Sightseeing Cape Town Bus Tour, Day 3: World of Birds (16. Aug.)

For my last day on the sightseeing bus, I decided to take the free canal cruise (you can get a free canal or harbor cruise with your premium or deluxe package. I already went out on the harbor, so I decided to take the canal cruise).

After that, I wanted to take on the mammoth of sandwiches, known as "The Gatsby."

Next, I went to the District Six Museum. I could've had a guided tour, but I missed it and was on too much of a time constraint to wait on the next one. Whoops.

Later, I got back on the bus, riding the blue route. I got off at the World of Birds park. Finally, I returned to the hostel.

Canal Cruise

Before I made it to the canal cruise, I had to walk behind the aquarium. Then, I saw the seals, just there doing whatever seals do.

Oh, hello there.

I'd like to do the same.

Caution heeded.

Is this a showdown?

360-degree view of where you wait to board the canal cruise. 

I had a while to wait.

A South African native, or so I've been told.

Front-row seat on the boat. I was the only passenger.

Whoa, I can see this is definitely a loaded community. 

A family having breakfast along the canal.

The Great Gatsby (sandwich)

I've watched YouTube videos about this sandwich and I really wanted to take it on. I ordered the half Gatsby. I had half of that for breakfast (around 9:30) and had the 2nd half for dinner (around 17:00). That sandwich was my entire day's meal. The Gatsby is no joke, let me tell you!

Behold, the half steak and eggs Gatsby.

After 1 bite. How do I hold and eat this thing?

Sheesh . . . I've met my match.

I had the Gatsby at a place called "Mariams Kitchen" on Heerengracht Street. It's a Halal restaurant, so I felt secure (food-wise) on the premises (thanks guys!). 

First Arabic numbers clock I've ever seen.

Walking off the meal

District Six Museum

The main hall of the District Six Museum 

I'd like to go back for the guided tour. I think I missed out on a few things.
Good thing I didn't miss the blue route bus to World of Birds!

Entrance to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

I thought I was going to spend Friday morning there with one of my hostel roommates, but those plans fell through.
That's fine. Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is yet another reason I need to return to Cape Town.

World of Birds

Nah, I gotta use the video. There are too many pictures.

In a nutshell, that was my third and last day on the sightseeing tour bus.

Sightseeing Cape Town Bus Tour, Day 2: Table Mountain (15. Aug.)

Yay, my camera works today! Let's go around and take pictures!
I planned to go up Table Mountian today but wanted to check out a few other places quickly first.

Welcome to Groot Constantia, the oldest wine farm in South Africa.

Just to make one thing clear: I don't drink (alcohol). At all. I did not try any of the wines (blasphemy for some, I know. Tough.). I just wanted to see the landscape.

Granted, this was winter, so the vineyards didn't look that great. But even in its winter state, the place was beautiful.

A short, low-quality video to give an idea of the scale of Groot Constantia's entrance (not even close to the entire estate).

Mariner's Wharf at Hout Bay

 Table Mountain

Alright, after making the round on the Blue Route, I returned to the Red Route and got off at Table Mountain.

Pretty self-explanatory

The lines for those with and without tickets.

The view of Cape Town from the line to go up the cable car. 

Behold, the cable car.

I'll do the rest in video format. There are just too many pictures.

Ah, I almost forgot my lunch!

I've heard of a dish called "Bunny Chow." Don't worry, there are no bunnies in this meal. Basically, it's half a loaf of bread, hollowed out, and filled with curry.

I found a place that serves it ("Mariam's Kitchen") and ate it. Not as "wow" as I expected, but definitely worth trying.

I understand this is a Durban dish, but perhaps I should have eaten it in another Cape Town venue? Suggestions, please? I seriously am considering returning to South Africa, just no idea when.

Bunny Chow (with chicken curry)

Bunny Chow uncovered (they have vegetarian curry too)

Between Hout Bay and Mouille Point

There are many pictures for this one too, but not as much as from Table Mountain. Below is the video.

What do you think? Do you prefer the video/photo slideshow or the list of photos?
Seriously, I want to know.
I'm not kidding.
Really, which do you prefer?
I really want to know.
Comment down below.
Seriously.
Now.
Please.

Sightseeing Cape Town Bus Tour, Day 1

Unfortunately, my camera didn't work at all this day.

The good thing is that it did start working the day after, all the way through to the end of my trip. So the pictures in this post are from later on in the week.

On this day (August 14th), I took the Sightseeing Cape Town Bus to take a look at what Cape Town had to offer. There are different tickets you can choose. I chose the deluxe package. With said package, I could ride the bus as often as I wanted, get off and on at any of their stops (on all 3 bus routes) for 3 days. I thought it was a good deal.

