How’s that for MADE IN HAITI exotism?!

Mid-Town. Arts district.

Just now, I can bet the imagery created by these two denominations brought you straight to New York City: Broadway, Times Square and the Empire State… But nope… This is Miami. Midtown Miami.

Home to the creative-centric “everything” sprouting everywhere and a top location for young urbanites with a flare (and pocket) for debonair lifestyle. Midtown Miami feels like the new Soho. A lovely feeling and crazy vibe, indeed.

So here we are, invited by Miami-bound relatives, we finally arrived with an hour late (Haitian style obliged) to this spot named Sugarcane. Our being late, however seemed to have absolutely no effect on our invitees.

Please let us mention that Sugarcane's mixologists truly exhibited a savoir-plaire with a tasteful and savorful (even to the eye) list of palate-opener cocktails. Even a quick glance at the menu (printed on what feels to be sugarcane inspired paper) would quickly confirm that they have really truly put great thought to the Bar in Bar & Grill.

With a sidewalk terrace enclosed by a vineyard inspired wall, Sugarcane is this loft-style-high-ceiling setting Bar & Grill with a chic mix of giant cement poles and rustic woody sitting blending perfectly with more modern elements like stainless counter-tops and precision-cut stone walls. Miniature banana-trees and green aloe-like plants let you know straight off you are right home to an authentic offering, reminiscent to Spanish backyards. Three distinct kitchens flame up a wide variety of fusion tapas like Bacon wrapped dates, Duck and waffle, Brussel sprouts, Japanese eggplant, Goat cheese croquettes…a true testament that less (in quantity) is really...more (in taste).

But by now, you must be wondering if PubliGestion has changed vocation and was hired by the Zaggat or the Miami Michelin guide, lol... We figured we had to put you in context to better understand how global our local brands are getting. Both Rhum Barbancourt and Prestige Beer are part of Sugarcane's regular menu…so much so that on any given random table or day, you would see a Prestige, or Rhum Barbancourt based cocktails shining like Haitian flags on foreign soil. How’s that for MADE IN HAITI exotism?!

Oh, and did we mention this part of town, now chic and premium, was formally old-little Haiti? We are so glad, so grateful and proud to see some restaurant owners have stayed true to Midtown’s origin (Business obliged ;)

(Image: by MISS~LISA)
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BLISS

Did we ever tell you that our entire staff is creative? From the obviously creative Studio to the business-as-usual Purchasing department? Ha! Well, you’re in for a treat. One of our purchasing agents is also a disk jockey... spinning @ the most exclusive local spots. Bet you didn’t see that one coming ;) WORK HARD. PLAY HARDER.

This entry is dedicated to our conservative purchasing agent by day and bomb dot com DJ by night… Samar Handal. Starting tomorrow, every Tuesday at 5PM, Samar will be playing at Point Bar, Ibo Lele for a Blissful night of awesome music, good drinks and hot people. Does this sound like a plug? Oops.

Living Haiti

And BOOM! We’re back again! It’s like a movie with lots of political action, drama and killer cholera on the loose in a 7.o-you-know-what ravaged country. But, chill, there’s life in Haiti! By that we mean, hakuna matata marinating in love, life and peace.

It’s time we introduce you to Living Haiti—the scene that news cams never see. There’s life here! So let’s be done with the foreplay, we’re about to give you a taste of Haiti we all enjoy.

1. Restaurants are top of our list. Oriental, European, local, it’s here. Each dish is a celebration, a marriage of international recipes with locally grown organic ingredients tuned by a fine Caribbean palette.

There are a couple of places where you could go depending on your taste. Heck, we could even write an entire entry on local wining and dining and restaurants! Because when it comes to food nothing beats the flavours found here.



Emina's Garden.

2. Drinking. What’s the point of living when we can’t be “foolish” from time to time? And what better way to do it than with a drink or two among good friends? Haiti is home to two wonderful drinks: Prestige, a lager beer produced by Brana S.A. and Rhum Barbancourt, a rhum distilled from sugar canes. Both drinks are awarded for their wapah factor that leaves you wanting.

Let us initiate you. Barbancourt simply put is the rhum of all rhums—the choice of connoisseurs the world over. Prestige is a brown bottle lager with original flavours that makes a warm day in the tropics so nice! Try this, grab an ice cold 6-pack and head to the beach and tell us that’s not true.



Magdoos Café Resto.

3. Dancing. Okay. Now that we’re all foolish after, uh, a few, uh, drinks, we can all dance to the tune of kompa. Can’t dance? Drink some more. Trust us when we say what you’re drinking has a secret ingredient that can grow dancing bones or turn you into happy feet in two seconds!

