Day 9: Midlands Meander

S and I picked up M at her house then headed to the Midlands, where several tourism routes through rolling hills are lined with artist shops, craft stores and restaurants. Our first stop was at Fordoun, a spa where we had booked massages. I tried the "Duku Duku" stick massage (R300) where the masseur uses polished wooden sticks as well as her hands. We had a delicious late lunch over at the Granny Mouse Country House restaurant.

M really wanted to show us a bead store called Decadence. Some of the women who make the art and jewelry live on the farm and earn money designing the crafts and filling commissions. We shopped, sat for coffee and dessert (yummy ice cream filled pancakes!) and chatted with the jewelry designer. Before the shops closed (usually 4 or 5 pm), we made it out to Spiral Blue, a store that imports a lot of Indian and Thai clothing, jewelry and knickknacks. It was dark when we left for Umdloti.

We have some guests in the apartment at the moment, three travellers who were put in touch with C. Our evening was enhanced with guitar playing and interesting conversation that lasted until past midnight, an hour unheard of in a town where everyone is asleep by 9 or 10 pm!

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 8: Return to Umdloti

In the morning, we decided to drive back to Cape Town via Stellenbosch, another major wine town in this area. Again, without a map, we tried to find the downtown area but ended up being stopped at a police checkpoint. The officers checked S's license and peered in the vehicle, and gave us directions to the main square. We didn't really like this town much either; it was nicer than Paarl but still not as nice as Franschhoek.

Our flight back to Durban was uneventful. We got back into Umdloti to find that the temperature had dropped and the humidity was gone. It turns out that it had been raining for the last few days. What a relief!

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 7: Paarl

After breakfast, we checked out of Klein Oliphants Hoek and took a stroll around the main street. The bazaar at the Dutch Reformed Church featured a lot of crafts and snacks being sold, and pancakes being flipped inside the building. Outside, there was music and braai and a man selling the coolest little custom-made chairs for kids.

We left Franschhoek and drove in the direction of Paarl without any decent map. I was trying to find the roads to go to Backsberg or Glen Carlou, but couldn't really tell where we were. We ended up stopping at Lindhorst, a small winery with a restaurant. Lunch on their back patio (thankfully, with transparent blinds to block the fierce wind) was nice, but the tasting was even better. They served little snacks (nuts, black pepper shortbread, mozzarella) with the wines, and our tasting guide described the history and composition of each one in detail. Time got away from us again so we got directions to Fairview and hurried off.

With only a half hour before closing, we weren't able to see much at Fairview. The goat tower was something I was really looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint. We spent some time in the cheese shop, purchasing delicious goat cheeses, including one covered in sundried tomato, the other in herb and garlic. Tip: buy the little mini styrofoam cooler for R16. They gave us a tasting of two wines on the house, as there wasn't enough time to do a guiding master tasting which was recommended to us by a wine tour guide we met yesterday. Sadly, they were sold out of a Viognier dessert wine which I had my eye on.

Paarl is definitely more developed than Franschhoek and far less quaint. On the drive into the town, we saw security gates and bars on windows that are common in the Durban area. Even McDonald's has infiltrated this wine town. We stayed at Lemoenkloof, a guest house and conference centre. The rooms are nicely appointed and modern, with a shared sitting room. We only had my Fodor's book to guide us to a restaurant and settled on Marc's Mediterranean Cuisine where we had a ho-hum meal.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 6: Franschhoek

Our first full day in the winelands began with me wandering through the little town as S had some work to do on her laptop. All of the guest houses and buildings are so charming; the whole town is extremely pleasant to walk through. Many shops are tucked in behind the main street accessible through quaint alleys.

I reserved a picnic lunch at the Boschendal winery which was a 10-minute drive away. The seating area is under the shade of many tall trees, and we enjoyed our vegetarian basket immensely. The tasting was less impressive, as we didn't really enjoy any of the 10 wines we sampled.

Many of the wineries close around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, so we were only able to make it out to one other winery, Grande Provence, which doesn't close until 8. The estate was beautiful, very elegant and classy. We enjoyed two of the wines enough to purchase a few bottles which they packed for us in styrofoam-padded boxes.

