All good things come in three’s.

All good things come in three’s, or so they say. I haven’t as yet put this theory to the test, however for this particular blog post I think it works.

Obviously it was good being back in my home city, to all things familiar, eating my favourite food, like my dad’s dumplings and stew, seeing the brilliance of Jozi lights, the cities glamour, the fast pace I lived for, the traffic I hated, the people and dynamics I missed so much. It was even better being in my favourite city in the world, Cape Town, with its mountain, ocean and overall relaxed pace it is better known for. It was great being with my friends, my ex colleagues, my family, catching up on the happenings of life without me; and meeting new people who have been following the program. It was such an emotional moment when I had my first conversation in my mother tongue, Xhosa, with my dad and looking at him instead of on the phone.

All these things really filled me up with happiness and it was a lot of fun trying to cram everything I missed and everything I had been craving while away into the short two and a half weeks we were in South Africa. So this is an account of some of the highlights, or rather three of the best nights during our stay.

Cape Town – Smirnoff and MTV Division 7 Party:
The party was held at The Old Biscuit Mill in an area called Woodstock. The space is a favourite amongst exhibitors of all sorts and fashion shows. It’s an old warehouse space that’s very versatile and can be turned into anything one’s imagination declares. For this party the theme was army boot camp style, with camouflage all over the place, tastefully of course, huge bouncers dressed up as colonels or whatever, the Smirnoff hostess’s in cute but authoritative outfits in the same theme. As I walked in, the world outside disappeared and I was in an army camp; leafy camouflage on the ceiling that looked so real, some of the seats were brown military equipment boxes and everything was quite authentic, the space was wonderfully decorated and the atmosphere was awesome. Even the invitation had a badge of sorts emblazoned on it.

One of South Africa’s legendary DJ’s, Ready D, played a pumping set of house, (I really missed house music with the South African flavor). There were about four DJ’s keeping us all in the groove and everyone on the dance floor with a mix of house, hip hop and RnB and Kwaito.
I was most excited for the Smirnoff Ten to experience their first taste of how South Africans party and it turned out amazing. Everyone had a really good time, I got to introduce a portion of my friends to the team and we all had fun together.

Johannesburg – Smirnoff Ten Party, Akona welcoming the team to South Africa.
This was the official party to welcome the Smirnoff Ten into the country, and for the most part a media-profiling event. Over a month or so before the event a competition was also run for 30 lucky South Africans to win tickets to attend the event and meet The Smirnoff Ten. There were photographers and journalists from various media, Radio and TV personalities and the social butterflies of the Jozi and of course us; Ania, Audette, Luiza. Stephanie, Ben, Kareem, John, Kung, Takashi and me.

Side note: I was fashionably late, not on purpose, but it worked out so well. I had driven into an unfamiliar side of town trying to take a shortcut and gotten miserably lost. I stopped to ask some traffic cops where on earth I was and the names of the roads they were telling me did not sound like anything I’d ever heard before. I called my boyfriend to find out if he knew where I was, by the way, I was relaying all this information through a waterfall of tears, weeping and wailing. It took a good fifteen minutes to calm me down. Then, my car wouldn’t start!!!!!! As you can imagine, I freaked out for a little while longer. Miraculously it started and I was on my way. When I finally arrived about 4 minutes later, everyone was there and I felt so special, I was the only missing link to the puzzle and the party got started. So cool.

The party was held in a historically integral location in South Africa’s democracy. The township of Soweto; this is one of the many townships of South Africa where black people were relocated during the apartheid era.

It started out as a sunset cocktail party, Soweto is said to have one the most unexpectedly beautiful sunsets. Watching the deep orange sun disappear into the horizon behind the small houses of the township, Soweto; a place with so much history and an amazing story to tell is really breathtaking.
Once the daylight had gone, we moved from outside lounge area into the hall and then the party turned up a notch with some dancing and mingling. I had to make a speech and introduce the team to the guests. It was nerve wrecking, but good. I was extremely nervous; feedback was that I pulled it off pretty well though.
The party was really good, lots of people, good music, awesome soul food, cool cocktails and lots of interviews. My friends were there and it was really nice to see and how proud of me they are. A great time was had by all and the Smirnoff Ten got to once again experience the warmth and friendliness of South Africans.

Johannesburg - The Braai:
Finally, the more personal and private party; my braai took place the day before we were to leave. It was going to be a chilled out farewell party out in the open.
A braai is a traditional South African barbeque. Meat on the grill, salads, breads and chilled drinks, lounge music, out in the garden on a cool evening under the star lit sky, all in all an amazing and relaxed night.
We chilled out on beanbags, chatting away with a beautiful meal and good company. Most of my friends were there, my dad, my little sister, some radio personalities and DJ’s. It was a farewell to be remembered. I loved it.

It was great being home
It was so hard to say goodbye, for the second time, but at least I got to see my nearest and dearest.
It was very nice to show the team my home and I’m glad they all had an amazing time.