Under African Skies

[laliandra]

I went to South Africa and as promised, bring back tales of Adventure. And I even managed not to cause any kind of international crisis (aren't you proud of me mathsnerd ?), though not through lack of trying...

What you may or may not know about me is that I was actually born in South Africa, in the vibrant city of Johannesburg, to two half South African half British parents, and we left when I was three-ish. I have lots of family over there, now including my Dad who is currently on some sort of Gap Year slash extended jolly slash who knows. This meant that I got to go on a family visiting, cricket watching, showing the boyfriend the homeland and most importantly escape to the sunshine kind of a trip. And it was glorious.

Of course, first we had to get over the trial that is long haul flying. We went via Dubai, which is cheaper, but longer, but meant that I got to see the sun rise over The Gulf of Persia, which has to be one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. And there was the usual constant feeding and more movie choice than you could ever know what to do with. Me and Nat only spoke at meal times!

Nat: Oh hey, what are you watching?
Lal: The Star Trek reboot. It's so awesome! You?
Nat: The September Issue. It's about Vogue magazine. It's pretty cool.
Nat and Lal: *look at each other*
Lal: This is why we confuse people.

After almost 24 hours of travelling we arrived Cape Town, utterly confused by life, and met my Dad who seemed in a similar state, only without any such excuse!

We arrived at our guesthouse and so began the theme of having all South Africans everywhere inform us of the weather back home. The guest house was pretty cool by night, but in the daylight it was even better because, look! Table Mountain!



We spent three days in Cape Town, which is a pretty amazing city, between the sea and the mountains as it is. We went to the cricket to watch England be mediocre, we drove to where two oceans meet, we sunned ourselves under palm trees.

                           

One day we went to Boulder's Beach and we saw PENGUINS. Real little adorable penguins, that you can walk about with on the beach and see their little penguin houses!

We spent that evening having a braai with my unofficial god-father, who is now retired from his job as South Africa's foremost black drag queen. Also present, two singers, one actor/director, who later on fetched the leads from the play he's putting on in Cape Town, and Dad's friend Michelle from drama school, who was in a South African soap opera until very recently when she   was blown up in a gold Mercedes (job hazard, apparently). My godfather tried to persuade me to move to Cape Town and become a French dialect coach. I was very tempted, y'all. Nat not only survived but held his own against the sheer force of personalities present, which was no mean feat, I can tell you. Sadly, he did not join in with our impromptu performance of the hits of Guys and Dolls and A Chorus Line.

My Godfather: You have got to teach this boy more about musicals!
Dad: Just when you thought this evening couldn't get any gayer...

The next day Nat and I got rid said goodbye to Father and got our tiny hire car and set off out Epic Drive. We spent a day in the Cape Valley district, which contains two of my favourite things HISTORY and WINE.

 

We went wine tasting and church viewing and I gave Lawrence the condensed version of The History of South Africa aka Why Everyone Hates Everyone, With Added Massacres and Diamonds The Size of Your Head and Look, It's Just Complicated, We Have Eleven Official Languages, okay.

The next day we drove the Garden Route, which winds along the southern coast of South Africa, through forests into bays that all seem to be trying to outdo each other for beauty. Sadly, our soundtrack to this adventure was South African radio, which, well, it's not good. They like a lot of really bad 80s rock that the rest of the world has tried very hard to forget, and a lot of RnB. Also Afrikaans music. Try to imagine really low budget country and western, sung in Dutch. Oh yes. Se we listened to the Top 40 a lot.

Car:*rounds corner*
Lal: *squeaky noise of delight*
Nat: I know, best view yet, I think.
Lal: No, no! Adam Lambert is at number 5!
Nat: ...
Lal: *sulkily* The internet will think this is cool.

FYI, this was the view. And yes, it was FYE at number 5...




Then we stayed for three days in the lovely, lagoon-side town of Knysna (that n-eyes-na, btw) in the most amazing guesthouse. I mean, it already looked amazing and we'd got it on the cheap but when we arrived the owner informed us that they were really sorry but they had to upgrade us. To the honeymoon cottage. With its own private pool.

I know



Lal: You do realise eveyone else here thinks we're married?
Nat: I can put up with that for my own pool.

Mostly what we did in Knysna was sit by the pool and read and chill out and nap and sunbathe. Let me tell you how very, very much we did not want to leave. There were dogs that came and lay by the pool with us and they made different kinds of pancakes every day for breakfast. And did I mention the pool?

