Roadtrip Essentials

This week I packed up the unreliable little (sh)Citi Golf I refer to as “The Chad”, and headed on out into the great unknown with My Old Man.

Doing our own great trek, we dominated bustling metropolises the likes of Colesberg, Laingsburg and Bethlehem – and I only mention these because, relative to the other little dorpies we dashed through, this lot are fast-paced urbanisation.

In the face of frequent 20 minute “stop-before-passing” roadworks, however, and throat-croaking attempts at “She’ll be coming round the mountain” (which starts to mock, when the trip begins to seem interminable) I realized the necessity of…

A ROADTRIP SURVIVAL KIT.

So for those heading on out,  Indiana-Jones nature and (for Johannesburgers) spray-on mud in hand, heed these words:

A Pillow: After a while, you’re cursing and contorting just for the sake of changing postition, and that small little mound of feathers is the cure to discomfort and the patron saint of sleep.

Toilet paper: Between this never-ending heap of Karoo dessert and that never-ending heap of Karoo dessert, there often isn’t even a bush to save face (or bum) behind. Loo paper keeps the crucial decent.

Music: After a day and a half of driving, I was thinking the “bottles on the wall” and “wheels of the bus” could shove it – there’s nothing  like a long (unrepeated) playlist as a quiet distraction to calm nerves (and more importanly, assist consciousness) on a long journey.

Sunglasses: We’re not swinging out at sea here, kids – blinking into the horizon leads to accidents.

Sunblock: T-shirt tans and sock tans – this is the league of uncool that a through-the-car-window, half-body tan belongs to. Don’t do it.

Reading material: You’re trapped in that tiny automobile – you may as well do something productive.

Cash: Don’t underestimate the Toll fees. You don’t want to be wracking up credit card charges for drive-by swiping.

A map book: Yes dad. This WAS necessary.

A car-charger: You can buy these little guys at just about every street corner and, in the middle of nowhere, where homing pigeons are your best bet, you don’t want to be caught cut-off from the rest of the world.

A little vitmin B: I have discovered the otherside-of-the-rainbow-ness that is Clicks‘ Stress Vitamin B Complex. I’d recommend it for family reunions, days in the park, long nights studying ,five year-olds’ birthday parties, whatever. A little bit of this guy and you’re loving on life and wanting to give 150 percent – embarrsingly so. Think heel-clicks…

So that’s the guide to roadtrip life For those of you adventurers needing a bed and breakfast haven, to head to in the Western Cape, sidle into De Waterkant’s 17 on Loader – Cape Town’s good-time guesthouse.

Sushi and Chinese please!

It’s Friday! And given that we’re on the precipice of a weekend, this post should come as divine enlightenment…

Late-night-Chinese-food

On a very merry excursion to all sorts of central city venues for debauchery, jollity and merriment, we found ourselves quite under the weather/influence on the taxi trip home. Doing the route back to le loov-leh 17 on Loader (Cape Town’s chic bed and breakfast in De Waterkant), the heavens opened and revealed a luminous red sign, on Seapoint Main Road, reading - “Xiang Yuan”. With the excitement of teenage girls at the mall, we begged the cab driver to pull over and poured in to Xiang Yuan.

Now my love of  the place may seem ridiculously evangelical but, given that the time was almost 3AM, finding somewhere OPEN was a feat unto itself.

Xiang Yuan is simple, almost a little dingy – but definitely clean. The fresh sushi and authentic, hot Chinese food went down like glassful of YES PLEASE! – despite our bellies not being in the most alkaline of states.

The miso soup was well-balanced, warm and more-ish. Crispy duck – an enormous portion, great value for money and obscenely delicious. Lastly the sushi – fresh, unusual and beautifully presented. All in all, we left Xiang Yuan high-fives and smiles and spent the next day better for it.

So for all of you nocturnal and post-midnight movers, wanting out-ness, warm Chinese food or some sushi, be sure to add Xiang Yuan to your list of late-night hang-outs.

