Published Jul 26, 2006
I know I owe you all pictures of Southeast Asia, but, hey, first things first. Specifically, friends’ weddings first — because what could be more important than the happiness of ones’ friends? And a destination wedding, in beautiful Waikiki? Granted, I had to fly there right after arriving home from Southeast Asia, so, thanks to a 14-hour time change, I mostly slept through my mini-vacation.
Still, I got out a little first, between afternoons spent napping, evenings spent insomniac, and mornings spent sleeping in. I went down the coast a small distance to Diamond Head, a volcanic crater with a scenic view of Hawaii’s coastline and a site at the top from which to see said view. At the tip-top of the crater’s rim is an old US military installation, Fort Ruger, which was once used to site Oahu’s defensive costal artillery. Naturally, such a location would have a great, unimpeded view, and that was just what I got:
The trail up was steep, including stairs at several points, and also a fairly long tunnel, but not that difficult — about 45 minutes to an hour up.
Then I had a Hawaiian dinner, featuring three different kinds of shredded pork, and slept as much as possible in the following hours, to save up for the wedding. And it was worth every horrible minute of sleep! Joyce looked beautiful, Shawn looked handsome, the ceremony was meaningful and mercifully brief, the buffet was tasty, the music, played by one of Shawn’s childhood friends, was lovely, the bar was open, and everything was in very good taste and run to a tight schedule (Shawn, who reputedly planned the whole thing, later stated that it was “good practice for his new job as a Project Manager”).
This was a particularly adorable wedding because the bride and groom were so perfectly matched — I can’t imagine a better couple than this. Congratualtions to both of you, Shawn and Joyce! I hope I can learn something from your great relationship and your wonderful wedding.