Review
My Ten Cents Worth
Our friends' enquiry about the weather in Zimbabwe got the ball rolling rather unexpectedly. We were on our way to Mana Pools for the summer holidays when I put a spanner in the works. I like glamping. Sadly a wet tent doesn’t do it for me. I’ve got the (wet) T shirt to prove it. Picture...
Finishing In A Flurry
Things are tight in this house. We have a couple of hours left to do all the packing. This year has gone from 0-365 in a flash, yet, we’ve achieved much. Our country has reached all-time lows and surprisingly we’ve become more unified, determined and resolute about our future, our freedom and...
Juanita Conchita Margarita
There is a light at the end of the tunnel for sure. What could’ve turned into a “slit my wrist” moment became a re-kindling of a friendship sorely missed. My hopes were restored and my budget stretched like old garter elastic. Every time I walk into her home I gasp, by the time I get to...
Posh Nosh On A Friday In November
To stop me smoking in the tickey box (phone booth) my Mom dangled the “once you’ve written your Matric you can do as you please” carrot. It didn’t work. But, what I did do once I was my own boss was have a really large slab of my Mom's delicious Chocolate Cake for Breakfast. I did it...
October November A Weekend To Remember
My job is opening farm gates, there were 18, this time I didn't have to open any.That pleased me. It delighted me to know our Swallows had returned earlier this week. Catching up takes time, unfolding and laying out the tales needs time and space. It's best to do so somewhere quiet...
A Spring Celebration In The Nuy Valley
The evening was perfect, balmy, windless with a promise of summer. Perfectly groomed gardens all around us as we mingled on the manicured lawns under the stars at Leipzig, right here on our doorstep in the Nuy Valley a mere 10 or so kilometres from Worcester. This was a celebration of good...
Spit or Swallow
That is the question. Not on an empty stomach. Well I don’t know about that. At the time of this dilemma choices were limited; there was no place to hide. A mad dash to the kitchen I made, it was a shambles. “Manners maketh man” was ringing in my ears while I heaved and clamped my jaw. I was...
Miserably Morose on a Monday
It’s no use, no-one can dodge this bullet any longer, it’s back to the Spinning Class this afternoon, the scales don’t lie, we can count calories until the cows come home, nope, it’s time to add some strenuous exercises to the game plan! I wonder if jaw wiring is still an option? I still...
Between The Covers it's Man up or Clam up
We need confidence and courage to grab an opportunity and run with it, to persevere and not lose faith takes guts.“A ship is always safe at the shore; but that is NOT what it is built for. Right ― Albert Einstein. People are fascinating and if you’re a little more aware and have an...
Sea Horses and Mermaids
For a while now we’ve been hearing rumours about snorkelling with Sea Horses,"Right!" I thought "and I’m talking to Faeries!" they’re almost extinct and live in the Tropics somewhere. Exactly, in Inhambane in the tropical waters there! So one day we investigated, of course it’s easier said...
The Melting Pot
Chocolate Melting Jar an innovative find by Kitchen Inspire by ANZO. Often the best buys are the ones I do on the trot while my eyes are searching shelves for the thingy on the list. My blue eye spotted this gem while scouring the shelves for the 6th colander for our summer cottage...
Silly Season Snapping at our Heels
This morning I didn’t wake up to the chirruping of songbirds, but to the clanging of a bucket, snap of a step ladder and a jodling painter, Wally is revamping. Roof trusses are being knocked up across the street as a new house shoots up and according to the owner his parents are moving in on...
Oranges and Lemons ring the bells of Citrusdal
Just a quickie before I forget, do not pass through Citrusdal without stopping for brunch and coffee in the main road. The chocolate cake is the best in the west and the baked cheese cake is celestial. At the Grapevine Coffee Shop the instruction is clear, "greet everyone with a smile!" and...
