SportPosted by Jake Sun, August 16, 2009 19:38:47Spurs 2. Liverpool 1.
Aaah, the sweet taste of a deserved victory. On a day of
gleeful anticipation for our first game of the 2009/2010 season, we notched up
a solid performance and three points.
Ironic when much of the pre-match talk was dominated by our
striking combinations that two defenders sealed victory. Benoit Assou Ekotto
thundered home a sizzling strike towards the end of the first half, while a
work-horse header from new boy Sebastien Bassong proved too much for a
lacklustre Liverpool.
Notable contributions came from Ledley King - who kept
Fernando Torres quiet all game - and a man of the match performance from the box-to-box,
sure tackling dynamo Wilson Palacios. He won’t be seeing his Champagne though. Harry Redknapp joked in a
post match interview that the Honduran international doesn’t drink.
Much of the Sky Sports match coverage was laden with talk on
Liverpool’s title chances, but we should
rightfully claim the plaudits and headlines on an afternoon when the sun shone
on White Hart Lane.
Football’s back and I love it.
RandomsPosted by Jake Fri, June 12, 2009 18:42:51So I am home and have returned to work. London makes my life intensely habit driven and it took me so little time to slip back into the old routine.
Fortunately it's a routine that I love. It's been great to be back in the office and I have rejoined the front line of procurement news after I was a little cut off in Africa.
The continent and its people remain high on my agenda. I have a two week deadline to get my mountain of material written up by, which between you and me, I'm in complete denial about! These things have a funny knack of getting done though. Force of habit I guess.
RandomsPosted by Jake Fri, June 12, 2009 18:41:36
This Banksy piece from his latest exhibition in Bristol brilliantly captures the spirit of his work.
The elusive artist makes explicit nods to contemporary culture and politics, and embellishes it with his own unique slant. He steals the identity of his subjects and completely transforms the way you view them.
The famous Pulp Fiction graffiti where John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson are brandishing bananas instead of guns is a great example.
To see more pictures from the exhibition,
click here.
AfricaPosted by Jake Thu, June 04, 2009 17:05:38Sorry I have been quiet for the last week. Having no access to the internet has proved a stumbling block when trying to post blogs.
All my missing blogs are below, so you can catch up on some of my high and low points. If you’re feeling lazy, here’s a brief rundown...
I foolishly engaged a hooker in conversation, doubled my money in a casino and travelled hundreds of kilometres to one of the world’s best safari parks where I saw lions, elephants and a rhino. Along the way I met some awesome people and ate all manner of animals, including zebra, crocodile and warthog.
Phew!
Tomorrow I head back to the UK, where I am looking forward to catching up with friends, family and my lovely lady.
It’s difficult to sum up my Africa experience. All too often I throw around words such as “amazing” and “awesome”, but I think my three weeks here are worthy of such terms. I hope I'm far less ignorant about Africa, and I will leave with abiding memories of warm people and stunning locations.
See you in Blighty!
AfricaPosted by Jake Thu, June 04, 2009 17:03:09(Tuesday, 2 June)
Rodney and I were joined by a lovely German couple today as we headed out in search of lions.
Much like yesterday, Rodney was monitoring the ground carefully for any signs of the pride and we spent the best part of an hour at a popular prowling ground for the lions. Roders had seen fresh prints and was convinced the high number of flies in the air meant we were close.
But again we were scuppered at every turn. It seemed the lions were being camera shy.
We gave up and drove to Okaukuejo - a little village inside the park - for lunch at the waterhole. To our delight, two huge male elephants were wallowing in the pool, refreshing themselves in the hot afternoon sun. As time passed three more elephants, including a female, joined the party - I don’t think any future lunchtime view will top this moment!
It was a brilliant sight, particularly as we spent most of yesterday lucklessly trying to track them down. As Rodney says, nature works in funny ways.
AfricaPosted by Jake Thu, June 04, 2009 17:00:35(Monday, 1 June)
My guide for today was Rodney and we set out early to hunt for elephants. He was in full safari swing, monitoring tracks and bits of broken tree littering the dust ridden road.
“These prints are fresh!” Rodney shouted from the front on more than one occasion, before firmly putting his foot down. The 4x4 ate up the road at a frightening pace and with each corner, I longed to see the lumbering beasts.
