Why I emigrated to Cape Town (from Joburg)

Posted on March 10, 2014 1 Comment

So I did it, dear readers, I emigrated to Cape Town. From Johannesburg. Yes, emigrated, because I feel like I am in a different country here. I hear people talking in the streets and think ‘Ah – some other South Africans around here’ and then realise what a stupid statement that is because I am in South Africa. Candice, you dork.

It’s been a long road and I had to knyp and wingle and wangle for a few months to make the change and the journey – perhaps too much, but that’s all okay now.

Why did I do it? So many people have asked me this question and a multitude of others in the past few months, so let me gather all the questions and answers into one post.

I’ve lived in Joburg most of my life. I’ve done it, I’ve seen it, I got bored. I am by no means putting Joburg down, I just want a change and a different lifestyle – I’m asking Cape Town to give that to me. I don’t understand this rivalry between Cape Town and Joburg, really. They’re two different COUNTRIES, man, right? I don’t appreciate the looks of contempt that I got when announcing my big move. The responses ranged from “I’m so jealous, you’re so lucky” to “Traitor”, “You know the weather’s shit, right?” and “Cape Town people don’t make friends”.

Can I just say a big WTF? Luck has nothing to do with it, my friends. I decided what I wanted and then strategised and worked my butt off to get it. I don’t recall pledging allegiance to a city that no longer makes me happy and correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sitting here in the warm sunshine while you’re busy swimming through the traffic day in and day out (yeah okay, winter is a different story, but I think you get my drift – it’s what you make of it, really). I also find it difficult to believe that there is a bunch of people out there who don’t want friends. There are Cape Town folk who I am connected to on Twitter who have offered to help me move (who I have never even met), while my Joburg friends are still ‘promising’ to come help me pack 3 months ago.

I digress.

No, I am not running away from anything. No, I did not go through a trauma or have my heart broken by a douchebag. I am running towards a dream and a life that I’ve always wished for. It may not be here, but there is only one way to find out, right?

Hello Cape Town – here’s to a long and fruitful relationship.

Get happy with your snappy: February Photo-A-Day Challenge

Posted on January 30, 2014 Leave a Comment

I wrote this little post of creative fun for the Social Sessions blog (with artwork by the ever-talented Zoe Inc) and thought you might find it quite appealing too. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with every day

“We’re sure you’ve seen them around, these photo-a-day challenges. There’s the hardcore 365 projects where you post a photo a day for the entire year, 100 day projects where you post a photo a day for 100 days of what makes you happy and such.

Photography has taken a turn in the past few years. You no longer need a professional camera to be able to express yourself through photographs, our smartphones and tablets do the trick quite nicely. This decade is the rise of iPhoneography – photography with a iPhone – and you won’t believe the beautiful images that are created with a phone and an application. Opportunities are endless and our very clever phones allow us the freedom to explore the world of photography instantly and easily.

This being said, we introduce you to the Social Sessions Photo-A-Day challenge! It’s only for the month of February and happens to be the shortest month of the year so you don’t need to feel the pressure of keeping it up for too long.

How it works:

Post a photo a day, to any or all of your social media platforms, that related to the topic that we have given you for each date. You can be as abstract or as literal as you like – it’s about your own creativity and exploration.
If you want us to see and share your work, use the hashtag #SSLove and mention @Social_Sessions on Twitter. If you want to use Facebook, post your pic on our page too.

We’ll feature our best pics of the day for the month of Feb!

Time to get happy with your snappy…”

Is 30 the new 21?

Posted on January 20, 2014 2 Comments

This is the year that I hit the big three-oh and I didn’t think it was a big deal until people started telling me it’s a big deal.

I’m a big fan of celebrating milestones in life. We each have our own goals and our own achievements throughout our lives that are defined by us, not others, and those are the ones I like to celebrate as and when they happen. A trip to Thailand when my first business hit one year, a champagne dinner at the start of my second, a good pedicure to congratulate myself on getting through a rough time… big or small, I have my ways of celebrating ‘myself’.

What I’m struggling to grasp now, is the need to celebrate reaching 30 years of life. Look, it’s not difficult to survive in this world with a good upbringing, decent education and a clever pip in your head. What’s the big deal?