Nat: Do we have to goooo?
Lal: We have to see my family. Stupid family.

So we drove. Drove away from Knysna to the Free State.

The FreeSate looks like this. Which is incredible, I love African Skies and the vastness of it, and the colours. The way the road goes on forever on.




But after 10 hours. Hmmm. We played Eye-Spy about half way across the Free State. It turns out you can play ten rounds. There are ten things to see in the Free State.

Still, we got to Jozi, Johannesburg, and met my charming, crazy family. In Johannesburg there is my Dad's brother, his wife and my two cousins. The last time I saw them they were adorable, slightly bratty tweens. Now they are full on teenage girls, aged 14 and 16. They still let me call them by the nicknames we gave them when they were tiny though, and they are pretty cool. Of course.

10 mintues after we arrive
Cousin Belle: OMG, your boyfrind is MEAN. I'm putting him on notice.
Lal: On notice?
Cousin Belle: Yeah, like Stephen Colbert!
Lal: *<3*

There is not a great deal of tourist stuff to do in Johannesburg, I'll be honest. But we hung out with various relatives, played with the dogs and trailed round giant shopping malls. Me and Nat also starred in an advert for concrete! My uncle is a camera man and needed some people to walk around in front of things made of concrete looking charmed by the world and specifically the concrete parts of it. Joburg is mine, my home city, but it is messy and dangerous and full of problems and crime. But oh, it's mine.

We also watched a lot of TV, my personal highlight being when me and my cousin Millie conspired to watch the Bad Romance video three times in a row because we felt that we still had a lot to say about it.

We also went to another day of cricket. England versus South Africa is always fun for me because I get to cheer for both teams. Ah, dual citizenship! What was cool was that they let you onto the field at lunchtime to mess around and inspect the wicket. From a respectful distance, of course.



Sadly, then it poured with rain, a proper Joburg thunderstorm where you get 6 inches of rain in half an hour. You could see it coming over the city.

That's the Hillbrow Tower with the football on. The World Cup has taken over my country in an all consuming way. I just hope we're ready on time...



And then we had to come home. Which was extremely upsetting. England is cold, y'all. Luckily we missed most of the Snowpocalypse, but still. I had a wonderful, wonderful time, even though I missed you all very much.


In short, South Africa I &hearts U




Anything else you would like to know, just ask! I have about a hundred more pictures than I put up here...

Comments

[mcollinknight.livejournal.com]

GAH! That is all I have to say (other than that our godfather sounds like a person I need in my life).

GAH. Your family sounds awesome (the Godga! The Stephen Colbert!), as does the honeymoon place (and god, the mountains at Knysna look absolutely gorgeous).

I'm so glad you had such a lovely time, AND CLEARLY NEXT TIME YOU GO YOU SHOULD BRING ME.

GAH!

*<3*

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Heeeee!

I think my godfather is someone everyone needs in their life! He also has contacts at the UN (I didn't ask how. He moves in mysterious ways).

:D My family can be a bit much, but they make for the best stories... And OMG, C, Knysna was the most beautiful place ever. They have forest elephants there! Sadly we did not see any.

WELL OBVIOUSLY...

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! My flist has had a depressing lack of hilarious and fascinating stories on it for the past three weeks - and look, it's already remedied by just one post from you.

Just so you know, if you wrote a book entirely filled with conversations between you and your boyfriend, I would most definitely read it. I was cracking up throughout your entire post, I kid you not. It has done much to alleviate the woe that is nine impending chapters of Wuthering Heights to be read for my Brit Lit class tomorrow. (Never before have exclamation points been so terrifying.)

By the way, did you ever get your Christmas package? Because if not, then I am very concerned.

So, I'm sorry you have been returned to cold (and possibly rainy? I'm just guessing here) England, but I'm also glad you're back.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Hiii! I am so sorry, I've had this post open in a gmail draft for like, a week and a half. It's nice to be back, despite the weather. Yesterday snow, today, freezing fog!

Heh, I just work with the material that I'm given. We have a relationship mostly founded on mockery, which probably helps :D

AH Wuthering Heights! Ah, that book! God, I hated that book, we studied it at school. I mean, I don't hate it as much as return of the native, but still. It is set up as The Great Romance and really it's just a lot of very unpleasant people being really unpleasant to each, with a bit of a rendundant ghost story added in.

