Sunday lunch with the kids

We were blessed to have all the kids at home today for a great lunch. Annelie cooked a leg of lamb with potatoes and pumpkin. I opened a Zonnebloem Pinotage 1988 and we celebrated family and the privilege to have one another and to feel the love and compassion. Izak taught (or tried to at least) his new skills as a balloon-artist. We enjoyed the food and then watched some Olympics on the television before the kids left.

Dan Carter breakfast

I attended a breakfast arranged by Accenture where the Kiwi flyhalf was present. He was interviewed by Ian Macintosh (ex-Springbok coach). Dan also answered questions from the floor. It was a very enjoyable morning. I was amazed by this young sportstar's professionalism. His parents must definitely be very proud of him.

Just before the Board Meeting

The table is prepared with cookies and water. The agenda is ready and the directors will be here within the next half an hour. This is an important board meeting, but I know that I am well prepared. I have also asked the Lord's blessing on this meeting and am confident that everything will go well - according to His will.

Lunch at Farmstall

On our way back, we had lunch at a farmstall close to Caledon. The food was great (real farm cooking) and we just loved the atmosphere of all kinds of goods stacked every-where.

Poets at Marriane's birthday

I joined Annelie at one of her poet friends, Marriane (in blue at the back) birthday party in George. We traveled to George on the Saturday, attended the party, stayed over in a hotel and then traveled back to Cape Town on the Sunday.

Rep Meeting

I had breakfast with a number of Rep Alumni. Rep is an amazing organisation of Christian businessmen that see the work as a ministry. Rep develops programs that can be applied in business. I have personally seen how God used Rep to speak to individuals and to change their live drastically.

Roof wetting

Good friends of ours, Adrie and Marie invited us to a celebration of their new home. They moved into the newly built dwelling two weeks ago and have now properly settled in. We shared wine, snacks and stories till late at night. We wish them many happy years in their new home.

Sunday Lunch at Eikendal

We celebrated the summer today by having lunch at one of the cellars close to de Wijnlanden: Eikendal. Annelie had the Fish with the local Chardonnay, while I settled for the Pork Schnitzel with the house red. We enjoyed the sun and each other's company.

Indira Ghandi International Airport

I am on my way back to Cape Town after a short visit (for one meeting in Delhi). I have just booked in and passed through passport control. I am waiting to be boarded. It struck me how different we are as humans. Even though we all look (sort of) the same, we are so different in our behaviour, our customs and interactions. It is impossible to describe this, if it was not experienced first hand. As I looked at the different people, Muslims, migrant workers, nationalities that I cannot place, with dress codes so different to what I am used to, I just again realise how much I long to be home with my people.

The world's biggest Plasma

I saw this in one of the Dubai shopping centre's. Typical, Dubai style, this is supposedly the world's biggest plasma screen (103 cm). Like everything in Dubai it is a HUGE screen, but (like everything in Dubai), a little bit... strange?

Bahrain Lounge

After a productive meeting in Bahrain and waiting for my flight to Dubai, I booked into this American Express business lounge. It turned out to be one of the best that I ever visited. Beautifully laid out, with service to back it up, it had everything I needed to help me with a hectic travel schedule.

Des and the little lady

Des and Elsa had supper at de Wijnlanden with us tonight. They brought the little lady with that they are foster parents to. We had a great evening, filled with a lot of fun, but also touching on the serious elements of life.

Malvern's hairdo

Malvern's wore his hair in an "interesting" style this morning. I thought it deserved a picture. Malvern claims it is because of all the travel that we are doing at the offices lately.

Late dinner

We had a late dinner tonight at a local Italian place after a stunning wine tasting presented by Jeff Grier from Villiera. He recently bought a winefarm in the Roussillon region of France and he introduced us and a few others to what is happening in this area of France. It was a great experience. Afterwards, me and Annelie had a to find a place to eat.

