Some of my greatest memories from Cape Town involve Table Mountain.

As a boy scout back in the days, our troop regularly took part in orienteering competitions at various locations around the mountain.

Later, as a member of my university’s Mountain Club, I had the privilege (several times over) of rock-climbing a couple of routes to the top.  A favourite “act of madness” by the fitness-fanatics in the Club was to run up AND down the Mountain via Platteklip Gorge as fast as possible.

In case you were thinking: Yes, we did that stone cold sober!

The best experience, however, was the many nights I spent at the SA Mountain Club’s hut… on the ‘Table Top” as I always like to say.  Staying behind while tourists and other visitors are advised that the Upper Cable Station will be closing, as well as seeing the sun rise over the Hottentots Holland mountains while watching from the top of Table Mountain are priceless experiences that few people are privvy to.

Nowadays, as an expat for a decade, my family’s best experience when flying home once a year, is undoubtedly seeing the Mountain as our plane approaches the Mother City.

That is when we feel like we are finally home.

Priceless experiences indeed.

Recently, Table Mountain was named on the shortlist of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition.

The Cape icon successfully beat legendary sites such as Mount Everest, K2 and Mount Olympus.

I have cast my vote and you can too:

Read more about the campaign to get Table Mountain nominated by clicking on VoteForTableMountain.com or joining the FaceBook Group here

In the meantime, have a look and listen to this clip I made yesterday while listening to Soli Philander & Fiona Furey talking about this campaign on The Taxi:

(We used the picture above in our video clip. Tasaline Pamela Martin informed us via The Taxi that the view in the sketch above was her family’s while growing up and that the picture is by her 16-year old brother, Philipus van Rensburg from Heideveld. Thanks for allowing us to use it, young man.)

Those who have known me since my TaiwanSaffies.com as well as CapeTownTalks.info (now defunt) days back in Taiwan, will know how much I love and miss (and my commitment towards) Cape Town and South Africa.

However, those who really know me will also know that there is one thing about life in Asia that I would not give up on easily:

Broadband.

More specifically:

Fricken’ fan-tastic broadband.

Mac, PC & Big Mac… I call this Howzit Online Media HQ. Home of Howzit-HongKong & BlitzBokke.com

Where-ever you are in Hong Kong and what-ever means you use to log on.

It’s omnipresent; 24/7 and at high speed.

Nuff said.

It allows me to live in Asia and travel all over, without losing my connection with my home.  It’s been said many times and it’s probably true: before most people in Cape Town know what’s going on, I do. (It probably also has something to do with that fact that Hong Kong is a whole six hours ahead of South Africa.)

Cape Town will always be my home.  It is after all where my family and I were born (though my kids have lived in Asia for longer than they have in the Mother City) and we still maintain a family and holiday home there.

Here in Hong Kong we have a 100Mbps connection (though there are adverts locally for 1000 Mbps) and I’ve set up a 100 mbps wireless infrastructure for the family in our Hung Hom apartment. We do not know that evil thing called internet “caps”

Let me tell you how we use internet use here in my place:

My kids log onto their schools’ intranet daily for their homework and any other worksheets as well as notices to parents,

they have online video or voice conferences with classmates when they have to do group projects,

we as parents interact with the kids’ teachers,

we watch movies and TV programmes online (when we have time),

we Skype our family back home as well as in Australia in New Zealand (where else?!)

I run two popular daily Blogs,

read the South African daily newspapers online,

we watch DSTV programmes online via KuduClub.com and

listen to various radio stations… also online.

Talking about online radio stations, this is THE ONE phenomenon that is getting me sooooo excited about South Africa.

I predicted it when Seth Rotherham started his successful 2OceansVibeRadio, a spin-off of his award-winning blog 2OceansVibe.com.

In fact, when he announced that his listeners could tune in via their mobile phones back home, for free nogal, that was it…

Internet-radio was always going to take off in South Africa. (with a few provisos like making it sustainable, etc.)

Since then I have noticed an Afrikaans-music-only station (HoutStok) pop up.

