FIFA 2010 - Day5&6

June 15 - Didn't sleep too well that night. so slept in till 10:00am. Walked to Sandton - it was a very cold day. Walked around Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton Shopping Centre. Went to the Sony tent and watched 3D TV - FIFA match highlights; Kaka's movie; Shakira's 'Waka Waka' - a wonderful experience. Went back to the guest house to refresh and watchd the 2nd half of Slovenia v. New Zealand (1-1).

At 3:30pm headed to Sandton Casino to watch Portugal v. Ivory Coast (0-0). Had a big Jalapeno Burger, fries and draught for $5. Got 2 buses to Ellis Park (1 3/4 hrs). Watched Brazil v. Korea Rep (2-1). One of the Brazilian TV crews, mistaking me for a Brazilian, wanted to interview me after the game - unfortunately I couldn't fake it as I couldn't speak Portugese. Got the 2 buses back and got to the guest house at 12 midnight.

It was a bitterly cold night. My cold and sore throat that I've had for some days just got worse.

June 16 - Up at 8:00am and walked to Intercontinental hotel. We were supposed to get a "Hop & Ride" bus tour of J'Burg City at 10:ooam. Glenda called us to say that the tour had been cancelled due to cold weather; howewer, she sent a private driver. As the driver, Muhammad, later put it - "it was destiny" - as he gave us a great and insightful tour. We went to Constitutional Hill; Constitutional Courthouse; Independence bridge; Hillbro (where we actually got down to get T-Shirts and Vuvuzelas very quickly - quarter of the price but very dangerous neighbourhood); Indian part of the city (where we had Biryani for $3); Mandela's current residence; Soweto; Mandela's and Desmond Tutu's old house in Soweto.

Got to the guest house at 2:30pm. Refreshed. Watched Spain v. Switzerland (0-1). Muhammad came and picked us up at 6:00pm. Drove to Pretoria in his Mercedes, and he dropped us close to the Loftus Stadium. Atmosphere was great as South Africa were playing. We were dressed in Brazilian attire, and some local supporters, mistaking us for Brazilians, wanted to take pictures / movies with us - something to bear in mind for future games.

Watched South Africa v. Uruguay / Forlan (0-3). The local team stunk but Forlan was great. The noise was deafening (again), but the ear plugs and pills have become a routine now. Muhammad drove us back to the guest house around 11:30pm.