Sophiatown & Ragga

29Jun07

Finally went out out last night. After work Lerato and I went to Newtown. It’s a nice little area that has been redeveloped that includes the Mary Fitzgerald Square, an outdoor venue for public events. Got some cool pictures of graffiti. I’ve been eyeing some other spots with graff but it’s always while I’m on the way to somewhere and can’t really pull over. I’ve made mental notes of where the spots are though and will have to go on a graff shooting spree before I leave.

We decided to get drinks at Shivava Cafe. We were going to order martinis but they didn’t have much of a selection. So, I defaulted to a jack and coke. I’m not sure if the waiter was new or just unfamiliar with the drink, but he asked me if I wanted a single or double shot and if I wanted ice. Then when he served it, my jack was iced in a tall glass and then there was a second glass for my coke. *shrug*

We had dinner at this really nice restaurant called Sophiatown. I wasn’t brave enough to try the worms or the dish with intestines. There were also other South African dishes like pap (traditional porridge), boerewors (bbq’ed sausage), and bunny chow (curry stuffed into a hollowed piece of bread.. totally thought it was rabbit!!) on the menu. We ended up splitting lamb chops with creamed spinach and pumpkin on the side and chicken curry. Since i wasn’t adventurous enough to try the hardcore South African food, Lerato introduced me to some staple dishes: umqusho and samp. Umqusho is sugar beans, butter, onions, potatoes, chillies and lemons made to simmer. It was really good!! Samp is ground dried corn kernels to make bread, very cornbread like in appearance.

Finally we were off to Horror Café for ragga! Ragga is pretty much like South African reggae but more dancey. The place was packed with people mostly my age and some younger groups. There were some older people there too. They don’t card here in South Africa, so I guess the minors can go to clubs and drink. Smoking pot isn’t legal here but apparently everyone smokes pot openly at Horror Café. And they were doing it indoors on the dancefloor and that is all I could smell all night. That and cigarettes. I reeked (sp?) by the end of the night. It was also really hot on the dancefloor and I have no idea how everyone kept their coats, sweaters, and beanies on while dancing.

I don’t really listen or dance to reggae, so I felt a little out of place at first. The music was really good though and I had so much fun dancing. There were a few guys who approached with me some weird ass questions/comments. I hate it when people talk to me at the club. I can never hear what they’re saying. One South African guy asked me which planet I was from… LOL, he must have been so high or on something else. Oh, and I don’t understand why everyone assumes I’m chinese just because I’m asian. Stop asking me that!! and then when I say no, don’t persist by trying to guess because you’ll never get it. Even guys at the bars in NY have tried to guess what ethnicity I am and it’s so annoying, not only offensive. Oh, this one South African chick in passing on the dancefloor told Lerato “oh mi chyna can dance” in reference to me, ahahahha. So, I guess I got approval?

After we couldn’t dance anymore and couldn’t stand people bumping into us making their way through the crowd, we left Horror. Waking up this morning was tough but staying out last night was so worth it. Had my first South African “donut” this morning with tea. It’s called koeksisters and it’s pretty much like an American donut but a little more cakey and cinnamonish. It’s shaped kind of like a potato and it’s sprinkled with coconut.

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RANDOMNESS:

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Word Learned:
“coconut” = a person who is black but acts white

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