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Best of a Travelife 2012: Our trip to South Africa was the most enjoyable to plan

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 07:48:00 +0000

Reflecting at the start of 2013 on the wonderful TRAVELIFE that was in 2012, this is part of a series of blog entries that looks at the best aspects of our never-ending, and never-endingly eventful travels.

This year was so full of indescribable and inspiring experiences — and we’re certainly looking forward to an even more wonderful Travelife in 2013.

A blessed New Year to everyone

from all of us at Travelife Magazine.

We wish you a year of happiness

and an amazing Travelife.

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Our great South African adventure in November was a pretty epic Travelife of a trip that took us to Johannesburg, Kruger National Park and the beautiful Cape Town area — truly a best-of-breed trip and most definitely a Travelife kind of trip.

It was a very enjoyable trip — when I wasn’t sleeping, I was basically laughing — and the fun started from the moment we began planning it.

I think this was the most enjoyable trip planning for 2012 just because we’d personally planned every single aspect of it, and we’d done it with pretty good teamwork, with a pretty fair division of labor, and no disagreements whatsoever.

DARTS ON A MAP

When we first decided to visit South Africa a few months ago, we’d chosen it almost like throwing darts on a world map.

In May, we’d decided to do a trip somewhere in the world. And then we looked at our Blackberries and decided on a specific date way in advance, as we’re both very busy. Then it was a matter of choosing a country that we’d both never been to before.

I’ve written about this already, but choosing a country or even a destination we’d both never been to is actually harder than it looks. My friend has probably been to as many countries as I have, so most countries are automatically either off his list or mine.

We had to cross so many places off from the outset because one of us had already been.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

Can you believe we’ve both been to places as exotic as Yalta, Sevastopol and Odessa? Meanwhile I really wanted to go to Iceland but he’s been; Morocco was on his bucket list but I’d already driven cross-country through there.

I do want to go back to Morocco again sometime now — and perhaps I’ll do so this year. Looking at my friend D’s photos the other day so made me want to do another trip to Fes and Marrakech.

Cape Town’s Table Mountain

But finally we narrowed it down to Peru, Kenya and South Africa; Lebanon was also on the top of my current bucket list and he told me he was interested in that too.

But after some wrangling over flight plans and world maps — Peru was double the flight time of South Africa — we just knew South Africa was it.

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LONG OVERDUE

In fact, thinking about it now, I don’t know why it took me so long to get to South Africa.

It’s a beautiful country blessed with amazing nature, a great lifestyle, and some of the best wining and dining on the planet. Boy, did we eat in some fabulous places. And it’s not even very far compared to Europe.

From Hong Kong, it took us about the same time to get to Johannesburg as to fly to Paris. 12 hours, and on both ways, we just pushed the “flat bed” button and slept for most of the way. Talk about a pretty painless flight.

And guess what. South African Airways has amazing deals from Manila to Johannesburg via Hong Kong. I saw their advertisement in our current Travelife issue (December 2012 – January 2013) and the prices made me do a double take.

FLY SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

Manila to Johannesburg for as low as US$795

Manila to Cape Town for as lowas US$928

www.flysaa.com

Tel 884-8129

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NO ONE PLANS LIKE TRAVELIFE

Then came the fun part.

I volunteered to do the basic planning for the trip because no one can really plan a trip the way we can – we are Travelife Magazine after all, the Philippines’ leading travel and lifestyle magazine. Honestly. I’ve seen lots of seasoned travelers plan their trips pretty nicely, but so far no one — absolutely no one — can plan a seamless and truly interesting trip like us, regardless of destination.

We always include really interesting things to do, we stay in very nice hotels, and we never bungle flights, trains or restaurant reservations because we know what to do about these.

But back to South Africa. I did remember to ask my friend for his wish list, and fortunately it was the same as mine: seeing the Big 5 on a best-of-breed safari, discovering the new hype and vibes of Johannesburg, and exploring the great dining and wine opportunities in the Cape Town area.

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And for me, I really wanted to stay in the best places in South Africa, which has some of the most beautiful and interesting hotels and resorts in the world. I’m a sucker for stuff like that.

THE BEST PLACES IN THE WORLD

Knowing my penchant for luxury, perhaps, he left all the hotel choices to me, so I basically chose all the places I’ve always wanted to stay in on a South Africa trip.

These are the places I chose for our trip:

The Westcliff

An Orient Express Hotel

Johannesburg

Sabi Sabi Game Reserve
Selati Camp and Earth Lodge
Greater Kruger National Park

Le Quartier Francais
Franschhoek

La Residence

Franschhoek

The Mount Nelson Hotel

An Orient Express Hotel

Cape Town

The Steenberg Hotel

Constantia

HOMEWORK TIME

Then, after I was done with the basics, I turned over the itinerary to him as “homework,” to finish off with things he wanted to do – like go to the top of Table Mountain, visit Robbens Island, where Nelson Mandela was jailed for over two decades, and book all those great cutting-edge restaurants he’s so keen on.