Gothic novels, not my cup of tea.

Anyway, the most important this is that EE! did I not tell you I got my parcel. I am so sorry! It was waiting for me when I got back from holiday. I love it so much, seriously. It must have taken so much ~work. I loved all the little things, more to add to my wall. And the FIC. You are my very favourite Room writer, you know. It cheered me up no end when I came home. And please, feel free to send me as many James Potter IDEA parcels as you like :D

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

I am truly torn between hating Wuthering Heights for its complete lack of believable characters or a non-melodramatic story and loving it for being so absurdly awful. (It's like my undying love of Twilight. I can't help it! IT'S JUST SO HILARIOUSLY BAD!) It might help that I'm reading it along with Schmoop, which is this teaching guide website for teens and college students I've found that is FABULOUS, and has fantastically sarcastic and engaging summaries and analysis ("Lockwood spends the rest of the night sitting in the kitchen, watching the various household members insult each other."), while at the same time pointing out to you why it's actually worth reading this book. I don't know how they do it, but it's pretty amazing, and the only thing that made it possible for me to write my Dante paper last semester.

I'm so glad you liked it! I'm pretty sure that I have never before put so much creative effort into anything (it was like one of those ideas that latch onto your soul, and won't let you go until you are certain that you have carried it out perfectly), so I'm happy to hear it was worth it. As for being a Room writer... yeah. I had to write a fic for my entry to the ThremedonClub New Year's contest recently, and I think my brain had serious issues when it discovered that, no, it would not be writing about two crazies and their incestuous exploits for once. (At least I got to remember how much I like writing Hal, though.)

And I was wondering if you would be cool with me posting the fic I wrote for you on Thremedon. I wrote it just for you, but if you'd be fine with sharing it with everyone else, I'd appreciate that, mostly because I feel like I don't contribute enough to the community. (And because, well, there's been a lack of Room fic lately, and I feel like this is a problem, considering that Dragonsoul is only five months away.) Just let me know!

I don't have any splendid IDEAS at the moment, but I'll try to come up with one in time for your birthday... wish me luck. (And because it might make my life easier, are you really into Merlin? Or just a general spectator?)

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Ahaha, I could just never love it, like I said, I cannot be doing with Gothic novels. But I totally get the "So bad it's awesome" thing. Half the things I love fall into that category! That sounds like an excellent website. I just to write notes to myself in the margins to keep myself amused with silly books.

I really adored the whole thing, as a wonderful concept and all the little things individually. Heh, you are very good at the crazy boys, they always perfect when you write them, and you really make me believe your ship, oh hell yes! My walls are happy to get more cool things to put on them, too :D I did not know that you had written more fic. I will have to seek it out.

You should totally share the fic, yes! Everyone should get to see it, seriously. And oh gosh, I have neglected Thremedon woefully of late. Most of my comms, in fact. :( Bad LJ-er, Lal. Wow, I cannot believe it's that soon that Dragonsoul comes out. The summary sounds AMAZING, I just can't wait.

Oh, don't worry about it! I do like Merlin a lot, yes, though I have actually fallen behind with the last series a little. The fandom has so, so much amazing stuff, I think that's what makes me love it more...

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've definitely been doing that with Herodotus lately - I think I wrote "OH SNAP" in the margins about five times in the last chapter whenever the important generals kept sniping at each other. Yeah, just because they were important and historical doesn't mean they were above making snarky remarks about the size of each other's armies.

Once again, I'm glad you liked it. (The editing process was a bit complicated, because I only had people to edit it who had never read the book before... which was a bit of a challenge. I think most people's comments were along the lines of, "I liked it, but who the hell are Hilary and John, if Thom isn't Hilary?" and I would have to launch into this massive explanation about pretty much everything that had ever happened to them and how I use their names to separate their childhood from their present and how this is a sign of their barely suppressed guilt and all these people would just start to look at me with these expressions of overwhelming confusion, tinged with mild horror, at which point I would usually give up and go, "EVERYONE WHO HAS READ THE BOOK WILL UNDERSTAND, JUST IGNORE IT, OKAY?") I'll go post it up on Thremedon today, then. (Oh, and the new one I wrote is here: http://community.livejournal.com/thremedon/86388.html . It's mostly just people being angsty and disappointed with their lives... because that is all I ever write about, apparently.)

I AM SO PSYCHED FOR DRAGONSOUL. I absolutely FLIPPED when whoever it was posted the summary yesterday. I mean, I'm also a bit sad, because I was holding out hope that Luvander might just be one of the new povs... but I guess you can't have everything. (Admittedly, I was also probably hoping for something like, "But as they travel through the great beyond, Rook and Thom begin to discover that their bond may go beyond brotherhood, to a forbidden place they fear just as much as they desire it..." or something. THAT WOULD BE EPIC. (And sound like the back of a Harlequin romance novel.) But no. Still, I'm sure it will be chock full of Thom calling his brother stunningly beautiful and Rook putting his mouth REALLY CLOSE to Thom's anyway, not to mention we'll probably get some of those weirdly sexual violent confrontations, sooooooo... I guess I can't really complain that much.)

Okay, so, I've got a few things I can work with there, then... we'll see. But I'm glad to hear you really are a fan of Merlin, since I have about three different fic ideas in that area, so at least I can have those as a backup if I don't come up with anything better. And I am sad that you haven't finished s.2, mostly because the s.2 finale was EPIC and AMAZING and probably one of my absolute favorite episodes, even with all the ridiculousness they shoved in of Gwen and Arthur staring at each other romantically even though THEY HAVE NO CHEMISTRY. But they made up for it times a billion with all the Merlin/Arthur they let us have, so it's all good. But the fandom is definitely FABULOUS, though I think the hilarious recappers I've found are actually my favorite part, even with the giant list of fics I've bookmarked. There's something about having this shared knowledge that this show is absolutely ridiculous, but totally loving it anyway and having fun with it for that very reason, and I think that comes across best in the recaps.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Writing "OH SNAP" in margins is clearly the work of a genius mind. Heeeee! I also put little hearts round my favourite people. Oh historial crushes, you always end badly. Or with beheading. Which is worse.

Ahaha, I can see that would be confusing for the uninitiated. Who have not witnessed the impossible chemistry that is Thom and Rook. Who have never read The Balcony Scene. Also, that is a Harlequin novel I could get behind :D My friend and I were going to make our fortunes by writing terrible period romances. WE had plots and everything, and names for our sassy heroines and rakish gentlemen. Anyway! Yay for fic sharing and I will go read your New Year one at lunchtime. I stealth read fic at work...

I like your thoughts about Dragonsoul very much indeed. Also, yay, a lady POV! But oh boys, I will be most happy to see your adventures, even it they totally joss everything I ever wrote about you. Also new canon is always delightful and I hope for news about all our other young gentlemen, too. Oh Havemercy, it hardly seems any time at all since I found you and loved you and wouldn't stop talking about you for about a month solid. It got to the stage where Nat was like "Don't mention books to her. She will just start on about metal dragonriders and gay magicians and never stop" :D:D

So on your advice I caught up with Merlin! I haven't watched this much TV in ages ( mostly online, my new obsessions = Community and White Collar) and lo, it was just as silly and wonderful as ever. I still believe that Arthur really knows about Merlin and is just pretending or sort of carrying out a one man don't ask don't tell campaign. I mean COME ON. Convinient unconciousness. Twice. I can only suspend my disbelief so far, show. I find Arthur and Gwen very cute but you're right, they lack actual chemistry. I am entirely happy for them to be ridiculous BFFs while Merlin looks on and is amused by their wide eyed puppy antics. But mm, I do not ship it. You are very organised to be thinking of birthday plans, it's not until April. Which, I suppose, thinking about it, is not really that far away. Woah, where does the time go?!

ALSO, adding to this comment of doom that I have been writing for about an hour, I got your postcard yesterday! Thank you so much! It's completely adorable and all the references on the back made me laugh endlessly. Whenever I buy something for someone and they like I always have to resist the urge to say "YES! Right in the girls parts!" because that just sounds creepy. My strangeness notwithstanding, I loved it.

[miabee023.livejournal.com]

TOO TRUE. I had a huge crush on Robespierre when we did the French Revolution (mostly because the guy who played him in our historical reenactment videos was a bit on the cute side), and look where he ended up. Now I'm madly in love with Virgil, but not only is he two thousand years deceased, but he's also gay, so... good prospects there, yes?

I LOVE THE BALCONY SCENE. Every time I read it, it just gets more and more... passionate? Yeah, that'd be a good word. It's not too bad, until you start going, Um, how close is Rook to Thom's mouth at this point, actually?, and then it all just falls apart into descriptions of sparks and overpowering emotions and... oh god. WHY.

