My mom and dad like to call me in the evening, South African time, and without fail, they would ask, “Aren’t you supposed to be cooking dinner?”

The truth is we don’t (have to) cook every day at home because we have lots of friends in South Africa who cook and I really do eat like a queen without lifting a finger on some days. Sometimes we do meet at a restaurant, but most of the time, it’s a home cooked meal. Or rather, elaborate and hearty home cooked meals.

Just to give some recent examples, here’s me digging into a sumptuous Mexican meal. Definitely the best home cooked Mexican meal we’ve ever had. Look at the size of the fajita I was building!

Margaritas to kick off the evening, followed by fajitas, tacos, pico de gallo, guacamole, mexican rice and lots of salads. It was a meal for the royalty alright.

The best tacos are always home made. Because they will be overfilled with the best stuff. =)

On very cold evenings, the steamboat pot is out. Nothing gives a better kick than a good spicy ma-la hot pot. That Szechuan peppercorns infused broth will make everyone sweat.

I love steamboats and it’s extra shiok to eat it outdoors on a roof top, in the cold.

Nothing beats a bowl of hot spicy broth with my favourite liao. That shrimp and fishball were practically whispering my name. That’s my ultimate comfort food, living overseas. The fish balls were my contribution. My last stash of fresh fish balls smuggled into South Africa from Singapore. I am once again in deprivation mode for my favourite fish ball noodles.

We’ve been really blessed to have so many friends in our life to share our love for food with. We’re constantly treated to all kinds of gastronomic delights.

So yeah, I’m not always the one cooking these days. =)
 

Two years ago, I had blogged about the hubby’s diligent digital documentation of the kids’ childhood photos. You’ll have to read this past post to know what I’m going to be talking about.

At that time, he had snapped 126 shots of the kids’ childhood pictures. I had already thought of him as the greatest father in the world back then. But then two months ago, on his birthday, instead of gallivanting and celebrating going through mid life crisis being middle aged, he spent the day leisurely at home, documenting more photos digitally.

I have to say that watching an almost 50 years old man try to find good light at home, dig out heavy albums of photographs, and then bend over with my giant of a DSLR and shoot pictures of his children’s childhood photos, so that he can have them in his new iPad at all times to view was heart melting.

He took a staggering 563 shots in one afternoon. This was no simple feat. His back hurt like hell by the time he was done.

I admire the way he cherishes the hundreds.. actually, probably thousands of photographs of the kids. Some parents don’t even bother to take photographs of their children. And some parents don’t care to keep a proper set of photos of their kids for them to see when they grow up. Yet this man has painstakingly documented his kids’ childhood.

The photographs matter more to him than any other possession. Probably including me. Hah! =/

Looking at these pictures in the still of the night, I can understand why he made the effort to make a digital copy along with the physical photographs we already have. The kids were so cute!

The hubby’s love for his kids is my constant inspiration. I wish I can say I am a natural born great stepmother. But no, most of the time, especially in the beginning, I sucked at the job. Whoever said Love them like you would love your own kids.. had no idea what they were talking about. It’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life.

But it’s the way the hubby is naturally so loving and giving to the kids, and always ALWAYS placing their welfare above anything else, that inspires me to be a good stepmom and to embrace this family as we are and live a rich, loving life together.
 

I’ll be honest and admit that I’ve been feeling jittery in the last few days.

There has been several unpleasant incidents in Johannesburg and it shook me up a little. When life is good and peaceful, it’s easy to forget that there are problems in this city. But news reports of 8 armed men terrorising a suburban mall that we frequent with bullets flying about next to restaurants and retail shops, a video of a 17 year old gang-raped by 7 men that went viral, and a friend of ours being mugged at gunpoint in her car was just too much to take in.

It was a sharp reminder that we have to be careful and not ever take our security for granted.

I wish there weren’t such bad news in the city because last week, I had a really good time exploring the streets of Joburg and I didn’t need to feel like I had been delusional about being safe. I like being able to go out in Joburg because when we had first arrived, life had been quite dreadful. We never went anywhere that wasn’t a shopping mall with patrolling security guards.

I remember the day I felt my attitude towards the city change. It was the day we went on our first photo walk in Newtown – see Graffiti Photo Walk. It was the first time we had ever ventured out for some street photography in Joburg. That day, my mother read my blog and commented that I looked happy. That part of the city had immediately become one of my favourite parts of Joburg.

I have another set of photos to share on the second day I walked with Past Experiences. Which continued the walk from Troyeville and Maboneng Precinct into Newtown and Braamfontein.

This was an exploration of possibly my most favourite location in the city. It’s crazy but I really think this particular corner of Henry Nxumalo Street and Gwigwi Mrwebi Street is the most interesting place I’ve ever been to. When our little gal was visiting last year, we took her there at night for a session of Painting With Light. She had loved it too.

We started from Braamfontein and took a walk along the Nelson Mandela Bridge. This was really exciting for me because I’ve never thought I would ever have the chance to walk this bridge.

The view was magnificent and I saw the Metrorail trains from the bridge.

The old abandoned Park Station was also in full view. This is one place that I would really love the chance to go up close to see it. It’s locked up and needs like a bunch of permits to enter. Sigh.

