple of weeks, I'll update it all here in a single posting..

WARNING: This is a *LONG* Posting.

It was my first time to Cape Town, coz previously, all the Cape Town flights that we did were shuttle flights from Johannesburg.. and for the first time, I managed to catch the beauty of the place, which I had heard abt so much from some of my colleagues who had been there..

We flew up to Johannesburg and stayed a night there.. didnt do much there coz the stay was short, and I had my dinner alone at the food court coz I missed the time to meet the crew for dinner at one of the best steak restaurants that u can get, called Butchers...

We stayed in the city, in Cape Town.. and the place reminds me so much of Australia and New Zealand.. it looks and feel the same. Even the weather and the seasons are the same. it was abt 10 degrees in the day. and it follows the same reversed seasons. itz April now and itz Autumn, going on to Winter, just like how it is Down Under.

Another similarities.. ppl dont go out at nite here as it would be in Down Under.. but coz of different reasons..

In Australia and NZ, u dont go out at nite coz all the shops are closed. People work till 5pm on normal days, so u just get some restaurants and convenience stores after dark.

Even the food courts will close at 5pm.

In Cape Town and Johannesburg, you dont go out at nite.

Coz if u do, u get killed.

In South Africa..

Someone is murdered every 30 mins.

A woman is raped every 15 mins.

So South Africa holds the record for the place with the highest number of rapes and murders in the world.. but then again, i dont think anyone is keeping a tally of those committed in Nigeria, Sudan, Namibia and so on..

South Africa holds the record coz they keep the records. But then again, the statistics in these two cities exceed the whole of United States. More than all 52 states combined.

But in United States, u dont feel secured. You dont feel safe.

In South Africa, it gives u a false sense of security. You'ld think that itz a beautiful day for a walk, but u might end up being shot. There are several towns that had been marked as 100% crime safe though. How they do it, i dont know.. but they exists.. and we passed thru these towns.. and u see children playing and joggers on the street and families walking around and so itz a real deal..

According to my tour guide, u just shouldnt go to the suburbs. Life is CHEAP there. and thatz the place where most of the crimes are committed.

Location info: Republic of South Africa is a country at the southern tip of the African continent. and itz where Mandela presides and it is where the Apartheid was practiced slightly more than a decade ago.

Johannesburg is the capital of RSA and Cape Town is easily *THE* most beautiful place in the world. None of the pics here that i took can actually do justice to the beauty of the place. You have to see it for yourself to know it.



Cape Town city, Downtown. Just like Australia.

On the first nite that we were there, the crew headed down to the Waterfront.. a beautiful marina built on a reclaimed land, and with pubs and restaurants at the side, similar to Boat Quay.. just a million times more beautiful..



The Waterfront..



This is in front of the restaurant that we were at, at the Waterfront..

We started the tour the next day by driving up to Maiden's Cove, to take pictures of the beach. This is at the Atlantic side of the country. I'll explain this later..



Maiden's Cove..

Saw some dolphins playing in the water.. but they were too far coz we were up on the rocks so we didnt get to snap the pics of them closeup..

After we are done there, we headed down to the ferry terminal to watch some seals.. since our tour guide, Soraya, an Indian Muslim lady born and bred in RSA, said that we *MUST* visit the Seal Island coz it houses abt 4000 seals..

but then again.. i had seen seals so often whenever i go down to the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco..

We went there just not to disappoint her coz she's a nice person and we go WAHH.. though thatz like the millionth seal we had seen..



WAHH..

but ok lah.. if u had never seen sea lions before, u MUST see them here.. but there are certain periods where the flock will move away for a while.. and thatz when the water gets warmer in summer and the sharks starts to move around the area..

and when the whale seasons starts, the seals will come back and the sharks will move away..

weird ecological cycle..

normally, the sharks will move to Singapore during the football seasons..

bets are open for the Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona.. please contact your friendly neighbourhood loansharks for details.



the flea market at the ferry terminal.. the handicrafts here are good.. and MUCH cheaper than those at the Waterfront.. and i think they are much better..



colourful entertainers looking for tips..

after we are done with that and had our Fish and Chips lunch at the terminal, we headed down along Chapman's Peak Drive, up and down and across roads along the mountains to see some penguins.. but the sights along that drive itself was breathtaking..



Alex, our pilot on that flight.. with Michelle, Me, Cecilia, and Daniel taking some pics along the Chapman's Peak Drive..



Look at the background.. a picture is worth a thousand words.. but go spend some thousand of dollars instead to go there coz no pictures can actually show u the real beauty of the place..



i took this pic while we are driving away from Chapman's Peak Drive..



oh.. please do check..



these fellas seems to be the best of buddies.. they walked left and right and up and down, always together.. as if looking ard for a place to hangout..



you could even touch them if u want to.. but they bite though.. so i dont think anyone is silly enough to do that..



me, still at the Atlantic side.. so behind me, is the Atlantic Ocean..

after we are done with the penguins, we drove up to Cape Of Good Hope.. the Most South-Western Point of the African Continent..



See?

is there such thing as a Bad Hope?

anyway.. along the way, we spotted some Ostrichs..



weird rite.. 2 different continents, Oceania and Africa, and both have similar creatures native to it.. but since Australia and Africa is on the same latitude, thus they have similar weather, seasons and having similar creatures roaming ard..



