A very successful South African Festivalcame to an end today at the Olympic City Mall here in Hong Kong.
Howzit-HongKong.com visited on Saturday (in part to pick up a case of Castle Lager beer at the Sheffied stall) and found the promotions area packed to the rafters with curious onlookers and Diski dancers alike. This was the big day that many local dance groups were waiting for because the Mall was hosting a Diski Dance Competition as well as a mass dance display. South African Consul-General Tembi Tambo joined Diski Dance inventor Wendy Ramokgadi and other VIPs on the judging panel in front of the stage.
(Click on the images to enlarge)
Tembi Tambo and other VIPs join the mass Diski Dance performance at the SA Festival.
Wendy Ramokgadi and his dancers are joined by local pop-star William at the Mass Diski Dance.
Dankie/Thank You/Mgoi!
Howzit-HongKong.com would like to take this opportunity to thank the Retail Marketing & Promotions Department of the Olympian City Mall (Sino Group) for staging this wonderful Festival in support of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup. Your efforts have gone a long way in focussing Hong Kong’s attention on our country and the 2010 World Cup.
Here are some more images from the 10-day Festival:
Here at Howzit-HongKong.com, we’ve been moerse (very) impressed at the effort put in by the South African Consulate in Hong Kong in promoting our country’s honour of hosting the world for the FIFA Football World Cup in June 2010.
Local Hong Kong businesses have joined the party and added their own events to the groundswell in anticipation of the world’s biggest sports event back home.
It is more than clear that world-wide, South Africa, and in a wider scale… Africa, is currently the flavour of the month.
I regularly visit the new K11 Mall near my apartment and have been impressed at the levels the promotions department of Hong Kong (and the world’s) only Art Mall have gone to in promoting Africa and South Africa. In late March, K11 hosted a South African dance troupe to kick-off their Africa focus. All over the Mall, exhibits and fotographs featuring Africa can be seen while their frontline promotions staff are all kitted out in African-print uniforms.
Last week, I popped in to the Jason’s Grocery Store at K11 for my weekly provisions and took the following pictures:
The K11 frontline staff are dressed in African-style uniforms:
Well done K11 Mall! You are playing your part in focussing local attention on South Africa in 2010!
This kind off African/South African-promotional initiative is but one of the un-recorded spin-offs of the FIFA 2010 World Cup that often go un-noticed. Howzit-HongKong.com can only hope that local events like this will in the future help to welcome more Hong Kongers, Mainland Chinese and other Asians to South Africa.
That, for us, will be the REAL benefit and legacy of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Ke Nako. It’s our time.
Mike Jansen
K11 is a high-rise building located in Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon developed by New World Developments. Underground it can be accessed via the pedestrian walkway from the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR towards Tsim Sha Tsui East MTR. The building features a 340 000 square-foot, 6-storey shopping centre beneath the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong.
On Sunday May 2, my family and I visited the South African Festival presented by the Olympian City Mall, in association with the South African Consulate in Hong Kong.
The kids were quite excited at the prospect and tried to see who would be the first to spot anything South African upon entering the mall from the Olympic MTR Station Exit D. Micaela won when she was the first to see the South African flag draped on the stage!
As is the case at any mall around Hong Kong on a Sunday around lunch-time, Olympian City2 was buzzing with shoppers and the lunchtime-crowd.
I was pleased to see that quite a number of shoppers were carrying bags with products bought at some of the stalls that make up the South African expo. This is Hong Kong so needless to say, the stalls that offered free tasting of their products had the most shoppers buzzing around.
Jim Lai’s uniquely South African liqueur was very popular!
I stopped over at the Africa 2 Asia stall, where the passionate Claire and Dom were exhibiting their unique South African products. The girls are the sole representatives for NoMu, a designer range of meat rubs, spice grinders, dips and other deeee-licious products. They also import some really delectable dressings and condiments from So!Go. I don’t want to tell you too much, save to say: try and get out to Olympian City Mall by Sunday and visit the girls to see all the products they have. If not, you can always contact them online.
