It's Alright to be Back

Yoh. I am just as surprised at you that Friday finally decided to arrive. It has felt like a very long week. And thrown into the mix I have struggled to fall asleep every night this week :( I am generally fine during the day, although yawning and looking forward to bedtime. But once I'm in bed (and I've even tried getting into bed earlier than usual and reading till lights out), I can't seem to fall asleep earlier than sometime after 11pm. I don't think this is a holiday conditioning cause I don't think we stayed up that late during the holiday either! But my 5am first alarm and getting up 20mins later is simply killing me. I see much sleep in my future - haha!

So yeah, this has been a pretty quiet week, but it has definitely had some highlights. Consider this my nod to #100HappyDays, which I think is a great project, even tho I'm not (yet) participating.

Firstly, we handed in our notice on our rental and will move into our new home on 01 March. The lawyers have said we should be able to sign all the documents sometime next week and transfer should go thru roughly mid-Feb. We plan to get all the renovations done in Feb. Which meant another evening of measuring and planning what standard DIY Cupboard options we could squeeze in and where. Shew, I can't wait to get this going! It's going to be quite amazing seeing how our vision turns out. I'm a little nervous too, but we've gone fairly neutral ... even tho I admire people who paint a wall of dark red or blue in their rooms, as much as I wish I were one of them, I am not ... and I suspect neither is The Trucker. He is always looking at the bigger "One day we'll have to sell / rent this", which is sadly why he veto-ed my open shelves in the kitchen. Sad face.

Secondly I got 2 deliveries this week. Yay, who doesn't enjoy receiving parcels at reception / post? The first was my new Jozi Entertainer book which Daddio bought (currently on sale via their website for R297). I didn't know much about it (although now that I have mine I vaguely remember a competition on Jozilicious from last year). I wasn't sold enough on the concept to enter, but when we were in Cape Town, Daddio showed us the free 2013 book he had (free because he got it in Nov and the offers are only valid for that year so expired very soon). It seemed like a fabulous idea and chatting to my folks who had each used the vouchers sold me! So Daddio kindly ordered me their first Joburg book. Thanks Dad!

OMG I am in heaven. Yesterday I went thru the entire book making notes of the bajillion items we could make use of. It has some fabulous restaurants, at least 5 already on my list to go to: Licorish (we love this spot and I have already penciled it in for The Trucker's birthday dinner!) Junipa's, Red Rabbit and The Wolfpack. It also has places I've never heard of that we'll now get to try :) (there are 35 dinner restaurants on my list plus 2 new breakfast spots to try!). And then on top of that there are massage vouchers and mani's & pedi's and haircuts (his and hers and certainly more than any two people could use in a year!) and blow-waves and activities. I'm planning cooking classes and ten pin bowling and shows (vouchers for Barnyard and Parker's) and more. Yip, I am very much looking forward to using this book (and they have a mobi app!) :)

And then I got my next Featured Read from Penguin Books, Captive. Am looking forward to this one, especially since I read I Choose To Live a few years ago. So keep an eye out for the upcoming review :)

Third, we went out for dinner last night and tried somewhere new. I went to swipe my gym card (Boot Camp starts next week!) and saw the adverts for the new restaurant in the Bel Air center, The Mariner. It opened towards the end of last year, but I immediately dismissed it as The Trucker hates seafood (well, except prawns and sushi).

But tonight I was craving sushi. So he went to gym and I met him at the center afterwards for dinner. It's a lovely space, tucked away in the top of this very strange center which has only recently, with the new Game, become popular (it is a bit of a white elephant imho, although we often breakfast at the Doppio there). And they have something for the non-seafood eaters too.

We started with their Hot Prawn starter (R65), which, I must say was amazing! I'm sorta sorry I had to share it - haha. But just as well, I still couldn't finish all the sushi I'd ordered! It comes in a "snails dish" with 2 very yummy, very garlicy slices of garlic french bread and the sauce is superb :) I'd definitely have this again.

And then it was onto the sushi. We ordered Strawberry Rainbow Rolls (expecting the Strawberry & Salmon we were used to at Cedar Square), but they offer just fruit california rolls and these were just the rainbow version. I think they had Mango, Strawberry and Pineapple in them, but I can't be sure. Regardless from the unexpectedness, they were quite nice, although if I ordered them again, we would only get one portion between the 2 of us. The rest were perfect. The salmon roses were plump and the prawn fashion sandwiches (R50, the rest were all on their sushi specials menu so not sure of the price) came with caviar on top and the Tempura prawn rolls were delish! And everything comes in fours. My fave!

You know it must be good when The Trucker tells me to give them a good review (since he doesn't read or give a second thought to my blog - haha) ;) Unfortunately they don't have a great online presence yet, but don't let that stop you trying it. And there are still a few other dishes I'd try, I saw someone's prawn & monkfish curry which looks good!

And that was pretty much my week. We don't have much planned this weekend, except that we're off to collect Lily's new hutch tomorrow (assuming it's correct this time!). So that is exciting! (for me, probably not for you tho - haha). Have a good one!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention ... so, it happens to be the 10 year anniversary of my move to Joburg in May, so I'm thinking of having a bit of a party. Is that a weird thing to celebrate? Well, I'm not sure celebrate is the right word, but it feels like a pretty momentous occasion so should be marked somehow. So if anyone has any suggestions or ideas or knows of a cool little restaurant or spots that would be suitable, let me know. At the moment I'm considering just a repeat of last year's birthday venue, but somehow that seems a touch boring. Haha. Mebbe somewhere inner city, it seems fitting.