Monday Mania

For students, the pungent scent of term-time is in the air, and Monday blues are as common as the notorious mothercity’s Winter flu.

For those despairing Mondays marking a return to daily grind, 17 on Loader in the spirit of our “year-round hospitality” suggest you cheer up and step out.

In the city that never sleeps, even Mondays get manic, and we’re more than merry to tell you how…

Our loyal, grungy, alternative pool-bar lover in The Shack, of course. The drinks are cheap, the crowd is comfy/careless and all that aside, its ALWAY open ’til 4am. Mondays. Sundays. Mother’s Days. ALWAYS.

Just next door to Shack – attack is Mercury. Mercury Mondays are infamous, and after all this time, high-schoolers and university-doers are still doing and round-the-block queue just to get in too. A student card means less entrance charge (at a maximum of R30) and drink specials keep the crowd rowdy.

Spur has been saving newly-wed, wife-fed husbands and residence-fed students from starvation, every Monday since the beginning of the buy-one-get-one-free burger special. Fool a little cherokee cheese and some ranch style red meat, head down to your local Spur for money/tummy-saver.

Dinner and a movie! For the unbelievable bargain of R70, Societi Bistro and The Labia on Orange Street, couple up for a couple-up special.R70 recieves two Margarita pizzas and Labia Theater tickets.

In the interest of a warm Winter escape and an inexpensive cultural education, bring on Baxter Mondays The Baxter Theater has a Monday special every Monday, affording us a light meal (at the Baxter restaurant) as well as one of the theater’s latest shows.

And for those of us who need a laugh (in light of the week ahead – or perhaps finally feeling the consequences of the weekend gone by) Zula Bar says C.O.M.E. Comedy On Monday Evenings prevents a steak-knife Tuesday and sends us back into the week all smiles and heel-clicks.
So just for you a “what to do” on Cape Town Mondays. All of our cozy guesthouse, high threadcount love:) 17 on Loader bed and breafkast, De Waterkant.

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.

Deli Express

For those of us that reside on the ‘burbs side of the mountain, we occasionally feel cheated of the abundant trendy little bistros and food-stops that one stumbles into so frequently in town. While I love the picket-fence-school-bell atmosphere, I do often catch the city-bowl-itis and drive into town just for the sake of seeing and doing something different – and perhaps being in a place where the average customer does not tick either the “soccer mom” or “geriatric” box. 

Luckily though, as the Mother City does, the Southern Suburbs are rejuvenating and thanks to places like The Kitchen, The Bromwell and The Old Biscuit Mill (which started it all), what was industrial Woodstock/Salt River (I’m never really sure of the border) is fast becoming our own, nearby, gentrified hub of city buzz.

And as a result, little places to peck keep popping up – my most recently discovered being the Deli Express. 

Set in Victoria Road, Deli Express is more than accessible to townies and burbs-ers. The Deli Express is a breakfast/lunch/coffee-stop, a catering company and definitely a place to win you points if you’re the kid buying lunch for the boys back at the office.  

A little contradiction in its bare, industrial interiors and a menu of mom-food, Deli Express is all about easy-eating cafe food. No big scary words, nothing frightening – all comfort food, all the time. Think pasta, soup, salads, sandwiches and burgers. Healthy homey is what they do.

And for those with a sweet tooth, Deli Express serves sweet treats, great coffee, shunshiney service and the inspired view of a city rebuilding. Next time you’re wracking your brain for a new place to try, take a drive down to Deli Express.

With love and lust for life, all of us at 17 on Loader 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.

Estelle in Cape Town

“Tell the promoter we need more seats, We just sold out all the floor seats!” As 2010 comes in so do “the hottest in the world right now”. For the not-so football frantic, one of the wonderfluff consequences of being a designated Fifa 2010 host city, is the splendour that we’re expecting to pour in. And while I may be including the European men that our slick city will be swelling with, I am, more importantly, referring to the celebrities that the event will bring. For those familiar with the phrase “American Boy” (and that should really be everyone who speaks english and lives above ground), Friday the 11th of June brings the lady that famed the phrase to Cape Town! Estelle, famous for collaborations with the big boys – namely Kanye West, David Guetta, Sean Paul, John Legend, Will.I.Am and Karl Hinds - is the vocal sensation set to storm the stage of the CTICC. Tickets start at just R300 and this promises to be where the Fifa vibe is alive. And for those of you swinging into the mothercity for football fever in Fall, be sure to curl-up in Cape Town’s comfy bed and breakfast – 17 on Loader in De Waterkant.

