Vancouver

This past weekend (september 27-30th) I had the good fortune to travel with a group of close friends to the lovely city of Vancouver to see some friends wed themselves.
As is customary for myself, let me gush about the hotel first.
The sunset inn.
Relatively close to everything we needed,and including a kitchen (yes!) a living room and full cable t.v. (more then at home : P) the feature that won me over completely was the bed. It was massive. Seriously huge. The pillows and comforter were like marshmellow spread, except not sticky, and significantly less fattening. It took up almost the ENTIRE bedroom (and yes, there was a seperate room for the bedroom. wonderful!) It was somewhat inconvenient to sneak around in the dead of night when needing to pee, but I think I didn't care.

Thursday night, the night of our arrival, we rented a minivan SUV to ferry 7 of us to the hotel. Even with all our luggage we were only a petite bit cramped. Surprisingly, despite the late hour, we all were pretty restless, and went out for congee (a thick chinese soup characterized by large chunks of green onion on top). This marks the first occasion I have ever had to try ostrich meat. (as far as I recall...). Tasted like beef. moving on.
Friday, despite the forecast of rain, was beautiful. Clear skies marked by lazy fat clouds, warm sun, and a slight breeze. A perfect day for a wedding. After planting a box of viagra on the proposed wedding night bed, we disembarked for Alvin the groom's house. Watching the tea ceremony, where the bride and groom serve tea to the groom's family (serving to the bride's family was a more private affair to which I was not privy) was quite moving. In fact, once it was over, despite the fact that the justice of the peace had not even arrived to make it lawful, it seemed pretty obvious that they were married. the formality and paperwork came later, with my less laughter and fanfare, I think. It was beautiful, the whole ceremony.

The reception took place at Kirin restaurant downtown. I can't even fathom the expense taken to host this. Everyone, all 150-odd guests, was served Shark fin soup. (This is a crazy expensive dish). There were around 12 courses, and I swear I ate until I died, then ate until I was resurrected again. There were speeches, and jokes, and wedding games, and fun. The wedding slideshow of the couple moved me to tears, and the whole evening passed blissfully.
We regretfully called the evening short to race home and undo some of the more odious pranks played on the honeymoon suite (including ice cubes in the bed and the lightbulbs unscrewed); hoping to save the exhausted bride and groom from complete irritation.

The saturday was spent shopping for nicknacks and such, having lunched in a fabulous gay bar which served shepard's Pie that I must have been very good to deserve. The evening was the real treat though. We all joined (all 17 of us) at a sushi restaurant for all-you-can-eat sushi. The bill came to $500. Awesome. Really Awesome. We have some marvellous pictures of Joseph and Alvin smashing sashimi into each other's mouths (I do mean smashing) and I now have the memory of Alvin managing to scoop a whole bowl of jello into his mouth in one swift movement while fending off Joseph. A rousing success. : )

Sunday morning was spent meeting Joseph's Aunt and Uncle for Dim sum. However, I was mildly embarassed when his uncle ordered me a knife and fork. I am still unsure if this was courtesy, or if my chopstick skills are that bad... any insight is welcome.
The afternoon and evening were spent getting home, and harassing each other.

All in all, an incredible trip.
I apologize for the lack of grace in this post, but I'm rather tired, and need to conserve energy for the 7 hour shift still ahead of me.
Love all