Tag Archives: volunteer

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 94 of Level 1, 2 January 2022

 

Sunday 2 January 2022, Day 94 of Level 1 😷

Corona Lockdown Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for a very relaxed day, trying to catch up on sleep, sadly hard to do as the lift in the apartment building running up and down all day long, mainly the clients of apartment 202 belonging to Magsli Seguillon, I keeping record of 16 up and downs in one hour 😱😱😱; for a walk to Bakoven; for Gift coming to clean today, in Bakoven and at the Tidal Pool this afternoon; for a Community volunteer team of eleven clean up from 19h00, filling 40 garbage bags with litter; and for being happy, healthy and free. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Sweet Service Award goes to Cape Town firefighters; Sour Service Award goes to Coco Safar

 

The Sweet Service Award goes to the City of Cape Town and volunteer firefighters for their dedication and hard work in combatting and finally extinguishing the devastating fire at Rhodes Memorial, UCT, and Mostert’s Mill from Sunday – Tuesday this week. The helicopter water bombers must be commended too, as is every person who assisted in accommodating and feeding UCT residence students, for donating animal food, and for other acts of kindness. Continue reading →

Cape Town wins World Cup Quarter Final!

Yesterday Cape Town scored 100 % in being the Host City in which the Quarter Final between Germany and Argentina was played, and will be remembered by fans from around the world, both in Cape Town and those watching in their homes, pubs or Fan Parks, for excellent soccer between two giants in this sport.  But Cape Town had its best marketing ever, with more-than-perfect winter weather at 22 C, and the world’s VIP’s present and sharing their love for Cape Town and South Africa.

What was a magnificent start to the soccer Saturday was the Fan Walk from the city center to the Stadium.  So many Capetonians I spoke to told me that they were so disappointed to not have bought tickets for the matches, but that they wanted to walk the Fan Walk to get the feeling of its fantastic spirit, which they had heard about from others and seen reported in newspapers.    Thus they made their way along the Fan Walk with their families, in the afternoon, enjoying the happiness and goodwill amongst walkers from around the world.  EyewitnessNews reported that 200 000 persons walked the Fan Walk yesterday, a record number.  It was an incredible sight – Argentinian fans wore blue, or blue and white wigs, and proudly had their flag around them as a cape.  The German fans were a little more conservative, but wore their team’s Adidas T-shirt, some had German flag colours painted on their cheeks, and some had even adopted the hardhats with Deutschland on them.    The pavement outside shu and Doppio Zero in Green Point was completely jam-packed about two hours before kick-off.  A massive German flag had been put up on Signal Hill.

The atmosphere inside Cape Town Stadium was electric, from the time the ticket holders arrived.  The early arrivals had the comedy of seeing South African President Jacob Zuma get into his soccer togs and play in a Special Olympics Unity Cup, in aid of the diasbled, game at 14h00, a funny sight to behold.   I did duty as a volunteer behind a German block of about 200, and they had the most unbelievable “gees”, all dressed the same, all being led in singing throughout the match, all receiving a Deutschland scarf which they held up at the start of the match and which caught the TV cameras and was filmed.   They were so visible, standing for a large part of the match (but not blocking the view of anyone behind them) that the German undercover police filmed them (from behind) to have their behaviour on record as evidence of potential hooliganism just 10 minutes before the game ended! 

The 4-0 result was testimony to an amazing match played by the German team, and Argentina just could not crack a goal, disappointing their many fans, who had by far the most flags hanging over the sides of the stadium.   The first goal was scored in a record of 8 minutes after the start, and three goals were scored in the second half, the last coming just before the end of the match.   It was a fantastic match, and well worth any money that soccer fans had paid to be there.

But it was the VIP presence at the match, outclassing that of the England – Algeria game in terms of VIP attendance, that was the highlight for Cape Town yesterday.   FIFA President Sepp Blatter was present at the stadium for the first time, attending this seventh Cape Town match, as was President Zuma attending his first Cape Town match.  Leonardo DiCaprio was there (he had been seen eating at Nobu at the One&Only the night before), as were what was reported to be Orlando Bloom but in fact was Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, sitting next to an unglamorous-looking Charlize Theron (who stayed at the Table Bay Hotel).   Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel came to support her team, and could not stop beaming.  Her boys gave her a “Luftkuss” to thank her for coming to support them when they did their victors’ walk around the stadium.   Western Cape Premier Helen Zille was there, having fetched Merkel from the airport, taken her to see Khayelitsha (the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading Centre, and visited children from the Youth Development through Football programme ‘Soccer 4 Hope’) prior to the match,  and hosting her for dinner after the match.  

