Bob- the Heroic Cat

While on my travels in London I fell in love with a gorgeous Ginger named Bob. Prior to my first encounter with Bob I did not know that he was a famous, heroic cat who has a book written about him. Once I had met Bob and his owner, or rather his best friend, James, and learned a bit more about their story, I realised that the two of them where quite the personable pair, who shared the most adorable and heartwarming bond.

Just a regular day busking on the street for Bob and James

How did Bob obtain his title of hero you may ask? Well... in a nutshell, Bob was a stray street cat who turned up wounded on the threshold of Jame's flat several years ago. At the time James was unemployed and using heroin and other drugs, but once he met Bob something inside him changed and he felt a sense of responsibility. He says that Bob helped motivate him to change his life from one which revolved around drugs and unemployment to one of happiness and clean living. James explains that he and Bob were two injured souls looking for someone to trust, and that's when they found each other. This story was so touching that James wrote a book about Bob and himself, and called it "A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen. It was published by Hodder and Stoughton and can currently be bought over the internet as well as in and around London. Click here to read more about James and Bob and their strange but surreal relationship.

Unfotunatly Bob was less interested in me and more inerested in his owner, James, during our encounter.

Bob and James move around Covent Gardens a fair amount and they are rarely found in the same place, but I was lucky enough to bump into them twice during my trip, and both times this odd couple completely made my day. I'll admit that I'm quite fond of cats, but not necessarily a crazy, old cat woman, and I was completely won over by Bob's loving nature, gorgeous looks and his complete adoration for his special human friend, James. 

Cath Kidston- Heaven on Earth

Before I set off to Europe and the UK one of my best friends, Tam, gave me advice on where I should go and what I should see, buy and eat. One of the things on her list of places to go was the Cath Kidston store in Covent Gardens, London. I scheduled this into my itinerary, but when I arrived, not really knowing what to expect, I was far more impressed than I thought I would be.  

This Cath Kidston store has the most adorable range of all things girly. Its products range from accessories and bags to clothes and costumes, to stationary and household items. Everything has an old fashioned but classy theme to it and although some of the items are a little pricey they are so unusual and adorable that it's absolutely worth it.  

There are a few other Cath Kidston stores around England, but I was only able to visit the one in Covent Gardens. Had I not had a luggage weight restriction and a limit on my credit card, I would have really let myself loose in that store :-) 

Click Here to go to directly to her website to see all the incredible products she has to offer. I've posted a few pics of some of my favourite Cath Kidston gear below.

Cell Phone Cover

Old fashioned dress

Handbag- my favourite

Toiletry bag

Travel wallet

Old fashioned costume

Super classy Umbrella, elle, elle

Wellies- which are a necessity in London

When leaving London I was most upset as I thought that this may be the last I see of Cath Kidston, but when I got home to South Africa I did some research and found that you can buy some of her products from South Africa on Bid or Buy. Sigh of Relief :-)  

Diamonds - Creepy or beautiful???

Our overseas trip was pretty much indescribable...but in the next few blog posts I'll try my best to share some of the interesting and different things we experienced along the way.

While in London we visited the Tate Modern Museum...and what we found in there was awesome, intriguing and a little freaky, all at the same time. It was an art exhibition by a famous British artist named Damien Hirst. I'll be honest, I had never heard of him before, but while watching "Gossip Girl" the other day Blair mentioned him...and so I have decided that he must be something special if the fictional Upper East Side characters know of him. He is reportedly Britain's richest living artist. The focus of many of his art pieces is "death", and these pieces along with some of his verbal statements have caused a fair amount of controversy among the public over the years. 



The Damien Hirst art piece that we viewed in the Tate Modern is named "For the Love of God" and it is a platinum cast of a real human skull, with the original human teeth, covered with 8 601 flawless diamonds and it is worth 50 million Pounds.  

This art piece completely tore me in two directions as one one hand it was really creepy to consider that hundreds of years ago this was actually a real human and now some bling bling has been added to his skull and it is sitting in a lit up glass box in front of me. The other part of me was completely in love with this shiny and perfect masterpiece that stood sparkling under the lights, shining from every angel. 

No longer MIA :-)

OK...so I apologise profusely, as I have officially been the most shocking blogger over the past 4 weeks. My reasoning for the shockingness of my blogging is that I went overseas for 3 weeks with my boyfriend and my lovely friend Shavaughn, and although I had all these good intentions of posting blogs while I was away...the lack of spare time and Internet access prevented me from doing so.

I am back now and have loads of stunning, interesting and foreign  things (if you are South African) to share from my travels...and fortunately for my adventurous side but unfortunately for my bank balance the travel bug has bitten and I'm desperate to start planning my next trip:-)

I spent one week in London with my BFF Sam, who is a London local...so she made sure we got to see the untouristy side of London, while also checking out the all the typical tourist attractions.



This pretty much sums up my feeling about London:-)

After London we went on a 2 week Contiki around central Europe (France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, Austria, Germany and Netherlands to be precise), where each country and city that we visited was more gorgeous and interesting than the next.

