Sunday Outing

Sunday was hot albeit a great day I had with Dawie. It ended a wee bit too soon. After a session of vigorous work out, Dawie suggested we head out to the mall. As we passed the parking lot, we noticed it was almost empty. As we walked in – all shops were closed except for the eateries. So he asked one of the security officers (or whatever you guys call it here) what time do the shops close on Sundays?

Her reply?

16:00 - 4pm.

Yes, shopping malls in Cape Town close at 4pm! Okay, maybe this particular mall but 4pm?!

Where do people go to shop for clothes, shoes, bags on Sundays?!

You guys are weird… (okay, okay… I don’t mean that).

I know for sure my girlfriends back home will not be able to live here! They’d probably cry finding out that shopping malls close before dinner is over.

Back home, shopping malls are opened till 22:00. It doesn’t matter whether the mall is packed or not, they pull down the shutters at 22:00.

The difference in closing time of malls over here and there in Kuala Lumpur, could be influenced by the lifestyles. In Kuala Lumpur (I can’t vouch for other states in my country as I was born and brought up in KL), weekends are mostly spent outside the house. We do have barbeque at home sometimes but most of the citizens prefer to spend time and money outside the comfort of their homes at malls or enclosed locations. One reason for doing so, we don’t need to clean up on the days we get to rest from 5 days of working like a dog (so to speak).

The only thing I like doing on weekends is to dine out or have coffee at Starbucks or Delicious. I avoid watching movies on weekends unless tickets are bought online and the seats are good. That is the only time you’ll see me at a mall for 2 – 3 hours. But other citizens.. oh my.. they can stay in the malls for hours and hours on ends! They eat, shop, watch movie(s), flirt and more the whole day!

Over here, I notice the locals like going out in the morning and by late noon they are home napping or something ‘smile’. That or braai-ing the whole day with family and friends. Even if they do go out the whole day, I presumed most of the day is spent outdoors which is a good thing if all you do the whole week is spend time in the office/home.

So after our very short visit to the mall, Dawie decided to go for something to eat. We heard so much about this seafood restaurant that serves All-You-Can-Eat seafood for R50 (that’s about +/-MYR25) in Strand. It’s sort of a typical thing for us – whenever we decide to try a new eatery, it’s either full or closed… so this time, it was closed.

Our next destination was Primi Piatti in Somerset West. I love pasta apart from sushi – that’s another type of food I can live off for the rest of my life! When you enter Primi Piatti, you’d notice the avant garde theme. It caters to the trendy yuppies, business people, and family and of course, the casual, laid-back guests. Primi Piatti is situated at the Vodacom Golf Village so while having something to eat or drink, you get to work on your golf swings.

When we arrived at Primi Piatti, I already know what I wanted – pasta, just not sure of the sauce. But after skimming through the menu, I almost changed my mind due to the extensive menu – so many dishes to pick from! The Pasta menu itself has got me confused; I finally decided to go for Carbonara. It’s an Italian classic with a twist of Primi’s version – bacon and pecorino cheese folded with an egg, a dash of cream and sprinkles of spring onions. As I do not eat bacon, I opt it out of the ingredients and replaced it with mushrooms. Carbonara is one of my favourite pasta – I’ve tried different Carbonara at numerous restaurants back home; Primi’s Carbonara is not one of the best I’ve tried. It is very light in terms of the cream sauce and it was under-seasoned. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable meal as my company was great.

Dawie chose a pasta called Recco – a curry-infused Napoletana flavoured with garlic and chilli, rounded off with cream and garnished with fresh coriander. I must say his choice was a really good one! It isn’t as spicy I would have liked it to be but for those who do not eat spicy food, this is a good choice as the level of spiciness/hotness is mild. With the ingredients mixed together – it was like an orgy in my mouth! It has a distinctive taste and we’d recommend it to those who want to try something new or different.

We finished off our meal with a Dom Pedro. I wondered about Dom Pedro – if it is served in KL but after a bit of research, I came to find out that it’s a South African thing. Dom Pedro is a mixed drink consists of ice cream and whisky. It’s sort of an adult milkshake and I love it!

Primi Piatti serves its pasta in either lite or full meal – for women who do not eat a lot, lite would be a good choice as the full meal is a huge portion. If I chose the full meal, I know I’d struggle to finish the pasta but don’t worry, Primi Piatti provides a take-away carton for you to eat the leftover the day after. If you have kids that love to help you out in the kitchen, your kids can make their own pizza with the chef in the kitchen – it’ll be an experience your kids won’t forget!

Pasta Recco - yummy!

Pasta Carbonara - simple but nice.