Click on picture to see larger version

I really like the walls in Newtown because they are decorated with the most amazing art. They change every few months.. or rather, they get painted over by other artists.. and every time I visit, I see something new.

The above wall used to look like this – see old wall art.

You’ll see the quirkiest artwork here and they’ll make you wonder who these talented people are, and why they’ve hidden their talents away like this instead of selling their art for big bucks on canvas.

Standing in front of such magnificence, you’ll begin to appreciate their dedication to their craft and their superb eye for detail.

Whenever someone asks me about interesting places to visit in Joburg, I always direct them here. It’s befitting that the article that was published in one of South Africa’s national newspapers about me yesterday used a huge picture of me lazing in Newtown, right in front of these walls.

Click on picture to see larger version of article

Although I have to clarify here that they misprinted me as a New Zealander. I’m a SINGAPOREAN!! And I didn’t say “Joburg Is Where I Belong” as seen in the headlines. Those words were by a fellow blogger in the same interview. I have and will always belong in Singapore. Living overseas is a temporary arrangement.

I do have to admit that I’ve come to have quite a big amount of affection for Joburg. Crime and problems aside, it is a wonderful city. It has the loveliest people, the most fascinating corners and lots of surprises. It has energy.

And just like the day before where we bumped into the artist, Rasty. In Braamfontein, we stumbled into a huge wall where Solo One was painting at.

I could have spent the day watching them work their magic on these walls. It was such an amazing experience. A huge privilege to see them transform a plain wall to a piece of gorgeous art.

As mentioned before in my previous post on The Inner City, if venturing into these parts of the city makes you nervous, then join a tour with Past Experiences. They are a great fun duo who knows heaps about the inner city and will give you an incredible experience in one of my favourite parts of the city.

Even my good friend, Thando loved it.

Here is a selection of the shots I took on this walk. Check them out and see the stuff I love about this city.

Click on the thumbnails to view the pictures.

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

Many of my friends in Johannesburg will agree with me that the inner city of Joburg is one of the most fascinating places in the city.

Whether it’s a day of weekend shopping at the Market on Main, a visit to the Collectors Treasury, the largest bookstore in the Southern Hemisphere, or just a night out Painting With Light, the inner city has lots of interesting bits and exciting spots.

It’s not easy to venture into this part of the city as a foreigner, because we all arrived with the notion that this is the area to avoid. There are heaps of horror stories and the place looks scarily dodgey as compared to the posh areas of Sandton and Fourways.

This week, I ventured into the inner city by myself (i.e. without the hubby) for the very first time. And I was able to do it because I joined a walking tour led by Past Experiences. This was a walking tour led by two girls, Jo and Tania. They are hardcore Joburgers who love the city so much that they decided to start a business to take people to see it.

Although two extra girls as our tour guides didn’t exactly make it seem much safer, their knowledge and confidence walking the streets gave me heaps of courage to walk and enjoy the city as we saw it.

It was fortunate that the City of Gold Festival was ongoing at that moment. Street art and graffiti was being celebrated all over the inner city.

Jo and Tania not only led our small group to see some amazing art (see my post earlier with shots taken with iPhone here), they also explained in great detail the stories behind the art and the history and background of the artists and their work.

What would be deemed as vandalism in the country I’m from is regarded as highly valued street art in this part of the world.

I learnt to appreciate the different styles of the graffiti artists and began to recognise some of the work as we moved along the streets. This drawing below was created by a guy named Rasty. His work was all over the city.

I also learnt the difference between graffiti and street art. Graffiti was a form of free expression, while street art was mainly stenciled prints. The artists would create a stencil and imprint the artwork on everything and anything in the city with it, using a can of spray paint.

It was extremely fascinating to appreciate the art that’s been scattered on the walls. Some artists had painted illegally, while some were commissioned by the local authorities or property owners to “decorate” the walls. And those random scribbles that looked like people had vandalised the walls were in fact tags. Tagging is a popular street art culture, where various popular street artists would imprint their signature next to a piece of art done by someone else.

I spent the first day of the walk in the Maboneng Precinct and Troyeville, which were small suburbs full of fascinating corners. People were friendly and interesting shops lined the streets.

At one corner, lady luck shone on us and we bumped into Rasty! The artist himself was right there painting away!

We stood there watching him and his friends paint for a long time. I was soooo impressed. He was painting free hand with just a can of spray paint. This was serious talent.

I was so star struck that I was grinning like a school girl when he agreed to have his picture taken with me. Woohoo!

Photo credit: Rashida Mangera

It was such an incredible day that I went on another similar walk the next day. More about that later.

If you are friends with me in Facebook (add me HERE), you would know that I had started my day on Tuesday feeling really down. Having the opportunity to do something like this and seeing all that amazing art, AND meeting the artists made me feel like a blessing was bestowed on me right after the rough morning I had earlier. *happy*

Here’s a selection of the shots I took. Click on the thumbnails to view the pictures.

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

         

Past Experiences does a variety of street tours and are especially great for their inner city tours. Both the guides, Jo and Tania are full of fun and energy and they are very knowledgeable. Tours start from R50 per person per tour. Contact them at their website or at past.experiences@hotmail.com