SA Cheese Fest awesomeness

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Karisa

The annual SA Cheese Festival is a total must if you love stuffing your face with cheese, wine and all things that beautifully accompany these two things. So of course, it’s right up my alley!

I’ve been so busy of late though that I almost forgot about it… By the time I woke up, ticket sales were running out fast, but we luckily still got some for the Sunday session. The weather on the day provided perfect cheese tasting conditions: partly cloudy, but no rain. Not cold, but not too hot either… I mean we all know that heat is not good for the delicate cheesiness (that’s the proper scientific term, I promise).

It also seemed like the whole Western Cape was in attendance. Clearly this is a popular fest amongst pretty much everyone…

Because Sandringham is such a big venue, you didn’t really feel the large number of people until you got inside the main Checkers tent. It was packed, and when I say packed, I mean PACKED. Check it out:

I felt like a gladiator… going in for final battle… but not intimidated in any way… There were so many things to see and taste, it would take me weeks of posts to get through all of it. So I’m just going to give you a bit of a highlights package. Here goes:

Clockwise from top left: Kasselshoop Cheese, Simonsberg feta & mushroom combo which was really tasty; Mysthill Farm; and the best Wasabi chips you’ll ever eat (like ever – I’ve spotted them at Spar and some convenience stores)

Clockwise from top left: the most awarded wines I’ve ever seen, just check all those prize stickers! Alvi’s Drift had some really great & well prices wines; the only lemon curd you should ever buy – from the Lemon Curd Lady; tasty olives from Chrisna’s; and Nessa’s jalapeno relish which should be hitting stores in the near future.

Clockwise from top left: tempting baked treats from Die Backstube (their milk tart looked soooo good); Robin Hood themed wine box??; gorgeous looking savoury muffins from Wicked Treats Bakery and Vokandi who does flavoured vodkas & this spiked vodka chocolate cream which was a little strange, but I could see people loving that for desserts etc.

Clockwise from top left: Puglia Cheese, Olyvenbosch olive oil on tap (their olive oil is really nice); Pronto Mama Gourmet Foods; and I just really liked this winery’s label to be honest… I mean come on, it’s an elephant balancing on an “l”… what’s not to love.

The Landbou Weekblad stand made me think of my dad. When I was still living in PE, he used to threaten to advertise myself and my sisters in there to find husbands for all of us (I come from a big family, 4 girls & 2 boys):

That’s a lot of weddings to be worried about as a parent, I guess…

The kids play area & petting zoo had all the little kids entertained:

Although, just for the record, I thought this was kinda hectic:

A cow right next to a leather furniture stand… one of life’s tough lessons I guess…

But the kids area was also great for the “big kids” like myself, cause this is where I found my two new babies, Frank & Betsy (thanks to the SPCA stand @ only R40 each which goes towards a great cause).

If I happen to look slightly tipsy in this photo, it’s just bad lighting :

Betsy is the little pony & Frank is the doggie… just so you know.

Right, so what did I go home with in the end?

Two Anysbos cheeses:
More cheese from Taaibosh (Heidelberg, Southern Cape). What do you get when you mix soft, creamy cheese with biltong? Heaven in your mouth:
In the hustle & bustle on the day, I didn’t get any contact details for these folks. And couldn’t find anything online. But if I do, I’ll update it here, cause I also want to know where to get my hands on another tub once this one runs out…
This Slow roasted cherry tomato in spicy vinaigrette baby from Pronto Mama:
Hazelnut flavoured Tantinki Fudge. Yum!
You can’t ever go wrong with Wedgewood Nougat, especially their cranberry & almond – a totally winner:
And then I was in a bit of a bubbly mood on the day, so I opted for a bottle of Alvi’s Drift MCC and this lovely, light sparkling wine from De Wet Cellar called Pettilant Fronté which, get this, only cost me R30! (but you can only buy it directly from their cellar)

And then of course, Betsy & Frank have been livin’ it up back at home. The boyfriend hates the fact that I let them on the couch and the bed, he thinks I’m spoiling them, but I just can’t help it. You try looking into those big eyes and saying no. #impossible

Can you hear that Toy Story song playing in your head? “You’ve got a friend in me, you’ve got a friend in me…”

So yeah, all ‘n all a very successful day out. The SA Cheese Festival is always a great place to discover new & exciting products and that’s exactly why I can’t wait for next year…

xxx

Taste of Cape Town 2013 – the things I loved

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Karisa

Last night I had a fun-filled evening over at Taste of Cape Town which is taking place at the Green Point Cricket Club.