I would totally read your Harlequin romance. It would be AMAZING. (All my friends and I were going through the romance novel section at Target trying to find one that would be appropriate for one of our other nertastic Honors friends as a Christmas present. Imagine our infinite glee upon discovering "Claiming Dante's Secret Love Child" after having just spent the entire month prior to that wading through two-thirds of the Commedia. My friend Shelby even read the little sample excerpt, with voices and everything. IT WAS BRILLIANT.)

I KNOW, RIGHT? The problem is, at least you have stopped talking about Havemercy constantly by this point, while I still--STILL--find myself referencing it at every possible opportunity. Admittedly, I mostly try to keep it to myself (usually in writing journal entries where I analyze Rook and Thom's mixed negative-positive connections, in comparison to Royston and Hal's entirely negative or wholly positive ones, though I'm trying to bring in other books too - last time I analyzed the first seven pages of Night Watch to see what characterization methods Terry Pratchett uses to establish Sam Vimes' central conflict and position in life as quickly as possible - IT WAS AWESOME), but even I sometimes want to hit myself over the head and go, IT'S ONE BOOK, ABOUT, YOU KNOW, METAL DRAGONS. SURELY IT IS NOT WORTH THIS MUCH DISCUSSION. But no.

WOO MERLIN. I am totally on that boat - there is NO WAY Arthur doesn't know by now. I mean, wasn't it just an episode prior that Merlin shouted something magical to bring down the roof, about THREE INCHES FROM ARTHUR'S EAR? So, either Arthur is deaf (and an idiot), or he knows and is sneaky enough (at least, so far as Merlin is concerned, though WE KNOW BETTER) to conceal it for some as yet unknown reason. (I would say because he wants Merlin to trust him enough to tell him himself.)

I'm glad you liked the postcard! And I agree - it's very difficult to resist referencing all the random books and tv shows and movies that are my life, but luckily I am graced with marvelous friends who have heard me ramble on about these things so many times that, even if they haven't actually read or watched them, they still know what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure I don't deserve these people and their unending patience, but I appreciate anyone who knows exactly what I mean when I say things like, "King Xerxes is just like Merlin - both effeminate AND useless!" or, "Hahaha, 'brotherly love'..."

And just so you know, I <3 comments of doom and will read them any day of the week.

[vegablack62.livejournal.com]

I loved hearing about South Africa and your family. You could post about them both everyday several times a day and I would never get tired of it. There was too much to comment on. Thanks!

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! My family are a constant source of amusement to me and obviously very dear, so that makes me smile...

[shiningartifact.livejournal.com]

You friended me! Hooray! And then I got to read THIS. And, uh, OMG. Your life is not like my life (sorry about my life).

Nat: Oh hey, what are you watching?
Lal: The Star Trek reboot. It's so awesome! You?
Nat: The September Issue. It's about Vogue magazine. It's pretty cool.
Nat and Lal: *look at each other*
Lal: This is why we confuse people.

THIS was hilarious.


My godfather tried to persuade me to move to Cape Town and become a French dialect coach. I was very tempted, y'all. Nat not only survived but held his own against the sheer force of personalities present, which was no mean feat, I can tell you. Sadly, he did not join in with our impromptu performance of the hits of Guys and Dolls and A Chorus Line.

THIS is why your life is not like my life (the main reason). Your life is awesome.


We went wine tasting and church viewing and I gave Lawrence the condensed version of The History of South Africa aka Why Everyone Hates Everyone, With Added Massacres and Diamonds The Size of Your Head and Look, It's Just Complicated, We Have Eleven Official Languages, okay.

LOLOLOL. How are you this hilarious?


And OMG your description of South African radio! And FYE at #5!! I would have squealed too. I squeal every time Kris or Adam comes on the radio, actually.

when we arrived the owner informed us that they were really sorry but they had to upgrade us. To the honeymoon cottage. With its own private pool.

O_O

Reason number two that your life is not like my life. REALLY sorry about my life. Were it me, I'm sure that I would've somehow been DOWNgraded to a room in a basement that leaked.


I also love that your cousin put someone on notice. Awesomesauce.

This is the best trip recap ever. You should write these professionally. :)

Seriously, it seems like it was amazing. I'm jealous!

