Off to the winelands!

This morning we are heading off on a journey to the winelands of South Africa. We are being driven in two cars by our host, Viv, and her daughter, Amy. They used to live in the region so they should be excellent (and cheap!) tour guides. Expect a post with lots of pretty pictures (maybe some funny ones) later as it is a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky! We expect to go to Stellenbosch, Franschoek, and maybe Paarl, depending on how long we spend in each location.

USA Crashes Out

Watched the yanks lose 2-1 to Ghana yesterday in a bar in cape town. Ghana had all of Africa behind them and after the first 30 mins I thought we were going out with a whimper. I have to say I am quite proud of our boys after their second half fight back. Sure we should have progressed from the group stages and probably even made it as far as the quarter-finals, but I think American SOCCER has progressed leaps and bounds. Seeing quality young players like Bradley, Edu, and Altidore really show glimpses of brilliance and to see the old guard, Donovan and Dempsey finally really live up to their potential in a major tournament was a joy to watch. I never have been able to be really proud to be an American; there is just too much f-ed up stuff we are responsible for but for the past 2+ weeks I forgot all of that. I have always envied other nations citizens as they sing their anthem with complete pride. I think I have only spoken the national anthem before... never yelled it as loud as I could and to do that was awesome.

TIA #5

Watching the US game at the Purple Turtle

TIA #5 from David Wang on Vimeo.

TIA #4

Bafana Bafana at the Fan Fest, Muizenberg from above and shark spotting

TIA #4 from BHS2010 on Vimeo.

Empire Cafe

There is debate among the group over which local cafe is better, Knead or Empire Cafe. Knead was our first love and then we discovered Empire. We'll have to take a few more trips to each before a favorite is named. We did eat our good luck breakfast at Empire before taking the train to Cape Town for the US match.

Shark spotting and a trip into the mountains of Muizenberg

Despite the title, we did not see any sharks. We did have a fantastic encounter with a Shark Spotter. He was amazingly entertaining and we got a good video of how he does his job which will be part of TIA #4 in the near future.

Viv drove Nathaniel, David, and me up into the mountains that loom above our house and Muizenberg beach. From our new vantage point we were able to see our surfer's town from above and get a better sense of our surroundings.

Half-Priced Sushi and Cocktails

After match day #2, our host's daughter, Amy, (who had been our guest for the game) took us to a pretty fancy restaurant in Cape Town. It was walking distance from the stadium and tucked into a cobblestone courtyard. Apparently, they offer half off all sushi and cocktails before 7pm. We each ended up with a decent mix of sushi and a cocktail for less than $10 (US) per person! They were also showing the next match on TV and many fellow futbol fans had found their way to this restaurant.

TIA #3

Fan fest, Match #2, Body by Teichman

TIA #3 from BHS2010 on Vimeo.

USA!! USA!! USA Finishes in First

And on we march gloriously into the next round after a last minute goal by the all mighty LandyCakes. Earlier in the day we ventured into the fan park, but to our dismay the England game was being shown. Undeterred, we marched to the tune of "here come the saints (Yanks)" and took over a near-bye bar. Decked fully in US gear we shouted and screamed until the last second as the US move on to face Ghana. One minute away and our hopes would be over, but there is no time to dwell on that thought as the party is on...


Also in attendence: Bill Clinton, los Gringos Locos and the white Lando

House Update: bears and residents at risk

In recent days the Muizenberg house has been on red alert due to the kidnapping and later recovery of Bear Bear, David's 23-year-old beast of a stuffed animal.

Bear Bear first disappeared one night and was unaccounted for for about 2 hours. His growls and roars were heard coming from Kyle's room. He was found under Kyle's nicely made bed and returned to his normal bed. The next day, Bear Bear once again disappeared and a ransom note left in his stead.




David was super jedi and found his stolen bear in Fran's room in a cubby. Bear Bear then declared war!!!!!!!!

Since then there has been an ongoing vendetta between Fran and David's stuffed animal. Most recently, Bear Bear marked his territory on Fran's computer:

Fran responded by showing Bear Bear where the bathroom really was:

TIA #2

TIA #2 from David Wang on Vimeo.

Happy Father's Day!

We want to wish a very happy Father's Day to Steve, Ralph, Sherman, Ed and Peter from here in sunny South Africa.

We Was Robbed: USA 3(2) - Slovenia 2

When I decided to come to South Africa I was cautioned about highway robbery, but I never imagined it would come in the form of a ref from Mali.

This is Africa - TIA #1

This is a short compilation of video clips and photographs that represent some of the early hightlights of our trip. Enjoy!

Vuvuzelas - The rant of Fran

You didn't need to step outside of the airport to know you were at the world cup and the trumpeters didn't feel obligated to wait for their arrival at the stadium to start blowing their horns, proudly referred to by South African residents as the Vuvuzela. The origin of the Vuvuzela is unknown to me. Perhaps African cultural instrument, perhaps cash cow for merchandisers, quite possibly both, the Vuvuzela certainly announces it presence.

Some more tolerant individuals would say they were greeted upon arrival at Cape Town's airport with pomp and ceremony. I felt assaulted... but then again I had been travelling for the past 36 hours and have always been vulnerable to the occasional spell of grumptitude. Sam pointed out that a night's sleep would surely allow me to embrace the celebratory atmosphere created by the plastic horn.

At 6 AM the next morning, the dawn of the South African teams first match day, any hope I had for aligning myself with the instrument was dispelled. Residents of South Africa were out in the streets heralding what they hoped would be a Bafana Bafana (National Team Nickname) victory over the Mexicans... I was cowering in fear that an elephant would imminently be crashing into my bedroom.

Nathaniel and Dave seemed to adopt a if you can't beat them join them stance. There is a term for people who are coerced into this mentality- Trend Sluts. Upon witnessing them conspire to purchase one of the vibrantly colored horns in a street stall, I threatened that I would creep into their rooms in the wee hours of the morning and pour the entire contents of my lungs through the horn directly into their unsuspecting ears. I was warned that any such behavior would require an immediate retaliation and as far as pro/anti Vuvuzela alignment goes I am vastly outnumbered.

Maybe I should just embrace the dark side of the force.

House Games

We do tend to spend most of our days sleeping or watching soccer, but our evenings are filled with two different games. The first is Settlers of Catan, a game that is so nerdy we are terrified to share it with the world. The second is called For Sale. Sam is clearly the real estate maven of the group as she has won more rounds than the rest of us. We are currently in an epic battle to see who can reach $1,000,000 first.


In a house full of boys (and one girl...or boy with long hair as referenced elsewhere) we do our fair share of pranks and rough housing. David's binky, Bear Bear, has disapeared on multiple ocassions with a crudely written ransom note as the only clue of his whereabouts. Fran and Kyle have had some epic wrestling battles and Nathaniel has earned some 10 minute misconduct penalties for being the third man in.

Body By Teichman

When Nathaniel told me he wanted to keep a workout routine in South Africa I scoffed. Nathaniel has always preferred Nestle's Crunch bars and Sprite sodas to tomatoes and milk so when he expressed his fears of "falling out of shape" I was skeptical. Despite being the best of friends we are ultra competitive and any superlative's are not easily won from each other, so know that is true when I say that Home Boy is cut like a diamond (For those who need a lesson in American College vernacular- probably you mom- that means he has chiseled muscles).Within no time, and aided by his "Jesus Phone" that apparently provides callisthenic regimens in addition to making phone calls, self proclaimed "Hard Tush Teich" had all 4 boys and 1 girl endeavoring to be able to bang out a century of consecutive push-ups by our trips end. That meant we had a month to complete a usually 6 week program. When I protested about the program appearing to be too strenuous and this being our vacation and all Nathaniel retorted "Do you want boobs or pecs Fran? Its that simple." His eyes flashed with such conviction that Samantha did not mention her preference.


For those all who would like to participate in the Body By Teichman program you can follow from home!
1. Pyramid Pull Ups (1 Pull Up then 2 Pull Ups then 3 all the way to 5 and then back down to 1)
2. Beer Belly Busters (100 Crunches- 81 Flutter Kicks- 64 Scissor Kicks- 49 Penguin Wiggles- 36 Leg Lifts 25- Side Raises 16 Russian Twists- 9 Leg Windshield Wipers- 4 Bicycles- 1 Minute Plank
3. The Push 100 regimen (I don't have a Jesus Phone so I can't help you here)

Muizenberg Station

The train, its station, segregated cars, and all that has to do with this historic place.

Our humble abode

As the only girl in the house (which I am sure Dave will dispute with the quip that I'm really just a "cool guy with long hair"), I suppose along the expectations of the norm that I will exercise some sort of domestic whip and keep the house in tip top shape. However, to all who have lived with me, or know me well, know that I am a complete and utter slob. I am also a broke slob, hence am living out of a futon in the living room, trying to keep my mess from spreading out from my corner.

We rented an adorable and comfy first floor apartment in Muizenberg, south of Cape Town on the False Bay coast. Our building is called "Silver Court" and owned by a terrific, friendly, free-spirited lady named Vivien. She's been absolutely amazing, showing us around town, cooking Kyle, Fran and I, a "braai" (South African barbeque) our first night here, and chatting with us in our shared backyard patio/garden about everything. Her and her two daughters, who are around our age, also are going to go to a game each with us!

We spend most of our time so far in this living room, which we have arranged ideally so that all five of us can be comfortably lying down to watch matches and whatnot. Of course, each of us cocooned into a comforter for warmth. Or in my case, three, as I have become a weather-wimp having lived for four years in southern California and a year in Bali, Indonesia. Not exactly what I would call places with winters.



Another wonderful way to warm the toes is a hot shower! Our bathroom is spacious and has scalding hot showers (not pictured here). I find the shower quite roomy, but seeing I am a little person and the boys are not, they may be a little cramped. Comical (to me), but not that concerning (to them). Following is a pictorial tour of our house, a few bedrooms and our kitchen where adventures in culinary delight (or in my case just adventures in culinary-associated things perhaps armed with a fire extinguisher and band-aids) occur. See our cooking post for more on how we're feeding ourselves (fear not Mom, I have not resorted to instant noodles just yet!).

Home cookin'

Our delectable delicacies

Publish our menus here

Knead

We've had two tremendous meals at Knead so far. It is a mere three minute walk from our house and the location is enhanced by the outdoor patio with ocean views.

Meal #1:
Butternut Squash Pizza
Bread board with olives, feta, artichoke hearts, pesto sauce, eggplant and roast chicken
Bread board with ham, carmalized onions, tomato, and cheese
Bunny Chow with curried chicken

Meal #2:
Breakfast Pizza
Eggs, bacon, and mushrooms piled on a split buttery croissant X2
Caramelized french toast topped with apples, pears, grapes, and whipped cream X2
2 Cafe Mochas, 2 Coffee and 2 Waters

Shrek and Donkey join the Celtics

The celebratory trumpeting of the vuvuzelas had waned. The shades were drawn. The only sign of life just a few hours before dawn in our sleepy surfer town was a 24-inch TV.

Top priority after watching the USA vs. England match was watching the Celtics in the NBA finals. In terms of classic sports events, a Celtics-Lakers Finals is as good as it gets. The two teams have met 11 times in the NBA Finals, and the Celtics have come home with a banner 9 of those times. For most of me and my housemates' lives Celtic pride was talked about in the past tense. Before 2008, the Celtics' last championship banner had been hung a few months before our births in 1986. We made do with celebrating the little victories: Eric Montross making a free throw, Dee Brown winning the dunk contest with an accidental sneeze, winning low draft picks, and Dino Radja stringing together a sentence in English. But with the addition KG, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and some quality bench talent (and the departure of Antoine "Black Hole" Walker) our generation is beginning to talk about the Celtics' glory days in the present tense. In 2008, I watched the Celtics win their first championship of my lifetime while I was in Beijing. And now we're in South Africa hoping for a second. Watching the Finals' games has never been easy.

When we first arrived in Cape Town we only had 4 or 5 channels, and the Celtics' games were not going to be on any of them. Luckily the cable guy came just before Game 5 and hooked us up to watch one of those games that makes your blood turn shamrock green. The game started at 2AM. We were fading fast, but the Celts put on a great show. Pierce was on fire. KG peppered the Lakers defense with hook shots and mid range jumpers. But the story of the night was the Celtics' bench. After spending most of our lives rooting for bench-type players coming up all-star-type performances (Walter McCarty, Eddie House, Dana Barros, etc), it was especially exciting to see the Celtics' bench take control of the game. Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Rasheed Wallce, and Tony Allen played well into the fourth quarter extending the lead enough to give the Celts' starters a nice cushion in the final minutes. The Celtics came away with a convincing victory and a 3-2 lead in the series, and we went to bed with big smiles just as the vuvuzelas were beginning crow.

The heroes of Game 4 were Glen Davis and Nate Robinson. Big Baby and Robinson made a exciting duo off the bench. They didn't really complement each other's play as much as they complemented each other's energy. Baby was drooling as he flexed his biceps at halfcourt after a 3-point play. Robinson jumped on his back. And the Boston crowd went wild. The two not only ended up stealing the show but also the postgame interview:




Unfortunately, Shrek, Donkey and the rest of the squad weren't able to keep us awake through Game 6. The game started at 3AM, and we dropped off to bed one by one as the Celtics just couldn't hold Kobe. The last of us hit the sack after the 3rd quarter. The Celtics were down 25 and there were no signs of a comeback.

So it comes down to Game 7, Lakers vs Celtics, tonight at 3AM. Right now we're watching the S.Korea vs Argentina game, but our thoughts are with the Celtics. Plans are to go to bed early and wake up in time for The Game. It's been an unexpected bonus to have the Celtics in the NBA finals as we watch the South Africa World Cup. It's meant a lot of time in front of the TV, but it's been well worth it. Go Celts!

-david

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