Come fly with me: Alone and happy

I landed in Cape Town in the afternoon, desperately hungry and happy to see the sunshine. So, having dropped my bags off at the gorgeous Cape Grace, rather than succumbing to a spa treatment since my back was hurting, I sauntered off to find a place to eat. Ten minutes later, I bumped into Melissa's, got excited about the existence of such a cool place to work and eat from and sat down at a wooden table with a few magazines. I probably should have made an effort to wash my hair before trotting out of the hotel but I was just too hungry and also in the mood to get some writing done.

When I saw I was the only person sitting alone in a half-café half-restaurant type of place — the only other "alone" person was just waiting for her boyfriend to come, I quickly realised — I remembered an instance, when, years ago, one of my friends had commented on a man who was sitting alone in a restaurant. "Poor guy … why is he alone?" That was the time when my opinionated self hadn't quite taken shape and I half agreed with her, a little unsure. I recall the fleeting thought that passed my mind: Why does anyone need to feel pity for him when he might well want to be alone?

Reminiscing on this, I looked around and wondered whether anyone was feeling sorry for me or deliberating on my solitary behaviour. The truth is I actually love going to cafés and restaurants, sitting by myself and reading or writing. And often, I eavesdrop on someone's conversation and never get anything done, provided it's a juicily interesting conversation. And sometimes in those situations, I get jealous and want to be part of their little tête-à-tête. Today, as I ate a lentil, rocket, butternut and goat's-cheese salad, the only problem was that the combination of chatter and music was too loud — well, I just didn't get the accent!

Back at the hotel, I enjoyed the marina view while watching a film and then, after soaking in the bathtub, fell asleep, hoping tomorrow's weather would be good enough for a trip to Table Mountain. In the end, I decided to get a spa treatment as soon as I had checked in at the magical One&Only — and I didn't feel too bad about missing out on Table Mountain, since the view from my room was the stunning mountain itself — before indulging in a delicious dinner at Nobu in the hotel.