Damn high waves splashing onto the rocks.. scary xia..



Still on the Atlantic side..



this is a Rock Rabbit.. looks like a rabbit, with short ears.. but they walk and run.. not like real rabbits that hops.. and it is said to be similar to the elephants in terms of skeletal forms..

but i dont see the similarities ley.. this one is the size of a normal rabbit.. i cant imagine it with tusks and a trunk..

after we are done at The Most South-Western Tip Of The African Continent, we headed down to Cape Point..

anyway.. i was disappointed not to be able to see whales.. coz itz not season yet.. but it is said that during the September season, it will be a fantastic time to visit Cape Town and then u will be able to see everything that u want.. and even the nude beach will be opened by then..

*drools*

anyway.. among the Caucasian girls.. i think the girls from South Africa are the most beautiful ones.. u rarely see whales among them..

in fact.. i dont think i saw even one overweight local Ang Moh girl there..

the fat ones are the tourists..

but..

a warning..



they are perpetually hungry.. but the rangers there do keep track of their feeding periods.. so the baboons will steal ur food coz they know that u cant do anything abt it.. and even if they snatch any of ur belongings, u are advised NOT to attempt to retrieve it..

so my married friends.. walk with ur wives in front.. hopefully some baboons might wanna snatch her..

dont forget to say Thanks though..



i had always thought that baboons dont have tails.. but they got red-ass anyway..



and here i am.. at Cape Point..



look at the pic, slightly to the left, therez a small white splash..

thatz the point that marks the meeting of two oceans.. the Atlantic Ocean on the right and the Indian Ocean on the left.. this point is called "Where 2 Oceans Meet"..

the currents move in the opposite directions and at times, it will cause a whirlpool in the middle.. a small one..

2 different oceans, 2 directions, 2 current strength.. and 2 different temperatures..

meeting at a single point..



the ugliest lizard i had ever seen..



Alex, Me and Daniel..

after we are done with the Cape, we headed back to the city to go up the Table Mountain.. itz called Table coz of the huge plateau on top of it..



this pic is taken from inside the lift in the hotel..



on top of the mountain..



the view of Cape Town from the gondola that brings us up on the mountain..



look at the clouds below.. anyway, clouds at this level just feel like fogs.. just cold air blowing thru..

i wouldnt know how it feels like in a rain cloud though.. might be the same, just thicker and electrifying..

after we are done with the mountain, we headed up to Signal Hill, just next to the mountain.. to watch the sunset..



at exactly 6.10pm..

the sun sets so fast when it hits 6.10.. i think within 2 mins, it totally disappeared..

itz like u can really see the sun sinking..

we then drove down to the Malay Quarters.. coz i have heard abt the Cape Malays.. or Malay population who had lived here in Cape Town for abt a hundred years..

there are lots and lots of them here.. and u can easily find Halal restaurants in Cape Town..

another place where the Malays populate, though not really widely known to most, would be in Sri Lanka.. though i had never been there to check it out..

i just wanted to see the difference between the Cape Malays and my Malay friends here..



at a Malay store here... selling groceries and food.. these are Cape Malays, and they look like Malays with a tinge of African looks.. and they speak a different slang of Malay.. but some of the words seem similar.. just that u have to listen closely to notice that the words are Malay words..

i have heard that the culture is almost the same as what u get here.. but very kampung..



a Malay makcik..



the group with Soraya and Adnan, our driver for the day..

and Adnan is a pure Malay.. though he dont speak that much of the Malay language.. mostly English and Afrikaan.. which is a South African dialect, derived from the Dutch language..

ok.. thatz it abt South Africa..

and here are some pics from my previous flights..

I was in Paris last week, then headed to Manila, before doing Johannesburg and Cape Town..



Paris.. Again..

Paris is just Paris.. didnt do much.. hangout with the guys most of the time.. me, my Leading Razali, the IFS Lenny, the Chief Daniel and a pilot, Siva..

so just took one of the days to walk around after a meal with the crew in a nearby restaurant.. which cost us EU35 bucks EACH.

thatz like $75 per person for a LUNCH meal!

i'd rather have my $3.50 Nasi Ayam Goreng.

but of course.. therez a nice Vietnamese restaurant nearby which sells cheap and good food..

cheap at EU10 per meal on average..

thatz only $22 for a plate of fried rice..

ermz..

but itz really cheap, according to European standards..



after the meal, just walked ard Champs Elysees.. for the dunno-how-manyth-times..



at the Peugeot showroom again.. i love this place coz they keep on changing their concept cars on display..

this is a three-wheeler racing car..



at the Renault showroom.. a REAL Renault Formula-1 car.



and gosh.. look at how compact the engine is..

ok.. thatz it for Paris this time.. and i didnt take much pics of Manila coz the time was too short.. and i shall not post it up coz itz not really that interesting for a picture.. coz we checked in late and depart early.. so didnt really have the time to go out that nite.. i was too tired anyway...

My Princess is back in Melbourne now.. i miss her now, as much as i miss the 4 boys.. my 4 nephews.. but I'm sure my friends are missing her more.. i'll be seeing them in a few days time in Melbourne though..

and this is one of the last pics of her in Singapore that i got.. taken when i followed her for a jamming session with her band..