Oldies but some goodies

It's been about two and a half years since I spent my three month summer vacation traveling through Europe and Southeast Asia and I have finally started sorting through the +1000 pictures that I took. I give it about another year and a half before I have been successful in putting the photos together in a photo journal!

The main motivation has been to show the husband the Vietnam photos since his first trip will be in June so we're currently planning out the Vietnamese adventures. It's been fun going through them and discover photos that make me smile and get incredibly excited for our next adventure. The weather is going to be unbearably hot and humid but seeing my family, introducing the husband to the Vietnamese culture and eating delicious food is going to be a worthwhile trip!

So until June, I'll be on traveling hiatus...I think :-)

• typical Vietnamese intersection •

• dual transport •

• mangosteens, my favorite fruit from Southeast Asia •

• crisp sunset in hanoi •

A Castle in Cape Town

The oldest building in Cape Town, Castle of Good Hope is a star shaped fort that is wonderfully preserved and is the perfect way to spend a few hours while in Cape Town. The fort has Table Mountain shining behind it while within it's walls, it contains history that is rooted deeply in military and local culture. One could spend a minimum of two hours there but suggest going there during the early afternoon for their key ceremony (M-F 10am) and/or changing of the guards (M-F 12pm).

The fort is located nicely in central Cape Town so it's a walk away from the beautiful Town Hall, District Six Museum (must see), the Company Gardens (beautiful for a stroll) and pretty much, all of city centre that can easily be done on two feet.

• castle •

• view from atop the castle •

Gold Restaurant in Cape Town

• disclaimer: i know, i'm a few months off with posting, oops.

The husband and I try to stay away from standard "tourist-y" places when it comes to our meals while traveling. It's better to find a restaurant that does not come from a tourist pamphlet or a "where to eat" guide from a hotel instead we opt for a restaurant where the locals eat and we know that the food will be delicious.

However we did decide to break this rule on our last weekend in Cape Town. We came across a restaurant, Gold Restaurant that is located in the heart of Cape Town while perusing a "where to eat" guide. The restaurant offered a unique experience that we had to yet to encounter while in South Africa so we figured it would be best to journey into it.

Gold Restaurant is located on Strand Street in the heart of Cape Town right behind the Gold Museum in an inner courtyard surrounded by trees and tents. At the beginning of the evening, you can arrive early to partake in their drum circle but unfortunately, we were unable to attend due to timing.

The menu is a set menu (changes seasonally) with twelve different Cape Malay/African courses for you to discover. I am a vegetarian and was a little concerned knowing that their menu was set but of the twelve courses, eight was vegetarian so I had nothing to worry about. It seems like a lot of food to eat especially for two people but their serving sizes are just enough, not too much to make you full and not too little where you crave more. Their dessert of banana fritters and fresh fruit dusted in gold was really good although the banana fritters was a little cold.

During dinner, their live entertainment consists of tall Mali puppets that jump to the beat of the drums and swirl around with the dancers. The colors, design and uniqueness of the puppets made the evening more memorable. The singers and drummers were so full of soul and depth that it was great listening to their voices carrying throughout the tree covered courtyard.

This restaurant was the perfect dining experience for our South African journey. Another bonus: the final bill which included a bottle of delicious South African wine, the final total for two was about 600 Rand = $80 U.S!

Sunday Extravaganza

For the past three weeks, I have tried to make it up (either hiking or cable car) to Table Mountain especially so I can see the whole view of Cape Town. Now I did hike to the top of Lion's Head but it was covered in a thick layer of fog so I wasn't able to see anything from it's view point and that was a bit disappointing. Last week, I woke up early and drove to Table Mountain to take the cable car up since the weather was gorgeous. Unfortunately all the other tourists thought the same thing and it was a three hour queue to get onto the cable car. That didn't sound appealing to me so I turned around and drove back down the hill. Our last weekend in Cape Town, we decided to venture up. Saturday was a beautiful and clear day which ended up being perfect for our safari. Sunday was also supposed to be a clear day but of course, it wasn't. We even drove to the cable cars to see if there might be any chance of it clearing it but of course not. I even thought that maybe I would wake up early on Monday to try and head up there. But now I'm sick and the weather still isn't great. I don't think that I was meant to make it up to Table Mountain on this trip.

So since our whole hiking adventure trip was canceled due to the poor weather, we had to improvise of how to spend our day in Cape Town thus we had a Sunday Extravaganza: cramming in as much stuff as possible and enjoying every moment of it.

• We had breakfast on Long Street, city centre at Lola's. A nice little place that was recommended by Lonely Planet. At 8am, there really isn't anyone out so having Long Street quiet was perfect. They are also all vegetarian (another score) and had the most incredible egg croissant filled with scrambled eggs, black mushrooms and basil leaves...I will need to make this combo at home.

• We drove over to Hout Bay and stumbled into their weekly craft market and was finally able to do the souvenir shopping that was needed.

• We drove over to Hout Bay's harbor and decided that we should take a boat over to Duiker Island to see some seals. It's a short boat drive (about 40 min) and they offer the glass bottom boat to see the seals from below. That's not really worth it since seeing them bask in the sun and swim from above is more entertaining. If you were in the area and needed some time to kill, than a trip to Duiker Island can be entertaining but wasn't exactly a "must do" destination.



• We drove up to Rhodes Memorial which is an impressive memorial located in the slope of Table Mountain and offers a nice view of the city but that's mostly it. There is a nice restaurant behind it but since it was so busy, we were unable to enjoy a refreshing beverage so our time spent there was short and sweet.


• We drove over to Century City's Canal Walk and determined that this place is not for us. It's a large shopping mall with over four hundred stores and surrounded by offices and apartments. If you like shopping, than this would be the perfect place but since we both hate shopping, we were in and out of there within an hour. I actually thought that there would be some nice canals that you could walk through with the shops around it (like Amsterdam) but nope, just a big, giant mall surrounded by a canal.

• heehee, can't help but post this picture •

• We drove back to our suburbs to Cool Runnings, the first downhill toboggan sled (about 1.25km long track) in Africa and this completely satisfied our inner children. It's incredibly cheap (about $14 for six rides), has an automatic pully that takes you to the top and let's us feel like kids again. If only they served beer here...


• And we finished our Sunday Extravaganza with a glowing smile from our improvised day...which ended up being the perfect way to end our last weekend in Cape Town.

Garden Route Safari

A four hour drive from Cape Town, this private game reserve (Garden Route Game Lodge outside of Albertinia) allowed us to be up and close to see most of the big five...sans the leopard. The drive from Cape Town is a little long - especially with all the construction that is being done on the N2 but it was a beautiful route that took us through South Africa. If there were only more hours in the day, we would have happily gone wine tasting since the drive has many hidden wineries sprinkled throughout the route.

• garden route game lodge •