Designed for delight!

Thank you to those of you who took the time to take a gander at my blog.  Why no comments???  Why only one follower???  Thanks, Munyaradzi!

I'm still having a few design and formatting problems, but will hopefully manage to sort these out soon and give you a much cleaner, leaner and meaner looking blog.  So, feel free to browse around my little Republic and click on as many ads as you want.  Remember, if you don't click on my ads, I don't get paid - which means that YOU will have to pay for lunch & cappuccinos!!!   ;-P

In any case, on to something a little more delightful...

To those of you fortunate enough to live in Pretoria, you are probably familiar with Design Square - formerly known as Brooklyn Square.  Nestled in the heart of Brooklyn, this little square is packed to capacity with restaurants and places to chill.  From Tribeca to Cappuccino's to Ocean Basket to Nandos to Col 'Cacchio - you are virtually spoilt for choice.  Plus, it also has a little Pick 'n Pay at the back, as well as a very good Look & Listen.

So, here's a quick rundown of the best things to do...
Cappuccinos
My absolute favourite place in the Square.  With exceptionally cute, friendly, efficient and very helpful waiters.  I'm not going to name any names, because it really is impossible to single any one of you out - plus I know those of you not mentioned would kill me the next time I get there!  (Chill!  Just kidding!)  I have never had a single thing at Cappuccinos that was not completely delish!  The cookies served with the cappuccinos (keep 'em coming, Collin!) can really lift your spririts.  The veal pepe is devine.  The pizzas & pastas, not to mention the R40-00 special on pizzas & pastas on Monday night, take me to heavenly places every time.  The pinapple juice is in a category all of its own.  Do not order the Black Mushroom starter though - it is DANGEROUSLY delish!!!  Don't say I didn't warn you...  Go and check it out for yourself.  Tell them I sent you - it might score you an extra cookie!!!   ;-)

Tribeca
Excellent coffees.  Plus their shoe string chips are beyond devine!!!  The service is somewhat slow though and I have actually seen a patron or two that died whilst waiting for their orders...  Seriously guys, if you cook up your service a bit more, you might turn a nice spot into a brilliant experience.

Co.fi
Like totally the place to be seen, doll!  Nice vibe, excellent music on weekend evenings and the food and coffees are really good.  In a slightly higher price bracket than some of the other places in the Square...

Ocean Basket
Some of the best seafood to be had on land!  The staff are very friendly, helpful and efficient.  Aside from that, your special treatment of Squares has really made me love you!  Get there early though if you want a good spot, as it is full-house most evenings!

Simply Asia
In a word - YUMM!!!  Simply delish food!  Little bit heavy on the garlic sometimes though.  Chill, dudes - Pretoria has been vampire free for at least 50 years now...  One of the best take-aways I had in a loooong time.  Not necessarily traditional Chinese food, there is a fusion of many different flavours, all of which combine very effectively to explode deliciously in your mouth.  Oops, now I'm hungry & lus...

Please support the library in the Square!  The ladies there are super efficient, helpful and friendly.  The book collection is quite good, but like with all publically-funded libraries it could be better.  So, donate all those old (& new) books you have lying around the house.  Especially the ones you got from people who completely misjudged your taste in reading material!  I'm sure they would be willing to receive vouchers from book stores or money as well...  Go on, do something for your community!  By the way - its a good place to pick up cute guys...

Finally, on to my favourite person in the Square:
Squares
I don't know what his real name is, but the first time I met him - I totally fell head over heels in love.  Squares, as I have named him, lives under the stairs opposite Ocean Basket and is the cutest little kitteh you will ever encounter in your life.  If ever you wanted to see a real LOLCAT, he's it!  Squares spends his day people-watching, being fed by mostly the people from Ocean Basket and being petted and fawned upon by just about everyone who visits the Square.  If ever they want to design a mascot for the Square - Squares would be it!  Please remember something very important though: Squares is still a cat and he needs to hide from people sometimes.  So, if you approach and he goes to hide under the stairs, please do not let your children harass him while he is in his "safe" place, or do so yourself - otherwise Squares will take on a very negative attitude towards all of us who love him dearly.  So, please treat our community baby with the love and respect he deserves!  Or else I will personally come and bite you!!!

So long, and hope to see you chilling in the Square soon!  Thanks for asking - yes, you may invite me for dinner and cappuccinos at the Square!!!  LOL!

JC

Last Chance to See

Some of you might be forgiven for believing that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was the pinnacle of writing by Douglas Adams.  That, however, may only be because you have not yet read Last Chance to See.  This book, in my humble opinion, is the book that Adams was born to write.  The Hitchiker-series was but merely a warm-up exercise.  Don't get me wrong though - it was a brilliant exercise nonetheless!    

In Last Chance to See, Douglas Adams went traipsing around the world with Mark Carwardine to go and visit some animals on the verge of extinction, such as the kakapo in New Zealand (LOVE the name of that bird!), the lemurs in Madagascar (would looooove to go and visit them!!!), the komodo dragons in Indonesia (GULP!) and numerous other weird and wonderful creatures.

Although the book was orginally published in 1990, it has just been rereleased with an additional foreword by Richard Dawkins.  Even though it might be somewhat dated, this book is amazingly well-written.  This is Adams the literary genius stepping to the fore and exposing his prolific talent for all to see!

An updated version of the book, written by Stephen Fry & Mark Carwardine was released towards the end of last year.  I still have to read this though and will give feedback to you later on the new book.  In the updated book, Stephen and Mark retraced Douglas & Mark's steps from the previous book and have a look-see how these animals have coped in the mean time.

Aside from the wonders he achieved in sci-fi writing, Douglas Adams was one of the first celebrities to draw attention to the plight of animals being brought to extinction by humanity.  He was a true environmentalist, in terms of loving the planet and the animals in it, before it became fashionable to do so.

Should you wish to make your reading of the book more meaningful, please feel free to make donations - either monetary or time-wise to the agencies mentioned at the back of the book.  Please also make your contribution to the planet by making other people aware of the plight of the animals and plants.

Aside from reading it yourself, this is the kind of book that will make a change in the life of anyone who reads it, so please feel free to hand it out as presents.  (See, I just saved you 5 minutes of pondering about birthday & xmas presents!)

Read & Enjoy!

Welcome to the Republic of Jacquelene

Good day & welcome to my little space on the web.  Citizenship to the RoJ is free to all who believe in freedom, truth and non-discrimination.  What will you find in the Republic?  Nothing but excellent writing, reviews of books, music, products and websites.  You might, however, be subjected to my musings from time to time...  Hey, its a democracy: One woman, one vote - I am the WOMAN and I have the vote!  LOL!  Hope that you will come back to visit me often...  Or else I might get lonely and tempted to invade other countries, planets, blogs - whatever takes my fancy.  See you 'round the blogosphere!  JC