Cupcakes + Heaven = Kupcake Heaven

Oh my gosh! I must tell you about a place a friend and I stumbled upon today. When walking into Kupcake Heaven in Umhlanga one can't help but smile. I've never thought of myself as a girly girl but the burst of pink and the grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling left me feeling quite giddy!

So in we went and were greeted not only with an amazing lady at the counter who sold us double the cupcakes we initially intended on having(and boy am I glad she did!) but we were also greeted with the most delicious-looking range of cupcakes I'd seen all year! We were spoilt for choice but eventually settled on four flavours, one of which was Salted Carmel(mmmmmmmm!), and sat down to enjoy our guilty treats.

After experiencing Kupcake Heaven I have quite a lot to say but since I shouldn't talk with my mouth full(heehee) I'll settle on three points:
1. Every Kupcake is worth every calorie consumed- don't think about it, just enjoy it. They melt in your mouth and leave you surprised  and disappointed that you wolfed it down so quickly!
2. The service is impeccable! The ladies at the counter are passionate about the treats, which in turn excites you- an added bonus is that the food actually lives up to your expectation!
3. Don't go in expecting to have "just one" cupcake- the temptation will be too great and you'll kick yourself if you aren't "equipped" to buy more.

So those are my thoughts on the place. My friend and I have decided that that is now Our Place. I keenly intend on tackling their Milkshake Heaven menu next and am sure it will not disappoint:) And one day I'll order a cake for a special occasion and have everyone "Ooooh" and "Aaaaaah" as I take it to my car like my friend and I did on more than one occasion today!(>_<)

So tempt yourself on cheat day by checking out their website on: www.kupcakeheaven.co.za which details how to contact, find and order from them. For those who know the area, they're tight next to the East Coast Radio studios opposite Gateway:)

Surprise Trip Through Durban

Took a different route through Durban today to get somewhere and... WOW.
I never knew there was a whole upper street area filllled with car stores on Dr Pixley Kaseme (West) Street?! Saw a cute lil' SUV for R1599 per month! Even came across that place where they sell fake versions of popular cars imported from Japan (I'm not joking) and its For Export Only sign is evidence our government just wont let us South Africans be great:(
Did you know we have a beautiful building cal...led the Zulu Jazz Lounge right next to the Playhouse?! I wanna go in there one day.
And if you just lift your eyes whilst walking down old Smith Street the view of our mini skyscraper-like buildings will take you by surprise...
 
Looked left down a crowded alley and made a note to see what's on sale there one day(without any valuables on me haha)!
A tailor from Congo taught me that Swahili is not just a Kenyan-Tanzanian language but a Southeast African one:)
And lastly but definitely not least I saw that that area at the Market (eMakethe) where all you see are herbs and traditional medicine and animal skins and some Sangomas has a huge, very official sign with HERB MARKET(like, official) printed on it which makes SO much sense now...
We have SUCH a beautiful city. If I had any doubts, I definitely now know it's not my time to leave just yet...
There's so much to still explore! My hope for 2016 is to find a like-hearted person who'll join me for it-including the dodgy alleys:)
‪#‎Durbanmycity

VB's- Virginia Beach

Had the absolute pleasure of being invited to a foodtruck-restaurant spot called "vb's on virginia beach" in Durban North this weekend! We started off by sitting at the tables right outside the truck but were eyeing the table on the beach until the family occupying it finally left (yay!) and we got to hang out with the beach right behind us- and warm sand under our feet- while we waited for our friend, who is aaalways late, to arrive. Fiso, who'd suggested we visit the place mentioned how the area used to be quite a dump before they gave it a face lift and I must say, whilst sitting there with a soft breeze easing the scorching Durban heat and having security usher cars in and out of the secure parking lot a few yards away I couldn't imagine the place ever being anything but safe.
We finally ordered our meal; three of us had the burger of the week- it had guacamole and sour cream so I was sold- and two other friends tried the other two burger options they had.
Loved it! Other than wishing it had had a bigger beef patty I thoroughly enjoyed my burger-and-shoestring-fries experience, finger licking and all:)

We ate, we talked, we took pictures and last- but definitely not least- we all got some great exfoliation for our feet- who needs spa's when you can just go to vb's, huh? Music eventually started playing from some portable speakers which was all the place had been lacking up 'til that point.

Overall I'd say vb's is a refreshing and different experience which I'd encourage people to go and check out. I love that vb's sells itself as "beach grub" and they actually mean it- you eat on the beach! Case in point: whilst we were eating an elderly lady and her mother laid their towels out on the sand and ordered some food which was brought to them where they sat- because who needs tables right?
I loved being close enough to nature  to hear the waves crash and plants gently blowing in the breeze and the laid back atmosphere makes you stay longer to just soak it all in.
I think our rugby friends would've liked bigger portions in general(typical men) and I do believe that a menu with more variety will become necessary as time goes on but that will come in due time, the place is still relatively new. At times it did get a bit tricky trying to keep our cooldrink cans and straws from blowing away as soon as we were done with them but our waiter was very attentive and promptly removed anything that could make us all end up playing a game of litter-tag:)

I'd go again, my friends would go again, so get to vb's nice and early next time you're in Durban North. The nice thing is even if all their chairs are taken, a towel or a beach blanky will do the trick too;)

Durban:)



Durban You Beauty #MoyoOnThePier #Ushaka



My (Second) Trip To Botswana

On the 5th of December I jetsetted(well, at a very slow pace) off to Botswana for the second time in my life. It was hot. It was humid. My Blackberry switched off waaay before we got to the border- because that's what Blackberries do- and I had to ask a (very friendly) stranger to let me use her phone. My feet also looked like two paw-paws by the time I go off the last bus; probably from sitting and running through Sunnyside with all my luggage at 13.13 to get the 13.15 bus! So whilst trying to fall asleep with my clothes on it's understandable why I hoped I had experienced the worst and the best was yet to come...

