Soca in Moka 2010

Carnival officially started for me at Soca in Moka, which has been the case for the last few years since I have been doing the all inclusive scene. The fete was pretty nice. The price of the ticket increased to $500.00 from $475.00 the previous year. My instant observation about the event was that it was noticeably more crowded than the previous year. I would attribute this to the fact that last year Amnesia was held on the same day. Honestly I preferred the scanty version of the fete, but in the name of making money for the school it was better to be jam packed.

The styles and fashions were wide ranging. This is why I like to go to Moka, to get a sense of the styles being worn for the season. Essentially what I realized is that hoochy is always in style, so anything short tight and revealing will always look good. I did notice a lot of long dresses, skinny jeans, tights with shirt dresses and cute short dresses. People were looking good generally. What I realize is that there are many chubby women who look really good, and the reason they look is because they are confident. Confidence is a key factor to looking good. It helps you to stand proud and feel good about yourself. So for me this year thick chicks are in because they were looking great on Sunday. Then there was general eye candy. I do not know what it is about carnival but this is the time of the year to gape. The men were looking hot. If kidnapping was not an offence I would have taken home a few. I even saw some very hot women giving me competition but it’s all good. What I want to know is where are these people during the year, obviously they don’t live in Trinidad.

The entertainment for the fete was interesting. Jason the ‘palance’ man was host of the show. He and Blaze performed their hit for the season with Kes the Band. Their performance was great and needless to say the same for Kes and his team. Roy Cape however was annoying. Apparently Blacks has taken over the complaining about fight down from Destra. He had to tell everyone that he is off the market. Let me take the opportunity now to thank that lovely lady for that bit of community service and taking one for the team. Blacks needs to realize that the only persons fighting him down is his fat, out of breath self. Blacks’ hit song last year was performed by Kes in Girl Power and if that was Kes’ song it could have been road march. So if Blacks fight down the gym gets his breathing under control and performs the hell out of those wonderful songs he would see his way. This was his year to just relax and step out because Machel and Destra off the scene. Dil E Nadan also performed but I was not really paying attention because I walked in when they were on stage and I was observing the scene at the fete.

The food was nice as usual with curry crab and dumpling, creole, Chinese, and bake and shark. I personally think that fetes need to give the bake and shark a rest but that is me. The bars however were out of stock of a few things at one time. I would not really complain too much about this because as I said earlier the fete had a lot less people last year so I don’t know if they adjusted their catering.

All in all the fete was great and I will be going to the fete again next year. It was a great start to my season and I am looking forward to my next event. What are your thoughts on Soca in Moka 2010?

No More Illegal Immigrants in Prison

The government is doing some good work and I want to give them kudos for it. Finally in Trinidad and Tobago we can boast of having an Immigration Detention Centre. Previously persons who violated our immigration laws were held in prison like common criminals, when it should only be the ones who also violate criminal laws that should be held in prison. The Government had been under fire for some time because this is a faux pas. Immigration offenders are not criminals. In many instances they are simply persons running away from their depressed lives in one country and looking for better opportunities in another. They only thing they are guilty of is illegally entering the country and other Immigration type offences.

Thanks to the hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of government meeting in a few weeks this much needed facility has been opened, obviously because the government does not want the bad publicity that would have come as a result of the imprisoned illegal immigrants. Especially since a number of the persons held for immigration offences are from African commonwealth countries such as Ghana.

The government has come under a lot of criticism for the hosting of the Summit of Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, however with all things in life there would be good and there would be bad. The Immigration Detention Centre is a good thing and it is a legacy item that would be here to stay for some time. This would be one less thing for Trinidad and Tobago to be blacklisted for by international human rights organizations and NGOs. So I don’t care why or how we got it the important thing is that we got it and it is something to make us look good.