For those folks who are still planning on heading through, I’m sharing the things that made my tummy smile. And for those who were still umming & aahing about going, hopefully I can convince you to get your butts over there before you totally miss out.

Disclaimer: I focused my energies mainly on the restaurants. So I’m sure I missed out on lots of other great stalls. If you feel you’ve discovered something that deserves a special mention, please leave a comment below and share the love.

First up, some tips:

Get the premium ticket which comes with crowns (your festival currency), that way you don’t have to stand in a long queue to still get some. Then you will need a 2nd book of tickets, that I guarantee you. So as you walk around, keep an eye out for people in light pink golf Ts who are selling additional ticket books.
Keep an eye on the clock. The session comes to an end quicker than you think and you don’t want to be left with only a few minutes to spare and lots of crowns to burn. Panic spending is never a good thing…
Want a good wine deal? The Villiera stand is selling a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for only 2 crowns. That’s all I needed in the wine department.

Right, let’s go. My top 5 restaurant picks are as follows:

Signal Restaurant at the Cape Grace: You really can’t go wrong with any of their 3 dishes. Definitely my favourite restaurant out of all the ones I tried. On their menu they have:
- Salad of grilled prawns with rice vermicelli, basil, chilli, lime & Cape Malay curried coconut foam
- Slow roasted beef short rib, grilled rib-eye with goats cheese arancini, miso-roasted sweetcorn, pickled beetroot & smoked BBQ jus
- Hazelnut-crunch, pear, marshmallow & pear crumble ice cream

I’ve never actually been to the Signal Restaurant. And every year, without fail, they are in my top picks at Taste of Cape Town. So I really must make a plan to go check it out.
De Grendel (they’re about 20min out of town on the N1): Loved their duck, edamame bean, five spice & potpourri risotto:

Dash Restaurant & Bar (Queen Victoria Hotel – V&A Waterfront): Their 24-hour braised lamb breast with parmesan polenta & smoked tomato jus is a must if you’re a lamb lover.
Apologies for the shaky picture… I was clearly too excited to have that first bite.
The pop-up restaurant was the Pot Luck Club – because they were only a pop-up, it means you won’t be able to check them out today/tomorrow, but I still thought they deserved a mention. They’ve definitely convinced me to make a reservation at their restaurant over in Woodstock soon.
Their options were: Thai style prawns with Tom Yum butter, Korean Fried chicken & pork belly with XO & red cabbage slaw.
And then 96 Winery Road (Somerset West): Enjoyed their new style sashimi (thin slices of line with with spring onions & ginger, drizzled with hot sesame oil & finished with a soy reduction & wasabi mayonaisse) and their parmesan & chorizo risotto (with rocket, sugar snap peas & cherry tomatoes).

Now I didn’t actually try their cheeky mini burgers, but the Beefcakes stand gets a high 5 for being the most fun stand by far. With their hot boys & small stage with live acts, they certainly had people queueing:

Other things which I think deserve your crowns:

This yummy yoghurt from Curds & Whey:
These Grappa spiked choccies & truffles from Apprentice @ Institute of Culinary Arts:
These these fresh & tasty cordials from Wilde At Heart:
R65 a bottle & it makes 8.5 litres
And then I missed them last night, but my favourite ice lollies from Las Paletas are there too and I hear they have some new flavours for you guys…
My absolute favourite is the guava cheesecake. But they’re all yum…

There are 3 more Taste of Cape Town sessions left:

Today (13 Apr):
- 13:00 to 17:00
- 18:30 to 22:20
Tomorrow (14 Apr):
- 12:00 to 17:00

Tickets cost R80 for a standard ticket or R180 for a premium ticket which includes a wine tasting glass & 20 crowns (value R100). You can still get your tickets at the door OR buy them online over here.