<3

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

\o/ friending! I think I have only actually friended about 3 people myself (I am shy and like others to make the first move :) ) so I hope you feel special! Like, precious special, not eats paste special.

You are ridiculously kind to me! Also, many, many points for the use of sorry about your life. NEIL LAMBERT, ILU. Ahem. Anyway, thank you! I mostly just work with the material given, what can I say. My family is a writer's dream...

I had never heard either of them on the radio before! It was very exciting for me! I think if I actually heard them on the radio here I might PASS OUT from excitement. There were posters for Adam's album all over this one shop. I was telling the bf how much better the sparkly unicorn version is. I also very nearly bought Kris's album but it was like 12 pounds and that seemed slightly excessive. But I stalkerly read the liner notes :D

When the lady said "I'm sorry..." my heart sank. I am gentically predisposed to holiday disasters. We have missed more planes as a family than I like to think about...

Being a travel writer is like, one of my dream jobs. Sadly I don't think there is much call for this genre of recapping. It's so sad that my two great like skillz (this and writing boomdeyada songs) are not ones that will pay the billz :(

It was great, but I missed the internet a lot and am happy to return.

ps I hope that you are feeling better today <3

[azurelunatic]

What are the ten things?

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

As far as I remember, car, road, sky, hill, tyre, grass, line, cloud, tree, pylon. The game was called off when I tried "V", which was for veld, which is what you call the scrubland stuff. Nat was not best pleased!

[novembersmith.livejournal.com]

Real little adorable penguins, that you can walk about with on the beach and see their little penguin houses!

I am extremely disheartened that there are no pictures of little penguin houses in this post. You are a dreadful tease.

ALSO OMG YOUR PRIVATE POOL IS EVEN MORE DEVASTATINGLY GORGEOUS THAN SUGGESTED. *__* And you never told me about the pancakes! Possibly because you knew I would have choked on bitter, bitter envy.

That sky, holy damn.

[hanelissar.livejournal.com]

I second this! Me want penguins! :D

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Look below *points*

&hearts

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Eep! Sorry, I knew I had forgotten something. I didn't have my memory card in my camera on Penguin Day (FAIL, SELF) so I was going to get some pics from Nat and totally forgot.

Please accept this photo of a penguin to be going along with! I went and sat on his rock with him, it was awesome

(http://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww127/laliandra/relevent%20to%20my%20interests/?action=view&current=21860_811122937949_197800279_489390.jpg)

THE POOOOOOL. You can't see, but the picture was taken from a little deck with a table and chairs and there was also a little fountain thing. <3_<3

[hanelissar.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have much to say but ohhh goodness me but Africa is beautiful. And your trip sounds amazing, I am very jealous, also of your immensely cool family!

And I am so very, very sorry you had to be upgraded. That's just appalling. I don't know how you stood for it you lucky, lucky thing!!

Glad you had such a gorgeous time lovely!
xxx

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

It really is very beautiful. Ahah, cool is certainly one way of putting it...

I don't know how we survived, Han. We had to sit on our terrace a lot to get over the pain :D

Thanks darling, and it is lovely to be back! I am sad to see that no one has put marmfish pictures up, though. I am disappointed!

[jorajo.livejournal.com]

We spent that evening having a braai with my unofficial god-father, who is now retired from his job as South Africa's foremost black drag queen.

BEST. LINE. EVER.

There were dogs that came and lay by the pool with us and they made different kinds of pancakes every day for breakfast.

And this made me think the dogs made you pancakes and I was like, WTF SOUTH AFRICA HAS DOGS THAT MAKE PANCAKES? WHERE CAN I BUY ONE???????

I'm so jealous. I would lovelovelove to visit SA. I will just live vicariously through your pictures. And Google Earth :D

<3

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

What's the point of having an ex-drag queen kind of godfather if you can't tell people about it?! :D He is made of awesome.

AHAHA, wow, that would have been all the more amazing.

You should go someday! I will tell you all the cool places to go. I am going to put more pics up on the ole fb. Um. Soon?

&hearts

[isil-helyanwe.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, sounds aweeeeeeesome. And warm. Oh so warm. I've forgotten about warmth, the SAD has taken me over so much.