I landed back in South African last Friday and have spent most of the weekend recovering from the flu, doing washing (OK my mum did most of that) catching up on sleep and missed Greys Anatomy and Gossip Girl episodes and dishing out foreign presents to my family. Now I'm feeling almost human again...which is great, considering that I am starting work again tomorrow and I'm pretty sure being human is one of my job requirements. 

Greek Style Mango Pudding

I'm not sure if this recipe was invented by the Greeks, or if it was just introduced to me by my best friend who is a Greek, but either way it's easy to make, delicious and somewhat healthy (if you consider that it has fruit in it, and ignore the large amounts of Greek yogurt and cream).  

Ingredients:

• 2 Mangos
• 250ml Fresh cream (refrigerated)
• 250ml Double thick Greek yogurt (you can use "low fat plane yogurt" if you want it to be slightly more healthy)
• 1- 2 table spoons of brown sugar

 Method:

1. Peel the mangos and cut them into slices. Layer the bottom of a dish with the slices of mango.
2. Whip/ beat the cream until it forms a stiff peak
3. Fold the Greek yogurt into the whipped cream, until it is mixed together
4. Spoon this mixture over the layers of mango, in the dish
5. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the cream/ yogurt
6. Place the pudding in the fridge, until you are ready to serve it.  

 

An Epic Jozi Run

On Wednesday 21 March 2012 I did the "Run Jozi" running race. I did it, expecting it to be something fun and different...but it turned out to be so much more than that. The daily news that that we are exposed to everyday is constantly filled with the negatives things that happen in our city and country and we are very rarely notified about happy events, or good people who are making a difference.

This "Run Jozi" reminded me that the people of South Africa really so passionate about their country and the people they share it with and they have so much love to share. As myself and 9 999 other people ran through the streets of Johannesburg we were cheered on by hundreds of supporters who had come to share in the amazing experience. These supporters were not only friends and family of the runners, but mostly random people who lived in Joburg. There were children had come out of their flats in their pyjamas, who were standing on the side of the road shouting "Run, Jozi, Run" at no one in particular, while trying to high five the passing runners. Families had decorated the balconies of their flats and were busy waving South African flags and blowing their vuvuzelas to motivate the runners. One supporter was standing on the side of the road shouting "motivation...motivation...motivation" while another was advising the runners that she knew a short cut to the end if anyone didn't think they could make the full 10 Kms. As I watched the enthusiastic supporters shout, scream, chant and sing from the side lines for the full duration of the race...it restored my faith in human kind and reminded me to change my outlook on my country and my fellow South Africans.


My personalised Nike Run Jozi t- shirt

This event was sponsored by Nike and it was honestly one of the most well organised events that I have ever been to. Everything ran according to schedule and Nike went out of their way to make the Run Jozi event successful in every possible way. They paid attention to every detail, like giving every runner and supporter a waterproof poncho before the race, as it started raining. There were huge screens with motivational sayings placed at the start and finish lines, as seen below.


Nike had organised various entertainers to keep the runners and supported entertained and motivated before, during and after the race. These included the gum boot dancers below, people on stilts, jugglers, comedians, DJs, drummers and motivational talks from famous South African athletes.

Before the race started the crowed of 10 000 people sang the national anthem with such pride that it gave me goosebumps, and then the count down began.
Click Here to see a video of the start of the race.

As we ran over the Nelson Mandela bridge it changed colour and fireworks exploded in the sky above me and from this moment until the end of the race it felt as if I were not just a mere mortal, but someone GREAT who was about to make history :-) I think this was the exact objective of the race...and it was successfully met!!!

The race ended at Mary Fitzgerald square and we were welcomed to the finish with a medal, fireworks, a DJ and the most delicious smelling (and tasting) food, although any food probably would have gone down well after 10km of running.

Part of the incredible fireworks display at the end of the race

A quote from Nike at the end of the race was..."If you pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone and finished the race with more respect for yourself than before you started the race, then you can consider it a good run." And that about sums up the whole "Run Free, Run Jozi" experience!!!

An App Worth Obsessing About...

So I have recently gotten into the whole road running thing...and I've been having such fun running races on the weekend and training for them during the week. One of the most difficult things is that it is so difficult to train if you don't know how far you are running. Fortunately I was introduced to an amazing app called "i Map My Run"

This app helps you to record all the details related to your run, including:

• The distance you ran
• The amount of time you ran for (as well as your time per km and km per hour)
• The amount of calories you burnt during your run
• The route that you ran, as well as a summary of the inclines and declines

This is an example of what the app looks like

The "i Map My Run" app even talks to you while you are running to tell you how far you have run and the time that it has taken you. After you have completed the run, you can post all your running details on facebook, for your friends to view.

If you're not a runner and prefer cycling or hiking, there are also other similar apps that you might prefer, such as "i Map my ride", "i Map my Tri", "i Map my Hike" and you can view these on this website

Picture Perfect :-)

Over the past weekend I did a beginners photography course, through a company called Photographix International, that I had bought on Wicount (one of the most incredible online buying sites, that I have become unashamedly addicted to.) It was a two day course, where the first day covered all the theoretical knowledge we needed to know about different types of cameras, shutter speed, aperture, composure of pictures etc. The second day we went to the Walter Sizulu Botanical Gardens in Roodeport (which is like a piece of heaven on earth), where we got a chance to put our theoretical knowledge into practise.