Nightlife is alive and well especially in Pétion-Ville. One of our favourite is Press Café, an authentic Haitian bar that allows you to get close and personal to your, ahem, friend. How could anyone resist that cosy sensual atmosphere brought by real Haitian twoubadou?



Pétion-Ville at night

4. Relaxing after pulling off an all-night party is surprisingly easy. Let’s save the beach for later. There are pools open to public, like the ones at Hotel Karibe and Hotel Ibolele where you could spend the whole day under the sun without going too far. There is also Botanik Spa, where you could unwind and untie those knots on your shoulders. There is also cascade bleu up in the mountain. It’s cool, it’s fresh and you could be close to nature without going too far.



Zen in Haiti.

5. Beaches! Aha, the best part of living in Haiti is having access to fine tropical beaches where the sun is smiling. Top of mind is Île-à-Vache, a secluded little island in the southern part of the country. It boasts of beautiful shorelines, verdant hills and sumptuous meals fresh from the sea. Unfortunately, our words fail to capture what Île-à-Vache is all about. It’s something that you should see for yourself. Take pictures though, and share it with us! We’ll be happy to give you a spot.



Ile-à-Vache, Haiti.

6. Fitness ranks high in our priority. Being in shape let’s you enjoy the things we’ve mentioned. There are couple of things you could do. There is the great outdoors for your mountain bike. There are also gyms, like Ultimate Fitness where you could burn calories, pump your muscles and keep your body active.



It's a stock image, but it's close to the real thing.

7. Work. Like anywhere else in the world, everyone has to work. The country is challenging and where there are challenges, there are success stories. No matter how little or how unsung they are. The country also provides a virgin environment for business to thrive... given the proper motivation and management skills. Recently, due to Haiti’s, uhh, unique situation, it has also provided jobs for the international community by allowing NGO careers to thrive.



We got lazy, another stock image. ;-)

We live in one of those very few places on earth where complexity and simplicity could exist in the same space. You might argue that what we’re talking about could be found anywhere else in the world! That's true. It is possible to live “normally” here but Haiti possesses something else—a magic that can’t be extracted or quantified. The Magic that makes time move on its own schedule, that makes life in Haiti special.

Quotes from the Team

The one year anniversary of the 7.0-you-know-what is only two days away. Rather than having an entry on that painful event, Bloggers' Block sent a memo out to the entire agency asking our team to send in a short quote or a thought of what they want for the new year.

And so, below are a few inspiring quotes from some of PG’s team members... Our thoughts and desires...

Nathalie, Financial Controller: “May everyone find the perfect diet for their soul. May each day in 2011 be filled with Light, Love, Laughter, Kindness and Wisdom for those will certainly lead to Happiness, and Peace. Merry 2011!”

Annie, Account Executive: “Que la nouvelle année déborde de bonheur et de prospérité et que tous les voeux formulés deviennent réalité!”

Jacquemine, Account Manager: “ ‘There are no problems, only solutions.’ I try everyday to go by that quote, in a country where we so often have to find solutions, it has helped me go ahead and stay positive. May you all keep it in mind for the challenging year of 2011.”

Monique, Traffic Manager: “Quand l’humain aura compris et admis avec Victor Hugo que ‘Tous les hommes sont l’Homme” l’humanité entière vivra d’Amour de Paix et de Solidarité.”

Pong, Head Graphic Designer: "When opportunity strikes, strike back harder!"

Kanga, Copywriter: "Ce sont mes amis qui m'ont fait aimer la vie. Ils me rendent meilleur à mesure que je les trouve meilleurs eux-mêmes. (Jacques Chardonne)"

Veronique, Social Media Strategist: “In the words of Emerson, ‘Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.’ Let’s go forth at full speed ahead with a smile on our faces, and let’s be ready to attack every single obstacle head first because in the words of Churchill, ‘We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls.’”

Fabrice, Graphic Designer: "N'attends pas que les événements arrivent comme tu le souhaites. Décide de vouloir ce qui arrive... et tu seras heureux. Jah bless !!!"

Samar, Purchasing Agent: “If u want the rainbow, u gotta put up with the rain.”

Eliane, CEO: “Mes voeux pour 2011 s’inspirent du proverbe chinois selon lequel ‘s'il n'y avait pas de montagnes, les plaines n'apparaîtraient pas’ et à cet autre proverbe, chinois également, qui affirme que ‘si le meilleur moment pour planter un arbre était il y a 20 ans…le prochain meilleur moment est maintenant’ Ne nous faisons pas d’illusions : Il est évident que nombreux seront les défis que nous devrons relever au cours de cette nouvelle année. Décidons donc de nous y attaquer maintenant ... et soyons determinés à faire preuve à la fois d'audace et de ténacité. Serrons-nous les coudes pour rester toujours à la hauteur des exigences de nos clients… et aller avec eux à la rencontre du succès !”