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.

Deep Purple in Cape Town

For those of you who tingle, when someone hums Smoke On The Water, Christmas comes early this year. The Guinness’ Book of World Records‘ loudest band, English hard-rockers, Deep Purple, are coming to Cape Town. 

For those lesser-informed in the ways of these heavy metal pioneers, Deep Purple are listed 22nd on VH1’s list of Greatest Hard Rock artists, and it’s time to get an education. On June 1st, Deep Purple will be headlining the Masters of Rock concert at the GrandWest Arena. Other acts include Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash, and
tickets can be bought through Computicket, in the reasonable range of R297 – R476p/p.

Time to get old school rock ‘n roll!

And for those venturing out like the good groupies, rock ‘n roll-over at 17 on Loader - Cape Town’s bed and breakfast, set in the bustling beauty of De Waterkant.

The Kitchen

Recently roaming Woodstock, the mothercity and I rekindled our dwindling love affair… in The Kitchen.

Last week, bleary-eyed from the sleep-sapping delicacies of a night become day, I begrudgingly bore my frustration, with the wind, out on the pavement of Sir Lowry Road. With the maniacal twitch of the rampantly hungry, I tore down the tramp-stamped sidewalks with the flavour of curse words in my mouth and was ready to go Jackie Chan on the next opportunist to approach. Then, chim-chimney-cher-oo, her lady Cape Town struck me by surprise again.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY RUSSEL WASSERFALL

Nose took the lead, and I found myself seated inside of the treatery/eatery that is The Kitchen. The Kitchen is a Karen Dudley project that caters, cooks and cares for the coffee/lunch-time customers. Daily delicious include their legendary love sandwiches, a selection of salads, the ol’ chicken dish o’ the day, great coffee, and pastries the likes of prosperity bars, world peace brownies, ginger fudge squares and Kitchen-crafted cakes.

In the cosy, easy-going surroundings that suggested a backroom full of smiling-eyed, biscuit-baking grannies, I snuggled up to my plate full of food with a faceful of grin.

Sipping on coffee, staring through the glass, I’d gone from colourfully berating Woodstock’s little eccentricities, to fairy-tale-eyed at it’s Oliver Twst-ish charm.

It’s all good-for-you food and comfy company on 111 Sir Lowry Road. If this post hasn’t convinced you yet, I close with this:  The Kitchen is a sweet, unassuming little place that hung-over Hallie gave both thumbs up to, on a day when peace treaties were failing to impress.

For more of this (and that), keep up with us. 17 on Loader – Cape Town’s delectable De Waterkant bed and breakfast – promises to blog more inner city secrets soon

Grahamstown National Arts Festival

“The time has come!” the Walrus said…

The National Arts Festival is, once again, almost upon us.  20th of June until the 4th of July - set the dates aside.

Time to rethink youth-reclaiming road-trips, places to stop by on the garden route, and the essential first-aid kit:

K.Y./masquerade masques/bandages/backseat readings and booze.

“To talk of many things!”

Grahamstown is where things inevitably get messy. With an economy founded entirely on the student-town’s love of liquoring it up, things get fairly festive during festival time. But when physical theater is sidewalk decor, The National Arts Festival experience is as culturally enriching as it as sleep-draining and liver-testing.

Although, for those that class it up old-school-like, Grahamstown is also a town of the old, beautiful architecture, some of the most enlightened minds in the country (University Town’s will do that) and home to one of the best tertiary arts programs - practically a breeding ground of thespians, fine-artists and wordsmith conversationalists.

“Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax– Of cabbages–and kings– …”

 All in all, the National Arts Festival comes with two thumbs, and a whole lot of toes, up.

And for those meandering the wondrous Western Cape on the way in or out, stop by De Waterkant village’s 17 on Loader to hit the hay – Cape Town’s best bed and breakfast stay. (Bust a rhyme – yes I did!).

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.