Tag Archives: Camps Bay

Sun, sand & some serious competition

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This past Sat, 24 teams battled it out for the prestigious annual Café Caprice Volleyball tournament trophy.

Prizes included Sunglass Hut sunglasses, Havaianas vouchers and Havana Club beach kits.  But the true prize of course is the bragging rights.  :)

The lovely people from Caprice made sure people were refreshed, well fed and sun protected with yummy Red Bull mocktails being served at the beach bar, tasty mini burgers (which I missed sadly cause I only got there too late) and lovely ladies walking the beach handing out free sunscreen.

Weather wise it was the perfect day -  slightly overcast which gave you some relief from the sun every now and again, but still nice and hot.  The following 2 pics set the scene quite well:

Stunning right?  The beauty of our beaches continues to blow me away.  They are truly world class and in my personal opinion (and experience) totally trumps even those of Brazil and Thailand.

Anyhoo, the tournament consisted of 5 a side games, scheduled for 2 sets of 7min each (with the teams swapping sides after the 1st set).  My boy Bjorn and his friends, known as the Virgin daiquiris started out very strong, cruising through the early rounds without really breaking a sweat.

In between games Bjorn even made some time to do some Sunglass Hut marketing. (I think we was trying to ensure free sunnies whether they won or not. That’s good planning. ;) )

The sunscreen is supposed to say “SGH” for Sunglass Hut of course

Team spirits remained high as they blew the competition out of the water and made it to the quarter finals with ease…

It was easy to see why though.  Just check out that defense!  Nothing was gonna get past this team:

The Virgin daiquiris was the only team who had as many as 3 ladies in the team.  Some might say that was a risk, but I say that’s what gave them the edge.  Just look at Karin’s impressive smashing skills for example:

You might be thinking “Hey K, why weren’t you in the team? You seem fit and amazing and gorgeous and stuff…” ;)    Well you see, I have a “volleyball disability” – from a very young age I was the ball-smashed-in-the-face girl.   And no, I’m not talking about those kind of balls.  Get your minds out of the gutter.  I’m obviously referring to balls used in sports.  For example, I could be in a crowd of like a thousand people.  There would be no ball in sight.  I’d turn around and then – WHAM – right in the face.  My mom’s dreams of me becoming a SA netball champion were crushed.  Due to this problem, I now flinch just at the mention of the word “volleyball”.  This clearly equates to pretty crappy playing skills.  So there you go… my truly sad back story… sob sob…

Back to the tournament, there was also a prize for the best dressed team.  Some folks went all out, like these dudes who looked like they were wearing pajamas:

They must have been bloody boiling! Bjorn’s friend, Nick, noted that it would be pretty damn embarrassing to loose against a team wearing PJ “onesies”. I thought he made a very good point…

The guys who took the prize in the end were these brave, leopard print legging clad gentlemen:

Like totes hot right now…

The daiquiris didn’t have time to play dress up – they were there for one thing and one thing only… winning!  They smashed through the quarter finals and then the semi-finals and winning scores like this one just became the norm really:

My pic of the day has to be this one.  Love how the clouds in the sky was doing this awesome striped effect:

Love how Jared also looks like he’s about to do a very intricate dive maneuver. Score? Perfect 10!

Throughout the tournament, Bjorn certainly proved that white men can in fact jump… even when you’re not totally blessed in the “beanpole” arena.

Some seriously slick moves there…

In the end, not even the finals was a threat for the Virgin daiquiris’ kick-ass skills.  They came out on top, smiling all the way.

Let’s take a closer look at that beaut of a trophy:

Oooooh aaaaaah

Well done guys!  Obviously you couldn’t have done it without my support though.  So if anyone wants to gift one of those free pairs of sunnies, please feel free. :)

Who knows, maybe I’ll get over my ball-in-the-face fear and give this a bash next year.  Then again… that would require a lot of practice… hmmm… I’m more of a chillin’ with cocktail in hand girl… nah, rather just play to my strengths.

xxx

Actually can’t believe this response to my Nisha post

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Check this response I got today on my post about the new Nisha nightclub in Camps Bay (if you missed it – you can read it here):

John Weed on December 19, 2011 at 5:03 pm said:

Well looks like none of you have tasted or felt Nisha yet.There were lots of Capetonians and yes there were a bunch of Jo burg guys.Well Nisha is not for everyone and from the look on your faces i doubt if any of you can afford the hospitality at Nisha.With or without you guys going back,there’s nothing lost.Maybe you should end up in Sapphire or Caprice where there’s a bunch of pick pockets.Nisha is for high rollers not peasants.

