YOU HAVE BEEN MISSING OUT ON THE PARTY!

Would you like to have a party with a difference or just try and meet up with pals but in a different fashion, why not try …………  

Metrorail’s Southern Line Tourist Route (SLTR) project, launched in 2007, a sustainable rail tourism programme in collaboration with the City of Cape Town and Cape Town Tourism.
Steeped in history, the SLTR winds its way past kilometers of pristine sandy beaches, as well as historical, environmental and cultural sites of significance. Nature at its most beautiful, Southern Right whales traverse the globe to calve close to its protected shores and Boulders Beach plays home to one of the world’s unique mainland penguin breeding colonies.

All this beauty can be enjoyed by the traveler from the relative comfort and vantage point of the train. Special MetroPlus HOHO (hop-on-hop-off) train tickets/tourist rail passes at R30 for a one day pass and R50 for a two day pass allows unlimited train trip between Cape Town and Simon’s Town for the validity period. Tickets may be used off-peak between 08:30 – 16:00 and can be purchased at any of the participating stations.

Interested call us on (021) 449 2366 or railtourism@metrorail.co.za

Picture resource: dwhite032.wordpress.com

DURBAN TOURISM INDABA 2012

I recently attended the Durban Tourism Indaba 2012 where thousands of travel professionals from across the globe gathered. This is Africa's largest travel trade show that aims to demonstrate there is more to destination marketing on the continent than luxury safaris and adventure tourism.

2010 has left us a legacy of infrastructure growth attractive to international travelers.  This sort of growth across the continent also makes it increasingly attractive to international hoteliers, many of whom South Africa, too, is emerging from a post Fifa World Cup slump.

Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said in his speech that a year-on-year 3.3% tourist arrival growth in 2011, with more than 6.3 million tourists visiting the country attest to this. He added that the upcoming 2013 African Cup of Nations soccer tournament was a major opportunity for the country to drive arrivals from the African continent.

Quoted before the start of the massive trade show, Thulani Nzima, chief executive officer of South African Tourism, said to be successful in the industry required the joint effort, hard work and cohesion of all partners to achieve continued tourism growth. "Our industry has done extremely well with our 2011 tourist figures... Now, it is up to everyone in all parts of the tourism value chain  in both the public and private sector  to be united in continuing to aggressively defend our core markets and to pursue new markets which show rich potential," Nzima said.

Africa is open for business and the world needs to know that we won't stand back for anybody. This continent offers a wealth of travel experiences and it is a desirable destination in its own right. The travel and hospitality industry faces a bright future under the African sun." Rail tourism is a new market with only Luxury trains known. Metrorail has infiltrated this market and many were excited about this product.

Indaba is indeed a platform to boost our products and services and we should ensure that we do this.

Picture resource: Africa.net

GO ON AND LAUGH!!!!!

Old man visits college

An old man went to the college that he went to when he was a youth. He knocked on room number 3 of the hostel and said:
"May I come in. I lived in this very room thirty years ago when I studied in this college".
A young man opened the door and let him in.
The old man examined the room, fondly remembering everything.
He said, "The same old room, the same old wooden table, the ventilator and the same old window that opens to the garden. And the same old bed.”
When examining it he found a young girl under the bed.
The young man got alarmed and said, "Don't mistake me. She is my sister. She dropped her ear ring and is searching for it".
The old man said, "And the same old story"!

Picture resource: fallofjames.blogspot.com

The contest by the King
A king offered half his kingdom or 1000 kilos of gold or his daughter's hand in marriage if any brave man could cross a river full of poisonous snakes and crocodiles.
No one volunteered, but one young man jumped in to the river and crossed it without any difficulty.
The king asked:
"What do you want brave man, half of my kingdom?"
The man said: "No your majesty"
King: "Then the 1000 kilos of gold?"
Man: "No your majesty"
King: "Then my daughter's hand in marriage?"
Man: "No your majesty"
King: "Then what is it that you want?"
Man: "The name of the person who pushed me in the river".  

Picture resource: smart.co.uk

fallofjames.blogspot.com

TRY A CLICHÉ

Do you ever use clichés? Do you hear them often? No doubt you can answer "Yes" to either question. But have you stopped to consider what they may mean? People say that you should avoid using it, but I think that there can be much truth in it. If you dismiss things immediately if they sound like a cliché, you might be missing some good stuff. Clichés are simply “unoriginal ideas” and that’s fine. Let’s think of these: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away". Many would say this means to them, if you eat well, you will never fall sick! But I thought of this in a different way.

Try this apple.  Write down things you’re glad about every night before you go to sleep for one week, maybe even just one.   

Read all the entry/s each night. See what happens. Sometimes we need reminders to help us reflect on the good in our lives. Yes I know you need more things (money, car, house, etc), but what do you have now. A bed, food to eat, a mind that helps you to think, feet that causes you to walk, etc. Simple things, yet they have such a profound effect on us.   

Consider what you usually think about as you fall asleep? An assortment of worries or concerns slights from difficult co-workers, things you need to remember… negativity and chaos? Now why not try to think differently each night, one thought.  If you purposefully inject the positive into your brain then the negative worries and concerns get bumped out.

