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"A Celebration of Chinese Culture in the Caribbean"

When we said last year that this fete is surely one not to miss, we hope you were listening! Miami Fly Girls and Rango's Ultra All Inclusive Day Fete is listed in our top 3 All Inclusive parties when it comes to Miami Carnival.

Last year they gave us "Fiesta", so we were actually a little excited to see how well they would deliver with this year's "TAO … East Meets West" theme. After dispatching all TJJ teams to their respective events, the TJJ Black team was pressing the speed limit southbound on the FL Turnpike - destination Miami Metro Zoo. Thank goodness we exchanged that spanking new Kia Rondo rental which had only 8 miles on it, because we would have surely destroyed that poor engine!

7:30pm… WE REACH! One of the pluses for this venue is the abundance of free parking available. When it comes to All Inclusives, shaving costs anywhere possible is ah good ting! We lying? With a warm welcome at the door, we were armed with our wrist bands and made our way inside the venue. The TAO décor started as soon as you reached the secondary/main entrance, and better yet… the décor was accompanied by the Miami Fly Girls! Looking very sexy in their red oriental clothing, they welcomed patrons with Chinese fans (and Jell-O shots) as they made their way in. We actually learnt that it's a new generation of Miami Fly Girls taking over this year…. lookin' good, lookin' good! Don't worry, the old Fly Girls not going anywhere!

The décor was absolutely splendid. Large Chinese umbrellas and fans, with the oriental hanging paper lanterns and bright red draped fabric properly placed through out the venue definitely brought the "East Meets West" theme to life. Our disappointment of missing daylight coverage quickly vanished, as we absorbed the beautiful settings ONLY the night could produce. Great job with the layout and decorations guys!

On to the Food & Drinks. Like last year, the bars were located towards the rear of the venue, and appeared to be well staffed, so partygoers didn't have to wait long to wet their throats. Food stations were spread out around the venue. You had all the variety you expect from an Ultra All Inclusive and more…. Chinese, Creole and East Indian cuisine. It bun we heart seeing people enjoying all this good food as we snapped the night away! And by the time we circle back for some doubles… it was abracadabra… disappear! We even had we eye on dat Bake n Shark! No fret, Banana Hut Café handle us nice nice with a plate of authentic Jamaican sweet hand… some jerk chicken, rice and peas, cabbage, sweet fried plantain and a lil' salad. Oh gorm!!! Fuss tings was nice, as we were looking for a fork, other food stalls were trying to load we plate up even more. Bartender, two Shandy Carib's please. Life nice, eh!

Entertainment. TAO have all the big name Miami, NY and DC DJs on the inside, so you know the music was on point. You had Dorenzo (right) and Rambo holding tings down for Florida, Back to Basics (left) and Anonymous reppin' the Big Apple and Sprang Int'l all the way from DC. Like we say, music was sweet! DJ Rambo even switched the vibes from the usual Soca and Dancehall to some ole school tracks towards the end of the night, which was enjoyed by both young and old. On top of the DJs, the Rhythm Section kept the iron jammin' through out the evening.

Around 9:30pm, the live entertainment kicked off with surprise guest reggae artist Nadine Sutherland, who performed a couple of her songs - including popular track "Action" (Terror Fabulous) - before passing the mic onto another surprise artist, Farmer Nappy. Nappy bless the dance with his 2007 Crop Over release "Chippin'", which is doing quite well in both local and international markets. As de Farmer tell us, watch out for him for 2007 Groovy Soca Monarch!! ;-) The beautiful and gracious hostess for the night, Empress Jeanille (MTV TEMPO VJ), then took a quick pause to acknowledge all the event's sponsors before introducing one of TnT hottest pannist, Dane Gulston. Yet another surprise guest, Gulston jammed on his shinny steelpan to the melodies of Machel's "Jumbie" and without fail sent the crowd into ah lil' frenzy... JUMBIE, JUMBIE DEM.... RAH!!!!! We love it!!!

Almost an hour later, and the 3 advertised artists still left to bless the stage. For the sake of not writing a book, we'll just say that Bunji Garlin, Shurwayne Winchester and Peter Ram (Barbados) mash up and buy back the fete! It was nice to see Shurwayne and Peter Ram perform their remix to "Woman By My Side" live. We promise you, TJJ TV will have live videos on site soon. Can you only imagine the amount of drama that would have taken place if Fayann Lyons or any of the other local celebrities in the party went on stage? Let's see which other artists were chillin' in TAO…. Spragga Benz, Kevin Lyttle (left), Ricky T (middle), Mr. Slaughter (middle) and Collie Buddz to mention a few. With an hour left to fete, Jabba (MTV TEMPO, Massive B, Hot 97) bless the dance.

There you have it folks, Miami Fly Girls and Rango delivered everything that was promised and MORE! Everyone departed with smiles on their faces - some with food "to-go" - as their made their way home or as in our case, to another fete! All roads lead to FRIENDS Miami Carnival Edition. And if you looking for a concert, you can't miss with Alternative Concept Miami (Machel Montano HD). See you all next year…. we're looking forward to see what the Fly Girls have up their sleeves. Don't say you weren't advised!

Chooks aka Daddy Juice

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Related Galleries
"Fiesta" All Inclusive Day Fete 2007
2007 Miami Carnival Coverage