Cape Town and Surroundings Outdoor Festivals - 2013/2014

Finally the days will start getting longer and warmer and there is nothing better than enjoying some live entertainment in and around Cape Town!

THE FESTIVAL SEASON IS COMING!!!
So get your dancing shoes on and start booking!

With all the so many sites or festivals, I tried to get as much info as possible on the upcoming events - I probably forgot many, so please feel free to comment below to have an event added on to the list :)

DATE ★ EVENT
2013-08-31 Sunflower Festival!
2013-09-02  Psytribes Festival
2013-09-07 Alien Safari | Sprung!
2013-09-21  Earthdance
2013-09-28  Afriscot vs UltraNoize
2013-10-3 Rocking the Daisies Weekend
2013-10-05  Mindcultivation – Cosmic Connection
2013-10-12  The Village
2013-10-19  Organik
2013-10-26 Disasterpeace Halloween
2013-11-02  ZONE Festival
2013-11-09  Groovy Troopers – MANDALA PROJECT 2011
2013-11-16  MMD & Beartrap :: Remanufacture
2013-11-23  Altered States – Secret Garden
…………….  The EQUINOX experience
2013-11-30  Synergy
…………….  Noisy Radicals
2013-12-07  Vortex – Open Source
2013-12-14 Alien Safari | Flying Circus
2013-12-21  Love and Light

2013-12-28  Rezonance NYE Festival (exact dates tbc)
2103-12-28★ BOOMERANG NYE FESTIVAL – MindCultivation (Dates TBC)

2014-01-04 My little Sunshine
2014-01-11 The Red Telephone
2014-01-18 MMD Records
2014-01-25  Organik and Groovy – Metamorph
2014-02-01  Origin 2013
2014-02-08  Psytribes Festival
2014-02-15  Celestial Beings
2014-02-22  Multiverz
2014-03-01  Alien Safari | Masqued Ball
……………. . UltraNoize
2014-03-7 RAMFest
2014-03-08  LOVE & LIGHT FESTIVAL
2014-03-15 DisasterPeace – Mechanical Animals
2014-03-22  Ground Zero II
2014-03-29  Groovy Troopers – VISION SERPENT 2013
2014-04-05  UltraNoize
2014-04-18  Easter Vortex – Ascension
2014-04-26 Jungala Festival
2014-05-03  Village
2014-05-10  Organik Love Project
2014-05-17  Psychedelic Edge

List to be updated and subject to change!

Truth - Vintage Experience! Wednesday 31st July!

If you don't already know Truth coffee cult on Buitenkant street, now is the time or never to make acquaintance with this viby, wanna be seen at coffee place!

Situated at 36 Buitenkant street, close to the popo's, this is the new hip hang out whether you are looking a coffee fix, a meeting place, some place to work from, a snack or just hang out with your mates!
The Stripped away industrial look with its vintage bars and many vintage deco items, it has a vibe on its own that you would not want to miss and when you leave, you feel like adopting their unique personality!

They often have jazz evenings on Fridays and they have now come up with the Vintage experience!
It is happening this Wednesday from 5 till 9 pm at Truth.

Shop up a storm with the greatest vintage & 2nd-hand bargains in town! Each month sees a fresh mix of your favorite traders selling their latest treasures and some new faces just waiting to introduce their finds to you.
A 4-stall men's wear section plus plenty of unisex stalls means there's lots "pour les garçons" too.

Plenty of food and tipple on offer from Truth and a selection of old-school choons to keep your toes tapping while you shop.

SEE YOU THERE!!!

Home waxing, a big danger!!

NEVER WAX YOUR HOO-HA

All hair removal methods have tricked women with the promises of easy, painless hair removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now....the wax. 
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, watch something on tv.

Just before my man gets home and while dinner is on, I  had the ingenious idea that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "I shall try out this waxing at home thing and surprise my beloved with a smooth cookie". So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.

With recent price escalations, I have been delaying the salon for weeks and thought to try to find ways to save few pennies there and there...right?
 
It was one of those 'cold wax' kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No mess, no fuss. How hard can it be?

I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together as indicated on the packaging, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it instead. ('Cold wax,' yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull.

It works!

OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin Extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. I feel ready for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet...

Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my "hoo-ha" and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip).

I inhale deeply, hold tight and brace myself.... RRRRIIIPPP!!!!

