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It's been a long time since my musings have been up here. In fact, the last time I was up this late writing amidst the haze of alcohol and pain (wining in high heels has to be at least equivalent to half a spin class), was probably 2011. It was also the last time I got anxious pings from the bossman, d' local Juice, asking if I could submit a review on time for once. Fastforward to tonight and D' Young Juice taking over... some things never change. R.I.P. Local... felt almost like Sweet Juice left with you. But enough reminiscing, this is the official Sweet Juice Review for Angostura's Rumland - and my first review in what has been way too long a time.

Firstly, heading Rumland was a last minute decision so Sweets roll in real late. Heard we missed some wicked pole dancing, belly dancing and some kinda Volcano King. Luckily, our ever efficient photographers made like Pokemon and catch them all. Turns out it was the official unofficial bellydancers of Trinidad- the Akal sisters. Headed by Nalini Akal, N9 dance studio offers everything from pole to latin dance. Because I'm writing under my Sweet Juice alias, I can safely admit I've been taking some pole dancing lessons. So far, I have been failing abysmally. Don't let their smiling relaxed faces fool you in the photos, these tiny ladies and not so tiny Volcano King have some SERIOUS upper body strength. These performances, besides being very impressive from what I heard, were also very cool to watch and a really nice addition to Rumland. Speaking of rum, I don't know if they import this guy or what but there was a serious Captain Jack Sparrow lookalike roaming around. Costume, eyeliner, dreads, mannerisms.... down to the man face resemble Johnny Depp. I thought this was a really nice idea and changeup from the usual fete scene to have characters like this wandering around. Would have been nice to have even more. There were some pirates guarding the entrance, which was again cool, but somehow they didn't quite cut it for me. The various treasure chests filled with gold and rum (Angostura of course) combined with the pirates however, made for an outstanding welcome.

Next up, always my favourite section, was the Food Court. Again, I think I may have missed out on a bit due to my late arrival but I still got bits of Indian, Chinese, Arabic, Jamaican and something else with no identifying title across the front of the tent. Saw a man with sushi and wished I was on time for some! Although eating anything raw in a fete is always a bit dodgy at best. Friends that had the shark and bake swore Richard had to be around somewhere; it was that good. Didn't like that the wantons were chicken but I guess you have to cater for the majority. Seriously though, anything but shrimp in wantons is just weird. Also, why was there garlic and soy sauce but no ketchup? Managed to have bits and pieces of everything and as far as fete food goes, it was quite good. Some great, some not so great but overall everything was much better than the oily doubles and corn-less corn soup that seems to be standard fete fare. Combined with the readily available rum cocktails, this fussy eater was most pleased. I've said this in nearly every review I've ever written- it is such a relief to walk in a fete and see the Angostura rumcocktails stall. Such a welcome switch up from the heavy spirits, rum and run of the mill chasers that every fete has. Thank you Angostura!

Lastly, the vibe. Coming late to a fete always ensures I reach in the midst of things... which is usually good until you realise the sushi done. Have to say I immediately noticed that some people, girl people, REAL dress up for this! Iwoman reach in shorts and a vest but saw countless girls looking like they now coming from zen. Hard to say whether I was underdressed or they overdressed. Anyway, everybody look nice. Loads of stalls promoting various things, mostly alcohol, and the girls as usual smoking. A huge THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to whichever promoters thought to include some bareback male models. As much as I appreciate a hot female body, it was SO NICE to have a piece of male meat to drool over. PLEASE SEND MORE MALE MODELS. Girls like to gape too. I got there in time for a couple performances- Karma and Kes.

Now here I know for sure some people will be skinning up their face at what I have to say but...*whispers* I'm a bit tired of soca. Yes, I said it. DJ had a real good ole skool dancehall session going on, I was now warming up my knees for a serious go dung and they just cut it to bring Karma on stage and kill my vibe. I am very happy that we are embracing our culture, our soca and supporting our artistes year round and not just carnival. But please, please Mr DJ, would it hurt to have a decent 30mns of dancehall? And ole skool please. I nearly cry when I hear "all virgin put up yuh hand" (and yes I will still put up my hand) and then nex ting I know is "summertime in the pumpum". Come na man. Kes was vibes as usual but have to say, didn't find Karma as on point as they usually are. Some indian genes pass me straight so I usually don't appreciate chutney but I appreciate a good performance and Ravi B is an excellent one. Usually. Something about him was just 'ok' rather than the 'excellent' he usually is. But again, this is just my opinion. Maybe I was sober and sour.

Did we forget anything? Add your 2 cents below...

Signing out Sweet Juice!!!

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