There are a couple of lists doing the rounds this year…but I really like this one and think I should point it out to you too. It covers the whole country…although, can safely say that the best specials are available to the lucky peeps in Cape Town…and you are able to click on each restaurant name and be taken to a link that has reader reviews and details of the restaurant. What a great idea!!

Click on the pic below to go and see the great work that the clever foodies at Eat Out have done for you!!

Link to the great Winter Specials list on Eat Out site

Thanks so much to Katharine Jacobs and Jana Cilliers for the great work!!

And for some Winter Special reviews, keep an eye on Batonage and even post some reviews there too to help all out!!

Happy dining!

Anything that has the tag line “eat + drink + enjoy + celebrate” is going to be close to my heart…so when I saw these words in an e-mail a little while ago, I knew I was on to a good thing! Winestyle magazine launched a few months back and the second edition, arrived in my postbox (the actual thing, not my inbox) yesterday. I can’t wait to kick back, relax and read it this weekend…hopefully, whilst sipping a nice glass of wine and enjoying the last bits of summer!

You really owe it to yourself to get your hands on a copy of this little gem. The mag comes out every quarter and will cost you nothing and it really is a great read! 

Just click on this pic below to take you to the registration page and it should be in your postbox as fast as snail mail can get it to you!

Enjoy!

Life in Gotham City Joburg has been treating me well and so I thought it was time to start telling you about what has been happening and the exciting things to do out and about in Jozi!!

One of the first things I decided that needed addressing after the move to JHB, was the Barren Manscape. I vaguely recalled that the Manscape in Joburg was in a better state than that of Cape Town…and so set out to see if this was still the case.

I gave the matter a bit more thought and decided the options available to me were as follows:

• Intro from friends – Hope springs eternal, but nothing was happening here, so not really an option
• Office romance – Mmm…cast an eye around the office and crossed this off the list pretty quickly
• Find him in a pub - Hasn’t worked thus far and not sure it ever will
• The internet – Had heard some good stories about this, so decided to give it a try…

A few disastrous dates followed but then one day, I met someone quite nice. Met up with him a couple more times…and he has now become The Boyf. So…the Manscape has changed somewhat and so the adventures of Life in JHB begin. Will keep you posted…

This woman is 51.

She is a TV “health guru” advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and  ill health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and  vegetables. She recommends detox diets, colonic irrigation and  supplements, also making statements that yeast is harmful, that the colour of  food is nutritionally significant, and about the utility of lingual and faecal  examination. 

This woman is 50.

 She is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and deserts.  

So forget “join a gym and eat more celery”.

This festive season, it’s food  and booze all the way!!! And the only exercise you need is dancing!

Have fun!

Well, perhaps you want to point him in the direction of this little video clip…I have a sneaky suspicion that once he has seen these gorgeous girls, he will be high-tailing it off to La Senza faster than you can say “Ding, Dong, Merrily on High” and your underwear drawer will be looking fab by Boxing Day!

The ‘Cup Size Choir’ is made up of seven models dressed in just their bra and knickers singing a note from A to G based on their cup size in cheeky ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’.

Those of you that have been reading That Blog for a while now, are familiar with my lamenting over the Barren Manscape in Cape Town. I have decided to test the waters in Jozi and see if the Manscape is any less barren.
I took the bold step of signing up for internet dating…

The responses to my profile thus far have varied considerably (which indicates that there have been responses, so that is a good thing). Whilst there have been a limited number of suitable looking gents (whom I hope to meet up with soon…reports to follow), I can report that there is also a healthy collection of nutters out there! Maybe my standards are just too high??

Married girls, please take this moment to thank your lucky stars for the man in your life…because even when he is driving you completely bonkers, or comes home late from a night out with the blokes, he almost certainly doesn’t describe himself like this…

Pation – could he possibly be referring to passion??? Actually, am really hoping he has misspelt Patrón, my new favourite tequila! If that is the case…he might suddenly come back into the mix and I can overlook his lack of a fancy, little, nerdy car!
Tame nudist – what exactly is that? 

Or perhaps this guy:

Anyone else getting the feeling that he might be a little needy or perhaps desperate? Or maybe he is just casting that net far and wide to see what he finds!

Then, it all looked a lot more promising…there was a guy, that on paper, looked every part the suitable candidate…the picture was acceptable, he could spell correctly and seemed to be looking for similar things to me. We exchanged some banter on-line and arranged to meet for a date. Much excitement!!! If I were in London, I would definitely attribute the heavy snowfall to this event…anyway, date went well, no sign of axe murderer/psychotic tendencies and I was rather excited about it all. Imagine my surprise when I got an sms a day later along the lines of “it’s not you, it’s me”…blah, blah, blah…”I’m just not ready for a relationship right now…” blah, blah, blah.
Mmm…I know, if that is the case, may I suggest you give dating sites a wide berth??!! Oh well…

Anyway, I am going to persevere with this avenue of adventure and shall keep you posted on how it goes!

Please let me know if you have any good tips or suggestions…or single friends !

A few years ago, my family discovered the amazing meal that just keeps on giving…The Tur-duck-en. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it is a  deboned turkey, stuffed with a (deboned) chicken, stuffed with a (deboned) duck, stuffed with stuffing…or if you find it easier to say, Tur-duck-en. (I prefer to hyphenate the word, as it seems that some people are a little put off at the thought of eating something that has the word Turd in the name.)

So, as you can well imagine, this is a gargantuan amount of bird to get through and if your family is as small as mine, not even a post-Christmas Turkey Curry buffet will save you from Turkey/Duck/Chicken sandwiches for days to come!

So, if you aren’t up for putting together the old traditional Christmas feast and can’t be bothered with constantly having to peer into a hot oven to see if that little red thing has popped out the Turkey’s rear, why not get the good peeps at the Mount Nelson to do it all for you.

Check out the variety of Christmas meals they are hosting…

CHRISTMAS EVE

Planet Restaurant
Date: 24 December 2010
Time: 19h00 onwards
Price: R890 per person. We regret – no children under the age of 12
Menu: Festive 5-course Table d’ Hôte Menu
Dress: Elegant

Oasis Restaurant
Date: 24 December 2010
Time: 18h00
Price: R495 per adult / R195 per child under the age of 12
Menu: Extensive Festive Buffet Selection
Dress: Casual
Entertainment: J Russel Instrumental Jazz Duo

Join the choir for Christmas carols around the fountain from 18h30 to 19h30.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Oasis Restaurant
Date: 25 December 2010
Time: 12h30 onwards
Price: R695 per adult / R220 per child under the age of 12
Menu: Extensive Festive Buffet Selection
Dress: Casual
Entertainment: Enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the company of the B3 Jazz Duo.

Planet Restaurant
Date: 25 December 2010
Time: 12h30 onwards
Price: R730 per person. We regret, no children under the age of 12
Menu: Festive 5-course Table d’ Hôte Menu
Dress: Smart casual

The Ballroom
Date: 25 December 2010
Time: 12h30 onwards
Price: R730 per adult / R280 per child under the age of 12
Menu: Extensive Festive Buffet Selection
Dress: Smart casual
Entertainment: Mike Perry’s 4-piece band

Good news is that the Planet Bar will open on 25 December from 12h00 onwards for festive pre-lunch and dinner drinks…to ensure you get the whole family in the Christmas spirit, or is that drinking the Christmas spirit?

They will also give you a complimentary sparkling wine and Pimm’s on arrival!

If you are looking for something completely different to do on Christmas day, what about…

Afternoon Tea in the Lounge
Date: 25 December 2010
Time: 14h30 onwards
Price: R185 per person / R95 per child under the age of 12
Menu: Festive-inspired Afternoon Tea buffet
Dress: Casual
Entertainment: Resident pianist

No need to slog away preparing that massive Christmas lunch/dinner in Cape Town this year (and dealing with the mess afterwards)…the Old Mount Nelson can do it all for you! Although, I can’t guarantee that they will have Tur-Duck-en on the menu,

By the way, these prices are inclusive of festive novelties and service charge.

For reservations, contact restaurantreservations@mountnelson.co.za or +27 (0) 21 483 1948

www.mountnelson.co.za

Girls, do you agree that despite the fact it is for a good cause…the concept of MoVember is just too grim for words? The old ‘tache never has and never will do it for me!

It seems that everywhere I look, there are perfectly normal men disfiguring their otherwise good looking faces with a hideous display of facial hair. All I can say is that 30 November, and the eve of the shave-a-thon could not arrive soon enough!

Well done to all the girls that put up with a MoVember bloke in your life…does it entitle you to participate in Fanuary?

The Happy Couple

I can say I will definitely booking the afternoon off to watch the ceremony on 29^th April 2011. I do love a royal wedding and despite the rather pear-shaped ending of the marriage, I still clearly remember watching and loving the marriage ceremony of Di & Charles can’t wait to see what Kate looks like on the Big Day!!

All this and more...in 3-D

Even though you might not have a 3-D ready telly at home, broadcasters are talking about showing live footage to pubs and movie theaters that are 3-D ready!! So, if you think your Cane & Cream Soda Wedding drinking antics might mean you are excluded from the Royal guest-list, worry not…you will feel just like you are sitting there with Betty, Phil, Charles, Cammy…you know, the fam! Might need to bust out those nerdy glasses, crack open the champers and enjoy the pageantry!!

So much has happened since I last wrote…not sure where to start….

I returned from a lengthy 4 months on the mud island and started work in Jozi…I am still in denial about the fact that I am not spending my week days in Cape Town, so like to think of this as a very temporary measure and if anyone asks where I live, I still answer Cape Town. I have to admit that this does get the occasional side wards glance from people who see me at work every day in the heart of Sandton…but so what. In my mind, my return to Cape Town is imminent…so why let anyone else think differently!

I will do my best to keep you updated on the exciting happenings and news from both cities for now!

Not that dissimilar to an Atlantic Seaboard sunset is it?