The Stress of being a Single Woman in Trinidad and Tobago

I had an interesting conversation with a young lady who is much younger than me. In general the conversation was about a goal she had for herself which was to get married and have children in the next two years. This is a twenty-three year old woman with her whole life ahead of her. She has a good job, she is educating herself, good looking, great bubbly personality. So why is she upset, worried or even depressed about the fact that she may not be married with children by twenty-five. The only thing I can think of is SOCIETY. Why is it that there is so much pressure on women especially to get married and squeeze out babies? This is a current reality. It is not something that existed in the past. Young women are being given subliminal messages about when they should start a family.

My advice to her was to relax and enjoy life. Live. Go out. Have fun. We do not know how long we would be here for and while it may be good to have goals, at times goals cause us to live in the future and neglect the present. Of course we should all have goals and a purpose in life. But we cannot be so caught up in achieving those goals that we end up missing out on living. I am living a good life and enjoying it. There are a lot of things that I want and don’t have and I am still living just fine. What happens and when it happens it happens. Many times we have a goal and we are so caught up that when we achieve the goal we cannot even remember why we want whatever it was.

A single person male or female should be enjoying every moment that they are single. It is a time given to you by God to prepare us for the rigors of living with a spouse and having children. Candia highlighted this exact point quite nicely in an interesting story on her blog.

I am single. I am happy. I have no children. I have no prospects to make any children with. But guess what? I am one happy bastard. So relax people. Take a breath. Live each day to the fullest because tomorrow is not ours for sure. Finally be conscious of the pressure that we put on each other to achieve and over achieve.

Can you afford to fete for Carnival 2010?

I love carnival. If it wasn’t for carnival there would be no need for me to have a regular job. I am very serious about that. So every year I go through my ritual of fetes. Starting with Soca in Moka and ending with Lara. Anything else could jump up in between. With the average cost of fetes last year being six hundred hard earned Trinidad and Tobago dollars, I am wondering if for 2010 I would just be going to the first and last with nothing in between because that is all I could afford.

Like every true carnival lover, I have a budget to work with and every year it seems as though the prices are increasing faster than I can increase my budget. I estimate that the cheapest all inclusive would be five hundred with the most expensive being God only knows. Realistically I would average seven hundred and fifty dollars per fete. That is just my estimate for budgeting. That being said, I am obviously going to the fetes naked, because that budget does not include clothes. In light of this I have come up with some interesting ways to make carnival all I want it to be and more.

The first is that there are a number of events going on for carnival. Even if all the money in the world was available we would still not be able to go to all the events. So as soon as the list is published on Boxing Day decide which events you would be attending. Also have an alternate list just in case the promoter of the event of your choice is a St. Ann’s outpatient and prices the fete so ridiculous, it leaves you wondering if it is quoted in Guyanese currency. Then most important get the tickets early. The earlier tickets are usually cheaper. Remember also that there are several types of events from tents, to children shows. Many of the children shows are considerably cheaper and the artiste put on a very good show. Just try to at least to take along a child so you would not look like a paedophile.

Secondly, choose your clothes wisely. As much as possible use clothes that you already have. This can be done by making slight alterations to clothing. Removing sleeves from a dress, or cutting a long dress short. Dye a white dress red or drastically change the accessories so that the dress looks different. This year for carnival I wore the same dress to three different events. I mixed and matched that dress to death. It is important to visualize how clothes could be mixed, matched or adjusted after the first wear, before purchasing to ensure maximum use. Don’t even think about people who may notice that you are mixing things up because people with talk regardless. At least at the end of the season you would have money in your pocket.

Finally, try to go to as many places for free. I am serious. Ask a friend if you can get tickets for their company event. The trick is to ask early to ensure that you really get it. You may not get free tickets to every single event but with my estimated average of seven hundred and fifty dollars per fete, free or discounted is the best way to go. 3Canal has a cheaper version of their show the week before it actually starts for about half the price. I think it is like a full dress rehearsal. I don’t know, I don’t question I just go. There are several others that are similar in nature.

