Shop til' 9pm, celeb-spotting, Sony 3D tent...all at Sandton City!!

The best thing that Sandton City did during the World Cup 2010 was to extend their shopping hours, they are open from 9am-9pm!! This of course is every shopper lover's dream and for someone from Durban who is used to such long shopping hours, I am ecstatic!!

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to Sandton City just to check the vibe, foreigners and all the World Cup regalia. First stop was Nelson Mandela Square, we found the Sony 3D tent there and were just in time for the 3D show. There were quite a few Argentinian supporters who were in high spirits due to Argentina's victory over Korea earlier on in the day and they were very entertaining because they kept breaking out in song and happily jumping up and down. I am pretty sure a big party went down at the nearest bar in celebration.

Back to the Sony show, Mark Pilgrim was the host of the show and they started off by showing us clips from the previous day's soccer games in 3D, it actually felt like you were on the field, the quality of the images, motion and realism was awesome. Next was a few adverts, one which featured Kaka (Brazilian soccer player *sigh*) and then a live performance by an African artist (i have completely forgotten his name :( ). Lastly was the video of the official World Cup song "Waka Waka" by Shakira and Freshly Ground. I am actually so in love with the world cup song and can pull a few dance moves from the video, it's just so catchy and upbeat.I really enjoyed the show and Mark Pilgrim was a great host.

Afterwards we decided to shop around for anything with a South African flag on it because sadly we realised that after the world cup these things will be hard to come by. We found a few t-shirts in Woolies but alas there were only XXL sizes left :( We were even more disappointed to find that there weren't that many shops in the centre with SA Flag clothing, I have decided to assume that the foreigners bought it all!
In summary though Sandton City is currently the shopping capital and also the trendy place to be for the foreigners or to spot any celebrities, so if that's what you're looking for it's really worth the visit. I just hope that they consider the extended shopping hours on a more permanent basis as this would be great :)

Below is the Waka Waka Video, not in 3D though, enjoy ;)

FIFA World Cup Kickoff Celebration!

FIFA World Cup Kickoff Celebration Concert tickets check!

Boyfriend whom I am guaranteed to have fun with, check!

Warm clothes (jersey, jacket, beanie, gloves, uggs) check!

Cash, check!

Camera (whats a concert blog without pictures?!) check!

Excitement, check check!!

I went home from work to pick up my boyfriend at 12:30 and by 1pm we were on the road, problem was we didn’t know where the park and ride was :( So we had to call a few friends and confirmed that we should be heading to Nasrec and sure enough as soon as we had passed the 14th Avenue offramp we started seeing signs directing us to the Nasrec Park and Ride. This is when it dawned on me once more how big this event was, the star-studded line up, the people who will be attending as well as the number of people that will see the show, wow!! Totally a once in a lifetime experience :)
Once inside the stadium first thing we did was check out that stage and it looked awesome, loved that background with the South African flag on it. The atmosphere at the stadium was contagious and electric, everybody was in such high spirits and excited and there were a few people that were clad in the South African supportive gear as well as Mexican gear!! To break it down I will just rate the concert based on my experience.


MC for the Concert – Bob 2/10, Pabi 7/10
There were two MC’s for the event, it started off with Bob Mabena then later on Pabi Moloi joined him. I don’t want to say Bob was a bad MC because he was comfortable on stage, carried himself well and spoke well too but it was evident to me that he did not prepare for this gig. He started off well by acknowledging how the world never thought South Africa could pull off such an event and that the time had come to prove them wrong. He then went off on a tangent about how black South Africans and white South Africans are so different, picking on the fact that white people cannot dance and black people should teach them rhythm etc. These are facts and it would have been funny had it not been all he talked about for the rest of the evening, I was really disappointed and felt embarrassed for him. He used the platform to highlight how different we are using race which is the most sensitive topic in South Africa instead of celebrating us as people who are healing and using the event to unite us further.
Pabi Moloi on the other hand was awesome, such a sweet, well-spoken and down to earth person. She deserved to be on that stage and really showcased young, South African talent! Kudos girl!!

DJ -T-Bose 2/10, Wandi – 7/10
In between the different music acts T-Bose from Kaya FM was DJing and he started off by playing really good old school music by Bongo Maffin, TKZee, Brenda Fassie etc. and the assumption was that he was taking us on a journey through time…unfortunately this was not the case because his whole play list consisted of ONLY old school music! In his third DJ session he even had the gall to play those r&b slow jams that play on Metro FM on Sundays, yuck!! How could he play such music for a diverse South African and international crowd? I mean really!!I used this opportunity to go and buy some food, I just couldn’t stand there and cringe any longer. What a party killer :(
Luckily for myself and two thirds of the crowd, DJ Wandi came on later and boy was he a breath of fresh air, talk about getting the party started!! I really enjoyed his set and a big thank you to whoever saved us from T-Bose’s limited taste in music.


