Cape Town
08 September 2011 – 17 September 2011
One more Continent, One more Country, One last Complimentary flight
An never ending experience, I will definitely revisit South Africa, Amazing.
It took my almost forever to upload the pictures. 238 pictures in total here, please have some patience for loading =)
First stop : Ostrich Farm
Clear blue skies, beautiful clouds and cooling temperature, it was a bit cold actually. You will need your jacket and your shades, the sun’s blazing.
From the left, eyeball, neck, heart, brain, ostrich foetus from beginning till a baby
the eyeball is 3 times bigger than its brain, that explains why ostrich are often linked to be a stupid bird. but an ostrich have amazing eyesight and is the fastest bird on earth, running up to 60km/hr
Eggs : Ostrich, Emu, Rhea, Chicken and Quil (its missing, some tourist stole it away)
Sister feeding a male ostrich, males are black in colour and females are brownish grey. The males are rough, and it poked my sis’s hands and she said it was very pain. Im clever, chose a female one, more gentle! haha.
Ostrich looks anger and stupid all the time dont they?
Baby ostrich! they have to be kept away from their parents, to avoid being stepped to death by their parents. Becus the ostrich’s body is so huge that they cant see where their babies are! despite their very good eyesight -___-”
Albino Ostrich, haha, didnt know that even ostrich have albino species? yes they do! and same thing, white in colour and eyes are red.
this is a child ostrich, 2 years old. quite shortie. haha.
the ostrich keeper have to cover the head of the ostrich to allow us to ascend up to sit on it. so its really true that once u cover the eyes of the ostrich, they have no knowledge of whats happening around them.
If you dont cover their eyes, they will stomp and make very big actions like they wan to run away. so this is the only way we can get up and sit on the ostrich. btw, they like their long long neck to be stroked.
i like this egg alot, but i didnt buy it.
this was our first meal, ostrich meat with rice. it doesnt taste good, it tasted funny. and the rice is the risoto kinda rice. funnier.
I wish i could sprint on this road, that leads me to the mountain behind. But i know i will come to a stop like 5 seconds later. -__-”
the colourful houses along a street called the Malay Street. Its built by the malays who migrated to South Africa a long time ago.
this is a mosque, built at the intersection of Church street and Chiappini street. it doesnt really look like a mosque to me, but i gathered that it is to acustom itself to fit into the catholic culture in South Africa.
Olympic stadium, FIFA world cup 2010 @ Cape Town. the surrounding wasnt fantastic, nothing except a BIG carpark, for lots and lots of coaches.
HAHAHA. like a birdie.
this is our hotel.nice pool but didnt get to swim cus its too cold. but it looks like an infinity pool, can look all the way to the sea. we stay right next to the sea, which have very stormy waves.
There are a bunch of South Africans looking at us taking pictures at the swimming pool. Its common to get such sightings and sometimes even not-so-friendly looks.
Very grand hotel, you have to pay a hefty price to get this in Europe.
I have no idea why they call this the lion head. In which way does it look like a lion’s head to you? hmmm….
at the foot of the Table Mountain. Its quite cold up there, you can see the fog and the low clouds. extremely windy too.
in the rotating cable car which is the only way up to the top of the table mountain. The cable car dont actually rotate, its the “floor” of the car that actually rotate us. So, do not put ur hand on the window/railing of the cable car.
its a flat plateau, and the mountain is squarish, thats why its called Table Mountain.
It was 9am but it was still very foggy.
Does this resembles to Australia? I have no idea Cape Town looks like this prior to my arrival. Its just soo cool! (I love Cape Town!)
My mother is so worried that I’ll fall off that piece of rock. muahahha!
One of my yatch is parking there. let me know when u’re heading over to Cape Town, I’ll pass you my keys.
On the way to seal island, and its a pretty bumpy boat ride, i cant even sit still. *biong biong biong, puke!*
The seal island is full of seals! omg! they are soo lazy, just lie there and enjoy the sun bath and the cool air. I know you cant smell anything here, but imagine you are smelling fishy smell now, strong fishy smell. Puke!
alot of ostrich eggs are on sale everywhere in South Africa, and some of them are fake eggs. But very nice drawings on them. Too bad I dont have a nice cupboard and a neat n organised one to showcase them. =S
This is the habour, where ships used to park here when they sail across the Atlantic Ocean to Indian Ocean.
It just doesnt feel like South Africa, does it? haha.
this was the super duper huge lobster! and very huge servings of rice and fries and prawns. we have this kinda size for every single meal. so u can imagine the weight that I put on. freak!
Deprived of sandy playground and relishing childhood times!
see the small and cute penguins! i never knew they could survive on the beaches, just like that! I always thought the penguins need to be put in some cold cold room with ice bergs and polar bears. Hahaha!
So many of them! and they walk super clumsy, some fell down even. Haha. they look stupid too. =p
This is Cape of Good Hope! It is called Cape of Good Hope becus of the very stormy sea, the Atlantic Ocean. and many ships got wrecked on the way to the port, just next to the cape of good hope. Hence they name it the Cape of Good Hope for luck.
