Sometime between then and now

So here we are, 2010. And to be honest, that blog-title sums up exactly how I'm feeling at the start of this year. And how I expect to be feeling for most of January, but that's a whole nother post (one that is coming, I promise ... it's odd to have so many blog posts stored up in my head and then to lie awake in bed last night wondering if I should bother continuing to blog at all actually ... as you can see, I'm all a jumble).

So, what have I been up to? Obviously I was in Cape Town and I spent a large portion of that time doing next to nothing at our Beach Cottage. Let me remind you (because I'm sure I've said it before), it's a blissful place, past Simon's Town with no electricity or drinkable tap-water ... you even have to push a pump 20 times before you can flush the loo! I love it there ...



I also got a gorgeous shot of the sky across False Bay just after sunrise one morning :)



But I did get up to plenty of other stuff (although let me remind you that Cape Town for a holiday is not the same for me as it is for others ... it's a going home, not a mad dash to every tourist destination. So the things I did were probably much the same as I would've had I stayed in Joburg ... but obviously there was the big "Family" draw-card).

I ate out.
There are so many Cape Town restaurants I miss (5ive Flies, Cape to Cuba, Fat Cactus to name a few off the top of my head), but I didn't go to any of them this holiday.

First I met up with The Divine Miss M for sushi at Beluga. We made it there before 7 and had a decadent meal of half-price sushi and half-price cocktails to wash it all down. Definitely the smart way to eat ;) The service was sub-standard, but the place was packed and we weren't really in much of a hurry. Afterwards we went for a jug of sangria at Cafe Sofia.

Let me just warn you that Beluga has the hugest menu you'll ever see, not because of variety, but because they've bound it in recipe book format that you can actually buy. A novel idea really, but quite cumbersome!

Mom and I went to The Italian Kitchen for lunch one afternoon. It's in a most peculiar spot (on Tokai Road, opposite Blue Route), but seems a nice enough little place. And the food was yummy :) Mom had a pizza and I had a pasta.

I also met up with Jam at a Cafeen in Harfield Village for a catch-up lunch. While most of this lunch was about the talking, the food was yummy too, I had a very nice sandwich :) And a refreshing Iced Coffee.

The grand-girls (me, The Peeb and our 2 girl-cousins) decided to go for a girls-only dinner out (it's nice now that the cousins are getting old enough for this, there's a 15yr age gap between me & the youngest!) but we tried to do it on the evening of the 1st Jan. Nothing was open. We braved a sand storm to go to Dunes, only to be told their kitchen was closed. So we ended up at Pirates in Hout Bay.

It turned out to be such a fun evening, it was the first time we've done something like this, but I think it'll become a new tradition! We all had yummy burgers, but the service was pretty shocking. They had very few staff working. But we were happy to chat away the time :) Afterwards we ended up staying at their place till quite late, watching old slides. It was a great night!

For my last night in Cape Town, we went out for a family dinner, just the 4 of us, Mom, Daddio, The Peeb and me, to Willoughby's. Wowee, now this was some delish sushi! The Peeb, Mom and I ordered a whole bunch to share and ate ourselves silly! I can highly recommend their Rock Shrimp Tempura :) Heaven.

Afterwards we went to Sinns for desert. Mom and I shared their Decadent Dessert “Medley”, which was a perfect end to the evening :) (My fave was their Raspberry Sorbet, Creme Brulee and Milk Chocolate Mousse)

 I watched movies.
Dad has amassed quite a collection of dvds so I watched a few on the night I was home with nothing to do (bad planning on my part and more of the hibernation holiday spirit :) ).

I watched Seven Pounds and Mamma Mia! Okay, odd choices, I know, but neither of them were big-screen movies for me ... which leaves dvd ... I usually leave the movies I think are potentially rubbish for dvd. And I was right on both counts.

I can see what they were trying to do with this movie, and I do like Will Smith, but I just think they missed the mark. It was supposed to be an interesting twist at the end, but it was glaringly obvious from early on. And it was sloooow. I will say that I did very much like the manner in which he ended things and have *always* wanted a jelly-fish aquarium. So that was by far my fave part of the whole thing.

Eurgh. It had to be done, I'm not making any apologies for it and at one (brief and fleeting) point in there, I did momentarily agree with Mark Kermode's opinion that it was so bad it was good ... but then I realised the error of my ways and relaised that no, it was just bad. Although I'd recommend just watching it for the hilarity that is Pierce Brosnan's singing!!

I will say that I was impressed with Meryl Streep and that is about the only bit of the movie I enjoyed.

And then last night when I was back in Joburg, Varen and I went to watch the new Sherlock Holmes (was going to try go with Mom, but we didn't have time).

Aw, Robert Downey Jr. He was brilliant. I can't wait for Iron Man 2 :) Jude Law isn't a personal fave of mine, but he was okay. And then generally the movie was okay ... I didn't think it was spectacular or earth-shattering and I think the thing that highlighted that for me was that I wasn't too concerned about missing something when I made a dash to the loo. It was a bit wishy-washy, I thought. But otherwise, I still quite liked it.