Olivier, Marketing Director: "Yon jou, Ayiti gen pou dòmi pòv epi li leve rich. Men elas ! Avan sa fèt, se pou chak grenn Ayisyen konprann ke jan ou ranje kabann ou, se konsa ou dòmi."

Marjorie, Media Planner: "Le 12 Janvier 2011, 1 an après cette catastrophe nous pensons tous à nos tendres et chers disparus, oui, mais en tout premier lieu il faut aussi penser à remercier Dieu pour nous qui sommes vivants par sa Grâce et avoir la Foi et l’Esperance pour s’entraider mutuellement..."

We remember... 1/12/2010

Happy Holidays and GOODBYE to 2010

So as scheduled, we had our little holiday party at the office on Friday. Although our intention was to share pictures on the blog with you all, we decided that maybe we shouldn’t…

In fact, in memory of those who have left us in 2010, before we pop that champagne, let us observe a minute of silence…

(One minute later)

Hi Again.

So, the real purpose of this blog entry is to wish all of our dear readers happy holidays. So to you, the guy or gal reading this from his or her iPad, Voilà BlackBerry, laptop or whatever gizmo, Happy Holidays from all of us at PubliGestion! May 2011 be blessed with lots of love and good surprises! In fact, never forget to open-up your aperture, letting lots of light in, and may the flow of abundance spoil you, both intellectually and “Dollarlly” – should we say “Eurolly”? Thank you so much for your readership, your comments, and your professional advice. Our blog these past few months has grown so much both in readership quantity and quality. We can feel the improvement in our bones. Now now, some of you who are thinking, “but wait, nobody ever comments” --- You’re right, no one comments on the blog, which we also find weird, but we get BBMs, Facebook messages and emails… even drop by’s… yup! So, thank YOU, thank YOU!

Did we say thank you?

Orevwa 2010! This year was a challenging one to say the least, and we’re glad it’s almost over. We’re welcoming 2011 with big-wide-open-arms and a giant smile. We can’t wait for what it has in store for us as a team and as individuals, but most importantly, we are ready. In our collective mind, we are already re-formatting our brain with the new 2011 OS. It is going to be the best year since the printing press was invented.

So, let’s toast some champagne, or some sparkling grape juice if you don’t drink, to a wonderful new year ahead.

(Cheers!)

Living in Haiti isn’t Easy

Current state of mind = “OMG. Get me out of my house!”

If the title of this blog entry doesn't say it all, the previous statement sure is an eye opener. Right?

With the civil unrest happening in our country, we’ve lost 3 full days of work -- that’s 24 precious work hours. In those 24 hours, we could have accomplished so much, including the ability to meet so many deadlines to many projects.

Though, a lot of us on the PG team had been working from home, and major projects were still underway, we cannot help but feel robbed of our ability to sit together, have a cup of tea or of coffee, and brainstorm while in the same physical room.

Today, we are lucky enough to be able to gather up at our lair, but truth be told, we don’t know when we’ll be able to actually get our full creative mojos back on with how unstable our dear Haiti is right now, but we sure hope it will be soon enough.

Drop us a line full of cheer sometime via Twitter, or comment down below to add smiles to our faces… A smile goes a long way :)

Electric Stone Age

After weeks of delight from the 24-hour electricity that we’ve experienced, we’re back to normal—candles and home electric management. Though the latter sounds like a minor course in college, it’s actually a fancy-shwancy term for “save electricity!”
To the estranged reader there, let us introduce you to the Electric Stone Age. Here in Haiti we have a word for electricity; it’s EdH a.k.a. Electricité d’Haïti. It comes in 8-hour rations from the dangling power cords along the streets. You might be wondering how we could survive without 24-hour electricity? It’s simple, in this country we’ve evolved with this, uh, exotic situation.
Because the situation is oh so exotic, people were forced to electrify themselves. So, after the 8-hour rations go, our nifty houses start running on their batteries. These batteries either charge with diesel generators, solar panels or when the 8-hour ration comes with a Dolby Digital surround sound Ou gen EdH announcement from the neighbourhood. You would be surprised what these batteries could power up, say a household with a monster TV, air-conditioning units and a UFO satellite dish?
There is more. This Electric Stone Age is actually built on an industry! From EdH to gas stations. Generator, solar panel and inverter suppliers, and of course their paired set of technicians. Then there is maintenance and stuff like that. It’s not surprising how other businesses arise from it. Imagine those who sell gadgets. There would be no market for them if there were no electricity. Even the common man benefits from this, it’s normal to see a guy in a corner with a car battery offering to charge your phone or iPod. We could go on and on describing this exotic situation to you, but we'll cut The Electric Stone Age here.

...and to the hardworking guys at EdH, nice try and thank you for the quickie. The efforts are commendable especially after the 7.o you-know-what.