Category: South African Culture

  • Win 2 tickets to Manchester United vs Amazulu in Durban – 18 July 2012

    Win 2 tickets to Manchester United vs Amazulu in Durban – 18 July 2012

    I got an exciting email the other day from the team at DHL offering me 2 tickets to give away on my site to the exciting Manchester United versus Amazulu game, which is happening next week Wednesday at Moses Mabhida Stadium. I immediately replied, and said I would love to give these away, knowing the type of atmosphere and game it will be. There is no doubt that Manchester United is one of the world’s leading sporting teams. They are the best supported club in the world with over 659 million supporters worldwide and over 173 million in Africa, and have won more than 50 major titles.

    The whole Manchester United squad is visiting South Africa on a training tour and will be playing games in Cape Town & Durban only. DHL, as the official logistics partner to Manchester United, is giving away 2 tickets to 1 lucky reader on my blog to the Manchester United Pre-Season Tour. In addition they will also win 2 sets of Manchester United merchandise including a t-shirt, cap, scarf, lanyard, keyring and drawsting bag.

    Manchester United team who are visiting Durban & Cape Town on the DHL Tour 2012, warm up at Old Trafford. Fabio, Rafael and Johnny Evans

    To win this awesome hamper, all you need to do is leave a comment on the post below saying why you should go, or simply post the following on Twitter “I just entered to win 2 tickets & hamper to the Man Utd vs Amazulu game on @MarcForrest’s blog – http://bit.ly/DHLManUtd  #DHLManUtd”  Don’t forget the Hashtag ! Seriously. It is THAT easy :)

    The competition closes on Monday 18 July 8am and winners will need to be based in Durban to collect their tickets & hamper. Winners will be chosen by random.org for each comment or tweet entered. Good luck, and keep an eye out next week for the winners. It’s going to be a CRACKER of a game.


  • Lady Gaga in South Africa info

    So after much speculation and rumours abounding, it was finally announced this morning that world superstar and entertainer Lady Gaga will be performing in SA later this year

    Here are a few points you should know

    • Joburg (Soccer City) 30 Nov & Cape Town (Cape Town Stadium) 3 Dec
    • The Darkness (I believe in a thing called love) & Lady Starlight as opening acts
    • Tickets start at R315 for seated tickets
    • Standing tickets are R715
    • There are NO Golden circle tickets
    • Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning ONLY on Computicket.com. Max 8 tickets per person
    • Store sale tickets will start on Thursday 21st for JHB & Friday 22nd for CT
    • A queuing system will be used to book tickets, and you only pay when you get to the front of the queue. Hopefully this means no site crashes !!
    • 2 other packages called Government Hooker (which gets you early entry) & Highway Unicorn (which looks like VIP seated tickets) will also be available (No pricing yet)
    • Seating Plans for JHB & CT
    • Official Press release here
    • Check out the Computicket Facebook app for more info
  • Humanwrit.es launches !

    A couple of months ago I had supper with Jason Bagley & Rich Mulholland while I was in Cape Town. They told me about their exciting new project called Humanwrit.es which sounded very very cool !

    Humanwrit.es is a 192 page square format notebook you buy from the site for $20 (& $3 shipping in SA) and once you have done that, they donate 10 school workbooks back into the schools & communities. This means that even though you getting a super cool notebook, you also helping someone less fortunate out, and giving them access to something they would have never had before. The concept is very similar to the Tom Shoes business model which is hugely successful overseas, and gives children a pair of shoes for every pair of shoes bought through the site.

    I am really excited for Jason, Rich & Adrian, and wish them the best success in their venture. I know it will be a resounding success !! You can follow the Humanwrit.es story on their Facebook page and order your own Notebook at http://humanwrit.es/

    I have just placed my order, and I suggest you place yours soon :)

     

  • A day out with the Daytona Group driving Aston Martins, Rolls Royces & a McLaren

    Yesterday I got an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity to join in on a press day with the team from the Daytona Group, to test drive a couple of brands the import. The Daytona group are the sole importers & distributors of the Aston Martin, Rolls Royce & the McLaren brands into South Africa.

