I don't know about you but I love tea. I was a complete coffee pot up until a few years ago but that didn't mean I couldn't appreciate a good cup of tea. My mom starting me on herbal teas when I was in high school, I was stressed out and not sleeping and so the tea experiment started. To think there are so many different teas out there, with so many different healing properties, so of course a tea tasting is on my to do list.
A few years ago we had High Tea at the Vineyard Hotel for my birthday. The service was shocking but the treats and view were stunning.
Some of the more well known spots for High Tea are the Mount Nelson Hotel, One&Only, Franschhoek Hotel and Spa, 12 Apostles Hotel and the Table Bay Hotel V&A. Most of the hotels in Cape Town offer some form of tea time, but the one place I've been dying to try out is Nigiro Tea Merchants at Origin Coffee in De Waterkant. I've been to Origin many times before and have even had some divine tea there, but they have the most amazing tea ceremonies. Hhmm, friends this is a hint of what I want to do for my birthday this year :) O Ways in Claremont is said to do a similar tea tasting, but Nigiro is on the top of my list.
When I did some research for this post I came across a few places that I didn't know existed, and have now made it onto my list of places to try. These are the Tibetan Tea House in Simon's Town which serves their tea in traditional Tibetan wooden teacups, and Lady Bonin which is a gypsy like caravan that attends markets and events. How have I not known about these places before, I feel like I've been missing out. On the list they go, and hopefully will get crossed off this year.
But my reason for this post is because a friend brought to my attention the first ever High Tea Festival hosted by the Tea Princesses to be held at Kirstenbosch Gardens on 5 March. How amazing!! Of course when you look into it, the cost is high but you need to weigh up the pros and cons. It's something different, it's all about tea and won't it be worth it? So now to try convince some friends that my logic is right and to join me in a day all about tea :)
The articles I've read all make me want to go even more, it's a combination market, tea tasting, champagne event and you get to dress up. The entry price includes high tea, a tea master's class and a goody bag. So maybe the price is worth it :) Now to convince my friends.
Tuesday, 16 February 2016
Sunday, 14 February 2016
Lace Up for Cancer 2016
Lace Up for Cancer is held every year on Cancer Day, 4 February. This year we decided to participate in the 5km walk/run. All money raised goes towards various cancer charities in Cape Town and South Africa.
Both the 5km and 10km start at the Sea Point Lighthouse, you walk along the Promenade until turn and come back again. It seems that there were many more people this year than last and the unexpected volume caused a bit of a delay with the start time. It wasn't bad we started about 10 minutes late and you could basically go anytime after that. The event isn't timed so you can take it as easy as you want. There were people stopping along the way to chat and take photos. It's supposed to be a evening walk remembering loved ones we've lost and spending time with the people who are still here. People dressed up, even dressed their dogs up and had a blast enjoying the wonderful summer evening out.
I have to be honest by the time 4 February came around I wasn't in the mood for it anymore, I was stressed out with work and home and if one more person told me they weren't going to make it I was going to take it as a sign and not go either. But looking back I'm glad I went, I walked with two ladies from work and it was really good. I needed the fresh air and the exercise just to clear my head and get back into the right frame of mind. I need more exercise in my life and more charity events, so from this walk to Bench2Bench on 13 March I'm getting this year started the right way.
Both the 5km and 10km start at the Sea Point Lighthouse, you walk along the Promenade until turn and come back again. It seems that there were many more people this year than last and the unexpected volume caused a bit of a delay with the start time. It wasn't bad we started about 10 minutes late and you could basically go anytime after that. The event isn't timed so you can take it as easy as you want. There were people stopping along the way to chat and take photos. It's supposed to be a evening walk remembering loved ones we've lost and spending time with the people who are still here. People dressed up, even dressed their dogs up and had a blast enjoying the wonderful summer evening out.
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| Thanks to MS for the taking this photo |
Friday, 12 February 2016
Gin and Tonic Festival
Following on from the Food and Gin Pairing, was the Gin and Tonic Festival held at Mason's Press in Woodstock, Cape Town. My friends and I were excited to go, we had had a blast at the Food and Gin Pairing so thought the G&T Fest would be more of the same.
To give Mush Tun their dues, it was their first big festival, so there were some things to be improved on but overall a very enjoyable festival.
Let's start with the fact that the gates opened at 11am but when we got there after 12 we still had to stand in the sun for 30 minutes waiting to get in. There were 2 people scanning tickets and having to put the wrist bands on as well. When there's a group of people, take for instance we were 4 girls, then it takes some time.
