Chris Meistre

The ultimate symbol for cosmic energy (Chi) is said to be the ancient Chinese Dragons.  It is the most powerful symbol of good luck and fortune in the Chinese culture. The Dragon is also one of the four creatures that guards the directions of the compass (or directory of the world).  The Chinese Dragons guard the East side.  They are also associated with Spring and this is said to be symbolic of new beginnings.  They also have the power to provide water to dry lands, which is symbolic to abundance and relief.

The Chinese Dragons have an arsenal of good qualities: success, high achievement and prosperity.  This makes them one of the most popular and powerful of the Asian symbols.

There is a piece of land that overlooks Hong Kong.  This land is called the Kowloon, which translated means The Nine Dragons.  According to a legend, it was named by a Chinese Emperor who fled there after the Sung Dynasty.  At first he named it after the eight hills that were located on the land, but after his servant observed that the emperor should also be counted among the important figures it was changed to Nine Dragons.

The Nine Dragons:

P’u-loa:
He acts as an alarm whenever danger is near and provides protection against it.

Ch’iu-niu:
This dragon is creates Yang energy by using ancient dragon music.

Pi-his:
He provides knowledge and luck.  This dragon also makes sure that continuing education can take place.

Pa-hsia:
Pa-hsia is a provider of support whenever you need it, and will be your strength in trying times.

Chao-feng:
Guards holy places and sacred lands.  This also includes holy temples.

Chih wen:
Signifies the power that water has over fire.

Suan-ni:
He is the protector against theft and betrayal.

Yai-tzu:
Protects against any physical harm that may come your way.

Pi-kau:
The main objective of this dragon is to defend you against lies and false accusations.

Check the long staff skills of this Bear!

We bought a voucher sometime last year that entitled us an experience at Addo Elephant Back Safaris.  Having postponed and postponed we decided to just pick a date and stick to it.  3 weeks ago we decided to go on a Wednesday and so we booked it for today.

All week long I prepared myself so that I wouldn’t have outstanding work that needed to be done today, and it all worked out for a change.

When we got there we were met by one of the rangers.  While signing in he told us that they other rangers are out in the bush finding the elephants for us to ride.  He explained that after a safari, the elephants are left to roam free until they are needed again, instead of being kept in a camp.  I thought this is quite cool, and at the same time was wondering how long will it take to find an elephant in 1000+ hectares.  Luckily it was only about 15 minutes before I saw the 3 elephants with 3 rangers on their backs coming around the corner.

Getting on them was quite easy with the platform that they have made especially for this.  Once on the elephant you adjust yourself a bit and then you’re off.  Slowly, but surely.  There is nothing between your ass bone and the elephant’s moving spine besides your pants.  We did about a 2km round trip into the bush and back to the reception area.  During this trip we got to see Eland, Wilde Bees, Baboons and some other buck.  All the way the rangers explain different things about the elephants which I found extremely interesting, but a bit difficult to absorb all this info.

You sit about 3-4 meters in the air, and they reckon these elephants will grow another 0.5 meters.  Needless to say, you DON’T want to fall off.  No one has ever fallen off though, so don’t let that put you off.

When you get off, your ass is numb and a little bruised.  Not complaining though, just making an observation!

They then showed us how the elephants kneel down.  It’s interesting seeing this huge creature acting like a little dog. A few other incidents as well where you can see the elephant just wants to play.

From here we walked with them to their watering whole, where we were able to feed them treats before saying farewell.

After a nice lunch prepared by lodge, we left to go back to reality.

The staff at the reserve are definitely well trained and I believe a lot of other places can learn from them about customer service.

I’m sitting here this morning, just over 15 days until the first Soccer 2010 World Cup match is to be played, wondering who the people are that will really benefit from it.  For years now the whole of South Africa have been preparing for the millions of Rands of money that will be injected into our economy.

Although I appreciate the fact that it will most likely boost our economy, to the man in the street (and me) what does that really mean?  It comes down to how much money will the 2010 World Cup put in MY POCKET.

For a moment, I’ll ignore all the millions being put into the coffers of the development companies that got all the contracts to get our roads, airports and stadiums in order.  Let’s concentrate on the normal people.

Accommodation

When I think of people making money from the world cup, the first thing that pops into my head is accommodation.  Early in 2009 a friend of mine approached me with an idea.  He is a property letting agent, and had started getting queries from people wanting accommodation for the soccer in 2010.  The idea was to setup a website to showcase properties that visitors would be able to rent during the world cup.  This would not be aimed at hotels, and guest houses, but rather people that perhaps have a second and third home that they’d like to rent out.  A few weeks later we launched Soccer 2010 Accommodation.  People could list their properties on the site and for those looking to rent, they could contact us.  We’d do all the screening, money transfers and paper work for the clients.

This was an instant success.  If I have to talk back about the Soccer 2010 World Cup when it’s finally over, this is the way I’d say I made my bit of money from it.

In a recent survey done by MyPE, it was found that the more traditional way of accommodation renting, was a bit lagging in getting their beds filled.  Noteworthy is one person that charges R19 800.00 for a two night stay in his guest house.

Food and Drink

The second most important thing I believe is the food industry.  Visitors have to eat, and I’m sure the restaurants and bars are all going to be packed.  It will be interesting to hear from one of these establishments once the world cup is over.

This includes all the shops that sell sweets, cool drinks, and all those other lovely little things.

Signage

All the signage that you see everywhere, posters, stickers and the like, they came from a company that got paid to make them.

Merchandise

I think you can probably put a soccer ball logo on any item and sell it as Soccer 2010 World Cup merchandise.  Might not be official merchandise or even 100% legal according to Fifa, but you can do it

Just drive around our city and check how many flags are out there.  Flags on cars, flags on cars’ side mirrors, flags at houses, flags at guest houses, flags at restaurants, flags in shopping centres, flags in… well you get the idea.  Someone (or at least a couple of people) got paid for those flags.

Petrol stations

Thousands of cars are going to be rented out, and those thousands of cars will need more petrol.  I wonder how many more vehicles will be on our roads?

Tour Operators

O yes, don’t forget tour operators.  Without them, a lot of the visitors to South Africa wouldn’t experience any of the hidden gems we have to offer.  There are almost limitless possibilities for someone that took the initiative to get a vehicle and start advertising as a tour operator.  Taking people to monuments, game parks and other hot spots in your city.

Street Vendors

In Port Elizabeth, we have the stalls at Kings Beach and Art in the Park at St Georges.  I wonder if the people will be making these stalls available during the world cup.  Surely it can only do them good?

Driving People Around

If you have a car, you can advertise your services to drive people around your city.  Take them to shopping malls, the soccer games, and all the other places you can recommend to them.  Anyone with a car can do this!

The above is just a few things I have been thinking of.  It just goes to show you, that if you really wanted to you could make a few bucks during the world cup.  So stop fucking complaining that everyone else will be getting rich off it while you sit at home and cry.  You could’ve done something about it, but didn’t.

It’s been such a long time since posting anything about our babies.  We even have a new addition to the family.  I’ll dedicate a whole post to her, Lola, soon enough.

Here’s a beautiful photo that Bernadette took.  It may look like it’s Photoshopped, by mommy actually got them to sit still like that!

Tux, Kodi and Lola

Check more of Bernadette’s work at Raven Photography.