Saturday, July 17, 2010
Ellis Park Stadium
We didn't manage to sneak into the stadium itself for a pic or two, but it seemed as if it is still undergoing renovation, rather than one that has hosted a couple of WC games. Nonetheless, we took in the sights and still felt great to be there!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
More pizzas
This cafe was at East Rand Mall, near the Or Tambo airport. There was a Nike factory outlet but it was closed by the time we reached there at 7pm. :( In fact, most of the shops were closed. Luckily there was seafood pizza, hansa & castle beer to save the night.
The Melrose Arch Pizza
This thin crust chicken + avocado pizza was 4 thumbs up! It was the sauce that did it. Definitely not the usual tomato base. Helmed by two angmohs, this restaurant was double storey and had full glass windows. I sat inside, away from the cold and watched the Ghana team being celebrated on live stage. Pure bliss.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Best in Joburg
We didn't see the award before we went in. The food was indeed good with generous servings of ingredients, at least for my calamari pasta. Fish was fresh and succulent.
Honestly, all the food we consumed in ZA had been yummy, nothing to complain about. We are missing the cheap & good food there!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
2 nights left
Will be doing up the travelogue with pics bit by bit when i return. Just wanna savour all my time left here instead of typing away on the msi although there is nowhere i can go at night. hurhur
Been a great epic so far! Fantabulous atmosphere!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day 5 - 29th Jun
Victoria St Mkt was next. Imagine Little India or Pratunam Market.
Lunch was at Hungry Lions. Imagine KFC.
Popped by Musgrave Centre Shopping Centre. Free 1st 1.5hrs of parking, YAY! (because public transport is FREAKING EX here, therefore anything free wrt to transport deserves a YAY!) Anyway, this seemed to be the atas area of Durban. The houses around looked huge, and it is a shopping area frequented by more angmohs than the africans/indians. Far far cry from Victoria St Mkt.
Made our way to New Beach that overlooked the indian ocean for the fan fest and caught the 2nd half of the Paraguay - Jpn match. Jpn lost on the penalty shootout. Lovely place anyway!
Next, off to the Casino we went which was just about 500m from the beach. Played some roulette for the fun of it. Dinner was at John Dory's Fish & Grill. Pretty good food for 2 at $30. (2 mains, 1 pot of mussels, 1 bottle of beer). Spent 2 hrs there to watch the Spain - Portugal match 1-0
Back to Joburg tmr noon. Another 6hr drive :S
- shihui in rm 136
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Day 4 - 28th Jun
Alex drove a good 6hr before we finally reached Roadlodge Durban at 930pm. Even sitting in the passenger seat was a tiring affair! Lovely scenery before it turned dark though. Buffaloes were just grazing freely along the roads, and I hardly saw any that was not grazing. Little wonder buffaloes are huge! The vast empty land that ZA has is enough to hold godknowshowmany SG.
On the way from Jo'burg to Durban
Just had Mcdonalds bf across the hotel. We had been happily eating bf from Roadlodge Randburg til we checked out ytd and was told that bf was chargeable at S$10 pp. :@ I had asked upon check-in if bf was complimentary and I was told 'Yes'. grrr!
Anyway I will only be in Durban til tmr noon before we drive back to Joburg. Going to check out the Moses Mabhida Stadium and the famed beaches of ZA later.
On a sidenote, the hotel's clear glass bathroom door doesn't really allow comforable bathing eh... and there is nowhere to put the clothes other than on the black surface.
- shihui in rm 136
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 3 - 27th Jun
Went to the Gold Reef City Theme Park and Casino, followed by the match b/w Argentina-Mexico! Had to shift the Apartheid Museum visit til 2nd Jul.
The theme park entrance
I was worried it might open its feathers suddenly and sweep me away!
An interesting visit to a underground mine. We were brought down to a depth of 225m and toured the place for 45 min. We had to follow the guide closely as we had no torchlights. There is definitely no room for the claustrophoics and nyctophobics!