Dinner with Ernst and Catherine

Ernst and Catherine visited for dinner tonight. Annelie made a fish dish and we enjoyed it with a bottle Tortoise Hill Rosé. We chatted and watch a DVD together. We are so blessed to have our children close by and for them to spend time with us.

Bordeaux wine tasting

We attended a great wine-tasting event organised by Doreen and Nico (picture) tonight. We had to identify five different red wine cultivars that we tasted blind. Afterwards we tasted a blend produced from the individual wines. I was proud of myself that I could identify all the wines successfully.

Breakfast in Bloemfontein

Annelie launched her poetry book in Bloemfontein this week. I arranged my travel in such a way to join her there. It was a big celebration and she is thankful that it is now done.

We also spent some time with her parents and met Izak (Annelie's brother and my brother-in-law) and his family for breakfast on Sunday. As is usual, I started the day off in a healthy way: Muesli, fruit and a muffin.

Wimbledon Centre Court

I arranged for Annelie to join me in London for the weekend. She always wanted to see Wimbledon live. I was not sure that we would be able to find tickets for the Ladies Final on Saterday, but I prayed a lot. Then on Friday night, I found two tickets on the web for Centre Court in the front row! We sat right next to the entry point for the players. We could touch the players and officials as they walked onto court. For me this was (once again) a sign of how powerful my God is. I was just amazed at how He listen to prayers.

A great wine in a great hotel

My German business partner booked us into this great old hotel in the middle of Wiesbaden, the Schwarzer Bock Hotel (supposedly the oldest hotel in Germany, having been founded in 1486. Read more here). I really enjoyed the style, coupled with excellent service. Because it was so hot, we had a simple meal in the courtyard. I selected the Josephshofer Kabinett Riesling 2006 to accompany the meal. Turned out to be one of the best Rieslings that I ever had.

London on a clear day

We met some of our business associates at this restaurant overlooking the Thames on a beautiful day. We spoke about all of the issues and developed a good plan going forward while sipping a beer. London can be stunning too.

Sunday Lunch at de Wijnlanden

Before I left for London, me and Annelie had an amazing lunch on the veranda at de Wijnlanden. We had steak and vegetables with a good Neetlingshof 1995 Pinotage. As I looked at the mountains and a perfect weather with Annelie next to me, I knew again how blessed I am.

Dirk's old wines

We helped Dirk test some of his older wines. He was not sure if some of the older wines in his cellar was still Okay, so we and a couple of friends spend the evening trying some of them out. Turns out that some have been left to age for too long, but others (like for instance the Laborie Estate 1986) were still in excellent condition.

A Fundamo Development Team

This is a picture of one of the Fundamo Development Teams celebrating after the release of and important milestone on one of our projects. I thought that this is such a beautiful picture that I wanted to post it on my personal blog. But this is also special because I work with each of these individuals in some capacity or other. We are busy with such exciting things and it gives me a lot of pride to see them excell.

Our children

Just before Izak left for Pretoria again, I took this photo of the kids in the kitchen at de Wijnlanden. Ernst doing so well at his work with responsibilities way beyond what one could expect of someone of his age, Izak growing in a new career with complex engineering challenges, Mariet just having been nominated as one of the top architectural students in the country and Catherine stepping into a marketing job with grace that people with twice her experience would battle to do. In addition they radiate love for each other and most important for their Creator. We are indeed blessed.

Annelie's birthday dinner

We celebrated Annelie's birthday with close friends at one of our favorite restaurants; Pomegranate. We enjoyed the wonderful food and the company of close friends. After Quintes asked for grace on this special occasion, he asked every-one present to say something about Annelie and what she means to us. I realised how fortunate I am to be sharing my life with this special person. I thanked God for his grace and blessings that he bestow on us.

Izak in Cape Town

Izak is visiting from Pretoria. He flew in last weekend and will be returning on Sunday. In this picture, one can see how happy we are to have him at home for a short while.

