A Window Into South Africa

A long time ago, when I was at school, we learnt about inner city decline and reform.  In those days, it was safe to walk around the streets of Johannesburg and the cosmopolitan area of Hillbrow but within years of me finishing school, decline was well and truly setting in.  As a property manager I managed a wide portfolio of properties and I got a unique perspective into the difficulties in maintaining buildings in rapidly declining neighbourhoods. 

Throughout all of that, I knew that inner city reform was on the way.  This was reinforced when a man bought one of the buildings I managed in Hillbrow.  When no businessman would go near the inner city, this man had a vision to set up a franchise of bakeries while refurbishing the buildings they were in and converting old office space to low-cost, affordable residential units.

In October last year, he and I briefly chatted about the idea of an interview as I was so interested in the spirit behind this man’s decisions and the vision that he had to invest in and improve a part of the inner city.  That idea ran around my head for a couple of months until it exploded in my mind, as my ideas often do.

You see, it occurred to me that many people have no idea of what life is like in South Africa and how normal  South African people feel, think and act.  Sure, you know me but I’m hardly representative of a whole nation of individuals.  Stephanie from Little London Observationist has a fantastic feature that she runs on Saturdays called Listen to a Londoner and she inspired me to think about doing something like that too. 

I had a grand idea that I’d like to interview South African business owners and individuals too to show how normal South Africans think and how they are gearing up for the World Cup.  I started contacting a couple of people and finally started getting some positive responses.

So, starting this Sunday, I’ll be running a weekly feature called “A Window Into South Africa”.  I think you’ll be surprised at how optimistic, hopeful and genuine South Africans are.  The plan is to run it until the World Cup starts in June but who knows? Perhaps it will really take off!

(And fingers crossed – maybe the man who started it all will agree to share his thoughts with us!)

Wordless Wednesday ~ 17: Missing

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Summer in Barcelona

Finally we've got sunshine and warm breezes each and every day. I don't know if it is my Scandinavian roots that makes me obsessed with the sun or if it just has been an unhealthy long winter. Either way I'm glad that the summer finally started so I can work on my tan and do something about my terribly white skin. I am almost as pale as the boat, as you can tell. /T

The Shard and London Bridge Quarter

There is no doubt about it.  The Shard is going to be absolutely exquisite when it is finished in 2012.  Here are some press images that were released a couple of years ago.  You can see more plus videos and models at the site London Bridge Quarter - The Shard - London Bridge Place.

The skyline will be greatly altered (you can click on the image for a larger resolution).

The Shard will emerge from behind City Hall and will look like a shard of glass going into the sky.

We will finally be able to walk along the street level again and on the piazzas between the buildings.

The Shard will feature super snazzy apartments…

… and state of the art offices.

When The Shard is competed in 2012, it will be the tallest skyscraper in the United Kingdom.  It will stand at 310 metres tall (1,017 feet) and will have 72 floors plus 15 radiator floors on the roof. 

The project architect is Renzo Piano and he has designed the building to look like a shard of glass.  The building will have a public viewing gallery at the top and is expected to draw two million visitors a year.  I’d just like to put it out there that I would love to be amongst the privileged group of people that gets to preview the viewing deck. 

I, for one, cannot wait to see it when it is finished.  I do, however, find it makes me think rather silly things.  For example, “Oh look! There is even place for the Four Horsemen to land” and “We have a Gherkin, an Onion and now we have a Toothpick!”  I will try my best not to come up with any more witty remarks.

Spring sail (sail problem part I)

After checking the forecast, we decided to try out the new working jib. There was some frustrating twenty minutes when the jib (which is originally not for this boat) didn't want to let go of the forestay and in the end Alex had to cut a line to finally be able to release the mess. Since we had some problems also with the main sail (!), we were left with only the working jib - but surprisingly we got up all the way to 6,5 knots, just with that small little thing. (with the wind off the land, 23-27 knots).

It's funny how the combination a small hill (Montjuic) and a river valley (El Valles) can interfere as much with the wind forces and directions as it does. Nevertheless it was a very pleasant and smooth spring sail on a beautiful day.

James Bond Island

A trip to Phang Nga Bay is part of many visitors holiday to the Phuket area. We've done several trips before, although we don't go with organised tours. In the past we have driven up to Phang Nga (just over an hour from our house) and hired a longtail boat from the jetty which is a few km west of the town. I blogged one of these trips in March 2007 : Phang Nga Bay. I do recommend people to try doing it this way, rather than signing up for a tour. Getting your own boat gives you more freedom, and a boat trip could be combined with a visit to other attractions such as Suwan Kuha Temple, or a walk around Phang Nga town, which I have never done!

