Best Bunny In Durban 2011

I know I have slacked on updating in a while.

I won a bunny eating competition a couple weeks ago.

Relax. It wasn't a real bunny aka rabbit. It's a Bunny Chow! A bunny chow is a half or quarter loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with curry.

Any curry will do but the most common are mutton, chicken and beans for the vegetarians! All 3 are delicious. My favorite being mutton of course.

So there we were, four musketeers just finished celebrating the Boks win over the Welsh at Boktown in Suncoast Casino and hungry for a chow. Victor said there was the annual Bunny Chow Barometer competition happening at Blue Lagoon where they choose the best bunny chow in Durban!

So we decided to check it out. While the guys were getting the bunnies I heard Muthu Murugan's voice over the loudspeakers. He was looking for 3 men to come up to the stage. I was curious and went to see what was going on.

Nobody was volunteering and as soon as Muthu saw me he called me up. I had no idea what he wanted or what the competition entailed. Two other guys plucked up the courage and join me in front. After a few good jokes and a string of bad ones Muthu got down to business!

We had to finish a quarter bunny and down a half liter Coke. The first one to do so won a prize! The other two guys were quite skinny and didn't stand a chance against me! I wolfed down the bunny chow and downed my Coke like I had been starving for days on a deserted island!

What did I win? A cap, t-shirt and a Coca-Cola branded cooler bag! At least I got my 15 minutes of fame and the rights to brag that I'm the bunny eating champion of Durban!


Cafe India won the best bunny in Durban. I tasted it during the competition. I thought it tasted great but it lacked in spice as it was rather mild.

My favorite bunny chow take-away is Gateway Curries which is located inside Mistry's Furniture on the Umhlanga Ridge.

Manchester Destroys North London

This had to be the most exciting football weekend this season of the Barclays Premier League!

Both Manchester teams anihilated both North London teams. Manchester City beat a desparate Tottenham Hotspurs team 5-1 at White Hart Lane.

Four of City's goals came from Edin Dzenko, two of which were assisted by City's latest addition, Samir Nasri.


Manchester United massacred Arsenal later in the afternoon with a full time score of 8-2! Wenger had no chance with trying to win the match as he fronted a very weak team against United.

Many jokes were popping up on social networks like "I'd 8-2 to be Arsene Wenger now" or "United 8 Arsenal for supper" and "Wenger released a statement: 8-2 Brutus"!

The stars of Manchester United were the youngsters, Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverly . They were quick, agile and innovative and the goals came quickly. Wayne Rooney scored his first hat-trick of the season, two from set pieces. His new hair is really helping his game!

Looks like it's going to be a race to the title by the two teams from Manchester. All the others can do is just stand and watch. One question in their minds. Will it be City or United?

Trey Songz Concert Durban

Last night Trey Songz performed at the Wavehouse in Durban's Gateway Theater of Shopping. His first live show in South Africa.

Before this concert I didn't know anything about this artist. The only reason I went was because Avusa Media gave me complementary tickets.

Well it was a full house with mostly young girls. The opening act was a local group called Tear Gas which I never heard of before but apparently is very popular with the younger crowd that sang along to their songs. Clearly I'm getting too old for too quickly!

When the American RnB singer eventually came on stage after making the crowd wait for nearly 45 minutes my ear drums nearly burst as close to 5000 girls began screaming at the top of their lungs!

I must admit that he's a good performer, has a great stage presence and interacts well with the audience although only one song seemed familiar to me.

I'm more of a rock fan but I can't say that I didn't enjoy the Trey Songz concert. What type of music do you enjoy? Would you pay to go to a Trey Songz concert?

Ard Varks Up The Anthem

Last night was the announcement of the South African Springbok team going to New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. There were no surprises in the line-up with Peter De Villiers choosing 18 players from the winning team from 2007!

South African social networks weren't discussing whether he made a good selection or not but they were abuzz with Ard Matthews messing up the South African National Anthem!

It seems he forgot the words to the anthem 3 lines in and he even giggled at one point! If you know you're going to sing the national anthem live on TV surely you need to learn the words first? Who hires these guys anyway? Do they not audition them first?

Matthews later apologized on Twitter and John Smit said that he accepted Ard's apology and likened it to playing a debut test!

Ard Matthews is a professional artist and has performed in front of large crowds before. The excuse that he had succumbed to nerves is unacceptable.

The organizers of these events should really screen performers that are going to sing the national anthem before they give them a microphone and put them in front of the nation.

Who do you think was worse? Ras Dumasani who murdered the anthem two years ago when SA faced France or Ard Matthews at last nights Springbok selections?

Harry's House

Whatever happened to Harry's House?

I grew up in the 80's and one of the most memorable things about growing up in that decade is the children's TV shows we watched when we were having our tea and peanut butter and jam sandwiches when we came home from school.

