Honeymoon Part 3

I've been a horrible blogger. I can't believe the last time I've posted was more than a year ago and I've left a series of posts unfinished. Needless to say, lots have happened between then and now. No worries, my wife and I are still married and in love. Haha, I hope I didn't scare you there. So I will start with finishing our honeymoon.

We arrived in HK on a late spring night. Our hotel was the W just on the other side of the sea. The express train took us directly there (well sort of; we still had a great deal of walking to do). The hotel was fabulous and we love it. HK though, was a bit disappointing. It has certainly changed a lot since I last visited as a child. It was harder to find local restaurants than before (perhaps I was hitting all the wrong places). We didn't have that great of a culinary experience while we were there. The tourists sites were nice but a bit too touristy. Then again, that's why they are called tourist sites, right? The biggest impression I had with HK by the time we left (we've spent 2 days there) was that it felt like an extended mall and we hated malls. Plus, there seem to be more people from the mainland and overseas than the locals. It's just feels very commercial and not very relaxing at all.

Anyways, we got a the train after our HK days were over and went up to GZ. I knew from reading news reports and family members that GZ has changed a lot since I left. Most of the old districts were gone but part of it still remains. Knowing how much my wife loved traditional Chinese culture, I booked a hotel room for us at the heart of the old district. Despite taxi drivers refusing to take us there (the streets are too narrow and crowed), it was a great choice! Our hotel was right on top of the walking-and-shopping district and street food is EVERYWHERE! We even found a restaurant that serves you Korean BBQ and hot pot at the same time and it was all you can eat!

The good thing was that we used the subway to get around and it was half of a mile one way from our hotel to the nearest subway station so we were able to walk off the food we ate. While at GZ, I took my wife to all the famous sites and museums and she really enjoyed them all. She also met the maternal side of my family for the first time and to my surprise, they all got along really well despite most of them do not speak English. I've also met up with my childhood friend and they took us all over the old district one day just so we can take photos.

Overall, despite the influx of people from other provinces and the eradication of the Cantonese culture, we still loved our time at GZ. The food, the arts & culture, and the people we love were all too awesome not to miss.

Honyemoon Part II

The day after our wedding, we hopped on a plane and started our honeymoon. Long before that moment, in fact before we were engaged, we have discussed where we would go for honeymoon. My wife loves China so much she always wanted to go back and visit parts she has not been to before. For me, I haven't set foot in China since I was a teenager and have two elderly grandparents that I must visit. So we've decided to go back to my hometown, Guangzhou.

But to add to the trip, we decided to first stop in Hong Kong for a bit since everyone should visit HK at least once in their life time to see what the jizz is about. Well, I've been there as a child so I thought it would be a good trip for my wife. Anyways, our flight was with Korean Air with a layover at Seoul. The flight was long and while the flright attendants did a good job I was still really tired when we landed in Seoul to transfer onto another flight. Despite how tired I was, the Seoul airport still amazed me. It's probably the biggest and most comprehensive airport I've ever been to. Just imagine it as being an airport terminal + hotel + shopping mall + ice skating ring. Not to mention the large number of restaurants in there and all the Hello Kitty stores. They certainly know how to make your trip feel shorter in Korea.

To be continued...

Wedding & Honeymoon, Part I

So we are back from our honeymoon to Hong Kong and Guangzhou. It was a long trip since the flight was near 24 hours each way when you include lay-over time. Anyways, I suppose I should write about the wedding first before we get to the honeymoon part.

I don't remember if I've told you all before, but our wedding was at the zoo. Originally, we were going to have our ceremony at the Gorilla deck then reception at the Panda's place. But the day of the wedding, we've checked the weather and it turns out it would get really chilly at night. In order to avoid making everyone miserable, we would have to move the reception indoors. When we first signed our contract with the zoo, they've told us that once we've decided to move our wedding indoors, we would have to move both the ceremony and the reception indoors. That would have been terrible since we paid a small fortune of money to put red lanterns up in the Panda's place and the color there (i.e. red & gold) resembles the theme of our wedding and matches Lisette's dress perfectly. Fortunately, I was able to convince the zoo to set up the ceremony in the Panda's and move only the reception indoors. It worked out perfectly at the end!

Here is a sneek peek of what it looked like. Enjoy!

http://lorenrouthierphotography.com/sean-lisette/

We are getting married!

It's only 7 days left till our wedding! Time has gone by really fast. This time next week we'll be husband and wife and within 24 hours after that we'll be on a plane to HK and China for our honeymoon! I can't wait!

An update that's a bit late...just a bit

My firm's network was attacked by a new virus that no one has seen before. So that's why I got the chance to update this blog. It's been a long while since the last post, 10 months to be exact. Life between work, school, and wedding planning just sucks up a lot of time. Well, we did manage to take several days off and visited San Francisco again. My fiance got her Qi Pao made there. In fact, I think we should call the tailor and see where things are with that dress. Anyways, the plan hasn't changed and we are on track to get married next April despite there are still many items to take care of between now and then.

We did get our engagement photos done though. That was a bit more stressful and weird than I've anticipated. I looked so unnatural (in terms of gestures and positions) in some of them. But I am glad that's behind us. Anyways, to anyone who actually reads this, Happy Be-lated Thanksgiving! May you enjoy the holidays to come!

TV show you should watch

There is this new show being played in China named My Natasha.  It was centered around a love story that spanned for more than 40 years.  If you are interested in seeing a Chinese show with a non-traditional female lead, this is definitely a must.  But be careful, it only has Chinese subtitles.  Enjoy!



http://tv.sohu.com/s2011/wdnts/

A long overdue update

It's a little hard to believe that the last post I've made on here was back in July.  No worries.  Nothing terrible has happened and I have not decided to abandon this.  It's just that I am working full time and going to school and things can get really busy.  There is something going on every week sometimes I feel like I am reliving my life week after week.  I am glad my fiance is patient with me.

Anyways, we got the place nailed down for the wedding, got the photographer, the DJ, and we are definitely working on the remaining items.  Since the wedding is not until Spring of 2013, I think we are on track.  One of the things we have not yet done is to pick out a dress.  That will be done sometime in the Fall of 2012.  My fiance wants a Qipao or Qipao style dress.  We think Shanghai Tang in NYC would work out.  They have really good tailor made Qipao dresses, at least from the website it looked that way, and we are hoping it will fit our budget.  So fingers crossed.

Well, I guess this will be the update for now.  My brain is pretty empty at the moment and I can't think of anything that I really need to write down.  So see you at the next post!