Damn! My shoe strap

Last week Saturday I attended the very successful launch of the Seven Seas Signature Spa down town Jozi. I  will definitely do a full write up on the event soon and post some pictures as well. Arriving at the venue I was instantly recognized by a few individuals who diligently read my blog. After meeting and greeting several acquaintances, mom and I made our way to to the reserved VIP seating area. A few meters away from my seat, lo and behold my shoe strap gave way. At this point I wanted to burst out laughing. Nonetheless I simply bent over removed my shoes and walked bare feet until I got to my seat. Now, I am a big fan of Viss shoes. I have several pairs and I never ever had a problem with the quality of the shoes in the past. I could not believe though that a brand new pair of shoes could give way on the first day that I wore it. My second mother aunty Jules thinks that it gave way due to the evil eye lol. Any way I got seated and then decided I need to look for some glue or a stapler to keep the shoe strap into position. I got hold of my brother Aadil and asked him to find me glue.. Naturally he burst out laughing and said I should just go down the road into Fordsburg and buy a new shoe. I was in no mood to drive through all the traffic especially since I parked right at the entrance of the venue. I then asked Mr. Altaaf, the owner of the Image Lifestyle Wedding and Conference Venue to fix the shoe. Of course he also found the whole situation hilarious and said don't worry I'll make a plan. Mr. Altaaf I'm still waiting for a new pair of shoes..lololol. There was also a mini souq at the image lifestyle venue in conjunction with the opening of the spa and so I then decided I will walk around from stall to stall to see if  could buy myself a shoe. I couldn't believe that not one stall had shoes on sale. Eventually I got hold of a roll of white masking tape and mom decided that she was gonna do an operation to my shoe.It worked perfectly well for the remainder of the evening with the exception that some of the tape was sticking out. One gentleman actually walked past me saying, " Excuse me, you have something stuck to your shoe." So I simply said, "Thanks for telling me" and carried on with a huge grin on my face..Whilst this situation could be totally embarrassing for most  people I actually seen a different side to it. God Almighty made me realize the importance of a simple thing like a shoe. I had money to buy shoes and yet no one was selling shoes. I pondered and thought to myself how fortunate I am for having so much more in my life than I actually deserve. Do we ever think about those people out there who are less fortunate than we are? Many of them do not own shoes and if they do it is usually one pair of shoes that they wear over and over until they are completely finished. I recall musical maestro, Sonu Nigam donating shoes to kids at a school in India two years ago. What a noble gesture on his part. Whenever we have functions we always seem to be inviting the rich, people who have everything they possibly want in life. Let us now focus on  inviting the poor, give them a few hours of happiness and bid them farewell with a worthwhile gift like a jersey or a pair of shoes. They will leave with happiness inside their hearts and pray for your happiness too...On that note I think I'm going to leave an extra pair of shoes in my car boot just in case I have another shoe saga at a future event.. If anyone seen me walking kaalvoet last week Saturday, you now know why..:))

Riverbend Crocodile Farm

A few weeks ago my family and I made our way to KZN to attend a family wedding. It was also a perfect opportunity for us to spend a few days at our holiday home in the picturesque coastal town of Margate. During our short trip we visited the Riverbend Crocodile farm located in Southbroom. This crocodile sanctuary was officially opened in 1981 with a few crocodiles obtained from a farm near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Today, the farm is home to over 200 Nile crocodiles. Almost every year 5000 hatchling crocodiles are produced.

When we entered the Riverbend Crocodile farm, we were taken aback by the sheer beauty and serenity of the farm as a whole. We were just in time for the very informative snake and crocodile educational program followed by a crocodile feeding demonstration. The owner of the farm is really passionate about his crocodiles and wildlife in general and so undoubtedly he is a fountain of knowledge and truly and expert  in his field. I was quite surprised to learn that crocodiles do not really eat during the winter months. They require high temperatures to assist them in digesting and metabolizing their food. At the time that we visited the farm, the crocodiles were being fed 3kg of chicken every ten days only.It is also interesting to note that the sex of a crocodile is not determined genetically. Sex is determined by temperature, where at 30 °C (86 °F) or less most hatchlings are females and at 31 °C (88 °F), offspring are of both sexes. A temperature of 32 °C (90 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F) gives mostly males whereas above 33 °C (91 °F) in some species continues to give males but in other species resulting in females, which are sometimes called as high-temperature females.