So basically he’s saying that just because I wasn’t a huge fan, I’m clearly a broke ass and all the other people who commented and agreed with my feelings are broke ass peasants as well.  Wow, nice one.

My response:

Karisa on December 19, 2011 at 5:25 pm said:

Wow John. What a mature response… you don’t know me or any of the other readers, so how can you say we probably can’t afford it? I mean seriously, you’re going to stoop that low? I’m assuming you have some involvement with the club or you know a guy that knows a guy or whatever. But your attitude just reinforced my feelings about the place. I’m sure the other “poor people” will agree. Cape Town isn’t that big – bad press spreads fast – pls do keep that in mind and good luck to you.

People like this guy still exist!?!  Just plain crazy… and very disappointing.  I wonder what the owners of Sapphire & Caprice will have to say about this dude’s comments.

xxx

Camps Bay’s new kid on the block

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On Sat eve I went to the opening of a new night spot called Nisha.   Nisha is in the same spot as the old Karma used to be, so that’s the Penthouse Suite, The Promenade on Victoria Road in Camps Bay.

Before I continue – I just have to state for the record… I think the name is terrible!  It sounds like the name of a poppie with false nails and an orange tan who happens to work after hours as a “dancer”. :)

The owners consist of 2 JHB business men and a local guy.  According to these 3 gentlemen, the name was inspired by the thought of a “Niche Market” – which is the subset on which the club is focused on.  Um… OK then…

Hottie Aidan Bennetts (I’m still dreaming of him carving me a chair out of a piece of beach wood, preferably minimally clothed. ;) ) and his new partner in design, Stephen Lasker, were asked to do the interior for the club.

As you enter you’re welcomed by a striking white theme with lots of neon lights:

And then there are these over sized hexagonal lights hanging from above:

Even the bar is a bit of a showcase – with it’s little pyramid of booze, all lit up Times Square style:

Hmmm... I think I'll work my way from top to bottom.

It was quite hot inside. I was sweating and I was in a little cocktail dress.  I felt really bad for the guys in long sleeve shirts.  We joked that they probably had a tight budget and in the end it came down to either air conditioning or those hexagon lights.  And clearly the lights won. hehe.

To be honest, the atmosphere was quite stuffy.  Nisha didn’t have the laid back feel I’ve come to love about most Cape Town spots.  They’re trying to sell the idea of ultimate exclusivity blah blah blah… but is that really what true Capetonians give a damn about?  The people I usually party with don’t really care whether you’re seen at the right place, wearing the right label, hanging with the right crowd… they just care about being able to relax and to have a great time.  No frills, no fuss.  In the end we didn’t have too late a night there – my couch sounded like a more intriguing option.

So do I think it will last past the summer season?  Not too sure. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

xxx

PS:  Pics came out a bit dark – was hard with the neon lights.

Peroni spoils us at Zenzero

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So my friend Darryn is one of those lucky people who wins shit ALL THE TIME.  This time round he won a R2000 dinner for himself & 3 friends, sponsored by Peroni SA.  Of course I was one of the “chosen ones” – I mean, let’s keep it real here, what party is complete without moi (or my evil twin Kandi). :)

The venue for this eating & drinking showdown was the truly beautiful Italian restaurant, Zenzero (Shop 2A – The Promenade, Victoria Rd), in Camps Bay.  Just check this place out – it’s pretty insane:

Peroni “Lifestyle Ambassador”, Aidan Whytock, was waiting to welcome us (with some ice cold Peroni of course).  This was a great start to our evening… Thanks again Aidan!

Myself, Ben & Darryn (our 4th, Dani, was running late - so she missed out on this awesome group shot. And the free Peroni. So sad. haha)

The weather wasn’t too great on Saturday, but we got to enjoy an amazing pink sunset nonetheless:

Try to beat that! I dare you...

Now on to how we spent that R2000!  We decided up front that we wouldn’t go over R1800, that way we could leave our waitor a descent tip for his efforts.  How nice are we? ;)    But that still left us with quite a lot of money to blow between only 4 people.

