The long and windy road....yes you guessed it - Fields Hill.

Today I embarked on one of my many travels to an exotic and faraway land. This place is best known as.....
 Hillcrest.

Okay, so it isn't Guatemala or Cyprus or any other place that has a name which is not said how it's spelt ( lets be honest, we all want to say GU-ATE-MALA), but to me, a girl from Sherwood, and to my car,
whose petrol gauge is constantly on empty, Hillcrest is a faraway land. Therefore it counts as a travel. Anyway, this is my blog, I decide the rules, so why am I even trying to form an argument here? Rhetorical question.

Okay, back to the Hillcrest story. The reason I travelled to 'the Crest' today is because a friend and I had an urgent craving for sushi and we needed to meet up with another friend who lives in Hillcrest, so we figured why not meet up at a sushi serving place.Thus began our rainy, foggy-windowed drive up the infamous Fields Hill.

This long and windy road led us to Old Main road where ( as luck would have it), all the traffic lights were out. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except we had to drive through seven or more intersections basically blindfolded because humankind doesn't know how to operate at a fourway stop. This led to us almost being T-boned twice by people who want to drive whenever it pleases them. Frustration!

We survived to eat our much desired sushi though. You should totally hit ( not literally) Ocean Basket at Richdens Centre in Hillcrest - their sushi is really low-priced and so delicious.mmmm.

Our journey did not end there though. As we began our trip home, still rainy and foggy-windowed ( I couldn't figure out how to unfog it properly, and I don't even know if  'unfog' is even a word), I came to the realisation that the Appletiser I had drunk ten minutes earlier wanted to be released from my system ( I honestly tried to phrase that sentence in the politest way possible). Now as it is, the trip from Hillcrest to Westville is slightly long, but try going down Fields Hill in the pouring rain... one word - traffic. NOT ideal for me!

So there I am driving painfully slow, can barely see out my window, and on the verge of pulling over and peeing on the side of the road ( yes I said peeing)
 I didn't though, I perservered, but it could of made for one heck of a funny story!

I realised something though...this kind of stuff is what makes life interesting and it taught me some valuable lessons :

1. Go to Hillcrest on a SUNNY day.

2. To unfog ( defog?) your windscreen, just put your aircon on and aim it at the windscreen(unless your car is fancy and has a nifty defog button, in that case, stuff you.)

3. When at defective traffic lights, don't expect everyone else to play by the rules ( but you still should)

4. The best place to go when you feel like sushi (and if its not a 'Half-price' sushi day anywhere else), is Ocean Basket. http://www.oceanbasket.co.za/

5. If you know you have a weak bladder do not drink Appletiser ( or any other liquid) right before you're about to embark on a long drive with no rest stops ( it seemed like a long drive to me ok! )

So thats all folks, I know this wasn't as cool as meeting Timone the meerkat ( read my previous blogs) because nothing is as cool as that, but it was still an interesting day.

This weekend I head out on an actual trip (I'm even going in an airplane so you know it's legit) so keep an eye out for the next blog!

Travel like you mean it.



Forget airplanes and cars...the Internet is the vehicle to have.

So here's the thing. I discovered the coolest website ever ( claiming), but I couldn't blog about it because this is a travel blog. Then I realised I could get away with it due to a mode of travelling known as "Cyber Travel". Brilliant. I am a genius.

Now that I have captured you with my skillfully worded heading and captivating introduction, lets get down to business. One word : urbandictionary.com ( does a website count as one word?)

You know how our generation has managed to come up with a completely new vocabulary? Words like "sic", "wranger", "jut", "kif". Well now there is an online dictionary which provides the meanings of these words as well many other crazy sayings. The meanings are sometimes hilariously stupid and sometimes very rude ( but lets just focus on the positive here ). Anyway, it made me so excited, I wanted to share my discovery with the world ( or at least with the few awesome people who read my blogs).

So heres some 'legit' definitions of a few words you may or may not know:

Kif : 'South African English Slang for Cool, Awesome' ( this is rad because its an American website, but we use that word so much that it even gets acknowleged overseas!)

