Kaapstad.
Cape Town in afrikaans.
we had just arrived from jo'burg and everyone was plenty excited. it was 0920 hours and emerging from the airport, we were blasted by a freezing gust of wind. call me impulsive, but i was loving south africa already.
some guy hired to ferry us to the lodge we were staying in ushered us into the van and we were off. my dad started some small chat with him about the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup that was gonna be held in cape town herself and bla bla bla. i didnt care really. since when was my father a football person?
anyways, on the way to the lodge, i have to say i was quite astounded to see squatter camps in cape town. they were an eyesore against the magnificent backdrop that was table mountain. sad... like i said, every fabulous place has its 'dark' sides.
we arrived at table mountain lodge and the hosts there were so welcoming. we quickly unpacked and went off the the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. table mountain would have been our first choice but the cable cars were closed for maintenance that weekend. oh well, the famous V&A was also a must on the list anyway. we went walking around the place. we went into the Waterfront Craft Market & Wellness Centre and the Red Shed Craft Workshop where they sold plenty of craft among other things. the handmade stuff were totally awesome but we didnt buy anything yet.
part of V&A with table mountain in the background.
boats berthed at the marina.
we stumbled upon this 'statue' when we were wondering around the place.
he didnt move an inch.
it was soon time for lunch so we chose to dine in the Baia sefood restaurant; it looked fancy enough. i think we were kinda outta our mind because we decided to dine alfresco. it wasnt exactly freezing, BUT it sure was cold. they had a few heaters by every table so that made it tolerable. first day there and i have to say, we splurged on food. the bill came up to 900rand, which in MYR was approximately 450. there was one weird part when we were paying the bill though. you see, the restaurants in south africa dont charge their customers any service tax. instead, it's up to the customers on how much they'd like to tip. normally, if the service was ok, the recommended tip is 10% of your total bill. if the service was good, BIG tip recommended. if the service was horrible and the waiters were rude, you may tip them less than 10%. totally unlike malaysia, where you have to pay a compulsory service tax tanpa megira the service good or not.
well, being the first-time-here tourists we were, we had no idea on how we were to go about this never-seen-before system. so my mum, wanting to make the bill 1000, tipped them 100rand which is really already more than 10%. but upon seeing that 100rand, you could immediately see the head waiter's face twist and contort into something resembling this:
more about this monkey in later entries. LOL
i guess he was expecting more. his service and hospitality was good enough but seeing him change so drastically at the end gave us the impression that it was all done with a quack smile. anyhoo, we scrambled from the restaurant after paying the bill for fear that we might get impaled by his fierce glare... and by the butter knife in his hand.
later, we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. you get to see all the typical marine flora and fauna there. intriguing enough. the kelp forest was something new though, the only one of two in the world.
this is not the kelp forest, it's a little monster.
after our visit there, we went back to the craft centre. dad got bro #2 a magic kit since he finally agred to share it with bro #3. the kit guarantees that you'd be able to master all the magic tricks within it in i-dont-know-how-many-but-i-know-its-a-stupid-amount-of days! a big waste of money if you ask me. i was right; that thing is now somewhere in the house, rotting away in a some dark crevice.
we had hotdogs for dinner. the person manning the hotdog stand had a chat with us since he said the dogs would take awhile. he told us he'd been to malaysia and would love to go back there again. why? well, because he said the t-shirts there are dirt cheap compared to those sold in cape town. so he said he'd be going there to buy a huge load of t-shirts, smuggle them back here and then make big monaaaay selling. haha
the hotdogs were nice. soon, we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the lodge for some MUCH needed rest. phew.