The Ultimate Caffeine Kick
We know how it is to love coffee. Each London morning is seemingly hollow without the opportunity to queue for the barrista’s attention. To be handed a heat-resistant take-away coffee holder (a whole tray, if you’re doing the morning coffee run for your colleauges) brings mountains of joy and happiness.
It’s mandatory to talk about the coffee if it’s good and equally (worse!) if it’s bad. There is the Cafe Nero-lover (strong and rich), the Pret lover (must have Organic and Fair Trade), Starbucks (if you don’t mind being out-of-pocket) and Coffee Republic (you can’t be doing with a franchise on every corner!) to name a few.
The same tireless search for the greatest coffee experience exists in the heart of the South African, as it does in your average London pavement-treader. The joy is, you have to be a bit more adventurous here. No preset recipe. No guarantee of the same drink after your next meeting. The coffee Franchise doesn’t exist, or if there is one, it’s a bit more subtle about brand-dishing so you don’t know about it.
You’ll like this change, I promise. Each coffee brings with it a new experience. We do know that drinking an unpalatable coffee can really put a damper on your dining, so we’re hoping to save you that unbearable pain. When we find a good coffee spot, we’ll review it here on our Siteta Blog under “The Ultimate Caffeine Kick” and then post its location under the same heading on the 2010 Cape Town Map, where we’ve listed CBD hotels and restaurants.
If you’re feeling a bit mal-adjusted to your new environment, you know that coffee will perk you up, so after you’ve sent out those job applications (or even better, whilst sending them) go out and find your favourite. Spend a few pounds (pence!) on a daily coffee somewhere new. Eavesdrop on the “local vibe”…
We’d love to hear your own coffee views. Let us know if you’ve found somewhere that you think deserves to be on The Ultimate Caffeine Kick.
South African entrepreneurial role models
How lucky we are to be inspired by those brave souls who venture forth and start their own businesses and do great things! These are the people that have changed my life by showing me their greatness and making me brave the business world. I have a strong belief that South Africa needs more heroes, so here is my very own “Heroes Roll” to those people who I have encountered who have risked their security to make their dream a reality.
Technology and Design:
Trevor Swart was one of the pioneers – the first of my friends to start up his own now successful digital, branding and design company in Cape Town. Take a look at Sploosh to see his work. I love what he’s doing. You’ll also find his informative blog at supersploosh blogspot.
The Tall Norwegian, Sigve Bessesen is forever pushing the boundaries of my web knowledge. I owe my ongoing internet adventure to him. For-the-Weekend is one of my favourite explorations – the travellers’ online pocketbook for quick getaways to Europe (especially for those who live there!).
Learning:
Robin Booth has instigated an exceptional new approach to Schooling. He started Synergy Schooling in South Africa. Read about it here.
Publishing:
Arthur Attwell has launched his publishing company Electric Book Works. His own published collection Killing Time is reviewed by the Sunday Independent.
Health:
Equine Physiotherapy:
Patrick Thomas enjoys a bit of a challenge. He set up his own Equine Physiotherapy company in 2000 which keeps the horses of the Western Cape in good shape. He commits the same dedication to his own health and recently cycled 12,000km in 120 days (125km p/d) through 10 countries in Africa. You can travel with him Thru Africa, his own Tour d’Afrique experience.
I truly believe in supporting small business. My experience is that the small business will always care that little bit more their customers. I’m hoping that I’ll meet many more inspirational small business owners to which I can dedicate these pages.
Delicious restaurant browsing
Meeting up with friends or potential business partners brings about the mandatory task of having to find the restaurant. It’s a tough task when your reputation is at stake! Cape Town has a number of websites covering these topics, however it took me some time to find a restaurant in a particular location with the right menu, good wines and ambience I was looking for.
The Tall Norwegian and I have decided to take the pain out of restaurant-searching and have posted on our 2010 Cape Town site, a list of restaurants in the CBD under the Cape Town Interactive Map section (we’re working at further afield!). This is very much a work in progress. We wanted a page to go to that would let you search by location first (we generally agree to “where” first, unless someone has heard of a good place to go).
We’ve added the restaurant details to each placename on the map, so that you can find out more if the location is right. We’re adding more capability to the filter section, because we’re wanting to let you search by other important faculties like parking (I’m still getting used to the Long Street walk at night), nearest petrol station and ATM (for those who leave these things to before, during or after the meal).
You’ll be able to find our own reviews on the Siteta blog in the Meals Out section. We have a lot of restaurants to cover and we’re meant to be exercising off the London pounds, so be patient!
If you’ve heard of a good restaurant worth visiting, or you’d like to comment on one the restaurants we’ve reveiwed, please do let us know.
Keeping up to date with affairs back home…
I love the South Africa Info site. It’s a great read, with a really good overview of current affairs in South Africa. It gives a broad insight for the traveller or resident. Whilst pining for our sunny shores, I kept up-to-date on business happenings on their business pages and often referred my foreign friends planning their South African visits to SA Info’s Interactive map. Having recently arrived in South Africa, I realised that SA Info was also writing about South Africans Abroad. A handy way to connect to home and re-ignite that good ol’ homesick feeling!
Coming Home to South Africa
When I resigned from my wonderful job at the Tate Gallery in London, it was with some trepidation because I knew how good I had it, but I had been putting off coming home at each new employment opportunity and every new travel find – too hard to say no! You know what they say about when you want something badly enough – yep, the world conspired to get me here and there’s no looking back!
And it’s so good to be back. There’s a lot to learn – like you pay the bank to take your money, so that they can loan it out to another customer at a prime rate. You can’t just open a bank account with all the frills – you need a job to get the frills. It’s not like London – a train won’t necessarily get you there…
I aim to let you know about my findings and share some of the learning with you – save you a bit of time when you decide to do it!
We’re talking!
We wouldn’t like you to surmise from this blog that our London experience was a wasted one, so we’d like to thank the wonderful “Old Smoke” for her experiences.
She saw us arrive on her well-trodden pavements as penniless graduates with large rucksacks and naiveté to match. Departing her walkways – having shamelessly marketed South Africa’s marvels for 12 years – we’ve hopefully returned more useful human beings!
