IGNANT Hashtag - Colour Coding

iGNANT are a multidisciplinary online magazine that feature art, design, travel and architecture in the most tasteful way possible, they also just happen to be " Berlin Based" as well. I recently started  following them on Instagram due to their content brightening up my feed every so often, when I came across something they title as their weekly Hashtag projects. Iv never quite been one to enter Instagram competitions, but this one really got me inspired. Withing minutes of reading the brief, I grabbed my camera and went scouring the streets of Berlin , looking at each color that passed me by in a more artistic and "color coded" way. I must admit, I became quite obsessed after a day or two and even had my boyfriend submit some of my images on his account, needless to say neither of us won or were 1 of the 10 of the featured submissions.

Grapefruit & Yogurt loaf

Since my last attempt at baking in our gas oven went dismally to say the least, I haven't exactly been too eager to face any more failed baking attempts . Instead, I'v been indulging in Graeffestrasse's  Kaffee Bar's drool worthy cakes and sweet loaves and even though I haven't tried their Grapefruit Yoghurt loaf, it inspired me all the more to bake one myself. The recipe is adapted from A Cozy Kitchen's , of which I had no choice but to adapt since they didn't use a gas oven. Never had I thought I'd be hoping for a new convection oven for my Burthday, but its seems now's a good a time as any to make that wishlist.

Grapefruit & Yogurt loaf Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all­ purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole­milk yogurt
1 cups white granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated grapefruit zest (1 grapefruit)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice (1­-2 grapefruits)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons reserved cake syrup

Directions
1. Turn on gas oven to level 7. Grease an 20 x 12 cm loaf pan. Line the bottom with baking paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs and grapefruit zest. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about an 45 mins to an hour or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
3. Meanwhile, to a small saucepan, add grapefruit juice, sugar, a splash or two of water and the thyme. Cook until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside so the thyme can steep, about 30 minutes. Strain and set aside.
4. To make the glaze, add two tablespoons of the grapefruit/thyme syrup to a bowl. Sift in the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.
5. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Using a skewer, pierce a few holes into the cake's top. Pour the grapefruit syrup on the cake and allow it soak in. Let the cake cool to room temperature.
6. Pour the glaze over the cake and grate Grapefruit zest

Fuck Winter, it's time for spring

What has felt like the longest winter ever, I couldn't be happier that the sun is shining more regularly, the days are becoming longer and most importantly of all, the temperature is gradually becoming warmer. February and March have been incredibly busy months, with a lot of inspiration and opportunities. Working two jobs , as exhausting as it is, is the most fulfilling thing I could wish for regardless of the fact that I have not uttered the words "free time " in quite a while.

The slow start to spring has also brought an abundance of new friends and faces, and I am finally starting to feel like this is home. Speaking of home, ours has becoming an absolute overgrown jungle of plants and flowers celebrating our newly found freedom from winter.

The sweet life (well...sort of)

Despite having the day off and the well deserved opportunity to sleep in, I awoke to an inflamed throat, deep chesty cough and a sniffly snotty nose. My appointment to exchange my South African drivers licence didn't go to well either, since I lost my original licence and tried to explain my way out of it with poorly spoken and half broken German. This is not the first time it has happened and I am starting to doubt whether the Universe even wants me to be in possession of having one, be it a German or South African one. Having walked out of the offices in low spirits and still without a licence, I decided to treat myself to a visit to the doctor  (not very often you hear that). What I thought would be a 30 min wait and consultation, turned into almost 2 hours, with the doctors recommendation of "some throat sweets". I hadn't waited all that time just for someone with some silly medical degree to tell me some herbal sweets would do the trick, when hard influenza drugs and antibiotics is what I really wanted

Another door was walked out of that morning with my spirits lower than ever. If all I needed were some throat sweets, then that's exactly what I would get (well sort of anyways).

I stopped by Herr Nilsson's Scandinavian candy store in Stargarder Strasse for my so called doctors prescription of vanilla fudge pieces and chocolate covered almonds and Brazilian nuts. A cosy traditional like candy store where you fill up your own brown paper bag with sweets without limitation, I however managed to control my temptations and only purchased a bag totaling 1 Euro 40 ( to my surprise too). I nibbled on a few pieces on the way home and snapped some photos of my proud purchase whilst the sun was still peeking in the late afternoon.

I may not be completely cured of influenza, but I sure did cure my sweet tooth cravings.

Frolicking like a five year old

Having tried to write a few failed sentences and half put together words about snow falling, and how beautiful it was ( can somone say cheesy!), Nobody really cares about my words, and with reason since the images are just so much more! I should however highlight that the title of this post does actually reference me back to Saturday night where I had experienced snow falling for the first time and may also have  had  a few glasses of wine in me too. This entire experience that night however did not make the taste of Fabrizio's 1 euro noodle box taste anything remotely like noodles (mostly just noodles doused in soy sauce)

South African Snapshots- Part One

Having lived overseas for just over a year and a half, returning back to South Africa and seeing everything for the first time was like I was on some serious psychedelic drug. I suppose it really put the saying "being high on life"to a whole new level.

