Mish enjoys BMW with an Ecco-ing Chili Hot Chocolate on Wendy’s Birthday

I believe a birthday is a privilege. Every year is a blessing. We were born with a purpose in mind and I thoroughly feel it ought to be a special day.You should therefore be celebrated! It does not have to be an elaborate production, as long as you are happy and made to feel as special as you are.

It was my friend, Wendy’s, birthday yesterday and that is how we ended up at Ecco in Heerengracht Street, Cape Town. Angie, Tarryn and myself decided treat Wendy to a coffee date. Hidden inside this BMW dealership on their upper floor is a bustling, trendy meeting place for professionals in its immediate surrounds... The place... A coffee shop... The Mission... To make Wendy feel special.

Prompt service, gourmet sandwiches and delectable blueberry and white Belgian chocolate muffins were on the 'birthday' menu. Just saying freshly baked blueberry and white Belgian chocolate muffin, gets my mouth watering and stirs up the memory of the delicious aroma that can leave you feeling light-headed.The smell was just so intoxicating and really, this is no exaggeration. 

As it was one of the warmer winter days, we decided to sit on the deck with a view of Mini Coopers, BMWs and Table Mountain peaking through the high rise buildings of the CBD surrounding us. We warmed up in a matter of seconds with a Chili Hot Chocolate. This drink is not for the feint hearted! It was HOT and we warmed up every inch of our bodies as we sipped. It was creamy with a hectic bite! With the health promoting properties of milk, chocolate and chillies this is a tasty way to keep colds and flu a bay! 

If you are ever in the neighbourhood, visit BMW Auto Atlantic and go to Ecco il Cafe for a Tripple Lindt Chocolate muffin or blueberry and white Belgian hot chocolate and / or drinkable chili! That does not do the trick, you are in the neigbourhood, you might as well pick up a car and a matching jacket! Enjoy!

A taste sensation! This is the blueberry and white Belgian chocolate muffin.

If you have enough cash in your back pocket, why not buy the BMW 320d?

Mini Cooper!

Need a BMW threads, take a walk downstairs to the BMW shop.

Happy birthday Wendy!

The View

Hot chili chic!

Love the patterns

hmmm

Mish vintage run on Long... Street

My friend Angie is a very bubbly, adventurous person and her spontineity and love of fashion took us to the street over a lunch time. And the street was Long Street! Our mission: To seek out vintage stores! Here are the shops we thought you would like to see and perhaps experience for yourself: Afraid of Mice, Mungo and Jemima, 111 Long Street.

If you are a true connoisseur like Bianca, owner of Afraid of Mice, you will love her finds. She has everything including vintage Louis Vitton but be prepared to pay!

Mungo & Jemima has both vintage and vintage inspired clothing. Angie loved the dresses in the window!

111 Long Street was our favourite shop! Not only do they stock authentic vintage clothes but they also have exclusive South African designers such as Sitting Pretty.

Friday Food Fest is a saucy Mishtery!

Friday lunch should be a mouth watering experience! Fridays should also be a half day or an entire day off. It should be a sunny day on the beach day but, thanks to work and deadlines, this dream has been put to rest or only comes around occasionally when an application for leave has been approved! So you can't have the day off and you can't have a half day, but you have an hour lunch and you are in the mood for something scrumptious... I now dub thee... Friday, Friday Food Fest!

If you are hungry and you have a kitchen like we do at work... FYI, everyone at work knows I am the slow poke when it comes to preparing my lunch. I get bored so eating the same thing all the time, I am always looking for new combinations.

Friday lunch should lead you into the weekend like it is float at a Mardi gras, and I discovered a flavoursome and healthy recipe for a Snoek salad with lots of savoire faire in celebration of Friday Food Fest!  Bon Appétit!

This recipe has been taken from One-Two-Three on the Table by Bernice van der Merwe.

Snoek salad with caramelised pears

Smoked snoek is cooked and therefore the perfect ingredient for a quick meal.

30 g butter

15 ml soft brown sugar
10 ml balsamic reduction
2 pears, thinly sliced
200 g smoked snoek
100 g goat’s cheese, crumbled
salad leaves
30 ml chopped mix nuts
olive oil for drizzling over
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter in a pan over low heat and stir in the soft brown sugar and balsamic reduction until it forms a syrup.

Carefully add the pear slices to the pan and spoon the brown sugar syrup over the slices. Sauté the pears for a few minutes until they are saturated with the syrup. Set aside. Flake the smoked snoek into large pieces and arrange together with the goat’s cheese on top of the salad leaves on a large serving platter. Arrange the caramelised pear slices over the salad and sprinkle the nuts over. Drizzle with olive oil and season with the salt and pepper.

Makes 2 to 4 portions
Preparation time: 20min

Variations

• The pears can be replaced with apples.

• The smoked snoek can be replaced with smoked trout or mackerel.
• The goat’s cheese can be replaced with feta cheese and/or mozzarella cheese.

