Cape Town (1-5 July 2010)

Cape Town, the mother city of South Africa truly live up to her name. There are no definite words to describe how gorgeous she is. There are mountains, sea and plenty to do in this place. We flew in to Cape Town from Durban and decided to stay here for 5 days. We rented a car to drive around and we booked our stay at Gemini Guest House. Service was not bad for the first few days but we need to pay by cash. The place was a mini studio with kitchen, bathroom and bedroom in one.

Initially we had booked our boat ride to Robben Island at 9am but we couldnt wake up on time as no one actually set the alarm. So in the end we took the afternoon boat and decided to walk around Cape Town. The first sight we saw was the Table Mountain view. We were practically speechless. It was a beautiful weather as the sky is clear and blue. We heard from another friend that the weather was been quite crap a few days before.

our hotel room

stunning view from the waterfront


giant coke


May became my model




besides vuvuzela, these hats are popular during the World Cup

We took a slow stroll along the V&A waterfront and took the opportunity to take some pictures. Adri went to search for her shark cage diving while May and me took the time to snap photos of each other before the tourist crowd started. We killed the time with shopping in the FIFA shops for some tees and souvenirs. It was quite a crowd in Cape Town as everyone was down here for the big match between two giants, Argentina and Germany which later one we too manage to score tickets to the match.

walking towards the FIFA shop

inside the FIFA shop

The giant Jabulani in the centre of the V&A waterfront.
Notice the word Argentina and Germany is on the ball.
Later on only I realised that for each match, there will be a different Jabulani with the names of the team.

FIFA World Cup Match : Argentina vs Germany (3 July 2010)

Managed to snap last minute tickets for the Q final match between Argentina and Germany. Initially we only wanted to watch one match but since we were in Cape Town when the match was played between the two giants, we thought to try our luck to see wehther we managed to get any last minute ticket.

Adri and I queued in front of the FIFA ticketing office just barely 2 hours before the match and somehow, lady luck saw us that day and decided to give us two tickets to the match..of course with a heavy price. I got my initial tickets of the 2nd round for 200USD and this one cost more than that but hey since we were already spend so much to be in South Africa, and since this was once in a lifetime experience, and since we were dying to see Argentina in action, and since everyone that we met in Cape Town had a ticket to the match and made us super jealous, and since this was the most talked about match in the town, and most important since we were gonna watch a world cup match and not any other match, we decided to buy!! and we even made a pact not to buy shoes for the rest of the year (a pact that I have since broken but I doubt whether Adri actually still remember it)

Once we got the tickets, we joined the crowd and started to walk towards the stadium. Btw, I found out the name of the stadium was Green Point Stadium from a South African friend (thanks Jared!). May did not join us for the match as she was not a fanatic football fan like us and decided to wait for us in Quay 4 (another restaurant that I highly recommend if you happen to be in Cape Town, they serve delicious seafood). This time, we agreed that the atmosphere was better than in Joburg probably it was warmer in Cape Town and we walked along the Fan Walk and not taking a bus to the stadium. We saw many bars, restaurants, pubs, practically any place with a TV were fully occupied. It was really fun to be able to walk and take photos with fans of both countries.

When we almost reached the stadium, we saw some TV reporters doing some live broadcast and as usual we started to wave towards to camera. One of the reported stopped us and asked where we were from and we answered Malaysia. He must be quite surprised to see 3 Asian girls waving an Argentina flag frantically for attention. He left and we thought he was not interested to interview us and we moved on. After a few seconds, the reported called us back and told us we were live on Argentina TV and interviewed us ..wow..we were so excited and me being a very ardent Malaysian shouted Malaysia BOLEH on Argentina LIVE tv..(so if anyone had this clip, pls let me know)

in front of the stadium

my super expensive ticket

the crowd


a very cheeky Adri asked me to quietly snap this (the guy did not notice)

Finally we reached the stadium and parted with May. Our seat were not as good as the one we had in Joburg. Nevertheless we enjoyed the match except for the first goal that we missed because of some stupid fella came in late for the match who sat right in front of us blocked us right when the goal was scored. We were quite dissapointed to see Argentina lost but it was a good match. It was funny that an English who sat beside Adri said that he was glad Argentina was smacked by the Germans as that way he would not feel so bad for the English when they lost to the Germans 3-1. Btw, Argentina lost 0-4 to Germany.

inside the stadium






Argentinian fans


the match had started. didnt take so many photos as I was concentrated on the match

Jabulani

My mini Jabulani from SA

FIFA World Cup Match: Argentina vs Mexico (27 June 2010)

If someone now asks me what is my most memorable experience so far .. it got to be watching the match of a lifetime, the world cup in South Africa. One of the major reason why I went for South Africa for my summer holiday this year is to catch the world cup matches. Although I bought my match ticket one year ago, it didnt strike me that I was going to watch the world cup till the match day itself!! I even pinched myself to see whether I was dreaming!!:)

The match that we managed to ballot was the second round between the winner of group B and runner up of group A, which the whole time, we were rooting for an Argentinian match. We so wanted to catch Messi, Tevez and Maradona in action LIVE!!!

Soccer City at night


my ticket to entry


blowing the vuvuzela




Maradona




3 stooges

After our 7 day tour of the safari and Swaziland, we rented a car and drove all the way back to Joburg from Durban. I was extremely paranoid in the first place as we heard a lot of horror stories of car jacking with gun point in Joburg. But nevertheless, the whole experience in South Africa was amazing with friendly people. We stayed in Phumis Palace, one of the branch for Ball and Kicka. The most surprising thing was, almost all of the people we met in the hostel were going for the same match as us! We even made friends with two Hong Kong girls and a guy on the way to the match, which later on in Cape Town, we bump into the same gals! Talk about the small world!

We shared a dorm with a guy from the States and later on we bump into him again at the quaterfinal match in Cape Town. We took the shuttle to Ball and Kicka and then walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the stadium. As it was winter, the weather was extremely cold.

The moment we reached Soccer City, we were speechless to see the view of the stadium from the bus. Soccer City was so beautifully lit at night and it can accomodate up to 90,000 fans at one time. Soccer City is situated at the township of Soweto, a place full of history and vibrant story. We visited Soweto on the first day we arrived in South Africa. Will blog about that later on. Now back to football match. It was only when I was in the stadium sitting down and watching the game, that I realised I was watching a WORLD CUP match (the world's largest and most beloved game) and not any other football match. The experience was simply too surreal!

And since we decided to be Argentinian fans for the day, Adri bought a Argentina flag while May bought a tee. I on the other hand got myself a vuvuzela, yes the sound made in the stadium was deafeaning but hey when you are in South Africa, blow a vuvuzela like one...

the leng cai Argentinians




the Mexican fans


trying to be funny..crashing into other people's photo


the world cup??




this fan trying to give us a Mexican face paint

the couple behind us


people mountain people sea

The kickoff started with the introduction of the team members on the big screen. I almost did not bring my camera along to the match fearing that someone might knicked it but glad finally decided against the idea. The atmosphere, the fans, the game, the stadium, the vuvuzela angry bees sound, the costume not forgetting, the final whistle blow and the final score 3-1 for Argentina made this a truly unforgettable experience for me and my two friends.

the march in






half time performance


Argentina winning