Wednesday 5 January 2022, Day 97 of Level 1 😷

Corona Lockdown Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for a lovely day, combining work with leisure; for a longer sleep than usual, just over 7 hours; for getting my client work completed; for meeting Gary at the newly opened Cabo Beach Club , the former Shimmy, having been so badly destroyed that its interior was completely redone, but it still looks familiar, having a second birthday lunch, Gary Peterson insisting that I should be spoilt with such a generous treat 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏; for a shorter meeting today, only meeting with Zest as my newkings hotel client was ill; for fabulous service from Jared of Camps Bay Hardware, having a cell phone charging cable delivered to me tomorrow, organized from his holiday in Mauritius 🙏🙏🙏; for a walk to the Tidal Pool, picking up litter, luckily less than over the weekend, with beautiful variations of sunset; for two Discovery Gameboard plays; and for being happy, healthy and free. 🙏💙

My Blogpost today was an update of the Restaurant Openings and Closings in Cape Town and the Winelands since Lockdown, for the first time more restaurants opening than closing. 👏👏👏👏👏👏

Is lifting of the Curfew a good omen for the Restaurant Industry? Restaurant Update January 2022!

Gary was perfectly dressed for our Beach Dining, wearing his Flamingo shorts and gorgeous pink shirt. We didn’t realize that sitting in the sand part of the Club dictated which menu we were to see, disappointing in its dominance of sushi, pizza, and half the main courses being burgers and the other half shared dishes around R1200. I was so worried about Gary’s wallet, that we ordered a starter each, these even being expensive. Luckily Assistant GM Gary Bateman told us about a second menu they have, for Violet Restaurant, with a far greater selection of dishes and at far more reasonable prices. But we couldn’t order mains from the menu as we were sitting at a Beach table! Gary had a rethink, and then invited us to order from Violet, initially wanting us to move to the deck of the restaurant. Gary ordered rack of lamb and I duck, small portions! The dessert was a highlight, being the biggest lightest Churros I’ve ever seen, which we shared, and a complimentary Eton Mess dessert, messy in its presentation but delicious. The interior of Violet is AWFUL, a shame as it comes with the nicer menu. 😱

I’m hunting for a charging cable, and got offered prices from R200, to R180 and then R150 from a cellphone shop in the Piazza da Luz. The Spar there stocks them too, at R200. So fortunate to receive such fabulous service and the cable at almost half the price from Camps Bay Hardware tomorrow.

So excited that Utopia has been named one of ‘12 Rooftop Bars with a Stunning Cape Town View’ by Cradle Luxury Travel. #thankyou 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

It is so annoying that Discovery changes its rules regularly. I played my 2 Gameboard plays, one of them being points specifically for Cape Union Mart, which I’m not interested in at all. The other was for normal points! 😡😡😡😡😡

SA Corona Status:  3,494,696 cases 91561 deaths  28,164,339 vaccinations 

FitBit 7500 steps 5,5 km 👣

LovemylifeandloveGaryslife💙❤️

 

The Corona Virus Lockdown (Level 5), announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier to commence on 27 March 2020 and to continue until 16 April, subsequently extended to 30 April, lowered to Level 4 from 1 May, lowered to Level 3 from 1 June, lowered to Level 2 from 18 August, lowered to Level 1 from 21 September, and moved back to Adjusted Level 3 from 29 December,  extended to 15 February on 11 January 2021, extended but relaxed on 1 February, and relaxed back to Level 1 on 1 March 2021, moved back to Adjusted Level 2 on 31 May, moved back to level 3 on 16 June, and moved back to Adjusted Level 4 on 28 June, extended by two weeks on 11 July,  returned to Level 3 on 26 July, returned to Level 2 on 13 September, returned to Level 1 on 1 October,  and the Curfew Curfew lifted on 30 December 2021 is an unprecedented event in my lifetime. I am posting my daily Facebook post to journal this Corona Lockdown Journey, perhaps to serve as material for a future Book.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whaletalesblog.com www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide