01 Sep 05 - 04 Sep 05 : Johannesburg, Sun City & Pretoria

I am very tempted to skip the whole Johannesburg, Pretoria & Sun City bit. There's only that much to say. Johannesburg (once known as Witswaterand - pronounced as Vits-Vater-Rand) is a typical city. Skyscrapers, majestic office buildings, posh shopping malls, posh cars etc. etc. There's only that much to write up about Johannesburg. And it sure wasn't exciting for the sightseeing fanatics. Then there's manmade casion resort, Sun City - a place built to exploit stupid tourists who thinks that it is a must-see place. And Pretoria.... errrr.... nevermind. Too many Afrikaans for my liking.

Guess I'll just upload a couple of photos then move on to the better parts of the tour.


:: 01 Sep 2005 : Dinner at Yamato Japanese Restaurant, Johannesburg ::

The Chopsticks Buddies!

:: 03 Sep 2005 : SUN CITY :::

[On the way to Sun City - THE AFRICAN CRAFT MARKET]

AFRICAN CRAFT MARKETS are set up as a tourism ploy to sucker (stupid) tourists into splurging money on so-called 'African Crafts', just to satisfy tourists stereotypical concept of 'Africa'. So if you actually think that the entire South Africa is flooded with these "Africa Craft Markets", you are so wrong. They are strategically..... where the tourists flood. Why you think higher end shops like Indaba is such so popular? Can't go wrong with an African-themed shop selling 'African' products at cut-throat prices.

Don't know what happened here but the photos came out blue. Think someone tweaked with the Sony digicam. Nothing compared to the Canon 350D. Ha!

Someone is displaying his bargaining skills.... I wonder who....

Ostrich Eggs, anyone?

I ALWAYS miss the points with these photos. It seems like every Asian HAS to take at least one photo with that cheesy "yeah!" pose. Still missing the point....

:: 03 Sep 2005 : LOST CITY / SUN CITY ::

[LOST CITY : Exterior & Its Surroundings]

PALACE of the LOST CITY : Some Taj Mahal inspired architecture for the 'Palace', in other words, overpriced hotel.

Some fountain feature at the middle of the hotel

The tourists can't resist this animal structure. Ha!

Manmade Nature


[LOST CITY : Interior]

Your Royal Tabasco-ness

Roof Structure

A Touch of Class - The Royal Treatment?

Scones, Tea.... and Tabasco Sauce?


[ View of Sun City from Above ]

As mentioned earlier, Sun City/Lost City is a manmade resort place. So other than the mountain, everything else is man created. The trees are planted by man and the lakes are also created by man. Just one last time - EVERYTHING IS MANMADE.

I am anti-Sun City. I cringe whenever I've got to bring anyone to Sun City. I really do miss the point of Sun City. For a country with endless expanse of nature, I see no reason for wasting BILLIONS of Rands to build this ridiculously plastic resort, at ridiculously expensive prices. Owned by the 'Sun International' group, who basically runs a chain of casinos in SA,

Then again, South Africa is all about industrial monopoly. So who else but the 'Sun International' group, who runs a chain of casinos in SA, Just an idea of how much it costs for a night stay at Sun City -

(exchange rates used : SGD1.00 = ZAR3.85, USD1.00 = ZAR 6.50; figures are rounded off to the nearest tens)

• Palace of the Lost City (5 star, the "to-die-for" hotel... maybe?) - Base rack rate (standard room) at ZAR3380.00 = SGD880.00 = USD520.00


• Cascades Hotel (5 star, my personal favourite for its convenience) - Base rack rate (standard room) at ZAR2260.00 = SGD590.00 = USD350.00


• Sun City Hotel & Casino (5 star, good for the compulsive gamblers) - Based rack rate (standard room) at ZAR2215.00 = SGD575.00 = USD340.00


• Cabanas Hotel (more resort-ish... no idea on the stars rating) - Base rack rate (standard room) at ZAR1700.00 = SGD440.00 = USD260.00

For more information, you can visit the SUN CITY Website

If you're wondering about those cheap tour packages offered blah blah? I saw my uncle's itinerary quoted by one of the Singapore tour operators, the accomodation is outside the vicinity of Sun City. So here are 2 tips for anyone even thinking of visiting Sun City :

1. If the tour package is cheap, DON'T expect to be staying in one of the above hotels.
2. If the tour package is expensive, bloody hell make sure you're staying at the Cascades! Cabanas SUCKS.

Then again, if you are a MVG (I think that's what it's called) gold card holder, which means you have already donated alot of money to the Sun Int'l Casinos, you can expect a MASSIVE discount of up to one-third to a quarter of the rack rate price.

[ VALLEY OF THE WAVES ]

See that hideous Egyptian-inspired animals rock structures? That is the connecting bridge from Sun City to 'Valley of the Waves'. On of those novelty shit of artificial earthquakes as you cross the bridge. The earthquakes occur once on the hour and one of the funny animals there squirts 'smoke' (manmade again) just before it happens. Oh what joy.

Look beyond balding man... see pool feature behind him. That is THE 'Valley of the Waves'. Remember 'Big Splash'? That's the idea. Entrance Fees : ZAR60.00 (newly implemented, do your own maths)

:: 04 Sep 2005 : A Day of Food ::

HOUSE OF COFFEE, Pretoria - My absolute favourite coffee chain in SA. Illy coffee! They make the best Mochas! (p.s. see the Tabasco Sauce?)


PRIMI PIATTI @ Menlyn Mall, Pretoria - Ergonomic concept restaurant with waiters dressed in orange overalls and always scrambling around. Nice food too - especially the lamb chops and chicken campagniole. Yummy.


[ Montego Bay Restaurant @ Sandton City Mall, Johannesburg ]

The famous Seafood Platter!

The Happy Roomies again. Can't grasp the concept of "share-share" but whatever....

Goodbye Johannesburg and cheers to a great tour ahead!