On the bus, looking at the one behind.

From the back, looking towards the front.

Front looking back (on the Wine Route)

See your language?

From the side (at Table Mountain)

Besides riding around through the city, I entered a few museums too. Namely, I went to the Slave Lodge, the South African Jewish Museum, and the Cape Town Holocaust Centre (the Jewish museum and Holocaust center are beside each other). I completely lost track of time in the Holocaust Centre. I realized that when I was told the center was now closing. I was so close to the end! No worries, I returned Thursday and finished the exhibition (as well as took the following pictures).

"Gardens Community Centre" is the entrance.

Just to the left of the Holocaust Centre

Below are a few random snaps taken around the city.

Heading towards the convention center

Half-way up Long Street

Mama Africa restaurant. Didn't go in, but I've heard of it.

The most patriotic building I've ever seen in South Africa.

The baked Shakshuka at Jason Bakery (excellent!)

The circular plugs in a triangle (right) make the South African plug.

I'm not sure if my hostel was unique or not, but I've never seen this way of opening and closing windows before.

My Odyssey to South Africa (11.-13. August)

Let's begin.

I booked my plane tickets between Korea and South Africa back in April this year (2018). Not to insult your intelligence, but I was really looking forward to this trip. Thanks to the many South Africans I've met while in Korea, they've convinced me I must go and behold their country. Working in Korea has provided me with the funds to make this trip possible (not to mention things are cheaper there when you factor in exchange rates). I figured August was the right month for me; it would be summer in Korea (33-38 degrees) and winter in South Africa (14-24 degrees). There are some toiletries and clothes I needed to get--and South Africa has my size and styles that flatter my figure. Also, I need to leave Korea every chance I get just for my own sanity.

With the above points in mind, I was excited when D-day arrived: August 11th, 2018.

As of August 2018, no direct flights between South Africa and Korea exist. I hope this changes in the future.

I flew and booked via Singapore Airlines.

I'll break my journey down by flights on my itinerary.

Busan --> Incheon

Since this was a domestic flight, I thought I had to check in at the domestic terminal. Turns out, since my overall trip is international, the international terminal is where I had to go. I guess Korean airports have an agreement, that if the final destination of a flight itinerary is somewhere international, all domestic flights should be treated as international. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

This was the first flight. No hiccups. All went according to plan.

Incheon --> Singapore

Procession of ancient Korean royalty in the middle of Incheon Airport (they do this at random times in random places throughout the airport).

This is where things got very interesting not-too quickly.

The flight was about 40 minutes delayed when we boarded. As the plane was taking off, one of the engines malfunctioned/turned off/quietly exploded/something. We had just left the ground. The pilots brought the plane back down and stepped on the brakes like our lives depended on it--which they did. With such force, I was already in the brace position, so I for one proceeded to put my hands on my head. The pilot informed us of what happened and told us to stay put and not be freaked out when we saw fire engines beside us. About 4 hours later (we boarded around 17:00), the plane returned to the gate, and we disembarked. An hour or so after figuring out what to do, we were allowed to leave.

They contacted Singapore Air headquarters about the situation. Singapore Air sent a new airplane (not spanking new, just working) for us to board and fly to Singapore for the next day at noon. This meant we had to spend the night in Seoul.

The airport/airline was going to put us up in a hotel in Seoul for the night, but that hotel didn't have enough rooms for all the passengers. They told us, that if any could go home, to please do so and we would be reimbursed. I contacted a friend in Seoul and briefly filled her in on my emergency. She said to come on over, so I did. Next morning (August 12th), I made it to my flight. I forgot if it was a little delayed or not. Either way, we made it safe and sound to Singapore.

Singapore -- (Johannesburg) --> Cape Town

I originally had a 3-hr. layover in Singapore before moving on to Johannesburg. As I'm sure you've figured out, I missed that flight. When I arrived in Singapore, however, they had set up a few things for me.

One, they put me on the next available flight, at 2am, August 13. This meant I had about 7 hours to spare.

Two, they put me up in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the airport. I had a voucher for the dinner buffet at the hotel. That hotel room was NICE! I'm just so sad I couldn't stay for an entire night and had to leave just before 1am.

A short glimpse of my Crowne Plaza hotel room.

This flight didn't have any hiccups either.