Having street food without being a pavement special
Si! “The Italians and Spanish, the Chinese and Vietnamese see food as part of a larger, more essential and pleasurable part of daily life. Not as an experience to be collected or bragged about - or as a ritual like filling up a car - but as something else that gives pleasure, like sex or music,...
The Church Boutique Hotel Hanoi
Imagine our excitement when we touched down in Ha Noi, we’d had a brilliant flight, been attended to hand and foot, but, a cunning little cottonwool cloud floated over our sunny, autumn horizon as we were being ripped off at the Tourism counter when we ordered a taxi. Charging us an arm and a...
Ruffled in Raffles
This I’ve got to get off my chest. When in Rome do as the Romans do, right? So off we went to the iconic Raffles bar for the famous Singapore Sling. It was a typical hot and humid Singapore day so we didn’t need much encouragement to visit this famous landmark. The beautiful Raffles Hotel...
Clams Crabs and Cookery Courses
Slipping into a sexy, starched apron with a new recipe in one hand and a flute of bubbles in the other is bliss. The olive in my Martini is attending a cookery course re-kindling my passion for food, where delicious recipes are shared, prepared and then enjoyed by the group. Good food and...
V Lavender Hotel Singapore
Singapore is someone’s vision come to fruition and for that I admire the man and his dream, but, it’s just another large, modern city with a beautiful skyline at night when the lights are shining bright. We were very spoilt whilst there and enjoyed sundowners at a rooftop bar, had delicious...
KOK Coffee - Ha Noi - Vietnam
A week ago I opened my eyes in Saigon; today I awoke, like most mornings, by the exotic aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee and the golden sunshine pouring into my bedroom from the azure sky. My Dad has been making his “Sleeping Beauty” her first cuppa every day now for 60 years and...
Fowler's Grill
In a one horse town this is where the horse is. It's had it's ups and downs but it remains a landmark in Church Str. Locals love it, as there're no surprises here. Not even Chef has a bad day. When I arrived in Worcester thirty three years ago there was a landmark restaurant called Albert's...
Les Girls are Frenching It - First Reunion
My beloved spends a weekend with his four ex-wives and a girlfriend, that's how he described himself when asked what he was doing! Our friendship is a gift which we re-live as we savour it. In a wink a year has passed. Les Girls got their act together and we enjoyed a fabulous weekend...
Inverroche Classic Gin
Most people remember their Grandmothers because they smelt of Violets or Lavender, when I think of my Glam’ma I imagine Gin and cigarette smoke, two of my favourite things! Femme fatale. She was glamorous, worldly, beautiful, graceful, well travelled, she spoke the Queen’s English and...
Vietnam
They say “a secret’s only a secret once you’ve told someone”. So I have a confession to make, jip, I have a crush on Luke Nguyen, I’d record his cooking programmes, he filled my disc space, which was awkward to explain. So when we decided to visit Vietnam I rushed out to the nearest Book...
Moon over the Sea
If you should read a book with the title "100 places to go to before you die" then this cottage is one of them. Right there on the beach in Tofo, a seaside village not too far from Inhambane in Mozambique, just North of Maputo the capital. Whatever you do, try to get there either by...
Travelling with Audiobooks
The first thing we do when we go anywhere out of town is pack our iPod to listen to Audiobooks. For some reason we've never been successful when it comes to the car radio, that aerial just remains dodgy! I joined www.audible.co.uk years ago and eagerly await my very affordable subscription...
Skietkuil Guest Farm, a star in the Karoo
This one's a keeper in my books. Situated right on the N1 from Cape Town to Johannesburg slap in the middle between Three Sisters and Richmond. Beautifully renovated farmsteads, tastefully decorated with all the amenities for a self catering stay for one night or 10, take your pick. What's...
Molopo Kalahari Lodge: Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
A gin and tonic never tasted better. When last did you get up at 3H30 in the morning, after you'd been to a wedding, and been on the road for at least 10 hours? Exactly, few people have or would dare to. We did. My aching bones rejoiced when we stopped at the Molopo Lodge en-route to...
