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Date: Sunday 22nd February 2009 Location: Diamond Vale. Diego Martin, Trinidad W.I. Promotions: Vale Vibe Click on thumbnails to see the big picture/entire gallery
It's Carnival Monday bottled into a fete! In it's 15th year, attending D'Original Vale Breakfast Party aka Vale Vibe is an integral part of TJJ's Carnival ritual. Yuh land.. yuh eat some doubles.. yuh pick up yuh costume.. yuh go to Vale.. yuh jump on Monday and Tuesday.. it's just instinctive now!! TJJ has been doing this for donkey years now (we won't say how long so as to not sell out we age), but we remember when this fete was just in the yard in front the house. Nuff said. The hunt for tickets to this event start months before the idea of Carnival is even fully formed in most of our minds. Sometimes you're not even sure if you're making Carnival, yet you're sure booking your Vale Breakfast Party tix even before you book your plane ticket. If this fete was a movie, it would be called "National Treasure Vale Fete Secrets", because as we all already know, these tickets are rare and hard to find. But it's always worth all the trials and tribulations as we know that if there's one thing Wayne, Ralph and the rest of the Vale Vibe committee do is to make sure partygoers have a good time, and that's a given ... this is a bess fete!!
Even after all these years, it's still a surreal feeling lining up for a fete at 5 AM in the morning (in darkness). When most folks now stumbling home from their Saturday night outing, we're doing a double check to make sure we don't forget we shades, because without darkers or a hat, iz pure pressure once that morning sun hits. So with tickets in
hand (tightly clenched), we made our way through security and were inside
in two two's. Party was in full swing already, with the crowd continually
building. This was the perfect time to get some breakfast in the belly
before the many many drinks. Okay, back to the
original plan to get some breakfast in we belly. First was the Doubles
tent and round the bend was the Bake & Shark tent (ran by Richard's,
well his sister). We headed for the Bake & Shark doing our best to
not make a stop in the 1919 booth set up in the gazebo. Iz all right,
we go pass back there soon enuff!! The breakfast spread included Tomato
& Choka, Scrambled Eggs, Pumpkin, Corn Soup, Jerk Chicken, Curry Crab
& Dumpling and a few other things.. with the Pelau coming later on
(standard draft) to help absorb the alco intake. Right, so food in we belly, followed by two 1919 and coke (mixed just how we like it) ... time to mingle like we single! One of our favorite things about d' Vale is that it's like 2 fetes in 1. You have the park area where you lime and socialize with your crew & friends from far and wide, then you have the street area where all the jamishness take place. This is where you have D' Wall Crew and D' Roof Crew, and the neighbour with the hose spraying yuh down with the water after the sun comes up. And we not talkin' bout no joke heat eh, yuh see fete.. this is fete!!! Just a mass of people letting loose and Anonymous, Sprang Int'l, Back to Basics, D'Bandit, Hoppie and Alicia D Duchess as usual making sure the tempo is always at the right pace. So depending on your vibe, you can get on bad or you can have a time in the park side and still feel like you in the action. Look out next year for a new crew ... D' Shade Crew over by the gazebo. Now we still not sure if it's the shade or the proximity to the alcohol that's the reason why they chose that location, but we do know they will be back ... and so will we!! -Party McFly ==================================== |
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As we made our way towards Amethyst Park thinking, "Doubles or Bake
& Shark?", we bounced up a booth close to the entrance with two
lovely young ladies serving a special cocktail called "Vale Sunrise
Drink". So the eating got shortly delayed as we toasted the sunrise
with the Vale Sunrise Drink .... ah yes, that is Vale Vibe!!!