a holiday celebration

I usually spend the winter holidays in Taiwan with family, but this year we were all together in the Bay Area, since my sister was getting married on New Year's Day.

What this meant for me:
- I was one of (two) maids of honor, so I had built the wedding website. Luckily most of the site was completed way, way before the wedding. The other maid of honor had to make the slideshow, and as she was a perfectionist about it, she was still tweaking it on the morning of the wedding. (It was awesome, though.)
- I was partially responsible for figuring out what to do with everyone on New Year's Eve. The wedding was in SF so there were a variety of parties and events nearby, but we also didn't want to pay cover, and we didn't want everyone to be super hungover at the wedding. We ended up partying in the groomsmen's suite until 1-2am (six bottles of champagne and one bottle of tequila seemed to suffice), at which point half of the bridesmaids went to bed. The other half went to a house party down the street and got to sleep at 4am. We were up around 6am for hair and makeup. It was pretty brutal.
- I gave a toast at the wedding. I don't really mind speaking in public much (having done a billion demos at the Media Lab way back when) but I talk really fast, and half of the guests were flying in from Taiwan. I decided it was a good idea to have translations projected behind me, which meant I had to finish writing the speech several days before the wedding. Of course, other people were busy too, so the translations were being revised up until few hours before the wedding.
- I also did some assorted manual labor, like scoring and folding placecards, wrapping vases, etc. but I think my mom took on the brunt of that work.

The rest of the weekend went pretty smoothly, with only a few hiccups:
- One of the groomsmen's wife got quarantined in Seoul due to vomiting, and was unable to make the wedding. She may or may not be pregnant again; we're not quite sure.
- The best man got trashed at the rehearsal dinner and puked his guts out. As a result he drank very little at the wedding itself, which is perhaps a good thing.
- The valet service lost my dad's Mercedes after the rehearsal dinner. At first my dad was pretty okay as the restaurant comped him some drinks, but after over an hour of searching, the police got called in, the valet guy called my dad a liar, and things got ugly. My dad actually missed the countdown because he was still waiting at the restaurant, before they finally found the car, a few minutes into the New Year. We eventually got a couple hundred dollars of additional compensation, but methinks we will not be returning to that restaurant, or using that valet service ever again.
- We took some wedding party photos at Yerba Buena Gardens. During the shoot, we noticed some creepy guys hiding behind bushes taking photos of us. Eventually we scared them off, but I'm sure they had lots of photos already. Oh well.
- As my sister and her husband were doing additional pre-ceremony photos in various locations around the city, it started to sprinkle a bit. Luckily the dress she'd chosen was pretty forgiving, and there was no visible damage.
- The bridesmaids had nothing to do between 2-4pm, got sleepy, and some tried to nap in the bridal suite. Napping without crushing your expensively and elaborately styled hair is basically impossible.
- During the reception, my brother discovered yet another creepy guy hiding between the curtains and the windows in the ballroom. He was also taking photos. He ran off before my brother was able to accost him. What's with the creepy photo-taking wedding crashers?
- All of us were pretty much dead on our feet by the time the wedding ended around 1am, but we still helped clean up a bit, went back to our rooms to wash the pounds of makeup and hairspray out, and then got up in time for the 11am brunch the next day. The photos from that morning are probably less than flattering.

The wedding itself was gorgeous, of course (given that my sister is a total perfectionist). D was the officiant, and he was pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Some photos of the reception decor...

escort card display:


tablescapes:



the lounge area next to the dance floor:

Hawaii (Oahu, Days 3, 4 & 5)

Day 3:

The wedding wasn't until 4pm on the third day, so that morning, we met up with some friends who live in Honolulu. They brought some delicious (and cheap!) garlic chicken bento boxes from a hole-in-the-wall place called Mitsu-Ken's, and we ate at one of the picnic benches in Kuhio Beach Park.

Afterwards, we drove to Diamond Head Beach Park, and explored the beach a bit. It was much, much less crowded than Waikiki, and just as pretty:


We saw a couple of fishermen who had caught some eels, our friend explained to us about the darker, volcanic sand which we saw mixed in with the normal sand, and we did normal beach stuff like chasing waves and playing in the sand.