I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!..... OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!! My head is spinning and my bottom area in fire!!!
Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip.

OH CRAP!

Another deep breath and RIIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out.... I must stay conscious.... I must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe.... OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip!

There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX???

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip... it's not! I touch....I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake ... Remember my foot is still propped upon the toilet? So I put my foot down.

Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. My Hoo-ha is sealed shut and I can barely imagine what my man would say if if walked in on me just now!! I am sealed shut! 
I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself 'Please don't let me get the urge to poop....my head may pop off!'

What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! Of course this is a well known scientific fact, and I even wonder why it is not written on the instructions in case of emergency??
I'll run the hottest water I can stand in the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right ???

*WRONG!!!!!!!*

I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub.....in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, does NOT melt cold wax.

So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! 
I just don't know what to do!!! All kind of images are running through my crazy mind: Maybe my man is gonna walk in and find me stuck and save me - not save me from the embarrassment for sure, but maybe he will know what to do, right? Then realised that men wouldn't have a clue!
I looked around and see my cell phone on the sink! Yeay! "Call a friend?" I think. I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's definitely a very good conversation starter.

'So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!'

There is a slight pause. She retains the giggle, try to remain focused. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, 'Are we talking cheeks or hoo-ha?' She's laughing out loud by now ... I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. Why don't they just print instructions on these bloody boxes??

While we go through various options, I resort to cut the was off with scissors. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then try to pull it off enough so you can reach with a pair of home scissors! Needless to say, this was a painful, deceiving attempt !! By now the brain is not working, my body is on shock and my dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace.....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!! The scream probably alerted the entire neighborhood and beyond! It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. I can't think of anything else but having to be taken to the emergency room with no panties and half my bathtub stuck to my behind! This needs to work! And.....

'IT WORKS!!

I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!

So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......how bad can that turn out???

To avoid these sort of experiences, I STROOONGLY suggest seeking a professional! 
Try Wow! Ways of Wellness on Park road in Gardens for an organic wax, 
Raydiance skin by the Mount Nelson Hotel and Sorbet in Gardens center and around Cape Town

Delicious French winter warmers at a bargain

The main reason for deserting Europe is to seek a better life - and for me that means to seek warmth and sunshine somewhere where it is expected to be! All this to say how much I hate winter!
I know the Cape winters aren't the worst, they don't last so long and we do get some really nice, sunny days... but in the mean time, those odd few winter days can be, especially at night, as cold as the ones in Europe! Brrrr

Vitamin D is produced by the body when it is exposed to sunlight and a deficiency of it over the winter months is thought to be one of the causes of SAD (seasonal affective disorder); yes it is a REAL disease!!! and what do we do when we are SAD? We eat of course!!

The only one good thing about winter is the food!!! This week, my favorite lunch hangout is Cassis for their great winter warmer dishes - Allll of my favorite (I wonder if they read minds)!


Cassis was well known for their fantastic bread, their mouth watering gateaux and the best macaroons in town, recently developed this new bristro/café ambiance in Newlands and more recently in the Gardens center.
So if you work close to the CBD and feel like a real warm lunch with fantastic flavors but without breaking your purse, head to Cassis "salon de thé" for a fantastic experience through France.
My personal favorit is the Onion soup for a tiny R35.00, the classic Croque Monsieur (a super glorified toasted sandwich with so much more than a toasted sandwich) at R48.00 (served with potatoes croquettes) but do yourself a real favor and try out their Duck confit Cassoulet at R58.00!! Yes Only R58!!!

I also love them for their poached eggs breakfasts at R50 each - all is missing is the sunshine and a great actual garden, and it would just be perrrfect!

I am now so glad I finally joined the gym so I can have more of their delightful dishes more often without feeling too guilty! :)




Gardens Salon de Thé 
Open Mondays to Fridays from 7.30am till 7pm - Saturdays from 8am till 5pm and till 2pm on Sundays

Shop 11
Gardens Centre
Gardens
T. 021 462 6106

For more info visit their website here

Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill - Woodstock

The Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill has been over the last couple of years one of Cape Town’s most iconic meeting places, popular with food lovers and creative trendsetters alike. We love it in summer but remains a popular spot to hang out even on those rainy winter days! So if you don’t know what to do on those grey rainy Saturdays, get your ass to Woodstock!

Walking through the food market is a feast for the senses with over 100 speciality food producers crammed into a relatively small space, so it can get a bit cramped in there!