Well, we took another trip on 20th March, and wanted to try something different. Last year we found a restaurant that we liked - Samchong Seafood, which is nearly 20km closer to Phuket than the main Phang Nga Jetty, and I could see on Google Earth that the mangrove river where the restaurant is located led right out into Phang Nga Bay just a few km from James Bond Island. Only thing we were not sure about was whether or not we could hire a longtail boat from anywhere near the restaurant.

No worries! We sat down to eat and asked for a boat - sure, no problem, 1500 Baht for the boat. So we enjoyed lunch over the water and went to meet our boatman.



It was a gorgeous sunny day, typical for March in Phuket. We headed out along the mangrove river and I was pleased that this longtail had a new engine which purred rather than the normal deafening put-put-put. This was a Rolls Royce longtail. It was about 10km from the restaurant to James Bond Island, the first few km passing the mangroves and then out into the bay. I love this scenery. I'd love to have a boat and spend days cruising around. There are (based on my quick count on Google Earth!) over 50 islands in the bay. We saw some new scenery this time, as we were starting from a different base. I'll say it again - I love this scenery.





Our kids enjoyed the ride too. Last time we did this our son was maybe to small to remember. This time they both loved it. If people ask me about "things for kids to do" in Phuket.. I mean, yes you can try the new waterpark or play minigolf or use your hotel kids club.. but they'd be missing out. Our kids like this great scenery, rides on boats, it's an adventure!



After passing several spectacular islands and massive rocks rising from the sea, we approached the famous "James Bond Island". That's not it's real name of course, it's called Koh Khao Phing Kan or Ping Gan or however you wish to transliterate the Thai spelling. But thanks to Roger Moore and Christopher Lee and that little guy called Nick Nack, well the island got it's nickname, and really nobody calls it Ping Gan, which means leaning rock. It's Bond, James Bond...





We landed at a small beach where there used to be a jetty. Not sure where that's gone. The National Park staff have a desk under an overhanging rock where you get your tickets.. the whole bay is a national park but you only pay fees if you land here :)

Now, the main attraction of this island is the standing rock just offshore, which itself is sometimes called James Bond Island, but is actually called Koh Tapu, meaning nail island. You can't see it from where you land - have to clamber up and down some stone steps to get views of (perhaps) Thailand's most famous rock. When you look out over the water to "the rock", it's beautiful. Somehow, you can ignore the fact that you are sharing the island with several hundred other people. We tried to avoid peak time - we got the longtail from Samchong a little after 2pm, so were at James Bond Island around 2:45 and stayed for around 45 minutes. Still plenty of visitors at that time. Next time, now that we know the route, we'll go later. I want to get photos in the late afternoon light, and surely by 5pm it'll be too late for most of the day trippers? Nevertheless, as I say, if you look out to sea, your photos will be uncrowded... A few views of Koh Tapu:







It's a small island, a few little caves to clamber into (kids like), and of course if you are gazing at the rock (Koh Tapu) and turn around, you see a collection of stalls selling souvenirs and drinks and shells and ... as much as I wish that they were not there, I know they will remain.



What of the leaning rock? The real name for this island, nothing to do with movies, comes from the amazing rock formation here modelled by a visiting monk. The islands here are limestone and in this case a huge wedge of the rock has been split, creating this massive leaning slab which rests on it's other half, a real work of nature. This old monk kept his hand on the rock as if feeling the energy of the world. Or something.





We had hired the longtail for the afternoon, and there was time left to head about 4 miles further north to Koh Panyee, the muslim village built next to a towering rock - this will be blogged next. Lots of photos. And we'll be back.



Nearby sights and attractions:

• Koh Panyee
• Suwan Kuha Temple in a cave
• Samchong Seafood Restaurant

Clear blue sky

Good morning from the boat! Looks like the summer finally decided to show up again (after snow storm and other unpleasant breaks in between). And it is Friday. And weekend. And what does that mean if not two days full of sailing ahead. Por fin!

Talking of addictions

I wonder what she would do if her blackberry fell into the water. /A

Wordless Wednesday ~ 16: Six Fifteen

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Addictions and passion

Alex is consuming sailing magazines like a fashion blogger consumes her fashion magazines. In the very beginning of when I got to know him, he had the whole boat loaded of them, and now I have to realize that also our home is slowly getting filled up by these. At least five new per month. It also appears that the hierarchy of publications goes in the same order as in the fashion world: French is the most valuable and respected, then the American, the British, the Italian and lastly the Spanish.. Yeah, when thinking about it, somehow I always had a feeling that French actually does everything better. Thanks for confirming! / Taru

The Shard Update March 2010

I was absolutely convinced that I had posted about the Shard and London Bridge Quarter before but all I can find is one tiny mention in a post from October 2008.  Oh well, here is a really big update then seeing as I haven’t told you anything about it before (and if any of you can find more in my archives, you can be my best friend!)