Essentially I think the key to surviving carnival financially is planning. It is also important to network to get stuff for free or discounted and also to get first edition tickets. In all of this I have made no mention of costume, boots, or carnival Monday wear. That is a budget by itself. We have been doing this every year, do we will get through this one and many more to come.

What is your estimate for the cost of fetes for Carnival 2010? What tips do you have to help make that money stretch a little further for Carnival?

Rituals Coffee Passa Passa Style

Rituals coffee shop could have a thriving business with me alone buying from them. I usually don’t discriminate on which shop I go to because they are all supposed to be the same, even in Antigua. Anyway I have visited the shop on the western main road on two separate occasions and it was the worst service I have received in a long time from any business in the food service industry.

The first time I went in I was greeted by the sound of loud music blaring from one of our fabulous urban radio stations. My perception of rituals is a place to sip on your favourite cup of joe and relax. I guess I was wrong. If that was not bad enough there was a young lady dressed in casual street clothes behind the counter bending over and gyrating or dancing or whatever. Stupid me did not just leave immediately, instead I proceeded to go to the counter to place my order. The gyrating young lady simply steps to the side and continues her lewd movements in the corner in plain sight. The worker who is cashing and making the drinks unwillingly takes my order, all while singing the unedited version of the song playing on the radio. Remember Ms. Gyration still in the corner. So while the drinks are being prepared I take a seat. The radio station goes to commercial so Ms. Gyration comes out from behind the counter and plops herself on the couch and proceeds to have a discussion about where she is going later with the worker behind the counter. When I eventually collect my drinks I see another worker strolling from a room in the back looking like she just woke up and her pants are unzipped and her under pants showing. There were a couple of things wrong with the scenario. The first being I am yet to figure out whether or not Ms. Gyration was a worker, because she left right before me. Secondly why wasn’t Ms. Gyration wearing a hair net. Thirdly why was she dancing behind the counter, exciting as it may be Rituals Coffee Shop was not the most appropriate place for her to practice for her villa audition.

Stupid me again went back to the place. Yes I enjoy punishment. I walked in to the sound of a male worker shouting at a female worker (the same cashier from the last time) to come and do her job. He then proceeds to quarrel complaining that she is lazy and have him doing all the work. While this may have been a valid complaint I just was not interested in hearing it. He of course was not speaking to me, but he was annoying me all the same. Mind you Miss Lady’s response was that she is looking for an apartment and she has no time with that. After I paid for my drinks he tells me that she will fix me up and proceeds to sit and relax just like her. So I wait and she gets up at her leisure to prepare my drinks.
Of all the experiences I have had in Rituals that one was the worst. I am contemplating saving some money and reducing calories and not going there at all. But I love it so much. I know for sure I would not be going back to the one in St. James ever again. I think I have been scarred for life.

The Trinidad and Tobago Flag

Today’s Express Online has an article outlining the cost for the flag and pole at the Stadium. The first amusing part of the story is that the Honourable Gary Hunt finds support for the flag on Facebook. I have a problem right there, as I cannot tell you the last time I went on Facebook because I have been so busy of late. Therefore as Minster of Sport and Youth Affairs he should have no time to be on Facebook.

The cost of the flag and pole was approximately two million dollars. This is no problem to the Minister because he obviously has a stock pile of money somewhere so that is small money to him. My concern is the maintenance cost for the flag. I am probably very cheap but if it cost two million in the initial stage then I think it should not need anything for the next three years. It should just stand there tall and erect billowing in the wind. However the flag would need to be replaced approximately every six months at a cost of 18,112.15. Thankfully they bought three replacement flags (not included in the two million) so for the next two years no more money should be spent on this flag. I just thought though that if they bought four flags they could have gotten a discount or something. Then there is consideration that this flag being replaced every six months would cost approximately 724,486.00 over the next twenty years. I am not sure whether I agree it is worth it.

