The Oriental Plaza Instameet: Winners Announced

12 December 2016

This is a quick post to announce: 1) The first-ever Oriental Plaza Instameet happened on 3 December and it was awesome; and 2) We’ve chosen the winners of the Instameet photography contest.

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Must-Have Christmas Gifts From the Maluti Mountains

06 December 2016

I went to Lesotho last week for a work assignment. I was in a rush on the drive there, but on the way back I took my time, winding through the Maluti Mountains and visiting some of my favorite places.

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Four Tips on Car Hire in South Africa

30 November 2016

When I moved from America to South Africa, cars were the most difficult adjustment. Everything about cars and driving is different here: Cars drive on the opposite side of the road, car parts have different names (windshield vs. windscreen, horn vs. hooter, trunk vs. boot, AC vs. aircon), all the cars are manual (which Americans call stick-shift), etc. And don’t even get me started about registering a car in South Africa.

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SA's Dirty Laundry: A Must-see Exhibition in Maboneng

27 November 2016

Enough is enough.

SA Dirty Laundry underwear exhibition
Dirty underwear hangs along Fox Street as part of the "SA’s Dirty Laundry: The Things We Do for Love" exhibition.

Yesterday I went to Maboneng to see an art exhibition that included thousands of pairs of dirty underwear draped over the streets.

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News Flash: The First Oriental Plaza Instameet (With Prizes)

24 November 2016

I first visited the Oriental Plaza six-and-a-half years ago, on 18 August 2010, 12 days after I moved to Johannesburg. I know this because I wrote a blog post about it the following day.

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Long Live the Johannesburg City Library

21 November 2016

I keep reading articles about gentrification in downtown Johannesburg. These articles – usually written by foreign journalists, or Capetonians – proclaim the city of Joburg remains blighted, crime-ridden, and poverty-stricken with the exception of a few pockets of upscale hipsterdom, like Maboneng and Braamfontein.

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