Cape Town Pub-crawl

They call it the pub-crawl for two reasons. 1. There are pubs. 2. The involvement of such pubs occasionally results in the action of crawling.

This fact leads us to conclude, that it is our own best interest to rouse bedlam in pubs conducive to crawling. What characteristics determine crawl-worthiness?

1. CLEANLINESS. To pub-crawl is one thing, but to be in a pub already crawling with bugs and Dickensian dodge-cats is a deal breaker. Moreover, hoping optimistically that visible symptoms of Hepatitis F don’t materialize, as a result of braving bar snacks, can somewhat suck the fun.
2. Hence requirement two: GOOD BAR SNACKS. In a less then solid state, culinary surprises (and I’m talking about the Halloween trick rather than treat variety) leave something to be desired – usually the contents of our stomachs… back in our stomachs…
3. The final, crucial component of the good pub-crawl – AMBIENCE.  Disapproving throat-clearing and look-down-the-nose looks responses to Black Label requests, hardly encourage jollity.

In light of these crucial components, a list of Cape Town’s preferred pubs:

Forrester’s Arms, affectionately referred to as “Forries”. Superb gourmet pizza (try the springbok capraccio pizza), bustling atmosphere, and a houseful of red-faced, referee-resenting beer-boep “ballies” (on match days), is what to expect. With a five star pub menu; a variety of draughts, cocktails and wines; a fireplace for cold days and an outdoor area for warm days, Forries really is a best-of-everything pub.

Try Barrister’s, just around the corner. A little less raucous and a touch more mature, Barrister’s is perfect for what starts off as “a quick drink after work”.

The intimate Elephant and Barrel, Franschhoek, has a selection of the most ludicrous cover singers I have ever heard (and I come from a long line of tone-deaf-denialism). From teenagers to twenty-somethings, to farm-workers and farm-owners, everyone is up and semi-jokingly gyrating by the end of evening – proof of just how hard the Elephant and Barrel throws down. A clean venue, cheery staff, and communal bonding (through ridicule of musical acts) catalyses merriment, and puts this pub up in the five-star range.

The Dubliner is always brimming with people and bursting with song. Curtained poker rooms, overly-enthused cover bands and the spirit of the Irish, keep this pub abuzz. For a slightly quieter, Irish pub vibe, stop by Catu Bar, near Greenmarket Square.

Quay Four, with seating right up to the water’s edge, has a striking view of the harbour. A great selection of draughts, really good ol’ pub food (fish and chips, burgers, and the like) and fresh, ocean air keep it classy.

Also situated at the V&A waterfront is Mitchell’s. Be warned, as the unofficial Chelsea fan-house of Cape Town, Mitchell’s is pretty riotous on match days. A great venue and a must-do for the pub-crawl – nothing but good fun.

For something different, in the way of pubs, stop by Ganesh and Tagore’s in obs. Ganesh keeps the charm of the township tavern kitchen – serving traditional meals and unbelievably cheap quarts. In the meantime, Tagore’s is a hidden away Moroccan-feel bar that attracts the bohemian and the hippean and offers up a frantic line up of live Friday night jazz.

DJ Rene the Frenchman

While us over at 17onLoader (De Waterkant’s premium bed and breakfast) often review back alleys and bustling venues, we don’t usually take a look at the lingerers in the limelight. But recently we found ourselves beers-ing with the Frenchman that keeps HQ frantic on Fridays…

DJ Rene (the Frenchman – as he is referred to) is the towering, infectiously jovial energy of a man pleased with the way his life’s turned out. His bombastically beautiful grey hair bounces as he animatedly gesticulates with a wide, trusty smile. Despite having lived in South Africa for seventeen years, Rene still has the two unmistakable traits of a Frenchman – the accent, and the kind of effortless charm that could hypnotize a girl right into a dark corner without even trying.

