Hey, it's Phoebe
with Matt behind the camera.
And today we are in South Africa
exploring Johannesburg
and
known as Jozi, Joburg,
or the City of Gold.
It was first founded back in 1886
following the discovery of gold.
Now it is the largest city
in South Africa
and it has been designated
a mega city. That is how big it is.
And this is our very beautiful
and amazing guide, Sindi
and she's from a company called
Ahaaa Travel and Tours
She's going to be with us
throughout our whole stay here.
And today
we are starting things off
in Maboneng
and she's going to tell us
all about it.
Hi. Hi. Hi and welcome.
We are now at Maboneng
and this is the place
that started in 1998.
Where you get a lot of galleries,
a lot of artwork,
exposed restaurants, exotic foods.
We find it here.
So there is a fantastic market
that happens here in Maboneng
every Sunday
and that's what we were here
to do here to experience
and unfortunately
Sindi has told us for some reason
that is not happening today.
But if you are coming
and you can plan your visit
for a Sunday,
you definitely
want to head down here
and check out the market
if you can't just come around here
anyway.
There's so much great street
art around the place
and in case
you're wondering
what Maboneng means,
it means place of light.
Yeah, so this is the painting.
Dbongz is one of the
greatest artists
that we have around Johannesburg.
This is one of his best paintings
of a woman carrying a gun
and having a child on her back
and breastfeeding at the same time.
We have another huge one,
almost the same as this one
in Cape Town...
all done by Dbongz. So
Sundays in
the city, they're
a bit quiet
compared to your Monday to Friday,
Monday to Friday.
There's a lot of movement
there's a lot of trading.
You know,
there's just a lot happening
in the streets of Johannesburg.
Yeah,
the streets are packed
people, the street
vendors,
you know,
I'll tell you how you come to do
your shopping here.
You don't just come.
You don't put on your lipstick.
You don't even carry a purse.
Your money must be,
you know, our purse
especially ladies,
your purse is your breasts.
So when they saying it's 10...
OK, when they saying this, this,
this amounts to 20
and you are like
but I've got 10
so you must take out
the 10 not say
I've got 10 yet
you have the 20
and you expect
to get your 10 back no.
So you must line it
you know according
you must know that.
OK, here
it's my 10's
You look like
you've got a bit more space
for money than I do?
I don't have much space.
I'm not packing much.
Johannesburg was named after three
people, the burg
It was a word that was used by
the Dutch people that means city.
So hence now it's called Johannes...
burg it's Johannes city in a way.
Yeah.
You'll find
27 Boxes located here in Melville.
And as you can see
from the outside of it,
it is actually a whole
bunch of storage containers
all put together
and turned into this really cool
shopping complex.
Now it is a Sunday, so it is dead
and that is our job
to come here and check
what day is the best to come
so that you don't come here
on a quiet day.
You want to come Monday
through Saturday
and it's going to be a lot busier
than it is today. We are
in Soweto now.
The name
for Soweto
is an abbreviation
for the south western townships.
I remember
from our first visit
to Johannesburg,
it was the highlight of my trip
last time,
so I'm definitely excited
to see more of it
and a different side of it.
And one thing we didn't get to do
last time was go inside.
Nelson Mandela's house.
Today it is open, thank goodness.
So we are going to go inside,
take a little look
and hopefully learn a little bit
more about the history.
This is the former house of Mr.
Nelson Mandela
and the house where he lived
15 years
before he was taken to prison
and when he came back from prison,
also stayed in the very same house.
But for only 11 days,
this is the house again that holds
a lot of history.
You know,
we even have a tree
just next to me here that holds...
where all the umbilical cords
of the children
that were born and raised in
this house were buried.
So that's part
of the African culture.
And it's a house
that has so many memories,
especially during
the times of apartheid.
When Mr.
Mandela was still,
you know, a freedom fighter
fighting for what we have today
In one spot.
There's actually a bullet
still in the walls.
And you can see inside
the middle of the house
where they had to build
a wall inside the house
so that they could hide
behind the wall
and not get shot by the police.
And you can see
all the remnants
outside of the fire,
the charring
on the top of the building
from petrol bombing
it is unbelievable.
On a slightly more uplifting note.
Our guide was saying inside
that this is the only street
in the world with two Nobel Peace
Prize winners that's Incredible.
Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela.
Isn't that amazing.
And and just to add on that
you know, Mr.
Nelson Mandela during his passing,
he he later married Graca
Machel
who became the first lady twice.
She was firstly married
to a president of Mozambique,
and then later got married to Mr.
