Dari and G Man in North America

Easter Weekend in PR

2007-04-08T17:48:00.000-05:00

As I am typing this, the 2007 Easter weekend comes to an end, which was for me, pretty quiet but actually again another weekend which was a great one in Puerto Rico.
We went out for dinner on Thursday night and played some pool at Douglas (love that place). And I seem to have developed a talent for the game after a few beers. Rob and I ended up unbeaten for the last like 6 games!

Friday was a good one.

We went to the beach for a while and then I took a walk around Old San Juan and took some pics of the restuarants which we frequently visit. I also took some pics from the walkway around El Morro.

Saturday I went to the Don Q (local great rum) tasting house - got to taste some 45 year old rum which is in the top 5 in the world. Good times.

Then to the Bacardi Factory - which was massive, and the tour was pretty good. Most of the Bacardi in the world is made here.

Also managed to finally watch 300 - it was good, not the ending I wanted but good. Blades of Glory is next.

Sunday I finally got round to diving in Puerto Rico. I had to drive about an hour East to Fajardo and then we jumped onto a boat and drove to the Palomino's islands where we dived.

The reefs are great, they are massive and full of life. We saw some sting rays which were pretty cool. One guy who was diving with us claimed to see a shark but nobody else did, then claimed to see a morey but again nobody else did - so we called hime Elvis.

Took lots of pics of the above, so check them all out.

Rob's leaving dinner

2007-04-08T17:30:00.000-05:00

So time came for Rob to depart and make his way back to SA, and like all others who depart the team, there is the traditional leaving dinner. It's like every other night at dinner (we always eat dinner out as we have to) except someone is leaving.
But due to this being Rob's (and Maria's actually)leaving dinner we did go pretty large and it had a great time.

We had dinner with the team and went to Douglas's Pub for a few more beers.

We also happened to make the pub record for Photo Hunt, Penguin Bashing (credit goes to other Rob) and Kids Photo Hunt - too much fun when you are drunk.

Check out the gallery for some winners...

Cock Fights

2007-04-08T14:57:00.000-05:00

So we heard(back when Rob was here) about cock fighting and we never really were amped to go until on Saturday afternoon we decided to go with other Rob who had been and said it was freakin awesome. So we went and it was!

We paid $10 to get in to the arena. As you walk in there are hundreds of glass boxes around the top of the arena each holding a cock - shaved clean and ready to fight (please read this post in context). So after examining the birds we bought a beer and sat down for the fights to begin.

Each fight lasts a maximum of 15 minutes or to the death or basically dead. No fights that day made the 15 minute limit. We watched from 3pm till about 7 and there must have been 40 fights that day!

Each cock has a ring on its leg - one blue (azule) and one white (blanco) and thats how you tell them apart. Betting is done by screaming at anyone who is screaming the opposite colour. After each fight, wads of cash are thrown around the stadium to all the winners by the losers. It is really unbelievable.

The cocks are brought onto the arena by a lift which moves their glass boxes above the arena then slowly lowers them down. They are then weighed and given a peck at each other and then put back into their boxes to be released.

The best part of the whole day was the waitresses who walk around the stadium selling chicken burritos! We all had one - freshest chicken ever!

Made a few dollar, had many beers - it was a great afternoon. Check out some more pics.

Rincon (Weekend 11)

2007-04-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

A couple of us, to celebrate Rob and Maria leaving, decided to head to the West coast of the island for the weekend. We headed for Rincon which is apparently a great surfing town. The plan was to leave at 8am and follow the girls because it is quite confusing to get there. That was the plan. The flaw in the plan was that all us guys only managed to crawl home at 4am from Old San Juan - 8am wasn’t looking to good at this point. So we decided that the guys would be leaving at 10 cause we can! So 10 rolls around the next morning and we leave in Dave's Camry with GPS but the GPS is pretty shit. So we select a random hotel in Rincon (of the 15 they had on the GPS) and started driving. When we got close we tried to hook up with one of the girls who tried to come find us but we both ended up getting lost. Then we decided to just follow the GPS to this random hotel anyway. This ended up taking us through town where we basically tore a hole in the front bumper of the car by going straight into a hole in the street and then almost had a head on collision when going the wrong way down a one way (or so we think).

Palm trees and beer...

So we tried to find the girls again who were trying to find us but with no road markings and/or English speaking people we decided again to trust the GPS and followed its dodgy directions to the random hotel. We eventually got to this hotel which was on the beach and had a beer and called the girls to let them know where we were, and can you believe it… it was like 200m from our place! Believe it cause its true.