Maun Lodge: I know I Maun a lot.
It was with a heavy heart that we left the Khwai Community Camp last Thursday, we were really getting into the swing of things in the bush and the last thing we anticipated was a return to civilization, but, unfortunately a broken alternator waits for no man. Anticipating a long and frustrating...
Bon Arrivee Maun: Fly me to the moon
I know it's very unlikely that all restaurants will keep up standards in the long run, but, one can live in hope and a patron at our guesthouse, assured us that this was the best Maun had to offer. We'd been there before and we'd enjoyed the vibe, food, colonial atmosphere and the rather...
Queness Inn: Maun
Don't judge a Guesthouse by it's impersonal face bricks. A new Guesthouse, quite a few kilometers from the CBD, Queness Inn was a great find. Friendly, accommodating receptionist, willing to help and make suggestions and she was able to give us informative advice. The three golden rules were...
Duchess of Wisbeach: Sea Point
Good recipe + great ingredients = a culinary flop. A friends recommendation to visit the Duchess was all the encouragement we needed to make a booking, even though our daughter and son-in-law were skeptical about our choice. There's so much choice in Cape Town they lamented. What my friend...
Seelan Restaurant and Bar: V&A Waterfront
Stunning autumn days in Cape Town beckon us to stroll down to the V&A Waterfront for lunch, it's always surprising how busy restaurants in this neck of the woods are, almost European busy. We stumbled upon Seeian tucked away below "decks" on Quay 5, a new establishment, hardly 2 weeks...
Sawai Madhopur: Nahargarh Ranthambhore
Earning their stripes at Nahagarh. We visited the Rantambore national park in summer when it's not tourist season and very hot, I think we hit it spot on as far as our accommodation was concerned! What a treat, we were pampered and spoilt and waited upon fit for a Maharajah. A most...
The Oberoi, Mumbai
Staying at the Oberoi was like landing with my bottom in the butter in Bombay! What can I say? 10/10 I couldn't ask for more except to linger longer. The Oberoi is just fabulous from the basement to the penthouse! This establishment lacks nothing, from my very first email enquiring...
India By Car with a Driver - Private Day Tours
Driving in a vehicle in India is almost like taking your life into your own hands. Oh Holy Cow it's hectic and indescribable unless you have a driver in his own car. Our driver Rajesh picked us up at the train station in Udaipur with a bouquet of red roses and a sign welcoming us to India,...
Grand Mumbai - Private Tours
Can't get any grander than this! On a recent visit to Mumbai we decided to make use of the services of the Grand Mumbai tours. We had a fabulous day and couldn't have wished for a better way to see Mumbai with our charming guide Da Pranav. I think it's the pride that Pranav has for Mumbai...
Jamaica Me Crazy Cape Town
You might make me crazy but Jamaica my day! I had a hectic day, many many tears as my darling boy was returning to Canada and I was distraught to say the least! So we decided to end our holiday together with a bang and head off to Roodebloem road in Woodstock, you know that shady area where...
Chandani Indian & Vegetarian Restaurant Cape Town
Spice up your day and do a trip to Roodebloem road wouldn't be complete without ending up at this lovely restaurant, A glammed up Victorian house situated in the heart of Woodstock. Rich purples, reds and silver were used to create the decor. I loved the fact that the restauranteur welcomed...
Mosselberg On Grotto Beach Hermanus
boy + girl + 4 seasons in a day = marriage This was my second visit to Mosselberg Guesthouse and I was once again suitably impressed by the beauty of the space, the location, the sublime views, the decor and the atmosphere of peace and serenity. My first impression was ""wow look at that...
Temptation at La Vierge Winery
A glimpse of Tuscany. I admit, it was with reluctance that I made a reservation at La Vierge, I had another favourite eatery in mind, but, thankfully followed my best friend's advice and called for a luncheon reservation at La Vierge instead. This was my third visit, the last a wedding...