Previous German team captain Michael Ballack was there, the first match he has been seen to attend, having been on holiday while he recovers from his injury, which led him to not be selected for this World Cup.   He almost seemed unhappy that his team was doing so well without him, but he did have a huge smile when the fourth goal was scored.   Soccer star Lothar Matthaus sat with Ballack – he has been tipped as the new German coach if Joachim Loew’s contract is not renewed after the World Cup, but his team’s performance to date make it unlikely that it will not be renewed.   Mick Jagger was there, and he, Leonardo DiCaprio and socialite Paris Hilton were seen to be partying at The Fez (above Vaudeville) last night.   Homegrown billionaire and second space tourist Mark Shuttleworth was there, having attended the previous Cape Town match as well, very low key and not appearing to have VIP status as far as seating went – he was with his dad at the previous match, dressed as a soccer fan in South African colours.  

Twitter crashed a number of times during the match, not being able to handle the volume of Tweets everytime Germany scored.  Paris Hilton is an avid Twitterer with more than 2 million followers, and despite her Port Elizabeth publicity, she raved about the city (“Cape Town Rocks!”, “Went to Cape of Good Hope. So beautiful. Saw the cutest penguins and ostriches.  Having an amazing dinner in Cape Town now.  Love the food here”).   These are priceless endorsements. 

Last night Cape Town erupted, and restaurants were experiencing trade like they had hoped for throughout the World Cup.   Accommodation in Camps Bay was sold out – this date had been booked out for months ahead, sadly the only one for the World Cup period, but Tuesday will also be sold out for the Semi-Final between Netherlands and Uruguay.

Yesterday will be the day long remembered by soccer fans for a good game, but also for the fantastic comments made about Cape Town and its beauty by TV commentators.  The endorsement of the city by them reaches millions of viewers, and is extremely powerful in the marketing of the city.   Yesterday Cape Town won the Quarter Final for soccer fans in the city, the country and around the world!  She was the most perfect of a Mother City!

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

Pub review: Watching the World Cup at Paulaner Braeuhaus

I must admit that I know little about soccer, and watched the first few matches at home.  For the Germany versus Australia match, I thought it would be a good idea to watch the match at Paulaner Braeuhaus, with some of my fellow countrymen, and left Cape Town Stadium, after an afternoon of volunteering, thinking that going there 60 minutes prior to the start of the game would be good timing. 

Little did I know that I would stand in a queue for the hour, in the rain in part, the last half an hour almost at the entrance door, which was firmly shut and guarded by security personnel, as the restaurant was full.   VIP’s gained preferential access, the German TV team from ARD in particular – they had to squeeze past us to get inside.   I must admit that we did not make it easy for them, resenting their rank in getting in ahead of us.  Some crazy South African youngsters jumped over a “security fence”, and were seen by a security guard, and asked to jump back!   They ducked the system and disappeared inside.   Soccer fans were let in as others left the restaurant.  Finally we were lucky, and let inside just as the match started, and I joined a long table, with the most delightful German fans from Stuttgart, becoming firm friends over the two hour sharing.

For atmosphere, watching the German team, there cannot be many pubs to beat the Paulaner Braeuhaus.  The manager told me that they were producing 60 000 litres of beer per week.   The Paulaner Lager and Weissbier is expensive at R 30 for 500 ml, but in their defence, I barely saw any soccer fans eat, so it is probably a fair return for hosting such a crowd.   The World Cup menu is not very extensive, compared to their normal menu, and contains typical German specialities.   I ordered the Frankfurters with potato salad, and a typical German mustard, which I could taste for a few days thereafter – just the right balance of sweet and sour, costing R 68.  Other options include Goulash soup at R 55, Weisswurst and pretzel (R 65), pork knuckle (R 115), and chicken schnitzel (R85).  Having seen the standard menu on another website (Paulaner does not supply the menu on its own website), I could work out that prices have been increased by 15 % for the World Cup.  I wonder if they will drop to their previous level on 12 July! 

The service was excellent, with the waitress coming to check with us regularly if we needed anything more.  With such a crowd, it was commendable that things at Paulaner Brauhaus ran so smoothly, and the ecstatic crowd celebrating their team’s 4-0 win probably made it easy for them anyway. 

This is early days, but the Paulaner Braeuhaus beats the pubs I’ve been to during the World Cup hands down so far on atmosphere and service.  The only downside is the difficulty in getting into the restaurant, especially when Germany plays.

Paulaner Braeuhaus, near Clocktower, V&A Waterfront.  Tel (021) 418-9999  www.paulaner.co.za (goes straight through to international website).  No bookings accepted.

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