Our new friends from last night told us about a dinner and jazz place nearby for dinner, so we walked from the guest house down a lane, guided by the sound of the music. A small band played outside while we had a nice cheese platter but almost inedible spanokopita. The best part were all the little kids dancing and flailing their arms to the music in the near darkness. I think admission was R100 which included a bottle of wine.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 5: Cape Town

We got off to a slow start this morning and had breakfast at Lola's, a vegetarian restaurant. Daddy Long Legs were nice enough to let us leave our luggage in their office (we didn't want to be seen putting it in the trunk of the car which was parked on the street and walking away). Our first stop was to the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood where we wandered the side streets and visited the museum which tells the history of the early Muslim settlers. We heard the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer while we were inside.

Afterwards, we did some price haggling at an outdoor craft market in Green Market Square. It's fun to browse the wares here, but be warned that the prices are hugely inflated. We whiled away the rest of the afternoon in Company's Gardens. S and I are getting pretty good at looking at our watches and saying, "I can't believe it's already 4:00pm!", etc. We don't really have a planned itinerary so we just go with the flow most of the time.

Rush hour slowed us down on our drive to Franschhoek, one of the little towns in the winelands. Our guest house, the Klein Oliphants Hoek, is a charming restored building originally built in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, no WiFi although the front desk said they're planning that for next year. S bought an HSDPA modem when she arrived in the country to get Internet access on her laptop; it's been pretty handy, but a bit slow.

When we got hungry, we walked around town to find someplace to eat. Reuben's, a popular restaurant with an amazing menu, was fully booked until the 17th, so we ended up at Bouillabaisse, a resto with a decidedly Asian influence that served small plates meant to be shared. This was a fantastic meal and highly recommended. We chatted with the couple next to us and ended up having post-dinner drinks with them at a nearby pub. Note: don't pull the bell at the bar. Update (2011-06-02): the restaurant has since closed.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 4: Hillcrest and Cape Town

On Wednesday morning, we accompanied C to her workplace, the Hillcrest AIDS Trust Centre. S and I wandered around the various buildings and did a lot of bead shopping in their craft store. Beautiful, handmade beaded necklaces were for sale, as were beaded animals and “Little Travellers”. We stopped at the Woodrose Coffee Shop at the nearby Heritage market for a bite of breakfast before heading to the airport.

You have to have a certain level of patience to avoid going crazy in South Africa. Case in point: we arrived an hour before our flight to an airport that was very dark. It was unclear whether this was due to load shedding or last night's storm. The former is a program whereby the electricity is shut off for a period of 2 or 3 hours to mitigate the demand. This happens in other places (e.g. California) but here, the power is cut to stoplights, gas stations and hospitals as well. That wasn't even the best part. We got handwritten boarding passes and were sitting at the designated gate and I had my eye on the overhead monitor the whole time. Suddenly, the display said “Flight departed”! We heard no boarding call announcement nor did the screen show a different gate. It turns out that they changed our gate and the plane had left without us. At the sales desk, they even tried to tell S that we were on the plane! Fortunately for us (but unfortunately for other passengers who had been waiting 5 hours that morning), we were booked on a delayed Kulala flight headed for Cape Town.

After picking up another rental car, we arrived at the Daddy Long Legs Boutique Hotel (very much like the Gladstone in Toronto) only to find that they did not have us reserved there. Some mixup had occurred with their online reservation system and we had a room at the self-catered apartments just down the street. Our apartment was gorgeous: wooden floors, exposed brick wall, a kitchenette, comfortable bedroom and great location.

We debated taking a taxi to dinner (we got mixed opinions on the safety of walking at night in the neighbourhood) but decided to walk to the Africa Cafe on Shortmarket Street. The first thing we noticed were the chandeliers made from old bottles and other found objects. Staff were dressed in African garb and were very warm and welcoming. Each dining room is decorated differently; ours had cutouts of animals in the ceiling that were backlit. We began the evening with a traditional handwashing ceremony (our server poured water from a jug over our hands). The restaurant uses beautiful ceramic jugs, teapots, cups and plates that are available for sale as well. Our menu was even printed on our water jug! I would love to show you all the interesting plates we had but my camera ran out of batteries, boo. Here is what we had:

• Ethiopian Sik Sik Wat - lamb cooked in a berbere paprika sauce (I loved this sauce)


• Portia's Sticky Chicken Wings - Chicken wings grilled in a honey and herb marinade


• Mozambican Peri Peri Prawns - Queen prawns in a chilli and lemon sauce


• East Africa Mchicha Wa Nazi Pies - Crisp pastry filled with spinach, peanut and coconut cream


• Soweto Chakalaka - Spicy mixed vegetable stir fry


• Cassava Bread - Baked tapioca flat bread with cheese


• Basmati rice


• Savoury rice and lentil salad


• Moroccan Herb Salad - With cucumber, tomato and fresh mint


• Zanzibar Bean Stew - Bean, vegetable and coconut stew with green chillis


• Spiced Lentil Dip - Earthy blend of brown lentils and cumin (this came with the cassava bread and S loved it)


