we beat the Indians! at Polo, at least.

02 Mar 2011, Posted by Cape Town Girl in cape town, lifestyle, south africa, sport, 0 Comments

You gotta love Polo. I certainly do. Men riding horses swinging sticks chasing a ball. There’s almost too much muscle to comprehend. It can be quiet dangerous, causing all sorts of injuries – stiffness in the neck at craning to get a better view of the men, stiffness in the back as a secondary injury due to craning to get a better shot of the horses, stiffness in the hands from clapping them eagerly together every time a man or horse or both comes near.

It’s not about the goals – it’s about the action in between them. Anyway you’ll be THRILLED to hear we beat India 10 – 7 on Saturday at the BMW International Polo Series this past weekend, which means we’re on a roll as we beat Italy last year too. Fab news. Were you there?

great gift idea for Valentine’s Day

03 Feb 2011, Posted by Cape Town Girl in CTG recommends, cape town, lifestyle, sport, 0 Comments

Couples golf lessons anyone? I think this would be a great gift! Plus Nige is a PGA professional with over 15 years experience. You’d definitely learn something.

Book Review: Born To Run

25 Jan 2011, Posted by Cape Town Girl in CTG recommends, book club, sport, the run diaries, 4 Comments

If you follow my twitter you’ll know that I like to run, but I am by no means a competitive runner. Just the opposite, in fact. I run because it makes me feel good and it lets me eat what I want without getting too porky. I started off running for 1 minute at a time, working my way up to twenty, and right now I’m doing 10km runs in a bit over an hour, but not because I want to ‘beat my last time’. I do it because the fitter I get, the longer I can run, and that means even more enjoyment.

I loved Born To Run because it’s all about running longer rather than faster. It also raises some controversial topics, namely the fancy running shoe debate. McDougall says the rise in running injuries has strangely coincided with the invention of the expensive running shoe. He maintains the best way to run is as close to bare foot as possible, or in your oldest, most beat up trainers. There is a rough plot – the author was told he could never run again due to a running injury, so he embarks on a journey to find out why  these random running injuries occur, and in the process ends up researching ultra marathon runners, the least injured group of runners in the sports world (even though most of them have terrible diets and run for 5 days at a time). I found Born To Run super inspiring, and made me reconsider what my limits are.

Read this book if:

- you want to start exercising but can’t bear the thought of ‘punishing yourself’
- you already run but struggle to stay motivated
- you like exercise because of how it makes you feel
- you already run but are struggling to get better at it
- you suffer from some form of running injury

Did you know that running is the only sport at which you constantly improve? Every other sport sees your abilities deteriorate with age, while it’s the exact opposite with running. Fascinating hey? Get Born To Run here.

Puma Social Club kicks off tonight

01 Dec 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in Parties, advertising, cape town, lifestyle, sport, 0 Comments

Excited. See you there!

UCT Rugby poses naked for Acorn Initiative, helps make your day better

25 Nov 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in CTG recommends, Girlcrushes, a good cause, cape town, charity, girl stuff, lifestyle, sport, 4 Comments

This just in.

Sometimes, wonderful things just happen. Like just this morning, I received an email containing naked pictures of the UCT Rugby Team. Tasteful naked pictures, you understand, shot for a calendar they are putting together to sell to raise funds for the Acorn Initiative. The Acorn Initiative offers guidance and mentorship to kiddies who don’t have access to great role models, and who don’t have a safe space to develop their own opinions and practise expressing themselves. The acorn initiative takes them on outings and pays for outdoor activities and really just gives them a chance to be kids, and to develop interests that might help them aspire to more than what they believe they deserve right now. Lots of kids in this country are just focused on survival, and on dealing with a dysfunctional home life, so this is a great initiative. CTG-backed 100%. And not just because the UCT Rugby Team is naked. A little bit because of that, but not just because of that.

Why how do you (guys) do?

Ladies, really, what more motivation do you need to support these guys? I think they have outdone themselves. They clearly have very, very big hearts. The calendars are A5-sized, and you can order one by emailing James White on whtjam@gmail.com. I think this would make a GREAT gift for Christmas, yes?

Friday? Oh sorry, I’m busy.

23 Nov 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in CTG recommends, Girlcrushes, Parties, cape town, girl stuff, guys stuff, sport, 0 Comments

A couple of pics from the Volleyball shenanigans from last Friday’s Sunset Volleyball at One&Only just landed in my inbox. I haven’t got past the first one yet. Do you see why?

Hmm. It's the ball that catches my eye. No, really.

Okay so 30 minutes has past and I have managed to move on, but not far.

The action. The drama. I'm here for the sport.

So, um, what are YOU doing Friday evening? ;) See you at Sunset Volleyball at One&Only? Yes. That sounds about right.

Puma Social kicks off 1 December

18 Nov 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in BFFs, cape town, drink, lifestyle, sport, 2 Comments

We’re very excited for PUMA Social which will be starting 1 December. I just received the first of the videos they’re doing to promote it and it features Schalk Burger. It’s all about ‘the after hours athlete’ – think ping pong, bowling, karaoke, darts, that kinda thing. Luckily we have killer players with killer skills on all fronts so we’re prepared. We’re ready. Those of you who have taken a beating from team CTG at one of those sports before will know we’re not ‘just fronting’. Click here to sign up to stay in the loop regarding Puma Social events. Gonna be HUGE!

massage club. what a great idea.

