It's the weekend baby!

The weekend is finally here and if you're stuck for things to do, check out this list of great activities.

For the fit and adventurous-  The Colour me Crazy Run:

If you didn’t make it to the Holi One festival  this year or the colour run last weekend and you are suffering from FOMO because of your friends epic paint bomb effect photos on facebook , now’s your chance. This Saturday, the Colour Me Crazy Run and colour festival will take place at the West Coast Ostrich Ranch. Live bands such as Locnville, Goodluck and Roger Goode will all be performing. The 5-km run is for all ages and all fitness levels. All you need to do is where white and bring protection for your eyes. You can purchase tickets via quicknet.co.za and costs R290 a person. Colour packets can be bought at the venue.

 For the Foodies- The Secret Festival at Spier:

Indulge in good food and wine at the Spier secret festival in Stellenbosch, on Friday and Saturday. Master chefs spill their best kept secrets, family recipes and discuss farming. This not to miss event explores the latest trends in the culinary sphere and honours South Africa’s best wine the Chenin Blanc. If you can’t attend the food seminar on the Friday by top chefs, you can enjoy the secret market on Saturday from nine until three.

For the die hard Rugby Fans:

The Currie Cup is played between August and October and is South Africa's foremost provincial rugby competition and the oldest of its kind in the world, it was first played in 1889. The Sharks take on Western Province at five pm at Newlands Stadium. Tickets are unfortunately all sold out, so if you're heading to a pub or bar, especially in the Newlands area, get there early to avoid disappointment. 

For the art lovers:

Head to Casa Labia in Muizenberg to see the Irma Stern Exhibition By The Sea. The exhibition includes several studies from her first trip to Madeira in 1931. Cate Wood Hunter, the curator describes this exhibition as a ‘contemporary group exhibition featuring seascapes in a variety of mediums that supersede the representation of the sea, beach or harbour as a picturesque scene: but pose questions as to how we see, explore, experience and disrupt this fragile environment.'  The By the Sea Exhibition  is on until the 24^th November from Tuesday to Sunday, 10h00-1600.

Add a bit of colour to your life this weekend with the Colour Run.

Indulge in great food and wine at the Spier secret market.

Have a few beers and watch the Sharks take on Western Province.

Add a bit of culture to your life with the By The Sea Exhibition by Irma Stern.

WDC2014.

                                         

Cape Town has been nominated with the prestigious title of World Design Capital 2014. A variety of signature events are going to take place over the year, one of which is the Design Indaba. This takes place from the 28^th of February until the 2^nd of March next year. The expo which has been held at the CTICC for the past ten years, displays the best in local design. It is also described as a ‘dynamic platform for designers and creative businesses to showcase their wares and market themselves to the general public, as well as industry buyers.’

The Design Indaba is even offering a new idea whereby exhibitors who wish to unveil a design

concept, can do so with the presence of thousands of visitors. The ‘First Editions’ will be

displayed in a high visibility area, which will mean that designers don’t necessarily need a 

stand, lighting and other costly items. The design can be from any sector but must be new and 

unique, participants will also need to go through an online curation process. 

Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing, Councillor Grant 

Pascoe reminds us that “design is not just about pretty things. Rather, it can fundamentally 

change the way people live in this city, and can address the challenges we have in a 

sustainable and innovative way.” Cape Town has been given a wonderful opportunity to apply 

creative design innovations which can confront our challenges as a city.

Travel the Louis Vuitton way!

We all want to travel in style but can't necessarily afford one of Louis Vuitton’s luxury travel bags.  Fortunately we can learn how to travel and explore cities in style, with the Louis Vuitton City Guide 2014. 

This year Cape Town is featured in one of the stylish colourful guides, amongst 14 other exciting cities namely, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Moscow, New York, Paris, Beijing ,Sao Paulo, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo and Venice.

 Beezy Bailey, a well know Capetonian artist contributed to the  Cape Town guide and gave his own distinguished views on interesting hidden gems around the mother city. The brightly coloured city guides come in a specially crafted wooden case, which would impress your friends and look great on your coffee table. They will be available to purchase in November from local Louis Vuitton stores.