• Moroccan Chic Pea and Phyllo Parcels - Chic peas, tomato and garlic in a phyllo shell


• Malawi Mbatata Cheese and Sim Sim Balls - Sweet potato and cheese balls rolled in sesame seeds (they reminded me of sesame balls at dim sum)


• Spicy Chicken Salad - Strips of chicken fillet in a peanut and chilli dressing


• Xhosa imifino patties - Spinach and mealie meal patties


• Zosh's Lemon and Almond Tart (gluten free) (a nice end to the meal)


• Kenyan coffee, rooibos tea, mint tea

All of this for R170 per person! And, you could ask for more of any of the dishes! I picked this restaurant because most of these items were vegetarian. We learned that the restaurant seems to be unique to Cape Town which is a shame because I think it would do well in Toronto.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 3: School, swim, supper and storm

I accompanied S to one of the campuses of the University of Kwazulu-Natal today. In the morning, we went “into the field” to conduct a focus group discussion with teachers at a local high school in Cato Manor. The schoolyard was abuzz with kids running from room to room and I couldn't quite tell whether classes were in session or they were on a break. There weren't a lot of resources: blackboards and desks, no computers and aging equipment.

Afterwards, we headed to the Jungle Garden Nursery to browse the plants and have a bite at their Jungle Cafe. At the end of the day, S's colleague M literally ran us through the Durban Botanic Gardens as they were about to close. Shame (a common South African term that I've adopted), because their orchid collection, cycads and Garden of the Senses warranted further exploration. To beat the crazy heat, we decided to go to the Kings Park Swimming Complex where they have both indoor and outdoor pools. Much to my dismay, neither pool had a shallow end, so S ended up giving me impromptu swimming lessons as I've never quite mastered the trick of treading water (or swimming, for that matter).

Dinner was at the 9th Avenue Bistro & Bar in Durban with M's friends and cousins. We had an excellent meal complete with wine, apps and dessert. The cost was easily half of what it would have been in Toronto. Our night was capped off by one of the fiercest thunderstorms I've ever seen. So much rain fell that the water in the street was halfway up to our knees and our rental car's interior and trunk had a few inches of water!

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Day 1 and 2: uShaka and Tala

On Sunday, S and I drove to uShaka Marine World, a huge marine theme park with aquariums and live shows. There's a touristy feel here, with the retail and restaurant area done up in "African" theme (thatched huts, etc.). On entering the park, we saw two shows: a mid-morning feeding of African penguins (who knew they aren't strictly South Pole dwellers?), and a dolphin show where they do tricks. The main aquarium is beautiful, set inside an old cargo ship with huge floor-to-ceiling windows that feature all manner of aquatic life. Particularly beautiful were the jellyfish in cylindrical glass tanks.

As it was sunny and humid, we decided to go to the wet-and-wild side of the park. Tip: if you go, bring your own lock for the storage lockers. The lazy river is fabulous, lying on a figure-8 shaped inner tube while the slow current takes you around the park. We also tried some of the waterslides and wading pools. A nice way to beat the heat.

S took me to Gateway, a huge mall in Umhlanga that's just as shiny and nice as malls in Canada. It's in stark contrast to the townships nearby where huge numbers of people live in shacks made from corrugated tin. We did some grocery shopping at Woolworths, an upscale supermarket with organic produce and a lot of tasty prepared food. Prices here are high by local standards but still cheaper than in Toronto. Back home, we prepared a couscous salad and ate dinner out on the balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean.

The next day, S was working at the university, so C and I made a day trip to the Tala Private Game Reserve, about an hour north of Umdloti. At the gate, a big sign said "Cash not accepted" so we had to pay the entrance fee with a credit card, then received a map. The “roads” are mostly dirt trails and our little Chico hatchback bravely handled the bumps and ditches. Keeping an eye out for animals was easy as there weren't a lot of trees; within a half hour, we saw antelope, zebras, warthogs, ostriches and giraffes! The building next to the Aloe Lodge features a restaurant (which was being renovated) but we ate in the adjacent room where they had set the tables. I had a nice grilled kingklip fillet and tried malvah pudding, a traditional South African dessert. It's a spongecake made with apricot jam.