The Shard and London Bridge Quarter is the development that is currently taking place right outside of London Bridge station.  It is taking forever to go up but when it is completed in 2012, it will be the tallest building in the United Kingdom.  When finished, it will look like a shard of glass.  I know in 5 years time, it will seem impossible that this place was a giant construction site for four whole years so I would you to give you an idea of how it looks now.

Taken from the platform at London Bridge rail station.

Taken from the front entrance of London Bridge station.

Taken from the stairs by Guys Hospital.

A view of the lower level.

Taken much later that afternoon from inside Guy’s hospital grounds.  This is my favourite photo.

Come back next Tuesday for an update on what the Shard will look like in the future!

The Phuket Heroines Festival

I have seen mention of this festival for several years on various Phuket news websites, but never really thought about checking it out.. I figured it would be just another local fair, maybe not worth the 30 minute drive to Thalang. Wrong. The Heroines Festival is something much more than just a bunch of food and handicraft stalls, very much worth going (even if it was hard to find!) and the whole family enjoyed it. The festival was on from 5th - 20th March, with the big performance featuring hundreds of performers on the 13th, 14th and 15th. I think the dates are the same every year because March 13th marks an important date in the history of Phuket... In 1785, the Burmese invaded, but were beaten in the battle of Thalang.. the Phuket defenders were led by 2 sisters called Chan and Mook, the former being the widow of the governor who had died not long before. At that time, Thalang, the town in the middle of Phuket island, was the main town, and here the battle was fought, ending on March 13th. The 2 sisters were later honored by King Rama I, being given the names Thao Thep Krasatri and Thao Sri Sunthorn. OK, enough history.

We decided to have a look at the festival on March 13th. I had seen in the Phuket Gazette that the festival takes place "near the Heroines Monument" - this monument is in the center of a traffic circle, showing the 2 sisters with swords drawn - pretty much every tourist visiting Phuket will pass this monument on the way from the airport to the south of Phuket. So, we drove to the monument. No sign of a festival. We asked a policeman. "Ah, no.. you have to drive up to Thalang Town", he said (another 7km north). At the traffic lights in Thalang we turned left. Again, no signs or directions to the festival. Little surprise that we saw just a few foreign faces that night! These local festivals are often hard to find - I went to one last year in my local village and didn't see any other non-Thai people! It was only at the entrance to the park where the Heroines Festival was taking place that it was obvious where to go - we entered, parked and headed towards the lights and crowds.

At the entrance to the fields where the festival was taking place, my son stopped to play drums. The road was lined with food and drink stalls of all kinds - we didn't stop, as we were a little late and I could hear that the main performance had started.





The main performance was just getting going with the characters being introduced, so we took a detour first around the many food stalls and craft stalls. There was also a smaller stage with performances going on - a musical / dancing group from Pattani (one of Thailand's southern provinces), and some mock Muay Thai fights and a fire breather...





The performance which was based on the story of the Heroines of Phuket (aka Heroines of Thalang) was getting going - the whole show was supposed to be about 1 ½ hours long which we figured might be too long for our kids so we wandered around some more of the stalls and found shadow puppets to play with, drums to bang and chicken with sticky rice to eat! A family was posing all dressed up in (mostly) old style costume accentuated by a sepia filter...



We then found a place to sit and watch the performance - there were seats set up, but all were taken already so we were kind of on the edge and the stage was a large area - parts of the show were just 10 meters from us, other parts out of sight! As the story was told by a narrator (in Thai.. no subtitles), actors played the roles of the locals and the Burmese. Dramatic music accompanied the performance. The music was familiar. Think Darth Vader. Think Superman. Yes, seems John Williams had written the score.. wonder if he knows about it?

The 2 photos below represent part of the heroine's history before the battle. I am not sure of their whole life stories, I have read that Chan was jailed at one point because her husband had been in debt. Any local historians reading this? Please do correct me! She then escaped and headed back to Thalang just as the Burmese were starting their invasion plans.





As the story continued and Darth Vader the Burmese approached. History says that the people of Phuket were warned of the approaching Burmese by a captain of the British East India company. Phuket had no large army but the sisters rallied the people and dressed women as men, made swords from wood and using all kinds of trickery fooled the Burmese into believing they faced a much larger force. The photos below show the "battle" taking place. We couldn't see everything from our position - next year we'll go early and put towels on seats to bag a good view :)







And the battle was won.. March 13th 1785... roll forward 225 years. Did someone say "Phuket is just bars and tourists"? There is a rich history here which is well worth celebrating. This festival, as I say, is largely unknown to tourists. I mean, even we had trouble finding it! I won't even mention the wrong turn we took after the festival.. we ended up driving off through the rubber plantations of Thalang rather than finding the main road again - it's quite rural in this part of Phuket..this is the real Phuket, the old Phuket.



