Matooke

My second day was spent in meetings and driving around looking at various properties. We met some interesting people and tried the local cuisine. I tried Matooke. Matooke is the most eaten staple. It is eaten green, before it is ripe. The fingers have to be peeled to remove the outer covering which contains sap and cannot be eaten. I'm talking about banana's. Basically it's various squashed bananas. This was served in banana leaves and served with a delicious ground nut sauce. Matooke does not look very appetising and doesn't taste like much I'm afraid. Apparently most of the local cuisine is prepared in banana leaves and mostly made on coal ovens.

Apart from the Matooke, I did taste the most AMAZING beef ever. Soft and tasty. Om nom nom

We came across an amazing little backpackers in the Bugolobi area, east of Kampala. It's called Red Chilli Hideaway. I'm going to have to go back to Uganda and stay there. They've got bunk style rooms with separate bathrooms and have a really cool general area with computers and a pool table. They serve delicious home made pizza's and ice cold beer :) Don't you just love how people always hang around backpackers drinking beer?

Whilst exploring the area we found another little quaint hotel, called Le Bougainviller Hotel. It's a French family run hotel situated in the hustle and bustle of the city. Walking around in the gardens and between rooms, you really feel like you are in the middle of the country side in France. A real hidden jewel in Bugolobi.

Dinner was at Khana Khazana, an Indian restaurant. It was delicious but super spice. We had chicken curry with rice and butter naan. Mmmmm... It's surprizing how many Indian and Chinese restaurants are in this city.

Stay tuned from adventures with pot holes, book shops and a Chinese restaurant called Fang Fang.

This is Africa

Welcome to Uganda. Sitting in the back of a car making your way to Kampala is truly an experience. It's about an hours drive without traffic. Taxi's, boda boda's , busses and locals crawl the pothole infested roads. there are no street lamps, no lights, no traffic lights, no signs, just bright headlights and hooters. What an experience, what a roller-coaster ride! I have been extremely privileged to travel up into 'donker' Africa, Uganda, recently and man what an experience!

This was my second time up north and once again i find the people super friendly. Nauseating actually. It's a nice change though, it makes one think that people so poor can be so happy and so friendly. Think about it, the unemployment rate is something ridiculous like 60% or something (don't quote me on this), but still everyone is happy and it's super safe.

Kampala is the capitol of Uganda and houses about 31 million people. We stayed at the Serena Kampala Hotel situated slap bam in the middle of the city. I arrived in my gorgeous room, applied tabbard (it is a malaria area) and went to stand on my balcony. I was met by a choir of frogs, so much so that you cannot hear the people on the balcony next to yours. I was on the fourth floor overlooking the magnificent gardens of the hotel listening to the frogs sing. Reality check for sure. I'm one lucky girl! I wished for the internet to go on so that I could skype with the world and share my amazing experience.

Most Bling in the World!

Valued at approximately $68 million and weighing in at 150 carats, the ring is made entirely out of a cut and finished diamond.

Cookclub Kermis

My friend and her cookclub is showing their support at the annual Alta du Toit Kermis. They are hosting a tea garden and needs your support. There will be a variety of delicious cakes and coffee and tea for you to enjoy. Come pop in and I'll serve you a slice! Leave a comment or send an email if you need more information.

You can also check out their blog: www.koekeroer.worldpress.com

Piping Roses

I have lately become obsessed with piping. I don't really know why, I just enjoy it. So during this week I went out and purchased a proper piping nozzle kit and found this amazing recipe and DIY icing roses. Last night my flat mate and I took to the test kitchen to try and make these roses.

This is what it should look like:

This is how my first rose came out:

Problem is, the icing I made melted too quickly and made the rose a bit mushy. If you have any icing tips or cool recipes, please please please send them my way. I'm desperate!

The recipe I used:

5 tablespoons of unsulted butter

2 cups of confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons of cream

Might be handy to leave the cream.

The other problem was that I couldn't seem to get the roses off the flower nail. I eventually managed to get it off with scissors, but then the rose is stuck on the scissors. Might have to try and do it directly on the cupcake. If you have any suggestions here, please shout.

I'll be returning to the test kitchen tonight and will let you know what happens. Till tomorrow!

The World's best passenger complaint letter

This morning upon arriving at the office, my colleague, Carryn, told me about the world's best passenger complaint letter. I googled it and it truly is funny! You have to see for your self!

Unfortunately I cannot copy the pictures, but click on this link and you'll be able to see it. Anyway's here's the story:

Dear Mr Branson

REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008

I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.

Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at thehands of your corporation. Look at this Richard. Just look at it: [see image 1, above].

I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, which one is the starter, which one is the desert?

You don’t get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it’s next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That’s got to be the clue hasn’t it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in: [see image 2, above].

I know it looks like a baaji but it’s in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you’ll be fascinated to hear that it wasn't custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It’s only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.

Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what’s on offer.

I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.

Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing. That’s how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this: [see image 3, above].

Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It’s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.

Once it was regurgitated it was clearly then blended and mixed with a bit of mustard. Everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard.

By now I was actually starting to feel a little hypoglycaemic. I needed a sugar hit. Luckily there was a small cookie provided. It had caught my eye earlier due to it’s baffling presentation: [see image 4, above].

It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn’t want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.

I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax but obviously I had to sit with that mess in front of me for half an hour. I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point.

Once cleared, I decided to relax with a bit of your world-famous onboard entertainment. I switched it on: [see image 5, above].

I apologise for the quality of the photo, it’s just it was incredibly hard to capture Boris Johnson’s face through the flickering white lines running up and down the screen. Perhaps it would be better on another channel: [see image 6, above].

Is that Ray Liotta? A question I found myself asking over and over again throughout the gruelling half-hour I attempted to watch the film like this. After that I switched off. I’d had enough. I was the hungriest I’d been in my adult life and I had a splitting headache from squinting at a crackling screen.

My only option was to simply stare at the seat in front and wait for either food, or sleep. Neither came for an incredibly long time. But when it did it surpassed my wildest expectations: [see image 7, above].

Yes! It’s another crime-scene cookie. Only this time you dunk it in the white stuff.

Richard…. What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I’d done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.

So that was that Richard. I didn’t eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can’t imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.

As I said at the start I love your brand, I really do. It’s just a shame such a simple thing could bring it crashing to it’s knees and begging for sustenance.

Yours Sincererly

XXXX

• Paul Charles, Virgin’s Director of Corporate Communications, confirmed that Sir Richard Branson had telephoned the author of the letter and had thanked him for his “constructive if tongue-in-cheek” email. Mr Charles said that Virgin was sorry the passenger had not liked the in-flight meals which he said was “award-winning food which is very popular on our Indian routes.”

Mary Poppins

I've just come across something awesome on Stumbleupon. Something handy and true I must admit. This also explains why girls have big handbags :)

12 Things to carry in your purse:

1. Baby Wipes
These come in handy not only after a tinkle, but also to do a quick wipe down in the ladies room.

2. Perfume
You never know who will approach you - always smell good! Also good to use after the baby wipe.

3. Tissues
One day while in high school, my crush walked me home. On the way there, he looked at me and said, “I have something to tell you.” At the point, I trembled with excitement because I thought he was going to profess his undying love for me. Instead, he lean over and whispered, “You have a bugger in your nose.” Omg…I was done. I knew that I needed both a mirror and tissue on me at all times. HAHA, yes it does happen to girls as well!

4. Breath Freshner
Don't worry about all those fancy sprays - just keep gum in your bag. Bad breath is an instant turn-off.

5. Nail File
If you don't need it, one of your girlfriends will (obviously the one who didn't read this blog post).

6. Lip Gloss
It's all about the look. Dry lips are gross.

7. Fully charged phone
Obviously your phone needs to be charged at all times in case of emergencies. Also, remember to check your airtime. If you are not in an emergency, you might have to use your phone as a flash light. A handy tool to find something in your very full but practical handbag.

8. Writing utensil
If your phone dies, you have a pen. Sometimes it's just sexier if a guy writes down his number on your arm... if you live in Bellville. (just a joke, I live in Bellville)

9. Tampons
Come on girls, we all need them sometimes. In Korea, if the boys had nose bleeds at school, the teachers stuck tampons in their noses. Multi purpose...

10. Cash
Credit cards are good, but cash is better. Some might say it's better to budget with cash. What's a budget?

11. Matches
What?! You didn’t know?! Matches clear bathroom odor. Simply light the match, blow it out, and allow the sulfur dioxide of flame to mask the odor.

12. Mini sewing/repair kit (Your grandma will be so proud!)
I remembering being in the park, I bent over, and then all of a sudden…woooop, the crotch of my pants ripped. Luckily, I wasn’t commando…hehe. I guess I was too lazy practice the good ole’ bend and snap method.

Mary Poppins also got her tips from Stumbleupon