Special cheeses, fresh fish, iced coffees, cupcakes and other beautifully baked goods are among the delicacies on offer at the food market.

Don’t expect too much bargain shopping though , the market is more renowned for its variety of delightful feasts, I particularly love the poached eggs on rosti (R60) with an option of either salmon or crispy bacon – but you must hurry, this is a huge seller and usually gone by midday!

Don’t forget to stop by “the French corner” stall for all your French imported cheeses and patés, and across for all other French imported products including Duck fat (great for sautéed potatoes with a hint of fresh dill- yummmm) and foie gras!

On a corner, you can try out many different types of saucisson from Steven at “The Charcuterie” and don’t forget to stop by the fish shop for their Smoked snoek paté! A must have (R40 for 2 or R50 for three, a total bargain!)

I recently spotted a new stall, with Moules Marinières (or thai option) for a mare R55 per half a kilo!!!

Once you’ve finished eating (at a communal table with benches or on one of the hay bales scattered around), make your way over to the Kindergoods and Designgoods tents to peruse a selection of gorgeous local designs including sandals, baby and toddler clothing (petit pois), jewellery and furniture design.

But if you are used to a good bargain Market, this is not the first choice, as this features mainly designer items so unless they have a sale on, expect to empty your purse :)

 

Superette in Woodstock

Superette recently moved their restaurant to the hippest new location: The Woodstock Exchange and every one has been raving about their food.. So as a breakfast avid, I ought to try in out.

This is my experience:

I love Woodstock so always keen to try new places but being French, I can be very critical and being Polish makes me very acquainted with breakfast.

I always enjoy a spot that has a unique deco and vibe and Superette certainly meet those criteria; there is that certain buzz about the place, like a bee hive of people catching up on life in a simple yet warm surrounding. 

Not sure if we missed breakfast just after 11 but we were offered a brunch menu and to my delightfully watering mouth, there had a form of eggs Benedict! I was in the right place :) 

With an extra portion of those giant mushrooms, my dish looked delish! The perfect way to please a hungry woman, or at least a hungry me!

With only one egg covered in Hollandaise though, I wondered weather this was served as such or weather they might just have ran out of sauce... one has to wonder..

None the less, it looked great, so couldn't wait to dig in... and to my greatest disappointment, it was "Bof". And "bof" in French simply means "barely a so-so" as if nothing special. The sour dough bread was too thick and crispy and was hard to cut through, the hollandaise sauce was too watery and blend, and the bacon, not cooked enough and just fat literally.  A big flop for me indeed!

 

My partner in crime has a breakfast sandwich and encountered the same bread problem (so wasn't just mine) and his scrambled eggs were watered down to one egg and 500 ml of milk mixed together! Personally, I never understood this method of stretching the egg to increase the quantity of scrambled "stuff" - We called it egg, cuz should be as said, just scrambled eggs and not scrambled milk and egg, no?

So overall experience is a Bof, that's as much as I can say! But environment is great and there is lots to see at the exchange! If you have a kid, stop by "Frekkles" great kids clothing store!

The hearty breakfasts served at this trendy establishment will set you back around R50; morning meals are served Mondays to Fridays, between 8am and 3:30pm; and Saturdays from 8am – 2pm.
66 Albert Road | Woodstock | Cape Town | + 27 (0) 21 802 5525

Amour in Cinema on 19th July 2013

The award-winning Franco-Austrian movie Amour, directed by Michael Haneke, will be in cinemas from 19th July nationwide, as part of the "World Cinema Fest" festival organised by Ster Kinekor-Cinema Nouveau.

I had the privilege to be invited to the movie premiere on 26th June organised by the French Institute, Alliance Française and Ster Kinekor-Cinema Nouveau.

The film is an intimate account of an elderly couple facing their greatest challenge in the twilight years of their lives. Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne suffers a stroke which leaves her paralyzed. The couple's bond of love is severely tested.

To be honest, the entire movie room was silent for the entire duration of the film. We could hear some people crying across the room and some even left before the end. The movie is an encounter of the couple's last few weeks. Set in their apartment, no outside scene at all... but you get so sucked into the story that you barely notice until the end. This is despite the "depressing vision" a beautiful love story and very inspiring for all of us.

All I can really say is that after the movie, we all went out to have a strong drink. It opens your eyes to what is yet to come but even more about the real deep love between a man and a woman and the way they stand by each other's side until death does them apart.