On your marks… get set… and eat!

xxx

Bubbles & great company at the WineStyle Summer Wine Party

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Karisa

Cape Town can be a bit of a temperamental diva sometimes… just look at this weather I woke up to on the day I was supposed to rock a well thought out white ensemble consisting of the cutest lace shorts and pretty blouse:

Ja hey… that’s wasn’t gonna happen… It was jeans and a flippen jersey for me…

But you know what, this certainly was not going to stop me from having a great time at the WineStyle Summer Wine Party – I just wasn’t going to win a prize for best summer white outfit, and I could totally live with that as long as I had copious amounts of wine at my disposal.

The party went down at Simon’s restaurant on the beautiful Groot Constantia wine estate. It might have been cold & rainy outside, but it was nice & cosy inside, which made for perfect wine drinking conditions (yes yes, I do realise that one can pretty much make any conditions “perfect wine drinking conditions”, but hey it makes for a better story OK).

Being a Fri evening after a looooong work week, the gang (consisting of Clouds, Leigh, Chelle & myself) decided we’d focus our energies on the bubbly options, and this way properly celebrate the start of the weekend…

To kick off we started with the fancy stuff, a 2009 Vintage Cuvée MCC from GM & Ahrens in Franschhoek. They make their bubbly in small quantities only – in fact, only 250 cases are available with 6 bottles each (at R345 per bottle). You have to register to be eligible for a case and if none are available, they’ll put you on the waiting list. And get this, once you’ve been given a case #, that will be your unique case # for as long as you decide to keep refilling that order (and I’m sure you will be). FYI – case 71 is currently up for grabs… #justsaying

Loved that the GM & Ahrens gentlemen really got into the spirit of things with their touch of French flair… magnifique!

Next up was the lovely Brut Nature MCC by Saltare Wines from the Stellenbosch wine region. They say it spends a minimum of 18 months on the lees (which refers to deposits of dead/residual yeast & other particles that drops to the bottom of a vat after fermentation) and they don’t add any sugar or sulphur once it’s disgorged (that’s the process of removing the lees). The dates of bottling & disgorgement are actually printed on each label so you can confirm exactly how long each bottle had spent on the lees. As I understand it, the longer on the lees, the better.

Wine cellar price per bottle – R140 (R120 each if you buy a case of 6)

Villiera is a Stellenbosch wine farm I know quite well, they make some really nice Sauvignons & Chenins, and I’ve also sampled their Tradition Brut NV MCC which I quite enjoyed. Here however we got to try two MCCs in their range which I haven’t tried before. The first was their Starlight Brut NV which is a “light” MCC with just under 10% alcohol (compared to the usual approx. 12%). The second was their Tradition Rosé Brut NV, a lovely pink bubbly made from a mix of Pinot Noir, Pinotage & Chardonnay.

I see both sell for R105 per bottle on wine.co.za (and they’re apparently just over R80 from the cellar), so it’s a really great deal. Both are also really fresh & drink-sum-morish, which explains why we lingered here for quite some time… (and purchased a bottle or two/three)

The last in my “MCC cravings extravaganza” was an extra special 2008 MCC from High Constantia called the Clos Andre:

The bottle reminded me of a very sexy, curvy lady… Kim K eat your heart out… And if I recall correctly, the lady said they sell for around R220 per bottle (from the cellar). You can also find them at speciality wine shops like Caroline’s as well as the Pick ‘n Pay in Constantia Village.

Now bubbly tasting is a tough job and soon we needed some refueling… I got myself some tasty fish & chips from Simon’s, we grabbed a big table and settled in for an evening of great laughs & conversation.

A huge thanks to Kalinka, the gorgeous lady from WineStyle who organised the event and looked after us so well on the evening. This was the perfect way to end of a rainy Friday and my tastebuds have now been awakened to a whole new range of MCC options I didn’t even know existed. Mission accomplished for sure.

