Chris's Wedding in Princeton!

My friend Chris called me last year and asked me if I would be a groomsman in his wedding.  It's always an honor to be considered for that, and about a year later, Chris married Priya in Princeton, NJ.

It's been a while since I've flown out to the East coast to visit Chris.  I visited him while he still lived in Manhattan, and there were other times he'd coordinate visits to see Mike with me.  So I decided to fly into Jersey a little early and hang out a night with Chris in Hoboken where he and Priya currently live.  I got in around 7pm on Thursday night and had heard about how Hoboken was one of the top cities in the nation for singles to mingle.  Hoboken is really, really small (1 square mile), so everything is pretty much walking distance from Chris's apartment.  When we left apartment, we were immediately called upon by a girl in her early 20's who had just parked her car across the street and was asking if she could get a help carrying her beer and boxed wine.  She was walking in the same direction as us, so we offered her a hand and as we were walking, she was very friendly, saying how she was having a bunch of her girlfriends over for drinks.  We dropped the beer and wine off with her at an intersection a block later where her friends were just about to pull up and went on our way to dinner.  It made for a funny story.  Chris says that has never happened to him, but the one day Single Andy comes to visit, go figure!  Lol.  Hoboken was pretty much what I expected and lived up to it's standards: lots of young people, most of them you could tell were fresh out of the college scene.  If I were maybe 10 years younger, I probably would want to live here myself!  After hitting a couple bars and scouting the environment, we turned in...with Chris forcing me to go to bed early at around 2am EST, which is 11pm back in AZ!  Oy, somehow I managed to get a full night of rest and set myself to the east coast schedule.

On Friday, Chris and I hopped a train to Princeton, which is about 45 minutes away.  We were greeted by his father and brother, who gave us a ride to the Mens Wearhouse to grab our tuxes and then we checked into the hotel around 4pm.  I grabbed a couple Yuenglings at the bar and then the had dinner with Chris's family and relatives at Tre Piani, a nice restaurant inside the same plaza as the Westin.  After dinner, Chris and I stayed up and had some drinks at the Salt Creek Grille, but called it a night fairly early since there aren't really any bars in that plaza and they aren't open very late. :(

Saturday morning, the groomsmen were scheduled to play a round of golf at the TPC Jasna Polana, the same venue where the American Ceremony and reception was to be held.  When we arrived, I was immediately told that I couldn't play with cargo shorts on (I don't own any other khaki pants), so I had to buy a pair of shorts from the pro shop. :( The golf course is a really beautiful course, it's just too bad I suck at golf!  There were 6 of us playing, all individual stroke play, and Chris ended up with the best score of 82, with his father shortly behind at 84.  Yours truly shot a 139, but I did manage to hit my first par ever on hole 11, a par 3 where I shot into the rough, chipped it onto the green, and then sank a 12-foot putt for par!  Hey, for $170 (the shorts were $70) I made sure I was going to enjoy this round of golf and I did! :) In fact, I actually think I played better than I usually do!

Saturday evening was the rehearsal and dinner at Salt Creek Grille.  Mike & Keri, Nate & Elizabeth, and Kyle & Jamie were the other friends from Scottsdale who came to Chris and Priya's wedding.  There's not a whole lot to do in that plaza, no real bars other than the hotel lobby, but I guess it wasn't the night to stay out late and get hammered with a long wedding day ahead the next day.

Chris and Priya had two ceremonies arranged on their wedding day: a Hindu ceremony in the morning and a Christian ceremony in the evening.  The Hindu ceremony was really interesting and something I have never experienced before, so to be also in it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  It started with a Barrat, where the groom traditionally rides on a chariot pulled by a stallion, is accompanied by his family and friends, and the entire crowd walks over to greet the bride's family and friends.  However, in the modern world we live in, Priya chose to have Chris ride in on the back of a Lamborghini, which was absolutely hilarious!  Then all of Chris's family and friends danced in the street and parking lot outside the Westin for about 30 minutes, LOL.  I felt kind of bad for them since they had no idea what they were getting into, but they were all champs and danced for the entire period!

When the groom meets the bride, apparently he's supposed to be carried up and in.  This wasn't part of the rehearsal, but I was standing next to Chris at the time the MC asked me to pick him up, so I had to carry him for a good 5 minutes for the ceremony as you can see below.  Pretty interesting and funny stuff for sure!

There was a beautiful arrangement set up for the Hindu ceremony at the Princeton Westin.  I stood to the right of the main seating area where Chris and Priya and their parents all partook in a series of symbolic traditions.  There was a lot of flicking rice on the couple, sprinkling spices into a fire, passing around a coconut to both sides of the family and in the audience to receive everyone's blessing, and placing a toe ring on Priya's foot.  It ran for about an hour (which was pretty intense to stand the whole time through), but apparently it was even shorter than most traditional Hindu ceremonies that usually run over 2 hours.

