For a quick run through, I had paid to get what are essentially Premium Economy seats for the 11-hour journey, about $175. I got a text soon after I checked in that due to an aircraft change my seat had radically chagned - still to an aisle seat but now towards the back of the plane. Panicking, I had no less than four different Turkish Airlines agents check the system, reassuring me every time that I am still in my assigned seat of 09D. Of course, what they neglected to tell me is that there was an aircraft change, and on this version of Turkish Airlines's A350-900, 09D is the first row aisle seat in economy (not in Premium Economy).
Some may see this still as a win, and the extra legroom was appreciated to help me sleep, but what wasn't great is the seat was no wider or better than normal economy. Also because it was first row I was reprimanded into keeping the video screen down for take-off and landing. Then for whatever reason my video screen had a weird "sleep mode" type setting on where it would go off every 20 min or so. Again, no idea why. The food, service adn flight as a whole was fine, and had I not paid to get into a premium economy seat, I wouldn't have cared about any of this, but it was a bit of a misdirection.
Not a misdirection is Cape Town man. 30 minutes after landing I was awaiting my Uber - immigration and baggage claim was a breeze. Because of this, I almost reached too early to my AirBNB - about two buildings further up the same road that I stayed with my parents last year. This whole start of the trip is giving me a hint of nostalgia for that one. Even if most of my activites on Day-1 (especially post dinner) would be things I would have done solo last year, it's a change being here alone again.
My first stop was to Woolworth's grocery to pick up some puffs to have throughout the weekend - probably needing to go back again since their volume was a bit limited today. Then was a trip to my favorite craft beer spot in tity, Ukharba Brewworks, which is on the far end of the Waterfront area. It was a nice first stop, though I will say this particular part of the Waterfront - a large building called Maker's Landing, which is a portion if the cruise terminal, really hasn't further developed in the last two years.
On the other hand, the Waterfront continues to change, for both better and worse. The better is that it is just a whole lot cleaner - if anything the city as a whole seemed that way, a nice sign of continuous improvement over the 11 years of me coming here. The worse is, and not surprisingly, things get increasingly corporatized. The biggest version of this is the now opened Time Out Market, in what used to be the V&A Food Hall. The general sense is the same - a bunch of stalls selling various types of food, with a couple bars - but now it has the overly tidy set-up of the Time Out Market. This isn't a terrible thing - the Time Out Market in Lisbon is excellent, but it does seem a bit too sterile.
Before this though I had done one new activity - in going to the MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), with is housed in a beautiful old silo tower near the Waterfront. It's a building I've walked by countless times without ever stepping foot inside. The building is six floors, though the top is just a terrace with some amazing views. Every other floor has 1-2 exhibits. Frankly, some of them while pretty and captivsting were a little too "modern" for me, a couple being more video art than actual paintings. The ones that were more traditional modern art (oxymoron very much intended) were more my scene, and all in all it was a worthy pit stop and one of the few out and out new things I will be doing on this trip to the Cape.
The constant in the Waterfront though is the views. Those endless different angles of Table Mountain, with Lion's Head and Signal Hill aside it. On a cloudless day like this, with an almost hilariously clear blue background, there may not be a more stunning view in the entire world. In my one walk traipsing aroudn the Waterfront to Cause Effect (of course), I took probably 40 photos of Table Mountain, with teh city in teh foreground. They're at different angles in theory, but showing the same thing, but I tell you adn trust me, there are not ever too many angles of this incredible sight. The rest of the Waterfront remained fairly unchanged, with the Watershed as interesting to walk around as ever.
Cause Effect hadn't changed too much other than having a new style of menu, which I think they've done basically every time I've come here. This time it is under a label of "Bar Terroir" - a menu easy enough to steal back home, which I don't think I had done for one of their menus previously. I tried a couple new cocktails, the more interesting of the two was gin based with fermented shitake mushroom and sisho paste, both liquefied for something funky and great.
Dinner was at Miller's Thumb, the place that has somehow kept its reputation for years, if not actually now decades. Same Mom (front of house) and Pop (chef) run joint, with its humorously garish orange and green painted walls that stick out like a sore thumb. Same menu concept. Why change if it works so well year after year. For a starter, I got calamari "moroccan" style, which was really nice - for calamari they usually serve just the tubes which is an interesting twist. For the main, I got geelbek "Cape Malay" style, which was excellent. Again, this place knows its game. Your presented with a giant butterflied filet of the fish, covered in cape malay chili sauce, with a side of flash grilled veggies. No fuss, no bells and whistles, just great taste.
My post dinner adventures first started with a walk down Kloof Street which turns into Long Street. As I've written about a few times, my days of running up and down Long Street have definitely passed me - partly age but also partly it leans way more into hip hop. Kloof Street has built up a lot, more with social bars and cocktail spots, none all that well reputed but all packed. My goal was House of Machines which is off of Long Street a few blocks after the crazy part. House of Machines had a DJ spinning interest stuff, and a great collection of all types of people - from bikers to tourists, to a bachelorette party that stopped by for a bit. Just a great way to time waste and have a couple barrel aged cocktails (their specialty). This was to get me to midnight, which was my planned time to head over to Modular.
In the end I probably should've given myself a bit more time at House of Machines, as Modular was shockingly nigh empty at 12:15. Thursday is a quieter night than Friday and Saturday (which is a madhouse, usually), but still usually busier than this. I perservered though, and by the time I left aroudn 2:45, it was busier than I'd seen it on previous Thursday's - just a great time all around. Cheap drinks that are poured fast and well, good DJs, great air conditioning and ventiliation, a great crowd as always. They put stickers on the cameras on the phones to enforce a no picture policy and while I'm sure there are times I would love to take a video, I think that policy jus sets a great energy and mindset for the place.
Before I wrap, I do want to hit on two related point on Cape Town nightlife. First to continue the theme of the ruination of Long Street, one of my old haunts used to be Dubliners, an Irish Pub that usually had live music in the nights. I memorably had one of my favorite nights in Cape Town ever there on teh last night of my 2020 trip, being one of the few places that stayed open late on a Sunday. By 2022 and 2023, it was still open but turned hip hop heavy. Now, it has turned over into "TAO Cape Town" - unclear if connected to the TAO group, but I would think not since a peek inside made it seem the same interior decor.
The second one was even more annoying. During that same 2020 trip, there used to be another techno/EDM option in that area named Reset. It was a two-level space with heavier stuff downstairs and lighter upstairs. It was a great spot, from my memory preferable to Modular today. The space that it was in laid empty in my trips in 2022 and 2023 (it closed during Covid). Now, it's been reopened as a place called HALO - which in theory is advertised as a similar spot, but from a peek inside seem more like a velvet rope club, or at least a space pretending to be one. Not a fan at all. Glad for me Modular still exists and even if it took an hour to calm my initial fears, it remained a great spot to close down a night.
