where my shoes have taken me: 11 - apartment hunting and the "black taxi"

my week so far has been great and it's only wednesday. been getting a lot of pretty good feedback, and the party on the weekend was great! i'll say more about it when i have the pictures. i think it works best that way.

i took two dance classes on monday and i loved it! first it was salsa, then a choreographed cha-cha. after that i took the zumba class again, and i ended it with a breathing and stretching exercise. totally loving the dance classes and i think im going to dedicate monday evenings strictly for dancing :) i also took a new class at the gym called powerplate (popularized by madonna). OMG i died taking that class. although the vibrations of the machine gave quite some pleasant sensations...

yesterday was the day i felt most proud of myself - survival wise. i think ive mentioned here before about "black taxis"? yes it's actually called that. i think it's the canadian in me that doesnt make that phrase roll off my tongue quite nicely. anyway, everyone has always advised me not to take that. but i guess curiousity (and stubborn-ness) will kill this cat because yesterday i took the black taxi. a normal taxi would cost me about R30 to get home from the gym. the black taxi took me home for only R5. from the city, it would cost about R50 to get home, and just now i paid R5 again. that is less than $1! really, it's not as bad as they say. maybe im just lucky. i have really good intuition and never did i doubt my safety in these taxis. im going to continue taking the black taxi on my way home because its way more economical for me. when i go to castings, my roommate and i usually drive, but when she's not available to drive, i have a "private driver" to take me places. i flirt with him relentlessly so that he will give charge me a low price, and it works. i laugh now at the advise i got before i left about how dangerous it is here. im pretty much running the town like ive lived here for years. ive always been a good travel. kinda like, "when in rome, do what romans do". i dont get sick when i eat street food (which i do often), i dont stick out like a tourist because of the way i dress, and i take public transit. that's how ive travelled in all the countries i've been to. i also finally found "real chinese food", or at least as real as it's gonna get. the first time i had chinese food here, it was quite disappointing. i love how everywhere you go in the world, there's always the safety of getting chinese food to nourish you. im done eating at the fancy schmancy restaurants and cafes. i just go in to any "hole in the wall" restaus that i pass by and i eat (regardless whether it's "for one") because im hungry. i have no care in the world. fearless!

so just in case you're planning on coming here, i suggest looking for accommodation in sea point. it'll be the safest and "upmarket" (as they call it) place here in cape town. you can also try green point as an alternative. here is what a very upscale vacation apartment looks like. my friends and i were apartment hunting and i took some snapshots.