After a couple of hours, we headed back to our hotel to change for the wedding. We managed to get ourselves there a little bit early to check out the grounds of the Ihulani Resort, which was where the ceremony and reception were held. Everything in Hawaii is gorgeous, but the resort area is super gorgeous, with beautiful gardens and pools full of sea life (including stingrays and sharks). The wedding ceremony went off without a hitch, the seventy-odd guests appeared to have a fun time at the reception, and I myself much enjoyed the food, which was definitely above average for wedding food. The dessert was a "trio of brulees"; I've forgotten the flavors exactly, but I think one was coffee, one lilikoi (Hawaiian for passionfruit), and one vanilla. Yum.

Day 4:

We were leaving for Kauai on the fifth day, so we had a lot that we wanted to do on day four, which was also New Year's Eve. That morning, we drove up towards the North Shore, stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation for some pineapple soft-serve topped with pineapple chunks, and then proceeded on to Hale'iwa, where we had shave ice at the famous Matsumoto's. Afterwards, we stopped at several beaches along the North Shore, including Sunset Beach, and took lots of photos of surfers riding huge waves.

Here's one:


We had a late lunch at Romy's, one of the "shrimp shacks" near Turtle Bay, and then continued around the island to Kualoa Ranch:


There, we took a "Ranch and Movie Tour", during which they took us to the Ka'a'awa Valley and showed us some of the filming locations for Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, 50 First Dates, Godzilla, and more. My favorite was "Hurley's Golf Course" from the last couple of seasons of Lost. On the way back to Honolulu, we drove through the Valley of the Temples and stopped at the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout, which has a great view of the southeastern coast of Oahu.

For dinner, several of us went to Alan Wong's Restaurant. Since it was New Year's Eve, the menu was a fairly expensive prix fixe, but in the end it was worth it. We started with an ahi tuna amuse bouche, ate an appetizer of oyster, ikura (salmon roe), ahi, and crab, then had some kind of meat wrapped in a flaky pastry crust with two sauces, followed by an entree of our choice, and then an amazing dessert. I chose the rack of lamb, which was quite good, but I didn't eat much of it, because I kept eyeing the waiters who were carrying the dessert plates to other tables. When it finally came, I was really glad that I had saved room.

Here's a photo of our dessert:


On the far left is a "coconut" which is made out of a chocolate shell, encrusted in coconut flakes, with coconut ice cream inside. Next is a strawberry gelatin, followed by two kinds of cheesecake. On the far right is a crunchy chocolatey dessert that takes a little bit like a really good Kit-Kat bar; this was my favorite, especially because it had a cute little clock on top, in honor of the New Year's countdown.

After dinner, we went to the bride's parents' house, and set off firecrackers. Apparently, in Hawaii, everyone buys firecrackers in huge boxes from Costco; the cheapest box is $30 and has about 15-20 firecrackers inside. We certainly saw evidence of this on the drive over; every block had someone setting off small firecrackers, some on the sidewalk, some in their own backyards, and one person on his roof. As we got to the more residential areas, we even saw aerial fireworks, although it was a little scary when the ash rained down over our heads afterwards.

Here's a photo of one of ours:


Day 5:

We didn't do too much in Oahu on the last day, since we got home pretty late on New Year's Eve, so we slept in a bit the next day. Basically, we grabbed a quick brunch at Seaside Bar & Grill, a pretty cheap breakfast place in Waikiki, and then packed up our stuff and hung out in our hotel room for an hour or two until our flight. Then, it was off to the airport for the Kauai part of our trip!

new year

I got back to the Bay Area at 9am on the 31st.

New Year's Eve ended up being fun but pretty low-key this year; we watched some TV, and played board games and video games at a friend's house. Perhaps it was appropriate, given the circumstances.

What's the plan for 2005? As far as resolutions go, I've boiled it down to: a more regular workout routine, a more regular cooking routine, and better productivity (both home and work). Other than that, I think it's time to start off a good ski season, there are a couple of travel plans in the works for later this year, and as always, at least a couple of weddings to attend.

It may also be time to finally splurge and buy a new computer. Yes, I know I should build, but it takes me so long to get around to doing to all the research, that by the time I've picked a case (or a motherboard, or a graphics card), all of my other choices are obsolete. I figure for $500 I can find something ready-made, that's at least five times better than what I've got.

And, it's time to order new books. I finally got a chance to read some of the books that I'd been wanting to read, over my holiday vacation (all worth a look, but the first was by far the best): The Name of the Rose, The Da Vinci Code, The Forest Lover, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and The Rule of Four, so I'll be on the lookout for some new material.