Wranger :  ' a person with red hair; originates from the word orangutan. Being pale with freckles and the butt of everyone's jokes comes hand in hand with being a wranger. Also known as gingys,  fanta pants, and carrot tops ' ( I apologise if that offended anyone but dont blame me, blame urbandictionary.com...and society )

Indie Kid : ' Elitist, liberal  people aged 16-28 who listen to independent music. Better than regular people, they're smarter, hotter (they generally try and act like they don't care about how they look, but they do), and better than the general populace. Do not mistake them with emo kids, emo is the ANTI-INDIE. Emo kids and Indie kids have had a long-standing war since emo became the "new thing".

Dani ( yes, even my nickname has a definition) :
 : ' A person with lots of layers of goodness, like an onion without the crying and the smell.'
(I didn't say it, urbandictionary.com did.)

Well now that Urban Dictionary basically just wrote my blog for me, I would just like to thank cyber travel for being the vehicle of our generation...without it, there wouldn't be a website that gives our words meaning. We also wouldn't have facebook or Youtube or Blogspot and then we would be sad. I also wouldn't have anything to blog about on weeks when I havn't done any actual travelling.

So, enjoy looking up the defintion of your name or whatever crazy words you can think of. Happy Cyber Travelling.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

A walk in the park, a Cottontop Tamarin and some rain. The usual.

So I have been wondering what to blog about this week but todays adventure is definitely something worth sharing!

Now, I am one of those people who often feels like life in Durbs can get pretty boring ( especially on those non "beachy" days), but then a day like today happens and I get a renewed love for my city. *side note for all you patriotic Durban folk - please don't hurt me for saying it gets pretty boring *

So I met up with a friend from Jozi and headed to good old Mitchell Park ( for those of you who are deprived of the durban life, the hype about Mitchell Park is that it has a Zoo!), where I discovered the CottonTop Tamarin, or what I like to call the 'Grandpa Monkey' - seriously though, they are these minature monkeys that have white afro hairstlyes and look like little old men. They're even cooler than Rafiki from the Lion King... and that's saying something!

So, after deciding that I wanted a Grandpa Monkey as a pet, the next amazing discovery was the meerkat cage, where I playfully asked a meerkat if its name was Timone and it LITERALLY nodded its head. Yes, I know I may have a minor obsession with the Lion King but lets focus on the smaller picture here...the meerkat.nodded.its.head. Seriously.

Sorry it isn't the best photo, but I had to make do with the camera on my Nokia Express Music phone ( I refuse to conform to the Blackberry generation )

Now I know you're all frothing ( it's Durban slang, learn it) to see my monkey and meerkat friends but it doesn't end there.

After the zoo take a walk down the road to Vida e caffe and order a Lindt Hot Chocolate ( this did not exactly help my chocolate addiction but it was so worth it )... and if it starts to rain and the lightening shows up...no fear, just sit on the sidewalk and embrace it ( well at least embrace it until the lightening part, then run for your lives!)

All in all I must say, a great day in Durbs without even needing to go to the beach! I mean yes, the humidity made my sweat glands think they had run a marathon, I contemplated jumping into a pond of man-eating Coy to cool off and I ended up in a claustrophobic room called the House of Darkness staring at skunks, but hey, these things happen in life. It was still a great day.

Oh and I parallel parked successfully. Definitely a highlight.

Let the fest ARISE!

Apologies for not blogging last week, I had no access to internet, but I am back with a great story!

Have you ever found that on New Years eve you are stuck sitting at home with your parents and a glass of champagne, listening to the countdown on the radio? Maybe that's just the story of my life. Well let me tell you this, it's not the story of my life anymore, because now I have discovered ARISEFEST!
http://www.arisefest.com/

So here is the lowdown on what Arisefest is: It's a massive music festival ( think Splashy Fen type of vibe ) ; awesome Christian bands perform ( This year we had John Ellis, Straatligkinders, The Arrows, Harbourlight and many more); it's situated at Midmar Dam; you camp over a period of two nights and three days and you get to make loads of new friends!


This was my second year at Arisefest and it was unforgettable. I got to see in the New Year surrounded by friends from Durban, Pietermarizburg, Johannesburg and CapeTown, and even though it rained and I constantly had muddy feet and frizzy hair, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else!

During the day, there is an accoustic stage set up (where local talent gets to perform some sweet tunes for the crowd), as well as a whole lot of different sports events - of which I didn't participate in any because I'm lazy like that! At about 5 o'clock the first band starts in the big marquee and from then on the evening is just filled with music - praise and worship, hip hop, indie, screamer, jazz, reggae rock, instrumental...the list goes on! Sounding good? I thought so.