I know there are plenty of Facebook groups about 80's TV shows that list Thundercats, He-Man, Gummy Bears, The Polka Dot Door, Bravestar and many more but there is one TV show that I can't seem to find any information about no matter how hard I Google and that show is Harry's House!

I've tried other search engines like Yahoo, Excite and Alta Vista and all results are about some Harry Potter fanatics or Joni Mitchell's song of the same title.

Harry's House was a children's programme that featured a character in a dog costume with human hosts. It was very similar to The Polka Dot Door and Pumpkin Patch. I know the theme song started with "Harry's House, Harry's House, let's all go to Harry's House." That sounds really cheesy but that's as much as I can remember.

Do you remember this TV show? Was it a local production? How long did it run for?

Sani Pass Winter 2011

We were given two Land Rover Defenders for the weekend from Land Rover Durban and we decided to put them through the most grueling test. Sani Pass in the Drakensberg.



Sani Pass is one of the most treacherous roads Southern Africa has to offer 4X4 enthusiasts and what better way to experience it for the first time than in the "Best 4X4 By Far". The pass starts near Underberg and ends 2874m above sea level up in Lesotho. In the middle of winter it is not uncommon to find frozen waterfalls and ice on the road.

They say that you can see the remains of vehicles on the side of the mountain that failed to make it up. I didn't see any. What I did see were hikers, mountain bikers, a few Toyota Hiace taxis converted into 4X4's and the occasional mountain goat.



The Defenders we used were a two door short wheel base and a six seater long wheel base. I was counting my lucky stars we were in the short wheel base Defender as it is easier to maneuver around the almost vertical hairpin bends. The guys in the long wheel had a bit of difficulty with a greater turning circle.



On the top of the mountain we found the highest pub in Africa at the Lesotho border post. After stamping our entrance into Lesotho we went over to Top Chalet for a drink. They don't keep beers in the fridge because they're just as cold on the shelves! We opted for the hot chocolate to keep us warm. A favorite is Glühwein. A hot wine and spice drink.

We then took a drive further into Lesotho for about 10kms. To our delight we came across snow and being men who like to act like boys we promptly wrote our names in the snow the way only boys can!



The snow capped mountains in Lesotho are beautiful. But it's a wonder how the locals live in the highest country in the world in those extreme conditions. Coming back down we hit an ice patch around a bend that sent our Landy sliding sideways. Fortunately we had a very experienced driver and didn't end up down the side of the mountain.

I really felt like we were on a Top Gear expedition and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Would you dare go up Sani Pass? What would be your ultimate adventure?

WWE, Costumes and Cirque

What an awesome weekend!


On Friday night I had the privilege of watching the WWE Smackdown event at Durban's Westridge Park Tennis Stadium from the ringside. I am not a huge wrestling fan and don't know most of the wrestlers of today. When I was a fan there were the likes of Hulk Hogan, Diesel, The Ultimate Warrior and Ricky The Steamboat Dragon! The wrestlers we got to see at Westridge were The Big Show, Kane, Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Christian and a few others including SA's own Justin Gabriel!

Today's wrestling is filled with theatrics and rivalries but that's what makes it so entertaining. The spectacle was sold out and there were fans from the ages of 2 to 80 years old, all screaming from the top of their lungs for their favorite fighters! There was a kid behind me that was screaming so loud I'm lucky to still have my eardrums intact!

Although you can see that the fighting was faked or staged it was still impressive to see some of the moves these guys had to make. They are without question superb athletes, most of them in peak physical condition!


Saturday was Waewest's Superhero and Villains Costume Party. I hired a Batman costume from Troubadour Productions. I was afraid that it wouldn't fit but fortunately it was made out of lycra which is super stretchy! There were some stunning costumes, most of them made from scratch but still amazing! Some worth mentioning was the beautiful Poison Ivy(@waewest), Spidergirl(Christy), Batgirl(@wildchild2006), Psylocke(Jill), Lumo Boy(@Al_Dog7) and Superman(@AMG133)! There were many more costumes but I think Waewest won the best costume with her Poison Ivy outfit!


Last night I had the good fortune of being invited to Madame Zingara at Suncoast! Madame Zingara is a traveling circus and dinner theatre! Although it was freezing cold last night you are quickly intrigued by the magic that is Madame Zingara as soon as you enter the circus grounds. Strangely dressed characters greet you and there are stalls to gear up for the entertainment inside. Many bought feather boas and fun hats.

Inside the circus tent is where the magic really comes alive and a three course meal is served between the entertainment. People were awed by flying trapeze artists, a little dwarf, amazing contortionists and beautiful singers. The food was great but the entertainment was spectacular. A must see if you can get tickets as most nights are sold out!