ORIGIN!

Origin Music Festival is one of the highlights of my year, definitely! But then again, I am most certainly a trance addict to the point of insanity, my friends, new friends and all of the vendors at Origin will agree that my constant foot-tapping and swinging hips are a testament to my dedication.
Only R250 for a weekend pass to absolute bliss...
Unfortunately we were only able to set off on the second night, but we made our way there early on the saturday morning. I did find that the lack of reception was a breath of fresh air, and the welcome into the gates by a flower power hippies just heightened the excitement.
The venue itself, Helderstroom is absolutely beautiful! An oasis in the middle of craggy and dry hills, the abundance of trees and dams made for a beautiful spot. So we set off and erected the tent and immediately went for a bit of a wonder about, the Aztec inspired trance stage was magnificent and the crowds had already formed and were ready to go, so it was only a matter of inserting our home-made apple sour slash go-juice into our lumo-ed up bottles and we hit the dancefloor!
I was so pumped up for Avalon, that I barely noticed how tired I was, and after a short hour, we headed back to the tent, making some new friends as we went and then eventually settling at our tent again, for a short power nap.
Later....
The power nap worked wonders and sooner rather than later, we headed back to the dancefloor, AVALON, was in full swing! I was utterly blown away by the energy that this DJ extraordinaire was creating and we continued to trance the night away.

The DJ's kept on coming but at this point I must admit to being slightly 'sloshed' and losing all sense of time. Simply divine.
I can't wait for the next series of trance adventures, Easter Vortex to be exact? I hope to see you all there... I'll be in the Captains Hat, with a thing of papsak.

http://soundcloud.com/avalon-2/cosmic-relationships/   <---- Go and check this link out... NEOW!
http://soundcloud.com/avalon-official/he-basement-avalon-remix

SYNW at The Assembly

The Assembly in Harrington street has now become a home for the hipsters.
Not that there's a problem with that at all, it's merely an aired observation that gone are the days where Harrington street was know to be fairly dodgy and so was the notion of hanging out around Castle Bar.
But now owing to the popularity of these areas, they have picked up in clientele and have shown themselves to be more about appeasing the masses and opening crepe shops.. and stuff.

Castle bar was the opening venue for the three of us, a long lost ex-Rondebosch Boy friend of ours loitered outside, the line at Assembly was evidence that everything hadn't really begun yet.  So we contented ourselves to getting a cheap glass of red and a  gifted shot, all going straight down the hatchet and preparing our central nervous systems for what was to come!
When we finally tore ourselves from that pool table that invited you into the darker lair of Castle Bar, we went straight into the line at Assembly. We got in, smooth, quickly and had the entertainment of watching a few youngsters get bounced. (next year maybe?)
That's one thing that I love about the Assembly, they keep to the good 'ol fashioned 18+ rule.


Paying only our R10 for ladies on student night, we made our way up a construction site set of stairs and made a beeline for the bar, wet our lips and headed straight to the dancefloor.

The music was unbelievable, stomping hipsters doing that crazy dubstep dance that makes you look like you;re having a seizure, and those that look like they spent waaaaaaay too much time on a rocking horse as a child.
The music was pretty amazing the whole night, a great vibe of people and not too many pervs, so friends were happy and the lucky hook-up for one assured us that "she still got it." Whatever the hell, "it" is.
When G-Zis took center stage, the whole crowd welcomed him with a roar somewhat akin to a million lions that were very very growly. Okay, so I can't come up with a great metaphor, I've got a picture of a lion on my phone and well, the connection between loud and powerful ended up linking at a growling lion.The "wub wub wub wub wuuuuuuuubbbbb" that was deafening was coming from massive speakers, and we.went.crazy!

The whole night was insane, you really just can't get much better than a night like that with the ladies, we all like to get down and party and tonight was NO exception. To those of you that were there, you'll understand how insane it was, I do hope to see you all next week? Entourage in tow.