The Riverbend Crocodile farm also boasts a snake house that is home to some of Africa's most deadliest snakes. Other facilities include a fully kitted conference center and curio shop. If you are one of those adventurous types wanting to try different cuisines, why don't you try some crocodile meat at the fully licensed crocodile cafe that specializes in crocodile dishes.... EEWWWW.... not for me....

There is also an Art and Wine gallery located on the premises. The Gallery displays a wide variety of original artworks and crafts by some of South Africa’s best artists. A fine collection of wines can also be found in a cellar in the Art Gallery. These are provided for sale to the public or for tasting.

If you are visiting the Margate area why don't you make your way to the Riverbend Crocodile Farm.
The farm is open daily, except on Good Friday and Christmas Day.
The crocodiles are fed at 15:00 every Sunday, shortly after a snake demonstration at 14:30 to educate the public about snakes and dispel a few myths.Crocodile hatching demonstrations take place in January and February and are not to be missed.

For more pictures, click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/sumayya.mehtar/media_set?set=a.10152278221747782.1073741854.739292781&type=1

My creative side

Whilst cleaning out my cupboards I was quite amazed at the fact that mom had actually kept some of the gift cards and other art and craft items that I made during my schooling years a long time ago. I guess for her they were all items of sentimental value. It brought back so many good memories. The trinket boxes were made whilst I was in primary school.....

FANCY SALT IN YOUR CHAAI (TEA)

My initial experience with Kashmiri people occurred almost a decade ago during a family trip to India. Whilst walking through the older parts of New Delhi one chilly winter evening my family and I stumbled across a beautiful clothing boutique owned by a Kashmiri Family. The owner of the boutique uncle Muhammed Shafi Wani had taken an instant liking to me and had refused to take the money for the clothes I wanted to purchase. He gifted me with a beautiful Kashmiri embroidered waistcoat, shawl and jacket. I will never ever forget his sheer kindness and generosity. From that day onward he had considered me to be his adopted South African daughter. To this day we are still in contact and I do hope that I get an opportunity to visit his family home in Kashmir one day God willing.Whilst my adopted father begged us to have a meal at his home in Delhi, we were unable to due to time constraints and hence I did not get an opportunity of trying out Kashmiri cuisine. However, a few months ago I had the opportunity of visiting a Kashmiri family that resides in Kharj, a city located 77km south of Riyadh. The family cooked up a storm for lunch preparing an assortment of savouries as an appetizer followed by Bukhari plaau rice dish and then of course tea and cookies. I was however in for a surprise when my beautiful host with green almond shaped eyes served me tea. I was expecting normal five roses chai. To my amazement the tea that she had served me looked pink in colour and when I took a sip I found that the tea tasted salty. I was under the impression that the lady of the house has made a huge blunder by adding salt in the tea instead of sugar. After enquiring, I then discovered that she had actually made for me traditional Kashmiri Noon chai. Noon does not refer to the time of the day but rather Noon is the Kashmiri word for salt. According to wikipedia,noon chai is made from special tea leaves, milk, and salt. A pinch of baking soda is added to help give it a pink color. It is prepared with pistachios and cardamom and is consumed primarily at special occasions, weddings, and during the winter months when it is sold at many kiosks. Salt has antibacterial and antiseptic properties and thereby assists in preventing throat infections which tend to develop during the cold winter months. This is the rationale behind utilizing salt in the tea. Needless to say after having two sips of the tea, I just could not manage to gulp the tea down my throat. I did n't like the taste at all and apologized to my hosts for my lack of etiquette. Luckily, they were warm and understanding and so the lady of the house offered to make me a cup of normal tea that I of course thoroughly enjoyed on a cold winters afternoon......

http://www.lifensuch.com/noon-chai-salty-tea-pink-tea-kashmiri-namkeen-chai.htm - Picture