Restaurant - Tjing Tjing, CBD Cape Town

13 June 2014 - What a delightful place in the middle of Cape Town's CBD. A colleague from Pretoria's partner recommended the place. It's above 'Dear Me' (not been there yet).

It has a wonderful atmosphere - you can sit out on the balcony, but there were a couple of smokers out there and a bit chilly, so was quite happy to sit on a very comfortable couch.

FOOD - Ordered a cheese platter - this is generaly a safe option when there is a group of ladies catching up - something for everyone. There was a lovely selecion of cheese, preserves, meet, bread.

DRINKS - The server was very helpful and gave me a taster of different red wine options.

SERVICE - Very helpful and friendly.

VALUE FOR MONEY - very reasonable

RECOMMENDABLE - 7/10

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Restaurant - Rick's Cafe Americain- Gardens, Cape Town

13 June 2014 - This place's decor really resonates with me, the high ceilings, wooden floors, casablanca photos on the walls and vintage look.

What is a bit frustrating for such a large premises is that there is only one loo for ladies.

FOOD - The cheese platter is delicious; they have a selection of tapas, which is quite tasty too. I have pleasant memories of the cheese platter so can and will recommed it.

DRINKS - They have a lovely selection of differnt wine and also per glass wine selections.

SERVICE - Friendly

VALUE FOR MONEY - Quite resonably priced and very friendly servers.

RECOMMENDABLE - yes! 7/10

Book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

It is not often that I find a book that draws me in from the first page.  Embarrassingly, actually sadly, I knew very little about the life and accomplishments of Steve Jobs.

He wanted to change the world, and wow did he manage to shift humankind with his art and genius through the Mac, Pixar, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

I am in awe - clearly he was not the easiest person to work with, but what inspires me is that he knew what he wanted and did not compromise on quality or his vision and pushed individuals and teams to achieve in fact over-achieve, things that nobody ever thought possible. Even though he was not an easy soul to work with, those working with him pretty much new where they stood; he had no problem to let those around him know if something sucked, or the best thing in the whole world - being honest was more important than being liked. 

The author - Walter Isaacson has captured the story with great sensitivity - it is however funny how he zooms in on specific details, e.g almost every time he refers to Steve's house he mentions that it was not furnished.

The life of Steve Jobs does make you reflect and wonder what you are doing with your life - what is the legacy that you are leaving that will change the world?

Highly recommended book 9/10

Restaurant - Nana -Chicago

What a wonderfully quaint spot for breakfast. Nicole (lady I was renting from) introduced me to this fabulous place. All their food is sourced from local farmers. 

FOOD - This is possibly THE most decadent piece of French toast that I have ever had. Cheese cake filled french toast with coconut!! This was then smothered in a fruit compote. We shared this plus grenola (muesli) & yoghurt. It was absolutely divine! 

DRINKS - opted for tea, but I don't think tea in general in the US is their strong point, so also had an Americano. Both came in delightfully big cups. 

SERVICE - I was truly impressed by the server. She recognised Nicole and welcomed her then she introduced me to the place and also indicated what dishes they had won awards for and which items on the menu is highly recommendable. 

RECOMMENDABLE - DEFINITELY! 8/10

Restaurant - Lou Malnati's - Chicago

One of the first things that was mentioned to me when I said that I was coming to Chicago was that I should have deep pan pizza. I am more of a flat based-Papaccino's down the road kinda-girl, but happy to try something new. 

There are a couple of franchises across the city. Naturally I opted for the one within walking distance. The place was packed with a 15 mins waiting time. What was quite nice is that you can order your pizza while you wait as they take 30 mins to make (!). 

FOOD - The pizza I went for was the traditional Chicago one with a buttered crust (how decadent!). The filling is quite similar to a Margarita but has some or other meat in it. It was OK, a bit bland, but there was chilli flakes on the table which gave a bit of oemph to the flavour. 

DRINKS - opted for pink lemonade. 

SERVICE - fair, we waited some time for the bill. 

RECOMMENDABLE - if this is the place for deep pan pizza, try it out. I still prefer my thin-based Roquefort pizza from up the road. 5/10

Race - Energizer Night Race 5km, Chicago

What a fun run, I've not run a 5km race for quite some time, so it was a pleasant change. The last time I did a time trial of 5kms I did it in 33 mins, so was stoked when I completed this race in 30 mins - whoo hoo!

There were about 900 participants. Quite festive with everyone wearing bunny ears and their head lamps. Again, a fairly pricey race, $35, but there was a great goodie bag including a t-shirt, headlamp, sunscreen, razor and a fair amount of coupons for stuff. 

There was some fun warm up excercises before the time - even a 'Pump up the Jam' tune thrown in!

Apart from the 'miggies' everyone choked on towards the end, the city skyline in the dusk was quite breath taking. 

Restaurant - Downtown Dog, Chicago

After a visit to the Hancock Centre (amazing views!), I tried another hotdog. As I had not really enjoyed the first one and thought that I should at least give it another try. 

FOOD - It was recommended that I try a 'char' dog, meaning that the sausage is grilled, this made an improvement to the taste, however, the hotdogs are not my favourite. I gave it a shot and it is not for me. 

DRINKS - tried the pink lemonade, quite sweet, but refreshing. 

SERVICE - you order at the counter. Fast & friendly. 

VALUD FOR MONEY - yes, not bad. 

RECOMMENDABLE - if you like hotdogs then this place us great.