We used Google Analytics to identify the top ten blogposts on our WhaleTales Blog in 2013. The most read blogposts related to restaurants, MasterChef SA Season 2, and Social Media drama.  The top 10 most read blogposts in 2013 were the following:

1.  Autumn and Winter Cape Town and Winelands Restaurant Specials 2013 tops the list of most read, achieving almost three times as many unique readers compared to the other top 10 blogposts.  In winter restaurant specials are extremely important to Capetonians, as their wallets and purses are more bare.

2.   The year started off with a Social Media explosion, when ‘Mother Superior’ Blogger Jane-Anne Hobbs attacked us on Twitter,  protecting her ‘chicks’ Michael copy-and-paste Oliver, mommy Tweeter and then occasional CEO of Cape Town Tourism Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, former political poor-spelling-grammar ‘PR’ and Communications Consultant Skye Grove at Cape Town Tourism, and Eat Out editor Abigail I-love-Giorgio-and-Luke Donnelly.  We retaliated with a blogpost (‘New Year kicks off with Twitter bullying, bashing, and blackmail’) which attracted so much attention that Hobbs must have regretted her Tweet, as all ‘sins’ of the four ‘chicks’ were laid bare!

3.   ‘MasterChef SA Season 2 controversial week lies ahead in episodes 27 and 28‘ was the most widely read blogpost of the cooking reality show.  Reading the negative reaction to Kamini Pather as a Finalist on the Facebook page of MasterChef SA, and not being eliminated despite serious errors she made in the final episodes, we could see a problem coming as we had heard prior to the final episode that Kamini had won.  The negative sentiment towards Kamini was overwhelming.

4.   An unusual blogpost making its appearance again, even though it was written in 2010, entitled ‘Mickey Mouse fails to WOW World Cup South Africa’, which was a critical evaluation of a useless customer service program WOW which the Disney Corporation was contracted by SA Tourism to run for service staff in preparation for the World Cup.

5.   We questioned how honest Will Mellor, owner of 2Oceansvibe is and what he is trying to hide, in having to use the pseudonym ‘Seth Rotherham’, which many Capetonians did not know.  Will never takes calls, his voicemail message requesting one to send an sms or e-mail. He is always in a so-called non-reception area when one sends him the message, so he never returns calls!  The website has lost its appeal, with Will writing few stories himself, and most of it left to poor unprofessional writer and arrogant Simon Hartley.

6.   We are surprised how well our Restaurant Review of La Parada in Bree Street has done, the review being listed on the first page of Google for the restaurant.  This tapas eatery is well located in the centre of Cape Town, and scored when it was open for business on many of the Festive Season days.

7.   The South African Butler Academy reacted with hysteria when we gave them a Sour Service Award for the poor quality of staff they generated in an 8 week course.  They sullied their blog with an attack on ourselves, to which we responded, highlighting how they mislead their students and customers!

8.   MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 26, which saw Leandri van der Watt shot into the Finale, and Ozzie Osman eliminated, was well read due to the criticism of Kamini Pather having been allowed to stay on.

9.   Our blogpost about the final and very controversial episode of MasterChef SA Season 2, which saw Kamini Pather take the MasterChef honours, received good readership due to so many viewers disagreeing with the winner selection.

10.   Very strangely the blogpost we wrote about the death of Pietro Ferrero, the President of Ferrero Rocher while cycling between Camps Bay and Hout Bay in 2011, still attracts interest two years later.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter:@WhaleCottage