Delicious, Fashion's Night Out (FNO) and Food Quiz Winners

FASHION's NIGHT OUT

Thanks to the Jamaica Observer, international Fashion's Night Out (FNO), returned to our shores and created a huge buzz across the island. Congrats to the team for the 'hurricane effect' that got the masses to hit the streets to take advantage of discounted fashions at numerous retail shops.

Many of my peers said #FNOJA was a great idea but just bad timing for Jamaicans given as one Facebook friend coined "BTS" (Back to School). Yes dear friends many pockets were weak but the eyes were rich with sight as 'window shopping' was the order of the evening. At least that was our observation at stores we visited. Despite the traffic, my team and I decided to venture to the first store on our list - Nylorac Beauty Bar. One may say make-up has no business with food but stay with us and you'll see the surprise connection.

En route to Nylorac, we stumbled upon breath-taking decor displayed in the common area by TaiFloraLuxe that created a great entrance and vibe to the fun-filled evening that lied ahead.

 

Once we got over the TaiFloraLuxe wow effect, whimsical bubbles greeted us at Nylorac's entrance which completed the FNO ambiance. 

Carolyn Yapp is Miss Jamaica Universe 2009 and owner of Nylorac (it's her name spelt backwards). She has a warm personality but it is her sense of humor that sealed the deal to make MyEliteGrocer (Meg), a loyal customer. Hope you will find these purse-worthy gum packages to be humorous as much as we did.

Soy candles and products made with various food-based scents like sweet, organic coconut oil, Mediterranean fig and pomegranate appealed to Meg's yummy-sensibilities. With a single whiff of Pacificia's Brazilian Mango Grapefruit solid perfume, Meg was mesmerized and immediately thought about the many occasions to wear it. Evening and or everyday wear rang popular. The compact perfume may be deemed pricey however when one considers the ease of travel (with no opportunity for spillage) coupled with its concentrated formula, shoppers will come to find that the cost is justifiable. 

When next stuck in traffic along Barbican Road, pop into Nylorac at Loshusan's Center they'll be sure to have your fix for a calming and relaxing evening alone or with that special someone. By the way testers are on display to help make the best choice.

 Well done on your unique & oustanding product selection, Carolyn. 

The Nylorac Beauty Bar is here to stay. Visit!

FNO came to a close for us at Flirt Boutique. There Meg munched on generous helpings of roasted red pepper hummus with whole wheat cracker and chicken pasta salad with almond and black olives. This was complemented by a glass of Merlot (I forgot to get the name :-() but it was 'delish'! Unsure if we were swayed by the red wine or not but our NCB KeycardBiz made an appearance in support of FNO... Really we simply had to 'land' a flirtatious little, black dress and tidbits (wink).

Hey we even spotted Jamaican mega-entertainer, Sean Paul, rocking his 'mohawk-do' at Flirt. He and his friends certainly made for great FNO vibe. Cheers to making #FNOJA even bigger and better in 2011!

FOOD QUIZ WINNERS

Literally 5-min after posting our food quiz, Dmitri Dawkins correctly answered with NONI and won 1-dz plantain tarts. Here he is receiving his prize.Congrats again Dmitri!

It was the bonus question that proved to be more challenging and as @sweetpersona stated after 3 unsuccessful attempts for the prized coconut macaroon cookies, "this is gonna give me a headache." Shortly after that pronouncement, Tricia, a new visitor to our blog made the right guess. THE ANSWER ladies and gentlemen was SEA ALMOND! Congrats Tricia, please contact us so arrangements can be made to deliver your gift.

Much thanks to everyone who participated in the last Food Quiz. Better luck next time.

MEDUSA'S

This secluded watering hole, recently hosted a bird fest. The bird is prepared in three ways - Honey garlic, escoveitched and deep fried bird. Yum, yum and yum, they are all delicious. Make no mistake the average Joe will not have the special 'bird' touch that Chef Lancelot is known for. Just like rice only special hands can wondrously 'swell' the 'bickle'. So each year, many local game fans especially the Driftwood Gun Club members, visit Medusa to enjoy the bird fare. The Jamaica Gleaner covered last Tuesday's event and in my humble view, did a great job. Click here to check it out or go one better and take friends along for the experience - every Tuesday before the Bird Season ends.

