Hi everyone on HIVE and especially the Weekend Experiences Community. I am writing to you from Cape Town, South Africa. So, what did I get up to this weekend?
Last weekend we celebrated my baby daughter turning 1 year old, and we had a big party for her (and us!) that you can check out here: @jasperdick/weekend-experiences-my-baby-girl
So, this weekend we were all partied out! However, there was still a special occasion to celebrate! This Saturday 6 August was the 17th anniversary of the day my wife Julia and I met and fell in love. It’s quite strange to think we’ve been dating or married for nearly half our lives now! She was 19, and I had just turned 20, on that fateful day we met at a mutual friend’s party back in 2005!
We took our sweet time, just enjoying each other’s company, before we finally got married over 9 years later in September 2014… and then our first baby, little Madison, only showed up on the scene at the end of July 2021. Yup! We like to take it nice and slow! I sometimes tease Julia that at the rate we’re going, we might as well only have a second child in 2030 and retire in 2100!
So, we managed to get Aunty Helen to babysit little Madison and have an actual date night to celebrate for the first time in quite a while. We chose to drive South to the quite arty, hippie suburb of Muizenberg and go to Dimples Dumpling House for the first time.
This is a restaurant that specialises in serving dumplings and ramen noodle bowls. You can check the menu on their website here: https://dimplesdumplinghouse.co.za/
Parking in the narrow Muizenberg village streets is always fun as you have to ramp up onto the sidewalk but we managed to find a spot a stone’s throw from the restaurant, once the hipster taking photos of some interesting street art on an old fashioned camera got out of the way… (I wonder if he’s going to blog about it on HIVE?)
We eventually landed up having about 3 servings of dumplings along with some salty edamame beans! The dumplings were delicious, whether steamed or fried. I expected them to be slightly spicier – but I think in a town where there are many different cultures, and some people like spicy food a lot less than others, it makes sense to play it a bit safe! However, for people who do like a bit of spice, like myself and especially Julia, they provided a lovely chilli oil for dipping, as well as soy sauce!
Our third helping of dumplings – fried this time – and some lovely jasmine tea
We were quite happy with the food, and thought the décor was clean and charming… so where was everybody? Only two other tables were occupied! A cheer from a pub down the road reminded me that the all-important rugby match between South Africa and our arch-rivals New Zealand (we’re the only countries to have won the rugby world cup 3 times each) was currently happening! That explained why the restaurant was so empty – every self-respecting red-blooded man in town would be glued to a TV set, and there wasn’t one in here! HAHA. I actually enjoy watching the odd rugby match, and was happy to find out that we won unusually convincingly against New Zealand this time… shame!
This is how quiet it gets when you don’t have a TV playing the all-important rugby match! On a romantic date, that suited us fine! Notice that the light fixture is made from the bamboo pots used for steaming dumplings and wantons!
Eventually it was time to home. We opened the front door to hear a barrage of giggling, both from Aunty Helen and baby Madison. Apparently, Madison had just woken up from a long snooze and was now joining the cats inside a little baby-sized tent we had put up in our living room. The poor cats had been enjoying having it to themselves!
“Um… Excuse me Miss Fluffy Cat – I think Mom and Dad put up this tent with cushions for me?”
Baby then climbed into her toy box, which Aunty Helen thought was hysterical!
So… it was lovely to have a quick break from the baby to have a romantic date to remember the day we met. It was also lovely to come back to the little life we had created together, giggling away and playing and learning so quickly!
Madison was wired up though – it took her quite a while to fall asleep for the night! Thanks Aunty Helen! Hahaha!
THE END
