Nothing's gonna break my stride ....

Ever heard this song by Blue Lagoon ?
It starts like this ....
'Last night I had the strangest dream
I sailed away to China, in a little rowboat to find ya .....'

So, my point is ... I am on my way back to China, leaving next week for 3 weeks.

In anticipation of blogspot being blocked in China, you can catch my new blog at http://womenfromvenus.wordpress.com to keep up to date with the happenings while I'm away ....

See you around at the new blog !

When dreams come true ....

Well surprise surprise ..... I'm updating my blog ! Over the last couple of months I've hardly had a chance to sit down and take some time for myself .... to remember to do the things that is necessary for a lady to keep going .... And now is as good a time as ever to get started - I'm talking long bubble baths by candle light, good wine, getting to a few of those 10 million books that I keep on buying with every intention to read it, and of course updating my blog .....

I guess the easiest way is to start where I left off and try to catch up .... a very big project indeed !

I left for China at the end of last year and was totally blown away ..... Although not the cleanest place on earth, Beijing has a certain kind of energy that absolutely agreed with me. I had the most amazing time experiencing the history from years gone by, meeting my work colleagues in the Beijing office and enjoying the night life in Beijing.

One thing stood out above all the rest though .... a dream I've had ever since I first heard about it ..... standing on the Great Wall Of China. Words cannot describe how awesome it was to realize that yes, this is me, I am actually here.

Yet another tick off my dream list .... This list might be ever expanding .... but a girl need something to work towards !

Where did my blinkie go !!

For some reason my DSSA blinkie disappeared ... the code is there but the picture is on holiday !
In any case head on over to http://www.digitalscrapbooking.co.za/blog/ where I've posted a template challenge with a bonus freebie if you use the template and post it in DSSA's gallery.

In other exciting news ... the countdown is ON ! Only 5 more sleeps until I leave for China ... oh what is that, you don't know about it ! I'm leaving for Beijing next week on a business trip and as luck would have it I am scheduled to land on a Friday which leaves a whole weekend to do some sightseeing before starting work on the Monday .... Exciting times!

Bad Blogger.

Yes, Yes I know ... I haven't updated my blog for ages.
Believe me, it is not because of a lack of excitement in my life ! In fact, I think there is too much going on for me to make some time to get onto my blog !
We're talking a new toy (laptop) which took ages to set up, making holiday arrangements, travelling, applying for visas, booking flights, going for surgery .... being on planes where the brakes fail ....

Maybe I get a chance to give more detail ...... most probably not soon !

Sushi, please !

On Wednesday night I felt rather adventurous (again!) and decided to try something new .... I had Sushi for the first time ! Not being a big fish eater (hake and calamari and nothing else!) AND being allergic to shellfish have always prevented me from trying sushi.

After discussing my allergy with the manager and him assuring me that they will take extra care to avoid all shellfish during preparation I decided that I'll try it. I was so impressed with the staff at John Dory's in Canal Walk ! They actually took the time to explain to me how I'm supposed to eat it and what the purpose of ginger, soy sauce and wasabi is. The most entertaining part of the whole experience must have been when they were trying to teach this lefty how to use the chop sticks .... Lets just say that it provided for quite a few laughs and leave it at that ! Or I might just add that the manager later said .. why don't you try the first piece using your hands ....
The biggest surprise of the night was that I actually enjoyed the sushi and will definitely have it again !

Of course, what would the whole experience be without a photo .... Just look at that concentration to actually get the food to my mouth without losing it all !

Well .... Sunday nights are half-price sushi night at John Dory's ... so I think that we'll be back there soon so that I can practice using those chopsticks some more!

It's like riding a bike .....

So, I haven't been on a bicycle in 17 years ... but why would that stop me from going for a ride ? I must admit, I was rather nervous getting onto the bicycle yesterday ... but then I realized that old saying is true! You know, the one that says "It's like riding a bike, it will all come back to you".
I was off to a shaky start, but as my confidence grew, so did the fun !
We went for a ride in the Koeberg Nature Reserve, a few minutes outside Cape Town. They have awesome mountain biking and hiking trails and you even get to see some wildebeest and zebra. And just around the next corner is the beach ... absolutely awesome !
I think the bug has bitten me and even though I have a sore bum and aching shoulder muscles (apparently you really don't have to cling to the handle bars for life or death .... ) I can't wait for the next time we can go for a ride !

And of course what would a bike ride be without the photo as proof ...

Credits: Template, Photo Overlay and Kit by Tash @ DSSA

Peace, quiet and cold !

Are you in need of absolute peace and quiet? Absolute darkness and starry skies ? Ever wondered just how farmers manage to get up at 03:00 in the morning ?

Well, come to this little settlement in the Outiniqua Mountains, situated at the start of the Montague pass. Herold is the name, Rest is the game.



Herold have a church, a postal agency, I think I can recall a 'general dealer' aka cafe. And of course the guest farm. Oh, and two ostriches. And a run-away peacock from a farm 3 kilometers away that were well exercised by our dogs.

We had such a lovely time and it was wonderful to just relax and fall in line with the peaceful pace of this Klein Karoo settlement. Of course our dogs were in the 7th heaven because they had so much space to run around and loved all the attention they got on the guest farm.


Our cottage were built in the late 1800's with very thick walls. Which is probably a good thing since it was absolutely freezing with a mid-day high of 13 degrees Celcius on Sunday !