The house we stayed in was pimpin, and had such a great bar and pool below it as well….

We also met the coolest dog, but we didn’t know his name so we checked his collar and it said 823 8135. Now that’s a pretty long name, so we decided to just call him 823 (who names there dog such a dumb name!!).

So anyway we had a beer and some lunch, hit the beach in the afternoon. That night we went for dinner and did a little drinkin at the bar on the beach. There was a "DJ" there who looked promising but actually set up her decks and speakers and then just basically turned one song lower and faded the new one in - so useless and disappointing.

The next day was a great day, so we hit the beach and played a little NFL which was so excellent. Finally got to catch a few waves - this has been the first beach since we arrived in the US that has had some decent waves.

All in all it was some good company and a great weekend.

More pics…

Back to San Juan (Weekend 9 & 10)

2007-04-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

We arrived back home to the Sheraton in San Juan on a Friday. Rob and I checked in and Rob got one of the dud rooms with a shower that didn’t work properly. I got the room that everyone in the team calls "The Suite". I don’t know why I got it, or what I had done to get it but it was fantastic. Its on the top floor of the hotel with 3 balconies, a dining room and a flat screen TV.

We went to work on Saturday for a half day and then went to the COCK FIGHTS. Which must be one of the most funniest things I have ever done, so fun that it deserves its own post (see COCK FIGHT post - still to come). So we went to the Cock fights from about 3pm and started drinking a few beers and then when it was done we went to some sushi restaurant for dinner and a few whiskeys, and then we headed back to "The Suite" for a round of beer pong. Such a great drinking game - all you have to do is throw the ping pong balls into the opponent's cup and they drink. So simple yet so effective.

We kept playing until about 11 and then hit some bars in Old San Juan for a while. At about 2 when I thought the night was over, Adfred insisted we go to Calle which is a club outside of Old San Juan and then to some other club somewhere in Puerto Rico which ended up being a sunrise drink cause we only got home at about 6am. Fun times.

Sunday we went to the beach with the locals from the team. We also bought a dog for our office. Her name is GiGi. She must be one the best behaved dogs I have ever seen. Sit GiGi sit… good dog.

The following weekend, Rob and I were headed for Boston to celebrate St. Patricks day, but to our surprise there was a massive snow storm on Friday and our flights were cancelled! Saturday we decided to go to one of the only Irish pubs in San Juan called Shannan's to celebrate St. Patricks day. We had a massive afternoon and were pretty wrecked by 7pm.

Sunday, myself Robot and Steve headed out to Vieques again to check out the rest of the beaches. We managed to get a flight there and back this time (no more ferry with bad hangovers) for only $50. We got there and rented a Jeep and had some lunch and beers at Banana's which was a winner of a spot on the coast. We then put the Jeep to work and managed to see most of the beaches on the southern side of the island. This was good.

Eventhough were didn’t make it back to Boson, we had a cracker of a weekend.

More pics…

Weekend in Tyson's Corner (Near DC)

2007-04-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

So we were in for another weekend in Washington cause we didn’t finish up our work in time, but this week we had to check out of our beloved Ritz Carlton and check into the Sheraton Premiere which was about 15 minutes away from work.

So over any other hotel now that I've been in the Ritz, its just not the same. Its like driving a Lamborghini for 2 weeks and then trading it in for an Citi Golf. But anyway, tears aside we moved to the Sheraton and for the weekend we decided to just hang around Tysons corner.

It was cold and we went shopping for anything really. We found a great golf shop but didn’t buy anything. There are so many car dealerships, all the cars just stand outside waiting to get bought. Here are some Hummers and Corvette's that we saw…

We ended up buying 2 baseball bats and a couple of balls just to mess around. On the way back to the hotel we stopped to get some water from a vending machine and my change got stuck inside. After pushing the button about 100 times we eventually realized that if we hit the machine the change came out. So this old lady walks past and there Rob is holding 2 baseball bats while I was screaming and punching the machine. Pretty funny (you had to be there).

We found a place to schmack the balls around in some park. Rob managed to smack a ball from the other side of the park and land it directly into the storm water drain - talented.

That night we hit Georgetown for a few beers. We ended up having about 15 and stealing straws and just causing shit cause nobody was really paying attention to us. Not one of the best nights out but what can you do!

Sunday we chilled, and Monday back to wek!

Check out a few more pics here.

Its been a busy month...

2007-03-25T21:34:00.000-05:00

Put some new pics in the gallery and I will add a story to them as soon as I get time!

The last weekend in Washington.

Weekends 9 & 10 in Puerto Rico.