Palme d'Or - 2012 Cannes Film Festival

Best Foreign Language Oscar 2013 - 85th Academy Awards

A Cape Town Summer day in winter...

Being mainly an "office worker", I don't get to see the outdoors much during the week, luckily, today, I happened to have a meeting close to the Gardens centre so I enjoyed a stroll through the gardens.. and gosh did you also feel it?? A hint of Summer breezing through Cape Town in the middle of a winter day!
This is exactly why like most, I love Cape Town; for its 4 seasons in a day.
Ok, in all honesty, I never actually felt the 4 seasons, but I can honestly say I have felt two for sure...
So today, people were strolling through the park, picnicking during their lunch hour and some brave enough to even get a bit of a tan in the middle of Winter! I just LOVE it!

What Capetonians know about winter: facts don’t really say anything.
You’ll wake up every morning, take a peek outside, and know exactly what to wear and what not to wear. Capetonians have named winter the ‘secret season’ because of the unexpected delights you can experience during this time of year and today was one of those pleasant surprise :)

For the girls: Every morning - when putting on that tiny skirt - take into account that the weather during winter in Cape Town may consist of blasts of wind. Especially north-westerly winds. So realize that the gusts of wind might expose more than you wish. Hold on to that skirt! No wonder the first explorers called the Cape Peninsula the ‘Cape of Storms’. But also keep in mind that you might have to take those thick tights and warm jersey off, so always make sure you have a nice T under these layers..

Winter is actually a very nice time to visit Cape Town if you love the great outdoors and don’t need 30 degrees every day. The vegetation soaks up the water and blossoms all across Cape Town. You won’t see the Cape Peninsula any greener. Climb Table Mountain and witness the small waterfalls splashing from the mountainside.

And when we are blessed with a warm day like today, it is the perfect time to enjoy some Vino outside while looking at the sunset!

Ela pump shoes by Meg

Last night, I was kindly invited to a lovely dinner party full of really interesting people from all type of backgrounds, from diplomat's to art gallery owners... and one person said something quite interesting :
"Everyone has an obsession about something!".
Mr T's wife is obsessed with properties, but as we know, most women are obsessed with handbags and shoes! For some reason, we never have enough of them, ever! Interestingly enough, Mr T's himself owns over 100 pairs of shoes - so not just a woman thing after all :)

My crush of the moment are the Ela Pump Shoes by Meg!

Made by hand, every single pair is unique and you are guaranteed to have one of a kind pair (always great to feel unique, right?). You can have them custom made to match your grandmother's curtains or this really new funky pair of pants that you are dying to wear but don't know what with... there is the answer to your prayer!

Bonus part is that inside is lined with leather so less chance to intoxicate your boyfriend when you remove them after a long day shopping :)

Prices ranges from R150 to about R250 each - depending on material used (leather or fabric) and you can find them at the Hout Bay Harbour market.
For more information, you can also visit their facebook page here.

 

Chandani Namaste in Upper Woodstock

There has been a real boom recently in the upper woodstock area with last year's reopening of Don Pedro by the Zingara group, the new and revamped Woodstock Lounge and Now with the opening of chandini's new place : Namaste.
If like me, you're a fan of fine Indian food, the real kind from north India, do not miss out on this jewel of a place.
Sitting on top of Roodebloem road, unlike its sister restaurant Chandani serving vegetarian food, Namaste offers a warm service, and an unusual evening Thali (vegetarian or meat option), changing every evening for a little R95 per person.



Namaste has a great Buffet for lunch for R65 and even serves daily Indian breakfast - still to be tried out :)

I personally cannot get enough of this delicious daily changing delight!

Miss sixty skinny jeans at a Bargain at Zoot

Skinny jeans have been in fashion for a while now and one must acknowledge the fact that finding the right fit for your body type ain't always as easy as stroll in the park.

Indeed, I have been searching for that perfect fit to My imperfect body for a while now, especially at an affordable price!
Well Cape Town ladies, your prayers have been answered with miss sixty skinnies for a mare R149 at Zoot in canal walk. We all like expensive items at a fraction of the cost, and Miss Sixty jeans usually sell for over R1000!

If like me, you body shape is not a cat walk like, Hurry while stock last!




Zoot : Canal walk shop 153 LL
Telephone: (021) 552 8040