2012 March

Archive for March 2012

Jeff and Tracy’s Beautiful Wedding

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Ching under Events, Family, Travel.

Brian and I just got back from cousin Tracy and Jeff’s beautiful destination wedding which was held at Coral Cove Resort in Little Bay, Jamaica. For those of you who haven’t tied the knot yet, I think destination weddings are a brilliant alternative to traditional weddings. You can actually save a lot of money because many resorts will throw you a wedding for FREE!

Couples has a “One Love” package which includes a bouquet for the bride, boutonniere for the groom, wedding cake and sparkling wine toast for up to ten guests, two signature champagne flutes, wedding officiant and marriage certificate, personal wedding planner and on property coordinator, “Just Married” shirts for the bride and groom, and 25-minute couples massage that’s free if you book at least 6 nights at one of their resorts. They don’t cover the $250 government licensing and administrative fee that everyone getting married in Jamaica has to pay, but where else can you get married for a measly $250? Can’t beat that!

If you aren’t quite sold on the idea of a destination wedding, just wait until you see the photos from the wedding this weekend. It’s so beautiful and romantic that I almost booked a vow renewal trip on the spot.

The guys right before the ceremony.

Viola and Terri before the wedding.

Shoes are optional. 😉

Brian and his mom.

I love how the pink color of the bridesmaids’ dresses contrasts against the beautiful blue sky and sea. The ladies were stunning!

Brian’s dad walked cousin Tracy down the aisle and gave her away. She looked radiant in her wedding gown.

Jeff and cousin Tracy made a handsome couple.

Some post-wedding photos…

Here are some photos of me and Brian and some of the other guests.

Post-wedding celebration…

Everyone had a great time! I can’t wait for the next destination wedding that Brian and I will be invited to attend. Hmmm… Maybe Pia and JP are next?

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Ching is on a Foreign Films Kick

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Ching under Movies, Spanish.

As you can recall, I got into some Swedish films a while back around the time that the American adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came out. I watched all three Swedish films in the series pretty much back to back right before we saw Daniel Craig’s film. These days I’m into Spanish language films. I figured that it’s a great way to practice Spanish.

I recently watched Guillermo Del Toro’s El Orfanato (the regular DVD version is actually only $5 on Amazon) based on a friend’s recommendation and thoroughly enjoyed it. I noticed that I could follow along pretty well even without the English subtitles. That’s what got me the idea of watching Spanish language films for practice. I got several really good recommendations from friends on Facebook and have added most of them to my Netflix queue. I’m really excited.

A couple of titles were mentioned that I had already seen before, but I wouldn’t mind watching them over and over again so I went ahead and bought them. One is my absolute favorite Guillermo Del Toro film, El Laberinto del Fauno. The other is Volver, which is Jenni’s favorite. I’m really looking forward to watching both movies again, as it has been a while since I’ve seen them.

The other day I watched Silent Light, which I thought was really great for learning to speak Spanish because it had Spanish subtitles. It helps to read the words and see the action. The movie was pretty good, but I wouldn’t really care to watch it again. I didn’t really care for the director’s style, which was to drag out all of the scenes. It made the movie progress very slowly. I think other people would have been bored and given up. Were it not for my desire to learn Spanish, I probably would have gotten bored as well. Brian probably would have complained the entire time if he were watching it with me, so I’m kind of glad he wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong. The movie had a pretty profound message and it was filmed beautifully. I just didn’t care for the style. I also thought it was kind of weird. There was a sex scene between Johan and his mistress Marianne that left me wondering if people really had intercourse that way or just the Mennonites. Then there was the scene at the end where Marianne kisses Esther’s corpse on the lips and the dead body slowly comes back to life (because all the scenes drag out for several minutes). I was like, “She did not just kiss that dead body!” I know it’s a metaphor. I get it! But understanding the movie’s message doesn’t make it any less weird. LOL.

The Motorcycle Diaries came highly recommended, so I guess I’m watching that next. IF you guys have other Spanish language films that you think I should see, please be sure to post them in the comments. I always love getting movie suggestions.

By the way, now that I’ve found this web page I’ll probably start blogging in Spanish for practice. I’ve already started posting Spanish status updates on Facebook, but without putting the proper symbols above the letters. So far the response from my Spanish-speaking amigos has been quite positive and has given me the confidence to take the plunge and start blogging in Spanish occasionally. Thank you so much to you, dear reader, for your support, encouragement, and patience as I try to learn this new language. ¡Hasta luego!

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Finally Caught the Flying Stove

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Our FOODIES blog crashed last night, but it was all for the best. Were it not for the blog crashing, I would not have realized that the domain expires this year. See there’s always a silver lining, even when disasters happen. That’s the eternal optimist in me. Anyway, I’ve decided not to renew the domain when it expires in September so I’m going to return to doing all of my food blogging here. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up. All of the old FOODIES blog entries will still be accessible here, so not to worry if you’re looking for that sangria recipe or food picture or restaurant review.

With all that said, let me tell you about our first food truck experience. We’d been trying to catch The Flying Stove since BJ mentioned it on Facebook. However, since the truck moves around to various locations and with our busy work schedules, it’s been quite challenging. Yesterday, I saw a note on Facebook that they were going to be in front of Abode. Brian and I figured this was our chance to try it.

Here’s what the food truck looks like, in case you’re looking for it.

This is a photo of Brian placing our food order.

Jenni, who happened to be downtown at the same time, met us there. She ordered the Korean bulgogi, which is great for someone on a low-carb, high protein diet because they’re basically protein tacos — meat wrapped in lettuce. Holy cow! When she got that thing, it smelled so good! I kind of wish I would have ordered it. However, that feeling subsided after my first bite of the bahn mi.

This thing had such amazing flavor. I’m not a huge fan of bahn mis but, if they all tasted like this one, I would have been converted sooner. It had to be the most delicious bahn mi I’d ever tasted. It had just the right amount of spiciness to it. Brian was actually surprised that I liked it as much as I did because I’m not a big fan of spicy foods. This was just the right combination of sweet and spicy, though. The little kick at the end is perfect.

We wanted to sample as much of the food as we could because we weren’t sure if we’d ever see the food truck again, so we also ordered a couple of turkey sliders. So we both had a turkey slider each and then half of a bahn mi. It’s really too much food for that late at night, but this month is screwed anyway (with the ice cream I ate the other day and all the soda I’ve been drinking and all the eating out) that we figured might as well splurge (notice I didn’t say binge; binge is a bad word).

The turkey sliders were good, but not nearly as good as the bahn mi. So when you finally try The Flying Stove, don’t bother looking at the menu. Just get the bahn mi. It is the best thing that they make, hands down.

Here’s a picture of the menu for those of you who are curious what else they offer. You don’t need it, though. Bahn mi is all you need to know. The Korean bulgogi is probably a close second, but it’s quite messy to eat when you’re not sitting down. The bahn mi is the perfect on the go food.

Here’s a picture of Jenni eating her Korean bulgogi while trying not to make a mess in the car. See what I mean? Anyway, I have a feeling that we will be following The Flying Stove around this summer. LOL!

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Look, I Haven’t Killed It (Yet)

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Ching under Life.

I’m in charge of watering Jan’s orchid while she’s off work recovering. I just wanted to show everyone that, despite my occasional forgetfulness, I’ve managed to keep it alive. I’m just really glad that it’s an orchid because orchids are relatively easy to care for. Were it any other plant, I think it would have been dead by now. LOL.

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Reminiscing

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Ching under Life.

A couple of years ago today, Brian and I were at Derby High School to watch a production where Logan was cast one of the Munchkins. While there we perused the wall of senior pictures.