Me with Kalinka

Oh and keep an eye out folks. There should be a Winter Wine Party on the cards again this year. So expect a red wine marathon for the next one…

xxx

And the Love & Light winners are…

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Karisa

All righty then… the lucky folks who will be partying it up this Sat, 9 March at the Love & Light Day Party & who will be experiencing the awesomeness of Liquid Soul and Symphonix… are…

Jaryd Cohen aka @JarydCohen
Luke Tyler ‏‪aka @LukeTyler_‬

Congrats!! You’ve won 2 tickets each including the return bus ride from Cape Town and back per person.

Please email me on karisanic@gmail.com and I’lll give you the deets on where to pick up your tickets.

And have an amazing time guys. I’m not yet sure whether I’m going to be able to make it out there myself, but I just know this is going to be one insane party…

xxx

The HOLI One colour festival – what an amazingly unique & epic experience

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Karisa

Oh my goodness! The HOLI One colour fest which took place this past Saturday was absolutely insane… Tickets had sold out the Thursday before already and there were even people camping outside trying to still secure some… but boy was I happy that I didn’t miss out on this one.

It all went down at the Grand Parade in town, kicking off at 12 noon and going on until like midnight. Bjorn and I had another event to go to in the evening, so we decided to get there early to maximise on our paint-in-your-face time.

First stop once inside was to grab some of the environmentally friendly, non-toxic, allergy-free, water soluble paint powder, which came in 5 colours:

Then all you needed to do was to find yourself a powder friendly zone:

Although these lines got blurred very quickly… hehe… I think after the first countdown you could safely say every zone was a powder friendly zone.

Oh and you could also stop off to get yourself some funky mouth protection:

But we came with our own thanks to a little trip to the hardware store’s “fashion section” earlier that day…

Then you got yourself a good spot on the dance floor & waited for the countdown baby! These countdowns went down every hour on the hour and looked a little something like this:

How awesome is that?? Closer into the cloud, it was a little something like this:

I had wrapped my poor little camera in glad wrap to get these shots. And even so, there’s still a crap load of paint dust in every part thinkable… I don’t think that camera will ever be the same again… but hey, it’s better now!

The rest of the day really can’t be explained in words – I mean I can keep saying “amazing”, “awesome”, “epic”, “insane”, “crazy fun”, etc. But I think these pics do it a little more justice than that:

A zombie apocalypse never looked this good.

Our walk home was quite an interesting one as you can imagine. We threatened to give quite a few people hugs. Hehe… And it was really cool to see others like us roaming the city streets as well.

Oh and how was it getting the paint off again? Not too hard actually. But it did require some scrubbing. Also at the event we went to later that evening, we figured out that the paint glows in the dark. One of the other guest in attendance hadn’t quite gotten some areas behind his ears and around his eyes and once that UV light hit him, it was a pretty funny surprise.

Clothes wise, not sure yet, been to scared to switch on the washing machine. But luckily I had done a quick trip to Mr P to stock up on some whites for the festival, so I don’t really care if the paint doesn’t come out. It will just be a reminder of a day that will certainly be very tough to beat…

A huge thanks to the One-eyed Jack team for the ticket hook up. I think everyone who attended is already looking forward to the next one.

xxx

Two sets of double tickets up for grabs to the Love & light day party next weekend

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Karisa

Are you an electronic/trance music fan? Then listen up. Next Sat, 9 March the Love & Light Day Party will be happening at Mountain Shadows in Paarl and it will feature top international acts Liquid Soul and Symphonix.

There’s also a lineup of some really great SA acts including: Connecto, Dave Mac, Ivan – Killer Robot (love them!), Fogshow, Anthea Scholtz and Stephan Wyeth.

Photo credit: Mik Motala Photography (http://www.facebook.com/MikMotalaPhotography)

The best part is that you’ll also be able to chill in an incredibly beautiful setting alongside a big ass dam (read here: pack bathing suit, sunscreen & water wings ). And there will also be a fully licensed bar including a cocktail bar by the dam with a live feed of the music from the dance floor. How’s that for organised? Lots of food options will also be available if you need to take a break from the dance action to refuel. And all ‘n all it’s just going to be a day of fun, cool tunes, epic dance moves and… love & light of course.