Mish Popping Toffie Photos

I took these photos at Toffie Pop Culture Festival. It was the first time I attended this conference and experienced pop culture! For contemporary pop culture and various media, design, music etc... This is the Cape Town Pop Culture Mecca, with both international and local speakers. If you are in search of inspiration, this is a great place to start. Hosted at Cape Town City Hall, you are sure to find yourself knee deep in every and anything pop culture! All the senses will be inspired!

Ask Janine where to stay when in Augrabies

Her answer… Dundi Lodge! Located 3km from the Place of great noise, Augrabies Waterfalls, you will find an exquisite 4-star lodge. En route to the Augrabies National Park, we took a tiny detour that led us to this hidden treasure in the Northern Cape. Janine, trainee manager of this superb gem cheerfully agreed to show me around in order to share this first-class establishment with you.
 

Dundi Lodge is definitely a place of tranquillity, peace and nature. When I arrived at the lodge, a warm reception was nothing less than expected from the staff of this lodge. With eleven luxury suites, words like indulgent, opulent, lavish, comfort, comes to mind and you are definitely spoilt for choice. Thanks to Janine and her friendly staff I was privy to the Dundi Presidential suite and the Manor house at the lodge. I felt a bit like I tripped and fell into Top Billing before Janez or Joann Strauss landed on the lodge’s private airstrip to do an insert. All the suites are to the nines with unique contemporary décor and top quality products including  Maria Garcia found in the bathrooms.

The Dundi Presidential suite and Manor House

The Dundi Presidential has its own study, lounge, beautiful bathroom and all white bedroom complete with a private balcony for overlooking the swimming pool and restaurant below. Janine quoted the website and said that the contemporary feel of  the décor makes Dundi Lodge  ‘a lady in the bush’. After visiting the Manor House I was convinced of this truth and was about to discover an amazing revelation. The Manor House is in a typical Cape Dutch style with three rooms, kitchen, lovely open area with beautiful dining room table seating twelve and a fireplace and lounge. Standing in the middle of the lounge and dining room, I drank in the beauty and could imagine myself and five of my friends or family creating the most precious memories right there. Janine is not only the trainee Manager but she is also a relative of mine. As we sunk into the tub chairs in the main bedroom and stared out of the large wooden framed window, she told me that her grandfather and uncle were involved in the construction of the Manor house and at that very moment my heart swelled with pride, making the Manor house a Manor home.

Back at the restaurant we sat a table on the patio where you could hear nothing but the sounds of branches swinging and leaves snapping softly in the wind. I felt at peace and then I started wondering about what the lodge can offer in terms of adventure, entertainment and fun. Janine assured me that Dundi is much more than just beauty on the inside (of the lodge)… Night game drives are on offer where you get to experience nocturnal wildlife about 40km from Dundi and not forgetting the Augrabies Falls. The privately owned game reserve is on the banks of the Orange River where you can view rare species on your drive such as the aardvark, Black Springbok and various antelope.

What is Dundi?

I had to ask this question as I was hoping that it had some Nama background. Nama is the Khoisan language and name of the indigenous people also known as San or Boesmans. Janine explained that a black Rhino was brought back from Lisbon in an Australian zoo about 21 years ago to resume her life at  Augrabies National Park. The owners of the lodge tracked the progress of this cow after she gave birth to a female calf and she was named, Dundagos meaning ‘we accomplished’. The owners’ sense of accomplishment was heartfelt and decided that Dundi, short for this precious calf’s name would be the most suited. The rhino is an animal close to my heart and I found this story very endearing.

What if we never see another rhino?

Earlier in the year when I attended the Li Edelkoort Trend Union seminar, a young man representing an organization against Rhino poaching made an appeal to all in attendance to support this cause. Rhino poaching is a serious offence that promises imprisonment when caught.  These animals are critically endangered. The numbers are truly alarming. I did some research of my own and found that in 2010 the Vietnamese Javan Rhino became extinct as well as a subspecies called, the West African Black Rhino.

There are numerous organizations that are making the utmost efforts to preserve and grow the numbers of these animals to prevent that anymore of the rhino species become extinct. Rhino horns are exploited for the following uses; The production of traditional Chinese medicine to cure or treat strokes, nosebleeds, epilepsy and fever. These are all myths because administration of refined Rhino horn has no effect on a fever in humans. These horns are also considered an aphrodisiac in some parts of the world. Centers in Yemen and the Arabian peninsula used rhino horns for the production of dagger handles, candelabras etc. These products are highly profitable but detrimental to the Rhino species.

In the last year 705 rhinos were poached according to Business Day newspaper. That is not counting the poaching up until today. Make a difference by tweeting my story about the rhinos and let’s raise awareness. Also follow @Savingrhino,  @Antipoach, @SANparks on Twitter for regular updates and keep watching the news.