Nelson Mandela
so I always said that, you know,
she must always share the recipe
with us on how she does it.
You know,
being the first lady twice.
In Soweto
it is known
as one of the places
where you get the best buffet lunch
you can eat
so the buffet lunch
as early as 11:00 in the morning
until late about 12:00 at midnight
yeah Awedome,
now I am told by very good authority
that this is authentic
South African cuisine.
I've not...
like I said,
this is the second visit.
I have a chance to try this food.
Before this is...
I mean, obviously
I've had rice in my life,
but I've not had this kind of stuff.
So I'm excited to try everything.
And if you're wondering,
can I come here?
Is it can be OK if I don't eat meat?
Absolutely.
They're going to think
you're going to starve
because they want to
see you eat some meat? But
you will have plenty of options.
Trust me, so,
most of this I have not tried before
Let's just dig in
and try everything
Now, these are different
kinds of maize
with different things.
This is the plain one?
Yes that is the maize
And it's a very chewy consistency,
very solid.
We call that _____ oh
that's amazing with the red,
the red sauce and this one's got...
pumpkin?
It's made
of rice and pumpkin together
Oh yeah that's good
Sindi's like, Yeah, I know
This one's got....
That's is corn in brown beans.
that's good too!
And this one's
like a butternut squash
That one's really good.
It's all good!
For accommodation
here in Johannesburg.
We are staying at Hallmark House,
where industrial meets modern chic.
And this place is fantastic.
Now, it's located
very close to the Johannesburg CBD
and it is awesome.
Our room is so big,
that bathroom
and the bedroom are fantastic.
There's just plenty of space.
And what I love about this place
is this massive deck
with awesome views.
Now you can also catch great views
from the rooftop bar
and they have a barber.
What a cool spot.
It is time for dinner.
And this evening,
our amazing guide
has brought us here
to a town called Sandton.
And now, Sandton
it is known
as the richest square mile
in the African continent,
we've officially arrived, guys.
We've made it!
We're fancy,
and we're
going to be having a dinner
at a place called Saint.
It's a Sunday.
And they are known for this
saintly Sunday.
Let's go check it out.
So when we arrived,
we walked through an area at Saint
where there.
Was like a bar
and lots of music
and lots of people drinking.
And I was so intimidated
because everyone was so beautiful
It was walking into a movie set.
I've never walked into a bar
like that before in my life.
It was insane
how gorgeous everyone was.
Thankfully that was like
the young people area
and out here is like the geriatric
senior centre
lumber support,
sit down, have a meal area.
This is my vibe.
This is the great food spot
for people in their thirties
now the menu here is sensational.
Lots of great stuff
from the grill, lots of pasta,
all things like that.
I've gone for the wood fired prawns
which is
one of their signature dishes.
Matt's gone for a great pasta.
He's also gone for a pizza.
We've got a chicken
peri peri pasta over here
Everything looks amazing and
I'm going to dig in
and try one of these prawns
because my mouth is watering
That prawn is perfect
Good morning, my loves and yebo
that's Zulu.
And it's a very positive.
Like a yes, like a hey.
Yes.
Feeling a vibe
and I'm obesssed with saying yebo
the girls have taught me
and it's just the best thing to say.
Ever.
I don't know, just get into it.
They say
even when dancing,
they're like, yebo, yebo
and I'm, I'm really into it.
So this morning
we just starting off
with a little bit of shopping.
I wanted to go some way to like
check out some local arts and crafts
maybe and like
get a few souvenirs for my mom.
And we've come here to Rosebank
and we are there
Rosebank Arts and Crafts Market.
Now, I did see
they actually have a Sunday
market as well,
which would be worth checking out
if you're here in the Sunday
and if you are here on a Saturday,
you also want to check out
something called the Playground.
It used to be called the
Neighbourgoods market.
That's in Braamfontein
I think, and it's on the Saturday
and it's awesome as well.
Really great
food, live music,
lots of cool arts
and crafts as well.
But for now, we're going to
I got some great
souvenirs and gifts for my family,
and now it is time for lunch.
So we are hanging out in Rosebank
still and we're going to a place
called Lexi's
and it is entirely plant based,
which I didn't know
you could do that in South Africa,
they love their meat,
but apparently there are a few
all plant based places.
So, you know, I'm excited.
Let's go and eat.
I'm getting ready
for my unknown burger
Sindi's mortified
with the all-plant based menu
to ease the pain
she's ordered
a brownie
and ice cream
first in an absolute power move
I'm going to try something
that looks unreal Lovely
and it's nicely salted.
