From orgasmic breakfasts to heavenly lunches

Visuals at the Durex breakfast

This last section of the year is always the busiest for everyone and the parties are back-to-back. You name it, I have covered it over the past six weeks, from wine and food to fashion to horses.

One of my most anticipated events was a breakfast put on by Durex to launch their new orgasmic gel for women, Play O. This is a vaso-dilator that increases female sexual pleasure intensely. I met a sexologist with the very unlikely name of Dr Elna McIntosh at the breakfast. Elna was a complete scream, if you will excuse the pun. Who would have thought that a sexologist's husband would run off, with of all things, a poppie from Kuruman? But he did. She has recovered, and found herself a seven-foot tall Nigerian underwear model called Yusef. She said she asked the universe for him and he arrived. She was an inspiration to us all. I am too bashful to report much on the gel on the blog and can say only this ... um ... it works ...

Then there was a heavenly lunch at the newly refurbished Cypriot Club near Eastgate. Nicolas Nicolau and his family bought the club and have turned it into a plush upmarket venue for the Cypriot/Hellenic community. There are crystal chandeliers, gorgeous wallpaper, three resident chefs, a huge landscaped garden, a bar with big screen TV for the men, a lovely ballroom area, a lamb on the spit area and a separate space for the children with cupcakes, toys, nannies, and the full catastrophe. No more plastic chairs!

The whole place was packed for the opening lunch and I sat with Nicolas's family inside. It was one of the best meals I have had all year. Cypriot specialities like pasticcio, chunks of tender lamb, green salads of finely chopped spinach and herbs, okra, crusty, crusty bread, taramasalata, fabulous herby potato chunks, roasted vegetables ... my goodness, it just went on and on. It was hard to restrain myself even if I was eating mostly vegs and fish! The dessert tables were mobbed before they were finished being decorated and we were swatted away like flies by a rather annoyed Nicolas. There was wonderful things in rosewater and glittery cupcakes with Father Christmas's face on them. Bowls of cherries, chunks of watermelon, mousses, lemon cheesecake, champagne jellies, things in shooter glasses on mirrors. Why, o why, don't "God's frozen people" (WASPs) eat like this?

Then there was Winex followed by the pantomime, Janice Honeyman's superb production of Pinocchio which was world-class. I attended the launch of 312, a high end couture store in Sandton City's new Legacy Corner



The window displays as part of the "reveal" at 12 Couture



Posey posse ... Danielle Franco, Jen Su and Carolyn Steyn at the 312 launch

and went to the opening of the new Hyde Park Southern Sun with its fantastic view over Joburg and great Italian food (remember Bice, owned worldwide by the delicious, sadly married Raffaele Ruggeri? Now everyone knows about it!).



The famous Raffaele with Suzanne Weil at Hyde Park Southern Sun

I went to the Mr Gay South Africa at the State Theatre (now, that was fun) and I hung out with friend Simon Rademan who composes the Worst and Best Dressed List in South Africa, the Christmas tree lighting in Hyde Park where all the shops stayed open till 9pm and we ate Haagen-Daz and had hand massages at Jo Malone. Then it was off to the Summer Cup at Turffontein where we sat out on the deck at the Furious Room and saw the gee-gees and the jockeys in their colourful silks up close. Why do all jockeys look like Benjamin Button (and not like Raffaele Ruggeri)? They seem to be born looking old and stuffed-looking, must be because they have zero body fat.

Then it was off to the Blubird food market where friend Robyn Higgins told me about the new Food Hall opening in Rivonia at the Codfather. All the marketers under one roof, kind of like the David Jones Food Emporium in Australia! Blubird did very well at the recent Good Food and Wine show and lemon lady Peta Hunter walked off with an award plus a mention in Eat In. Robyn was keen to place an ad for the market on my blog but I said she would have to wait for The Website to launch. I learnt a lot more about blogging after seeing great new movie Julie and Julia (wasnt Meryl Streep fantastic? A cross between Dame Edna Everage and Joan Plowright), and discovered that this blog is getting lots of hits!! Keep reading it folks! Lots more to come!