Let’s speak for those who can’t. If you need to relax, unwind and breakaway from the city life visit Augrabies, stay at Dundi Lodge and if you are feeling like poaching… Go to your fridge, get an egg and Google how to poach… an egg! 

Mish Place of great noise, Augrabies!

Main waterfall at Augrabies

Last Saturday I returned to the majestic Augrabies Waterfalls in the Northern Cape for a six year overdue visit and a great family gathering. To give some background on our setting, the falls are situated along the Orange River ravine and are collectively known as the ‘Place of great noise’. With a name like this, it is not hard to believe that Augrabies is one of five of the world’s largest waterfalls with a 56 meter drop and an average flow rate greater than that of Niagra Falls. This makes for an epic and raucous roar and a meeting place of the loud and even more boisterous!

The Northern Cape feels like a step back in time where everything is pure, the air is fresh and farming is the order of the day. My grandfather lives in Kakamas which is about 40km away from the waterfalls and also where we stayed whilst on holiday.

My cousins and I chose the falls as our holiday playground, to catch up and share anecdotes. As we approached the falls, excitement started building and we were probably as noisy as the roaring of the falls we could hear upon entering the park. We were immediately greeted by giant aloe, known as the Kokerboom or quiver tree that the San people used to make arrows with. Being part of the SAN Parks, we paid a small entrance fee of R27 per person for a day pass which gave us access to braai facilities and a day of exploration until 18:00 the evening. After paying for our passes, we headed off to the assigned braai spots.

The park was not very full as it is low season, but as it is quite an attraction for foreigners, we shared the park with many French and Dutch tourists. We started our fire and unpacked our goodies and had the ‘locals’ drop in on our party unannounced.We had blue apes drop in and attempt to help themselves to our boerewors rolls! This is a common occurrence and quite a nuisance in  Augrabies. They are very forceful and will not back down, since you are on their turf. We were on ape watch and my cousin’s four-year-old son kept them away by throwing them with ice cubes.

After an enjoyable braai, good company and fully tummy, we were set to explore the park and make our way to the falls on foot. It took us 15-20 minutes to reach the trails to the falls. We met saw dassies as we walked along sandstone and rocky outcrops.

Last year Augrabies experienced numerous tremors and floods. The large volumes of water destroyed and washed away many bridges and walkways, leaving a lot of reconstruction work to be done. Each of the falls is about 10 to 15 minutes away from each other and each one more breathtaking than the other. If you are lucky, you can see leopards, jackals and wild cats off in the distance.

As the late afternoon turned to dusk, we made our way back to the car but decided to stop at Augrabies restaurant in the park for some sustenance and a grand discovery was made by all…We discovered the most delicious milkshakes served in the Northern Cape. We wrapped up with a scrumptious ribs, chips and either lime or strawberry milkshakes. The service was impeccable and as the day at the park was spectacular.

For more information on Augrabies National Park, visit http://bit.ly/IRN4E3. The park also offers accommodation, river rafting, hiking trails and so much more.

Mish Foolish Diet

After a failed dieting attempt before going to Kakamas, I ended up making peace with my voluptuous figure. Seeing as I ran out of time to lose the weight I set as my goal, I resorted to plan B. I resolved to shrug off any negative commentary from any family members about my 'heavy' topic and guess what, it worked. My aunt lovingly made the comment that sounded like screetching nails on a glass window, "Jy lyk so mooi vet. Nee, regtig ek hou van jou voller lyfie". On the inside I was shreeking! Thankfully I somehow managed to act nonchalant and any other comments to follow about my weight, was like water off a duck's back. The less I tried to defend myself, the easier it was for everyone to accept it and move past it.

It was liberating and as time and luck would have it, everyone else got the chubs too and it was fabulous! Once I was able to let go of the fear of the chubbies, the uglies and comments, I could kick back and enjoy myself as much as a perfect 10, because I ended up feeling so relaxed and at ease. I ate chips... bad... I drank softdrinks... NO WATER... Epic Fail... and you would think I would be heavier because of my bad eating habits, but I also laughed, enjoyed my family time, explored Augrabies and shared memories and caught up with my friends. It was the most effective non diet ever, because I was not aware of my flawed existance for a while and surprisingly I lost one kilogram which was really great! Not much but it was a great unexpected lesson.

The most important lesson I learnt was to put all my negative thoughts about my body aside and work with what I do have or can manufacture which is confidence! I faked my confidence in my 'stunning' figure to the point where I started believing and fully convincing myself that I have that rocking body I dream of. It also didn't hurt to realise that everybody changes and every BODY changes over time.

In short, life is too short to be panicked about weight. Just do your best, to do your best. If you are not happy about your weight, change it but first change the way you think about your body. See yourself the way you want to be seen and fake your confidence if you lack it. If that doesn't work, you can always put on your sweats and watch a work out video but faking is easier! Trust me!