One thing you immediately notice when driving on the highways are the people walking along the side of the road. Many minivan taxis drop people off on the side of the road, because that is where the trail is up to their township. The speed limit is 120 km/h and the right lane (the fast lane) is filled with crazy drivers who come right up behind you and make you pull aside. Another novelty are the people sitting or standing up in the flatbed of trucks on their way to work. Needless to say, all this combines into a high pedestrian-vehicle accident rate.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

Arrival in Durban

My arrival in Johannesburg was about two hours before my flight to Durban, but S had warned me in advance what to expect. Since I was transferring from an international flight to a domestic one, I had to cross from one terminal to the other and claim my baggage. Ongoing construction slowed me down a bit, as did several baggage porters who looked at my luggage tags and offered to help me carry the bags.

The South African Airways flight was smooth and only took an hour. S was waiting for me at the airport and we drove north along the N2 up to Umdloti, where she is sharing an apartment with C who is volunteering in a nearby community. After settling in and taking a nap, we all went for dinner at La Casa Nostra, an Italian place up the road. We sat outside and enjoyed a complimentary “focaccia” (more like naan though). The wait staff (mostly Indian) impressed us by their thorough knowledge of the menu; my pumpkin-mushroom panzerotti was delicious. Wine is super cheap (you can get bottles for R30 or about $4.50CAD) with hardly any markup.

My first exposure to parking attendants came tonight: there's a guy in the parking lot that keeps an eye on your vehicle and helps you back out of tight spaces. He's not in a booth or anything, and is not employed by any company or any of the stores in the plaza as far as I can tell. As you leave, you're expected to pay him a small amount (R5 or so). An unusual custom for sure.

Complete set of South Africa pictures in my Flickr set.

In Transit: Frankfurt am Main

I'm on my way to visit S in South Africa, at the start of a long journey with many flights and layovers. The 22:00 flight out of Toronto to Frankfurt was uneventful. I stowed my heavier carry-on luggage at a place in the airport that holds bags for you; this cost about 4 Euros. Armed with a Frankfurt Card (8,70 Euro), I was able to use the trains and subways for free and get a discount on museums. You can even get complimentary free beverages with the card!

I started by going to the Dom/Römer U-Bahn stop and checking out the Dom (cathedral). As luck would have it, a boy's choir was having a rehearsal and I stayed to listen to their marvellous voices soaring into the church's interior. The city hall (Römer) was closed so I wasn't able to visit it, but I wandered some more around the surrounding streets (Saalgasse is great), the Römerberg town centre and dropped into Old St. Nikolai's church.

Next, I headed to Fressgass, a pedestrian avenue lined with food shops and markets. A local specialty is currywurst, a wiener doused with ketchup and curry powder; it's not very tasty.

For the rest of the afternoon, I went across the Main river to the Staedel Museum which houses a collection of fine art. This was a good choice as the artwork is spectacular. Around dinner time, I went back to the Roemer area to a restaurant called Restaurant Zum Storch which is over 300 years old. Unfortunately, the meal was a letdown: a Boletus soup (strained cream of mushroom); venison with a brown sauce accompanied by potato dumplings, cranberry sauce and pickled cabbage; the dessert I chose was flambeed cherries with walnut ice cream. One local Frankfurt drink specialty is Apfelwein; it's a sparkling alcoholic apple wine, also not very good.

I went back to the airport and realized I would have to separately check the bottles of maple syrup that I had in my carry-on. At Pearson, the saleslady suggested that I buy the small 100 mL bottles which were shaped like maple leaves. These cost 3 times more than the plastic 500 mL jugs by volume, but I wouldn't be able to get them through security otherwise. At the security checkpoint in Frankfurt, I had to buy little clear resealable plastic bags from a vending machine so that I could place my bottles in them. Stupid liquids and gels regulations!

Lots more photos in the complete Flickr set.

That's all

So my time in Taiwan is up, and I'm returning home today. There are a lot of pictures in my Flickr stream that I didn't link to on this journal, so you can view them at your leisure. I really enjoyed all the tropical fruit available here, especially papaya and mango and guava. And I will never forget the near chaotic dance between cars and scooters. It's too bad I didn't have a chance to explore more of the country, whether it was culture or food. But this was a business trip, and an exhausting one at that.

I got to the airport too early. EVA only allows check-in two hours before flights to Hong Kong. While onboard the plane, they play clips from a Taiwanese orchestra. Loudly. I don't know whether this serves to diffuse or encourage air rage. At Hong Kong, I was surprised to see my name on a card held up by an airline employee. The EVA counter at Taoyuan neglected to check me in for the second flight, so I was escorted through the Air Canada check-in counter and the fast lane of security and customs.