This last weekend in Rincon (west coast of PR).

Peace.

Washington DC

2007-02-25T18:21:00.000-06:00

Due to working responsibilities, Rob and myself got sent to the place where we were originally supposed to spend our 6 months - Washinton DC. I left on Sunday and flew in to the freezing DC and caught a taxi to Mc Lean - Virginia, which is about 15 minutes outside the capital. The best part about the trip is that we are staying in the Ritz Carlton - so pimpin. It has to be the most awesome hotel I have stayed in ever - from the Ritz slippers to the chocolates on the pillows to the "only way to get to the top floors (my room) is to swipe your card in the elevator" to the free champagne after work. You appreciate these small things when a hotel is your home! View from my room...

We had a rough week at work and hit the town on Thursday night for a few beers with a couple of the guys from the team that came with us.

Ricardo and Greg and Marky Mark the rapper.

We headed out of Tysons corner to stay in a hotel in the city for the weekend to do some sightseeing.

On Saturday we headed out and started of at the White House...

We tried to take a short cut across the road and as Rob lifted his leg to step over the below pictured chain, we heard a "SIR". Out of the blue there was a police officer about to taezer him if his foot hit the tar. So funny.

Then we hit the Washington monument...

The World War II memorial - took a pic for every state we have been to - check out the gallery for the rest...

And the Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool (empty) where Forrest Gump run into the water to meet Jenny...

One more photo of the "Monument"...

We also checked out some of the Museums and US Capitol building.

After a good weather day (still about 10 degrees celcius - see the pick of the hairy guy playing soccer in no shirt?? in the gallery), Sunday I woke up and looked out the window and it was snowing, hard. We went out side, made a few snowballs and threw them at the Faragut statue in the park (until we hit him in the head) - that was fun.

We walked a couple of blocks in the snow trying to find a place to get a haircut but couldn't, so we went back to the hotel and phoned a couple of numbers and evetually found a place. When we got there it was slighly different to what we expected...

After the visit to the Barber Shop we called it a day - back to work (and the Ritz - Yessa!) tomorrow. Check out the gallery for some other pearlers.

Just chillin' - Weekend 6

2007-02-24T09:18:00.000-06:00

We had a rough Friday night and only stumbled back to the Sheraton at 3:15. Waking up with a hangover is rough, but waking up with a hangover and having to work is just plain unfair. So we worked on Saturday (planning to stay until about 3pm but ended up only finishing at 7:30pm).

Sunday we walked around Old San Juan and hit a few beaches on the way (snuck into the Hilton but the beach wasn't that great) - it wasn't the most exciting day, but what can you do!

Check out a few other pics of the city and the hotel.

Next weekend is Washington DC baby!

Weekend 4 & 5's Alive

2007-02-14T17:06:00.000-06:00

Weekend 4 was a work weekend, but we did get out of work at about 5 on Saturday so we decided to go to El Morro which is the fort at the end of Old San Juan. It was pretty cool. There are tons of people flying kites, so we bought one (to try and fit in). But we got bored after about 5 minutes so we bought and extra line of string to make it go higher. Then once we had done that we were bored again so we bought another line of string so it would be the highest out of all the kites on the field (cause I have to be the best).

The 1st pic is with one line and the 2nd is with 3 lines.

On Sunday we hit the golf course cause we couldn't leave PR without playing at least once, and we chose an awesome course - Dorado Beach East. Steven and Dari, you would have both loved it. It cost us a pretty penny - $100 to play and another $60 to rent clubs, but we did get a set of Cobra's - was deshtroying the driver!

I played alright, a birdie on a long par 5 was the highlight of the day, Rob played ok. Besides the golf, the place was unbelievable, check it out...

For the rest, we just had a party during the week with the team, which was greatness...

A - for Africa

Besides that, we went back to f#cken freezing Boston for the weekend to do some admin. We met up with a few new SA secondees and had a bender at one of the many night clubs. Here are some after photos...

Note that the bodylining is from left over pasta (thats all we know how to cook).

Check out the gallery for more.

Culebra - weekend 3

2007-02-11T16:20:00.000-06:00

Culebra - we finally get to go there after 2 failed attempts. This time we went big and organised to stay there for Saturday and Sunday night and get there by plane.

So after a big Friday night out with the team in Old San Juan, we woke up still drunk at 6:30 to check out the hotel and jump on the plane. The plane ride was amazing. It was a 10 seater so it was pretty tiny but we flew over PR and I got some fantashtic pics...

These two are pics of Flamenco Beach from the air.