After the Hindu ceremony, a catered lunch buffet of Indian food was provided and I was so impressed by the quality and variety of choices.  I for one love Indian food and wish I had the stomach (and time) to have eaten more than one plate.  After I scarfed down what I could, I went out for pictures and went up to my room to shower and change into my tuxedo for the evening.  The American ceremony was only a couple hours a away and at a different venue, so we had to be ready to be picked up by the limousine in almost no time.

The Christian ceremony would be held at the Jasna Polana, which is where the groomsmen played a round of golf the day earlier.  It was pretty standard and more of what you're used to.  Quick 20-minute ceremony that I think got shortened because it was really humid and everyone was sweating.  The reception followed shortly after and was a blast, mostly because weddings are slightly more fun when you're in them than when you're just spectating.  Having Mike, Kyle, and Nate there also made it more enjoyable as well!  I don't remember drinking that much to be honest, but apparently I did.  I sometimes think that I drink so much on a regular basis where it becomes harder and harder to actually get drunk...is that possible?  Anyway, a long and busy day for me but an amazing and excellent wedding to be a part of.  Thanks and congratulations to Chris and Priya!

The Big 3-Oh!

I entered the 4th decade of my life this last Friday.  Usually for my birthday, I just do something small like a get together in Tucson for one night.  Over the last few years ever since I started "Making It Happen", I have been traveling and going out of my way to visit people, attend their weddings and celebrations, etc.  While it doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary, I began to realize how much I actually spend indirectly on other people.  For example, I just spent $2,000 on a plane ticket and Visa to go to my friend James' wedding in Brazil in October.  So I started thinking, why not spend more on myself?  For my 30th birthday, I decided I go full out and really treat myself.  So I booked 5 rooms at the Hyatt and planned this amazing weekend in Scottsdale where I would do basically everything that I wanted to do for a change.  I was pleased with the results and how everything turned out!

My birthday was on Friday August 16th and Ann drove me up to the Phoenix area at noon, arriving in Tempe where I had a sushi lunch at Teharu.  My friend Lucky, Dori, and Mike from Seattle joined me in taking down a few plates of sushi and I enjoyed a sake bomb.  Barry showed up shortly after.

The plan was to have lunch at 2pm, and afterwards I picked up a bottle of Goose, Jameson, Patron, and 2 30 packs of beer and headed to the Scottsdale Hyatt at Gainey Ranch.  I checked into the resort around 4pm and was greeted by a note from Nate and Elizabeth (and Casey) wishing me a happy birthday.  I put on my swim trunks, filled a small cooler of beer, and Jeff, Jennie, Ben, and Ham joined the party where we all enjoyed some pool volleyball for a couple hours.  When I got back to the room, the resort had left a bottle of champagne in my room as well as a plate of chocolates for my birthday!  I also asked them to put a cot in each room for more comfortable sleeping arrangements for everyone and they did it on the house.  The Hyatt really took care of me this weekend, but I guess when you drop a G on 5 rooms they are gonna give you a little special treatment. :)

 

Dinner was at the Village Tavern that night, so we all got dressed up to go eat and then head out to Old town afterwards.  Chris, Anthony, Nate, Elizabeth, Cooper, Wes, Ryan, and Jessica all joined me at dinner, so there were about 15 people there.  I ordered the 16oz prime rib with a bottle of red wine that Jennie and I split, but the steak was so filling I couldn't finish my sides of mashed potatoes and mac 'n cheese. :( Thanks Wes for buying my dinner!

From dinner we all headed straight to Old Town Scottsdale.  I started off at Dos Gringos since it's a large venue with plenty of room for everyone.  But in actuality, it was really hot at that bar and since there were only 15 in my party, I decided to move to Gilligan's.  Dori, Teqas, Kurth, Josh, Tina, and Tyler would all join me at Gilligans', where I proceeded to drink to my heart's content (someone always made sure there was a drink in my hand).  I spun the wheel but ended up with a Blue Waffle (it's just pure food coloring, no alcohol) so I threw that out right away.  Instead, Wes decided to get me a plunger shot of Buttery Nipple with green food coloring. :/ I knew what it would do to my mouth if I drank that shit, so I forced both Wes and Ann to do it first.  After they did, I was like okay, I'll go ahead and take the rest. :P

My goal for the weekend was to have 30 drinks across the two days, and I think I crushed about 20 in the first day alone.  I lost track of count, but I was feeling pretty good by the end of the night.  I couldn't get super-hammered since I knew I had a long day ahead on Saturday as well, but I was pretty drunk to say the least.