Photo credit: Mik Motala Photography (http://www.facebook.com/MikMotalaPhotography)

Important things you need to know:

It’s going to be a 12 hour electronic music experience. Starting at 10am and wrapping up at 10pm. ** Gates will open at 9am and close at 7pm **
The Mountain Shadows estate is about 63km’s outside of Cape Town and to avoid drinking & driving, there will be a return bus service from Cape Town.
- The bus will be departing from the parking lot opposite Giovannis (P13) on Somerset Rd, Green Point at 9am sharp and will be returning to the same place after the party, so you should be home around 11pm again.
If you are driving though, Mountain Shadows is off Keerweder Road, Klein Drakenstein, Paarl. Get directions over here.
You can also opt to spend a night in a nearby B&B. For suggestions you can consult the Paarl Tourism website on www.paarlonline.com or call Paarl info on 021- 863 49 37.

Costs? R220 pp if you buy your tickets before hand. R250 at the door. And then R100 extra if you opt for the bus ride. You can simply hop on over to Webtickets over here now or buy from one of the following outlets:

Canal Walk – WILDFIRE PIERCING – 021 552 8929
CBD 161 Long Street – SKA – 021 426 5025
Sea Point – CALL-A-PIZZA – 021 434 0818
Gardens – GLOBAL GIRL – 021 461 1756
Hout Bay – TA-DA@THE BOARDROOM – 021 790 8132
Durbanville – GYPSY – 021 976 2604
Kalk Bay – GYPSY – 021 788 6802
Stellenbosch – GYPSY – 021 886 7157
Buitengracht – SUBWAY – 021 422 4974
Observatory – SKA – 021 447 6014
Claremont – SLICE 24 – 021 674 0022

But hold on just a second there guys – because two lucky readers wont have to worry about sorting out tickets at all… That’s cause I have 2 sets of double tickets to giveaway which also INCLUDES a return bus ride for each person. So you’re not even gonna need to stress about getting there. Sweet.

All you need to do is send the following tweet:

Hey @CTmylove please hook me up with some tickets to the #LoveAndLight day party next Sat #LoveLightWin

Terms & Conditions:

This competition is only open to people living in Cape Town (or who will at least be in Cape Town to catch the bus)
Only one entry per person.
Competition closes at midnight on Mon, 4 March.
Winner will be determined by lucky draw & announced here on my blog and on Twitter on Tue, 5 March.

For more information on the event, you can also visit the Love & Light Day Party Facebook page.

Get on your dancing shoes folks, this will be a good one…

xxx

The HOLI ONE colour festival is almost here…

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Karisa

Next Sat, 2 March will be a huge moment for Cape Town as our Grand Parade gets transformed into a full colour experience for the first ever (for us in any case) HOLI ONE colour festival.

The HOLI ONE festival series has travelled all around the world and was originally inspired by the Holi religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus mainly in India & Nepal. It’s a celebration of life and freedom of expression and as I understand, a freakin’ incredible experience you certainly don’t want to miss out on.

But what exactly is meant by “colour festival”? Well you see, people at the festival throw brightly coloured powder into the air to an hourly countdown, creating a muli-coloured sky above them. Doesn’t that sound amazing? The powder used is made from corn flour & food colouring and is completely safe, non-toxic, water soluble & environmentally friendly. Only certified 100% natural HOLI ONE powder may be used at the festival. These powders can be pre-purchased with your ticket or on the day at R20 per 100g. You won’t be allowed to bring any other powder in - that’s just to make sure everybody has the same safe colour experience- and they do recommend that people with allergies/asthma/contact lenses use mouth and/or eye protection.

They also encourage you to arrive wearing white to ensure you leave there looking like a rainbow. Also bring some suncreen or a hat cause the event will be outdoors. And expensive cameras and phones might get damaged by the powder, so a protective cover/bag/sleeve will be a good idea.

Now, not only will you be experiencing this celebration of colour, you’ll also be enjoying a seriously impressive lineup of acts including Mathias Schwarz, better known as Super Flu, from Germany who will be bringing some international flavour to the festival.

