Lifestyle & Entertainment South Africa weekly newsletter - 14 Aug 2012

14 Aug 2012

Lifestyle

Lifestyle, Biz Lounge, Events, Food & Wine, Games, Motoring, Sport, Travel, Wellness, Win

Have love, will travel

We bring you a travel-heavy lifestyle newsletter this week; Ilse van den Berg reports back on the Getaway Travel Blog Conference, Brian Berkman reviews the recently refurbished Victoria Junction Hotel, and luxury safari operator &Beyond celebrates some of their female rangers for Women's Day.

In other news, movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is an original addition to the current trendy vampire genre, and some top comics are announced for the August and September lineup at Emperors Palace.

Fashion photographer extraordinaire Johnny Lai Sang captures the beauties backstage at Cape Town Fashion Week, and we share some pics from our recent #SweetThing Oppi adventure.

Happy Tuesday!

Ruth Cooper, production manager (@biz_lounge)

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Food & Wine

Harbour hotels offer Trade Route promotion as bait

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] V&A Waterfront hotel restaurants have joined The Masters of the Trade Route promotion aimed at getting locals out of our duvets and into restaurants despite cold and wet conditions - something we Capetonians dislike more than having our beaches crowded by out-of-towners in December. Read more >>

Motoring

B-Class is a first class addition

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Mercedes-Benz has extended its new B-Class range of compacts with the addition of two new petrol-powered versions - a move which will be welcomed by dealers and buyers alike after the initial order of diesel-only B-Class cars were sold out shortly after they hit local dealer showrooms. Read more >>

Travel

Victoria Junction, bland new, but brilliant beds

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] When the Victoria Junction Hotel was built in 1996 it was part of one of the first New York-style loft redevelopments of industrial warehousing. The interiors were quirkily geared towards the movie industry, albeit a little verging on the theme-park. On a return visit, after many years, I was disappointed that none of the quirkiness remained following the 2011 refurbishment. In short, what was once an interesting, individual hotel now seems bland. Read more >>

Fearless females

With so many strong, passionate women role models in the history of &Beyond, and what with it being Women's Day and Women's Day weekend, we thought a couple of tales of fearless females would be a good idea... It is no wonder that we have achieved so many firsts when it comes to women rangers. Dee Adams, who came from Londolozi with her husband Tony to help build up &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, was &Beyond's first female ranger. Read more >>

Being a travel blogger in 2012

[Ilse van den Berg] This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the second Getaway Travel Blog Conference at the Upper Eastside Hotel in Woodstock, Cape Town. Man, oh man, was I pleasantly surprised by this travel blogging community. From start to finish the whole ambiance of the conference built up such an excitement in me, perhaps because I didn't know what to expect. Read more >>

Movies

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

[Daniel Dercksen] Whether you think you are vampire savvy, or suffering from vampire overkill, Russian visionary Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is out of this world. It's a refreshing reboot of the genre that gives you a film that humanises vampires and turns humans into scrounging monsters who feed off greediness and supremacy. Read more >>

Music

Warming up winter with the CPO

[Eugene Yiga] Cape Town residents in the mood for some great music this winter need look no further than the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and its line-up of great symphony concerts in the latest season. Read more >>

Other

Top comics booked for spring line-up at Emperors Palace

Emperors Palace will be celebrate the arrival of spring with a line-up of some of South Africa's top comedy acts between 30 August and 30 September, 2012. Read more >>

Galleries

Oppikoppi 2012