PUNCHY WEDNESDAY 2025

Don't hold me!

Punchy Wednesday was a blurr. 

After getting so many drinks at Citrus, I can't remember the ride home, getting dressed nor jumping back out but we did it cause here are our pics!

Not only did we freshen up, we packed a whole cooler too! LOL 

Yuh hadda love carnival yes!

Back to me wondering how or why so many of you choose to drive yourselves! 

FOCUS

Alright, apparently our driver for the day got us to our friends' guesthouse and we walked over to The Oval. No lie, a 5 minute walk or less. We got to The Oval and there was literally no line. Up to this point, all fete lines have been minimal to none. WIN.

We found our spot and began vibesing. Although I was having a good time, I wasn't in my right state of mind. The party was going but it was going and leaving me.  This was it.  I couldn't hold up. Punchy Wednesday gave what Punchy Wednesday gives, the artists performed, we sang along and we again were just too mash up to fully enjoy the Punchy Wednesday experience. Imagine I'm in a cooler fete and not drinking...

When I saw my carnival twin have a seat on the iron bars to the side, I knew it wasn't I alone feeling like this.  I gave my girl a tap tap on the shoulder and motioned if she was ready that I was ready too. An with that, we told the crew that we were out.  Then we were.  Simple like that. 

Note to self: Just finish out the entire time in Citrus an GO HOME.

Would I do Punchy Punch Wednesday again? I'd love to! But once Citrus comes to Trinidad, I don't see how I can make it. Punchy Wednesday is an awesome event but you definitely have to pick your battles.

PUNCHY COOLER ~ 1

DCARNIVALBABY ~ 0

I WENT TO AN ORCHARD, THEY CALLED IT CITRUS TT

 Here is where my carnival got a little sticky.

CITRUS

Seeing that I am a part of the Radiance family, I wasn't going to say anything about Citrus because I didn't want anyone to think that I was saying it was good because of my affiliation or say that it was bad or not what I expected because of that same affiliation.  It didn't sit well with me though.  How can I go through each fete I've been to, openly and honestly and glide over CitrusTT? 

I legit rave so much about Citrus Miami that I call it my baby.  There is no fete topping Citrus for the Miami carnival season, argue wid yuh mudda. Anywho, when I first learned that Radiance was bringing Citrus to Trinidad I was over the moon. I wanted to tell every friend that they had to purchase tickets and they had to experience it at least once.  I was muzzled. We were told that we couldn't say anything until we were allowed. Reliving this is pissing me off all over again because it was already November! 

Okay, I need you to listen close.

Now, I am sure you've heard that there was an entity that wanted to do business with Radiance once they became aware that Citrus would be coming to Trinidad. Something about the dealings didn't sit well with all members of Radiance, so the Radiance team respectfully declined. Well boi... shortly after, we hear the shout that there was another party on the scene named Nectar, on the same day, at the same time, that literally swiped Radiance's entire branding, cover arts and captions word for word. Now, I felt that this was partially the fault of Radiance. Knowing for so long that everything was already set in place but never so much as gave a teaser or advertised gave the corbeau dem time to repackage Citrus, place a bow on it and sell it as Nectar!  When ah tell you this got me boiling mad. I was literally boiling!

Radiance Committee members saw what happened but kept it cute.  In their minds it was flattery I saw it as reason to fight lol.  I mean down to the verbiage used in their captions? Did they even know the differences between nectars and citrus'? Evidently not because the same..... AH DONE. 

Because of the late advertising and the now sudden bacchanal of it all. I was fearful. I didn't know if CitrusTT would be the success that I dreamed it would be.  All I could do was pray.

Wednesday I was ready. 

I wasn't able to take advantage of the shuttle, which is fine as my driver dropped me to the front of the orchard. 

All fears went out the window when I saw the entrance.  THIS is what I know Citrus to be and what I was accustomed to.  After the square Citrus arch and the 'orange trees', I walked in and saw my cup! 

Another pleasant surprise. I don't know, on the competition on cups I think Radiance has Private Ryan beat!

The ambiance of CitrusTT was so unbelievably good that I cried. Second time for the season. First time was at KES.  I didn't want to keep taking photos though. I wanted to live in the moment BUT there were some people that I had to get some snaps with.