Food – 3/10
If you are attending any matches during this World cup please ensure that you are well fed before getting there because those prices are just plain ridiculous, daylight robbery! I paid R25 for a wors roll, R15 for a chocolate, R20 for a packet of chips, please note that all this consumption of food was due to the fact that we arrived there at 3pm and left after 11pm.
Honestly if these people wanted to make money they would have reasonably priced their food and relied on repeat purchase because if you’re hungry, you don’t have a choice but to buy from them and if it's cheaper you're more likely to keep going back for more. Instead I just preferred to stay hungry later on in the evening than to go back and buy more, such losers!!

Toilets – 6/10Whenever you go to concerts the ladies line waiting to use the toilets is always 5 times longer than the men’s and it was the same case for this event. The fortunate thing for me was that most of the ladies were not aware that there were more toilets available located in different areas in the stadium and because of this I will not complain, the number of toilets available met expectations, as for being clean, let's not go there!

Park & Ride – 3/10The park and ride TO the stadium was awesome but as for when we left the concert, what a mess!! The buses that were meant to transport people back to their relevant park and ridea areas were there and by the time we got anywhere near one most of them were already full as well but for some reason, they just weren’t moving. This off course led to mad scrambles with people trying to get on to buses that were already full and because it was freezing, patience was very thin all round.
We managed to get on a bus, we were literally hanging on the door and probably sat in there for 45 minutes before we left, I could only imagine when all those buses would make their return trips and the stampede that was awaiting them. Park & Ride after the concert was an epic fail!!

The Concert – 9/10I loved the whole concert from the opening acts right until the fireworks display largely because I was there to enjoy myself :) My highlights were Alicia Keys (she did "too late for mama" justice), Big NUZ’s surprise appearance, K’naan & Shakira’s Waka Waka performance with Freshly Ground. I was jumping up and down, singing along, dancing & screaming, such fun!! The actual concert was well-organised, world-class & entertaining. South Africans sure know how to have a good time and to host a good party! Thank you FIFA (“,)

Patriotic Polish :)

So to celebrate 4 days before the World Cup, i decided to let my nails do the talking to show my patriotism to South Africa and Bafana Bafana! (even though it is a little messy)  It's such a fun look that I am thinking of trying for the flag later this week. I will be attending the FIFA World Cup Kickoff Concert on Thursday at Orlando Stadium and am so excited!

The line-up consists of Alicia Keys (my fav), John Legend (swoon), Black-Eyed Peas (gonna get the party started!), Shakira, Lira, HHP, The Parlotones etc. Cannot wait to blog about it, till then keep celebrating the countdown, whoop, whoop!!

Much love xxx

We're a happy family..

The picture above is a collage that my mom has at home of the whole family, I love it so much!!

My cousins and I were all very close when we were kids, we used to visit each other all the time and have sleepovers at each others houses. The best time was when the whole family would be at my grans place for Christmas or a function and we would herd the cows, chase chickens and  play games all day!! I used to look forward to all those times and they made for great childhood memories to look back on.
When we started high school everybody grew apart and we all went through phases of our own with boys, friends, school etc. Whenever we would meet up it was just never the same again and three of my cousins are married now so it was difficult to rekindle the friendship because they have other priorities.
So last year one of my cousins sent a mail to all of us requesting that we meet up seeing as we all live in Johannesburg and I offered for all of them to come to my place because my car had recently been stolen and I was not mobile. I cooked up a storm and everybody brought something like drinks, salad, desert etc. For the first time I could feel that we were reconnecting again and it was so cool and since we were off to such a great start we have been doing this more often.
This past weekend we all met in Kempton Park at Fundo's place and I really had so much fun because I struggle to open up and be myself around people but when I am with them I feel so comfortable to just be me!! I love that we can talk about anything and everything and seeing as I am the youngest, I always get advice based on their experiences. I shared some big news with them that will be revealed soon and their reaction really made me so happy, I am so glad to know that I have their full support. I also realise how lucky I am that we actually get along now because not everyone has this privilege, family is best!!

The plot thickens..

Shocked and flabbergasted were my reactions when I heard the rumours that the baby that Wife no. 4, Nompumelelo Ntuli, is carrying might not be Jacob Zuma's child??! Allegedly the baby's father could be a bodyguard who recently committed suicide, although nothing has been confirmed. I think my shock is due to the fact that I never expected any of Jacob Zuma's wives to cause a scandal of this sort because this is the last thing that our dear president needs  so close to the FIFA World Cup! In my mind I have always perceived woman in this modern day who have no issues with a polygamous marriage and are in one, to be submissive and obedient, never talking back to their husbands, let alone cheat on them! I can just imagine the salacious headlines splashed on every newspaper when the whole world is literally at our doorstep...

With that being said though this is still a rumour as nothing has been confirmed and with Zuma's recent scandals I doubt that this will be a topic that will be open for discussion, after all it is VERY personal. For the President's sake, I hope the rumours are false and that Zuma can survive another scandal like this, we need consistency in the country's leadership. Let's focus on what Zuma is doing for South Africa and let the tabloids deal with such tall tales!