Cafe Caprice

Caprice is a beautiful venue to find some space to have a few cocktails with some of your girlfriends.
I went there the other night to try out something different, the weather is Cape Town is particularly hormonal, so I was waiting for perfect summer-sun beach weather to peruse the long list of drinks presented to me on a menu.
The food there is also not too shabby, the delicious burgers causing a lot of heartache between our hearts and our waistlines, but nevertheless, we told out waistline to "shut it, " however politely, and indulged in some well made and filling burgers that went very nicely with the cocktails for an evening meal.
The other girls and I have long been waiting to do a culmination of drinks, gossip and fashion night, most of the time we tend to do each thing on its own and unfortunately we still do have to do it.
The cocktails themselves are so delicious that we had sparsely any time to stop and speak, and to be blunt most of us ended up relying on our sober friend for a lift home, her flu medication being our savior.

 

The never ending stream of bare-chested hunks that happened to be sitting beside us, as well as walk along the beachfront was the cause for much giggling, and the eventual nudge that resulted in a phone number, yes! Through the eventual colorful display of leftover Mojitos, Cosmo's, and Strawberry Daiquiris, I can definitely conclude that for the price and taste of these drinks, in relation to the amount of eye-candy and vibe, Caprice is perfect for students, and for ladies that wish to do a Girls Night Out.

Cafe Mozart in Church Street

Cafe Mozart.
On a cute little corner, one can walk past the antique market littered with jeweled (fake) delights and the ever so often pearled comb, to walk up to the picketed enclosure surrounding Cafe Mozart in Church Street, just down from Long Street.
For a simple price, R35 for a small, and R40 for a large salad take-away from the buffet, or R45 to sit down in this idyllic little restaurant surrounded by trees. 

I decided that as a once off, I would stay and do a sit down lunch. I was highly impressed, the fact that I managed to find a quaint little table outside was apparently like striking for oil in the middle of your backyard, it just doesn't happen and I was watched by hungry customers lining up to find their own venue.
Walking inside and loading up my plate was a lot of fun, I personally love clean and healthy food that tastes divine, and I wasn't left waiting, the buffet supplied a various selection of garden and roast vegetable salad with my favorite being any that involved Avo and a little bit of grilled chicken.
They also have a nice selection of sandwiches and some basic lunchtime essentials to ensure that you and your friends are wholeheartedly appeased.Walking back outside in the sun, a friendly waitress took my drinks order and I sat quietly eating my healthy and inexpensive lunch, along with my cappuccino in hand.
My friend across from me, a lady that shares my foodie ideas, also did the salad and can concur that it will soon be our little hangout spot, our lunch date venue (when we can get in) and our 'salad place.'



I liked the cute venue and the food was delicious, simple and for the price, the quality was great.
Definitely somewhere I would go again, but you need to get there quite earlier to avoid disappointment and to ensure that you get a table, but the take-away option is fantastic, so either way a nice meal is guaranteed.

Beluga, the sushi and more

During the week, I like to keep things low key and tend to go to some of the most beautiful restaurants in Cape Town with a delightful gaggle of beauties that I call my girlfriends.
Last night was no exception and as soon as we walked into Beluga, (Near the Victoria Junction hotel) we felt an air of sophistication, class and our eyes wandered over the 3D menus that were in front of us.

Sitting outside is a must, it's beautiful and very relaxing in a quite gated community styled area, only you and some offices abandoned long ago by their staff.
Service was excellent with our rather nice (and cute) waiter Anthony happy to reel off a memorised list of the most delicious starters, mains and the eventual deserts, pausing to stop and give a personal opinion that was most helpful, and definitely used as a guideline.
I started with my favorite, sushi, the Tuna Crunch.Without a doubt it is the reason for my being!
A tuna California Roll with a delicious battered and crispy covering, as well as a dollop of japanese mayo that blows the senses away.
Even though it wasn't their half price sushi special from noon to 7pm, it was still a great price for the 8 pieces that would have cost an exceptional amount anywhere else.

Then I had a main of miso-styled Kingklip on a bed of crushed potatoes, and salad. I found the fish to be simply exceptional and owing to my penchant for the Kingklip, it being my favorite dish at any restaurant, I wholeheartedly endorse the beauty of the flavour and style of cooking with flair that engulfs you.


All and all, I think that after I then had the desert of white Lindt chocolate beignets, I will never be able to eat chocolate elswhere ever again.


Meal was delicious,prices were perfect, service was fantastic and the atmosphere was perfect for a Girls Night Out.