I'm already frothing for Arisefest 2011/2012...be there!

Top Ten Holiday Discoveries

Okay so I tend to go away quite a lot, although never out of the country it seems, but hey, I heart South Africa so I don't have a problem with it. Here's some of the awesome, weird, cool discoveries I have made on my trips... you should definitely check this stuff out if you haven't already!

1. Sushi!!
 mm mm...raw fish...gotta love it! I got dragged to Food Lovers Market which is an amazing, sushi-selling restaurant just outside of Cavendish in Cape Town. If you are trying sushi for the first time I personally recommend the avo maki and the salmon California rolls, and make sure you eat it with ginger and soy sauce for the complete sushi experience. Oh and remember, the green stuff they give you in a little side dish is NOT avocado dip, it is extremely hot wasabi...I made that tiny error, not ideal! Here's a link to the restaurant, check it out...

www.dining-out.co.za/member_details-MemberID-3133.html


2. Ushaka beachfront in the evening
Grab a big group of mates, head down to Ushaka in Durbs, hit Moyo, get your face painted for free, have a cocktail, walk along the beach for a ridiculously long distance ( well it seemed long to me ) and then lie down in the cool sand and appreciate being alive. Try it, you'll thank me!

ushaka! it's a must!

3. Grahamstown Arts Festival
This happens once a year around July. Its freezing cold but that's a small price to pay if you are a drama junkie like I am. There are amazing productions being put on, all kinds of workshops and lots of stalls for those of you whose money burns a hole in your wallet. You don't even need a car, you can walk everywhere which means:  you're on holiday; embracing arts and culture; and getting fit while doing it...perfect!

4. Camps bay ocean.
Okay so I was in Capetown a few weeks ago and a wonderful friend of mine decided to throw me into the paralysingly cold ocean  of Camps Bay. Naturally ( being the drama queen that I am), I complained and moaned about how cold it was, but you want to know a secret....it was absolutely amazing! I felt so renewed and energized afterwards and I really encourage you to take the plunge the next time you happen to pass through the Cape. Besides that, being at Camps Bay makes one realise that we don't have to spend thousands of rands on a holiday to Europe because we literally have Europe in our own backyard!



5. Head Boys hair salon in Pretoria
I often feel that there isn't much to do in Pretoria besides shopping, but the one place I always go to when I'm there is Head Boys to get my hair done. Good prices, great hairdressers - by far the best I have found in my ancient 19 years of experience. Look it up in the yellow pages - I mean, everyone needs a good hairdresser right?

6. The Ice Cafe ice cream shop in Kalkbay
 This is all I'm going to say : Jamie Oliver had ice-cream there. Have cherry and honeycomb flavour ( two half scoops). Added bonuses are that you can catch the train to Kalkbay and visit tons of trendy shops. yes please!


7. The Sphinx
 A very chilled, but beautiful hike ( though I suppose for serious climbers it's more of a walk ) up to a rock which resembles the Sphinx. On the way there you can stop at a beautiful waterfall known as Crystal Falls, have some cheese and crackers and fresh river water, and then tell yourself that you are an accomplished hiker. Well, that's what I do. Ha.

8. Mojitos
 First discovered illegally ( I was only 17, don't tell my mom!) at La Med in Cape Town and now one of my favourite cocktails! Of course you could just be boring and go to any old restaurant and order a mojito but if you want something special go to La Med and then afterwards take a drive up to signal hill and watch the sunset. Beautiful!

9. Tubing!!
 I put aside my fears and tried this for the first time at Midmar Dam in January last year. I have to admit, it is incredibly fun...I don't think I have ever found as much joy in getting flung into the air and bouncing on water as I did that day. So find a mate with a speedboat and some tubes, head on down to the dam near you, get on that tube, and enjoy getting completely owned!! Oh also, don't be afraid to scream like a girl , no one will judge you.


10 Chip 'n Cheese Roti's
 House of Curries on Florida Road in Durbs. R26 gets you the most ginormous, unhealthy, amazing roti you will ever have in your entire life ( yes, i am claiming). It's literally hot chips covered in melted cheese with mutton or tomato sauce, wrapped in a roti. You might need to share it with a friend but you definitely need to try it, it's RIDICULOUS!!

I hope these discoveries make your holidays of the future a little bit more interesting!! comment and tell me some other amazing discoveries you have made on holiday!

adios