I suppose birthday parties have always been a non-entity in my life. I don’t get it. Just an excuse to have a good party? Perhaps. But now the whole “Big 30″ thing comes and smacks me in the face and I’m supposed to create a big celebration for it.

The big 30th parties are popping up all over the place – it’s like 21 all over again. It means bigger parties, bigger presents and dress-ups – just like our 21sts, but on our budget instead of our parents’.

I watched an interesting TED talk a while ago, which delved into the topic “Why 30 is not the new 20″, where a clinical psychologist (Meg Jay) talks about how your twenties are not a throwaway decade, but rather a defining decade in our lives. She says that 80% of life’s most defining moments take place by the age of 35.

I tend to agree with Meg Jay on this one. I didn’t necessarily waste my twenties, but I did go through it with a mindset that it is a temporary period of my life and I only started to take things a bit more seriously a few years ago (thank frik for that).

But I digress. These days we marry later, have children later, start making money more in our thirties than we did in our twenties. SO perhaps 30 is the new 21? Is that why I am supposed to have a second 21st?

Being defined by a number grates me. I know that I’m getting older, you don’t need to point that out, and I’m very much okay with it. I’m much happier with myself and my life now than I was when I was in my early twenties. I can see the physical effects of age and I’m okay with that too. My laugh lines mean that I’ve laughed. My wrinkles and dimples mean that I’m not the same person that I used to be and that is good.

Please enlighten me then – what is the big deal about ‘The Big 30′?

A Philippine Paradise – El Nido

Posted on January 15, 2014 Leave a Comment

Guys, I do believe that I have just experienced my top holiday of all time – the island paradise of El Nido, Palawan, Philippines.

I find myself on a never-ending backpacker search for the ultimate island-style destination and each time I’m convinced that ‘this is the one’. Thailand’s Haad Yuan on Koh Phangan and Kantiang Bay in Koh Lanta, Cambodia’s Sihanoukville islands, Egypt’s Dahab, Australia’s Byron Bay and now the Philippines’ best kept Palawan secret:

Basic simplicity in tropical paradise of still relatively raw and untouched beauty.

My holidays tend to be simple and carefree: make-up, and pants for that matter, are long forgotten and soaking up the coastal vibes takes priority. This is what life is about.

I’ve travelled with friends, boyfriends and on my own and people often ask me about how to do it, where to go, what to do, what to book and what to just wing.

So here is my account of my trip with all the info that you need to do it yourself and know what you’re in for. If you can’t cope with all the writing, there are pretty pictures too.

The Journey

Be prepared for a long haul – likely the longest that you’ve ever experienced. I sit here in Dubai airport, writing away a few hours of the 10 I have here to wait between flights. I’m feeling a little like Viktor Navorski in The Terminal. You’re looking at around 3 flights, at least, and some road time to get to this little island paradise. I kind of like that it’s a little more difficult to get to than other places – it makes it a little more exciting knowing that you’re going off the beaten track and the likelihood of bumping into someone you know is slim to none.

My journey was on Emirates from Johannesburg to Dubai and from Dubai to Manila, Philippine Airlines from Manila to Puerto Princesa, then a private van drive from Puerto Princesa (arranged by the hotel in Puerto) to El Nido. Don’t bother to spend any time in Manila – it’s a hole (I am not a fan of Asian cities at all, so nothing appealed to me here). The airport is a hole too, so try not to have too much of a layover there. In and out – that’s the key.

There is also a private charter airline ITI which flies direct between Manila and El Nido. It’s priority is the El Nido Resorts guests in the fancy Schmancy resorts on the Bacuit Archipelago, but you can get yourself onto a flight by booking directly with them or through the Art Cafe in El Nido.

The Town

After three days or so (lost count) of solid travel, arriving in El Nido is a quite a feeling to remember. There’s not much in life that is as sweet as the first glimpse of palm trees, white sand and bright turquoise sea through the gaps between the village huts. I’d later learn that Palawan was showing off its’Las Cabanas beach on the way into El Nido town.

