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| We did it!
On the 29th day of April, James and I got married in the Shatin Marriage Registry in Hong Kong. A handful of friends joined us - our two witnesses Allan and Adam; Jesse our volunteer photographer; fellow devotees from Gaudiya Math; and a couple of my co-workers; and friends from Shenzhen.
Clad in our Indian salwar kameez courtesy of our friends Vinnie and Sunny of the Spice Circle Restaurant (where we had our dinner celebration in Shenzhen), the ceremony lasted about 15 minutes. Lunch followed at the nearby Ruby Tuesday\'s. All went well.
We crossed the border back to Shenzhen and rested in the afternoon for a dinner celebration with about 50 peeps. In the usual James and Lila fashion, we were late to our own party. More happy times followed. We kept telling ourselves how blessed we are to be surrounded by good friends.
We came home that evening and packed. Early next morning, we were headed to the Philippines for a week long vacation and wedding celebration (again) with my friends and family there. More about that one on my next entry.
Meanwhile, here are some links to the wedding in HK and celebration in Shenzhen.
Jesse\'s Photos
http://photogiving.smugmug.com/gallery/2851113#152889608
My Flickr Albums
Wedding in Shatin http://www.flickr.com/photos/lila75/sets/72157600216311357/
Party in Spice Circle http://www.flickr.com/photos/lila75/sets/72157600217742636/
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| So little time. I'm only half-way finished with Paul Theroux's The Happy Isles of Oceania. Apparently, we have a lot in common with our Pacific islander friends - the way we interchange P and F (like one of my aunts would say, 'pifty pesos'), the unhurried attitude, some myths like people originating from plants or sea creatures (ours is the story of "malakas" which means strong and "maganda" which means beautiful coming out of a split bamboo stalk) and the language (they say wangka, we say bangka). It's an interesting, informative read. However, I feel like I'm reading a textbook. It is somewhat dry and aloof.
The rest of my line up include Zadie Smith's The Autograph Man, Bob Seidensticker's Future Hype (The Myths of Technology Change), Haruki Murakami's Kakfa on the Shore, Manil Suri's The Death of Vishnu, and a classic (you gotta have one once in a while) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
As for my religious books, I still haven't finished Jaiva Dharma and haven't even started with the Fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Sigh.
Xanga is now blocked from China so I'm using a proxy server. Can't upload pics through this proxy though so no pictures from now on. Or until middle kingdom decides to be friends with Xanga again. Anyhow a friend recommended another proxy site but I don't know how to do html.
By the way, this blogger is going to couplesville soon. Yep, as in tying the knot. James and I will have our civil wedding in Hong Kong on the 29th and be on our way to Manila soon afterwards. Needless to say, we're both very excited (there I just said it).
I signed up with another blog site. I'm still feeling my way around that one but as soon as I'm settled, I think I'll be posting from there. Will post the link here soon.
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| I consider Ole!, that grocery shop in the basement of MixC Mall, as a wonderland. It has microwavable popcorn, all kinds of imported chocolates, cookies, different kinds of pasta and sauces, even pesto! I feel such joy because there, I can read the labels on everything and actually know what they are for. An officemate had been using "shampoo" that he bought from a local grocery. It turned out to be bodywash. That's one of the many disadvantages of being illiterate as far as Chinese characters go. Anyway, James and I took a friend to Ole! last weekend. The newbie has been in Shenzhen for only a month so we thought of doing him a favor by showing where to get "essential" stuff. As soon as we entered the grocery, he burst out "Oh my god! Look at this! They have Nature's Path cereals!" He kept exclaiming about the things from home (that's the U.S.) that he kept finding inside the store. "Oh my god! Swiss Miss! That's like real hot chocolate!" He picked up things, uttered their names and exclaimed again and again until James chided "alright, you're not allowed to say 'oh my god' anymore." Or "look at this" I added. We were ogling at the blue corn chips from Garden of Eatin' when another expat showed up and pointed at how expensive they were. He is one of James' many friends. True, the prices in Ole! are high but if that means not having to cross the border to Hong Kong just to buy cheese, I would gladly pay. Once when I was checking out of Ole!, I was suddenly approached by two guys, one with a microphone and another with his big video camera aimed at me. Instant interview. "Do you like to shop in Ole!?" "Yes, I love Ole!" "What do you buy here?" I was actually there just to get stuff for that time of the month but I answered, "Cheese...and wheat bread." I was nervous they'd make me open my grocery bag but they let me go. Whew. | | |
| It's Tuesday but my body is still sore from Sunday's yoga class. That only goes to show how out of shape I am. In the class, I sweated and panted like I was running in a marathon. I panicked at some point when our teacher Amy pulled my shoulders so far back when I was doing the cobra pose (bhujangasana). I know the asana is supposed to promote flexibility in the spine but I thought I'd end up with a broken back. I ended up OK. I guess good teachers know how far to push their students or if at all they need to do that. Also, I now have a new favorite pose, the plow pose (halasana). I constantly suffer backaches and it's just the right remedy for it. I also found out that the pose helps relieve insomnia. I slept well that night but it was because I was tired. Anyway, I'm glad to go back to yoga after a two-month hiatus. It was good see old yoga classmates Meg and Darcy and new ones Adam, Jesse and Susan. | | |
|  I turned 32 yesterday. I decided not to mope around dusty town Fenggang this time, so I invited several co-workers and my friends in Shenzhen to have a fun dining in Banana Leaf Restaurant on Fuhua 1st Road. Leave it to the Pinoy singers there to guarantee a night full of laughs, music and dance. As I grow older, I realize the importance of surrounding myself with the right people. Friends who are good hearted smart, funny, dependable, and full of life. I'm lucky to have so many of them. Cheers to my colleagues, Joey, Maffy, Macoy, Jo, Lynn, Sonny and Megan who make my work life more tolerable (or should I say who can tolerate working with me); Cindy, JV and Darcy, fellow Pisceans who are simply so likable and easy to get along with; fellow vegetarians Jesse, Susan, Bob, Adam and James, who are saving the world one cow (and pig and chicken and fish) at a time; Louie, fellow yoga enthusiast and UP grad; and the dashing Ranajit, who I will forever associate the song "Zombie" with. And last hollah to the BF, James who, besides lovingly enabling my shopaholic tendencies, is there for me in all kinds of good and bad times. And to those who missed the party, well..I guess that calls for another one.
More pics of the birthday bash here. | | |
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