Cape Town - Weeks 29 - 31

With the departure of friends and family in the past, and what appeared to be a routine of life kicking back into gear, I decided it was time to test out what else Cape Town had to offer. Passing up the opportunity to laze my days away at the beach, climb many of the various mountains around the city or even catch up on some old Saved by the Bell reruns, I instead opted to go exploring, leaving the confines of my couch behind, out to find any new and random activity to fulfill my daily needs.

Kicking off the randomness was a trip over to the local Grand West Casino, not to partake in gambling (although R200 did magically find its way into my pocket), but instead to test out what Africa is truly known for: Ice Skating. Alongside several friends, we made a day of gambling, drinking and of course ice skating (the three obviously go quite well together). For hours on end, we skated around and around the ONLY ice rink in all Cape Town (Population = ~ 3 million), desperately avoiding the deep gashes in the ice which could easily trap one’s entire skate. When the day was over, I was thankful to have had zero falls, as well as a fond reuniting with the once forgotten sub-freezing temperatures of my cold home back in Michigan.

Random event #2 was a first in a lifetime for me, as myself and my friend Carl went to “fight night” at the local Muay Thai fight club. Similar to kickboxing, Muay Thai is a very traditional art, involving several pre-fight rituals, as both fighters march around the ring, bowing, praying, and doing other ritualistic dances, all while the equivalent of 8th century Chinese techno music plays in the background (just imagine a painfully slow techno song, with the deep beats of the music replaced by strange/eccentric-sounding string and wind instruments). Thus, alongside about 1,000 other blood-thirsty fans, we watched fighters ranging from ages 16-30, partake in 3-4 rounds of kicking, punching, elbowing, and kneeing eachother to defeat. One fighter, aptly named “The Bulldog,” will most likely never be forgotten, as I unfortunately found myself in a very awkward face-to face with him at the post party, after accidentally hitting on his girlfriend while he retrieved a drink for her from the bar. Ummmm… my bad?

While avoiding fatality from the Bulldog wasn’t enough, I decided to cheat death again, this time while participating in random event #3 – The Gyrocopter ride from hell. With two successful Gyrocopter rides in the past, I decided to test my luck in the 50MPH gusting winds of the day, and go up for ride #3. If the overall lack of pictures say anything about this adventure (as holding on was more of an imperative for the flight), it was, to say the least, not too fun. In approximately five minutes, we managed to free fall almost ten times out of the sky, while continuously flying sideways (as pursuing a straight vector would have sent us into an uncontrollable spin). To summarize the day, I will quote my mom’s cousin (the pilot): “Well, that was the worse wind I’ve ever flown in.” (Note: This is coming from a veteran pilot of 10+ years). Good times!

Thus, aside from ice skating in Africa, watching Chinese techno fighting and of course cheating death, the greatest highlight of the past few weeks was one I certainly did not expect whatsoever. Waking up around 10am on a Monday morning, I decided it was time to check my stocks, and see how much money I had worthlessly thrown away into the thriving American economy. Well, to my surprise, my account, which usually fluctuates between $2,000 - $3,000, was instead hovering closer to about $2.4 Million. Yes, I said Million. A small penny stock I had once bought for about $500, had decided to jump up from about $0.18/share to $2000/share on one single trade. For about 10-20 nerve-racking minutes, I tried desperately to rid myself of my shares, and say goodbye to an inevitable future of 9-5 life. Unfortunately, destiny was not on my side this day, as my apparent bought of good luck had turned out more to be a “freak stock market error.” Thus, instead of having $2.4M in my pocket, I instead reverted back to $200, and welcomed the unavoidable future of having to live a “real life.” As they say in South Africa, “Ach, shame.”

Well loyal blog readers, tis all for now. I leave you all with a single request. If anyone has a Slingbox, or knows of anyone with a Slingbox, I would desperately love to watch Michigan play in the Frozen Four (and hopefully championship game), airing this Thursday, 4/10. Please email me at msoskolne@gmail.com if you do, and I will return the favor with my love, and plenty of hugs on my return to the States.

Onto the pics:

	Ice in Africa! (notice the Red Wings pride I'm sporting)
	Muay Thai boxing match - Kickboxing to the beat of 8th century Thai partiers/clubbers
	Dreads vs. The Italian - Matchup of the century
	Trying out my taste in fashion -- I call this style "Home Wrecker"
	View of my neighborhood of Sea Point before sunset
	Camps Bay after sunset
	My 1st care package! Apple Jacks, Rye Chips, Dry Ranch Packages & of course a collared shirt with an interesting logo... what more could i ask for?! (more maybe? hint hint...)