For starters, we went a bit wild and got a selection of all the highly recommended options for the table.  This inlcluded the following:

  • Tiny whole artichokes – marinated in olive oil, roasted garlic, lemon zest & thyme (R55)
  • Beef carpacio – rocket salad, cherry tomato & shaved pecorino (R80)
  • Grilled calamari – lemon & chilli dressing (R50)
  • Zenzero calamari – crumbed and stuffed with lemon & ricotta (R60)
  • Zenzero mussels – cream, mustard seeds, herbs & lemon (R50)
  • Spinach & ricotta ravioli – olive oil, aged balsamic & pecorino (R50)

I looooved the artichokes, the carpacio & the grilled calamari.  So yum.  Then for mains I went for my favourite thing to order at a restaurant… a big ass slab of meat!  Grrrr… ;)

The Zenzero Fillet (R140) with a pink, green & black peppercorn and pot still brandy sauce & mash potatoes

I finished up (food wise) with the Pièce de résistance for the evening, the Lindt Dark chocolate fondant (R55):

Heaven... I'm in heaven...

The real deal clincher with this baby was that it also had some white Lindt chocolate sauce mixed into the soft, gooey centre.  It was such a cool surprise element.  This was my favourite thing from the entire evening for sure.

After we had totally stuffed ourselves with food AND enjoyed some great beer & wine… we still had money left over.  What’s a person to do with left over cash!?!  Shooters!!!

Ben suggested we have “chocolate cake” shots.  I had never tried that before, but being a total chocoholic, I immediately agreed.  Weird thing is that they don’t actually contain anything chocolate.  It just ends up tasting like it does.  Here’s the ingredients:

1/2 shot Absolut Citron vodka
1/2 shot Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
1 orange wedge

Darryn and our 4th, Dani, shooting them back like pros...

They were a serious hit.  We had quite a few rounds of these babies.  See, the really nice thing was that we didn’t have to worry about driving, so we could go absolutely mal.  We planned ahead and agreed to share a taxi.  Best plan ever!  Drinking & driving is seriously un-cool.

All in all, we had such a great evening.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more.   Amazing location, seriously tasty food, brilliant company and best of all, it was all for FREE! I wish every night could be like that…

I have to say a special thank you to Darryn for letting me tag along for this amazing experience. And then also to Peroni SA for putting this evening together.

xxx

A sneak peak of the summer to come

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It was starting to feel like this Cape Town winter was never going to come to an end… BUT THEN, outta nowhere, we get this small burst of amazing weather.  Kinda like a little teaser, just to let us know that some seriously awesome weather was still on its way. ;)

Naturally I was not going to let this opportunity pass me by.  I headed straight to the beach to start working on my tan!

Now we have lots of beautiful beaches to choose from, but Clifton 2nd seems to be a firm favourite amongst my friends.  Let me show you why:

Pretty sweet right?  I’ve been to famous beaches around the world and one thing I can guarantee you is that Cape Town’s beaches kick some serious ass.  We are really so lucky to have all of this right on our doorsteps…

The only real bummer is that bloody icy water.  Only the truly brave go in for a dip.  I once managed to make it waist deep and was so proud of myself, well that was until I started losing the feeling in my legs. hehe.

So inevitably, thanks to this little problem, there comes a point in your afternoon where you sadly need to leave the beach for some “refreshments”…  And by “refreshments” I mean cocktails of course!

Post beach time bliss…

But to get your hands on some of these babies, you have to move down to the Camps Bay strip.  One of the most popular chill out spots here is Cape Town institution, Cafe Caprice.  For one, that view just can’t be beaten:

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about

And then the food’s pretty good too.  Something you HAVE to try is their calamari salad, trust me on this one, it will rock your world!

OK, now I just have to show you this… My friend Ben seems to have some bad luck when it comes to phones.  He once even dropped his Blackberry in the toilet! haha.  Don’t ask how…  Weirdly though it still worked afterwards.  But a few days ago he finally managed to do something to it to break it for good.  So now he’s rocking his old “super cool” Samsung flip phone:

It even has a colour screen y’all!