- Megaliciously yours

Springroll, Tweet-Up and Quiz

SPRINGROLL, Asian Fusion
There's a new restaurant on Knutsford Blvd, Kingston's hip strip, called Springroll. Formerly occupied by Wendy's and conveniently located beside, JN Money Shop, the restaurant is nicely decorated and armed with a sweet, secret weapon - the charming, Maitre D', Maple! "Yes, maple as in maple syrup" Gotta love that! :-)

One can now easily dine in a single spot for proverbial Asian food favorites - Chinese, Thai and Japanese. Interestingly while Springroll is an Asian appetizer, on entering the restaurant the golden brown, deep fat fried, wonton-wrapper filled with shredded vegetables and or pork was the furthest thing from my mind. First thought: Deals can and will be sealed here! 2nd - Thai food; 3rd - More Thai :-)

Fried Cane Bar Shrimp and Sweet Potato Tempura (sugarcane wrapped with shrimp and sweet potato) was ordered. As you can see, the presentation was excellent. The combination was interesting with generous amounts of shrimp. By the 2nd bite, I convinced myself that it was a good appetizer. Will order again but hope the type of sugarcane used (young and not local) will be amended.

It was time for the entree - Thai styled chicken with mango slices. Without question it was a 'hit'

Whenever in New Kingston or to awaken the Foodie within, think Springroll. In case you are wondering, they validate parking in the lot opposite the restaurant. This was great to hear and recommended its inclusion on marketing paraphernalia. Springroll is Asian fusion indeed! Visit soon.

TWEET-UP
The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel hosted another TweetUp (with hashtag #JPTweetUp2 and #JPTweetUp) . This time the event was held by Gardens at the Pegasus. Great! since attendees would see how diverse Kingston's premiere hotel is. Perhaps a wedding location for a Tweety couple or birthday celebration :-). Save for immense humidity, JPTweetUp2 was wonderful! Sumptuous fare and an open bar were offered including Jerked pork, Jerked chicken, Escoveitched fish, miniature Bammy and Festival (aka Hush Puppy), Callaloo quiche and my favorite find, Ackee in breadfruit 'boat.' Appetizers - hot wings and fresh fruit were featured along with a large Dessert station. Mini coconut gizzadas were nice gems and fondly remembered from the inaugural TweetUp.

TweetUp: Part 2 had a large turn out with over 300 people (tweeple) who RSVP'd online to the exclusive, social media event within 8-hrs!!! The power of Twitter was highlighted since on a whole, Jamaicans tend to shy away from RSVPing functions including a wedding let alone a Friday evening lyme! LOL. Another creative accomplishment was that  marketing tactic of hinting to persons to "hold on to their receipts issued from the hotel" - Maverick! It created a psychological effect and got the TweetUp buzz going at least 2-weeks before the event. Sales for the 24-Seven Cafe went through the roof since just about all RSVPs made multiple visits to the hotel for lunch, dinner or a drink prior to TweetUp for a chance to win a prize.

Calico Jack (@calicojack) returned as the event's exclusive Rum Punch sponsor. 'Rum punch-on-the-go' is delightful and readily available in nearby supermarkets. From memory many enjoyed Calico Jack but given the heat my guess is water ruled the evening. @ElvaJamaica was a good emcee and deejay, Collin Hines had 'tweeple' in a musical frenzy. Other sponsors got significant attention namely: NCB Wealth (led by the lovely Charmaine Wright @GoCharms), Jamaica National (YAY! Mike) and Palace Amusement (@PalaceMovies). Could a Twitter financial product be on the horizon, I wonder? 

Kudos to Prudence Simpson (@JamaicaPegasus) and the Jamaica Pegasus team for hosting another brilliant and well-organized event but I missed your Jamaican-styled Tweetini.