So we managed to get a villa on Flamenco Beach (one of the top 5 beaches in the world!). The villa's were great and the beach has the most amazing clear blue water and white sand. It is unbelievable.

We also hired scooters to get around the island...

We spent most of the day on the beach and we also took scoot over the rest of the island.

We also went to a beach where you can see the islands Saint Thomas and Saint Croix and we walked to a beach to snorkel at which had an awesome reef as you stepped into the water. Really incredible snorkeling, the reefs are like the ones in Mozi but the are only a couple of metres into the clear see.

We flew back early on Monday morning to get back to the office and back to work, but the whole trip was machette.

Check out the gallery for some more great pics.

Red Beach - Weekend 2 in PR

2007-02-11T15:46:00.000-06:00

So its been a while since I've updated due to the large amount of work we are doing down here. The team I'm working with is pretty cool and the work is different but still auditing - what can you do!

We normally get back to the hotel at about 9pm every night and then go out for dinner and by that time its bed time (need my 8 hours). So nothing much happens during the week. I will take some pics of Old San Juan and post then cause its really amazing.

So for the second week here, we worked on Saturday and decided to take the Ferry on Sunfay to Culebra (island off the east coast of PR). We were staying in a different hotel at that stage - one on the beach. Here are some pics:

View from my hotel room, and Samai, Rob, Sung and myself on the biatch. They are working with us on the job.

So anyway, we went out to a festival on Saturday night and got home late. We had to get up early on Sunday morning to drive an hour to Fajardo on the east coast so we could catch a ferry to Culebra. Due to the night before, we got there a little late and the ferry was full. So we decided to go on the other ferry which goes to Vieques, which is another island (bigger than Culebra) off the coast.

The ferry trip was long and tought to swallow with a hangover, but we made it.

Check out the guys box boat - pretty funny.

So we had finally made it out to the island and now we wanted to hit the beach. We thought we could just catch a taxi but due to the island being and old bombing target of the US (closed in 2000), most of the roads are dirt, so we took a taxi to a place that hired jeeps! Then they were out of jeeps cause we didnt book, but after a bit of convincing we finally got the lady to rent one to us. So we were finally off to the beach - Red beach (one of the many, but apparently the best one). But before we got there there had to be one more delay... We got pulled over by a cop cause I was speeding (doing 50 mph on a dirt road with a limit of 25). The traffic officer was a complete chump who thought he was the hero of the island for stopping me "speeding" on a dirt road with no cars on an island with a population of about 2000 people - nothing better to do. And nothing made me happier than whipping out my SA drivers and him squinting to understand it and leaving him not much of a choice but to warn me.

So we eventually reached the beach and all the crap was worth it, check it out...

We swam for about 2 hours and then had to make the long trip back again. Before we jumped on the ferry we had a few sundowners at a pub with the most awesome view evers...

So for the one day a week off, it was a good one. Check out the gallery for more pics.

Yee-haw!

2007-01-26T22:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, I swore I'd never go back to Cowboys after our first encounter - when John Denver's lesser known cousin performed live. But the Saffers convinced me Thursdays at Cowboys was like Thursdays at the Hatter. Just with HJOTTER chicks. After much begging and emotional bribery, I got my boots on and saddled up for the ride.

Oh my God am I glad I went... for the last biggie here in Calgary, it was HOOOGE!

And if you're still not convinced... 25 cent draughts - these three big spenders bought EVERYONE in the club a beer. Sheesh, must've dropped a whole 50 bucks or something!

We stumbled home at 03h30 that morn, which incidently was a mere 4 hours before the start of my FINAL day at work! And to kick off the morning, my final client meeting. Standard Friday morning questions were asked like, "Are you sick?".

Why do you ask? Cos I've got purple bags under my bloodshot eyes, speak with a croaky voice and smell of cheap girls?

And I almost overslept, and didn't have time to get spiffed up proper, so went in with the most deshtroyer of un-ironed shirts...

Mosey on over to the gallery.

Puerto Rico Baby!

2007-01-18T20:58:00.000-06:00

So by sheer luck after not working particularly hard since I hit the shores of the US of A, Rob and myself get "transferred" from freezing Boston to the city of San Juan - Puerto Rico for 4 months!

Now for those of you who don't know where Puerto Rico is, it's in the heart of the Carribean. Between the Dominican Republic (next to Cuba) and the US Virgin Islands! It is an island about 100 miles long and 35 wide with some amazing mountains, pristene beaches and spanish speaking locals.

