Bel Punto in Umdloti

I finally went to one of the most well reputed restaurants in Durban and it was amazing. The subsequent review appeared on Durban Live and was the first time I used my iPhone to take the accompanying pictures which was great because using my rather bulky but professional looking digital camera always gave me away when doing a review. The iPhone was quick and inconspicuous (yeah right!) to use and I though the pics were rather decent.

Review of Bel Punto Restaurant as it appears in Durban Live

P.S. Having thought about this further, I believe that this is the ideal place to go to have coffee and dessert with friends on a warm Durban afternoon or to catch up with friends. As for the restaurant, the food was divine but the actual dining experience was average and not what you would expect when paying this much for food. My wife calls me a gastronomic snob and perhaps it is some of those pet peeves that is influencing this afterthought. If you were wondering, the reason I only write positive reviews online is that I write primarily for websites that promote South Africa and Durban in particular. If I have an experience that was below par than I basically don't write about it. Warning my friends about potentially bad experiences is what Twitter and Facebook is for :)

Invention of the Year - 2010

I love magazines at this time of year. I fall for all the famous catch-phrases. “ The 50 best Inventions of 2010 – Time Magazine”, “ Jumpstart your life in 2011” - Men's Health, “Hottest albums of the year “– GQ ; I actually bought the GQ because of the feature interview with Ryan Reynolds but you get my point. It is the one time of the year when I read a lot more magazines than books. To be a honest between all the family get-togethers, chores (cos your domestic worker is generally on annual leave), and everything else, Dec – Jan is probably the time of year when I read the least books, but I digress.

My pick for “Invention of the year – 2010” has to be “The Straddling Bus”. Unfortunately, Time Magazine only found it to be the 18^th best invention but I do not believe that they rated their inventions fairly but rather grouped them together so the feature would read better i.e Inventions 17 - 21 were all transport related and appeared on a double page with an image of the future incorporating all these inventions across the 2 pages.

The brainchild of Shenzen Huashi Future Parking Equipment, this bus will be raised 2 metres above the roadway allowing cars to pass underneath and will span 2 lanes. It is considerably quicker and cheaper than developing a subway system and has none of the disadvantages associated with a BRT e.g. A dedicated lane. If you still require convincing, check out this presentation that has been translated to English and explains the entire concept.

There were lots of jaw dropping options to chose from with this years inventions (The geek in me wanted to pick the XOS – 2, an iron man like suit developed by Raytheon Sarcos) and lots of annual favourites that must make the list every year e.g. Flying car, personal jetpacks and some or other new cell. I decided on the straddling bus because I believe it to be a viable option for cities like Durban that would never invest in a subway and where the BRT system has not borne the anticipated fruits expected of it. The improvements/ investments made in public transport infrastructure before the World Cup remains and there is now more people utilising public transport. If we have any realistic dream of hosting the Olympic Games (which I believe we do), then these are some of the ideas we need to start seriously considering. Even if it just ran from Umhlanga to the Durban CBD (i.e along the M4) and from Pavilion to the Durban CBD. I know that many of you reading this must be thinking what a naïve idealistic fool, and I confess to being one but if we don't at least dream of a better tomorrow, we have zero chance of achieving it. To prove this, I have attached a picture below taken from Popular Science Monthly - August 1925. It may have not all been realised but some of the ideas from that vision in 1925 are already commonplace in most first world cities!

SA vs India: T20 @ Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

There is very little that I can remember getting this excited about, but this match, this venue, this occasion... It crosses all my boxes. Although I am still perplexed why Cricket SA has decided to stop using Computicket for Cricket sales as PostNet stores are not as accessible as most supermarkets. Follow the link below to check the preview article I wrote for Durban Live

My Preview article on Durban Live 

This is also going to be the first live sporting event I take my daughter to. Admittedly she is a lot more excited about seeing Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra sing and dance on stage but I am hoping the atmosphere will blow her away and we would be able to go for more matches together. Call it my parenting fantasy but  I always envisioned my daughters being big sports fans and tomboys in general. My mother has other ideas and she is currently winning but this match is the Ace up my sleeve. Fingers crossed!

Making sense in the silly season!

The one conflict that I have with writing for websites etc. is that I have less time to write on my passions or whims cos let's face it there are only so many hours in the day and with a full time demanding job and the demands of modern day fatherhood.

This article is unique however, because it is one that I would have ended up writing on my blog in any case. It is biased, considering I am on the Board of Goveners for Child Welfare - Durban and Districts but hopefully a reader would take the ideas and run with it because I believe social responsibility to be a very personal thing that cannot be dictated if it is to be sustainable. I encourage people to start small but be consistent. Start with the R10 a year it takes to be a member of Child Welfare. If you feel like it, give R50 a month to an organisation via debit order. Visit the old age home once a month or donate all future unwanted stuff, that would normally just occupy space in a landfill, to the SPCA charity shop.

Making sense in the Silly Season - Article on Durban Live