Time flies... so much to do, so little time to blog

Wow! I cannot believe that its been close to six weeks since I last wrote..

Its been truly hectic on my end.. work has become a bit of an overload, with my anallst taking off unpaid leave due to an accident, my scope of work expanding and the travel around the US.. Its like starting an entire new business, putting in place processes, setting criteria and developing some basic rules on how investments should be made....

anyway, enough of that, I turned 29 yesterday and it was my first birthday in souless San Diego!!! This place needs some action.. or just a revving of its motor.. 3 million people, yet so plain.. but John managed to get me a really nice birthday cake to celebrate.. It was from the only French Patisserie in SD, called Opera. It even had macaroons (the French type on it). Thanks to you all who sent me messages, texts and facebooked me.. It was really great to realise that so many of you remembered. Having a birthday in such a different time zone is wierd, as most of you are in time zones 8-9 hours away.. but thank you for thinking of me..

Now I have been up to a ton of things since Mike came to visit.. besides the worst outbreak of acne since I was 13..

Mike Bennett flies in for the weekend..

Yay, we finally had our first visitor in San Diego. Mike Bennett (MBA 2005) , my friend and fellow study group mate (so you know, we have been through thick and thin) popped over for a long weekend in San Diego.. not just to see me, which would have been truly wonderful if it were the case, but one of his oldest friends was getting married in La Jolla.

So we got the opportunity to head into La Jolla on a Friday night for drinks... the first time I have done so as Friday drinks is not something that is transatlantic. We headed to a dive bar called Jack's which was really cool. My SA driver's licence (aka my ID) did raise a few eyebrows but I was allowed in..

What I do enjoy about San Diego, is that in most places you are given free tortilla chips and salsa.. We got to meet Mike's brother (fraternal twin), Jimmy and two of his San Diegan friends, Sandy and Jeff, who have just returned from the Netherlands. The first photo is of the wedding venue at Estancia, La Jolla. It was a Jewish -Hindu wedding of New York friends.. We met Mike and Co here for lunch pre the wedding.

Below are some photos of Mike with his brother and John and the last one of Mike, John and myself. For those who have not heard, Mike has moved back to London, after being in Paris and the Netherlands..















Let's hope we get more visitors our way. Our 2nd bedroom is now kitted out, so please feel free to pop over.

You know you're in the US when...

When you have T-shirts that say "Welcome to the Gun Show".. just imagine how this will go down in South

Africa or the UK..

(photo taken by yours truly at a drilling site in Las Vegas)

San Diego Fire: Pics from the day before

John and I often start our Sunday morning at the gym, and this Sunday was no different, especially after spending part of Saturday celebrating the Boks win. I also purchased a car that weekend, and it needed a clean so post the gym session (our gym will remind you of the Point in Cape Town, Old Ed's in JNB and LA Fitness in High Street Ken in London- you know the one where you have to pay GBP50 extra a month to have less grubby change rooms, and prettier (so obviously foreign) service staff, we went to get our cars washed and this was the first we realised that the fires had started. The first photo was taken around 1pm.

The second photo was taken around 3pm. You also get to see a photo of the apartment complex we live in. Lots of palm trees. It was strange because in this type of weather, there were also many people ballooning (yes, ballooning is a big thing in Del Mar)

Around 5pm, John and I decided to take a drive, I needed to get some sports stuff and we were planning on seeing a movie later. Photo No. 3 was taken on Del Mar Heights Road - by now visibility was not great and there was plenty of smoke in the air. Photo No 4 was taken around 6.30pm. One of the best sunsets seen in San Diego and now you can understand why..

The last photo was actually taken in full colour on the Wednesday morning post the fires. The sky no doubt grey from all the smoke.. This photo was taken from the parking lot near Torrey Pines beach on my way to work.. Kind of eery but serene in an odd sort of way..

A little bite of the Big Apple

I got to spend three days in New York City this past week and I have to say, it was fantastic to be in a large city again.. maybe I am a city girl at heart.. I was there for a conference held by my company and some of us were invited to hear the likes of Leon Black (founder of Apollo, not Blackstone - as his introducer referred to him as the latter!) and Arthur J Levitt speak.

More importantly, I finally got to bond with some of my colleagues on a semi-professional level. First up was a dinner at a restaurant called Tabla. If you are in the mood for Indian food, this is not the place to go. IT does not even have a Tabla (indian word for drum - musical instrument) playing... Dont get me wrong the food is good, but its pseudo Indian and thats putting it mildly.. Sadly we were advised that it was this great Indian restaurant and after living in San Diego for the last month, I was quite looking forward to enjoying a meal that would stimulate all of ones senses. With suckling pig on the menu, it would be sacrilege to call this place an Indian restaurant..