24 Aug 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in CTG recommends, cape town, lifestyle, non-tourist attractions, sport, 0 Comments

en masse massage studio - lots of screens and mirrors and beds

As a big fan of friendly human contact – cuddles, hugs, massages, gentle back patting … I’m there – I was THRILLED at being invited to experience an interesting concept, namely MASSAGE CLUB. This is how it works:

You join enmasse for either R550 per month or R900 per month.

For the former you get 2 x 1 hour massages a month, and the latter you get 4 x 1 hour massages a month. Is that not a brilliant idea? Sign me up Scottie!  Click here to view their menu and see what’s available. You can also just get once-off massages from R350 for 1 hour. Great for a no-frills no-fuss lunchtime massage quickie.

Anyway, I had the 1-hour Thai Massage. I’ve never had a Thai Massage before, and it’s quite interactive. It’s a mixture of stretching, pressure point pressing and massage, and I really, really loved it. Am usually stiff due to being a bit OCD about running and exercise so this took the relief of a normal massage and made it amazing with the stretching vibe, and the pressure points – thought you may scoff – really hurt! And it works. Felt totally centred and light.

Where you have your massage

Thai Massage is different in that there are no oils involved – you walk in, they give you a white shirt and wrap pants, you get changed and the whole thing is done on a mattress on the floor. And while i LOVE oils, they can be impractical if you just want a quick massage in the middle of the day, which is where Thai Massage comes into its own.

Teas. Lots of them.

They also have a ridiculously huge collection of delicious teas, so once you’ve had your massage you can chill and drink a cup of something soothing and yummy. Enmasse is centrally located in Gardens in Mill Street. Click here to make a booking.

PS Ladies - guys will love this place. They won’t call it ‘gay’. Treat your man xx

Win some Livestrong Cycle Shades with My Friend Marc

12 Jul 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in BFFs, CTG, bloggers, competitions, fashion, sponsors, sport, 1 Comments

CTG has a wide and varied group of friends, which is what makes life so interesting. One of my specialer friends is a chap called Marc, who owns a company called Obox, who does CTG’s website, but Marc is also a super duper cyclist. And if you think that by ‘Super Duper’ I mean he wears Pink Spandex, you are totally right! Just check out the super!

Boom! (he also says 'Boom!' a lot)

Okay, I know you’re going ‘CTG why are you showing us this where are the puppies and the kittens??’ but please, just calm down a second. You see Marc has been covering the Tour De France over on his blog the last week, and to celebrate the event this year, Marc will be giving away TWOs pair of Oakley LIVESTRONG cycling shades, courtesy of Sunglass Hut. Which is basically like owning a small piece of Lance Armstrong. Kiffstrong. Talkablestrong. Dinnertableconversationstrong. YouseewhereIamgoingwiththisstrong.

Jawbonestrong.

All you got to do is peruse Marc’s blog for the highlights, and then drop him a mail answering this question. Easy as pie. Now let’s take a moment to appreciate Marc’s jawbones in real life…

Hawtstrong. Yeah.

World Cup madness

14 Jun 2010, Posted by Cape Town Girl in CTG, cape town, lifestyle, sport, 1 Comments

The fanpark outside the fanpark

So on Friday we thought we’d take a stroll down to Grand Parade and just, oh, have a little looksee at the fanpark vibe through some fabulous green D&G World Cup shades available exclusively at Sunglass Hut, maybe have some beer, watch the opening ceremony on a big screen surrounded by some excited fans, get a bit of the vibe. Oh how naive a plan that was!

We were smartly turned away due to FANPARK FULL, so we mooched through the streets, ‘taking it all in’, amusing ourselves by eating Vida Lindt cupcakes while wandering the streets of the inner city, taking in the crowds. Those who were excluded from the fanpark just made their own fanpark outside though, so it wasn’t all that bad. There wasn’t any beer however. And we managed to miss the entire opening ceremony except for the people dancing in ghost dresses at the very end. But we did take in the sights on the streets.

Cape Town's Grand Parade on Parade.

No matter, we made the actual bafana game, which was terribly exciting. Under usual conditions, CTG is not big on team sports. She is scared of the shouting. Normally, she is like the neurotic border collie dog who tries to fit behind the toilet on Guy Fawkes eve. But this time, she totally coped. And quite enjoyed it too. Soccer’s cool, it’s like hockey but less lesbian.

And on another note, please enjoy these amazing photos of the fanwalk experience, taken by swartperd, on her journey to the France-someone game on Friday night:

How lovely to be able to walk around Cape Town on foot!

Twilight before the match

Organised, space for lots of people

What a curve... utterly beautiful

So fresh and so green

How have y’all ‘felt it’ since this whole shebang started? Think it’s all going pretty well, wouldn’t you say? Got any amazing pics you’d like to share? Mail me editor@capetowngirl.com

CTG