This is NOT the point where the Atlantic Ocean and the Indiana Ocean meet. It is at another cape, in South Africa. Many ppl mistaken this this is the point. *no no, shake finger*
I hoped i have brought good luck back with me!
that sharp point, is the Cape of Good Hope.
this is the lighthouse, to guide the trading ships into the port.
Atlantic Ocean, stormy stormy ocean.
Table Mountain is behind us. We’re at this hill, called Signal Hill.
This is Isabelle, whom my sister and I worked with while we were at Chan Brothers. We had a fun time throughout the trip and was a pleasent experience to be able to travel together with her. She is a very good tour leader.
This is our local tour guide, and he is really big and tall, he looks like Santa Claus. Haha.
Looks like wine restaurant? hahaha. Its located at the Winery regions around Cape Town, called Stellenbousch. Very nice , calm and very wine-y area.
Big Barrels!
Normally such barrels can be used for 4-5 time to ferment the wine, after that they are sold to whiskey company, where they need old oak. Such barrels comes from France and USA, where top quality oak barrels are being produced.
The long driveway of the wine company. We actually walked up to further up on the left handside of the picture, to take some pictures with the wild cows. But they look very scary and they look like they can barge at u suddenly. So the picture taken wasnt very nice. =S
Cheetah! look at the black teared face. It differentiates them from Leopards.
It feels normal when u’re touching them. They feels like BIG cats or BIG dogs. But you get the excitment n thrill knowing that they might turn around and attack you any moment.
This was the last stop at Capetown, after that we went to Victoria and Alfred Waterfront for dinner and some shopping. It wasnt that grand, just that the view of the waterfront looks nicer on postcards.
We flew via domestic flight on the next day to Johannesburg, where a totally different experience awaited us. As I have mentioned that there was a bell boy, taking breakfast box away from my father earlier in the morning when we have reached Johannesburg. So that taught us to be extremely careful with our belongings.
And over at Johannesburg, there were more blacks than whites. and we have more unwelcomed glares and eyes on us. They look like they’re ready to rob u or kidnap u anytime. Of course, the hotel people are most friendly. They treat us with superb hospitalities and warn us not to mingle with strangers on the street, better still, DO NOT GO OUT ON THE STREET.
The restaurant at the Safari Game Reserve, and this is where i started tasting all the different kind of antelopes. One of the more famous one will be the Kudu, nice tender meat, somehow between Beef and Lamb.
Their elephant statue looks amazing right!
So different from that of Thailand’s / Asia’s.
Checking out if theres anything inside that I can take home.
Preparing for fire, for barbecue!
This is the steps that we have to go up, to get in a safari jeep car. The car is very high, very diff to get in without the steps.
Can u spot me? Haha. Exploring around while waiting to embark on our very exciting game drive.
Yes, most of the blacks are bald, and really black! But this is a friendly hotel staff =)
No doors shower, looks really in the wild.
I dont know why they have a barbecue pit here cus its almost unutilised. And remember to lock all doors and windows, in case some wild animals come into your room in the middle of the night.
This is the Safari keep. It sits about 10 people. and my father is the only male there, so he have the priviledge to sit with the ranger (also the guide)
We started the game drive at 330pm – 6pm. Its not good to start later as it will be very cold when the sun sets. and we were literally shivering when its near 530pm. Its too cold, plus the wind will pierce thru you in the open-top bush vehicle.
Notice the rifle? Its meant to shoot animals in the wilds, in case we got attacked
The first animal we saw! Rhino! and its one of the BIG 5 animals. we managed to see all but lion =(
They are very calm and continued to eat their grass when we approached them. The ranger says that they know of our presence and told us to remain quiet and not move around.
This antelope saw us driving behind him and he started to gallop away.
Most of the time we see this kinda view, where the animals hide in bushes and trees, away from the driveway.
Can u spot the Hippos! My fren! They look like rocks dont they? Beware, the are extremely deadly, despite looking stupid and harmless. They are the #1 Killer in the lakes, apart from Crocodiles.
Our jeep got stucked halfway and we can only wave goodbye to the jeep that goes past us.
Haha my father gave up hope and relaxed in the Jeep. The sun is super blazing, but we have to prepare for jacket when the sun sets.
Nice shiny buttocks! I feel like touching them. This is a young zebra, being joined by his herds a couple of seconds later.
We were able to get down the jeep in the middle of the Safari, and we went to this tree house and had a view of the lake and the surroundings and actually feel the experience of stepping on the ground of the whole safari.
Giraffe! Spoted from a distance and our guide drove up nearer for us to get very good view.
He saw us, and he still walked towards us. He is really vey very tall when he stands in front of us. You can imagine the height when u compare to the surrounding trees.
He seems to be posing for us to take pictures of him. Haha. Model-like!
Some wild animals are in that piece of grassland.
I finally saw my elephant! After 2 hours drive and he looked so stupid. He kept banging the tree and digging the ground. Dunno for what reason.
Elephant young walking towards us but we arent supposed to go too near to them. They will attack us.
Antelope!
Sun set, turning very cold very fast.