We woke up to slightly overcast blue skies and a breeze- something that happens once every never in Botswana- so the day was already off to a great start! We drove through Tlokweng, Gaborone to get to Riverside Mall, the most popular mall in Bots, and the multi-cultured(and racial) nature of Bots surprised me once again:) We bought a few things for the baby shower, I used an ATM- and got pulas out (this is note-worthy for me okay!)- and we headed out to Liban, a Lebanese restaurant with a beautiful interior and generous portions in the area.


Masa Square

On the way I couldn't help but notice the amount of development happening in Bots. They have absolutely stunning buildings, some more fascinating than buildings I've seen in South Africa! I was particularly taken by the iTowers, Masa Square the arc type of building that houses Fego. The amount of potential in all the desert-ish places made me wish I was a property developer! I loooved wow-ing at it all as we drove by in one of Bots' many fake VW Polo's- yep they have thousands of lovely, affordable, fake cars in Bots!


After the Baby Shower my friend took us for a drive through Phakalane, one of their suburban areas and we oooed and aaaed at people's beautiful homes. It was fascinating to see how Phakalane is so different to the areas where most people in Bots live (including their capital city) but despite the very apparent gap there still seems to be little to no poverty in this country. We encountered a beggar at a garage on our  last morning there and even my friend, who resides in Bots, was shocked that Bots had a homeless person at all; poverty is just not a condition they have there. The people(most people) who don't live in the suburbs are genuinely content with their land, farms and homes. This led me to quickly jot down "what if nothing's wrong with an economical gap... the state of the bottom will determine the state of the nation" to ponder on later before we headed home to retire for the evening...

The border was a lot busier on the way back into South Africa than on the way out so you can imagine my relief when I saw that South African citizens had their own line- YES! I made it through and was welcomed back home before getting back on the bus and continuing my journey back home:)

So what's not so great about Bots? I'd say the best part about it is also the worst part: while I'd recommend it as a holiday destination, the slow service was a bit frustrating even for me, a holiday-maker. We eventually had to leave Western Union because of the incredibly lacklustre attitude of the lady at the cashier post who told us that she may not be able to assist us by 1.30pm when the time was 11.30 and there were only three people in front of us in the queue.
The heat can get a bit overwhelming but a fan/aircon will help with that when indoors- nope, nudity is not that effective either I'm afraid- but try it;)

I can honestly say that I loved this visit a lot more than my first. I was younger and suuuper emotional the first time around so that has a way of being a bit of a buzzkill. But I know now: get your emotions in check before embarking on travels- because who can see through tears anyways?
I cannot wait to go back in 2016 (with tons of sunscreen and a great camera). The weather can't be kind everytime I go:)
xx


Republik

A few weeks ago my friends and I had the absolute pleasure of visiting a restaurant in Durban North called Republik for the first time. The guys in our "crew" had gone the week before - withOUT us ladies(the nerve!)- but were glad to go again when we told them we wanted in which was a good first indication that the restaurant couldn't have been too bad:)

Well anyways we arrived to a full house and took our seats at the reserved table the owner, an easy going, friendly guy, had graciously kept reserved for us. I immediately realised this wasn't just any restaurant when our menus were handed to us: from small, comic bits added after meal descriptions to instructions on how to build your own burger, this place was not for people looking for a quick, mass-produced meal!
We were talked through how the Build-Your-Burger concept works, placed our orders(by writing them down on a custom notepad provided- loved that! No errors!) and enjoyed the buzz in the atmosphere while we waited for our meals to arrive.

The food did not disappoint- please don't visit here if you're working on shrinking your tummy! Their portions are generous and if they weren't, they taste so good you'd probably be tempted into ordering some more! I thought I'd had the best burger on EARTH about a month ago but after that Republik Burger I'm now a bit indecisive on that. It. Was. Good...

My friend RAAAVED about their coffee so I couldn't not try their cappuccino. It was a lot emptier by now so we moved inside and me, being the indie-pop lover that I am, couldn't help but shazam some new music I've now fallen in love with! My cappuccino arrived, with a neat cube of sugar, on a small, wooden coffee holder-tray thingie(forgive my laziness, when I find its name I will change this) which only made me appreciate their attention to detail even more if that was at all possible *sigh*

All-in-all, I had an amazing time at Republik and would definitely visit again if the opportunity arose. The owner and staff are down to earth and friendly and the uniqueness of the experience made me feel like I was in a completely different city altogether. It's like its own little hub in the middle of Durban and the experience doesn't fade into mediocrity or lose its charm halfway through the evening which, for someone like me who values consistency, fulfilled and exceeded my expectations.
What would I change about my experience? Well, definitely not our waiter- he was not an eyesore at all (well done to his parents!) but I would maybe have the topping-options board placed outside as well so we didn't have to get up and look inside for all the options. I'd also ask for maybe two cubes of sugar to be served with my cappuccino even though one is probably the healthier option. Yep, those two things are the only things I would've liked to be different and even they weren't awful/horrific. My time at Republik was the most fun I've had at a restaurant in... forever and I'm looking forward to bringing people there in the future:)

xxx

Address: Unit 8 Broadway, Durban North, 4051
Contact Number: 031 573 1429
Website Address: www.republik.co.za