This is my version of a feast: making a fire from wood carefully chopped into the right size inside my home. Then, to "braai" a piece of red meat and some condiments (vegetables and toasted bread in this case). To open a spectacular red wine (today it was a Veenwouden Classic 2002 - aged in my own cellar for five years). And finally to enjoy this with my wife on a perfect day in the Cape. I am truly blessed.
We had an early dinner at Ernst and Catherine tonight and had a chance to see our grandchild for a short while. He is such a wonderful little guy and we love him so much.
I found this envelope in the post today from Google. After careful investigation, I found it contained a piece of paper where a bank nominated by Google promised to pay me an amount for the Advertising on my blogs. After I gave it some thought, I remembered that we used to make use of this instrument (I think it was called a check) to pay other people... but that was very long ago. I wonder if my bank will still accept this ancient way of tender.
The two puppies found a toilet roll this morning and declared it enemy number one. I think they won the contest before anyone could rescue the toilet roll.
I connected from Kathmandu to Dubai at Karachi Airport. I also changed carriers from Pakistan International (PIA) to Emirates. I think it was triggered by the fact that PIA could not deliver my baggage to Emirates as they already loaded it on their flight to Dubai. I struggled for an hour to get a boarding pass, but were happy to board the plane in the end.
I was looking forward to finding a cache in Nepal because I had two travel bugs that I collected from South African caches that I wanted to leave in Nepal. With the help of my friends in Kathmandu, we tracked the cache down and I could drop the TB's and collect a TB to bring back to South Africa. This is such an interesting game.
Dwarika's (Read here) is one of the most interesting hotels in Katmandu. The owner utilised old artifacts found in the city and build a very interesting hotel reflecting the unique architectural and cultural history of Nepal. The use of old furniture, doors, window frames and old statuettes turns the hotel into a magic place. We had dinner in the local restaurant and sampled a six course meal of Nepal foods in a special environment. This was a very special experience.
I had a great dinner with colleagues and local partners at the Bar-B-Q Tonight Restuarant in Karachi. This is a famous local restaurant where food is cooked on open fires and meat is the mantra. The restaurant consists of four floors full of tables. Even though this was a Thursday guests had to wait to be seated. The meal and the company was amazing.
Izak left for Pretoria on a Mango flight today. I am sitting in the business lounge waiting for my flight to Dubai. I watched as he took off in a distance and reflected on how special it is to have my sons with me. I think that it is special because this is r.elatively rare (and will probably get less regular)
Both the boys were home tonight. Ernst and Catherine stopped by for Dinner and Izak is down from Pretoria to do his first Argus. All three of us are planning to participate in the Argus cycle race.
I was at the office early this morning. As I waited for the others to arrive, I considered how the company has grown from small beginnings to a company that is now recognised as the global leader in its field... from an idea to offices on three continents. I just hope that we never loose our spirit and our authenticity.
Me, Annelie, friends and family attended the final show of the play Draadwerk written by my cousin Delene (in photo here with Annelie and the producer of the show). We enjoyed the acting, but also the deeper meanings and thought-provoking themes.
Nina is one of our god-children. She is such a special little girl. She turns five on Sunday, but had her birthday party today. We attended and joined in the celebrations.
I had to fetch the post and buy some printer ink this morning. Little Arden was staying with us for a part of the day and I was allowed to take him with on my errants. Soon he was asleep in his car-seat and I could take this photo of him. He looked so at peace and happy with the world. I looked at him and felt a little of this tranquility passing over to me. A little bit of bonding?
I had a meeting upstairs at the office and saw Steven hard at work in the upper sitting room. This was so "Fundamo" to me that I had to take a photo of him. It is clear that he is working on some milestone that he will definitely meet. He wears a T-shirt in the immaculate sitting room and his travel bag is next to him, ready to roll. I just again realised what a special company I work for: we perform the impossible with (often) very little. This is only possible because of the special people that we work with. People that take responsibilities and take pride in what they deliver.
It was such a perfect day. The sun was shining and the sea had just enough rythm to demonstrate the enherent energy. After a brisk walk on the beach at Muizenberg, we sat down for a brilliant lunch at the Harbour house. My sushi-sanwich starter was out of this world. We enjoyed the good food, the wine and surroundings as well as each others company.
I had an early breakfast meeting with a business associate at Century City (a big shopping centre in the middle of Cape Town). When I wanted to leave, the parking meeting rejected my last two Rand coin (after receiving about six coins without a problem). It was almost as if the machine was designed to reject the last coin. Needless to say, it was not a good way to start my day.