Photo credit: HiltonCancun.com

Although a tiny oversight, for my friends and I, it represented 'the' Jamaica Pegasus signature drink that helped to solidify our first TweetUp experience (get a glimpse here). I hastily suggest that the Food and Bev. Manager make it a permanent addition to the 24-Seven Cafe menu. Hey, wouldn't YOU be willing to put on 'combat boots' to be the mayor of Jamaica Pegasus (on four square) for a free or heavily discounted Tweetini? Also could Jamaica Pegasus be the first Jamaican hotel to offer a Twitter special (say 10% OFF rack rate; 20% OFF local rate)? Just think this would attract 'tweeple' worldwide, to initiate hotel bookings via Twitter. Am sure they would be in heaven if they were to be greeted with a Tweetini upon arrival. For patrons at the 24-Seven Cafe, if my hospitality experience proves right, once that magnetic blue drink is served, another will be ordered by someone else in the room. "Excuse me I would like to have one of those please" :-) Bet?

A lot of prizes were given away at TweetUp inclusive of a weekend for 2 at SecretsResorts in Mobay; Blackberry smart-phone directly sponsored by Canadian-based Research In Motion Ltd; private movie screening tickets from Palace Amusement and take this opportunity to congratulate all of the winners. Perhaps on the next occasion I will be as lucky as @Persephone101 and @SweetPersona. It is hoped a leading Jamaican-based telecommunications entity will read today's blog for surely with all that talk about 3G, 4G, IPTV and each having their own product launch, one would have thought Claro, Digicel or Lime would have had a presence. Sigh. I say they all need to take their heads out of the sand, and pay keen attention to the core users of social media networking. Join JamaicaPegasus who have stepped outside of traditional media, embraced social media and ARE reaping the benefits [$] of attracting the audience that every telephony entity should be clamoring for. Come on Corporate Jamaica be Tweety!!!

Overall, it was great to see Prudence Simpson [@JamaicaPegasus], Karin Wilson-Edmonds [@YardEdge], Chris Mills [@ChrysalisCeo], Ingrid Riley [@SiliconCaribe] and Malikah Peart [@mallypea]. I finally met in person @GoCharms [Go NCB :-)] and Therese Chambers [@Reesy11] who are both beautiful ladies. Talking with Jamaican iron lady of media, Mrs. Marcia Forbes [@marciaforbes] and @forresterod from our @KingstonBeta meeting was also refreshing. By the way, stay tuned for Mrs. Forbes' book, Youths Online. TweetUp2 was used to aid her research. Hear that telecom giants?

Last but not least, a special 'shout out' to the After-TweetUp posse in the 24-Seven Cafe @Dmitridawkins, @Drmunroe, @Biancawelds, @Persephone101 who along with @GMPegasus, @CBPegasus and I jammed until the wee hours.

Bianca, Allison, Dmitri and I;             Photo: Daniel Munroe

FOOD QUIZ

For today's quiz, we ventured over to San San Beach in Port Antonio, Jamaica

QUIZ: Win freshly made Jamaican plantain tarts if YOU are the 1st to correctly name the item shown here: -

Hint: Ends with an 'i'

BONUS: Get FREE megalicious, coconut macaroon cookies if YOU can tell me the name of this item: -   

Hint: Found at San San Beach, Port Antonio

 The above quiz will close on Tues 7/Sept at 7p.m (EST). 

Winners will be posted at  myelitegrocer.blogspot.com on Wednesday, 8/Sept @ 8p.m (EST)  

May the best person win!

- Megaliciously yours


p.s Dear Readers: I had a super busy week and just got around to posting this blog. So sorry. Also, the special feature on Medusa's Bird Fest will instead be published on Wed. 8/Sept. MyEliteGrocer.com is officially seeking a sparkling, Assistant with a 'can-do' approach and will be working assiduously to have the post filled to ensure blogs are published in a timely manner. Thanks in advance for your patience as MEG works through this 'hiccup'.