Durban Street Food Festival

I did some adventuring today, venturing to the old Rivertown Beerhall to eat some yummy food at the Street Food Festival. Unfortunately, I didn't choose the right time to go as it wasn't as buzzing as it would have been in the evenings and not so cleverly went after lunch so there were plenty of burgers and full meals available to buy which I didn't have the appetite to savour.  Nonetheless, the music was festive and we ate some delicious deep-fried oreos and melt-in-your-mouth macaroons. The last day is tomorrow and it's going on tonight till late, as well.

December in Durban

Having the whole summer holiday ahead of you in your hometown can seem dauntingly boring, however, I am determined to explore more of this city. I say determined because I know more often then not my sloth tendencies take over and hours of afternoons can pass by potato-ing on the couch. I like to think my saying this on the Internet will force me to be less sloth.

I digress, here's my list of things I'd like to do/explore/see this summer:


Promenade Bike Rides:
For as long as the revamped promenade has been around, I haven't cycled along it. This time it shall  happen. Bike rides can always be so whimsical.

Indoor ice-rink:
Hot weather calls for cool places and floating on ice always provides some entertainment.

Markets:
From the iHeart Market to the Shongweni's Farmer Market, Saturday mornings are made for markets and yummy food (if not for sleeping in)

Mini-Town:
Only because I like to feel tall once in a while and heels aren't always as fun.

Beaches:
Basically Durban at it's best - need I say more?

Exploring new & different dining and coffee spots:
Tea (& food in general) is always the best idea.

Beachfront amusement park:
Merry-go-rounds & fun rides never get old.

Yoga by the beach:
It just sounds very movie-like but will probably prove to be hot & sticky in this humidity.


Seeing the city in a different way:
As cliched as it sounds, seeing the city through the eyes of a tourist can be refreshing.

 So this is my mini-list of things I may or may not do this December. I plan to update the blog with all the adventures if the bustling holiday crowds don't test my patience.

For now,  here's some Mindy.

 

What are some of your fav summer activities? xo

mindy

Beaches and Tea.

Day 2 of hosting the exchange students was pretty eventful.  I first thought we wouldn't get to do anything in the morning because they were still recovering from lack of sleep due to traveling and woke up pretty late. Nevertheless, we did go to the beach for breakfast and walked on the beach for a bit. We ate at Cafe Jiran and thereafter walked on the promenade and because we were walking with two foreigners, who have never experienced sandy shores back home, we were soon walking on the sandy beach. We even dipped our legs in the not-so-icy sea and mucked around in the sand. Being Durban's winter, it wasn't all that cold for the Canadians.

In the afternoon we went for High Tea as a farewell for the Scottish exchange students. It was a really good excuse to get all dolled up in girly dresses and heels and prance around eating delicious cakes and drinking tea for two hours. Let's not forget taking tons of photos with the most amazing views of Durban as our backdrop. There was also the excitement of spotting a monkey in one of the trees for our Canadian exchanges who have never seen one before. It was a really cute afternoon.

Sohini out x

Exchange Students.

At last the Canadians have arrived. After waiting almost 5 months since leaving Canada for these two weeks: it is here. It started off on a wobbly note when there was a bit of an airport mishap with bags being lost and people getting left behind but thankfully both the bags and the girls are safely here. It's exciting to see Durban through their eyes and seeing what we take for granted or as everyday - e.g. the beach. I'm also really keen to show them where I live and how I live after being on exchange in Canada; showing them school, the beach, Gateway, the stadium and all that fun stuff. So I shall keep you all posted on what we do and where we go as it happens. It shall be an exciting two weeks.

Some of the girls down at the moment and us three South Africans.

Sohini out x

MasterChef.

SPOILER ALERT! For those of you unfortunate souls who have not yet watched the finale of MasterChef SA and have had no access to social networking media I suggest you don't read any further.

I'll admit at first I wasn't that interested in the MasterChef series, I didn't understand the hype behind this homegrown series. After watching one episode (four or five episodes before the end) I was taken aback at the skill of the contestants and the quality of the TV show itself. I was expecting another Idols. I'm glad to say that it wasn't anything like the South African Idols. Naturally my favourite contestant was quickly chosen and yes Deena was the chosen one. It was probably due to a mixture of the two facts that he was one from KZN and secondly Indian, one had to be patriotic somehow. The more I watched the show, the more I was interested. I was amazed at the dishes that these amateur chefs could produce, especially some of the dishes produced in the pressure test.

Tonight was the all-important final, two contestants remained Deena and Sue-Ann. It was a very close final where both contestants both seemed to make equal blunders in the three different challenges, at least that's how the judges positioned us with their comments. I'm not going to go into an in-depth anaylsis of the show but it was nail-biting. So much so, that my mom actually reached a point where she left the room because she got so frustrated that Deena was not getting some of the things right and it seemed like Sue-Ann would win - highly amusing. But in the end there could only be one winner and that was Deena!! I think most of Durban erupted with joy once that was announced. This was some intense and better quality South African reality TV show.

Sohini out x

Artsy.

For a while now I've been wanting to have the Instagram app on my phone but alas there is none for Blackberry phones. Two options to solve this problem: 1) Get an iPhone thus Instagram. 2) Download photo editing app which is similar. Sadly option 2 has to suffice for now. The app I downloaded (PixTrix) is actually rather effective and I have managed to edit my snapshots pretty easily. I took a photo of the seaviews one has in Durban, one of the reasons I love Durban, added a fun filter on it and you would never know if it was Instagram or not. The quality of the image might not be all that grand due to the average camera on my Blackberry. Nevertheless, I thought it was a pretty photo capturing Durban on a beautiful winter's day.

Sohini out x