The next thing is that I am confused as to the significance of hoisting the flag at this time. These days I really don’t have time to follow these people. So I am not sure if it was revealed previously. I would have thought Independence Day would have been a better time.

As far as I am concerned the real scamp in this thing is Fire One. When Fire One erected their flag in Macoya I wondered why a private company would want to do something like that. I wanted to know what profit they would get from doing something like that. Now I realize it was a ploy to chain up the government to do the same thing and possibly produce returns on their original investment. So I understand now. But why didn’t Fire One as great corporate citizens offer to erect the flag in the stadim in the first place.

Finally I remember growing up I always saw security officers lowering the flag at 6:00 p.m. I realize now that when we have big flag it does not come down. Flag Etiquette: Rules and Regulations Governing the National Flag of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago states: The National Flag should not be flown after sunset, except inside a building. However, on important ceremonial occasions the Flag may be displayed in the open after sunset when it should be floodlit if possible.

What do you think about this flag issue?

The Machine Readable Passport

For some time now Trinbagonians have been making a mad dash to get the new machine readable passport. This was obviously based on an overzealous statement made in the Parliament by the Minister of National Security Senator Martin Joseph which announced that all citizens would be afforded the opportunity to obtain the new passport by December 2010. Now I think that a long standing man in the arena of politics should know his people better by now. We like new thing. So people hear that there is a new passport available and by 2010 everybody will have one. We Trinibagonians change that to you must have the passport by 2010. The information was not communicated to the public clearly by the officials. Once a passport has not reached its expiration date it is a valid travel document. It is that simple.

Currently there are more than Twenty six thousand (26,000) uncollected passports. Why we so? Obviously there are 26,000 people walking around comfortable with the fact that they clogged the system and applied for a national document that they had no use for. Mind you I am sure that there were other people who needed to travel urgently and could not be accommodated because the system could only process a certain amount of applications at a time. My passport has expired since November 2007 and exactly two years later I have made no serious attempt to obtain a new one. The main reason being, I have no money to go a damn place. Trinbagonians get on as though when they get a passport they automatically get a ticket to go somewhere. What many of us fail to realize here, is that there is a cost attached to storing those uncollected passports. Not to mention the obvious security risks involved. The next thing that is going to happen is that some innovative Trini working in the Immigration Division would realize that money could be made through some racket involving those passports. So please make an attempt to collect your passport as soon as possible.


What has been your experience with this change to the use of machine readable passports?

Criminal Deportees wreaking havoc in Trinidad and Tobago?

Criminal deportees have been a problem in the Caribbean for some time now. When the great US of A realized that a number of the persons committing crimes were non-US citizens they started to get rid of the persons by sending them right back from whence they came. Some of them would be sent back immediately, while other would be sent back after serving time in jail. The government of Trinidad and Tobago has in the past blamed the upsurge in crime on the influx of criminal deportees. I agree and disagree with this to some extent.

I agree with the theory that criminal deportees who are returned to Trinidad and Tobago do indeed contribute to the levels of crime and violence in the country. But I really think that a lot of times they are doing the only thing they know to survive. Many deportees left Trinidad and Tobago as young children with their parents. They have very little if not no memory of Trinidad and Tobago. While living in the United States they for whatever reason turn to a life of crime. Subsequent to which they get caught and are returned “home” a place they barely know. On reaching Trinidad they would be left in the airport with nothing. And when I say nothing I mean nothing. Not even toilet paper or identification. Imagine being sent to a country to live that you don’t even know, not knowing anyone and not even knowing the cardinal points to be able to move around. Obviously these people would do what they have learned and know best and that is to do whatever it takes to survive whether it be legal or illegal. I spoke to a deportee who told me that he felt like a child in a candy shop when he came back to Trinidad because things he used to do years ago as a teenager for fun Trinbagonian criminals were now doing to make serious money. Essentially he became a master and started a particular trend in T&T (So the man say eh). The government is not to be blamed solely for this because the deportees would be sent back without local law enforcement being notified so the persons could be monitored. In order for the notification to be made there needs to be a memorandum of understanding between the two countries. The sad thing is that we cannot do that. You feel if we had a US citizen in jail in Trinidad we could put him on a plane and send him back with no identification. The person would not even be able to clear immigration and customs.