So this is vegan.
Do you like it? Yeah.
oh that's really really good
Oh Buddha bowl that's
me Oh
this is nice, that i'm not sure
I got the glow bowl
which is sweet potato.
Interestingly,
the sweet potato
here is sort of yellow ours
at home is orange.
It's got like a tahini
dressing, lots of roast
veggies, chickpeas,
cauliflower, avocado,
spinach, carrots.
It looks amazing.
She's wishing
she'd order this instead of
Let's give it a try.
It looks really good.
Ms.
The sweet potato here is better.
It's really good, right?
This afternoon,
and we are back in Soweto,
and we are i'm
sure you can hear
the music behind me.
This is a happening joint
we are a a shebeen,
which is a local.
Bar or local watering hole.
This is in Mzala Tavern.
Our guides have brought this here.
They know the owners
They know everybody here.
Its a really.
Cool vibe Bunny Chow.
Yeah, Bunny mince and mash.
Archer and cheese.
Archer is the mango.
Yeah, this.
chutney yeah Can I smell.
It? It can't get even.
Taste, isn't it? Yeah.
Very, very nice.
Oh, that smells good.
Yeah.
This is like a mango chutney
they were telling me
about the other day.
you can even taste.
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah.
spicy!
again that's not explaining it.
Because
whatever happens,
here, stays here
I want to be a doctor!
So if you come to Soweto
on a Monday,
the thing to do is Mogodu
Mondays, so I get it right.
Yes.
Now, the basic concept is around
taking maybe cuts of meat
that are like....
not the most desirable
and turning them
into something desirable.
And we've come to
an amazing local bar
and Sindi's
going to tell us everything
that we're looking at
because we've got
a bit of everything to try.
We have the tribe,
and then right here we have the
cow heels,
and then here we have
the chicken feet
the chicken neck
and the gizzards Yes.
And then we have the heart
body chicken.
Here we have the pork trotter
and the lamb
trotter I'm truly horrified.
There's no way to describe it.
This is the perfect time
to be
a vegan slash plant
eater, plant slash seafood eater.
But I tell you what, there is stuff
I can eat so let's
try something I can eat Yeah, sure.
I'll try the...
this one. I can eat this. Yeah, OK.
This is good.
And the acher you can eat
Yeah, the archer I can eat
That's nice
Try and choose the biggest piece
That's good
Yeah the steamed bread
is my new obsession.
Oh, my God.
He's doing it.
Just a little bit of it.
I'm mortified
It's good!
Yes, it's really good
Now, two things
I wanted to add
about our accommodation
here at Hallmark House.
We have loved our stay
it has been awesome,
and I think the hotel is so cool.
They have an amazing
rooftop bar as well.
It does play really loud music,
which we can hear
from inside our room.
It hasn't bothered me
or Matt at all.
I know it would bother
my mom though, so
just letting you know
so you can factor that in
if loud music
like that might be an issue for you.
The hotel's also located
in the downtown area
which isn't the most beautiful area,
I would say
iand it's not somewhere
I would go out
walking around at night,
that kind of thing.
So just keep that in mind.
If you're after a hotel
in a really beautiful spot,
maybe this isn't
quite the location for you,
but if you're after a really funky,
cool, beautiful hotel
with an awesome
jazz club, great food,
awesome artwork, rooftop bar,
a really great vibe.
This is definitely the spot.
I have loved it
and I would stay here again.
Now, I have told you this before,
but this is our second visit
to Johannesburg.
The first time we visited,
I was terrified.
I heard a lot of stories, you know,
about safety and things like that.
I was really scared
and we didn't have an issue at all.
Our first visit,
we did have a guide with us.
You should definitely go
and watch that video
because we did
a lot of different things
to what we have in this video.
It's a very different perspective,
especially on Soweto
All I can do with you guys is share
my personal experience both time.
I've come to Johannesburg,
I've had a fantastic time.
I've had no safety
issues whatsoever,
and I believe that's
because I've had a guide
and a driver with me.
The whole time.
I've listened to them and done
whatever they've said,
and I haven't gone out
walking on my own
or anything like that.
So just something to keep in mind.
My experience has been a positive
one both times,
that's all I can share.
And with that, you guys, that brings
this week's episode to a close.
I really hope you have enjoyed it.
Now, if you don't already,
be sure to subscribe right now
so you never miss a single episode
and say hello in the comments below.
I hope you have the most amazing
weekend ahead
and I will see you
with a brand new episode next week.
Love ya!