31 May 2010

R: After my encounter with the puppy on Friday, I really wanted to see more animals. But there are limits to the kinds of animals one can see in the city, so B and I decided, rather ironically, to go see the caged animals at the Central Park Zoo. Okay, all I wanted to do was go to the petting zoo, but we made the rounds anyway...through hoards of people of course. After suffering the heat and the crowds though, we finally got to see the goats and llamas and one very lazy cow at the petting zoo.

The goats were half asleep and the one or two interested in eating were surrounded by eager children and parents. The llamas were cool, but a bunch of kids had found a way to cheat the pay-for-feed system and were stuffing some very happy alpacas with free foliage growing nearby. But the cow seemed to scare children due to it's lumbering size, and I knew when I saw it I wanted to hug it...and got a head butt for my efforts. I love cow.

C: Memorial Day. The long-anticipated marriage of who I will now refer to as Mr. and Mrs. Su-Han (it's more accurate than Sugarland, right, Su-han?). Despite having major wedding envy the entire morning, M and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Having known Su-han only since he started working at Harvard in late 2008 - and his girlfriend for less than half that amount of time - I was thrilled to see their personalities shine through every aspect of their day. The attention to detail was immaculate - the handwritten name cards and buttons (laid out in alphabetical order, no less, for easy identification), the uniqueness of their programs, the novelty of the bookshelf altar, the perfectly done color palette (you recognized but weren't saturated by it) - nothing seemed out of place or forced. The menu was nothing short of what M and I often talk about what we'll serve our guests on our own special day (Mom, don't worry - I promise I'll tell you when we actually get engaged, okay?): short ribs, bbq chicken, beef brisket, rice and beans, vegetables, cornbread, beer and sweet tea. It certainly brought to mind the delicious Cuban fare from our sister's wedding almost exactly a year ago.

In the end, the highlights of the day were those things that you can't replicate: the people. The groom's dad cheerfully greeted M and me when he realized that we were the ones moving to Houston. Slightly quirky (but not necessarily awkward) and definitely endearing, I could see a bit of our own Papa in him. Just when I thought I had fought off the misty-eyes of happiness during the vows, the bride and groom moved to embrace their parents and families. Despite Su-han's persistence that I'm not very Asian, nothing gets my gut more than older Asian generations (okay, so sometimes Latino families affect me similarly). They remind me of our dozens of Titos and Titas, Lolos and Lolas!

Being there as friends of the groom, M and I didn't get a chance to meet Ling's family prior to the ceremony. However, her father quickly made himself known when they announced the father-daughter dance, jumping out of his seat, arms raised in the air as he made his way to the floor like a contestant on The Price is Right - "Mr. K, come on down!" His bright enthusiasm, ear-to-ear smile, and casual rocking of the Converse sneakers also immediately reminded me of Papa, and I mentally kicked myself for having accidentally missed Rosama's dance with him last Summer because I followed Quel and Boy inside to cool off from the heat (Damn you, children). Anyway...perhaps one of the other things that I appreciated most was the overall lack of pretentiousness that typically plagues other weddings. This may very well be one of the most memorable and unique weddings we'll go to...ever.