I just found this totally hilarious.  I mean, that phone isn’t really that old, but with technology moving so fast these days, that phone looks like something out of Noah’s ark!  I had flashbacks of Zoolander and that teeny tiny phone he flashes in that movie.  We told him to take if off the table and put it back in his pocket immediately!  I mean seriously, our street cred just can’t take a knock like that… :)

As we were chilling, we noticed two cops writing up parking tickets.  The really intriguing part was that it seemed to take two of them to write one ticket.  Hmmmm.  This pic proves my point:

My friend Darryn was like: “Why the hell does it take two of them?”.  I figured that’s a valid question, so I leaned out the window and asked them.  This is how the conversation went down:

ME:  “Hey, so why does it take two of you to write one parking ticket?”
COP # 1: Walks over, smiling.  “No it doesn’t”
ME:  “Interesting… seeing as both of you are standing in front of the same car, writing up a ticket”
COP # 1: “No we’re not”
ME: Points to COP # 2, who is still writing.
COP # 1:  Turns around.  “Oh… well… I don’t know what he’s doing…”

Mystery solved then!  Me thinks there’s either some major communication issues between these two.  OR the general concensus at the table was that COP # 2 was probably just doing a crossword puzzle or playing a game of Sudoku.  Classic.

Anyhoo, moving on… just to show off how beatiful the Camps Bay strip is, I used my camera’s panoramic feature for the first time ever.  I don’t think it turned out too badly:

Now I ask you, why would I want to be anywhere else in the world right now?  Summer here is going to be just plain incredible, I can just feel it.

xxx

The Diligo Summer launch fashion show

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Last night I braved a crazy/scary Cape storm to go and check out Diligo’s Summer Launch Fashion show.  Now that might seem a bit strange to some… but I’m a total shopaholic dammit! And if there’s an opportunity to check out new stuff, nothing will get in my way. ;)

For those who have not heard of Diligo before:  They’re an online fashion store, selling mainly womens fashion with a small selection of mens shirts as well.  The company was actually started by two Port Elizabeth born ladies, Lauren Graham & Kimberley Wood.  I have to give a  “big up” to the PE people hitting it on the Cape Town scene! (gotta give my home town some love every now and again as well you know…)

OK, so to me there are 3 key things that make an event awesome:

  1. A goodie bag:

    Goodie bag... check!

  2. Free drinks:

    Selection of fabulous drinks... check!

  3. Free snacks:

    Yummy savoury & sweet snacks... check!

This event did not disappoint!  Nice… very very nice… Location is also of importance.  We were lucky enough to be housed in one of the beautiful conference rooms at the oh-so-impressive The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay:

Front row seat... that's how I roll...

Before we got on with the main event, Dermalogica (one of the sponsors for the evening) told us about their FITE program.

FITE stands for Financial Independance Through Entrepreneurship and they help woman all over the world to start and grow their own businesses.  Powered by Kiva.org (a nonprofit leader in microfinance), they provide women entrepreneurs access to small loans and business training and their aim is to help at least 25 000 women within their first 2 years of operation.

We got to watch a short video clip about the program and it really struck a cord with me, just check out some of these stats:

  • women’s hands perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the world’s food and invest 90% of their income in their families…
  • Yet… they bear 70% of the world’s poverty, earn only 10% of the world’s income and own only 1% of the world’s land…

Now by purchasing your favourite Dermalogica products, you can make a difference by giving these woman a real start of their own.  They get a micro loan which they then use to build their business, then when they can eventually pay it back, the loan goes back to FITE who then hands out a loan to another woman in need.  How’s that for “paying it forward”.  :)

It's so easy... buy your Dermalogica goodies, just make sure they have the FITE sleeve on. Then use the activation code inside to register your donation!

Want to be part of this amazing initiative?  Register at http://joinfite.org.  We were each given a card with an activation code linked to a small donation to get us started.  It is really cool actually because I’ve already received an email telling me about the lady that my donation went to and what she plans on doing with it!  Such a brilliant initiative…

Then it was time for the Diligo Summer fashion show to start.  The show kicked off with a selection of crisp whites:

Shirt (R380) / Shorts (R420) / Skinny belt (R150) ; Cotton day dress (R850); Day dress with tassle belt (R480); Oversized clutch (R450)

Then it changed over to some lovely nudes:

Tennis dress with belt (R450); Jumpsuit (R500); Safari dress (R550)

And it finished off with some great pops of colour:

Maxi dress (R450); Jumpsuit (R650); Striped short jumpsuit (R450); Green ruffle front dress (R500)

Overall, I thought that the range definitely gives one some good summer staples.  They’ve hit some of the big trends for this season without going over the top and forcing you into buying something that isn’t going to have much of a lifespan.  Most of these items I predict wil likely still be fashionable for the next spring/summer season as well.

