Takumi

I was introduced to Minato by Dave, but sadly after I had left Cape Town. Shortly after that, the owner and chef, Papa San, sold Minato and left South Africa. The quality of Minato slowly deteriorated.

A few months ago, Papa San, opened a new restaurant in Cape Town - Takumi. The decor is very modern, the place seems to be smaller - but the food is as good (if not better), the portions are big, and the house rules are only a little less crazy (you can now order more than once for example). I have been to a fair number of sushi restaurants in South Africa, and Takumi is the best I have been to.

I had booked a table tonight, and when we got there, it was full. So I would suggest, booking in advance - even if it is on the day. And bring an appetite ...

Hi Jesus, Mohamed ...

Mohamed is a pretty common name, as is Jesus in Spanish speaking countries. Having a meeting with both of them in the room can be quite interesting to say the least. "Hi Jesus, Mohamed" is an email I wrote to them after the meeting which then led me to think of all the other prophet/gods I know - the gardener in our complex is "Moses", I know quite a few "Krishna"s and also one "Siddhartha" (i.e. Buddha before he was the enlightened one). Imagine getting all of them in one room ...

Wingsuit Flying Video - Wow

Bungee jumping is a rush, hang gliding is rather sedate - but wingsuit flying combines the two to something insane; especially in the hands of Jeb Corliss. This YouTube video is simply insane. I want to try it, but I think it is far from being commercialised (and hence, safe and accessible).

Gardening, Freddie Mercury, The Beatles and an Orchestra

Freddie Mercury's compositions (and Queen in general) often lend themselves well to orchestration, and have been performed by orchestras many times before. Likewise, there are a number of Beatle's hits that have been orchestrated. Last night, the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, put up a selection of the hits from Freddie Mercury, Queen and The Beatles, dispersed with a few classical pieces in "In Tune with Nature". The concert was sponsored by Mayford seeds, and thus together with the concert, one also got a number of gardening tips thrown in. It seems that gardening was a good fit with the audience, as most raised their hands to indicate that they are gardeners.

The sold out show, started with "Bohemian Rhapsody", though only orchestral, before a few more contemporary classical pieces, some featuring soprano Magdalene Minnaar. The first half also featured pieces from the "Beatlecracker Suite" - an amalgamation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite with a few popular Beatles's pieces. It was weird in how well the two musical pieces joined up, but remained individually distinguishable (at least in the pieces I knew both).

The star performance was from Loyiso Bala, who did a good job in singing some of the classic Queen tracks, and though he did not have the stage presence of Freddie Mercury, he was not a bad replacement. The concert finished with "Barcelona" - a piece I didn't know existed, but well worth watching on YouTube.