DJ-Rene-at-HQ

DJ Rene is the regular at HQ on Fridays, but has an unofficial appreciation society that has him booked all over the country, at least six months in advance, to play, what he calls, “world music“. The genre is as alternating as the atmosphere’s dynamic – DJ Rene shakes up cuban salsa, trance, electro, some hip hop and Brazilian jazz and serves it dirty dirty to the. already-coupling-up, cocktail bar crowd.

From about 9PM on in, in the low-lit golden glow of HQ, the live DJ act comes to include a variety of live performers – sometimes saxophonists, big band brass, or percussion – who never rehearse together, but rock up, read the room, and follow the French pied piper.

Describing the evening ahead of us, DJ Rene got this glint in his eye (not completely unlike that recognized in dictators of small countries) “and we build, we build, we build… and it’s like a wave you know… and zen we are holding zem in our ‘andz like zat!“.

And with a harmlessly power-dizzied gaze he concludes, “at ze peak we are like, Ba!BA!” And overcome by the scene he’s imagining, begins to beat out percussion on the table, mimicking the musical climax of an HQ Friday – when, he claims, he could play anything from Irish ditties to the can-can, and can-can still have the crowd throw down like the circle’s getting bigger.

The Waterfront Wine Affair

Cape Town’s been very quiet this week – we’ve been nursing our once-flourishing social calendars and wishing for sunburn. But what we have fast forgotten is that winter brings wine, fireplaces and excuses for shared body-heat… 

Until Friday, The V&A spends the week swaying with the inebriated influence of dozens of boutique and reserve wines. With curling leaves and early evenings comes the annual V&A Wine Affair. The backdrop of a Table Mountain-marked cityscape makes The Waterfront’s look out a perfect rooftop for some indulgent-out-of-doorsness. 

This well-loved tasting/sipping soiree is a palate party.  Think sushi, oysters, imported cheeses and charcuterie… the menu boasts the best elements of The V & A’s award-winning restaurants. And for the refined gourmand masticating on the fantastic, a selection of wildly well-reputed wine farms wets the appetite and injects some jollity to the “affair”.

The Waterfront Wine Affair runs from 17h00 – 21h00 everyday until Friday 7th May. Tickets are between R90 and R110 thereafter, inclusive of wine / deli tastings and a brochure guide. 

All in all, merriment in low harbour lighting is a wonderfully warm, cosy way to snuggle into the week’s wintry weather.

Stadium Stories: Durban

For all those cheeky Capetonians arguing that “we have the best stadium” don’t be fooled - us Durban-born girls disagree. Besides the fact that as a host city, Durban will be the SAM-HELL warmer than Cape Town, a recent visit has convinced me that eThekwini has the best stadium to boot. An unimposing testament to symmetry, this pillared structure is perfectly placed in the heart of the Durban skyline – with cable car providing a literal bird’s eye view.

 
The 70, 000 seater stadium is named after KwaZulu Natal-born Moses Mabhida – a unionist called upon by Oliver Tambo to develop the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Mabhida is remembered for his contributions as chief political instructor of new military recruits,and for later becoming the commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Rich in African heritage even in its physicality, the stadium takes its design inspiration from the South African flag – with a distinct high arch representing the unity of a sport-loving nation, in the two branches which converge from the ground up. While I am a touch nauseated with unnecessary immersion in South African history, it is undeniable that the Moses Mabhida has all the sass of Greenpoint stadium, with all the elegance and greandeur of the parthenon.

Most importantly – the people-pleasing feature in the cable car. Along the archway runs a cable car combining the technologies of an elevator and a railroad. This cable car affords visitors a peeksy at stadium and city from a staggering 106 meters above the pitch.

Photographs by Kirsten Pirie

Balkanology

Fortune tellers and flying carpets are the fan fare of Balkanology, 26th April 2010. Again the magic of Gypsy/Balkan music is made manifest in the carnivale festivities of a massive, manic party – A one night only affair. Here today, gone tomorrow – as the caravan children do. 