 I read books.
As is now tradition, I caught up on Daddio's vast collection of Eve Dallas novels by J.D. Robb. This time I only got thru 5 of them tho.

Crime and punishment is Lieutenant Eve Dallas's business. Murder her speciality...Named by the social worker who found her when she was a mere child roaming that city's streets, Eve Dallas is a New York police detective who lives for her job. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows her survival depends on her instincts.

(oops, seems I skipped Holiday in Death!)

09. Loyalty in Death
10. Witness in Death
11. Judgement in Death
12. Betrayal in Death
13. Seduction in Death

* This book is part of the In Death series: Naked in Death (1995), Glory in Death (1995), Immortal in Death (1996), Rapture in Death (1996), Ceremony in Death (1997), Vengeance in Death (1997), Holiday in Death (1998), ~Midnight in Death (1998), Conspiracy in Death (1999), Loyalty in Death (1999), Witness in Death (2000), Judgment in Death (2000), Betrayal in Death (2001), ~Interlude in Death (2001), Seduction in Death (2001), Reunion in Death (2002), Purity in Death (2002), Portrait in Death (2003), Imitation in Death (2003), Divided in Death (2004), Visions in Death (2004), Survivor in Death (2005), Origin in Death (2005), Memory in Death (2006), ~Haunted in Death (2006), Born in Death (2006), Innocent in Death (2007), Creation in Death (2007), ~Eternity in Death (2007), Strangers in Death (2008), Salvation in Death (2008), ~Ritual in Death (2008), Promises in Death (2009), Kindred in Death (2009), ~Missing in Death (2009) ~ included in Anthologies

I caught-up with friends & family.
So I managed to see a few friends this holiday. The Bunny Farmer and her daughter came down to the beach cottage for lunch one day. Was fab to be able to catch-up with her in person. And weird to think the last time she'd been with us at the cottage was back in high school in 1994!

I had dinner with The Divine Miss M. It was especially nice to see her since we have only had very erratic contact for the last year or two and there was loads of catching-up to do. I think our friendship is on the road to recovery :)

I saw Jam, which I always make an effort to do while in Cape Town. She really is my longest friend (since Sub A, or Grade 1) and although it's a little weird with her still being in Bean's group of friends (since she's still dating his friend that we set her up with years ago!), it's still always lovely to see her.

I also spent quite a lot of time with my gran, and made a special effort to visit my 2nd cousin Neen's 9-month old son and got to catch-up with her folks & sister. And of course, our grand-girls dinner out was a highlight :)

I also spent plenty of time with The Peeb's new kitten, Panda. What a darling-but-crazy little guy he is ... and boy did he enjoy his week at the cottage :) (Aside from the occasional Baboon, although he barely batted an eyelid at them!) 

I swam in the sea (twice).
Enough said :) 

I did do one or two touristy things.
First I made the fateful mistake of thinking I'd take a drive to Kalk Bay and wander thru those cute little shops. It turned out to be a 2 hour drive from Lakeside to Kalk Bay and by the time I got there I just hopped on Boyes Drive and headed home without stoppping. The drive along the ocean was lovely tho. I find it most strange that driving in Cape Town is almost relaxing for me yet driving in Joburg is a requirement to arrive at my destination!

Daddio took me yachting on Table Bay with some of his work-folk (yes, their company owns a yacht!). Let me tell you, yachting is not as glamorous as it sounds, by far! It's helluva windy (I spent the entire journey bundled up in my jersey!) and you spend all your time tacking and rigging and whatever other yachting terms there are. There's none of this swanning around in a bikini sipping colourful drinks. Well, maybe on the bigger yachts, moored in calmer bays, but not on this day! We went out to Robben Island (about as close as I've ever been) and then round to the Seli 1 Wreck. I'll say that Bay is way bigger than it looks when you're driving along the mountain!

I also dragged Daddio and The Peeb to The World of Birds on my last day in Cape Town - I was more keen to hit the aquarium, but The World of Birds was the only way to get Daddio to agree to come along (he hearts birds) :) Which was actually fine by me because I couldn't tell you the last time I actually was there ... probably junior school?

Got some great photos tho :) The owls all posed so perfectly!

 
I went shopping.
I finally purchased a pair of Alice Suede Crocs for myself. Although I bought a pair of the original Crocs (before they were even really in SA ... I got mine in Singapore on my Thailand holiday), I hardly ever wear them - although I do recommend them as great holiday (where you're doing plenty of walking) shoes. But these Alice Suede ones I've had my eye on for ages, but haven't really been able to justify the price tag ... and they were on sale, at Cape Union Mart :) Love 'em!

There you go, the practical stuff is (finally) out the way ... I promise a more emotionally-minded blog post will follow shortly :)