July 2007: Been asked to prepare and pack up for a month-long trip to Cape Town. Happy? Hmm…yes, since it would be my first time to see another part of the globe (which apparently has quite a number of interesting places to boot – in fact, these places are included in the book, “1000 Places to See Before You Die”) Sad? Hmm…yes, as I know it will be another bout of fighting loneliness.
Aug 7, 2007: Off to Cape Town via Singapore. I will be taking 16 hour long trip from Manila. I even had a funny experience of bringing overweight luggage into Cape Town, that the ground attendants initially thought I was flying to the US. Well, another help from lady luck, I got off without paying a cent!
Aug 8, 2007: Arrived in Cape Town safely. Weather was nice. It was sunny and breezy at the same time. From the airport and en-route to the hotel, I never thought I was already staring at the famous Table Mountain. Only until I got into the office did I realize I was staring at the same mountain all along! Believe it or not, that same day when my plane landed, (after a bit of work) I had to ask my colleagues to drive me up to the Table Mountain. [I was indeed lucky to get that opportunity, as the sun never showed up the same way it did that day when I arrived during my month-long stay in Cape Town.]Aug 9, 2007: National Women’s Day…Fighting the urge to succumb to jetlag, I had to condition myself for my next stop. 6AM flight from Cape Town to Durban! It was a long weekend, so I took the chance to get in that flight! Once we landed in Durban, which was about a 2 hour flight, we enjoyed some nature and cultural trip, seeing the valleys and the tribes that lived there. Then, as the day ended, we headed to Umschlanga to get some rest in preparation for the next leg of the Durban trip.
Aug 10, 2007: From Umschlanga, we drove off to the Sani Pass
Hotel to view the famous Drakensberg Mountain. We enjoyed the scenery and the buffet dinner they served…and yes, since we were in South Africa, we had to try the wine! Guess what? Wine tastes great! We all had our fair share of the bottle that we all retired early to bed. It was just right to keep us well rested…Aug 11, 2007: Early to bed, early to rise…we all had to rise up early to get on our ATVs! Yes, we all booked ourselves for a tour using All-Terrain Vehicles! Driving to the top of the Sani Pass using quad bikes? That was an awesome (but dangerous) experience.
Aug 12, 2007: Headed back to Cape Town. For the first time, I checked in a hand-carry luggage (which was not overweight, and not heavy at all) and it got lost!
From the time I got back my luggage, until the time I got to have Kermin with me in Cape
Town, we had the chance to see Cape Town’s great scenic places --- Stellenbosch, Boulder’s Beach, Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope…seeing these nice places were great…but I knew it would be much better if I had shared the trip with Migs around. Day in and day out, we keep in touch…greeting each other as we start the day or as we end the day whenever possible. It felt different when a day passes by without hearing each other say “Hi” or “Hello”.…Being away for one whole month, one thing’s for sure, I knew it felt great to know that though we’re miles and miles apart, neither distance nor difference in time zones will ever keep us apart. Oops, a second point to add, I am pretty sure Cape Town will be on our list of things to see together…honeymoon? We’ll see…