However, nothing made me more excited when I found out that popular Cape Town on-air (radio & TV) personality Soli Philander was about to start his online online radio venture after his departure from Cape Talk.

I have been a faithful listener of Soli’s even since his TV-singalong programme back home called LiriekeRaai back in the days when I still lived in South Africa.  After moving to Asia, I stayed in touch with the “boytjie-from-the-Cape-Flets” via his show on Cape Talk talk-radio, which also streamed via the web.

Since he left Cape Talk, I have been following the goings-on of Soli and his erstwhile Cape Talk-technician called “the gaartjie” (ironically also my cousin) and their new venture called “The Taxi” ever since they launched their test-broadcast last week.

The Taxi started their first official online broadcast yesterday (Monday 10 January 2011) and all indications are that it will only get better as days go by.  Listening to the guys trying to find their radio feet with their own station, one can feel the energy and enthusiasm over the airways and as soon as word get’s out about this unique new radio station, I only see them going going from strength to strength.

If you are at your computer and feel like something OTHER than commercials, never-ending (same-old-same-old) news, doef-doef music and useless talk, tune into The Taxi with Soli Philander, Grant Jansen, (former Anglican Dean of Cape Town) Colin Jones as well as Lerato (The New Gaartjie) and yes…

Prepare to be entertained and be part of history in the South African media landscape.

I am every day.

The Taxi.co.za is nothing like you are used to in a radio station…

The Taxi streams live online weekdays between 3pm – 7pm daily (9am – 1pm SA time) The 4-hour show is then replayed online via streaming technology (Windows and iTunes on Mac).

Oh… and it’s free/mahala/for niks/for fokkol on your phone back home.

Just what is Cape Jazz?

In last week’s feature, we referred to the influence that the different sounds from across the world has had on the unique Cape Town sound.

That sound is what we refer to as Cape Jazz.

WikiPedia say the following:

Cape jazz is a genre of jazz, similar to the popular music style known as marabi, though more improvisational in character, which is performed in the southern part of Africa. Where marabi is a piano jazz style, in the beginning this music grew (though not exclusively) from instruments that can be carried in a street parade, such as brass instruments, banjos, guitars and percussion instruments.

The Cape part of the name, refers to Cape Town, South Africa. The leading exponents of this style are pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and saxophonists the late Basil Coetzee and Robbie Jansen. These three, together with bassist Paul Michaels, drummer the late Monty Weber and sax man Morris Goldberg, recorded the seminal Cape Jazz song, “Mannenberg” in the early 1970s.

One of the main inspirations behind Cape Jazz comes from the folk songs sung by people descended from the former slave communities living in the Western Cape, known loosely as the Cape Coloured or Cape Malay people.

A street carnival parade or Mardi Gras (also called the Coon Carnival) is held each year peaking on the 2nd of January. This event is the culmination of months of musical and dance rehearsal and community-based competitions, by various mostly mix race folk, and was known as Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Afrikaans). The performers known as Klopse, borrowed the painted faces and bright consumes of the minstrel show style of New Orleans (now USA) and combined this with African and European music which was to be heard in the taverns and night clubs of the port city.

Some of this music is also more recently known as Goema, or Ghoema Jazz, referring to a particular wooden barrel shaped Asian style drum (also known in the Cape as a Ghomma) played by the revelers in the troupes in the aforementioned parade.

During Howzit-HongKong.com’s visit home in 2009, we were fortunate to attend the 60th birthday party of the late Cape Town saxophonist Robbie Jansen at the G-Spot venue in Epping (Cape Town).  In conversation with the great man that evening, we arranged to return this year to record his take on the Cape Jazz story.  Sadly, that will not happen as Robbie passed away late in 2010.

The Jansens: Robbie and Michael at the G-spot in 2009 (Pic: Mike Jansen)

Here are some of the pictures we took:

We are going to be referring the the terms “Cape Jazz” as well as “Ghoema” over the next few weeks, so without any further ado…. here’s that seminal Cape Town anthem:

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner sessions #22: Mannenberg

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Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Goodnight South Africa,

Mike Jansen

After a brief intermission for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions make a welcome return to Howzit-HongKong.com albeit in a slightly different guise and on a different day.