These are spoingboks! a smaller type of antelope. The biggest are Eland and Kudu. ( I ate both their meat)
Dont they look like bambi? Haha they are found right in our hotel.
Early morning game drive and it was very cold as well.
I dont know the name of this antelope, but its cool to have him looking at you and the sun rising behind him.
The whole scene just felt like Disney’s Lion King, where u experience the cold air and the sun rise, with wild animals around you.
Herd of zebras! All shiny buttocks!
Hahaha! we really gotta wear mask and long jacket cus its too cold and very dusty! the sand on the ground will hit our faces.
Ostrich! Wild Ostrich and long Giraffee. Both long-necked animal.
Ah ha! They are wild beasts. Lion’s food. We stopped here for awhile, hoping to see a lion hunt them but were unsuccessful. Its diff to see lions, much more hunting.
There are alot of other wild animals I have seen and they are too far to be able to capture them on camera. and the photographs all look almost similar thats why I didnt upload them here.
We went back to the hotel and this is the Strike the employees were carrying out at the hotel. They demand higher wages and have stopped working for the past 2 weeks. They look happy when they are blowing that vevezuela and playing with tamborines. They dont look unhappy workers to me.
We left the game drive after 2 nights stay and went ahead to Pretoria, the Capital of Johannesburg, which is then the Capital of South Africa.
HAHAHA! I found this very hilarious! It was in a chinese medicine hall, in the suburbs of Pretoria. They have other selections too!
This is the tree which contained all the umbilical cords of the descendents of mr President Nelson Mandela.
The street in Johannesburg, where Nelson Mandela grew up.
The Olympic stadium which housed the World Cup 2010.
You wanna fight? BRING IT ON!
Practicing my boxing, in case i meet some nonsense lunatic who wanna kidnap me.
Haha, vevezuela!
The sculptures are so real! I wish I could buy them all back!
The big one in the centre is the Kudu, it has very nice twisted horns abnd looked ver handsome. U can see that it is quite big an antelope. Baboon’s on top of the buffalo’s skull.
Our ver nice boutique hotel in Johannesburg! It is a casino hotel as well. This hotel mimicked that of the Venetian in Las Vegas, where it has canoes and fake skies.
Peacock, Peacock! Proud Peacock! I walked beside it all the way. He didnt open his feathers.
Waiting for the gate to be opened at the Gold Shaft, where gold was extracted out from the underground and this serves as a theme park as well. It was delayed due to the death of one of its employees and they were having a service for him. I dont think Singapore will delay its opening hours even if the CEO of the company passed on? hmmm…..
My tour group! as usual, my sis and me are the youngest there.
Do I look good with Aviator glasses?! Muahaha.
Finally the peacock opened his feathers!
Wow! If only these were gold~
Helmet Helmet, where is BING BING?
The lift which will take us down. to only the level 7th underground. The rest of the levels have been submerged in water over the years and impossible to go all the way down to the 30 plus levels underground.
It was totally pitch dark when the lift descend. We have some torchlight with us while in that lift. It was actually very funny in the lift. We had a guy, the only male in the lift with us. And one of the lady actually played a prank, saying that she was molested (since its soo dark that we cant see anythin gliterally) . The man then laughed and say that He is the only prime suspect since hes the only man, and the wife spoke up that she was holding on to her husband’s hands all the way. HAHA.
they used logs to support the entire thing. pretty surprised with their architecture, didnt know that such a log can support such a BIG mineshaft, considering 30plus level underground.
We see how a goldbar is formed. It is only 97% pure gold, the rest are made of nickle and iron and copper.
Very very very hot, can feel it all e way from the audience seats.
we got to touch this gold bar, it is really really tough!
see, their little black bomb looks stupid and cute right? hahahaha. unlike our bombs here, irritating. and the best part is their hair! u can play with the corn-ed like hair and they dont scream or shout, they just blur blur stand there n let u play.
Cannivore Restaurant, Vivocity have one outlet. We tasted all the different kinda of meat here in the restaurant.
Sun City hotel! Very grand and posh! and we are on ground levels, so baboons are outside waiting to hit on us.
See, beware of baboons, they are really fierce. And I managed to see one out there, spying me. Disgusting baboons.
Heh heh my legs looks fantastic right?! MUAHAHAHHAHAHA!
This is the time bridge, where they actually have a slight vibration to mimick the earthquake, as well as smoke coming out from the side. Nothing really fancy about this bridge, just love the elephant statues along it.
Exploring Suncity Resort on our free and relax day! Went on this jetski for $80sgd for only 4 tiny rounds (half of bedok reservoir) which is super not worth it. Shall try it in batam next time round.
Very cute hor. Hahaha. *Shhhh*
My sis drove me cus she says im too slow, she drives really fast!
Man made beach in the resort, played some water rides and came down the high and almost verticle tower.
The water is damn cold and icy lo. I almost didnt want to get down the float. Haha.
The beach with man made waves, something similar to the one in KL.
WAKA WAKA SOUTH AFRICA!
I’LL VISIT YOU AGAIN!! =DD