(Toy Toy the Carnival 2025 twin and Kara)

(Vanna)

(My boo, THE Malika of WFYGB)

Can we talk for just a little bit about the food?

I won't lie, ah pass the KFC an pelau like a full bus. I'm not a lover of rice and I've had KFC every single day prior so I was KFC'd out but I'm sure there were those who enjoyed it. There were so many dishes that I tried just because they were there and I enjoyed them all.  Only when we were leaving did we find the Hennessy fountain and the doubles man (you KNOW we had to indulge). Listen, I know that there were many things we missed because if we were leaving and only then found the Hennessy fountain and the doubles man something was wrong with us.  I loved that for us though, it means that there were so many things packed into CitrusTT that it was impossible for even some committee members to find.  What's important is that we found the vibes, the stage and the bar with ease! 

Although there was Skinny, Naila, Trilla G and Mical Teja. Lady Lava and Kerwin DuBois are my favs. I have a little snippet of Lady Lava.

Yuh done know CitrusTT was a 10 out of 10 for me and is on my list for 2026 *please God.

KES IZ WE '25

Okay, so we eventually left Shhh a lot later than we originally planned because KES' Iz We didn't open when it was supposed to.  My understanding was that it opened exactly one hour later so we took our sweet time and continued drinking.

Thank God for having a driver. Sidenote: It has a lot of people who like to drive themselves in Trinidad but my question is why? You're on vacation! You tellin me you want to drink responsibly while on vacation? What is the point?  Answer down below.  Anywho. Old faithful got us to The Garden.. Listen, asking people from inside a car where 'The Garden' entrance was; was FAILURE! After two people watch us like a car full of morons, I just belch out VIP! With that the driver an all knew where to go.  The Garden sounds cutesy but not to people who didn't have an idea what we were talking about.

We reach.

Tickets scanned.

Cups were available for us upon entry.

First order of business, was FOOD.

Seeing as I wasn't too fond of the options at the prior event, we needed to eat expeditiously (in the words of T.I.).  Again with the curry. Whyyyy did everyone have curry stations this year? Is that normal? I don't recall there being so much curry last year!  Curry is something that spoils quickly depending on who cooks it, how long it sits for or if it's not stored at the right temperature. It have too many what if's to play around wid curry for carnival. Not the I.  Although it was now sundown, nah. I  still good.  The food selection was much better here! After passing the curry like a full bus, there was still a plethora of food to choose from.  And I did. After literally shoveling in X amount of mini plates, I felt that was enough to hold me (well, the liquor I was about to consume). 

On to the dwanks! Listen, we read and we don't judge!  I paid X amount to come in the people Garden /VIP. I am going to eat and drink like I didn't just leave an all inclusive. 

That is all. 

After the belly and throat were attended to, we heard that it was showtime. Great timing! We caught a nice little spot not too close to seem like a groupie but not too far so that carnival twin's husband could see her clearly. I want to say one of the best and most memorable times of the event was when KES had lost his mic.  I believe that he didn't realize initially because of the plugs in his ears but when he realized that we couldn't hear him... hear nah! That crowd literally carried KES. He try all kinds of antics to keep the crowd going. We eventually started chanting "WE NOT HEAR-IN, WE NOT HEAR-IN". It was such an indescribable moment. One of which that KES wanted to sing for his fans and his fans yearned to help but couldn't.  That's as best as I could do as far as explaining it.  When the mic DID come back it came back with a power that electrified the entire crowd and it was on again!  I can't speak for anyone else but... I cried from the overwhelming emotion that the crowd possessed. Or maybe it was the liquor liquoring..  I loved when Lord Nelson came on the stage and get on bad lol.  Hear nah, you see music! MUSIC make that man put dong he cane yuh know?! Lol good times!

With the food stations, champagne bar, regular drinks bar and the different performances being what they were, I still felt like it was the same thing as last year and the year before that.  Allyuh, please doh crucify me.  I call it as I see it. Each year seems to be the same with the additional 2/3 chunes for the current carnival season.  Although I feel like KES' Iz We is worth it, it's not worth it to go every year.  Every other year maybe.  All in all, Iz We was cool. I'd definitely do it again BUT I will probably sit it out for 2026. (Until the early birds go on sale at the end of the year) lol.