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

The warmth was the very best part. Not having to wear a coat was a revelation... It has been feeling very always winter and never Christmas of late, hasn't it *sigh*

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

There is too much awesome in this post to comment on it intelligently, so let me just forget that I'm nearing my 28th birthday and squee a lot a little.
Your godfather!
Conversations with your boyfriend!
Penguins!
The sky, my God!
Private pool!
With different kinds of pancakes! (what different kinds of pancakes were there?)
Eleven official languages! (what? it's exciting. I knew that there is many, but I didn't guessed eleven)
I'm so happy you had a wonderful time... And after seeing your pictures I think I would like to visit South Africa some day, despite my terrible fear of heat, and the fact that I'm a horrible traveler who gets bitten by crabs and so on if only strays too much south...

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

You're never too old for squee! Also, oo, your birthday is coming up? Would you like a written something? If you tell me now, I might just be able to get it done in time *shameface*

:D, both my godfather and bf are amused by their Internet Fame.

There were pancakes with chocolate, with bananas, with apple and cinnamon and with syrup. OMNOMNOMNOM. I think 11 languages is very exciting! And that is only the official ones, there are a number more that are very widely spoken.

South Africa is pretty mild in their spring and Autumn, actually. I do wilt a little in extreme heat, too. It's an amazing place, I highly recommend it :D

also, your icccccccon! IRENE! IN A HAT!

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

Good to hear, I like to squee! :)
Um, I feel positively shameless, but what a delightful offer! Of course I'd love to. It's March 13th. *oh so shameless*

Ha, they know about it? Additional points for sense of humour! But, really, they both sound lovely, as all your family.

Ah, pancakes... By the way--are pancakes for you the small, puffy things, or the thin, crispy ones? I wonder, because I always imagine what I know as a pancake (thin, crispy, a bit like the french ones?), and then get baffled by the american version. Why, yes, I am thinking about cooking a lot lately. It's cold! :)

Languages are always exciting. *sage nod*

Haha, small steps, small steps. When I brave England, the whole world will open before me!

Irene! Isn't she gorgeous? If it comes to the movie characters, I'm actually a big fan of Miss Morstan, but dear God, Irene is quite wonderful. Plus, I've been smitten with book!Irene for years. Er. She made me like the fact that I have a second name, which I never use, because, uh, pretentious, but it is, in fact, Irene. xD

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Do not feel shameless! I offered! Now, what would you like? I think we share most fandoms... Or you can make me blog about whatever you would like or something like that. But yes, Your Fic Wish is My Command :D

Well, sort of, Nat occasionally reads my LJ and my Dad and godfather know I "blog". I do sometimes get "Hide the porn!" feelings about the whole thing. But then I remember I am strictly a fade to black kind of girl ;)

They are! Yesyes, I can persuade you over tea sometime.

She is very lovely. I ADORED Mary, though, with her smartness and no nonsense and pretty dresses. Yay for awesome ladies for the awesome gentlemen. Irene is a gorgeous name, btw. And you that's pretentious, my middle name is Simone!

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

Oh dear, oh dear, this is hard! I guess I'll stick with asking you to write what you like, and what will make you happy! I still like hot air balloons, and friendships, and steampunk, and romantic travels... Ha, right now literary travels are my one and only, so. :)

I admire your courage! I'm too paranoiac to let my both lives meet... Well, my mum knows that I have friends met in the internet (I get postcards!), but that's all...

Superb.

I am so afraid they'll kill her for the sequel! I kind of wish they all would live together happily ever after on Baker Street, but I'm afraid that's impossible... Although, many things I thought impossible before I saw that movie... :) By the way, I am constantly amused by the fact that the actress playing her played Miss Bingley. I haven't seen her in anything else, so I kind of made her my personal Miss Bingley... :)

Ahahaha, middle names--way for parents to go overboard without being too obvious about it! :) But no, I don't think the name Irene pretentious (it is my grandmother's name! although mum says that I am not named after her. Hmph), just using double names, especially when you have such a short, funny, and definitely un-aristocratic last name as I have. :)
And Simone is perfectly fine. :)

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

Ps. Am I too late? I hope not, because I kind of have something very little I'd love to see written, and it's quite silly, but...
It goes like this: I have never read the late Holmes stories, simply because they were not included in the translation I had. Thus, I never (until yesterday) knew this adorable passage: "The friends of Mr. Sherlock Holmes will be glad to learn that he is still alive and well, though somewhat crippled by occasional attacks of rheumatism. He has, for many years, lived in a small farm upon the downs five miles from Eastbourne, where his time is divided between philosophy and agriculture. (...)"
He keeps bees! Er. I'd dearly love to see a peak into the life of Holmes and his dear Watson as two cranky old gentlemen in a small farm. Poor Holmes and his rheumatism. I hope Watson makes it all better. I hope they have picnics in the back garden when Holmes drives another housekeeper away with his infuriating ways. I hope... I hope I'm not too ridiculous?
&hearts