On the other hand I do not think that the local criminals need influence from deportees to make “advances in criminal technology”. Essentially our law enforcement agencies are too caught up in bureaucracies that cause them to be slow to react to the ever changing environment. Plus these days the internet can be used for both good and bad. So while we law abiding citizens using Google to find school work or to impress our boss they using it to find ways to outsmart the police. Let us face it criminals are not stupid. Well most of them at least. They are just using their creative energy in the wrong way.

Recently the government, through the Ministry of Social Development introduced a procedure to meet deportees on arrival. The standard operating procedure is that a social worker from the Social Displacement Unit of the Ministry of Social Development would be at the airport to meet deportees. Upon which a social history assessment and a needs assessment would be conducted to determine the level of assistance required in order to reintegrate the deportee into society. Provision of initial accommodation is not usually a problem, as well as transportation to the accommodation site. However until the assessments are completed it cannot be said what would be provided to the deportees.

I am in no way trying to make excuses for deportees because some of them left Trinidad and Tobago as adults to go and make confusion in the people country and then get sent home and bring their nasty ways back with them. I applaud the effort of the government to implement something to deal with the deportees who return with nothing and no family to turn to. If this initiative prevents one deportee from resorting to crime to survive then for me it is a success. Do you really think that deportees have contributed significantly to crime in Trinidad and Tobago?

The Highway Car Park

For several hours per day highways in Trinidad become a car park, thousands of cars barely moving. I remember there was a time that I hated traffic. Not anymore. I have come to embrace traffic for one simple reason. On average my daily commute is FOUR hours. So I thought what can I do to stop alleviate the traffic. Not much. So I decided to just relax, because if I continued hating the traffic then I would be angry for at least four hours per day. That not making no sense. So woo saa. Although I may have come to terms with the fact that traffic has become a part of life I think that it may have debilitating effects on us as citizens that we may not immediately consider or take note of.

Traffic is physically unhealthy. Sitting in a vehicle for several hours per day could never be good for our health. I am no doctor but I know my body and I feel it, when I get out of the car all I want to do is spread out, get a good stretch. Additionally many of us leave home in the morning too early to have breakfast and then barely make it to work on time and rush to eat whatever we find and that may not be the best for our bodies. essentially don’t have a proper breakfast which is the most important meal of the day. Then there is the afternoon commute as many people are on the road until six or seven at night and would have eaten lunch sometime around midday, so we hungry so we have to indulge in the Highway Market.

Traffic could drive you to drink. How many times you get a call from a friend, “aye ah hear the traffic real bad let we go an lime nuh”. Several afternoons per week instead of going home we are in our favourite watering hole knocking back a few drinks. This may seem to be a fun going past time but it can quickly develop into a problem especially for those of us who have a history of alcoholism in our family. Not to mention the obvious fact which is the drinking is being done to kill time to drive home. Therefore drinking and driving, a deadly combination.

Traffic is not economical. Traffic encourages us to spend money that we did not intend to spend. How many people budget for their nuts, and drinks purchased on the highway on the day home. If this is a daily habit at a cost of ten dollars for the day for nuts and a beverage with an average of twenty working days for the month that is two hundred dollars. It may not seem like much until we look at the annual figure of two thousand four hundred dollars. Add to that the afternoons when we would go drinking and thanks to the budget that bill is even higher now. Then there are the phone calls that we make while driving. Many of us get on the phone to talk to friends and family as a distraction from the traffic. then at the end of the month your friendly mobile service provider buss your throat

Traffic has a negative impact on our social lives. Personally I am single partly because I spend four hours a day in traffic. Even if a see a cute guy driving alongside me I can’t flag him down because he probably vex he in traffic. Then when I reach home I too tired to go back out. On a more serious note though it limits the amount of time that families have to spend to spend together when they get home. When we get home it is a mad rush to do home work with children, feed pets, cook, put a load of clothes to wash, prepare for the next day. By the time we are finished doing that it is time to go to sleep. When are we supposed to relax? Probably while we are in the traffic!

