Lil Friend's Mom's "21st" Bday Celebration

Went to a restaurant, played her a video where all the family members wishes her happy birthday.

I was even in it, and we practiced soo many times (drawing our inspiration from roommate's brother and wife.. hahaha)

Happy Birthday!

Passing out at 10pm every day…

Since coming back, I've been basically passing out at 10 pm every day

Quite a debilitating week.  Strange that going there I wasn't jet lagged, but coming back I was.

Asia Trip Complete! En route home...

On the way home, we had a layover at Narita. 

Needed a sushi fix.  Mmmm…

...Now back to real life!

Amika Wedding Day 5: India - The Auspicious Time

Took a quick nap, then woke up and got back to the venue at 3am.

There we would sit around and see the actual marriage.  It was pretty cold, but super glad we were there to witness the two of them tying the knot!

At this point, was quite cold and also on my last fumes... went back to hotel and passed out.

Later on in the day, woke up, and then started packing away.  3 boxes of sweets, and a bunch of items - required great skills in packing to stuff it all into our suitcases.

Congrats Amika!

Amika Wedding Day 4: India - Wedding Day

Pretty cool.  Aman's shows up in a horse.  A marching band.  Tons of dancing.

The wedding looked like a a carnival!  There were so many stations of food.  Rotating platform that raised the newly weds up and down.  Fireworks.  

Though I was running a fever that day, was really glad to be there.

Amika Wedding Day 3: India - Looking P.I.M.P.

The wedding ceremonies were getting into full swing.
Today's activities: Sagan in the morning, cocktail party at night.

This morning was the Sagan, where the thing that jumped out most at me was the 'money apron'.  I thought that was really cool.

After the Sagan, and some food, folks went to buy some clothes, so I tagged along as my sash wasn't in the package they delivered yesterday.  After a few hours, with all our attire in hand, we were ready for the cocktail party.

The venue was really pretty, and the ring box was just gorgeous!  (Come to think of it, I didn't really get much pictures of the bride)... oops!

Amika Wedding Day 2: India - Our Chaperon Saves the Day

The guys outfit were delivered to the hotel as promised (though mine was missing my sash) - which is not a big issue.  

The girls' outfit was another story.  The seamstress decided to tell us she was not going to be ready in time, and that made things very hectic.  Luckily our chaperon told the seamstress lady off over the phone and that really helped whip the seamstress in shape to pick up her pace.  However, we did need to run (literally) to pickup part of the ladies' dresses.  

First night of dinner - while the ladies go to the ladies side, the boys side went to a hotel and ate!  And then after dinner, it was time for the night to begin!

Amika Wedding Day 1: India - Clothes Hunting

Originally our plan was to do a day trip to Taj Mahal - but was getting tired and so just stayed in Delhi.  

We waited for our other partner in crimes to arrive, and then together we went clothes hunting.  5 stores, 5 hours later, we finally found what we need... sort of.

At night, we went for dinner at Bukhara, where there was meat, and a huge naan!

Amika Wedding Day 0: India - Mission Direct an Uber

The final leg of our Asia trip - Amika's wedding!

We landed in Delhi late evening, then took an uber to Premier Inn, Shalimar Hotel, where we would be staying for 6 nights.  Was really lucky that we got the AT&T plan for global data.

The uber driver basically did not know how to get to the hotel.  So I ended up having to direct the uber driver to the hotel.  It was funny I thought that a tourist who has never been to India is telling a taxi driver how to get around their city.  But finally we got to where we needed, and checked in.

Got into our room, smelled pretty smoky.  Had to take a cold shower as they didn't really have hot water that night.  Made for an interesting shower.

I guess we are no longer in the Maldives :(.

Honeymoon - Day 12: Maldives - Last Morning

Our last morning...

We left 4 beers undrank - we are so healthy :)

Duty free at Maldives.  Cheapest place to buy alcohol I've seen anywhere. Paradis for $750 USD - if this was the last destination of our trip, I would definitely buy it.  Maybe in 10 years when we return, I will buy it then if Maldives duty free still sells alcohol this cheap!

Onwards to India!

Honeymoon - Day 11: Maldives - Snorkeling in the Front Yard

Woke up this morning, ate breakfast, then went snorkeling by our Reef Villa.  Saw lots of fishes and octopus.  As it turns out, we saw more coral and wildlife snorkeling around the Reef Villa than our two scuba sessions where we were taken out there on a boat!

To get to the waters, I entered from our backyard, and returned from our backyard entrance just so that I can say I've done it!

Today's lunch was room service steak, in our backyard facing the waters... as seen in our pictures, we really enjoyed our crab racing prizes!

Honeymoon - Day 10: Maldives - Scuba again

Took a swim in another area today, and then went scuba-ing again!

For lunch today, we had a room service meal of my favorite - spaghetti with meat sauce.  Was tasty!

For dinner, as this was our honeymoon, they gave us a free fancy dinner.  The menu for tonight was:

#1) Mous bush - Toast and tuna with salsa

#2) Salmon salad, tomatoes with balsamic reduction
#3) Cream of tomato soup with garlic crouton

#4) Steak (and for lil friend - fish)
#5) Blueberry cheesecake

The service was in super slow motion.  Took 2 hours for dinner.  But it was nice!  Outdoors, quiet, romantic!

Honeymoon - Day 9: Maldives - Reef Villa, Scuba, and Crab Racing

For the second day, we would be transferred to the Reef Villa.  It was cool that it was above the waters, and the view was pretty good.  The private deck that allowed for a direct entrance to the waters was also pretty cool (though in practice it was sort of hard to get in since the water was pretty shallow and there was a lot of coral around).

We also went scuba-ing today.  This one was a boat dive, and it was pretty fun as always.

At night, we went to the main area to take part in crab racing.  How it works was we pick a crab, and then they are put in the middle of a circle with a bunch of other crabs, and the first crab to get out of the circle wins.  We ended up placing second and third place in this tournament - getting us some souvenirs and more importantly, 12 beers!!

Honeymoon - Day 8: Maldives - Enroute to Maldives and first day

Part two of the honeymoon.  4 nights in the Maldives!  

We were carrying some sake that lil friend's Japanese friend's dad gave us, and because Maldives frowns upon alcohol, we had to leave these two bottles at the airport.  As a result, it made us miss our sea plane to the island and we had to catch the one 1 hour later.  This was a blessing in disguise because that meant we got to enjoy their lounge for an extra hour.  There were nice couches, snacks and drinks, and even a massage person there to try to lure you into getting a package at the resort.  The drinks they had there was also really delicious!

Once it was time, we headed to the sea plane which took us to Vilu Reef.  We checked in, and went to our beach villa, where we would stay for one night.  The beach villa was amazing!!!  Our backyard had a swimming pool (aka. walk out to the lake).  The room itself was circular in shape, mostly white walls, super comfy bed, nice air conditioning.  The part that was even cooler was the bathroom was outdoors (which can only be entered through the unit), and had a waterfall shower, a tub, and a closed 'regular' shower.

After a quick room service lunch, we went out to our backyard for a quick swim, seeing tons of little fishies.  Then before dinner, we went to watch the stingray feeding, and got up close and personal with the sting rays, and also just strolled around the white sandy beaches surrounding the island.

For dinner, it was an all you can eat feast.   Tons of really yummy fruits, and also meat.

Tomorrow we will move to the Reef Villa - aka the bungalows on top of the waters!  Excited!