Fashion Over Cash...

Packed parking lot and crowded sidewalks at The Village Plaza on FNOJa

... Or is it cash over fashion? Well whichever it was, people were certainly out in their numbers for the Jamaica Observer's Fashion Night Out Jamaica (FNOJa) on the eve of September 10, 2010! The Constant Spring shopping area was a buzz with eager crowds pacing the floors of the stores and sidewalks of the shopping plazas. Traffic was thick, and parking was only a figment of the imaginations of drivers who arrived after 6:00pm! It seemed as if the entire Kingston metropolitan area descended on the shopping strip.

Customers inside Jewelry Collection Twin Gates Plaze

A very packed Ammar's Village & Mall Plazas

From all indications FNOJa as a great success for the stores who participated in this event as all stores were seeing more than their regular customer count. This was even more evident with stores like Collectibles and Xtras, which had to be letting in customers on a phased basis, customers who were already in endless lines at the doors of these establishments. This was just more than browsing customers in many of the stores, especially with the ones that were actually having a reasonable discount of 30% and up. I recall seeing the cash registers at quite a few of the stores being swarmed by eager customers making their discounted purchases.

Customers lined up at the entrance of Collectibles waiting on their turn to enter the store.

Some establishments employed creative ways to lure customers into their places of business and to advertise their services. Bling Bling had live mannequins in their store window which drew quite a large crowd of curious onlookers. In Motion Fitness Centre hand representatives dancing and giving out flyers, while the LIME store had a large screens and neon lights at the entrance of their store. Some stores certainly went the extra mile to get customer in and some certainly benefited from their participation in FNOJa. However, not all benefited greatly as the stores at Devon House seemed to be devoid of customers, which were sucked in by the hub of commercial activity brewing at the Constant Spring shopping plazas. Nevertheless, they still seemed to be happy with being a part of the event.

Shoppers looking at live mannequins at Bling Bling.

A dancer promoting In Motion Fitness Centre

The Impressive entrance at the LIME full service store.

The crowds seen at the stores in the plazas along Constant Spring road was certainly huge, so much so, it seemed even bigger that the crowds seen in the days before Christmas! One thing is for sure, FNAOJa seemed to be a success for the organizers and the participating stores... and maybe even for the consumers! This definitely looks like an event that will be returning next year as shoppers are always on the hunt for cheaper prices.

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Mini Bloggers Linkup

L-R: Irie Diva, Taylor, Marangand, Jamaipanese, Jamaican Dawta, Stunner, Bobby, Tami

Hot off the heels of the Jamaica Pegasus Tweetup, was a mini blogger/ex-blogger linkup on Saturday September 4 at relatively new spot called Scotchies on Chelsea Ave. I say ex-blogger as some have moved on from blogging the pursue other interests... something I can relate to as I am not blogging as frequently as I used to. The mini linkup was the brain child of blogger, now turned lurker, Bobby Minoramp seeing that it has been ages since we had a bloggers linkup... from 2006 in fact! It was cool reuniting with fellow bloggers and meeting the other bloggers who I have interacted on the blogsphere with, but had not had the opportunity to meet.

Chatting while we ate.

The location was a decent place for such a meetup as we had secured a corner for ourselves as well as two tables to ensure we were comfortably seated. The smell of jerk meats being prepared permeated the air and the chatter of patrons also followed suit. We had a good time getting acquainted and reacquainted over some Red Stripe Beer, Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, festivals and roast breadfruit. 

Scotchies Jerk Pork

I however, have a bone to pick with Scotchies for slow service and undercooked chicken which made me sick in the early hours of Sunday morning! Nevertheless, the linkup had a good vibe with fun people like: Irie Diva, Tami, Bobby, Taylor, Jamaipanese Marangand and Jamaican Dawta. Definitely would do another lyme like that again... But not at Scotchies!

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Jamaica Pegasus Tweetup Round Two!

The Twitter fountain on a projector screen at the Jamaica Pegasus tweetup

In June of this year the Jamaica Pegasus (@JamaicaPegasus) created history when they hosted the first ever corporate sponsored tweetup in Jamaica. It was a great event which saw not only the popularity of the hotel grow, but also it gave so many tweeters an opportunity to put the faces behind the tweets. It was hailed a great success by many and yet the Jamaica Pegasus hinted that they had plans for another tweetup in the future. But after the success of that historic even. could the Jamaica Pegasus really pull off another tweetup to compare?

Guests at the Jamaica Pegasus tweetup

That question was certainly answered not even on the day of the tweetup, but even several weeks before the actual tweetup on September 3, 2010. The Jamaica Pegasus decided to go bigger and better and this idea had some positive indications weeks before the event. Within approximately two days of sending out the invitation on Twitter, all the available invitations were gobbled up by eager tweeters who wanted to relive the experience as well as those who heard the good reviews and wanted to get the experience of a Jamaica Pegasus tweetup! Now they had the support, but could the Jamaica Pegasus really deliver to the anticipating guests?

