I attended a performance by some of Afrikaans' most talented artists (Amanda Strydom and Lize Beukmann) in the Paarl with Annelie today. I again realised how important artists are in how we experience life. In singing about the things we all experience (love, longing, sadness and joy), they help us connect with our emotions. Without music and poetry, life would be so much less brilliant.
My brother's daughters participated in the South African open fencing championships in Cape Town today. They did particularly well, winning a few medals. Afterwards they had dinner at de Wijnlanden. It was great to spend time with my only brother and his family. We talked about a previous time when we were still kids and philosophised about what the future will hold.
Richard and the team from product development launched a new generation product today. This was an internal launch prior to the product's beta deployment at a client. We had a preview of the advanced features, before we had drinks and something to eat. I am so privileged to work with the talented people at Fundamo.
I am in the beautiful city of Stockholm at the moment. We are preparing for a meeting tomorrow and walked to a restaurant close to the hotel. The sun was just setting and the old city embraced us with her charm. The water had a deep blue color and I made a mental note to return at some stage to see and experience this again.
I participated in the tough Karoo to Coast bike race. This race is known as one of the most picturesque mountain bike races in South Africa and has grown in popularity in the past years. The 100km route follows tracks through the mountains from from Uniondale to Knysna. While I did finish the race, it was very difficult as I was not properly prepared. I have learned a lesson to never attempt something as onerous as this without proper preparation. Nevertheless it was a wonderful experience, especially because I was blessed to experience the event with my wife and good friends present.
I attending a great conference in Lusaka where I also had an opportunity to deliver a paper entitled: Mobile banking in emerging economies. I always enjoy coming to Lusaka for many reasons. This time was no different. I also had the opportunity to make new friends and to meet old ones again.
We have now returned from a great holiday spent mostly in and around Adelaide. The primary purpose of the visit was to be with Annelie's sister who have now made Australia home and to taste the great wines of South Australia. Both those objectives have been met, we rested well and enjoyed the food and wine of the region.
I have now come to the final conclusion that nobody can make as good Shiraz' as the Aussies can. While it is true that some of the overtly powerful and confusing wines that one find here are just trying to hard, one still find amazingly calm, yet single-mindedly powerful wines. We tasted some of the best Shiraz' in the Penfold stable today (we were only allowed to look at the Grange). Yet, we were able to taste the following icon wines: RWT Shiraz, the St Henri (which we both liked a lot), and some special BIN's too. We also tasted brilliant Shiraz' like those from Tim Adams for instance and finished the day with an understanding that Australia is Shiraz country and nobody can make this cultivar is good as they can.
Both me and Annelie agree that the dinner that we enjoyed at this well-known restaurant in Berossa was probably the best ever. The ten-course menu was such a well-designed experience with each meal connected to the next in a continuous performance from the roasted prawns to the salted ice cream and hand made petit fours. The approach of building the dinner around the brilliant wines is what we think made this so special. The food was put together in such a way to absolutely compliment the wines and the six wines that we had were also absolute masterpieces. The Torbeck Viognier (2008) and the John Duval Entity Shiraz (2007) were the wine highlights for me. The price tag in access of R3000 was actually worth it.
Esthea and Willem have settled well into their new country. They purchased a farm close to Goolwa where Willem is a General Practicioner and named it Umuthi. Esthea and Willem Jnr. fetched us at the Adelaide airport after a flight on Virgin Blue from Perth and we shared a hearty meal ably supported by the wines made from the grapes of Umuthi. The tranquil environment and the closeness of family was very pleasant to me and Annelie and we thanked the Lord for such blessings.