The town itself is bustling. Through the haze of humidity, the streets are alive – street stores spilling their goods out onto the road, tricycles maneuvering through people and obstacles, motorbikes flying around corners. Hooting. Smiling. Hooting. Tricycle!

Electricity in El Nido only runs from 2pm until 6am, so be prepared to sweat it out for most of the day without fans if you stay in town during the day. The beach itself in Bacuit Bay is not fantastic, so you’ll be out each day to spend spend some time in paradise – it’s part of the adventure and SO worth it. Every day out holds something to top the day before.

El Nido town itself seems like merely a place to start your island hopping through the Bacuit Archipelago, but spend some time there and you’ll see how its’ own personality comes to the surface.

The Roof Over Your Head

El Nido town itself has plenty of basic accommodation available, but I would recommend staying a little out of the city, along Caalan Beach, where you wake up to a quieter, cleaner, breathtaking island home.

This is the view from the Main House at Makulay Lodge – a self-catering cottage with the BEST view in El Nido, I swear:

Copious amounts of gin and tonic were consumed while sitting on the deck and looking at this view – so much so that the town literally ran out of tonic water during our stay! Granted, there are 103 steps up to this hilltop paradise (which is also incredibly affordable), but you need them anyway to work off all the fresh seafood that you consume every day.

There are quite a few resorts along the coastal path of Caalan Beach as well as some incredibly cheap bungalows right on the beach, which require no prior booking – just rock up and make yourself at home.

The Stuff To Do

Spend your time in El Nido – there is so much to do and everything runs on island time so take it e-a-s-y…

Here’s some suggestions:

Island hopping

This is a must on your to-do list. There are four standard island hopping tours offered by everyone in El Nido and is a great start to your adventures, without you having to anything much at all. Try and find someone who will source a smaller local operation – if you get shoved onto a boat with ten other tourists and forced to wear a dorky orange life jacket, you’re likely to be less than impressed. Makulay seems to have their own little local operation that they use and even only two people on a boat is the norm.

You’ll be boated off to five isalnds/lagoons throughout the day, dropped off on the small and breathtakingly beautiful beaches, be served the freshest seafood and fresh produce lunch and snorkel/laze away to your heart’s content. It doesn’t matter that you’re sharing it with a bunch of other dork tourists, it’s so unbelievably gorgeous that you just block them out.

Another option for some island time is to pack your own food and drinks and organise a private boat drop-off and pick-up on an island for the day.

Sea kayak rentals are in abundance. Rent one of these for the day and choose your own islands to kayak to (if you’re feeling particularly energetic).

Diving

I’m a diving person, when I’m in some sort of tropical paradise and craving some boat time. There are loads of dive shops in El Nido to choose from and plenty of good dive sites. A day out on a dive boat always soothes a stressed soul.

I chose El Dive, a very new dive shop run by Yoshi Ohtshuka, who has 20 years of diving experience under his (weight) belt already. All his equipment is brand new and good quality, clean and comfortable.

You can also book in on one of the dive days as a snorkeller and enjoy the best snorkel spots with the best snorkel gear in town.

Nacpan Beach

Rent a scooter/motorbike and take a scenic drive up to Nacpan Beach. When I say ‘scenic drive’ I mean ‘motor cross adventure’. If it’s been raining, you’re in for some extra mud fun

Nacpan beach is beautiful and quiet. There are one or two little restaurants on the beach that you can grab some fresh seafood (seeing the pattern here?) or a coconut. There are also some incredibly cheap bungalows on the beach that you could stay at for some SERIOUS time-out. No pre-booking is required, or even possible, just rock up and chill out.

Las Cabanas

Las Cabanas is a GORGEOUS beach just a short tricycle/motorbike ride from El Nido. Hang out there all day, swim in the perfect sea and sip on cocktails while you wait for the sunset that happiness is made of. You should definitely NOT fill your coconut up with rum and take cheesy silhouette sunset photos. Just kidding. You should definitely do that.

Quiet beach time

If you walk along the beach/coastal path on the Caalan beach side of El Nido, there are two rather secluded and beautiful beaches for lazy days of nothingness and the occasional dip in the sea. You’ll catch a pretty mean sunset from there too.

