so after lunch on friday, i chilled out a bit, and then it was time for the rehearsal dinner in lomita. we went to this szechuan seafood place on PCH. my two cousins and i were stuck at the kid's table. there were a couple of other cousins i had never met before, and two of them had two little kids. the four of them left early, so there was food for 10 people for the remaining 6 of us. wow. they brought out two huge fish dishes, and i'm not a big fish eater. needless to say, i didn't eat much. they also served peking duck, but the skin wasn't very crispy.
saturday, my cousin shirley came back, and we celebrated her birthday early with another chinese banquet feast. funny, the food was almost identical to the food the previous night (fish, peking duck, which was better this time).
after that, geoff, pak, nelson and maddie came by and picked me up. we went to long beach again for pinkberry. (yes, x-gf, this was the one on broadway.) this time, i got the green tea with mochi and captain crunch. the fro yo is starting to grow on me, and actually, i'm starting to crave it now.
after that, we went to the aquarium and look at the various sea creatures there. i wanted to pet the stingrays, but i was afraid i'd pull a steve irwin and get stung to death. i heard that they were slimy. we went in at 4:45 and got half off price tickets, and the place closed at 6pm.
after that, we crossed the street and went to the mai tai bar to get some appetizers and cheap drinks (happy hour) and catch some of the patriots/giants game. i got a long beach (not island) iced tea, but it wasn't very strong. then, we went downstairs to bubba gump (yes, totally touristy) for dinner. i got a bushmills, but it was sour for some reason.
after that, they dropped me off, and my cousins and i went to go see _juno_ at 10:20. i had been wanting to see this movie for a while now, especially since ebert named this movie his #1 of 2007. it was a cute movie, and the lead actress (ellen page?) did a good job. i didn't like jennifer garner, though; the movie made it seem like there was something fishy with her character. the movie theater was packed.
the next day was all wedding, literally. i got up, dressed, and headed out. the ceremony festivities started at 1pm (the place is like a wedding factory, with strict time slots; they had 1-3pm). it was a really beautiful location. it's called the wayfarers chapel in rancho palos verdes, a glass church with heated stone walls with views of the pacific ocean. the ceremony was short and sweet (6 bridesmaids dressed in blue and 6 groomsmen), and the reception immediately afterwards was in la venta inn in palos verdes estates. i was disappointed they didn't have whiskey; they only had beer, champagne and wine.
the maid of honor's and best man's speeches were made immediately after the introduction of the wedding party, and they were really good. oh, and i had a cigarette break with the dj, matt. he turned out to be a singer in a punk rock band on his off days. cool. i mingled a tiny bit, but the kids were so young. (the stanford friend were all class of 2002, and i'm class of 1996, just to give you an idea.) i mainly stayed with my family. the fathers of the couple gave toasts, and the groom's dad cried at the end. touching.
the wedding ended at 9pm, but we left at 8. thank goodness for my GPS. my brother left early, but the road he wanted to take was blocked off, so we used my GPS to lead him to the right roads. i think everyone should get one.
after we came back, i said goodbye to my cousin shirley; she had to drive back to san diego and work the next day. she got me this mocha vitasoy which was pretty good. and the whole family was disappointed the lakers lost to the celtics. sometimes i get jealous that their whole family is more cohesive and together than mine; my family is more like a collection of individuals with different agendas.
this morning, i got up at 7 so my parents could take me to dave & carolyn (plus little dylan!)'s place. baby dylan is so cute (he's one and a half). they have a cute little house, and we had breakfast and caught up. dave's got big plans for renovations, though. he got this house layout planning software and showed me what he wants to do. cool stuff.
around 10 or so, they dropped me off at the airport. i used the skycap service for the first time because the line inside was super-long. i tipped $1. is that normal? (i would have tipped more, but i only had one single dollar bill.) my flight was at 12:40 (and it was delayed by a little bit), so i hit the gordon biersch place and ordered a whiskey (glenfidditch 12 year) and some spinach/artichoke dip. damn, i thought they were going to have garlic fries. i watched part of the cal/air force game and text'ed grace the score.
they card everywhere and everyone in LA. this old dude got carded, and he asked the bartender if he wanted to see his NAACP card. :)
ok, so now i'm back. it's good to be home, except when i stepped into my house, it was FORTY-NINE degrees inside. *shivers*