After emailing him the basically finalized itinerary, regarding the non-dining and wining parts of the itinerary, I told him: “Everything not mentioned in this itinerary is part of your homework. You can plan the free time any way you wish and I’m happy to go along as long as you leave enough time for breakfast and get us back in time to dress for dinner.”

We have the same general interests and we both like good dinners — even if he is way more of a “World’s Best Restaurants 2012” kind of person than I am — so I was sure it would work out in the end.

It was pretty great teamwork to create a fantastic trip. It also helped that we both have great staff to ever so efficiently deal with things like tickets and visas. By the time we flew off to South Africa, I think they were all pretty good friends…

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THE BEST FOOD IN SOUTH AFRICA

We filled every single evening with dinners in some of South Africa’s best restaurants, and I think we pretty much covered the cream of the dining crop in the country.

Almost every restaurant we chose just recently made it to South Africa’s Top 10 Restaurants for 2012 list and the chef of one of our top picks was also chosen as South Africa’s Chef of the Year for 2012 — so it was certainly a good call on our part.

And the wining part as well.

That was my part and I chose three wineries. We ended up doing a private tour and a liquid lunch with the lady who runs one of South Africa’s oldest and grandest wineries. We also met up with the people behind one of South Africa’s most respected boutique wineries, and did a sunset wine tasting on the oldest estate in the Cape.

Truly a best of South Africa trip, and one handpicked by us in a very Travelife way.

Read about our safari and our wine visit in this current issue of Travelife, and see our spectacular Cape Town special in the February-March 2013 issue.

No one in our part of the planet has done such a thorough and personalized special on Cape Town as we have done for Travelife’s February-March 2013 issue. On sale from February 15.

And then it’s on to the next set of Travelife trips for 2013….

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Dinner at the beautiful La Residence in Franschhoek

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:07:00 +0000

The door to my suite at La Residence

In South Africa last month, living a TRAVELIFE, I really enjoyed our stay at the ultra-luxury resort/hotel La Residence in Franschhoek. I’d picked all the hotels, and this was among my choices because of its unique design and over-the-top experience in terms of service.

The hotel itself is beautiful, and their service is impeccable. It makes for a truly wonderful experience amidst some spectactular scenery.

I sat here for a long time, admiring the scenery at sunset

A DINNER TO REMEMBER

I’ve already written about what a pretty hotel La Residence is.

Click here to read my previous blog entry

on the design and decor of La Residence.

Rooms and lovely environment aside, though, one of the highlights of our stay was the Chef’s Table dinner. The hotel’s executive chef, Lennard, personally prepared our five-course dinner for the evening.

La Residence at night

As we’re both foodies, we’d arranged to have the Chef’s Table that night; so we already knew that we would be sitting in close proximity to the kitchen, and having the chef spend the evening with us. But what we were unprepared for was the beautiful table setting that the hotel had arranged.

I remember coming in late and walking through the main hallway lined with tables full of very chic people having dinner — the rather elderly couple staying in the next room, for example, looked like they’d just stepped out of an Armani ad, when I’d met them in the hallway that afternoon.

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They’d just checked in as well and we’d had a conversation in the hallway about how beautiful our rooms were, and how very different each room was.

Anyway, as we walked down the long dining area, the diners on both sides all watched us proceed to the very end of the room, where there was this little commotion of people making sure everything was in order, and this beautiful table so perfectly laid out and so dramatically lit with candelabras.

* * *

WATCH OUT FOR TRAVELIFE’S PICKS

FOR THE BEST OF SOUTH AFRICA

in the December 2012 – January 2013 issue

and the February-March 2013 issue

Holiday issue on sale everywhere

from December 15

* * *

A BEAUTIFUL TABLE FOR TWO

The Chef’s Table at La Residence

We sat on a massive table that was set for two, and the decor used on the table was simply beautiful. I’m posting photos here so you have an idea of just how lovely everything was. Please bear in mind, though, that my point-and-shoot camera does not at all do justice to that evening, especially with the dim lighting.

Our sommelier selected a wonderful wine pairing for our dinner

I really enjoyed the food as well. In fact, writing about it now, I can still taste everything I ate — and I’m so getting hungry.

A DELICIOUS SURPRISE

A beautiful table for two

One of our main courses was pigeon, which we had stuffed and spiced so that it reminded me already of Christmas.

“I don’t eat pigeon,” I whispered, “what am I going to do?”

They’d asked us if we had any preferences or if there were things we didn’t eat, but we’d said we ate everything so there was nothing I could really do regarding the pigeon.