MY DISAPPOINTMENT WITH SHHH

Imagine the excitement when I heard that Shhh was going to make her debut in Trinidad on the year I've decided to risk it all!  

The initial purchase was a bust because of the website/app's security but my carnival twin quickly scooped up the tickets.  What I normally think of as a red flag, I overlooked as it's Natalie! She does no wrong in my eyes when coming to putting on an event.

Fast forward, it's time to start organizing outfits and times of each event.  I looked at Shhh's ticket and saw that the starting time was 12pm. So the plan was to be at Shhh damn near when the doors open so we can have a time, leave from there to bathe, change and get ready for my carnival twin's husband later on (KES).

On the day of the fete, we get to the front of the dance and it appears to be unopen.

CONFUSION

First time ever reaching a fete so early because we can't disappoint KES. I mean, he has to see his wife there supporting him.  I see this woman who seemed to be 'in charge',  I asked said woman what the problem was.  Paraphrasing, she said that she wasn't ready to open as yet.  She said that everything was ready but she just couldn't let us inside as yet.  Understandably, whatever it was it wasn't something that a patron needed to know BUT this caused a little panic because at the same time, I had a madman of a driver that wasn't too keen on leaving his precious cargo out in the road but we couldn't go inside. 

Just to get an idea of how long we'd be waiting outside for, I text Natalie.  Because this was the actual day of her event and I'm sure a very busy time for her, I wasn't expecting an answer. Nope. I got a reply almost immediately that they were opening the doors right now and within seconds, they did.

Walking into Shhh was beautiful. There was an elevated plexiglass platform that we walked on. Inside of it were flowers and greenery that were beautiful! After attending a good amount of all inclusive events, I have been a little spoiled by their cups.  The cup we were given was a little underwhelming.  The Shhh sign, same thing.  The major focus point for pictures had a cutesy little swing but I could not understand if the fete name SHHH why would the 'sign' be missing an H? The decor wasn't to Natalie's standards and that was a bit disappointing.  I am quite familiar with her level of decor and to walk in and see what Shhh TT had to offer made me sad FOR her! I know what this woman puts into her events/brand so to see this let me know that she had a local ground team who failed her. That's it. It wasn't something that she herself put her hand in or else it would have been a horse of a different color.

The food let me down as well but not overall. It's just that there was curry and I wasn't trying to do ANY curry in nobody hot sun. ESPECIALLY as I had a second fete to attend.  The other choices I wasn't too fond of but the the drinks were on point! For the time I stayed, nothing ran out and the bartenders were swift and kind. That's all I needed.  It doesn't take much to make me happy and I'm not a complainer.

Now, would I do Shhh TrinidadTT again? YES.

I was asked if I would only do it again because it's Natalie. That's a yes and no.  That is how much faith I have in her.  I believe once she saw what happened in the first year she would go back to the drawing board and return with both hands swinging! The issues I had were fixable and were honestly petty and minute.  There were no major hiccups that would cause me to blank future years of Shhh TT. Take for instance, her DJ was honestly one of the best if not THE BEST that I've heard in Trinidad! Sadly, this was the only DJ that knew how to keep the momentum without killing the same 10/15 songs. There was a nice mix of old, new and plenty in-betweens. That in itself says a lot (for me).  I HAD A TIME!

Question is, will she be bringing Shhh back to Trinidad or will it be a one hit wonder like Shhh Miami?

KES IZ WE DROPPING AT 12

MONDAY MADNESS

Monday Madness was indeed madness.

One of the things I do is PLAN PLAN and PLAN some more. In all the planning, Monday Madness was well confusing. There was stage front and I want to believe like an area that was just not stage front. I won't call it general because stage front wasn't VIP or anything, it was just those of us who preferred to be closer to the front of the stage. So in essence, we too were general. I don't know. As I said, it was madness. We haven't even gotten to the 'trucks' that were selling VIP, VVIP and possible MOON experiences (to the same fete)! The difference (in my opinion) was that there were different sections of people selling tickets and what they offered to their individual sections/patrons. There were too many to remember or what they offered as none of them mattered to me. I was only interested in being in front of the stage.

Let's be clear, I am only putting in this entry because I said I would. There was nothing extraordinary about the event. In fact, I left there still confused lol