Below are some of the photos I took at the Botanical gardens 

 

It was such a beneficial course, especially for someone like me who loves photography but fears the complexity of it. If you are interested in checking out the photographer who runs this course, Brendin Olivier, or his website, click Here for more information, or contact him on 071 545 8881.  

Dragon's Blood Chocolate Cake

The Legend of Dragon's Blood Cake- This cake is incredible...life changing in fact...so life changing that it has been named "Dragon's blood cake" to scare off anyone undeserving of its amazing taste. 

When we were young and would go to parties or functions where this cake could be found, the adults at the party would tell the children that this exact cake was made from Dragon's blood. When we found out this shocking news we stayed well away from the cake...which, as planned, meant that there was fewer people for the adults to share the cake with. As a child this story was scary and freaky but now as an adult (who has tasted Dragon's blood cake), i think it is more ingenious and understandable:-) 

  

WARNING: This picture does not even nearly do this cake justice... 

 

Ingredients and Method:

Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup cocoa

115g margarine/ butter

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 t bicarbonate acid

1 t vanilla essence

1. Sift flour and sugar together in a bowl and mix them. 
2. In a pot on the stove melt together boiling water, cocoa, oil and margarine
3. Add this to the flour and sugar mixture and beat well with an electric mixer
4. Add lightly beaten eggs and yogurt to the mixture
5. Finally add bicarb and then vanilla to the mixture

     6.  Grease a large rectangular oven roasting pan with spray and cook or oil/margarine

     7.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake it at 180 degrees for 30 Minutes

Icing

115g margarine

2T cocoa

2T yogurt

2 cups icing sugar

1 t vanilla essence

 
1. In a pot melt together the margarine, cocoa and yogurt.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla. Mix this in well
3. Take the icing off the heat as soon as it is mixed
4. Pour the icing over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven
5. Cut the cake into squares :-)
 

The quickest way to get to Mozambique

It was my birthday the other day...so myself and some friends went to a restaurant called Mo-zam-bik (in Benoni) for dinner. We had such a stunning evening as the service, food, drinks and atmosphere is all Mozambique themed and absolutely amazing.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to go out for dinner to somewhere different

To find out more about this restaurant as well as the different branches around South Africa and what's available on the menu click here to go to the Mo-zam-bik website.

I recommend you try the Chirico sausage (above picture) for starters...The waiter brings it to the table, pours alcohol over it and then sets it on fire...very interesting and it tastes amazing. I also recommend the prawns and steak and chicken and Prego rolls...ye pretty much everything on the menu is really fresh and tasty.

To be honest I have no idea what I was eating in the picture above...some kind of birthday dessert with ice cream, cream, bananas and chocolate sauce. INCREDIBLE!!!! 

And the Sangria and R & R (rum and Raspberry) jugs are lovely :-)

And finally the decor is super rad...and totally suited to the theme of the restaurant. It also gave me the opportunity to tick "kissing strange mask with dreadlocks" off my bucket list :-)

Run Jozi...because you can





Johannesburg at night- Something many South Africans rarely see...

Run.

Run your city

Run where they say you can't

Run commissioner. Run Kapteijn.

Run where no one dares.

Run in the blackness of night.

Run with your breath in your ears.

Run like you have nothing to lose.

Run Triumphant.

Run to make history.

Run for your right to run.

Run free. Run Jozi

If you have not yet heard the radio adverts and all the hype around "Run Jozi" I recommend that you go check out the Run Jozi Website NOW.

Run Jozi is a 10Km run that is being held in the evening on 21 March 2012. It is not just an event for trained athletes, but rather a run for anyone who is interested in having fun while doing something different. The run starts on Nelson Mandela Bridge and goes past many of Joburg's most famous places, including Luthuli House, City Hall, Carlton Centre, Ellis Park, Ponte, Hillbrow, Civic Centre and the Market Theatre.

There are going to be 10 000 people running and there will be a strong police presence along the route. Apparently there are "Motivational Points" every kilometre or two, where there will be live bands and some great South African DJs. This event has previously been held in various cities around the world including London and New York...and now it's OUR TURN.



The event is being held on human rights day and it gives runners an opportunity to celebrate their heritage...their freedom...and to take back the streets of Joburg.

 

3D Extravaganza!!!

Seeing as though the whole world has become obsessed with anything 3D related, I thought I'd share these incredible 3D pop up cards with you.

Last week was my birthday and I received this adorable card below (minus the cat) from my brother. I don't think that the photo quite does this card justice, as in real life the bear hangs from the middle of the card and swings when the card is moved. 

Below are some photos I took over the weekend of other similar cards that I found while shopping.

This card is adorable, as the cot swings backwards and forwards while you are holding the card

The perfect card for small boys and my Formula 1 obsessed dad :-)

These cards are available from PNA in Greenstone which is where I took these photos. They are so different and original and there are many other designs, for pretty much every occasion!!!