Boekenhoutskloof tasting

We had the most amazing winetasting tonight at Boekenhoutskloof presented by South African winemaker of the year for 2007: Marc Kent. This was an exceptional winetasting for a number of reasons: We were able to taste all of the Semillon's made on the estate since the first vintage (1995), we were the first group in the world that tasted the new flagship wine (yet to be released) - the Journeyman 2005, we finished the evening with a dinner prepared by one of the chefs from Reuben's (voted the best restaurant in South Africa last year). But more important, this was just so special because we could experience this with longstanding friends. Even through all of this "Whao!"- experiences, what made tonight worthwhile was to experience the warmth of friendship.

First draft of Boksemdais

The first draft of the book that Annelie will be publishing some of her poems was received on Sunday. We hosted a number of her co-authors at deWijnlanden to talk and celebrate. This is Annelie, with Andre, Antionette and Marriaan, with the first drafts.

The mountains behind Hawston and Father's day

I cycled up the mountains behind Hawston today. It was a crisp and cold day and the road up the mountain was steep and sometimes difficult to navigate, but the view was so spectacular that it was worth it. Ernst and Catherine joined us at the house at Meerenbosch (right at the mouth of the river into the ocean in the middle of the picture) later in the day. We watched rugby together, cooked meat on an open fire and just talked. I was specially blessed when they gave me a wonderful card on father's-day. It was really special to hear that they value me as their father, notwithstanding all my shortcomings.

Product Worksession

It is going hectic at work. We had to double our headcount since the beginning of the year and we have more work than what we can effectively deliver. At the same time, we have to figure out how we organise ourselves to be more effective. This is some of the Fundamo staff in worksession to design a new version of our product.

Robertson Mountainbike Challenge

I finished a tough Mountain Bike race today. It rained and the whole track was one mud track. At the end of the race everything was covered in mud. I also suffered mild cramps because I was not well prepared for the race. However, I enjoyed the outing, particularly because Annelie joined me. We had a nice time driving to the venue and then back again. We will hopefully do this again.

World Economic Forum in Cape Town

An important WEF meeting was held in Cape Town (yesterday and today). Some of the global captains of industry and political leaders gathered in Cape Town to discuss matters of joint interest. I met a number of people at the Convention Center in the Foreshore. As I look at the beautiful mountain and the fresh air and saw the important people walking around, I realised that the world is not just what happens in London.

Guilford Hotel

I stayed at this Hotel in South Kensington this week. A typical hotel in London with good fittings and a bath (not really a shower). The stay was enjoyable and very successful, but I could not wait to get back to Cape Town.

Grace Community Church

I attended the morning service at the Grace Community Church in Sevenage. (It was a church that I found on the web and close to the hotel where I stayed after my visit to Duxbury). I found many blessings by attending this church and will be thinking of them in my prayers.

Duxbury visit

I visited the Imperial War Museum at Duxbury. This museum hosts one of the biggest collections of war planes in the world and it was amazing to see all these warbirds. It took me the best part of six hours to walk through most of the exhibits. I saw a lot of planes: from old WW1 planes like the Bristol Fighter to modern planes like the Phantom (picture) and the huge B52 (eight engine bomber). This was a very memorable day.

My "pocket" hotelroom

This is something that one must really complement the English on. The hotel that I picked on "hotels.com" had everything that one could expect of a four star hotel, including free broadband access, plasma screen television, hairdryer and iron. Carpets were of good quality and a lot of wood was used in the fittings. But space available was still what one could expect of a one star hotel. In a way this is quite ironic.

Back in London

People getting off the train on the Circle line and walking off the platform up the stairs. This is not peaktime so not a lot of queues. I am back in London!

Paul Eilers

Annelie attended a Poet workshop in Wellington this weekend. I joined her for the Friday night. We listened to a famous South African: Paul Eilers reading some Afrikaans poetry and prose and then sat down for a special dinner. The evening was full of experiences that is difficult to describe- Afrikaans is an amazing language, so simple, but so powerful.

