By Florence Modikwe

Heritage Day, celebrated on the 24^th of September is one of my favourite holidays on our national calendar. This is mainly because of two reasons; one, this if the only chance you get to see people wearing their traditional clothes and to sample African delicacies at shops. Two, I feel a strong obligation to honour this day with a braai. This perfectly explains why the clothes I was wearing yesterday smell of smoke as if I was basking in a tiny smoke cubicle. 

 

Okay, this is how I spent my holiday. Earlier in the week a close friend of mine invited me to her house for a braai, and pushed by my strong passion for meat and wors, I gleefully accepted the invite like a small child invited to sample sweets at a shop. It would also be nice to catch up with some of the friends I had not seen in a while, which always induces mild strokes as a result of laughing too much.

 

So off I went to Auckland Park with my Chakalaka – this is a salad I had offered to make. Chakalaka is a popular dish found in many social gatherings, especially where there is braai meat involved. It is made up of ingredients including carrots, beans and onions. People who are familiar with the dish know that it has only one distinct characteristic, it has to be HOT!! However, due to my miscalculations, the salad turned out to be extremely mild, even a seven year old child would have enjoyed it without fighting off a runny nose. But obviously it failed to have the desired effect. My friends seemed to enjoy it though. I don’t know if they were trying to save me from my disappointment or if they were really genuine.

 

Apart from my mild chakalala, the menu was very light and uncomplicated. Other dishes included cole slow and greek salad. Of course the delicacies of honour in our plates were wors, turkey and beef. That was washed down with juice for some while others indulged in soco lime.

 

After the meal my two friends and I headed to a club in Braamfotein called Bliss Corner. The name perfectly describes the club. It is situated on corner Jorrisen and Biccard streets. The Bliss Corner is written in blue so it is very hard to pass it. The club is not your up market Taboo type of club in Sandton but it does hold its own. It is not too big but fortunately it is not too small so there is space to move around, dance as you please and mingle with people.

 

The bartenders are very friendly but the DJs were the best. Apart from making us leave the club way past our bed time because their hot tracks they kept us glued on the dance floor, they gave us free dancing lessons. DJ Manyisa and DJ Tshepo really know how to get girls to get down.

 

We left the club later than anticipated and as expected, I woke up with a throbbing headache. I am not complaining though, it was a great Heritage Day Special. I hope yours was as memorable as mine.