This year's special 15th anniversary edition includes Cape Town amongst other exciting cities.

World Food Day- October 16th!

How many times have you said to someone I’m starving or I haven’t eaten all day, unfortunately this is a sad reality for millions of people, who literally don’t have enough food to eat. Food is so often taken for granted, I know personally I often think about what I will have for lunch or dinner in advance, or I won’t feel like eating what’s in my fridge. However the reality for millions of people, is wondering if they will find another meal. Today is World Food Day, which offers ‘ the opportunity to strengthen national and international solidarity in the struggle against hunger.’ 

This year’s theme is sustainable food systems for food security and nutrition. The world population continues to rise, which means production of basic staple foods will need to increase rapidly to keep up with the demand. There are currently around 842 million people who are hungry and don’t have access to regular meals. Staple foods are important but nutrient dense foods are also needed for great health. The food we eat also needs to be sustainable as the environment is suffering with global warming, overfishing and other factors. Everyone can play a role in improving these food systems, starting in their homes by choosing to only purchase sustainably sourced food items, particularly with fish and choosing to eat only seasonal  and responsibly sourced products. 

Food waste is another way in which we can help the environment; so much food goes to waste on a daily basis. It’s better to do a weekly shop and go through the items in your fridge before you go shopping to see what is expiring and what food items you already have. In these tech savvy days, there’s no excuse to throw food out, as there’s even an app called fridgIT, which allows you to load food items and their expiry dates. You then simply check the app to see when the food will expire.

Let’s take a minute to think about all those people who are starving today and not because they are on a diet!

For more information and how to get involved visit their website. 

Escaping the Silly Season!

Have you ever wondered why the call December the 'silly season'? I reckon it’s because the stress from the past year finally makes people crack. Everywhere you go there are thousands of people, restaurants are fully booked, the traffic is heavy, it’s hot and people get grumpy very quickly.

 Don’t even dream of heading to the beach to cool off, as every person from Johannesburg and Europe are out parading and tanning. The beautiful once white sand beaches now resemble a colourful sea of people. Christmas seems to add to the craziness of December, who doesn't do last minute present shopping?

 The day before I usually find myself in a panic at some packed shopping centre, where I have to wait two hours just to find parking. This is why I am convinced that people love to go away in December and January. This is also probably why flights are so expensive as all the locals just wants to get out of Cape Town and head somewhere sunny but potentially less crowded. Hot spots include, Mauritius, Mozambique,Thailand and there are of course those lucky people who decide to forget the beaches altogether and go skiing.

I usually spend my December holiday wishing I was somewhere exotic, sipping a cocktail on a remote beach. In reality I am lying on Clifton fourth beach with hundreds of other people, reading a magazine and trying to avoid the vendors on the beach shouting things like '  lolly to make you jolly' every minute.  This December I am heading to Zimbabwe and while there will be no beach, we will be on a house boat with no crowds in sight , I cannot wait!

Where will you be this December? If you too want to escape the 'silly season', then take a look at these great CTSSA December specials.

On a hot sweltering day, the beach is packed with locals and tourists alike. 

Life's a beach!

Summer is almost here and what better way to celebrate than to head to the beach. I’ve rounded up some top beach spots in Cape Town and Thailand for a bit of Friday summer sun inspiration. Where's your favourite beach spot?

Camps Bay beach is always buzzing with locals and tourists.

Clifton fourth is the beach to be seen at, catch a tan and watch the beautiful people walk by. 

Llandudno beach is known for it's chilled surfer vibe.
This is a fun spot to play frisbee and hang out with friends.

Nai Yang beach in Phuket is just a five minute drive south from the airport
and is very popular with the Thai locals.

Salad beach in Koh Phangan is a beautiful beach ideal for swimming.


China Travel Services are going to be offering some fantastic specials to Thailand in their next newsletter.  Visit their  Facebook page next week for details.