Fireworks marked the end of the show, with the heroines being honored by the King and Phuket safe from harm. The huge set for the show included a mock-up of the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The performance over, we had the chance to mingle with the stars of the show and take some photos. I caught sight of the Governor of Phuket, Mr Wichai Phraisa-ngop and his wife - ah yes, this festival is a big one. We shook hands and said "Pleased to meet you".. I should have slipped him a business card. He seems a good guy. Our governator is not afraid to take on the hard issues like jet ski rip offs and now he's having a go at sorting out the issue of public transport in Phuket. Well done, sir!



The stars of the show, Chan and Mook were happy to pose for photos. Our daughter has already learned something of their history at school. I think our son just thought their swords were cool.





Wow. I was very happy that we had made the effort. Kids enjoyed seeing something different - it did go on quite late, kids were sleeping in the car by the time we got home. For the purposes of this blog, a festival like this is gold! I started the blog in 2006, trying to show the "other" Phuket, off the beach, away from the tourist crowds. March is a great month to be in Phuket - weather is hot and sunny, it's out of peak season - and now, if planning for next year, remember the dates 13th to 15th March - the Phuket Heroines Festival.

More Phuket Festivals...

• Phuket Vegetarian Festival
• Phuket Halal Expo
• Loy Krathong
• Old Phuket Festival

The calm before the storm

This unpredictable weather starts to go on my nerves. Was looking forward to get the summer here at the soonest so we can get out sailing, but all it looks like is that the stormy weather and rain keep on living their own lives. I give this shitty weather max one more week! /T

Visite guidate a Padova tutto l'anno

Visitare Padova può essere ancora più interessante se accompagnati da una guida esperta che racconti storia, aneddoti e parli della cultura patavina.
Ecco qui di seguito l'elenco di alcuni monumenti presso i quali, nel corso di tutto l'anno, potete fruire di visite guidate a cura di guide turistiche e volontari.
Leggi tutto...

Shout South Africa

Another great South African musical initiative and once again, stolen from the lovely Vanessa (I stole You Make Joburg Great from her in January).

Shout SA is a movement that was started by South African musicians Danny K and Kabelo Mabalane after the murder of musician Lucky Dube.  The video below features the cream of South African musicians as they band together to give South Africans a voice in the fight against crime.  All South Africans have been touched by crime in some way and most know someone who has died as a result of crime, be it from an unlicensed vehicle skipping a red light or during a robbery or hijacking.

The song is great and I loved that I recognised the musician’s voices before their faces.  I’m trying to find out how we can buy a copy of the song from outside of South Africa.

The most important message is that the responsibility for change lies in all South Africans and that no crime, no matter how big or small, is acceptable.  That has always been my biggest observation in England, that citizens here are more acquiescent and law abiding as a whole than in South Africa.

You can follow them at Twitter @ShoutSA but their Facebook appears to have committed suicide.  They also have a YouTube channel.

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I’m trying to set up a couple of interviews with every day South Africans in the run up to the World Cup but although there has been interest, I’ve not had any replies.  If you are in South Africa right now and would like to chat about who you are and what you do, then please contact me.  South African bloggers are most welcome!!

Shades of the night

Calling All Successful People

This has got to be the easiest, quickest and least expensive way of helping young children and teenagers.  The Department for Children, Schools and Families in England has started a project called Guiding Lights.  The aim is to inspire young children and teenagers to follow their dreams and to take the career path that most appeals to them.  This is achieved by encouraging people to write about their own success stories and to give tips and hints on how to get into various industries.

Apparently, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, world-famous architect and Gherkin creator Lord Foster, television journalist Donald Macintyre and lots of other interesting and successful people have already got involved and posted stories on the site.

I’ve often noticed how crazy clever and successful some of the friends I’ve made here on the Blogosphere are so why don’t you take five minutes out of your day to visit the site and share your success story.

They are currently seeking input in all of the following industries:

The Creative Industries
Green Technology
Social Business
Technology
Personnel and Development
Surveying
Accountancy
Environmental Health
Veterinary Profession
Nursing and Midwifery
Medicine
Chemistry
Engineering
Languages

I think it is a fascinating project and in the future, I hope to find out more about the project and how the DCSF has involved their partners.