    Initially I opted to take a drive in the McLaren MP4-12C, but was fortunate enough to get to drive all 3 brands, including the Aston Martin Rapide & the Rolls Royce Ghost. In total around 10 Mil worth of cars !!

    The Aston Martin Rapide was up first, and in practical terms was the pick of the day. The Rapide is a V12 600 NM horse powered car, which has a top speed of around 295 km/h. The car has immense amount of power, and my drive up the coast and back went by rather quick, leaving me wanting more. It is such a versatile car in terms of, you can drive it around town, or you can take it out on a Sunday Morning for a speed test. It also has an amazing Bang & Olufsen sound system included as well. All round, the most “practical” car of the lot & with a price tag of around R3.3 Mil, this car has become a life goal of mine. One day :) Interestingly there are currently around 600 or so Aston Martin’s  on the road in South Africa, making it one of the fastest growing & more popular luxury brands in South Africa at the moment.

    Next up was the Rolls Royce Ghost. With around 150 Rolls Royces in South Africa at the moment, and a price tag of around R4.4 mil for the entry level Ghost, I can see why people would want to drive this car. It is the ultimate luxury vehicle. It just has everything. You name it, the Ghost has it. What an absolute pleasure to drive, and even though it is has similar engine specs to the Rapide, it is a totally different drive and in a class of it’s own. The Ghost has an 8 speed gearbox, a 6.6 litre v12 engine with a governed top speed of around 259km/h. It really is a gentleman’s car, and one you aspire to own, and have someone drive you around in it. I was very surprised at the comforts of this car.

    Finally, I got to drive the McLaren MP4-12C, the highlight of the day. When I got the invite to the “Best of British Roadshow” press day, I was asked which car I wanted to drive, and after a quick poll on my Facebook page, the response was overwhelming in favour of the McLaren. But, before I had the chance to actually get behind the wheel, I was treated to a drive by Ryan Barwell, the Operations Director for the Daytona Group in South Africa. There is no doubt that Ryan has driven the McLaren a couple of times before, so when he turned to me and said “By the end of the offramp, we should be at around 180km/h”, I knew I was in for a treat. Actually, “treat” is a too fallible word. “Life changing” might be better suited. Look, I can’t vouch to say if we hit that 180km/h. We may have. But seeing as the speed limit on that road is 100km/h, I’m pretty sure we topped out at “around” 110km/h, only about 10km/h over the legal speed limit ;)

    Needless to say, the next 7 minutes up the coast to Sibaya from Umhlanga were literally a blur. A heart racing fuel infest blur, that, quite honestly, words fail to describe. The McLaren MP4-12c is a 7-speed, 441 kW amazing piece of machinery. With 3.3 seconds to get you from 0-100 km/h, you are guaranteed of an unbelievable life-changing experience.
    Actually, before we got in the car, Ryan tried to explain that feeling to me; “If you have kids, and you watch them achieve something for the first time in their life, like finishing a puzzle, or completing something, there is this sense of sheer elation of fulfillment on the kids face once they have done it. A huge smile, and nothing else matters to them in the world, apart from completing that task. Now that’s how you will feel after driving the McLaren MP4-12C” And, he hit the nail on the head. I got to drive the car back from Sibaya, and for the fear of my MIL reading my blog, I may or may not have hit a speed starting with a 2 and ending with two zero’s along a straight stretch of highway. Maybe. Possibly.

    If you ever get the opportunity for a drive in the McLaren, I would suggest grabbing it with both hands. There are only 14 of these cars in South Africa, and an amazing, amazing car.

    A huge thanks to the guys at the Daytona Group for the invite. It was a fantastic morning. You can see a couple of pics I took in the Facebook Album I put up. You can also keep up with the Daytona Group on Twitter or Facebook to see what they up to and see launches of any new cars & brands in South Africa.

     

  • ShoutSA 2012 Video

    I came across this awesome video today for the Shout SA Campaign, which is a campaign against crime in South Africa. I took a quick listen to the track, and am pretty impressed. There are over 30 artists in the video, including most of the popular SA bands like DannyK,  Prime Circle, Just Jinger & Freshlyground & loads loads more…

    Check out the video below:

    [youtube id=”W7Q2AcmyGvY”]

    What do you think of the video ?