Where we celebrated South African musicians and their music in the previous 20 features, this time around we’d like to change tack and celebrate the music and the musicians who have influenced South African and, in particular, Cape Town music.

As we’ve said before, as a harbour city, Cape Town and it’s music have been fortunate to be influenced greatly by the sounds, beat and the instruments of the peoples who visited our shores .  As a consequence, Cape Town music developed as a unique genre, retaining little bits of all these influences.

Howzit-HongKong.com’s Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions will, over the following few Sundays, pay tribute to some of these musicians… their sounds and their beats.  We will also feature some of the classic old skool tunes that shaped our collective memories.

I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.

Peace.

Mister motormouth… Al Jarreau’s version of the classic Take 5

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #21: Take Five

Three different versions by: Dave Brubeck, George Benson/Sadao Watanabe, Al Jarreau.

Dave Brubeck:

George Benson featuring Sadao Watanabe:

Mister Motormouth himself… Al Jarreau:

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Over the next few Sundays, Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one (or more) of the musicians and their sounds who have influenced and shaped South African and specifically Cape Town music as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Goodnight South Africa,

Mike Jansen

The Victoria Harbour Sundowners Sessions #9:

I have been wanting to feature Brigitte Mitchell for a while now but, while previously I couldn’t find a music video on YouTube similar to the preceding artists featured here on Howzit-HongKong.com, featuring her on the Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions this weekend holds some special significance.

For one, this is a very special weekend on this side of the noodle-gordyn as it is also the Chinese National Day celebrations (a public holiday nogal!).

Both Brigitte and I have made Hong Kong our homes-away-from-home while not giving up on our roots.  Thankfully Brigitte, through her sultry voice, has also been flying the flag for Cape Town and South Africa here in Hong Kong as only she could, often appearing on South African radio stations, especially on Heart 104.9′s Clarence Ford promoting this very special genre.

Secondly and most importantly, Bridgitte is my home-girl as she is also a born-and-bred Capetonian.

If there’s one thing about Capetonians you should know… it is that we have soul.

We were simply born with it. Cape Town is a harbour port and naturally its people reflect the confluence of the many cultures that visited it’s shores.

It comes through more distinctly when we’re also blessed with a soulful voice.

A voice like Brigitte’s.

Click on her MySpace site and listen to Georgy Porgy in her music player…

Nuff said.

For the HongKongers out there, Brigitte Mitchell is currently performing live at the The Gecko Lounge, Ezra Lane, Lower Hollywood Rd

Originally from the scenic shores of Cape Town, Mitchell has been living in Hong Kong for the past 10 years. She had an undeniable urge to explore an artistic path of unknown proportions, sparking this migration from South Africa to Asia. The move has offered a sense of creative liberation. “Taking that step to leave my comfort zone was one of the best decisions I’ve made,” she recounts fondly.

Growing up a witness to the significant political and social change in South Africa, she came to Asia aspiring to personify change her father wanted to see for the people of Cape Town. By making a name for herself on new ground, she cultivated her father’s vision and confidently asserts the importance of his advice, “He really insisted on this, try and reach your highest potential and become the best version of yourself.”

And her record is certainly indicative of this mind set.

Mitchell has established herself as the headliner of a signature, Tuesday night residency. Hong Kong’s Gecko Lounge is a live Jazz destination for locals and tourists alike as well as the home of Mitchell’s weekly event.

“Don’t Explain” is made up of re-inspired selections from her live show repertoire. “This is how I wanted to feel and sound. Ultimately, I grew into Jazz because I let it take hold of me.” The record is a time capsule that represents not only the live show sound that one might experience at Gecko but also Mitchell’s decade-long experimentation and love affair with Jazz.

I’m proud to call her my FaceBook friend and would like to introduce Brigitte Mitchell as this week’s Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions featured artist.

Lovely Day (Brigitte Mitchell)

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Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Growing up in Cape Town, the Athlone Cooling Towers were very significant to me.

Situated next to the N2 highway on the way to Cape Town, as a little boy traveling into the city in the back of my Dad’s bakkie, the towers signaled that Cape Town is only about 10 minutes away and that I could finally stretch my weary body.