Sentient five year birthday

I attended the fifth year birthday party for Sentient (our PR company). This is me and Derek (the CEO of one of their other clients). We had champagne and pop corn to celebrate. Just look at the amazing backdrop.

Spending time with my kids

This weekend was such a special weekend: Ernst and Catherine spent special time with us. It started off with the two arriving at de Wijnlanden with a freshly baked bread that Catherine baked from freshly milled wheat. Me and Ernst watched rugby and chatted, while Annelie and Catherine worked on photo-albums. The kids stayed over Saturday-night and we were treated to lunch on Sunday at the Binnenhof in Stellenbosch. We are so blessed.

Great to be Back

We had dinner at one of our favourite restaurants tonight: Pomegranate at Vergenoeg. Annelie had the Cob with Thai spices and I selected the Eland steak with red-wine extract. It was so great to be back in the Cape. I once again realised how blessed we are with the life that we have here. Such good food, beautiful surroundings, wonderful friends and of course my family. It is even more abundantly clear to see the contrast between this and London and Cairo where I just came from. I just thanked the Lord for all of this, again.

Heathrow terminal 4

Here I am at Heathrow terminal 4, on my way home on a Friday evening. I don't know if it is just me, but I really think that the service-orientation is slowly collapsing at Heathrow. The way that I was treated just now at a restaurant and at one of the lounges, made me feel very un-welcome. I can't wait to get out of here and back to Cape Town.

Mobile Money Summit

Just arrived during the early morning in Egypt, showered and had breakfast. As I walked into the conference hall of the Summit, I had such a positive experience. I have been working on this dream of mobile payments being available to all for so long. Sometimes, I almost got despondent, but this morning I knew: Mobile Payments have arrived. The level of interest and the seniority of the participants was an indication that this is now real.

Terminal Five

I left for Frankfurt from Heathrow departing the (in)famous terminal Five today. It is an impressive building and one must compliment the English on this engineering marvel. Now that they have finally sold Jaguar to the Indians, at least they can be proud of their terminals. What I could not understand is that they still only announce the gate 45 minutes before departure. Surely with the new technology and everything they could have tried to remove this biggest stress factor of any traveler commuting through Heathrow.

Audi like Annelie's

I just arrived at the Hotel after an overnight flight from Cape Town to London. This Audi was parked in front of the hotel. Also black just like Annelie's car. When I saw it my heart was back in Cape Town.

Rugby at the theatre

We joined Dirk and Marieke for a most enjoyable evening at a local theater-restaurant. What was (for me) so typical of the Northern Suburbs is that we watched the rugby game on a large television screen before the show started. Nevertheless, the the show was excellently performed by a famous acapella group... after the rugby match.

On the way back from Mariet

It is Mariet's birthday today, so me and Annelie drove over to her apartment for "koek-en-tee" (cake and tea) that turned out to be quiche and coffee. It was great to see where she live while finishing her Architect degree. Izak was there too, so we had a nice chat about life.
On the way back as we were approaching the airport, we witnessed a SAA Airbus A340-600 on final approach for runway01. It was the most amazing sight: full flaps and under-carraige extended, right here in front of us. I was so excited, so I tried to quickly take a photo. I ended up with this photo of the Audi's dashboard (Annelie was driving).
For good measure, here is a proper photo of a SAA A340-600:

Marketing Brainstorm

This is Debra and Cedric on the blue couches at work thinking about our marketing approach. We are starting to improve our brand positioning in the market and Debra (who joined us recently) is doing a great job at getting this done.

Cold and Wet Richmond

On our way back to Cape Town, we stopped at Richmond (in the middle of the Karoo). It was raining and quite cold for early in May. We decided to have a quick lunch and popped into this little restaurant run by a retired couple.