On Saturday, I started off with a lunch buffet at the Wandering Horse inside the Talking Stick casino.  I invited my parents to lunch, who met many of my friends for the first time.  Lunch was pretty pleasant as additional attendants such as Brian, Kelly, Amber, Ryan, Lucky, Jen, Jon, and another Anthony joined the party train.  The plan was to gamble for a couple hours afterwards, but only Anthony, Barry, and I hit the blackjack table.  For my birthday, I bought in for $500 and really let my gambling go loose, playing two hands at a time at $25 a hand.  Blackjack has it's ups and downs and I ended up $350 down by the end, but it was still very entertaining (Anthony ended up winning about $400 and Barry $100 so collectively the group did well!).

After gambling, I headed back to the Hyatt for more pool time, this time playing a couple games of 3-on-3 and 2-on-2 pool basketball.  I really scraped up the bottom of my toes pushing off the pool deck, but it was worth it how fun real pool basketball is. :D I also was an idiot and tried to do a backflip in the water, but forgot that the pool I was in at the time was only 3 feet deep.  As a result, I have a huge scrape on my forehead.  Hopefully it doesn't leave a scar!  Everyone called me "Asian Harry Potter" the rest of the weekend, haha.  At the pool, I got to see Matt, Pamela, their son Ryan, Jonny, and Jody for a brief period as well.

The night would end at Jeff's house, were I bought 9 pizzas from Barro's to feed everyone.  More people showed up throughout the night and it was a pretty chill night of beer pong, pool, and hookah.  Ann baked me a StarCraft with a tiny Duncan decoration on top that we all enjoyed.  Thanks Ann!  And at the end of the night, Lucky and Jeff sprayed me with a couple bottles of champagne and I pretended that I was LeBron James winning the NBA championship. :P

Everyone ducked out of the party by like 1am, but the after party continued at the Hyatt where their pools never close.  I finally passed out around 3am.

The only thing left on the list was Senor Taco for lunch on Sunday before we headed back to Tucson.  It was about a 20-minute detour, but I think it was well worth it as everyone seemed to enjoy what they got.  I mean, how can you not?  It's Senor Taco! :) The weekend was concluded and overall it was mission accomplished!  Even though several people didn't show and a few key people were missing, I did myself right by really going full out for my 30th birthday.

People ask how it feels to be 30 and to be honest, I feel accomplished.  I feel like I have gotten my life to the stage I want it at and to do that by the age of 30 is an achievement.  People ask me what my goals are for this decade are or what I want to do next, but when you get to this age and realize how good a life you have, there's not really much left to ask for!  Anyway, it was a amazing celebration and I'm very proud of the person I've become after 30 years!  Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and for helping Make It Happen!

R.I.P. Tree

The Tucson monsoons hit pretty hard this year and one of the first storms knocked over the mesquite tree in my front yard. :( As you can see in the picture, it didn't fall over completely, but the wind was strong enough to uproot the tree and force it leaning.  Leaning Tower of Treesa let's call it, heh.

Fortunately, the tree wasn't in danger of falling into the house and if it did fall over completely, it'd probably just roll into my neighbors driveway.  I contemplated on what to do with the tree.  Do I save it or just remove it?  The tree doesn't provide enough shade to cool the house down (unlike the two in my backyard that are big enough), so it was there purely for aesthetic value. 

This tree also required the most trimming of any of my trees.  My neighbor would come over to my house and ask me to trim it since it extended over and into his yard.  If not trimmed, it would sometimes blocked vision of his house from the street.  Apparently one day, a car was parked on his driveway and broken into, and he blamed it on the tree being able to "cover" that area and make it easier for criminals to get away without being seen.  So as a result, I would trim the tree at least once a year and haul the branches over to a nearby dumpster.

As you know, I'm all about convenience, and it just didn't seem convenient to save the tree and sign myself up for more annual chores.  One of my friends has a friend in the tree removal service, so they were able to come by and remove the tree for $150.  I thought the asking price was pretty reasonable and they even complied with my request to chop up the tree so that I could have some firewood. :) Thanks to Matt for that idea.

So anyway, R.I.P. tree.  You will be missed but I guess life will go on!

Andy Lin: You're Just Too Nice

I get told a lot that I'm just too nice a person.  It's true, I'm pretty generous and looking in the best interest of others.  And a lot of times I put others in front of myself.  But really, I just can't see another way of living life.  I'm a very fortunate person, blessed with great qualities and I've earned everything I've lived for to this point.  I just haven't got any real issues (definitely compared to some of the shit others have to go through).

I'm nice because I enjoy being nice, it makes me feel like a good person.  Nothing but good feelings are shared when you're nice.  And I just do unto others as I would like others to do unto me.  Life is really simplified for me, and I all I can do is appreciate how lucky I am.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I will always be nice and I will not change who I am.  And if you think I'm too nice, well, what probably should say is "go fuck yourself", but being the Mr. Nice Guy that I am, I'll just try and think of ways to make things better.

You've all heard of "Making It Happen" by now, but I'm embracing a new motto that I heard from my friend Chris's friend Peter: "Do the right thing."  While I can't control the bad decisions others constantly make on a daily basis, I can control mine.

"Do the right thing."