However, this was the first flight I've ever been on, in which I did not leave the plane once people started to disembark. Why? This flight was actually to Cape Town, but it was dropping people off in Johannesburg first. I believe no one got on in Jo'burg, so 32 passengers had a previously trans-Indian flight at our disposal. We all took rows of 3-seats each to ourselves. Except for being woken up for breakfast, I was able to nap for about 1.5 hours.

At Cape Town

Once in Cape Town (a full day after I was scheduled to arrive), I got an Uber to my hostel, "Never @ Home" (best hostel I've EVER stayed at--and I mean it!). After checking in and getting settled, I went in search of the Waterfront. It turned out to be a short search of about a 10-15 min. walk from the hostel.

I met a lovely couple at the Cape Wheel. They adopted me for a few hours (so sweet of them! Thank you so much again!). They invited me to join them for a Harbour Cruise and a drink at a bar (I had Rooibos Tea--no alcohol for me, thank you).

I returned to my hostel by sunset. After calling my family and a few friends, I called it an early night. Considering I didn't sleep much for the previous 2 days and I needed to adjust to Cape Town time, the faster I did so and got some sleep, the better.

This concludes my odyssey to Cape Town and my first day there.

(Side note: The following are pictures from the Waterfront. I didn't take these pictures on that day because my phone's camera wasn't working. At all. The same thing happened the next day. So the photos below are from Wednesday and Thursday of that week.)

The water shortage is real. Keep that in mind when visiting.

From the mall's bathroom

These frames are all over the city.

The Cape Wheel is in the distance.

Nobel Square: Four recipients of the Nobel Prize.

Names and info of said Nobel Prize recipients.

Vertical bike parking

Really cool, yet kinda creepy. In the Watershed.

The Watershed

Stairs up to Somerset Hospital, the oldest hospital in the country.

About my summer vacation 2018...

Well, I'm back in Korea, almost ready to start teaching again--ok, not really, but gotta face it.

I left Korea for my summer vacation. Where did I go?

SOUTH AFRICA!!!

If you are like most people I know, you're asking, "WHY? (?!?!?!)"

Short answer: "Why not?"

Long answer: I've met more South Africans than any other nationality amongst the expat community here in Korea (South Africa represent!). They've peaked my curiosity to check out their breathtakingly beautiful country. Considering the South African Rand is not the strongest currency, my buying power was much stronger there--a definite plus. I needed to replace some toiletries and clothes, and I knew I would find things that fit me well over there. One last thing: I don't plan to stay in Korea forever. Wherever I go post-Korea, I'll probably earn less than I do here in Korea. Hence, now is the time to go, taking advantage of being able to spend without worrying (too much).

I do not regret my decision.

I do regret, however, that I only had 2 weeks. I'd say South Africa deserves a good month. Cape Town alone deserves 2 weeks to do everything(-ish) they provide!

Get ready, this will be a very long series dedicated to South Africa. There are soooo many pictures and stories to share...

Let's do this.

Four places to check out in Busan

I met my friend Greg in Busan during the weekend of August 4th-5th. We went to quite a few really cool places, but I only took pictures in four of them. Thought I'd share them with you below.

Ecotopia Vegetarian Restaurant

This place is worth a trip to Busan, even if you're not a vegetarian. The atmosphere is very cozy, with plenty of natural light and an outdoor eating area. They have Facebook and Naver, and are mentioned in Happy Cow.

Forgot what this was, but remembered it's good.

Racoonamatata (Racoon Cafe)

Yeap, a raccoon cafe in Busan. I believe there are others, but we went to this one. I'm not a major fan of raccoons, but this was a pretty cool place. You can check them out on Instagram and Facebook. 

From the outside, looking in.

Know before you go.

 "TempurCinema" at Centum City, Busan

Why sit on a stiff, upright chair at the movies, when you can recline as you wish on your own Tempurpedic bed?

I kid thee not. 

They do cost a pretty penny (40,000 KRW per bed), but it was a fun experience--then again, we watched Mama Mia 2, so that may have added to the overall fun memory.

Here are articles by Business Korea and CNBC.

Our beds/seats. I know, my camera's not the best.

 

Dala Chocolate Cafe

If you're going to start a diet, make sure you do so after visiting this place. Their main attraction is the dinosaur egg bingsu. Greg and I thought we'd try that and a brownie. Needless to say, the two were too much for us, and we were "chocolated-out."

This place is quite popular. In case you don't believe me, here's their Facebook, Instagram, KoreaBridge article, SoraNews24 article, Fulbright Korea Infusion article, and I'm sure you can find more on your own.

What's crackin'?

See why that egg and the brownie were too much?

If you get a chance to go to Busan, be sure to try and check some of these out--and possibly save the others for a future visit!