You might now say to yourself, "Damn Greg, that is the SHITE!". You would be correct - except for one little glitch - WORK. Yes, unfortunately my holiday is over and now I have to do what I get paid to do (I think). We work here from 8am to 8pm everyday and every second Saturday. Its the most frustrating feeling being in an office when the sun is shining and the beaches are calling.

But at least there are those couple of hours a weekend when we can do what we want. In the case of weekend 1 we decided to hit the islands on a catamaran, to do a bit of snorkeling and drinking.

We did both - there is nothing like drinking pina colada's and talking shit on the beach in the middle of the Carribean.

After a glorious day out we decided to check out the only rain forrests in the Continental US called El Yunke... There were lots and lots of trees, and it rained.

We are staying in the Sheraton in Old San Juan which is precisely in front of the harbour where all the cruise ships dock so it's always buzzing. Sunday we took a look around Old San Juan and tried to get some shopping done but our broken Spanish didn't get us far.

We had to finish the weekend off with some more work - cause sometimes I like to work! Or like Nacho would say "Sometimes I like to wear strechy pants in my room - it's for fun". The week started and there unfortunately will be no time for breathing out of the wrong nostril until weekend comes again.

Check out the gallery for more fotografo...

Spanish lesson of the week:
Aunque el mono se vista de seda, mono se queda.
Translate: You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

4th anniversary

2007-01-18T17:49:00.000-06:00

Holy crap, so four months has come and gone without any one noticing? Or did no one even realise that I was gone?

So, officially, I have FIVE more working days left!! FIVE. Counting down the hours...

So here's the plan going forward:
Jan 28 - Feb 3: Toronto to see my cuz. And Apparently Dangerous Dave is there? And a couple others from the P-town office, although they're all still working. Poor buggers!

Feb 4 - Feb 10: London town to see my big bruvva. Again. But this time my big sis might jet in from SA so that should be cool! And hopefully I'll see more of you mofos that claim to enjoy living there.

Feb 11: Chiggen and boerie braai. 'Nuff said.

Feb 12: I've got the day off, golf anyone? Judge and I vs Mr Price and Joel/Marty? I could do with the extra cash... hell, I'll even play with Pot (let's hope the new Taylormade and Ping putter have made a difference?).

Well here some random photos to make this post a little more interesting:

A sign in the change room at one of the stores.

And Cowboys. The cracker-jack club downtown. As belter as the bargirls are, I refuse to go there again - it's not a place meant for my people. This is from H's night there last week. He fits in perfectly cos cowboy dancing is similar to langarming at Presley's.

Here's the dealio, work there six months, and they buy you boobs. Even the guys. Check more chicks on Shhhmokin Hot Waitress.com. And check out the Back Alley as well - some of the guys wanna take me there for my farewell...

Excuse me ma'am, your boobs are stickin' out. Bumblebee tjoona!

Schanks for coming!

2007-01-14T18:19:00.000-06:00

Schanks was the name of the bar, not a description of my poor iron play...

We went for dinner with Farid and Narmin last night for some authentic East Indian curries. Good idea at the time, serious regrets this morning. Burn baby burn!

Then after dinner we went to Schanks (pronounced Shanks and not Skanks) Sports Bar.

What an awesome place. Pool tables, putt-putt that goes around the entire bar and two golf sims. I managed to play a whole game of pool before I dropped everyone to go shhmack some balls. Farid joined me later and we ended up playing for three hours or so. Until the waitress tjoons us it's $30 an hour and that we should pay at the counter.

So I did what any broke-assed Saffer would do - I made a sneaky exit out the emergency exit without paying. Followed by Farid! Dodgy fucking Africans!

I watched impatiently as they played pool, all the while I was itching to hit the golf sim...

Finally, I got to swing some clubs. Some serious antiques but what the hell!

Schanks gallery.

Back to the Dome

2007-01-14T15:08:00.000-06:00

Hockey - Flames vs Stars

James from the office invited us again to his cheap seat season tickets to watch the Flames take on the Dallas Stars at the Dome last Saturday. Like I said before, ice hockey is not the most interesting game for me to watch. Although I do quite enjoy having a good ol' ogle at the girls at the games. Just a reminder - Canadian girls are hot! Seriously hot!

Jamil, Herman, Dari and James - the photo is being taken by one of the belterest belters of ever, pity no pics of them though...

See the gallery of the hockey.

Lacrosse - Roughnecks vs Stealth

Any way, I worked pretty hard last week and wasn't planning to do much Friday night (and cos temps have dropped to the -20s), but then managed to organize tickets to the office box to watch the season opening Lacrosse game - Calgary Roughnecks vs San Jose Stealth. I called them the Rough-Riders by accident (Freudian slip?) and got some disapproving nods from the mothers that were there.