The positive isn’t fluff. Its real things in your life that you’re actually grateful for, you just tend not to notice. We tend to have a pretty tight focus on what’s wrong with our lives and ourselves for that matter. With that tight a focus, you’re really missing the big picture. Sometimes our minds need a manual focus adjustment to see the real picture. Try it out and let me know what you notice.

Let’s beat the # smed2010 group with the positive things we are grateful for each night and see the conversations we can start and the attitudes changed. 

Picture resource: happyisthewhealthy.com    

 

FEELINGS FOLLOW BEHAVIOUR

The average mind has about 60,000 thoughts a day and most of us believe about 99 percent of what we think, said by most psychologists. Some of our thoughts are products of our upbringing and the culture in which we live. Others are the product of our mind synthesizing observations into our own brilliant deductions about the world. Our thoughts help us make sense of our world and our life, and so it is only logical that we hold our thoughts to be the truth. They become our beliefs.

This, however, is where we can get into trouble. We cling to beliefs that may no longer serve us. How many of us know for certain that we are not good at art, sports, or math? Most of us didn't leave primary school without having gotten some negative feedback in at least one of these three areas.

What beliefs are you harbouring that may be keeping your life stuck? What things do you think you could never do? What things shouldn't be the way they are? Who would be very upset if you were to follow your heart? It might be time to examine your belief system and see what thoughts are holding you back.

I refuse to be dictated to by my feelings; it seems to leave me in the same place every time. I want to break out of this mould. Fear (False evidence appearing real) keeps our feelings intact with a behaviour that does not bring desirable results.

Who will join me on this quest ? 

Picture resource:  toysperiod.com  

 

GO ON AND LAUGH !!!!!!!

Some guy bought a new fridge for his house.
To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a
Sign on it saying: 'Free to good home. You want it, you take it.'
For three days the fridge sat there without anyone looking twice.
He eventually decided that people were too mistrustful of this deal.
So he changed the sign to read: 'Fridge for sale $50.'

The next day someone stole it!

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I stopped at Mc Donald’s and ordered some fries. 
The girl behind the counter said “would you like some fries with that?” 

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One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when someone shouted..... 'Look at that dead bird!' Someone looked up at the sky and said...'where?'

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While looking at a house, my brother asked the
Estate agent which direction was north because
He didn’t want the sun waking him up every morning.
She asked, 'Does the sun rise in the north?'
My brother explained that the sun rises in the east
and has for sometime. She shook her head and said,
'Oh, I don't keep up with all that stuff......'

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           My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car
           which is designed to cut through a seat belt
           if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the car trunk.
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Picture resource: amazingafricanadventures.blogspot.com

IT'S BETTER TO PRACTICE A LITTLE THAN TALK ALOT

I think it’s time we start doing a little less talking and a lot more loving. Perhaps you’ll be encouraged by the words of this poem :

Love me not with words
Speak of patience
Show me haste
Speak of kindness
Show me meanness
What a waste, what a waste

So love me not with words
For words shall not prevail
Love me in deed and truth
For true love shall not fail

Talking is such a natural act, we tend to take it for granted. But when you think about it, this life skill is crucial to the development and maintenance of strong and healthy relationships. The flipside of the coin is that sometimes we do so much taking and forget the action that should follow.

I love the following proverbs that envelop our topic:

Talk doesn't cook rice. ~Chinese Proverb

Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold , but so does a hard-boiled egg. ~Author Unknown

Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. ~Peter Marshall

An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied. ~Arnold Glasow

After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done. ~Author Unknown

Well done is better than well said. ~Benjamin Franklin

Picture resource:workplacepsychology.net

GO ON AND LAUGH!!!!

A man was driving down the road with twenty penguins in the back seat. The police stop him and say that he can't drive around with the penguins in the car and should take them to the zoo. The man agrees and drives off.

The next day the same man is driving down the road with twenty penguins in the back and again. He is stopped by the same police officer who says, "Hey! I though I told you to take those to the zoo."

The man replies "I did. Today I'm taking them to the movies."

ildaboutmovies.comPicture resource: wildaboutmovies.com

WEDDING CAKE-IN-THE-MIDDLE-OF-THE ROAD

Beautiful cakes are a welcome treat in any reception because they are natural attention getters. Wedding cakes are elaborate constructions, each standing for a particular marriage and each used in the wedding that establishes it. The link between cake and wedding, the distinctiveness of its form, its derived uses, and the meanings attached to it, have all been most complexly and influentially developed around the world.

The cake indeed is a prime component of the white wedding in society today. Traditionally, wedding cakes were made to bring good luck to all guests and the couple. Modernly however, they are more of a centerpiece at the wedding and are not always even served to the guests.

So what happened that the cake landed in the middle of the road? Did the couple allow the pressure of work, taking the kids to school; life itself, etc. drive them apart? We need to take stock of what we have continually. You married and your partner meant something the day you both shared that cake at the reception, otherwise you would still be single.

Let’s not give up on what is important and valuable, so easily, unless the pain is unbearable!  

Whatever you don’t maintain, will deteriorate

Picture resource: daleneville.yolasite.com