I spent an hour in therapy discussing how vulnerable I felt after my Dell D600 hard drive crashed which may give you a sense of the week I’ve had. At R3000 odd it would cost a fortune to recover the data and when the techie told me that only partial recovery was possible, I opted for broke and relied on my 20-day old backup.

If you’re anything like I am you’re getting a gazillion emails a day, so even backing up every week means a significant loss. I’m about to buy a DVD writer so that I, like my friends do, can burn DVD’s I take out from the Video shop and avoid the stress of old backups.

I'm now in touch with wildlife. On Saturday morning when I walked onto my Sea Point balcony I saw a whale playing in the bay. En route to Pringle Bay past Gordon's Bay where the mountains appear like two protective arms holding the coast, we stopped along the way to look at two carbuncle-nosed whales squishing and squirting. I had mixed Martinis for our arrival at Pringle Bay as the fridge there takes an age to make ice and we always forget to purchase some along the way. Having just a sip each and munching on the macerated olives, we watched whales at play.

Although dead, the fish - broadbill swordfish, dorodo and Kabeljou at Hook Line & Sinker on Saturday night was so fresh it might still be considered Wildlife.

Sunday morning, while JP was mowing the lawn, I lazed in bed reading Jonny Steinberg's The Number about prison gangs. Absolutely riveting. As enjoyable but far less taxing is Robyn Cohen's hilarious account of her building renovations - Nearly Finished, which I'm also reading so that I can offer expertise and moral support to JP who is building a stoep onto his house. For now though I'm deep in bed, under the covers, with nothing but duvet between me and the world. 

At Mimi's in Observatory Cape Town you will get hummingbird cake and coffee for R20 which is a good deal when you consider the picture window'out of which to watch Observatory be its strange self.

Four nights earlier, JP and I were playing dominos on Aswan's main drag. My white cotton draw-string pants had got caught in an exposed screw head on the chair and I could feel the cool steel against my flesh. I needed the distraction though. Dominos must be the most mind-numbing of games but the backgammon or sheshbesh as they call it in Egypt was already in use. I was enjoying the hookah pipe and the Coke out of the bottle and after having my hair cut for the equivalent of R30 and my ear hairs plucked with a thread of cotton held taught between his teeth and left hand, I was feeling local.

Egypt is a good deal. Our package cost R11K a piece but included flights, four nights cruising on the fabulous Presidential Nile Cruiser and 5-star accommodation in Cairo. There will be much more to tell you but for now I suggest the hummingbird cake. I've now had my second slice. Think carrot cake with a cinnamon and cheese topping. Fab.   

The Cape Grace Hotel has launched Cafe Bascule. For those for whom whiskey before 4pm is anathema, there's a great new reason to visit Bascule. The pricing is surprisingly competitive for the surroundings. Cappuccino at R16 is good value, for example, in deep leather armchairs and wood-paneled  walls. On a fine day, the seating at the edge of the marina is perfect to consider whether a schooner or some other seafaring item suits your needs. Food is different from the usual coffee-time offering with especially delicious salmon, cream-cheese bagel for R18 or a brie and fig croissant for the same price. The sweet offering - puff pasty cone filled with poached pear (R18) could, for my tastes anyway, have been sweeter and would benefit from Chantilly cream.

I've used the Grace's lounge for business meetings for ages now, but I think the Cafe Bascule is better suited as there are a number of spaces where it is possible to meet without hearing everyone else. In PR terms this was a low key, high impact launch. No unnecessary speeches or contrived gimmicks - a warm welcome from GM Nigel as we entered and an entire management team supporting PR manager Karen's efforts. Excellent take-away kit too with a branded coffee cup, ground coffee and chocolate and info.