A shot of the tempting food at the tweetup

With a larger crowd confirmed for the tweetup the Jamaica Pegasus moved the party from the 17 floor to their beautiful lawn of the "Gardens of the Pegasus" which was big enough to host a crowd that was twice as big as that of the first tweetup. As expected the Jamaica Pegasus delighted its guest with an open bar flowing with an unlimited supply of alcoholic beverages and mixes. But that was not the only thing flowing as the ever funny Elva (@Elvajamaica) kept the vibes going as she MC'd the programme and the mix master Captain Collin Hines (@captcollinhines) kept everyone swinging with some dangerous mixes from the turn table! The crowd after being fuled by some good food from the appetizing buffet, couldn't resist the mixes being dished out by Captain Collin Hines and the bartenders at the two bars! They hit the dance floor and partied the night away on the mini stage/dance floor as well as the lush lawn! The sounds of great music, laughter and friendly chatter filled the air at the Jamaica Pegasus, all a sign of a people having a good time.

Tweeters dancing up a storm to the music of Cpt. Collin Hines

Sticking with their bigger better plans the Jamaica Pegasus enlisted several other corporate sponsors for this event, such as, NCB (@ncbja), Jamaica National (@JamaicaNational), Secrets Resorts (@SecretsResorts), Palace Amusement (@PalaceMovies) Boingo (@boingo) and returning sponsor Calico Jack. Calico Jack provided their addictive rum punch to loosed the up the crown while the other sponsored provided even more good cheer with several prizes and giveaways including a Blackberry and a weekend for two at the luxurious Secrets Resorts! Hopefully these sponsors will realize the impact social media can have on the success and continued growth of a company in this competitive environment and jump on board to even host their own tweetups in the future.

Guest collecting a prize with MC Elva (left)

This tweetup gave me yet another opportunity to physically connect and reconnect with so many people that I interact with on a daily basis on Twitter. But it did not end there as just with the previous tweetup I met and am now connected to so many more tweeters. It was great hanging out with my now extended twitter family!

 L-R: @Jamaipanese, @IrieDiva, @djnarity, @KarmaizaDiva @Elvajamaica and me.

Me and @IrieDiva 

Me and @Reesy11

L-R: @Jamaipanese @StunnerJ @9970000

Me and  @sweetpersona

Me and  @captcollinhines

Kudos to the Jamaica Pegasus for hosting another successful tweetup and the biggest tweetup in the history of Jamaica! For tweets about the tweet up you can visit the twitter hash tags #jptweetup and #jptweetup2. To get a full eyeful of the Jamaica Tweetup visit my facebook album Jamaica Pegasus Tweetup II.

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Yendi To the Universe!!!

Miss Jamaica Universe Yendi Phillips. Photo: Yendi Phillip's Facebook page

I watched one of the most exciting Miss Universe competitions I have watched in a while, in fact it's the most exciting since Lisa Hanna won Miss World way back in 1993! What made it so exciting? Well former Miss Jamaica World and now Miss Jamaica Universe, Yendi Phillips, seemed to be poised to snatch the Miss Universe crown! However, an additional bonus was that I was sharing the moment with several of my followers on twitter. Somehow, having a 140 or less character conversation with several people in support of Yendi made the Miss Universe competition even more exciting! The hilarious comments and views of other tweeters just added to the whole excitement of watching Yendi's progress through the competition. So how did Yendi do?

Photo: missuniverse.com

I watched in anticipation, on the edge of my seat, fingers on the keyboard as Yendi made it to the top fifteen. Then it was time for the swimsuit section and let me tell you Yendi nailed it with that awesome body of hers, getting a whopping 9.426! How is that for booty power! And we all know Yendi has that! This score no doubt catapulted her to the top 10, which stirred a combination of relief and even more anticipation both for me and for the many Yendi and Jamaica supports on Twitter and Jamaica.

Photo: missuniverse.com

The next round was filled with more anticipation as they contestants paraded in their evening gowns. I will admit, Yendi's gown was OK, but it was certainly not the best in the competition. Nevertheless, our hearts got a small relief from the heavy pounding as she made it through to the final 5. Now it was the time for the dreaded judges question and Yendi did a very good job of giving a political answer. However I feared that her use of God in her answer may have struck a wrong chord with the judges if any of them were aithists. Then came the real nerve wrecking part, the announcement of the runner-up and the winner of the Miss Universe 2010!

Photo: missuniverse.com

Hearts pounding, eyes glued to the TV, fingers still on the keyboard tweeting! Fourth runner-up... Yendi wasn't called... Third runner-up... still no Yendi! Heart pounding even faster... Second runner-up... still no Yendi! Could this be? Could Yendi really be the new Miss Universe 2010? The anticipation builds as I wait, as the entire Jamaica Twitter posse eager waits breathlessly! Heart pounding faster and faster, eyes even more glued to the TV, ears tuned to the audio, fingers still on the keyboard... First runner-up... Miss Jamaica, Yendi Phillips! "@StunnerJ: NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" My heard plummeted in disappointment, so close yet she did not win the coveted crown of Miss Universe 2010. Nevertheless, she did well, she did Jamaica proud as reaching first runner-up is a very good feat.