It sure did go down well with the crowd, just look at the shopping frenzy that ensued after the show:

Lots of women with those "I must have it" crazy eyes... ;)

The new range will be available on the Diligo website (www.diligo.co.za) from Mon, 5 September.  So go check it out for yourselves.  They delivery country wide.

So wanna see what was inside that goodie bag?

Ta da! Check out my awesome loot... Pongracz sparkly, Lindt choccie, Katjes sweeties, Dermalogica goodies & spa discount vouchers. Yay!

Thanks so much to the Diligo girls for a fantastic evening!  Mwah.  And also to Jade Allen from Red Carpet Concepts, who coordinated the event.  I thought everything went down flawlessly.

xxx

Birthday fun @ Maranello’s

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My friend Darryn had a birthday dinner this past week at Trattoia Maranello  – a lovely little Italian spot in Camps Bay.  Now this is the 2nd year in a row that he has carefully selected this spot as his bday celebration location… Why?  Because it’s bloody awesome, that’s why! :)

Classic Italiano styling

Normally one would associate restaurants in the Camps Bay area with terms such as “pretencious”, “flashy” & “will max out your credit card”…  but this little gem is far from that.  The menu is filled with classic Italian comfort foods and the prices are very descent.

To get into the Italiano mood.  I decided we needed some Italian wine.   I had a look through their imported options first, but then I noticed a Sangiovese wine from the Stellenbosch region.  The name of the wine estate also got my attention, Monterosso, which is one of the 5 beautiful villages that form part of the amazing Cinque Terre in Italy.

Italian name… check… Italian grapes… check… will it match up to my expectations? Hell yeah!

It was really really good.  Got me very interested in this Monterosso Wine Estate.  The estate is run by the De Franchi family and is named after the birthplace of the owner, “Papa” Socrates.  It’s a Tuscan style cellar that produces a Sauvignon Blanc, a Chenin Blanc,  a Cab Sav / Merlot blend and then the Sangiovese Socrate which I sampled (OK, not sampled… guzzled down… :)   )  Here is the description of the wine:

Fragrant, elegant and expressive nose with hints of strawberries, spiced plum and prune aromas. Full and firm in dry, yet soft tannined mouth. Flavours of bitter cherry, more strawberries and plums with well judged oak support. Already very good drinking yet with enough character to develop over a number of years. Great company to a wide range of antipasta and continental type foods.

Sounds amazing right?  I might need to plan a trip out there soon…  would love to try out their other wines…

Now there is one item on the Maranello menu that simply can’t be beaten! The Capellini d’Angelo al Salmone (R63 std portion – add R10 for full portion)

Angel-hair pasta with smoked salmon,
brandy, tomato, chopped onions, a hint
of chilli and finished with a touch of cream

This is the std portion…  spend the extra R10 if you have a mighty appetite.  But this portion is perfect for us ladies. ;)

I always end up going with that – with extra chilli & parmesan on the side.  Sure, I flirt with the other yummy options on the menu, like their brilliant thin crust pizzas:

My friend Ben gave me the evil eye when I got too close to his precious baby…

And then seafood lovers will really enjoy the Frutti di Mare alla Fiore:

Fresh from the sea!

But I’m always slightly nervous that I won’t be as happy if I deviate from my usual master plan. ;)   As dinner was served, the two huge tables which we were occupying went totally quiet.  And it’s quite hard to get this bunch to be quiet! haha.

For dessert we deviated from the restaurant’s menu to enjoy an amazing slice of wicked chocolate cake from Charly’s Bakery.  Here’s the birthday boy cutting his cake:

No need to cut it dude! I’ll eat it just like that! haha

Charly’s serves up the best chocolate cake in town!  (trust me… I’ve tried them ALL)  But if we didn’t have the cake, I would have ordered some Tiramisu for sure…

So, it was an incredible night with great wine, great food, but most importantly great company!  Looking forward to next year’s gathering Darryn.

My Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for Maranello’s would be as follows:

  • Vibe:
  • Price:
  • Food:
  • Service:

xxx