Work it! Dom & Claire working the early shoppers on Day 1 of the SA Festival at Olympian City2.
If it wasn’t for the fact that I still have a decent stock of SA goodies including NoMu spices from my last trip home, I’d have loaded my shopping bag at Africa2Asia even more. As it were, I already had to carry home a case of Castle Lager beer, a selection of Mrs Ball’s chutney, some organic RooiBos tea and a couple of cartons of Cape-brand berry fruit-juice!
Wendy Ramokgadi and his Diski Dancers were also working the crowd and, like they do every single day, invited members of the audience to the stage where they took them through their paces. By the look of it, by the end of the Festival they will have trained quite a number of HongKongers to do the Diski Dance!
Edith Poon from Olympian City told me that the dancers also “worked the crowds” in the big shopping centers like Times Square, Mon Kok as well as Central. Have a look:
The South African Festival is on at Olympian City2 Mall until Sunday May 9.
As I am typing this, I am also watching the Stormers vs. Crusaders Super 14 rugby game at 2:45 on Saturday morning. I don’t know if I’m more excited tellling you about what I found today, or at the fact that the Stormers are currently beating the New Zealanders at Newlands in Cape Town. Let’s just say I’m doubly excited!
Earlier today, I visited the South African Festival hosted by the Olympian City Mall and the South African Consulate in West-Kowloon. (More about all the activities later.) There I found a stall hosted by my old Saffa friend Leonora Sullivan who is the MD of Sheffied Limited, a locally-based company that imports SA goodies to Hong Kong.
Fresh off the plane
Imagine my excitement upon seeing this:
I support any brand that supports South African sport! Hello and welcome back to HK, Castle Lager…
Every South African’s favourite Antie… Mrs Ball’s Chutney (Pic: Mike Jansen)
Leonora told me that these two brands are literally fresh off the plane and that Sheffied has some more surprises up their sleeves for the local Saffa expats (and locals of course).
To get your hands on this limited stock (for now) of Castle Lager & Mrs Ball’s Chutney, make your way out to the Olympian City Mall where you can buy them at the Sheffied Stand.
To get to Olympian City Mall, take the Tung Chung MTR line, get off at Olympic City MTR and exit at Exit D
At 3:10am on Saturday morning, I’m the happiest South African in Hong Kong: I have a case of Castle Lagers, 3 bottles of Mrs Balls Chutney AND my team the Stormers just comprehensively beat the Crusaders 42-14.
What more does a man want this time of the morning?!
With the 2010 World Cup a mere 43 days away, Hong Kong has really come to the party insofar as getting the locals in the mood for Africa and the world’s biggest sports event.
Olympian City2, a mall in the West-Kowloon area will be hosting the biggest local event in the run-up to June 11 when they present the South African Festival between April 30 and May 9.
TheSouth African Bazaar
(30 April – 9 May, 12noon-8pm, Central Atrium, Olympian City2)
For the whole 10-day period, you can enjoy a wide range of South African products like Rooibos Tea, wine, Appletiser, skin care products, to name but a few. There will also be some typical Saffa delicacies for you to sample, while South African handicrafts will also be on display.
African Vibes
(30 April – 2 May and 7-9 May, 3pm-5pm)
Enjoy the African drum beat, complete with African dancers.
Diski Fever
(30 April – 2 May and 7 May, 2pm/4pm)
Come and dance with the mastermind behind the Diski Dance, Wendy Ramokgadi and his team, who will be flying in especially for this event.
Diski Dance world record attempt
(8 May at 2pm)
A competition to find the Diski Champion will be staged with prizes worth over HK$10,000 on offer. Lastly, Olympian City will attempt to set a world record when they try and get 1,000 people to dance the Diski Dance. Special guest at this event will be Hong Kong’s own William Chan.
(To get to Olympian City2, take the MTR Tung Chung line, get off at Olympic City MTR and exit at Exit D)
Continues below, SA readers click on the banner below to support Howzit-HongKong.com
This advert appeared in The Standard this morning:
