Wednesday, January 23, 2013

An Eclectic New Year's Eve - 12/31/2012

Dolled up for the New Year!

GABBY - Happy New Year’s Eve Day!  Yesterday, I packed some things to go home in two makeshift cardboard boxes from the hotel bar.  I wanted to send them off to my house so we didn’t have to lug all that stuff around.  We walked to the post office in the morning only to discover that the boxes couldn’t have any writing on the side.  We needed tape and paper to cover the entirety of the boxes.  Ben left in search of tape, while I stayed with the packages and became increasingly annoyed that the post office didn’t have packing tape that we could use.   Eventually the post man took pity on me, took the packages, combined them into one, wrapped it in brown paper and taped it shut.  Ben got back as they were finishing up with it.  I selected the Land Mail shipping method, which should get the package to Barto in 2 months.  After the post office, 
Ben and I hailed a cab and told them to drive to Woodstock.  We were in search of The Kitchen’s Love Sandwiches.  We hit Main Road and focused our efforts on the store signs to our left.  It’s always hard to find this place so I wasn’t too worried when we went passed the spot where it was supposed to be and had to turn around.  On our turn around we still didn’t see the cream colored sign with brown writing.  I read out the address from the business card I kept in my wallet for 2 years.  We zeroed in on its exact address, but The Kitchen was nowhere to be found.  Ben and I were confused because we had just been there 2 months ago before we left for the Garden Route.  They definitely weren’t there, though.  We were both pretty bummed because we were really looking forward to those incredibly, mouth-watering, Love Sandwiches.  We took the same cab all the way to Camps Bay Beach.  The wind was whipping today, even away from the ocean, but we still wanted a little bit of a beach day.  When we stepped out of the cab, the wind hit us hard.  We walked down towards the water and behind some boulders to try and find some protection from the forceful wind.  We sat there for awhile reading and eating our brunch of Woolworth’s fruit, yogurt, and donuts.  The unrelenting waves were crashing down with vigor.  The white spray was flying off the tips of the waves before tumbling down towards the sandy shore.  Ben and I were ready to find some shelter and substantial food, so we packed up our stuff and walked down towards the beach and off of the boulders.  The beach was completely deserted, the wind having kept people away.  I still didn’t really understand it until a big gust of wind occurred.  The particles of sand were carried by that gust and shot at incredible speeds into our bodies.  I can now say that I never want to be in a sandstorm unless I am in some kind of sturdy shelter.  We had to climb over big sandy hills to reach the restaurants in Camps Bay.  These hills were the worst because the wind would come over top and make it impossible to move up them without experiencing searing pain.  I couldn’t believe how painful those tiny particles of sand could be.  We finally made it to the main road of Camps Bay and were able to get off the beach.  We settled on a place called The Grand Café because it looked like they served light lunches.  While we were waiting for the menus, I attempted to rid my scalp of the thick layer of sand particles that had accumulated after our run in with the sandstorm.  I could have played the Basket Case from the Breakfast Club perfectly.  We ordered a sandwich and a wrap with some French Fries.  I had never been there before, but the food was delicious and the place had a really cute, quaint feel.  After we ate, we caught a cab and headed back to Ashanti Lodge to pack up our bags.  I wasn’t in the mood to pack, so I wrote in my journal and took a short nap, while Ben packed up his bag.  We had finally gotten in touch with Corinne and had a plan of attack for the night.  We were going to meet at Long and Strand Street around 4:00 and grab half price sushi and cocktails at one of my favorite Waterfront restaurants, Sevruga.  

What a Crew
Ben and I set off out of Ashanti around 3:30 and were the first ones there waiting on the corner.  We got talking to two black guys.  They were trying to convince us that they could give me some security if I ever needed it.  Just as I was getting done and a little uncomfortable with the situation, I spotted Corinne and her boyfriend crossing the street towards us.  We hugged and Corinne introduced us to the mysterious Joost that we had heard so much about for 3 weeks in Addo.  He was tall and broadly built and had long, stringy hair.  He is a drummer in a heavy metal band.  He tours all around the world, apparently, but also has a desk job when he’s not touring.  It was really nice to see Corinne and to be in a group in Cape Town.  Before we started walking, she told us that there was another couple coming to meet us.  Apparently she had met the guy in Orange Elephant and he was going to be in Cape Town the same time as all of us.  We waited there for a couple of minutes until we saw a younger guy walking towards us, covered in tattoos.  There was a blonde girl next to him that sort of looked like Tricia, from Bucknell.  We all shook hands and exchanged nationalities (2 Germans, 2 Dutch, 2 Americans) and headed towards the Waterfront.  Ben and I walked with Corinne and got caught up on all of the drama in Addo.  We talked about Hazel and Randy leaving and snuffing Corinne towards the end, Sarel’s departure, the subsequent firing of the 2 German girls, the opening of Thirsty Herds, and Corinne’s eventual and inevitable tearful goodbye.  We told her about Khotso and tried not to let on how much more comfortable we felt there than at Orange Elephant, but it was sort of obvious.  We finally reached Sevruga and found that it was closed due to a private reservation.  I was so bummed!  I specifically didn’t get sushi for lunch so I could get sushi for dinner!  The Kitchen was closed and now Sevruga, our last chance for sushi before leaving South Africa.  Bummer.  Joost and the other dude were totally fine with it since they were apparently avid sushi haters.  We decided to have a seat at the outdoor patio of Mitchell’s Brewery (my parents’ favorite place).  We ordered some of Mitchell’s own craft beer and started our night early.  We ended up ordering appetizers and 3 pizzas to split with the whole table.  The rest of the night was spent ordering more beer, shooters, and shots until the entire table was silly and raucous.  We played a quiet drinking game of fingers, which was fun.  We also got into a weird phase where we took ridiculous pictures of each other for awhile.  Around 11:00 Ben and I weaseled our way out of going back to Joost and Corinne’s place with the rest of the crew.  They were pressuring us hard, but my firm, rational side said, “no”.  We had to catch a 7:00 AM flight to Johannesburg and then to India the very next day.  We had already arranged a 4:00 AM cab pick-up from our hostel to the airport.  I knew it wasn’t going to be fun, but staying out and drinking more would make it even less so.  We hugged, said our goodbyes, and got a cab back to Ashanti Lodge for a short snooze knowing that before long, the dreaded sound of Ben’s watch alarm would ring to wake us.         

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