Massages

Massages are on offer on almost every corner. My recommendation is most definitely the spa bungalow at Cadlao Resort – it’s outside in the shade by the resort poolside. Book your massage just before sunset and catch the pink skies as you fall into a relaxation coma. Then slip on up to the deck for cocktails and dinner. Epic.

The Other Stuff

There’s loads more – treks, mountain biking, rock climbing, overnight island camping, hikes to waterfalls… I couldn’t do it all – I became too relaxed and ‘island made’ prevented me from doing much more than walking to a beach or climbing on a boat. Life sucked!

The Food Stuff

You’ll find some lovely eating spots in El Nido. Fresh, grilled seafood is easiest to find and some speciality spots in between.

My favourites:

La Bodega – This stylish French spot is a few weeks old and offers some beautiful French and Western meals. The decor and ambience is by far the best in town. If you have some cash to splash, they have champagne and some good wines!

Lonesome Carabou Lounge – This Mexican spot serves decent tacos, burritos, quesadillas and fajitas. They also have speciality wiskey! Do it.

Altrove – These guys have a wood-fired pizza oven. Enough said. The only place worth eating pizza. They have a queue every night of people waiting to get in. They also do take-aways.

GK Restaurant – A tiny little local kitchen on Caalan beach makes the most delicious sandwiches, with a view to die for.

El Nido Corner – They have great Arabic coffee and homemade bread.

Advice and Tips

You will spend copious amounts of time in the water and on the water, so have a waterproof bag
Bring waterproof shoes/booties. Getting in and out of boats if often rocky and you will cut your feet.

Exhibit A:

That being said, pack bandages, antibacterial cream and antibacterial tablets. If you cut yourself, it will not heal in the wet and humidity and is almost certain to get infected, no matter how well you look after your wounds.

If you need an automatic scooter, book the night before to ensure that you get what you want
It can rain a lot in tropical paradise, be flexible enough to cater for this
There are no ATMs in El Nido, you need to take cash with you
Wearing a bikini in the town is illegal – I kid you not
If you’ve booked an ITI flight out of El Nido, be aware that the luggage restriction is 10kg, including hand luggage (you can pay 100PHP per extra kg of luggage). Your bags will be thoroughly searched. Your flight time is also not actually your flight time. It is really the time that the priority passengers (El Nido resorts guests) arrive at the airport to check in and eat their cucumber sandwiches.
Be prepared for humidity and heat! Temp: 30′C, real feel: 74′C. Don’t bother packing any creams or make-up. Or anything with a sleeve or a leg.

The Round Up

So there it is, folks, all you need to have an epic island holiday. Get in there before it becomes another commercialised Thailand. And don’t be a douche – leave nothing but memories in the wake of your travels – respect the untouched beauty that you explore.

This is a geeky post

Posted on December 19, 2013 2 Comments

This is a geeky post. It is not sexy or insightful, it is just plain useful.

As part of my whole “I love to experience things” mantra for my life, I travel quite a bit. I love to throw some clothes in a backpack, book a flight and end up on a breathtaking island somewhere. I’m so good at it.

I’m also good at packing light and taking as little as possible, yet still having everything I need. I have a towel that packs into a bag the size of my fist and some teeny weeny bikinis (I’m always going somewhere where nobody knows me, or cares what I look like, so I don’t need to care either!). Today, I found a proper travel gem – the SKROSS World Adaptor.

For this particular trip, the only electronic item I am taking is my camera (no, not even a phone, f*ck that) so it needs to be able to be charged. Every trip I buy some sort of plug adaptor-type gadget, but this year, I found one that caters for freaking everything and will be TOTALLY useful for some good few international trips to come.

This baby transforms into whatever input and output plug you can think of, for over 150 countries. It also has an add-on with dual USB ports. Shut the front door.

Easy sliders to adjust your plug options according to country

It’s a bit more than I need for my one lonely camera charger, but I’m sure that my (equally mental) friends will be pleased to be able to charge all their devices and Future Me thanks me.

One more thing: PHILIPPINES BABY!

The art of giving this Christmas

Posted on December 17, 2013 1 Comment

It’s that time of the year again, when we eat too much, drink too much and spend too much money. Well, most of us in any case. For a huge portion of our population, it is a time where people feel the most at loss, especially when it comes to making it a special time for their children.