The Golden Loop
This ride which was given a fear factor of 8 brought us forward and backward onto the loop and up the almost-vertical track. A little apprenhensive at first but eventually, we found the ride not that scary lah.
The Anaconda
Fear factor 9 ride. Pretty ok too. The many twists and turns it has, little wonder it is called the anaconda.
Fear factor 9 too. We didnt try this ride as it was nearly 5pm and it had a queue. The park closes at 5pm and we wanted to pop over to the casino pub to watch soccer already. This ride would bring people up and drop them vertically... face-down. Looks like a must try. :(
Miners' Revenge
This was the ride I didn't go up as I was feeling somewhat giddy and nauseous from the previous rides, and this would seem to aggravate my condition, so garung Chue went up alone.
It turned out to be the 'nightmare' of the day for those people! The machine malfunctioned! It twisted and turned and suddenly, it stopped. We all thought it was part of the ride and suspense it had to give, but when it didn't move after 3 min, something was surely wrong. Some kids were already yelling to the park attendants to do something about it, and according to Chue, a few were on the brink of tears. Gosh! I was sitting next to this local whose friends were up there too and he was just commenting that he had vomitted previously after this ride and thus he didn't want to go up this round. I say it's FATE and Miners' Revenge indeed!View from outside the casino - I like how the ferris wheel looks
Casino facade
At the pub in the casino - this pic was taken on 2nd Jul where the Brazilians were up against the Oranges. The one we caught this day was when the Germans kicked the Englishmen out.
We adjourned to the shuttle bus pick-up point near Gold Reef City for the Argentina-Mexico match thereafter.
----------------------------------------------------------
In the room now preparing to drive 5hrs to durban.. waiting for Alex, Rubin & YY to come back from their jog in the cool weather and car collection.
ps: Supporting the germans cuz 1) they make good booze and delectable sausages and 2) they are dressed in my fav color. Im shallow, I know. Haha
- shihui in rm 25
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 2 - 26th Jun
Day 2 was spent at Randburg City, Sandton City & Nelson Mandela Square.
Randburg City is the shopping area for the locals. Think AMK Central etc. An angmoh seen there will be quite rare. The 2 of us were like aliens on earth.
Sandton City & NMS are similar to Takashimaya with the swanky shops. Of course there were a lot of local flavors as well. Lots of tourists congregate there and because of WC, the sporting atmosphere was great. I like how almost all the shops partake in the WC and decorate their windows and insides with vuvuzelas, soccer balls and makarapas etc, making the atmosphere even better! Even non sports related shops did not forget to bank in on the WC, with the various merchandise to entice tourists!
The mandatory shot of Nelson Mandela Statue
Watched the live screening at The Marco Polo bar which is actually a jackpot-only casino. Hurhur. More people went in to watch soccer than play at the jackpot machines. Hardly surprising anyway. A pint of draught beer + a chicken burger w fries = R35 ~ S$7 ! And back in SG, we pay $19 for a pint of beer at wala-wala. :S
S$14 for all the food above :D plus premium seats
Before i forget, imagine LIVE ESPN coverage with the studio-like setting! yes, we saw that at NMS.. damn cool lah.
NMS - LIVE reporting
More to come when i have the time! TATA!
- shihui in rm 25
Saturday, June 26, 2010
After 23 hrs...
Hotel facade
Jo'burg - Outside Roadlodge Randburg
Beer vending machine in the hotel. Nice.
Brightwater Commons - Tshirt shaped canvas with all the jerseys
- shihui in rm 125
Thursday, June 24, 2010
6 wks of waiting!
sidenote: The emirates check-in was damn damn damn slow... grrr
-shihui @ T1
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Out of town
Bye!!! :P
-shihui
Monday, June 21, 2010
Transport
- Alex
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
9 days more!
Local trivia of the day: I just got the McDonalds glass in pink (volley).
-shihui