[kaiserkuchen.livejournal.com]

I LIKE THAT I CAN HEAR YOUR LOVELY LAL!VOICE IN MY HEAD NARRATE THESE STORIES AGAIN WHEN I READ :DD

And man oh man, these pictures! Amazing weather, and the fact that the road really does go on FOREEEEEEEEEEEVER is actually kind of freaking me out. WHERE ARE THE CITY BUILDINGS OR RUGGED MOUNTAINS BOXING YOU IN AND OBSCURING THE VIEW?? I can't deal with this type of beauty aaaaaaaaah XDD

I was wondering about how both your parents had the SA connection, but ahh them both being half-half is totally logical and makes sense. I HAVE LEARNED A NEW MINI LAL DETAIL THAT I WAS A BIT EMBARRASSED TO DOUBLECHECK AND ASK lol fail self

PICTURES I WANT: Those resort fashion shoot pics! Did you end up making some?? That pool looks like a dream come true though ahhhhh a private pool~~ LOOK AT YOUUU, MR AND MRS ~*DECADENT*~ XDD

OH and will that concrete advert ever be uploaded to YT by any chance?? ;Db

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

You got the EXCLUSIVE SCOOP, bb.

I am so delighted by how some of the pics came out, ngl. I have lots of pictures of the crazy road to the horizon-ness because I just couldn't believe it. And it was like that for HOURS AND HOURS. It's so different to anything else I have ever, ever seen.

Hee! Ask away, bb. My family can be confusing. Both parents have SA dads and non SA mums. My Dad was born in England and grew up and Johannesburg and my mum was born in Petermaritsburg and grew up in England. Then she moved back to Joburg and met my Dad there. And then I was born there and then we all moved to England.

PHEW.

Yes, I think we do have some fakey fashion shoot pics. And my cousin took lots of ridiculous ones that I think you will enjoy.

HEEEEEE If I ever get my uncle to send it to us, I will make it known to you.

PS ILU DESPITE READING THAT FIC AND ENJOYING IT AND NOW FEELING A BIT CREEPTACULAR.

[kaiserkuchen.livejournal.com]

NOICE. This the way I like it, oh yessss :D

It is an amazing sight, and I would probably have also made a gazillion pics as well. I also flip out with ocean+horizon pics-- THE DIFFERENT SHADES OF BLUUUUUUUUUUE AHHH ♥

That is so cool! Ahh, the mirrored growing up bits they had going on~~

YESSSSSSSSSS I look forward to seeing them then! I also managed to get over myself and make an image post again, it's fun once you have all the coding done, but man actually typing everything out and c&ping all the image URLs is sometimes a bit much for lazy ol' me XDD

PS IT WAS STRANGELY GOOD RIGHT?? I read a random pure JoBros fic to test myself and closed the tab quickish, it really doesn't do anything for me, and since I refuse to listen to their music I don't see this changing anytime soon, yessss. But some of the authors do write excellent x-over and random AU bits, so it's a fandom that can be warily circled every now and again XDD
I AM STILL HAPPY I GOT TO SPREAD THE "HUH WHAT IS THISSSS" THOUGH :D

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

Aah your holiday sounds so good. *adds South Africa to list of places to visit one day*

I wish I could write stuff up as well as you. I want to make a post on Prague (which was very very very COLD) but I never know what to say!

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

Also, PENGUINS!!!!


Do they build the houses themselves?

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

I approve of this list adding plan. It was such a brilliant holiday.

My method is to relate amusing things that other people say to me. Foolproof! I would love to hear about Prague <3

[arkeiryn.livejournal.com]

I... might be extremely jealous *sulks* I want to go to Africa now! :P *hugs* glad you had a good time though!

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

Hee! Sorry about that! You should go someday, it's incredible.

*hugs* thanks lovely, it's nice to be home again on the internet <3

[mathsnerd]

I'm glad you had such a lovely time, darling. And yes, I am *so* proud of you for avoiding international crises. ;)

*hugs and kisses*

[laliandra.livejournal.com]

YAY *is pleased*

I love your icon!

*hugs and kisses back*