Later on my life, traveling the same route, this time around looking out for the towers as a sprinter (100m,200m,4x100m relay) in my high school’s athletes’ bus.  Seeing the Athlone towers meant that the Athlone stadium was a mere 5 minutes away and increased the butterflies in my stomach.

Fast forward another few years and the towers signaled the start of a grueling 10-20 minutes stuck in the crawling N2 traffic en-route to the city.

On Sunday 22 August 2010, around 5 minutes after noon, the Athlone cooling towers will be no more.

The Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato will push the button that will see the towers implode into a heap of rubble and dust.

The 2 sentinels in Athone (Pic: travelblog.portfoliocollection.com)

Read more about the Cape Town suburb of Athlone here

My kids have been rather excited for the past few evenings because they have been able to see so many stars in the Hong Kong evening sky.  OK, those of you in South Africa can stop sniggering now but that is one of the realities of living in an Asian city like Hong Kong.

After some stunning bright blue skies for the past few weeks (in part probably due to the 2 tropical cyclone near-misses), Hong Kong’s air quality plummeted on Thursday.

Around lunch-time on Thursday, August 5, one could barely see the top of IFC in Central from Howzit-HongKong.com HQ in Hung Hom.

Scanning the Cape Town online newspapers, I was surprised to see that these days, Cape Town also suffers from the bad air quality that Hong Kongers have become so used to.  I remember whenever I used to drive into the Mother City from the Northern Suburbs, traveling over the Tygerberg hills on the N1, one could see a thin layer of smog enveloping the City Bowl area.  However, judging from the picture below, it seems that the City is well on it’s way towards the air pollution levels similar to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong on a bad-air day:

Hong Kong Island seen from Tsim Sha Tsui (Pic: TreeHugger.com)

Cape Town on Thursday August 5, 2010:

The Cape Town City Bowl (Pic: Stephen Williams, DieBurger.com)

As I’m typing this I’m listening LIVE to 567.co.za (Cape Talk) with Soli Philander who is broadcasting live from the Cape Town Fan Fest at the Grand Parade.

Yesterday people were complaining that Johannesburg has a BIGGER 2010 vibe, but today, the Mother City is right UP THERE!

Tonight Cape Town will be celebrating the arrival of the 2010 Football World Cup with the mother-of-all-parties featuring artists such as the internationally acclaimed R Kelly.

Soli Philander posted the following pictures LIVE from the Parade:

(Cheers for the Pics Soli!)

Cape Talk’s Soli Philander with 2010 mascot Zakumi (The FanMily on FaceBook)

Ke Nako! It’s South African’s Time!

I just watched the National Geographic program called “The build up to the Cup.” (10pm Hong Kong)

The program featured the 3 major stadiums purpose-built for the 2010 Soccer, or football if you so please, World Cup: Cape Town, Soccer City in Johannesburg as well as Durban’s Moses Mabida Stadium.

It was really exciting watching the program here in Hong Kong because I just had finished putting together this collage of pictures of some of the 2010 stadiums.  Featured in the video clip below are the Ellis Park, Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, Durban, Loftus Versfeld, Soccer City, Mbombela, Royal Bafokeng, Free State and Peter Mokaba Stadiums:

With the 2010 Soccer World Cup just days away, visitors and television viewers will soon be gobsmacked at the scale and beauty of South Africa’s brand-new stadiums.

However, in a quiet (albeit only on non-match days) corner in the shadows of Table Mountain, stands what for me, is the Grande Dame of sports stadiums in the country: Newlands Rugby Stadium.  The country’s oldest stadium has always been a must-visit for me on every occasion that I visit home.  My annual trip to Cape Town often coincides with the Tri-Nations or Currie Cup tournaments so I always get to watch a Stormers or Western Province fixture.  I recently came across a great online feature that allows one to view all 360 degrees of the inside of Newlands stadium, on a match-day nogal!  At the risk of sounding like a gushing teenager…It was just too cool not to share.

Click here to open the 360 degrees viewer in a new window