Nuts, the last weekend of my all too short holiday break. Friday morning got off to a good start when I joined Ryan for an impromptu shopping spree. We managed to pick up a few items for ourselves, as well as grab Terrance’s birthday gift as well. However, our shopping trip was cut a little short when Chantelle rung me up and invited me over to come visit her as she had a short break between 12:00 and 17:00 in the afternoon. –
Seeing as I haven’t found the opportunity to drive through to her part of the world once this entire holiday yet, I readily agreed and at 12:00 I found myself patiently awaiting her at good old Somerset Mall, sunglasses and all. Luckily I know that she is usually late, so I had prepared myself for a bit of a wait, and true to form, she did indeed pitch up a little later than the agreed upon time. At least she had a decent enough excuse in that the traffic was particularly bad – which in all honesty it actually was. Anyway, enough quibbles, we happily strode through the mall, window shopping more than anything else, before selecting a nice little caf’ to enjoy lunch at.
Caf’ Rossini seems like a nice little, trendy caf’, complete with some decadent d’cor and a mouthwatering menu, though unfortunately we were let down a little by the particularly uninterested waiter who seemed to have his heads stuck in the waves rather than focused on serving us. Nevertheless, we both enjoyed a thoroughly laidback and delicious light lunch.
From there we made a quick jaunt to the Mr Price Home store, a shop of absolutely warehouse proportions that literally stocks just about every household item under the sun! I didn’t walk away unscathed, picking up four new pillows for my room, but I did manage to avoid picking up the leather sofas Chantelle was eyeing with much vigour! A couple of other shops later and we eventually found ourselves on Strand beach, enjoying the absolutely fabulous weather and gorgeous view, with giant soft serves firmly in hand. And true to form, I did indeed mess ice cream all over myself! :)
The evening saw Terrance and Ryan pop over for a gaming session and we chewed up a good 3 or 4 hours grinding out results in NBA Jam and FIFA 08, even throwing in a couple of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja bouts for good measure (Not that we could convince Ryan in joining us for the Naruto of course!).
Saturday got off to a very slow and laidback start. The weather as has been the last while was an absolute scorcher and you couldn’t help but feel lethargic for most of the day. With the cricket against the West Indies on in the background, I pretty much faffed the morning and afternoon away, stuffing in some blog writing, games playing and chats with Chantelle, Terrance and Helen all for good measure. However, by 15:00 Cabin Fever set in and I broke free from the shackles of the flat to go for a bit of an afternoon drive. Happily driving around the back of Durbanville, I somehow eventually found myself in Blouberg Strand, where I went for an enjoyable stroll to breathe in all the fresh around me.
Refreshed after my pleasant stroll in the sand, I headed back to Bellville for a quick dip in Pop’s pool, before going home and getting ready for the evening’s activities in celebration of Merkaba’s 27th birthday. I Am Legend was the movie of choice for the evening and I thoroughly enjoyed it. While Merkaba insists is it nothing like the book whatsoever, I can overlook this minor sticking point by virtue of the fact that I have never read the book in the first place. :)
Ryan, Merkaba and I then followed up the movie with a late night feast at Starlight Diner, where we had a …lekker’ time talking crap and eating good food. I had forgotten just how good their Mexican burger really is!
Sunday morning it was time to get my sleeves dirty as Bellville’s Lotter clan headed out to Kenilworth in order to help with Claire and Riley’s big move to their spiffy new flat in Newlands. 5 hours later, drenched in sweat and with every conceivable muscle strained, we were finally able to call it a day! It has been some time since I’ve worked that hard, but we managed to get everything moved without causing too much damage in the end – from washing machines to fridges, we did them all! And we even rewarded ourselves with some tasty KFC as well! A job well done, even if I say so myself. :)
In all honesty, I’m not a huge fan of Claire and Riley’s newly purchased flat, however, I am more thant keen on putting aside all my reservations thanks to the fact the flat is literally a stone’s throw away from Newlands Rugby Stadium! I think I already have next season’s visiting sessions all worked out’
The day’s exertions had pretty much crushed my ambitions for the rest of the day and in the end I spent an unhealthy number of hours playing Scarface, a game I’m happily to say in now almost complete. Just two or three tough looking missions to go and then I can lay to rest what has been a thoroughly enjoyable and immersive experience (well after 28 hours of game time it had better have been enjoyable!).
The evening was even more of a laidback affair, with me pretty much lazing about on the couch, watching anime and playing with the Internet. Ah, geeky bliss to bring yet another busy weekend to an enjoyable close’
Shame, by the sounds of it, Chantelle has had the completely opposite of my enjoyable weekend – hopefully our New Year’s celebrations tonight should cheer her up!