We had "early bird" tickets which meant that we had to buy a glass for R30 and then also buy pennies. There was a lot of confusion surrounding the pennies, did we use them everywhere, could we use cash or credit cards. You had to buy your glass and pennies in the "Pennies Bank" which caused a lot of congestion. Once you got into the room you could buy pennies for cash from a girl standing on the side but you still had to wait in line to get a glass. My suggestion would be to have "Pennies" girls walking around selling pennies for cash, and if you need to buy with your card or SnapScan then you can go into the bank. There would be a lot less congestion and some happier people.
From the Pennies Bank we roamed around trying to figure out where we could use our pennies or where we had to pay cash. Another suggestion would be for each vendor to clearly state whether they take pennies or cash or both.
The venue was different to what we've experienced with other festivals, for example with "Taste of Cape Town" it's held at the Green Point Cricket Club so it's a huge open space and everything is set in a circle. Whereas Mason's Press is a building filled with shops and warehouses. It made it interesting trying to find what we were looking for and also easy to find quiet spots in the passages to chill for a bit or have a bit to eat.
We quickly found the "Skinny Juice Co" and had the most amazing cocktails. They were so refreshing on such a warm day. We each tried a different one, but I enjoyed the Citrus one the best.
From there we had a look at the different vendors, went into the "Gin Garage" which could definitely have used some fans. The music was good, the vendors all decorated their stalls differently and it was a bit of a battle deciding what we wanted to try.
But we all know that drinking on an empty stomach is a no-no, so hunting food was next on the list. We could smell burgers and kept seeing people eating them but somehow we never found the stall, what a bummer for us :( We landed up having Asian wraps from the "Lotus Food Truck", they were good but really hot.
That was another negative against the festival their was hardly any food options. I know it's all about the Gin but unless you want people to get completely out of control, they need to eat. The only options we saw were paella, Asian wraps, burgers (which we didn't find until as we were leaving), sweet treats at Centerpieces, gelato and there is a coffee shop. The oreo cupcakes from Centerpieces were amazing, not too sweet but so yummy :)
There's positives and negatives to every event you attend and there may have been more negatives than normal to this one, but I think that was purely because it was their first one, and teething issues are to be expected. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to the next one.
And to end off the day, our mountain gave us a show while we were waiting for the train.
To give Mush Tun their dues, it was their first big festival, so there were some things to be improved on but overall a very enjoyable festival.
Let's start with the fact that the gates opened at 11am but when we got there after 12 we still had to stand in the sun for 30 minutes waiting to get in. There were 2 people scanning tickets and having to put the wrist bands on as well. When there's a group of people, take for instance we were 4 girls, then it takes some time.
We had "early bird" tickets which meant that we had to buy a glass for R30 and then also buy pennies. There was a lot of confusion surrounding the pennies, did we use them everywhere, could we use cash or credit cards. You had to buy your glass and pennies in the "Pennies Bank" which caused a lot of congestion. Once you got into the room you could buy pennies for cash from a girl standing on the side but you still had to wait in line to get a glass. My suggestion would be to have "Pennies" girls walking around selling pennies for cash, and if you need to buy with your card or SnapScan then you can go into the bank. There would be a lot less congestion and some happier people.
From the Pennies Bank we roamed around trying to figure out where we could use our pennies or where we had to pay cash. Another suggestion would be for each vendor to clearly state whether they take pennies or cash or both.
The venue was different to what we've experienced with other festivals, for example with "Taste of Cape Town" it's held at the Green Point Cricket Club so it's a huge open space and everything is set in a circle. Whereas Mason's Press is a building filled with shops and warehouses. It made it interesting trying to find what we were looking for and also easy to find quiet spots in the passages to chill for a bit or have a bit to eat.
We quickly found the "Skinny Juice Co" and had the most amazing cocktails. They were so refreshing on such a warm day. We each tried a different one, but I enjoyed the Citrus one the best.
From there we had a look at the different vendors, went into the "Gin Garage" which could definitely have used some fans. The music was good, the vendors all decorated their stalls differently and it was a bit of a battle deciding what we wanted to try.
But we all know that drinking on an empty stomach is a no-no, so hunting food was next on the list. We could smell burgers and kept seeing people eating them but somehow we never found the stall, what a bummer for us :( We landed up having Asian wraps from the "Lotus Food Truck", they were good but really hot.
That was another negative against the festival their was hardly any food options. I know it's all about the Gin but unless you want people to get completely out of control, they need to eat. The only options we saw were paella, Asian wraps, burgers (which we didn't find until as we were leaving), sweet treats at Centerpieces, gelato and there is a coffee shop. The oreo cupcakes from Centerpieces were amazing, not too sweet but so yummy :)
There's positives and negatives to every event you attend and there may have been more negatives than normal to this one, but I think that was purely because it was their first one, and teething issues are to be expected. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to the next one.
And to end off the day, our mountain gave us a show while we were waiting for the train.
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