Congratulations Miss Jamaica Universe Yendi Phillips, you did well!

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Deluge In the City and Danger In the Hills

Photo taken from Stunner Car Cam (AKA Blackberry). Intersection of Upper Waterloo and Shortwood road.

Yesterday evening I had a shoot in Portland, so I had planned to leave Kingston from mid morning or at least by midday. However, I went to bed late the night before... or I should say the morning and as such woke up late. By the time I got myself together and circled a couple gas stations in order to find one that actually had gas it was already past twelve pm. I woke up to sunshine, but by mid day the sky told a completely different story! Some mean, dark, heavy, scary clouds engulfed the city from the mountains hurling bolts of lightning and grumbled with thunder! Things looked really serious, some serious reain did a guh buss! I tried my best to head out of town before it started! Could I make it? Would I get out before the city was washed off the face of the earth?

I failed in my effort to get out of Kingston before the sky gave way to a deluge upon the land! I got gas on Constant Soring road, and by the time I made it to Upper Waterloo Road a few drops started to hit the  windshield, and by the time I made it to Shortwood Road I was in the middle of a deluge, extreme torrential rain, yes I was in what seemed to be a tropical storm from hell! For a moment I started to wonder, if I had somehow driven off the road in to a raging river! If you follow me @stunnerj on twitter you would have seen me asking if there was a surprise tropical storm! But don't just take my word for it... I have proof!


Video taken from Stunner Car Cam (AKA Blackberry).

This was not the end of it though, Kingston was not the only place to feel the wrath of the sky as the mountains of St. Andrew and St. Mary were pelted by the buckets from above! But this time I didn't only have the flooded roads to contend with in the treacherous mountains!

Photo taken from Stunner Car Cam (AKA Blackberry). One of many small waterfalls along the road.

Water washed along the road way, but also landslides claimed half of the roads in some areas, fallen trees in other areas along the narrow winding road and even waterfalls! Yes I had to use all my navigational and driving skills to avoid these obstacles along a narrow winding road filled with craters and stupid public transportation drivers, who love to try to cheat death! I even almost witness two large trucks colliding around a corner on the mountain side, but they skillfully maneuvered their way around each other. If my words aren't enough to convince you, then watch the video and photo below!


Video taken from Stunner Car Cam (AKA Blackberry).

Video taken from Stunner Car Cam (AKA Blackberry). Two trucks almost colling on the junction road.

Fortunately I made it through the junction road unharmed, but I was in for another shock! It seemed this rain was only confined to Kingston, St. Andrew and a small part of St, Mary!  By the time I cleared the junction road the rain had tapered off and upon approaching Annotto Bay the road was dry like the Sahara desert and the sky was light blue with just large patches of clouds along the shoreline. The only evidence of the torrential rain was the water on my car and the clouds that hung over the mountains behind me!

Photo taken from Stunner Car Cam (AKA Blackberry). Just outside Annotto Bay St. Mary.

I made it to Portland in good time despite the extended time it took to drive a normally two hour at most journey. The drive back was not as bad even though I had to contend with some thick fog in the mountains, which also extended the time it took to get back to Kingston. But once again, the Stunner completes his mission despite the many dangers and perils in the way!

Disclaimer: Please do not drive and shoot video and photographs. This was done by a professional with years of experience, training, much care and adherence to safety procedures.

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One Year Unemployversay... Not A Yay Moment

I just realized that I haven't posted in quite a while... again. This is not good for someone who is contemplating migrating my blog to its own .com and also thinking of starting a new photo-blog, dedicated to my passion photography. Now I'm wondering it I will be waisting my precious, rapidly dwindling funds on paying for hosting! As a result I am still considering the move. Hopefully I can host two domains on one hosting account. So I am still weighing my options and shopping around, as it would be nice to have my own .com's.

I just remembered that July 31, 2010 made it officially one year since I have been unemployed. The job market here in Jamaica is very rough! I has hoping I would have found suitable employment after my sixth month of unemployment, but I have passed the one year mark and still I have not found any gainful employment. I have searched high and low, sent out countless applications, missed out on one interview, been on one interview and still hunting for that elusive dream called employment.

However, I am still on what seems to be the futile search for gainful employment in these tough economic times. being unemployed and having bills that won't quit can be very depressing at times, trust me it really gets depressing at times. However, I still have a lot to give thanks for as I still am able to pay my bills and eat. I have had to make adjustments to my expenses and what and where I eat in a bid to reduce spending, even though JPS still seems to elude me despite my best efforts. I have also had time to work on my photography which is improving with my somewhat limited photographic resources. So I guess even in the thick gloom of my unemployment there are a few faint rays of light shining through. Now I just hope i can land a few good paying photo gigs to earn some funds.

Nevertheless, with the help of God the Almighty, I am still staying afloat in the turbulent seas. I know there are a lot of persons in my position and also some who are in a worse off position than me, so I still give thanks between my bouts of feeling down. But "where there is life there is hope and where there is God there is help!"... wait, mi just come up with a quote! Brap! Brap!... So I'm holding the faith and taking things one day at a time.

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