Other game hunters also tipped us off. “Ten elephants just crossed the road two kilometres back,” they crowed from their cars as we stopped to have a brief passing chat. But we were always one step behind. In fact, the closest we got was seeing a huge male elephant wonder off into the distance, quite some way from our vehicle. It was pretty frustrating, but we did cover a fair portion of the park on our travels.
We had time to take in the stunning 5,000 square metre Etosha salt pan. Looking over it is like standing at the edge of the world, my pictures could not capture or do justice to the sheer scale of uninterrupted, white space.
Rodney and I later had a lively chat over lunch. We spoke about football, Barack Obama, religion, David Beckham, the aids epidemic in Namibia and I even asked if he had heard of Only Fools and Horses, which he hadn’t. Turns out his parents worked for a British family and he was named after the father.
We took the afternoon a little easier, our morning fervour subsided as the day wore on. That was until John - the other guide - radioed over a sighting of a black rhino. Roders set off like a cheetah.
This time we got the money shot - the rare sight of a big female black rhino, leisurely drinking from a waterhole. It was a peaceful and exhilarating moment all at the same time. I was really pleased with some of my photos as well, the rhino was still and the light was perfect.
AfricaPosted by Jake Thu, June 04, 2009 16:59:42(Sunday, 31 May)
Before launching into the details of my first day on safari, it’s best I give you a bit of context.
I’m staying at the Etosha Safari Lodge, 10km from the main gate to Etosha National Park – one of the largest and best safari parks in Africa. The lodge is quite literally in the middle of nowhere, my room overlooks a vast, untouched landscape of trees and other green foliage. On the horizon, there is the feint outline of a couple of mountains, but that’s about as busy as the view gets. It’s quite stunning.
I was up and about a 5:50am this morning, ready for my 6:30am start with John, my guide for the day. He bundled me into the back of a large open top 4x4, with specially made seating and we headed off into the park for the first time.
After a chilly start, the day soon warmed up, as did our animal spotting luck. No longer than an hour into the drive and we came across three female lions - quite a distance away - but lions nonetheless!
This opening gambit gave way to a quieter spell, where we took in some of the more common animals and the magnificent beauty of our surroundings. Quick win mammals include zebra, springbok, black faced impala and Jackals, as well as birds such as the secretary bird.
Surprisingly another regular was the giraffes. Every now and then as you drive along, you will see one loping along in the distance or another poking its slender neck out from a tree. They look like they belong in one of the opening scenes of Jurassic Park.
Later on we encountered another female lion, this time much closer, and two male elephants. It is hard to get your head around the fact that these magnificent beasts happily co-exist with us humans. Seeing them in the wild is so much better than watching them contained in a zoo.
More of the same tomorrow please.
AfricaPosted by Jake Thu, June 04, 2009 16:58:50(Saturday, 30 May)
Another fabulous evening with my new friends yesterday, and a fitting way to say our goodbyes.
Following one of the dullest days of conferencing I have ever endured, five of us headed out on a tour of Namibia’s capital Windhoek . The city is a strange mix of German and Dutch landmarks with both countries having a substantial grip on its history.
There are churches, a ridiculously opulent presidential palace that cost $2 billion (10 per cent of Namibia’s GDP!!) and a rather wonderful little train station, straight out of a 1950s picture book.
Tour over, we hit Namibia’s finest booze and meat joint, Joes. What a place! Spread out underneath several thatched roof huts, it was filled to the rafters with a collection of cultural artefacts from all the over the world and was warmed by a number of open fires. The beer was served in frozen glasses and the food was fantastic.
I went all out and had Zebra steak and crocodile. The steak was a bit tough, but extremely good. Crocodile tastes like a mixture of the best bits of chicken and fish, and it stole the show.
Several glasses of wine and beer later, we headed back to the hotel and paid another little visit to the casino for a few rounds of blackjack. “Go in to lose money,” kept saying Chris, the man who joined me on the last gambling jaunt (see 28 May). “ Think of it like you’re buying a good time,” he added.
So I went in to lose my 200 Namibian dollars, and promptly doubled it. “Good lad,” Chris said. “Now get out of there.” Sound advice from a man that had just lost all his winnings.
Everyone seemed heavy headed the next morning, the rigour of our hard work/hard play week all too evident. I bid farewell and embarked on my five hour journey to Etosha Safari Lodge for a week on safari. Life ‘aint bad!