We then proceeded to the oldest irish pub in New York.. McSorley's -one of the oldest bars in this fair city opened its doors in 1857--but women weren't allowed in until the 1970s. Today, this East Village institution still has sawdust on the floor, almost 150 years of history on the walls and only two kinds of beer--McSorley's Light and McSorley's Dark.

We then proceeded to Mamoun's for falafel, the Middle Eastern with all its trans-fat, and hot sauce. This place was really good and considered to the best 4am place to hang out at. We there at 11pm (getting old). It kind of reminded of the type of establishment you would find in Edgware Road, complete with Seesha pipe (you have to ask for it though). For $2.50, it definitely trumped the Tabla experience.
We were contemplating buying the sauce but all questioned how we would transport back to SD, given that we all had carry-ons. So maybe for next time..

As the conference was held in Battery Park, I was fortunate to have a room facing the Statue of Liberty. Maybe one day, I will finally take a ferry over to actually see it close up.
How can one even contemplate going to NYC and not getting to see the legend himself.... Puneet and I got to meet the next evening and headed to Tamarind, a really good Indian restaurant on the west side. Good thing it was a Tuesday, as we did not have a reservation but were kindly seated. I think that the waitress had the hots for Puneet as she was ever so nice.. I would definitley recommend this place to friends. Puneet, just so that you know, I gave up going to a Lenny Kravitz concert to hang out with you.. Hopefully next time round, Aikta will join us..
It was great seeing some familiar signage in NYC, like the Pret Manger store on the 5th Avenue and the numerous H&M's and ZARA's abound.

Pretty soon it was time to say goodbye, but I have been told that work will take me to NYC pretty often.. so more interesting places to follow. What I realised I missed the most, was being able to walk to places in a citylike NYC or London.... our movements in California are dictated by getting into a car.. and that even implies going to the gym.. I truly wonder what my carbon emmission count is living in the State that dictates the CleanTech revolution and working for a fund that invests in reducing carbon emissions.

Shopping List if you ever come to visit - Part I

So I think its time to tell you all, what I would like to get if you ever come to visit.. 1) Rooibos Tea Otherwise known in the US as Red Bush. Best price I could find here is $7.75 for 36 bags. Price in the UK for 50 bags, GBP2.00, in South Africa, 100 tea bags = ZAR7.00 which is the equivalent to a dollar. Furthermore, its mainly flavoured or organic here.. 2) Parisian Macaroons... mmm!!! The ones from PAUL or Laduree (shops in Harrods and opposite the Ritz in Greenpark) Bring as many as you can, preferably hard packed and we will reimburse you. the best ones here are from Opera Patisserie but it has a lot of butter in the center.. 3)Green&Blacks chocolate From Tesco and any shop.. Its about $4 a slab here. The vanilla flavoured one. 4) Biltong.. If you can bring it in.. that would be great. The beef jerky substitute just does not meet the cut. 5) Slovenian Medicine.. nuff said!! 6)Pronutro A south African porridge that looks like brick layers plaster but tastes great. It does not exist here in the US but you can get in SA (at any South African shop) or at any store in SA. 7) Sun Dried Tomatoes The plain dried ones.. in the US, its very difficult to get things in their original form.. everything is flavored in some form or the other. 8) Muji Ultra Thin Tipped Pens.. 9) Pimms - the liqueur.. I have been trying to source it here but with no luck. its amazing what one misses.. more later.....

San Diego fires - We are returning home today

Satellite view of the fires

Photo of the Witch Fire in Poway (an area about 5 -8 km from us)

Our evacuation was lifted this morning and we are now free to return home from this devastating fire. The fire that was threatening our neighbourhood was the aptly named the "Witch fire". This fire is only 1% contained at present.

The fire was rougly about 2-3 kilomenters from our home so I think we were fortnuate that we were not one of those families that had their homes destroyed or damaged. Furthermore, we were more than fortunate in our evacuation as we did not end up in a stadium for the last 2 nights but in a 4 star hotel in La Jolla. It was also complimentary so we did not have any crazy hotel bills. this was organised through one of the executive assistants in our office. (In the US, PA's or secretaries are call executive assistants, as I was rightly corrected when I made the faux pas of referring to someone as a PA)

The other truly impressive experience has been the community spirit in ensuring that everyone was safe. It was great to see San Deigans help each other out in a time of need. According to news reports, Qualcomm Stadium (where most of the evacuees have been sent) had received so many donations that they had to ask people to stop bringing in food.. (If only this could happen in Sudan or some third world country)

One person referred to himself and his family as "refugees" and that I have to say is a bit rich given that their house was not impacted nor did they end up in any of the shelters but in a decent apartment. I think its all relative here, but refugees, we are not. Going back to your home to pick up your artworks does not make you a refugee.. Seeing you house burn in front of your eyes (which many families did experience) will make you feel like a refugee - thats for sure.