Sunday was Ken and Vilda's wedding, the reason I came this time to Hawaii.
I walked in my suit from the hostel to Waikiki. Probably the only one ever to walk out of a Hawaiian hostel with a suit. I didn't feel especially hot, but when I got to the hotel, I was a little embarrassed to see my shirt soaked with sweat.
The ceremony was in the sun. I recalled the wedding in Boise, Idaho for Ryan and how hot it was. It was only about 85, and Boise was in the nineties. With a little breeze and staying still, it luckily dried out in time for chats and eats.
I was expecting Chinese gourmet food but it the usual fare. Still, I imagine it was an expensive affair, especially with all the photography and video taping going on. Ken and Vilda put together a very nice photo book, and I'd like to have one put together with Hitomi and I, someday. The had pictures in Chinese outfits and backgrounds. Ken looked kind of goofy at times, despite the clothes, he's still a nerd.
As I a Chinese tradition, they performed a tea pouring ceremony between themselves and various family members. This took some time and didn't include me. Ken Lo's family is from Hong Kong, Vilda's from the Phillipines, their friends came from also Boston and Hawaii.
Ken found Vilda at the Boston University computer lab when he was working there, and thinking this girl was cute, offered to help with her Computer Science 101 homework. Cool! I supposed if I wanted a girlfriend, I'd stake out the computer labs looking for damsels in distress.
After the wedding, and waiting for my picture to be taken, Sriram and his family and I took off to Hanauma Bay again. I'm not sure why we went. His wife doesn't swim, and his daughter's scared of waves. Sriram also hadn't been snorkeling, had to rent a set, and didn't rent a very good one. I took his snorkel, which leaked in salt water and made me a bit sick. He headed back and I went out to deeper waters. I played around for another 30 minutes or so, getting knocked around a bit more this time. One fellow was probing for octopus or some other large fish in crevices, with cloth gloves. I wish I had more time under the sea.
Dinner was with a friend of Ken's, Jason, and his wife. I met him once in Boston a few years ago. His company was recently acquired by Microsoft. He lamented over a double cheese burger and fries working for the Borg collective.
I also happened to meet Boon Hwang on the way out to dinner and finally met his girlfriend. Since I was with people, we didn't talk long. If I were him, I would have skipped out on Hawaii and spent more time in Japan.
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