Lacrosse is like a stoopid combination of a couple sports - the fighting bumpiness of ice hockey and American football, the ball movement of soccer and skimming your swimming pool with your pool net. There don't seem to be many rules - get the ball into the other team's goal. Or if you're defending, shhmack the dude with the ball upside his head with your net, elbows, body and head! A kick to the head or groin when he's down is optional, but recommended.

I totally offended all the Canadians when I said that lacrosse was more interesting to watch than ice hockey. But truly it is! Much more crowd participation and screaming, almost bordering on football-like hooliganism. And goals. Lots of them! At full time they were 16-16. But the 'Necks lost to a sudden-death golden goal in overtime.

'Scuse the blurry photos - H's camera - crappy Sony's...

I might go next week again to watch the 'Necks play the Colorado Mammoth. Dumb name but, hey, they're from Denver!

Lacrosse gallery.

Doing Louise

2007-01-14T15:01:00.000-06:00

I've already sent the photos and summary of my last ski trip, but just have to whack it on the blog quick.

So Esta (one of the internationals from Spain), invited us to ski Lake Louise - a two hour drive from Calgary.

This was probably the most best ski outing I've had ever - I went the whole day without any cart-wheeling or scorpion falls. Only problem was this time I had to babysit my scraper of a colleague down the hills. But it was still good fun - until he thought he'd be cool and said he was ready for the narrow winding blue runs.

Apart from almost falling of the mountain a couple times, he had two of the biggest backward falls onto his head I've ever seen. Six-foot-five, 112 kgs - he doesn't fall lightly. I was actually surprised he never lost consciousness after his second fall. And his dutch courage made him to cool to wear a helmet. It's only about the billionth time I've had to tell him "I told you so - Dari knows best!"

Concussed, with no ability to stand, speak or stop himself from drooling, we had to somehow make our way down to the club house. Only problem was we were two gondolas up the mountain, probably a 40 minute ski down. But were going so slowly it took us two hours!

And then when we finally reached the clubhouse, I had to keep him from losing consciousness and all that good stuff you have to do to stop a concussed person from actually going to sleep forever. But on the drive back I fell asleep, and then he fell asleep. All I can say is I was glad he was still alive when we got to Calgary!

Dari and Herman at the ice castle. And me on the top of the mountain, psyching myself for the first run down, all snow-ninja's up!

The slopes, with prime powder (it snowed the whole day). And then us rep'ing the Boks. Don't be fooled by Herman's smile, after his falls I doubt he knew where he was.

The gallery!

New York, New York!

2007-01-07T10:23:00.000-06:00

So it was the second time I have been to the Big Apple and I can't explain to you how great it was. This time we drank a bit less and therefore managed to see a bit more of the massive city and I am so impressed. We caught the Chinatown bus again from Boston ($15!!) and arrived in NYC on the 30th. We stayed with some secondees in NY which was a bonus - they have great apartments in Battery Park about 2 blocks from Ground Zero.

We did some sight seeing on the first day and had to hit 5th Avenue for the girls to shop. We also went into Times square which was getting pimped for New years and it was packed and amazing - there are so many lights that it is like daytime.

For New years evening we booked to go to a club called Cain with al, the other SA secondees in NY. Aparently it was the place to be as mentioned on MTV - and it should have been for $200 a ticket. It was open bar and there were a few snacks here and there. The place was a bit dodgy compared to what I expected, but we still had a huge party and I got pretty trashed.

The first of January 2007 was raining and miserable. We went to Pier 17 and Wall Street and just chilled.

On the 2nd we went for a tour of the city, which was excellent and then after went to Central Park and the Museum of Natural History.
We also went on the Staten Island Ferry and passed the Statue of Liberty on the tour.

The whole trip was great, but the ending of it means back to work. We arrived back in Boston and the ladies left for SA on Saturday.

Check out the gallery for all the other pics (about 100 of them).

Rob and I are flying to San Juan in Puerto Rico to work for the next 3-4 months (check it out at www.gotopuertorico.com). Sounds brilliant as it is an Island near Cuba and Jamaica but the only downfall is that we have to book at least 60 chargeable hours a week, which is some heavy work. So I will keep things updated as much as possible.

Adios for now, bambinos!

