Most of us in South Africa sound like a bunch of old folks when we talk wistfully of the good times we had during the SoccerWorld Cup, which was less than a year ago. Joburg turned into a serious party town and my friends, family and I were all over it. My house was like a hotel, with people staying from the US and Zimbabwe; I had bodies sleeping all over the place. There wasn't a party I missed, from Fashion Week to the opening of Soul Lounge when the whole of Naija turned up in Sandton. My girl Bonang and I drank so much champagne at Signature Restaurant, the owner Desmond owes us a free bottle or two. In fact we were such regulars there and at his other pricey restaurant, Wall Street, he really ought to give us some freebies. We were all over the clubs, especially Zar which was always packed and full of international stars.
But alas, now I was home last night, a Saturday night and all I did was sit in front of the TV and watch the South African Music Awards. Luckily I've got good friends who all came round so I can never be lonely for too long. My cousin Mukai, his friend Kuda, my girl B and Marco from Ruffcuts all came over for some Nandos take-out dinner and vino. Really, Joburg is getting old. Once you've been to Moloko a few times you know everybody there, Taboo down the road is cool but lacks flavour, Sankayi is ok occasionally but overrun by ladies of the night. I live in Sandton, which is close to everything but where to go now? I moved into my cluster home in March 2009 and two months later they opened the new Morningside shopping centre nearby, which is a Godsend. There are so many restaurants and places to lounge, we can have a good time and go home around the corner without having to deal with the Johannesburg Metro Police Dept cops who are always out soliciting bribes along Rivonia Road. In fact, my friend B and I are so well-known at Morningside mall, we are like an institution there. Usually it is brunch on Sundays at Tasha's or lunch at Pomodoro where Bonang and the manager are seriously infatuated with one another. When I'm with her, I have never seen such service! Occasionally we will do Tsunami, or if it's a hot date, then Signature is the place to be. I like Cup Coffee Shop or The Bread Basket for quick business meetings. We have conducted many a romance at Morningside Shopping Centre. It's also useful for the hair salon, nail salon, pharmacy, supermarket and the video club, the latter for when my social life is at a dead end.
I'm the consummate hostess; I love to entertain. When friends and family are visiting I will throw a dinner party, a BBQ or an all out reveller at the house. My parties are legendary. Nobody can ever forget my housewarming party of June 2009 which had 4 world-class DJs and ended at 4.30am when I finally felt pity for my neighbours and told the last DJ to shut it down. Then there was the BBQ of August 2009 for a friend's birthday and my cousins visiting from the UK where the shenanigans resulted in the ending of at least one marriage. The World Cup party of June 2010 was relatively tame because I was mindful of the neighbours but there were at least 60 people in the house and the garden. My last bash was about a month and a half ago when my girl Amina was visiting from Harare. We went all out and had three DJs. My poor friends are called in to volunteer even though they are highly-markatable DJs, I never pay anyone! My lovely friend from Cape Town Gwen sent 4 crates of wine and even though the party lasted two days, we never ran out of drinks. The party started on a Friday night, started again the Saturday morning and only ended on the Sunday because I had to leave to go to Harare! Oh well, I'm a people-person and it's that African hospitality. Take a look at the photos from that gig!
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