Germany’s Super Flu

This is the confirmed full lineup:

12h00-13h00: Sadhu Sensi
13h00-14h00: DJ Mighty
14h00-15h00: Richard the Third
15h00-16h00: Ma’original
16h00-17h00: Kid Fonque
17h00-18h00: Super Flu (Germany)
18h00-19h00: Toby2shoes
19h00-20h00: GoodLuck
20h00-21h00: Mix n Blend
21h00-22h00: Niskerone

The throwing of the colour powder will kick off with Richard the Third’s set at 14:00 and will then continue every hour on the hour until 22:00.

Ticktet costs are:

R190 for general admission
R290 for general admission + powder (5 colours)
Hop on over to Webtickets over here now to secure yours…
There will also be tickets available at the door for R250 (but that’s without any powder, so definitely cheaper to book through Webtickets)

It is important to note that this event is not open to anyone under the age of 18. You also won’t be allowed to bring in any of your own food or drinks. But don’t stress, there will be plenty on sale inside. So you’ll be totally covered.

For more info: do check out their website link above OR follow the action on their Facebook page or Twitter @holioneSA.

I dunno about you guys, but I reallly can’t wait!! This is going to be something Capetonians are going to be raving about for ages, I’m sure of it… miss it & miss out.

xxx

Surfing excellence and celebrating the Great White with Wavescape & Jack Black

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Karisa

Last Sat I eve I headed over to Clifton 4th to check out some movies on the beach as part of this year’s Wavescape Surf Film Festival.

Me being a total ”Wavescape newbie”, I was very excited at the idea of packing a little picnic basket, watching the sunset & then chilling on the sand to watch some beautiful/moving/inspiring short films… come on, that does sound pretty damn good hey?

But before the movies kicked off we quickly popped up to the Life Saving Club to sample a new Jack Black craft beer called the Great White. Rob from League of Beers gave me a little tip off that this baby was being launched in conjunction with Wavescape and I was very excited to give it a bash. This Weiss beer has been named in honour of the Cape’s Great White Shark and partial proceeds of the sale of it will go towards our Sharkspotters who we all know play a very important role in protecting surfers & swimmers on the Cape’s coast.

Here’s the official tasting notes:

GREAT WHITE Weiss Beer (4.5% abv. Bottle only):
Our Weiss is a traditional Bavarian Wheat Beer named in honour of the Cape’s Great White Shark. Distinctive pineapple and orange peel flavours, with a smooth touch of honey and a butterscotch finish.

I must say I definitely picked up the pineapple immedately and all round I really enjoyed this beer. I would describe it as an easy drinking & ”girl friendly” (but certainly not girly) beer and highly recommend you try it if you spot it. Plus, it’s drinking for a good cause!

After finishing our brewskies (because you’re not allowed to drink on the beach of course) we headed back down to our outdoor cinema which arguably had the best backdrop of any cinema in the world. There were 4 short films on the evening’s schedule:

Dark side of the lens (I actually saw this one at the Short & Sweet Festival as well)
Johnny Neon Hearts
Code Red
Here & Now

It’s amazing how relaxing surf movies are. I left there feeling totally chilled out, like I’d been on a mini break or something. Brilliant stuff. If you’re keen on some surfer inspiration yourself, the Wavescape Surf Film Fest is still running until Monday the 17th at the Labia. Check out the website for all the schedule info.

Oh and before I go – Jack Black is also running a competition where you can win free beer for a year. Hop on over to their Facebook page for more on that one.

xxx

Synergy Live 2012 highlights

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Karisa

Sorry guys, I’m a bit behind with my posts at the moment because I’ve been hitting the books quite a bit over the past few weeks. I have this international accreditation relating to my day job which requires me to earn a certain number of points over a 3 year period to ensure that I can keep it, so it’s been a bit of a schlep. But the good news is that I’m 100% recertified which means I can keep charging rediculous amounts of money! (A girl can dream at least).