Snowboarding in Stowe

2007-01-07T10:04:00.000-06:00

The morning after arriving back from Orlando, I picked up a Chevy Monte Carlo which would be the equivalent of a in SA - pretty sick. So we stuffed all the bags in (and just fitted) threw the chicks in the back and headed for Stowe in Vermont (state about Massachusetts). The only problem was that it has been the warmest winter in a 100 years or something here, so there was not much snow at all.

When we got there Rob and myself went for a lesson and after about an hour and a half we had it cooked! The instructor was impressed and said we could move onto the next slope the next morning (which was coincidently the only other slope open).

Julie joined us the next day and she is an excellent skier, so she cruised past us while Rob and myself scrapped our way down the slopes.

On Christmas eve we went for dinner at some Italian restaurant which ened up being a cracker (a christmas cracker).

The next and last day Rob and I started getting used to it and we were carving our way down the slopes without hitting any other skiers or trees. The only thing that was crap was that there weren't many slopes open and the big snow started as we left but it was still brilliant and I can safely say that I would out of my limited experience give Dari and Wes a whippin on the slopes.

Check out the gallery for more...

Universal Studios - Orlando

2007-01-07T09:31:00.000-06:00

After a 5 hour ride from Miami in our SUV that looked like a pimped up Toyota Venture, we finally arrived in Orlando. We were only there for 3 days and we had bought passes for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure which are a couple of miles from the other Disney resorts which we decided not to see.

Universal was very cool, the rides were pretty lame but the whole theory behind it was interesting. There are so many shops and places selling toys that if I ever see a sponge bob toy again I might mini-puke. We pretty much finished all the big rides in Universal in the first day as the queues were tiny. The best rides were definately Jaws and Shrek 4D - I love donkey.

Islands of Adventure was much more exciting with more rollercoasters and rides. We first went on the Hulk and waited in the queue to sit in the front row which was worth the wait. All the other rides were fun, I thought it would be more exciting but to be honest with you, you get over it really quickly. Still great to have gone though.

Check out the gallery for some more...

Welcome to Miami

2007-01-06T21:39:00.000-06:00

So after a hard working start to our secondment we finally got our 3 weeks leave and the girls flew in to check out our pad and go on holiday with us.

We hit the much anticipated Miami on Saturday the 16th for 4 days. We stayed in a great little hotel called Hotel Shelley which was on Collins drive which is a block away from Ocean Drive and South Beach. We had free drinks every night at the hotel and breakfast every morning at Hotel Leon next door. We hit a club called Opium Gardens on the first night and the club was really amazing but the weather was shite, so it wasn't as busy as usual. The next morning we hit the beach for some long awaited sunshine.

South Beach:

We did a bit of shopping on Lincoln drive and went out the next night to Nicky's Beach which is a club right at the end of South Beach - it was packed with crazy people, but we still had a great time.

We spent most of our time on the beach which was excellent. On the last full day ther we took a tour of Miami which was brilliant - we drove through all the main suburbs and we went on a boat to go check out all the stars crib's. Coral Gables which is one of the most expensive suburbs was really pimpin and right in the middle of it is the Venetian Pool which is actually a pulic swimming pool - check it out:

The boat ride in the bay makes you wish you had a house there. We got to check out such massive machette party houses that I would give a left toe nail to own.
Check the gallery for all the rich and famous mansions we got to see - like the one below who belongs to the guy who invented Viagra.

So we had a great time for the little time we were there - we hired a SUV (a dud one) and hit the road for Orlando. The only thing that I was dissapointed about is that I didn't get to see Horatio *sigh*.

You must check the gallery out for the other 83 pics which explain it all.

Crazy-assed London

2006-12-29T05:20:00.001-06:00

I've seriously done more in that week in London than in three months in cold, crappy Calgary! This place is totally dick-riculous and always vibin' and stuff! It's awesome, although I doubt I can live here. But it was totally awesome - shot to my bro for entertaining me!

Circus and Squares
I arrived at 10h30 at Heathrow with surprisingly very little hassle - usually I get the full security pat down and cavity search for uncut diamonds, perlemoen, mandrax and 12 year old sex slaves hiding in my hand luggage... this time when they interrogated me at customs, they actually believed I was there for holiday, and not some dodgy smuggling deal!

We went straight into town for lunch in Chinatown, and then randomised our way through Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.

Christmas at the in-laws
People always ask what we eat at a Chinese Christmas. Well, see for yourself - three different roasts, tons of side dishes - 12 courses at least! And back home it's even more!! And then afterwards we played mahjong into the wee hours...

The Palace
Buckingham Palace is hardly anything to write home about. It's a big stone building with gawdy gold statues that The Donald himself would be proud of. And apparently the queen doesn't even stay there? Actually, highlight of the day was hitting the Nandosh for lunch! Yoh, I miss Nando's!