The most overwhelming feeling was in actual fact the sense of space that surrounded me everywhere. On first waking into my parents living room (which is not big, but most certainly double the size of our apartment), the closest description I can come to is that of being in a museum hall. I suppose the fact that the space I had lived in and been surrounded by on an almost daily basis whilst growing up felt strange by seeing it "for the first time"again. Needles to say, I threw myself onto my old bed with the linen smelling just like home and with fond memories.

On one of the first few days of being back, I casually went to Pick n' Pay, a South African Supermarket, to buy some essentials. I felt completely gobsmacked by all the food options and variety of absolutely everything! I became so used to shopping at  The Netherlands's Albert Heijn and Berlin's Netto, where there is literally just one brand of each item. I must have looked like a tourist with all the snapping away I was doing with my camera and small notes made in my sketchbook. When paying for all my items at the cashier, I felt  absolutely spoiled when a lady (Spongile) personally came and bagged my things. If you may not already know, here in Europe, you have to bag your own things at such a fast pace due to the 'production line' of customers behind you. I was quite traumatized by this experience in the first few months of living in Europe, but realized that all along I was quite spoilt with the service I had in S.A 

What I anticipated most about being in South Africa was going back to Johannesburg and seeing the city I fell so deeply in love with whilst studying there. I never in my life though I would be so overjoyed at seeing Taxi's clog up the city's CBD and hearing their never ending honking. On one occasion, I quickly snapped a photograph of a taxi whilst at a robot (what we call a traffic light in South Africa). The light turned green before I managed to finish taking the photograph, but the starstruck taxi driver  stood still and waited for me to finish taking the picture before driving off. 

The overall energy of South Africa is truly something I cannot explain. Perhaps it's just what I have ever known growing up, or maybe I just love that damn place so much, despite all of it's flaws. One such flaw is a serious lack of funding towards public museums and culture. I visited the Johannesburg Art Gallery ( JAG), to view an installation by renowned South African Artist William Kentridge. The building itself was in absolute deterioration, and not a soul around to view ay of the incredible works despite the museum being free of charge. I realized as we drove out of the museum parking lot and out into the crowded, chaotic and rubbish piled streets of the CBD and Hillbrow, that there are far bigger problems to take care of. If you are ever in need of a reality check, thats most certainly the place to go to.

Johannesburg Arts Galery, Pick n' Pay, Fort Klapperkop, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Maboneng Precinct, Protea (South African National Flower), Braamfontein, Voortrekker Monument, Juta Street, Askari Game Lodge

Back to Berlin

After two glorious weeks back in my home country of South Africa, the time has come for me to return back "home". What an incredible experience it's been coming back here with a fresh set of eyes and a whole new perspective of the world. I met some incredible people during my time here, and also re-kindled old friendships that felt like I had seen just yesterday. I can't wait to share all the photography and video shots I took with the rest of Berlin, and further intrigue everyone about my Beautiful South Africa

Unplanned Italy

As I run all the photographic memories of this beautiful and history rich country through my head, I am tempted to leave you with nothing more than these images. Of course, I was lucky enough in that I had the best guide, and seeing the city by scooter. Apart from all the ice cream and espressos that we consumed, another one of our guilty pleasures was going around on the scooter and letting the fresh breeze from the ride cool us off. Every single street of the city has a story to tell, and I struggled to put my camera down (even taking a few sneaky shots whilst on the back of the scooter)

From Rome we took a bus to Siena  where we stayed for three days and ate like kings. It was here that I got the first few glimpses of all the rolling hills of the Tuscan region and the ever so beautiful Piazza del Campo. We road tripped to the coastal town of Santo Stefano, and swam in clear blue sea's on Giglio Island. Not a single part of our trip was planned, and  in true adventurous style much of our accommodation along the coast entailed last minute camping with all of a tent and mattress.

As we literally ate away our 'budget' and the camping got the better of us, we headed to the mountain regions of Mount Amiata and his hometown of Abbadia San Salvatore. We were treated to true Italian home cooked meals, and exploring more of what Tuscany had to offer. Most of the time I had my head stuck out of the window and my mouth wide open in awe. The entire region, and I mean absolutely all of it, is like a beautiful painting.

Borneo-Sporenburg

Now that my 'stint' in Holland is very close to its due date, there was still one last thing in Amsterdam I had my heart on seeing. Before I had left South Africa, I was reading 'False Flat: Why Dutch Design is so Good’. A good chunk of one of the books chapter was dedicated to Borneo-Sporenburg, a new take on traditional Dutch canal housing designed by West8 Architects. I had set aside some time in my day to see it, and actually had some trouble locating the dock itself. Turns out, I was pretty much in front of it, I just had to lower my expectations in reality from the perfectly cropped images I had seen in the design books and blogs.

‘Two peninsulas in the eastern part of the Amsterdam docks, were to be exploited for water-related activities, as well as2500 low-rise dwelling units, with a density of 100 units per hectare. For anew interpretation of the traditional Dutch canal house, West 8 suggested new types of three-storey, ground-accessed houses deviating from the usual terraced house in being strongly oriented to the private realm by incorporating patio sand roof gardens. By repeating this type in a great variety of dwelling modes and with maximum architectural variation, an animated street elevation emerges with a focus on the individual. At a larger scale, a delicately balanced relationship exists between the repetition of the individual dwellings, the roof scape and the great scale of the docks. Three immense sculptural blocks take their place as landmarks in the vast expanse of houses.’-West8 Architects