Mini movie reviews:

• Aurore: somewhat cheesy French film about a princess obsessed with dance; I didn't get to see the end of this one
  
• The Curse of the Golden Flower: visually sumptuous film about a royal family's secrets in China; not as good as House of Flying Daggers, but similarly grand and jaw-dropping
  
• Dr. No: while a classic, it just doesn't have the quirky, memorable characters of other 007 films; I mean, come on, the fight with Dr. No is 10 seconds long
  
• Prête-moi ta main: rom-com about a middle-aged man who tries to get his family off his back by pretending to get engaged to a woman he hires; I didn't see the end of this one, but suspect they actually end up getting together
  

A capital idea

On my last full day in Taiwan, I decided to go visit Taipei via the hotel's shuttle. After a 50-minute ride, it dropped us off near the Ambassador Hotel, and I walked from there to the nearest subway stop, Shuanglian Station on the (green) Danshui-Xindian line. First order of business was a day pass for the Metro, which only cost $200NT with a $50NT refundable deposit if you return the card. I was delighted with the modernity of the system, from automated distance-based fare dispensing machines to contactless smart cards and pixelboards displaying the next train's arrival time. In comparison, the TTC is such a dinosaur.

From there, I went two stops to Taipei Main Station and bought an HSR ticket. Note that there are two railway networks, the TRA which runs in a loop around the island, and the newer HSR, which is a high-speed “bullet train” that goes follows the Western coast. The ticket machine has easy-to-use English directions and I was able to book a reserved seat on the last train back to Hsinchu. Walking out from the subway side of the station (Exit 1) across to the main hall, I stopped by the Visitor Information Centre. My friend who lives in Taiwan told me that youth between 15 and 30 are eligible for discounted admission to tourist sites. After filling out a form, I picked up the little rubber bookmark which serves to inform everyone that I am still a youth (barely).

Next stop was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, or whatever they are calling it these days. Unfortunately, there was nothing much to see, as there were no events going on at the Theater or Concert Hall during the day, and the main hall appeared closed. I wasted about a half hour here before getting back on the subway towards Taipei City Hall Station (blue line).

From the station, I looked up and walked towards Taipei 101, the world's tallest building. The food court had a lot of interesting vendors, but I couldn't read any of the menu, and ended up having a bland bowl of fresh noodles with wontons. Nearby was Jason's Market Place, an upscale grocery with lots of imported items and prepared food counters. After stowing my purchases in a locker, I lined up to go to the observation deck. The elevator ride is fast: 89 floors in 39 seconds! As it was getting close to 16:00, I walked back to the subway, planning to go to the National Palace Museum.

I got off at Jiantan Station, then took the Red #30 bus. As the driver didn't speak English, and I didn't know which stop to get off at, I whipped out my brochure and pointed at the museum. The ride took about 30 minutes, and, not surprisingly, the museum was not admitting anyone after 16:30. This was terrible planning on my part, as I knew they closed at 17:00 whereas I didn't check the closing time of Taipei 101. The museum, which I'm told has a collection so large it takes several years to rotate through the exhibits, would have been a much better experience than the skyscraper, I'm sure. Oh well, live and learn.

The bus ride back to the subway station took twice as long, as schoolkids were just finishing some exams, and the traffic jams were heavy. Right outside Jiantan Station is the Shilin Night Market. I wasn't very hungry, so I walked around City Jungle for a while. In the back streets, there was a growing crowd of young shoppers. Whether it was from the humidity, pollution or tiredness, I wasn't feeling too energetic and just sat down on an uncomfortable bench for a while until I got hungry.

Retracing my steps back to the main building, I passed by lots of little vendors selling snacks. One guy was shaving a big block of peanut brittle, then sprinkling it on a thin crepe. After topping it with coriander and ice cream, he rolled it up like a burrito. I tried one: it was texturally interesting, but the flavour combinations didn't work for me.

At the main market building, there were a lot of different food items for sale:

And before anyone asks, yes, I did pass by stinky tofu vendors. I was willing to try it, but didn't realize that the rotting meat smell was, in fact, made from a bean curd product. They serve the tofu deep fried and covered in a garlic sauce. I've had natto, a fermented Japanese soy bean product, but this was entirely different.

At this point, I really felt like going home, so I sat around for a bit, eating my Hot Star Large Fried chicken. The HSR train was just like the Shinkansen, right down to how each car is numbered, the diagrams on the seat backs, the announcements, etc.