Balkanology – the deliciously devilish circus spectacular – will lay love loose on the new Cape Town venue of spectaculars – whispered as a replacement to the infamous Madame Zingara’s –  the wonderhouse that is Vaudeville. Think magicians, balkan bass and bare-bellied beauties, with the wonderment of dream and hallucination. The insatiable line-up lists tempos from Toby2shoes, Maoriginal, Hopa Banda and the Nomadic Orchestra.

Tickets are R120 pre-sale and R150 at the door. I’m told there’s no party like it.

Time to shine.

Two Oceans Marathon

Tomorrow (Saturday 3rd of April) brings the 2010 chapter of The Two Oceans Marathon! The Two Oceans Marathon was first run in 1970, and has been recognized as one of the world’s most beautiful race routes ever since. The name tells all – runners start in Newlands, head out to Noordhoek and across Cape country. Taking on the incline of Chapman’s Peak, promising a view of both the Pacific and Indian oceans. This year’s race will be just as spectacular as the last, but runners should note that weather reports are partly cloudy skies, a strong southerly and a serious seventy percent humidity.

Two Oceans Marathon via Chapman's Peak.

The Two Oceans includes a 56km ultra marathon, the popular 21km half marathon and the 5km or 2.5km fun runs. All in all the Two Oceans Marathon is one of Cape Town’s local loves and encouragement is abundant from sidewalk supporters.

Be wary though, the route results in road closures – so be sure to note these before heading out for your weekend drive. And for those needing to rest tired eyes and sore bodies over this long weekend – be sure to head for the comfort of 17 on Loader.

Cape Town Jazz Festival

The Mother City is set to be buzzing this weekend with visitors pouring in for the Two Oceans Marathon and the Cape Town Jazz Festival. If you prefer to work up a sweat to some soulful sax, then the CT Jazz Festival is where you’ll want to be.

Taking place on 3rd and 4th April across five different stages throughout the city, the renowned festival boasts a line-up that would make the Montreux Jazz Festival blush! To the more savvy Jazz-lovers out there, artists to tempt you include Jonathan Butler, George Benson, Judith Sephuma and Brooklyn Funk Essentials (to name a few).

For those who are a little green on their Jazz greats, but are keen to party, Lira and TKZee are sure to get you jammin’.  Just so you’re sure this is no foolish business, get to Greenmarket Square at 5pm on 1 April for the free community concert that will give you a taste of what’s to come. 

For more information on the festival programme click here. 

There’s no better way to bid adieu to the southern Summer than with the Cape Town Jazz Festival, tickets range from R330 for a day pass to R485 for the weekend pass and cheaper prices for single performances; Available from Computicket www.computicket.com, Shoprite Checkers and www.capetownjazzfest.com

And for those jazz-listeners who aim to maintain levels of luxury high this weekend – treat your open ears to the  Cape Town Jazz Festival and your lovingly lazy bums to a bed in 17onLoader - Cape Town’s best bed and breakfast. 

Wishing you all a wonderfully indulgent and uproductive long weekend

Weather in Cape Town in June/July.

In the lead up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, we thought it may be of interest to take a look see what the historical weather patterns for Cape Town are during the months of June and July.

It seems that many of the foreigners traveling to South Africa for World Cup have no idea that South Africa will actually be experiencing winter during their stay. Moreover, it is also apparent that many do not realize that South Africa has several micro climates. Whilst sunshine and warm weather during the daytime applies to the Northern parts of South Africa (Like Johannesburg; Nelspruit and Pretoria), Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate – so rain and windy conditions are more prevalent, and probable.

Recently an accommodation establishment in Cape Town was emailed by a prospective guest from America, requesting confirmation that the rooms they had booked for World Cup did indeed have air-conditioning. The response was “No, but we do have central heating!”…

So, according to the South African Weather Services (SAWS), Cape Town has an average rainfall of 93mm (37 inches) in June and 82mm (32 inches) in July, whilst temperatures range from 8°C to 18°C (46°F to 64°F).

And on average, it rains for 13 days in June and for 12 days in July.

Makes you think…