Thursday,
27 December 2018
We woke up early and finished packing. We checked
out the hotel at 06:00 and walked over to Shell pump station. We had to queue
at the office first to get baggage tags for our bags then having got the bag
tags, we went to load our bags into the baggage container before boarding the
coach. The coach left at 06:45.
It took a while to clear immigration at the South
African side. We had to collect our bags which someone had dumped and bring
them to another bus. Thankfully we managed to find a couple of seats at the
lower deck for ourselves. We stopped at a big rest area after an hour or so
into South Africa. The bus let off some passengers at Pretoria first before
continuing on to Johannesburg. We had to stop at a Shell pump station outside
Johannesburg as bus had issues with starting and waited 30 minutes for the
replacement bus. I sat next to a white woman who reluctantly let me sit next to
her although she was invading into my personal space from the way she
positioned herself. There was a white man across the aisle but he had his fancy
DSLR camera on the seat next to him and he didn’t offer to pick up his camera.
Welcome to South Africa where the privileged white minority control the
economy, politics and country and the others are treated like second- or even
third-class people.
The bus arrived at Park Station at 15:10. We went
into the station building and I decided someone should stay with the bags while
the other went to change money. HI went up to the money changer and returned
about 20 minutes later. We then went to find information and it was a good
thing we did that as we were told by the ladies at the info counter that it was
dangerous for us to walk out as we would be attacked and mugged. One of them
explained that it was a ‘quiet’ or low season what with people being away for
holidays and we would be ideal victims for preying thugs. Whoa. I read that
Jo’burg has a high crime rate but I didn’t expect it to be that.
One of the ladies then accompanied us out and led
us to a waiting cab. She introduced us to the cabbie as her uncle or some kin
and the elderly uncle drove us to our Airbnb on Loveday Street. The cab fare
cost us a hefty USD10! Our apartment is on the eighth floor (thank God there
was a lift!) and we went into the big apartment. I had opted to stay at Airbnb over
hotels as the two hotels I earlier set my eyes on were located slightly further
from the centre. We could see Gandhi Square from the kitchen windows. The
apartment didn’t have any fan or air-conditioner so I messaged the Airbnb hosts
and before long, a porter came to deliver a fan.
View from the kitchen windows
We ventured out later in the afternoon to Gandhi
Square. Maybe we were still spooked by the ladies at the train info counter but
we were wary throughout and before long, HI suggested we return to the
apartment. We spotted Woolworth Supermarket and headed there to buy some
groceries before returning to the apartment.
We had a good rest that evening.
Friday, 28 December 2018
I had fantasised going to Pretoria today but HI
pointed out that she had checked we needed transportation even in the city so
we ventured out after 09:00. The banks were opened today and we went to check
the buses at Gandhi Square. I had searched and found a bus to the airport but
we were told that no buses run during weekends. That’s strange, I thought,
surely all these people would still need to use the bus during weekends?
We then went to Reef Hotel on Anderson Street just
around the corner from the apartment and asked for any tours. Unfortunately,
tours had left for the day. We returned to the apartment feeling dejected.
After a while, we decided to brave it and went out to Johannesburg City Hall,
stopping en route at Beyers Naude Square. After that we walked up a few blocks
to Carlton Centre (the tallest building in Africa since 1973 and once the tallest
building in the southern hemisphere) where we paid for tickets to The Top Of
Africa. Now, most buildings in Jo’burg (that area at least) looked depressingly
old like you just stepped back into 1970s. On one hand, it was depressing that
most buildings looked that derelict but on the other hand, I marvelled at the
fact that even back in 1970s, the city already had many tall buildings. We paid
30 Rand each to get to level 50 (the building has 51 floors) – the lift took us
only 50 seconds! - for a panoramic bird’s eye view of the city. The other
visitors were mainly white and some Latin visitors. We spent about an hour
there before getting down.
City Hall
View from Top of Africa
You can see Gandhi Square and City Hall from here
We headed back to the apartment stopping en route
at Woolworth to get some food for lunch and dinner. We decided not to change
any more money so I paid for the purchases with my credit card.
We stayed in for the rest of the day.
Saturday, 29 December 2019
I woke to a foggy wet morning. We finished packing and left the
apartment after breakfast at around 09:00 and went down. We
asked Abram, the guard, to call Uber for us to the airport but we had problem
with the apps (it asked Abram’s PayPal and Facebook, both of which we didn’t
think he had and when I tried to key in my PayPal details instead, it didn’t work).
Luckily a woman came by and she helped us book a ride using her Taxify app. One
driver accepted our request instantly and would arrive within 3 minutes. The fare
turned out to be lower on Taxify too compared to Uber and if there were two of
you together, it makes more sense to take Taxify or Uber to the airport instead
of the Gautrain.
It
took us about 25 minutes to get to OR Tambo International Airport. We immediately
went to Cathay Pacific check-in counters and didn’t have to wait too long to
drop off our bags and get our boarding passes. We then went in and browsed some
duty-free shops to finish our Rand (we had not shopped at all on this trip
except for those Woolworth trips). After that we walked to Shongololo Lounge to
rest. The food provided at the lounge was good and plentiful.
We
boarded the plane at 11:45 and I settled into my seat. The flight was full and
as I wanted to sit nearer the front, I had to settle to sit two seats away from
the aisle. It was noisy at times with Cantonese and Mandarin conversation. I sat
reading Ken Follett’s Edge of Eternity. I couldn’t sleep as usual and was determined
anyway to finish the book.
Sunday,
30 December 2018
We
landed at Hong Kong International Airport just before 07:00 and went through
the transfer process before heading to our next gate. It had been a while since
I was last there (2012) and the airport seemed bigger than before. Either that
or we had a long way to walk form our gate where we disembarked. We boarded the
plane at 07:45 and I immediately dozed. I woke up to a quarrel among the
passengers in the back row of the middle four-seat and the cabin crew trying to
control them. Just because one can fly is no guarantee that one has manners or social
etiquette.
We
landed at KLIA at 12:30 and our bags came out very early. I travelled into the
city to drop off my backpack for repair at my cobbler and only reached home after
16:00 in the hot afternoon.
So
that was my end of the year trip. If I manage to go to South Africa again, I’ll
be sure to visit Cape Town, insyaAllah.
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