But anyways, back to the topic at hand. This year’s Synergy Live festival was as always quite the adventure. The new Theewater Sports Club venue was much much bigger than the previous Boschendal Wine Estate playground, which was cool space wise but also a bit tougher with regards to getting around. Let’s just say from all the walking I felt quite fit after the weekend, even though I spent my time eating & drinking ALL the wrong things.

I only got there after 8pm on the Friday cause of work and getting lost twice. (I know, totally embarrassing, but I’m blaming the Synergy website directions. I have others who also got lost following it who will back me up. Just sayin’.) But I was very happy to see that the party was already in full swing as this poor drunk guy passed out right outside the toilets demonstrated quite well:

Peaking too soon… major festival FAIL. Hehe.

The main event on the Friday evening was one thing & one thing only. The Prodigy!! Seriously, I didn’t care about anything other than seeing these guys on stage. And I wasn’t disappointed in the least. They rocked it out like it was still the crazy 90s, which I loved. I’m sure if you zoomed in on their faces you would have seen a bit of wear & tear, but from where I was standing, they looked just like they did in that awesome Firestarter video and they sounded equally brilliant. I felt like my goal for the weekend had already been achieved and it was only day 1…

Scenes from The Prodigy set

The Red Bull stage this year was quite a far walk from the main stage and also the first stage most people stumbled upon because of the overall layout. This caused some confusion (especially if you consider the amount of alcohol and other strange things which are consumed at festivals). I overheard quite a few people saying “the main stage is quite a bit smaller than last year hey” and “wait, there’s only one oke on stage, where’s the rest of the band!?”. I tried to correct people where I could and I’m hoping at least by the Saturday most folks figured things out.

Awesome screen displays has become the norm at the Red Bull tent… better to keep you entranced I guess.

The next morning was the first time I actually got a view of our camp area (because I arrived after sunset the night before of course). It was cool in that we were in the middle of a regte egte forest which gave some much needed protection from the wind (which was crazy btw):

On our long walk to breakfast we learnt about the very serious problem of dust in the area:

Is that a person praying? Dust must be very very serious indeed… geeze…

Breakfast included some tasty samoosas from the Durban’s Finest Curry stand and ice cream. They do say breakfast is the most important meal of the day you know.

But seriously, there were lots & lots of food options to choose from which was really great cause you didn’t end up standing in very long queues at any time.

The mock “beach” area was a popular spot throughout the day, mainly cause it was piping hot and at least you cool down in the dam and enjoy some cold Mainstay ready-made cocktails. We also watched quite a few people attempting to master those inflatable “walk on water” balls. Personally I don’t get them. I don’t understand why a human would want to look like a hamster failing on a hamster wheel. But it certainly was entertaining to watch. Maybe that was in fact more the point. Hmmmm… sneaky organiser folks. Love it!

I was also happy to see some of my favoutire comedians on stage: Siv Ngesi, Schalk Bezuidenhout & Oliver Booth all had me in stitches during their improv comedy set (think Who’s line is it anyway?). The jokes were pretty damn dirrrrty, which made me love it even more…

I was however having some issues with my camera. I’ve mentioned before that it’s been a little temperamental since a few dropping & spilling incidents. Let me show you what it was doing. Here’s a pic taken with flash:

And here’s one without flash…

Weird huh? Gonna have to get that checked out for sure. If anybody has any ideas as to what could be causing this, please do drop me a line.

Anyhoo, back at the main stage the lineup for the Sat evening was pretty awesome. So that’s kinda where we settled from about 6pm onwards, kicking off with the legendary Rudimentals.

Apologies, this was the best stage shot I had – but was actually taken earlier in the day when the sun was super hot. That’s why it looks a bit empty.

After which I quickly popped back to my tent just before sunset to change into something a little warmer. Just look at what a beautiful sight I was welcomed with en route back:

So incredible, right?

The rest of the evening’s activities included rocking to Jack Parow’s Cooler as ekke, watching Goodnight Wembley live for the first time (and loving them) and then checking out my personal favourite SA band at the moment, Shadowclub. Looove these guys.

There was this other band called Prime something after Shadowclub – but I’ll be honest, I’m not really a fan, so we headed back to the Red Bull stage instead with a stop along the way for some midnight snacks. The perfect way to round off a very successful day.