Chef Lennard at work on our dinner

And Chef Lennard was so nice, earnest and eager at his cooking, that I didn’t have the heart to tell him about my lack of enthusiasm for pigeon.

I couldn’t very well leave the entire bird on my plate either, as we’d each gotten one pigeon so beautifully presented on a plate. It would be too obvious.

LOOKING FOR MORE

So I took a forkful of pigeon. Absolutely delicious, and what a surprise was that. I just had to have another forkful, and another forkful. And so on. You get the picture. Before I knew it, the pigeon in front of me was gone and I was looking for some more.

Unfortunately, the plate next to me had already been empty for the last 30 minutes or so, so I wasn’t getting more of a pigeon fix from that side of the table.

SINGING IN THE RAIN…

OR RATHER, TAKING PHOTOS IN THE RAIN

I loved this dish. In fact I’m getting hungry just thinking about it now. And after dinner, we walked around the property taking photos of the hotel in the rain, just for fun. Interestingly, the photos in the rain came out like snowflakes falling everywhere, making for a magical effect.

It rained through the night, but the next morning, it was another perfect day in South Africa.

What a wonderful way to remember a perfect stay at the La Residence in Franschhoek, South Africa, living a never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.

The beautiful hills of Franschhoek

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A weekend at the beautiful La Residence in Franschhoek

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Living the TRAVELIFE in South Africa last month

This morning I finally opened my folder of photos for my stay at the beautiful La Residence in Franschhoek, South Africa.

I’d been putting this off for a while, because I know that looking at these photos again will make me feel like planning a trip back to Africa — and I was just too busy until the weekend to even think about my trips for 2013, although I’ve been spinning these around in my head and mentally making tentative itineraries.

* * *

WATCH OUT FOR TRAVELIFE’S PICKS

FOR THE BEST OF SOUTH AFRICA

in the December 2012 – January 2013 issue

and the February-March 2013 issue

Holiday issue on sale everywhere

from December 15

* * *

Our first view of La Residence from the car

And this is why I’ve not written about La Residence in this blog yet — because I just know it’ll get me going and thinking about our amazing trips next year.

But now, I’m in planning mode for a TRAVELIFE 2013, and so I’ve summoned up the courage to look at my photos and be mesmerized by Africa all over again.

A HOTEL LIKE NO OTHER

One of the many sitting areas in La Residence

We booked a stay here for a weekend, during our two weeks in South Africa last month, and I’d chosen La Residence specifically because of the unique experience it offered its guests.

That day, we’d had a long lunch at a beautiful winery with an amazing Dutch heritage — read more about this winery in the December-January issue of Travelife Magazine, on sale from December 15 — and we’d driven for about an hour to get to the lovely town of Franschhoek.

A warm welcome at La Residence — champagne again…
and that’s me in the mirror far away.

A VERY WARM WELCOME

La Residence is located outside the town, but the road is complicated. Fortunately, I’d called the hotel on the mobile and they’d guided us literally to their doorstep in real time.

Champagne to start…

When we drove up to the front door, there was the hotel staff all ready to greet us, and with very welcome glasses of champagne to kick off a lovely stay.

I’ve already written in this blog about how we were practically having champagne at every turn and opportunity. Now you know I’m not kidding.

…and a bunch of roses as I entered the door.

When I walked though the door, there was a nice lady waiting as well, to give me a nice little bouquet of roses.

What a beautiful hotel this was.

Every corner needed a photo because it was all like a well-composed painting. I tried to visually ingest everything as I walked around with my champagne and my roses, but it was truly a sensory overload. Wait till you see the gorgeous photos coming out in Travelife Magazine.

MY GORGEOUS SUITE

My suite at turndown

And I loved my suite, at the very end of the second floor. It was a room inspired by and designed for Elton John, so I’m guessing this room is where he stays when he’s at La Residence.

Elton John is a great friend of the owners, and when he was asked how he would like this suite decorated, he requested that it be inspired by the painting of a maharani from India. He has a signed photograph, in fact, on the study table of the room.

Elton John’s signed photograph in my suite
at La Residence

So my suite was very Indian in flavor. It was also the best suite in the hotel, as it had double exposures and massive terraces that opened up onto the most beautiful views of the area.

The beautiful views from one of my terraces

A TRIP OF THE BEST OF SOUTH AFRICA

Every hotel we stayed in in South Africa was best of breed, unique and interesting. Each of them had a story — read more about them in the upcoming issues of Travelife Magazine. But from a design aspect, this was my favorite hotel by far.

If you find yourself in South Africa and you’re into design and interiors, you really must stay here for a weekend of luxury.

And, yes, just as I feared, it’s certainly prompted me to get my travel planning staff back to work on a trip to Africa next year, and on my trips for 2013…

STILL ON SALE UNTIL DECEMBER 15

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