Enter Dlala Nje’s annual Christmas Party. These guys run a cultural games emporium in Ponte City for the children of Hillbrow and surrounds and throw a Christmas party for these kids every year. They provide a space for children to have fun in a safe environment and enjoy all sorts of activities for the afternoon. They even get a present each and a chance to sit on Santa’s lap!

For a lot of these children, this will be the only Christmas fun that they experience and the only gift that they receive. Orphanages in the area are also invited and it is an afternoon of (mad) fun with face painting, crafts, cupcakes, jumping castles, performances and of course, presents!

We managed to collect about 1000 gifts from many kind hearts (which wasn’t enough!) and spent our afternoon madly helping out with the party. There were so many smiling faces and I am so happy to have been a part of such an amazing initiative. I have all the time in the world for these guys and their cause.

Here are some pictures from the day. I hope that you will be there next year too, to help make a child smile, as Madiba would have liked it!

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela

Dlala Nje — Apparently this is me as an angel – bless!

Dlala Nje 1 — It’s not a party ’til there’s a jumping castle

Dlala Nje 5 — When making angels turned into making binoculars

Dlala Nje 6 — THIS is the coolest car in the world. He was so chuffed with his gift!

Dlala NJe 7 — So proud of her snow man Christmas tree decoration

Dlala Nje 3 — Face painting is always a hit – even when we have no idea what to paint or how!

The Power Within

Posted on December 10, 2013 Leave a Comment

I’m currently packing up my house, which is about as much fun as ripping my own arm off and beating myself with it. What has been interesting is coming across some old letters, photos and writings. I found a stash of papers which had moved with me years ago and I had not actually looked at in a very long time. In this stash, I found my high school creative writing portfolio. I realise now that I was a troubled teenager (but weren’t we all)? Nonetheless, I found this lighter piece that I thought would be interesting to share. The topic was “A Childhood Memory”.

The Power Within

The leaves hiss along the ground as we walk past. The birds no longer sing. Instead, the wind whistles eerily through the tree tops – warning us to stay away. We gather up our courage and climb over the fence into the darkness. We walk slowly, being cautious with each step, and reach the bent and gnarly ‘Tut Castle Tree’ where the voice of King Tut booms upon us, “Bring us our sandwiches, Rascals!”

At least, that’s how I remembered it. It was a simple game, invented merely to make us their slaves. ‘Us’ being myself and my neighbour Steven. ‘Them’ being my older brother John and Steven’s sister, Tarryn. John and Tarryn were ‘King Tut’ and ‘Queen Tut’, who lived in ‘Tut Castle’, while we were the ‘Rascals’ i.e. their naive, innocent slaves. Once we had done the chores that King and Queen tut told us to, we could join in with their ‘evil deeds’.

The cold wind blew my hair into my face. Steven brushed it behind my ears – he was always there for me. I looked up into the highest branches where our superiors hovered, and asked with my voice shaking, “C-Can we play now?”

“I’m the king of the castle and you’re the dirty rascal, so call me ‘sir’!”

“Can we play now… SUUUUR?”

“Okay,” said the almighty king, “but you two can only sit on the first branch.” So we did as we were told.

The Tut Castle Tree prevented us from being seen by passers-by on the street, and that is where the idea of the ‘evil deeds’ came from. We could see them, but they couldn’t see us. We were like spies. King and Queen Tut said that they, being the superiors, controlled them.

“Okay, everyone keep quiet” was the order from Queen Tut. “When I say so, Rascals, whistle at the woman walking past”. We did and she stood still, confused. All of a sudden, she was bombarded with flying berries, soaring through the air from all directions. They bounced off her fat rolls like ping-pong balls.

Amidst the shouts and machine gun noises of the bloodshed, I sat and watched. I wasn’t a very violent child – I couldn’t be, in the dresses my mother dressed me in. So I switched off out of their world and tuned in to my own. I wanted to be at the top of the tree. I wanted the power. I was sick of being the ‘dirty little rascal’. I wanted to be important.

