Lighthorse

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“Haha! He’s misspelled “Lighthouse” in the title of the post!
What a muppet!”

But… actually not.

Because, please bring forth the Lighthorse of Jeju Island.
The red one.

Amazing. A 12m tall Lighthorse sitting on one of the Iho Hang breakwaters, west of Jeju City on Jeju Island, South Korea.

But you know that Lighthouses always look better in red and white?
Well, obviously, there’s a white one too:

These are modelled on the Jeju Pony – a rare, ancient breed native to Jeju Island, and were completed in 2009. And while they’re not exact replicas of the actual animals (I mean, the horsey ones aren’t those colours and don’t have a light on their heads), they’re a lovely twist on the traditional big tower with a light on the top.

And if you want more animals made into functional buildings – in this case, specifically lighthouses – then you need look no further than… er.. Jeju Island, South Korea, where they also have a 13m high Lighturtle.

That doesn’t really work as well as the horse one, does it?

Anyway:

It’s not just the name that doesn’t work. For me, this one is cheating a bit. That’s just a lighthouse with an added turtle, not a turtle lighthouse. Not that I don’t admire the effort. Just that if you set the bar so high with the red and white horses, I just think the turtle should be rearing up on its hind legs flippers and balancing the light on its nose.

Doesn’t seem like a lot to ask.

One of those days

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…where if I don’t pop something on the blog now, I might well forget later.

I’ve done a lot of stuff today, and after I’ve finished a parental run from Rondebosch to home, I’ve got an evening meeting to go to.

Who knows when (or if) we’ll be done with that. You never know when there are going to be unexpected fireworks (which is exactly why they’re unexpected).

So let me promise something more tomorrow, and head off home for now.

Seize the day

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I’m writing a quiz.

It’s a fundraising thing that I’m presenting next month, and while the best quiz experience is the one that you take part in (and win, probably), for obvious reasons, I’m not allowed to take part this time. And so I want to make this one right up there for all the people who can do it, and are spending their hard-earned money in this economy to help others out.

It’s been a while (like lockdown) since I have done a quiz (from the writing the questions point of view, at least), but it’s fun to be back.

Well, sort of.

I’ve actually been pussyfooting around for a couple of weeks, jotting down questions (and answers), since I managed to delete all the work that I had previously done (entirely my fault, rookie error, despite being far from a rookie). Since then, my stupidity has been irritating me each time I return to the project.

But today is the day to break the back of this thing and get all the hard yards done.

I know that some people who read the blog will be going along, so I’m not dropping any hints or tips for them, but who knows: maybe I’ll chuck a few questions or even a whole round out on here once the event has happened, so that you can all test your knowledge of [redacted] or even [redacted].

So I’m seizing the day right now, and I’m going to nail the specialist round.

And then I’m going to get a coffee.

Happy Rooster

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Our second visit to this spot in Muizenberg, and though it feels a little like I was cheating on Dias Tavern, this place absolutely holds its own when it comes to Portuguese cuisine. In fact, dare I say it…?

[Whispers] Maybe it’s actually better than Dias…

Anyway…

It’s literally in the Muizenberg Railway Station building, up on the first floor (no wheelchair access, sorry), and you can enjoy the Edwardian history of the Herbert Baker design as you walk up the wooden stairs with their tiled risers, and into the expansive space and amazing enclosed veranda. The sea view over False Bay and Surfer’s Corner is spectacular, and the food and service are equally impressive.

They’ve just released their new Winter menu:

The food is good, honest fare, cooked with care and pride, and powerful Portuguese flavour. And yes, there are a few things on there to cater for those who have just wandered over from the beach for a post-surf burger, but that doesn’t detract from the authenticity of the specialised dishes.

Complimentary caldo verde when we arrived, warmed us up nicely and got our taste buds ready for the main meal. But here’s the thing: as an unlicensed restaurant, you are not paying through the nose for beers and wines (you’re welcome to bring your own – no corkage fees are charged) and so you end up coming out of there feeling wholly satisfied, but with a wonderfully reasonable bill.

Dinner was R1300 (including a well-earned, decent tip) for four of us last night, including two starters and two desserts and several soft drinks.

Incredible value.

I can’t recommend this place enough: it scores highly on every metric.
Booking via WhatsApp on 067 901 0900.

Dirty Water

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The recent storm left a huge trail of destruction behind it, and clean up efforts are underway all over the Cape. Some bits will take longer than others.
There are roads washed away and there is farmland still underwater.

But all of that water has to go somewhere, and obviously, quite a lot of it ends up in the sea. Along with, it seems, quite a lot of the Western Cape:

That’s Table Bay, and Robben Island. And that is the outflow from Diep River, which drains from the Durbanville Hills and the West Coast suburbs of Cape Town.

If ever there was a plan to do some land reclamation in Table Bay, this is the time to start. It’s already half finished.

You can see the little plume of non-silt filled water popping out from the Black River, down south, but that’s nothing compared to the mess that’s been dumped from the north.

Anyone in Cape Town with a chainsaw and a bakkie has been doing snow angels in R100 notes all week. Seeing this, I suspect anyone with a dredging vessel (probably slightly more niche, I know) is probably doing the same.