I write this post sitting on a freezing cold low cost flight with an eclectic mixture of French toast, fried Chinese noodles and salt & vinegar chips coursing through my metabolic system, washed down neatly with a Triple XXX Glaceau Mineral Water (as if I haven’t had enough of the stuff over the past two weeks – the double vodka infused version last night at the JHB 27Dinner was particularly noteworthy).

It’s perhaps worth mentioning that I started this trip on Tuesday afternoon by downing a half cup of airport coffee (hazelnut flavour with foam nogal) – my first shot in 10+ years. I’m not usually prone to consuming foodstuffs to be polite as my out right refusal to eat sushi will attest, but the person I was with was so chuffed that they had ordered me a beverage in my two-prong-plug-searching absence that I simply couldn’t say no.

I came to Jo’burg for business, but no trip to this grid locked city is ever only for capital gain. The visit to the Chinese shopping market near EastGate where Jesus lights and red patent leather body suits are a must buy and the ‘celeb’ (and I use this term loosely folks) studded 27Dinner are only two examples of how one can keep busy without putting too much effort into it.

I do fly home victorious though having secured our biggest client in the online space to date, and with the knowledge that Rocking the Daisies is going to be bigger and better than ever before.

*Shuts mouth on account of important yet pesky NDA*

That said my body aches, my head is spinning and I feel 10 years older – if only for knowing that even in the Twitterverse there is politics and that a bankie now costs 100 bucks a pop.

Good thing my green days are long gone.

But I am finally managing to connect the dots and must admit I am immensely proud of myself. It’s such a sense of accomplishment for a fiercely independent individual like me to be able to drive around in a huge and foreign city – seriously, it’s a different world up here – and ‘know’ where I am going.

The Cape Town VS Johannesburg debate is never one I have engaged in. I live in Cape Town because I was raised here, my business and family are here, most of my friends live here and because I love the lifestyle, the scenery and the tranquility. It also happens to be in close proximity of our family beach house and farm, which is a bonus. (Here I must stop and thank my lucky stars for how blessed I am to have both these spots at my disposal.)

What I have come to realise though, is that JHB can be a great place to hang out and do business in.

Things that have caught my attention over the last few days include:

• The jacaranda trees in full bloom blow my mind. I never could have imagined how beautiful it can be and no photo’s I have seen thus far do it justice.
• The electric storms are amazing. The brooding sky that rips open when the first bolts of lightning release the rain is breath taking. It’s muggy and hot, and deliciously refreshing all at the same time.
• The traffic is beastly. Granted my 2 hour stint to drive 10km’s was due to a sub station being hit and all the traffic lights being diminished to 4-way stops, but hell it’s depressing. And to think there are some people that spend up to 5 hours a day on the road!
• The street trading is far more vibrant – here they sell roll-on lawn next to the side of the road. Seriously, who wakes up in the morning and thinks: “Mmm, I think I’ll go out and buy myself a patch of lawn from that guy by the robot”? That’s just strange man.
• Mall mentality is a reality.
• The restaurants are good, but they pale in comparison to what we have on offer in Cape Town. That said, the crumpets with mascarpone, bacon, strawberries and honey that I devoured at Nice in Parkhurst this morning, were gastronomical.
• Old JHB is beautiful and I could, at a push, imagine myself living here. If the traffic and the rat race mentality were obliterated, who knows…

See you on the 11th Jozie, I look forward to it.

*The directions were a little wonky but we got there eventually