Some days, when nobody was in ‘Tut Kingdom’, I would sneak down to the bottom of the garden, and climb to the top of the tree. I had the power then. I would just sit and watch the passers-by. I was powerful enough to just watch and know that I was above it all.

Even now, when I feel down, depressed or unimportant, I sit at the top of that tree and watch. There seems to be some kind of power in that tree that makes all my problems disappear for a while. It makes me look deep into myself and find the power within.

-END-

If you know me personally, that explains a lot, doesn’t it?

[Tree image source: here]

“We can change the world” Remembering Mandela.

Posted on December 6, 2013 Leave a Comment

South Africans and people all over the world woke up today to the incredibly sad news of Nelson Mandela’s passing last night. The numbness that comes with the death of a loved one is felt all all over the country today. Even though I had never met the amazing Madiba, I feel very close to him and feel so intensely sad that such a good human being has left us. I am grateful for what he did for South Africa and the world.

Let us not forget the principles that he taught us and what amazing things we can achieve with kindness.

(Here’s a Facebook cover photo that I designed for my Social Ideas Facebook page – feel free to use it as your own cover photo in tribute.)

Something creative for your Saturday afternoons – Mosaics at Marmalade

Posted on December 2, 2013 Leave a Comment

If you’re like me and struggle to find a good creative outlet, it’s great to be helped along the way.

On the weekend, I went to a mosaic afternoon at Marmalade in Chartwell. The afternoon is made of snacks, drinks, conversation and creating your own mosaic piece. A very chilled out and creative way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Marmalade is a ‘country cottage shop’ with all sorts of country-style pieces, gorgeous little girls’ dresses as well as distressed furniture (I have my eye on their headboards). It’s the love-child of Genevieve de Freitas, who started making wooden photo frames in her garage and grew her business into the little gem that it is today.

Marmalade Mosaics 2 — Marmalade Shop. The veranda is the mosaic area.

Their mosaic afternoons happen every Saturday, from 2pm – 5pm, and the cost is R250. They’re also on Facebook as Marmalade. I’m hoping my piece was good enough to make it to their page – we kind of forced Gen to take photos of our work and tell us that it’s lovely, so we’ll see…

It’s also not just an adult activity, they cater for children as well and have a playground in the garden. It’s really peaceful and quaint - I’m glad I experienced it and will be back for more (after my mosaic mirror frame actually turned out quite lovely). I’m going to put my mirror up in my new home as a reminder that we need to slow down and let some creativity out once in a while (with wine and cheese, of course). It’s good for the soul.

Marmalade Mosaics 3 — Getting inspiration from the tiles

Putting the idea together — Putting the pieces together

Starting to look good... — Starting to look good…

The final product. Not too bad for novices, right?

Look at my guns, boet

Posted on December 2, 2013 2 Comments

Life is hectic. Especially at this time of the year. I don’t know about you, but with me it seems like everyone woke up to the fact that they haven’t achieved everything they intended to this year, and need to squish it all into the last month. I have been insanely busy.

Sometimes we just need a boost to get us through.

I recently attended the XS Power Drink launch at Jozi X - an adventure centre in Bryanston which I’ve been wanting to attempt for a long time (due to lazy friends, I hadn’t been to the park up until then).

We were told to “dress comfortably for an afternoon of adventure”. So I promptly asked if we were going to win prizes from our activities (of which the answer was “Yes, awesome prizes”) and thus rocked up in full gym gear, ready to win. Because I like to win. I must win.

A few of these babies later, I was ready to WIN the obstacle course, which they reckon was pretty mild, but it was HARD, people, HARD.

Fuelled with all the energy stuff that they pack into these drinks, I obviously beat the big guy I was up against, because I am a machine. I mean, check out these guns!

And yes, my team won (obvs). I think we probably had more XS Power Drinks than the other guys…

So the low-down on the drink itself? It tastes good (unlike other energy drinks out there), is low in calories, contains no sugar and is high in Vitamin B. It’s available only from Amway – you can get it online at www.amway.co.za. It’s available in SA in Electric Lemon Blast and Tropical Blast flavours (I enjoyed both and then enjoyed both again).

*All photos courtesy of XS Power Drink and Fleishman, you can contact me for more details.

PopcornCandi

So much to experience...