While I think it is the responsibility of the government to provide proper infrastructure that would accommodate the amount of cars that they authorize to be on the roadway it is up to us as citizens both corporate and individuals to do our part to reduce the traffic. Look around at the cars in traffic new cars, old cars, luxury cars, economy cars, bling cars, vans trucks, big rims small rims and hub caps and most of them have ONE person in it. Today I did my part and carpooled with a friend. We Trinis too big for that because people will think you are a scrub if they see you in your friend’s car. More importantly how people will see the rims you pay twenty thousand dollars for if you leave you car at home.

Then there are the irresponsible corporate citizens who contribute to the traffic. Why should I be jostling a truck hauling a forty foot container on the road when I not wearing a costume and it not playing no music. Check how may of them are on the road in the morning or in the afternoon on the way home. Why don’t they haul those things in the night. Then the same container is going to stop on Frederick, Charlotte or Henry Streets to off load goods to create more traffic. Oh gosh better than that man. Then most companies in the Port of Spain area I am sure, and I could put my big head on a block for this, don’t need all their employees to be at their desk at eight o’clock. Flextime could be introduced so that all of us don’t have to make that mad rush to work for the same time then to all have to leave at the same time. There could also be decentralization of services both in the public service and in the private sector. How many companies really need to have an office in Port of Spain? Look through the telephone directory, how many companies are not providing a service that requires them to be in Port of Spain. I am no Real Estate agent but I am sure that companies could save a lot of money by moving out of the city.

I want to reiterate that traffic is our problem, created in part by us. Like many other things in society if we wait on the Government to fix it nothing will happen. I must credit the government though because attempts to fix the traffic problem have been made, widening the highways the over pass/interchange to south. However it just seems as though the number of cars on the road is increasing faster than the road expansion project. Hence the reason it is up to us to make the difference.

What have been the effects of traffic on your life? What are the ways in which you as an individual can help to reduce the traffic one step at a time? What has your employer done to deal with the traffic woes of employees?

Highway Market

Over the past few years I have noticed an upsurge in the number of highway vendors. I am referring here to the vendors who ply their trade on the highway walking between the lanes of traffic. I have also noticed a proliferation of the range of products being sold. The products available in the highway market include but are not limited to newspapers, some mosquito tennis rack thing, hats, steering wheel covers, chow, chive, pineapple, a variety of drinks, kites, seasonal items for Christmas, mother’s day and father’s day and finally the ever popular nuts.

I respect and admire these entrepreneurs because Lord knows they could have opted to be criminals instead of the hard working individuals that they are. However I think this industry has gone too far. First off it is dangerous both for the vendors and drivers. I say this because you know how we Trinis love to change lanes randomly. Add to that the occasional motorcycle or scooter and it is an accident waiting to happen. Secondly, it is annoying, Trinis want to stop on the highway to browse the wide array of selections, negotiate a discount all while the traffic flowing ahead of them. I don't even want to talk about the drivers who want to pay for a pack of nuts with a hundred dollar bill and expect to get change.

While I applaud the efforts of these individuals in their attempt to make an honest living, I really think this needs to be stopped. But as long as it continues to take people two hours to get home the market for drinks and nuts and other items would remain vibrant, because people just plain hungry. Until we solve the bigger problem of traffic this booming business would continue to expand. Do you shop at the Highway Market? If yes, What items do you purchase? If no, why not?