my views

Their performance lacked gees Last night (1 April 2015) One Direction performed at the Cape Town Stadium as part of their On the road again tour and it was an April fool’s joke! The experience can best be likened to the South African term ‘choekoe’! This refers to when you light a firecracker and expect a big bang but instead it fizzles out... leaving the onlooker disappointed and with feelings of regret. I'll confess I'm not the biggest Directioner… I don't own any of their albums, nor do I know all of their names (although I was schooled on the way to the concert) but I do suffer from a severe case of FOMO, which why I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I usually get Golden Circle tickets but when these were sold out, I got tickets on the day, a mere five hours before it started. I thought that maybe because I wasn’t in the circle the experience wasn’t the same. But I remember that with the Lady Gaga concert I was seated in almost the same position but her energy and

A modern fable on real success in business and in life by Robin Sharma  I attended Robin Sharma ’s presentation at the Cape Town Convention Centre in 2013, which was part of his promotional tour for his book The leader who had no title . I first encountered Robin as one of the ‘talking heads’ in Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret and again when a very close friend of mine gave me his earlier book The monk who sold his Ferrari as a gift. But meeting Robin, when he autographed the copy of my book, was surreal as he embodies what he ‘preaches’. He is unbelievably humble, easy to talk to and has no sense of self-importance. Much like The Monk who sold his Ferrari, The leader who had no title is written as a fable. Although the characters and story are fictitious, the lessons and learnings that are shared are true and 100% applicable to anyone’s situation. The leader who had no title is told through the journey of Blake Davis, the protagonist from New York, who had a good upbringing but

Gloria Serobe, this picture appears on the Wiphold website On Thursday, 14 August 2014, I was privileged to attend a talk by Gloria Serobe . Many know Gloria as a founder of Women’s Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited ( Wiphold ), one of the first Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment companies with all women owners. Like many great stories, Gloria's has humble beginnings from the township of Gugulethu  to being the director on a number of companies' boards. The reason for Gloria's talk was in celebration of women's month and recognising the fairer sex.  Her intro was very powerful as she spoke off the cuff and said she wasn't going to elaborate on the stats as we know what they are. She asked us why we think there aren't more women in top positions, why there are not more success stories like Wiphold, what are we doing wrong or why are we not challenging the status quo and the structures that are holding us back. She said women have stopped being activ

Macarons are a little French dessert, which primarily consists of meringue combined with almond flour and icing sugar. It is flavoured with essence, coloured with powder and sandwiched together with a filling (usually ganache but sometimes buttercream, curd, Nutella or even preserves). In the video below I demonstrate how to make macarons, using a hot method recipe, and navigate the intricacies of perfecting these little meringue-like biscuits. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I've enjoyed making it. Happy Baking, Imtithaal If you enjoyed watching this video then I recommend reading my review of the Lindt Chocolate Studio’s The Art of Macaron making  Masterclass, which I attended and where my passion for perfecting macarons started. You might also enjoy my instructional videos on how to make a  Chocolate Chiffon Cake  and the  Red Velvet Cupcakes  that have become my signature dessert.

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway offers sunset special One of the most beautiful sights in the world is definitely catching a sunset. This experience is further enhanced if you are surrounded by the natural beauty of this lovely planet we call home and have a spectacular view. Table Mountain On Tuesday (12 November 2013), my family and I had a delightful experience when we enjoyed a cable car ride to the top of the world’s 7th wonder, Table Mountain, and were fortunate enough to witness a magnificent sunset with perfect weather conditions. It was a fairly warm evening, with no wind. The cable car has a revolving floor so you are indulged with a 360 degree view. We watched the sky change from a pale turquoise through the various hues of yellow, orange, pink and coral to the eventual darkness, which was lit up by the city lights. The view from Table Mountain is absolutely spectacular and reaffirms why it was voted as the 7th wonder of the world. Click here to read the fu