The river and everything alongside it
We took a walk through to Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament which are all close to the Thames River, and then we mosey'd onto the London Eye. Queues to the Eye are insanely long and winding, so I decided to postpone that ride til Feb... And I finally polished off a plate of one of England's national dishes - no man not curry and rice... bangers and mash you silly sod!

Update:
Sushi'd out
We went for all you can eat sushi. 'Nuff said. Just pick your plate of the conveyer belt and deshtroy as many plates as is humanly possible. It was SO great - 33 plates of sushi and two bowls of noodles! I was a lil sick, but not nearly as sick as Judge was after the infamous "two platters of salmon sushi" night. Good times...

Old Year's Day
New Years was pretty chilled - dinner at the in-laws, playing with sparklers (haven't done that since forever!) and then karaoke in Soho which was actually quite hilarious. What's up with Asians and karaoke? Seriously I don't get it?!

And I saw probably the greatest fireworks show I ever did see - they set up 10 minutes of crazy explosions on the London Eye and boats on the Thames, which was pretty awesome!

The walk back to the car was crazy mad too! Firstly, we parked 30 minutes from the restaurant, and secondly, I got to witness some good ol' fashioned British thuggery and hooliganism - such liberal use of the bad words, near rioting and abuse of passers-by! Unfortunately there was no looting and or stone throwing - I would've loved that cos God knows I can throw far and accurately!

And then after four hours of sleep, I was up, packed and off to the airport for my flight back to Calgary. And so with that, ended my whirlwind tour of London! There was a lot I never got around to, but I'll be back in Feb so hopefully I get to see some more of you monkeys out there! And after 9 hours of flying we touched down, only to have a startling reminder that I live in Calgary - our baggage was delayed cos the cargo doors at the airport were frozen! Well, imagine that?!

Check the highly condensed gallery of the billion photos taken:
Circus and Squares
Christmas
Buck Palace
The River
Sushi
New Years

Interlude - Things I won't miss about London
- Fast and reckless bus drivers. And taxi drivers. Actually English drivers in general.
- Busy London streets filled with thousands of rude, non-English speaking Europeans.
- A real shower.
- Toilets that don't flush! (You have to crank the handle a couple times to build up some voema to get a half decent flush - good thing I didn't need a power dump at the in-laws after the three roast Christmas dinner - coulda been mighty embarrassing!).
- The tube.
- Cold rainy-ness.

Saffers in Calgary

2006-12-27T16:05:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Another three Saffers arrived in Cal last week - Herman's mate Gerhard arrived for holiday bearing Rooibos, biltong and Province jerseys. And Craig and Andre arrived from our Jozi office for a work stint to the end of March some time.

Anyway, we hit Melrose on 17th Ave for small biggie, rep'ing SA all the way... Gerhard (WP), Dari (Jozi), Craig (Boks) and Herman (WP)... and Andre taking the photo (dof oke didn't bring any jerseys or Saffer gear! I offered my Amakhosi top but what the chances?!

Friday, December 22, 2006

And then we hit the Maid, our favourite "French" restaurant to treat Gerhard to his first gentleman's club. Good times...

Saturday, December 23, 2006

And then just before my flight to London town, I took the guys down to Chinatown - dim sum!

Squiz the gallery here (NSFW, rated R - not suitable for sensitive viewers, viewer discretion is advised)!

Kreesmis box!

2006-12-18T21:27:00.000-06:00

I got my first Christmas prezzy today - the "Internationals" had a Secret Santa Christmas lunch.

So here's the deal:
- Buy a gift for $20 (strictly no over spending!).
- Pick a number.
- One by one, choose a mystery gift off the table, depending on your number.
OR
- "steal" a gift from someone who has already chosen and opened a gift before you (pretty dof rules, dunno whose idea that was, I can only imagine it was one of those Swiss okes').
- If your gift gets "stolen", you get to pick another off the table, or "steal" someone elses again...
- Being the dodgy Saffers - three of us now - we stole other peoples' gifts. Much to everyone else's shock, shock, horror.
- BUT RULES IS RULES!!!

Craig (I'll introduce you once we get a photo) was the first to steal someone's Calgary mug, Herman stole a bottle of wine and I stole this hat!

It's like some tsotsi's hat off the streets of Jozi - seh-ri-us loxion cul-cha!

Quite embarrassingly, my chocolate and sweet basket was chosen second last, outta 25 gifts or so... pretty funny if you ask me!