As for the Sunday, there’s not much to tell. I had to get back into town, so packed up & headed out quite early. I didn’t mind it really because Sundays at music festivals are usually quite a scary sight. I mentioned the term “Zombie apocalypse” at the end of Rocking the Daises this year. That term works quite well with 3 day festivals in general.

But ja, a fun weekend away for sure. It’s always so cool to experience great live music and hang with great people. Oh and stuff your face with Spur burgers without your “sophisticated” friends knowing! (forgot to mention that part. hehe)

xxx

PS: Props for the Flash bit has to be go to my friend Darryn. This was his creative brilliance thanks to something he had seen online. Also of course to the guy who stuck it out in boiling hot that Flash costume ALL DAY LONG. Impressive dude. Very impressive.

Cape Town Festival of Beer – the recap

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Karisa

This year’s Cape Town Festival of Beer which took place at the Hamiltons Rugby Club in Green Point was BIIIG. I’ve only recently developed an appreciation for the world of beer (but more specifically craft beer), so I was really blown away by the sheer variety I saw at the fest. Being a total rookie I was suffering about an hour in cause it felt like I had consumed like 5 loaves of bread. But I pushed through like a champ, for you guys of course.

Top left: Our “taxi” which took us from the outskirts of the parking right to the front door. Awesome. Rest all of the festival area.

Now there was an official festival judging panel and all that and they rated the Pilsner Urquell as the best of show (or whatever the official term is):

So of course we kicked things off with a sampling of this baby. It was nice, but I wouldn’t say it blew my hair back. Some folks I spoke to reckon this beer won because of the beer’s consistent taste (you’re guaranteed that every bottle offers exactly the same) & general appeal. Cool cool. But I’m more of a risk taker myself… I’m into the slightly strange, the weirdly wonderful, the awesomely odd… kinda like this bottle opener:

Hehehehehe

So I continued on in my beer exploration mission. We spotted an area where you could book a table which then came with your very own beer keg system. How’s that for self service brilliance hey? And then the background music were supplied by these two okes who covered pretty much anything from the Bryan Adams hit, Summer of 69 to Cold Play’s Viva la Vida. I felt like I was transported back to good old PE, to the Sunday eve deck parties at Toby Joe’s I used to frequent during my varsity days. Good times. Good times.

We parked off at the Brew Dog stand for a bit because the guy running the tasting session was just so enthusiastic that he totally sucked us in. Brew Dog is a Scottish craft beer company and I totally loved their bright labels & fun names:

My favourite out of their offerings was their Punk IPA (IPA for those who don’t know stands for “India Pale Ale” and it’s a beer style made usually from pale malt which got its name during the mid 18th century when beer producers started exporting this “lighter” style beer to India). Thanks to my friend Darryn & Wikipedia for that little titbit.

After all that Brew Dogging, I was hungy. So we hit up the food area. There were lots to choose from, like beer waffles (sounded interesting, but I didn’t have the ballz to try it), tasty ribs & kebabs. But we settled on some spicy Mexican food from the San Julian stand. Now word on the street is that their restaurant in Bo Kaap serves up some of the best Mexican food in Cape Town. I was very happy with what I tasted here, so I’m definitely planning a visit… (hopefully soon).

Back to the beer tasting, I discovered that I also quite like Weizen style beers. Good to know. And then these were some of the other breweries that offered up some brewskies I quite liked as well:

But where does one get all these types of beers exactly? When I asked the question I mostly got two answers. To drink & enjoy on the spot: Banana Jam Cafe. To take home with you: Roeland Liquors.

So there you have it folks. If you missed this year’s fest, do keep an eye out for this one again next year. It’s certainly a goodie… although… the evening did somehow end up with us scoffing down chicken nuggets & fries at the bloody McDonalds nearby. Noooooooo!!! After seeing that horrible pink chicken paste story on the interwebs I promised myself I would NEVER eat at McDonalds ever again. Total #FAIL. Damn you beer fest, damn you!!

xxx

My Love Affair with Cape Town…

Just random fun in my mother city

Category Archives: Festivals