Working Title: My San Diego Trip Debrief

Some of you know that I went on a one-day San Diego trip two weeks ago. It was my cousin Jay's wedding and I flew in and out for a day trip-slash-mini family reunion. It was fun. Here's the debrief:

6:42 AM
I depart from San Ramon to drive to SFO (that's San Francisco International Airport, for those of you unfamiliar with the acronym. Please don't ask what the "O" stands for. No one knows. Let's say it stands for "October", the month in which I made this trip.)

The Moon and Venus shine brightly in the early morning sky. Today, October 6th, is the day before Venus shines brightest for Earthlings. (You have to click for the enlarged version so you can see Venus. My camera phone doesn't do it justice.)

7:38 AM
It only took me about 30 minutes to get to SFO and another 20 or so to park and stroll through security. I didn't bring a single piece of luggage because I wasn't spending the night. All I brought were my boarding passes and a card for Jay and Jenny. I had enough time to get my scuffy shoes "spit" shined. I don't know what the difference between "shoe shine" - $5, and "spit shine" - $7, but this guy did a good enough job, I guess. My shoes looked pretty much like new.

This was my first shoe shine ever.

9:30-ish AM
I arrive in San Diego with little fanfare.

But a lot of shuttle fare.

I was initially going to get a ride from my brother who was already in San Diego, but the timing of my arrival at the airport and his drive to the wedding was just off enough to warrant a taxi or shuttle ride to the Bali Hai Restaurant where the wedding and reception were to take place. First I asked a taxi driver how much it would be to make the 3-mile drive from San Diego Airport (let's call it SD"O", for short since I don't know the actual FAA acronym) to Bali Hai and I got a ridiculous quote of $14. In the grand scheme of things that doesn't sound like much, but really? More than $4 per mile? I can go like 25 miles with $4 of gas. (Yes, I have a lead foot.) So, instead, I ask a shuttle driver how much he would want for the job.

He said $13.

10-ish AM
The wedding was charming and quaint.

The Chinese aunties and uncles were also "charming" and "quaint." Especially when a half dozen of them crowded the aisle to snap away with their Cybershots, preventing the paid professional from being able to do his job. Way dropped the ring box. The officiant forgot to tell people to sit. (And then forgot to ask the bride and groom to exchange rings.) But it was still very pleasant and winsome.

Below are some pictures from the reception:

Dave looking ravishing in his mom's sunglasses.

Chris and Chiaty

Dave and Andrey

Jay's dad gave a very nice and moving toast. He teared up and cried while reminiscing about Jay's inhuman Taco Bell ingesting skills. It's true. He did. Too bad there wasn't a professional wedding videographer around to document it! :-

Way, Jay's brother and best man, also gave a nice toast. Oh wait! There WAS a professional videographer in the house! ME! Good thing I had my trusty Cingular 8525 on hand. You can see the toast below.

After the ceremony and reception, all the Huang side of the family (that's my mom's side, fyi) went over to Auntie Debbie's house for dinner and hanging out. But before that, I tagged along with my brother to the Apple Store so he could get the iPod Nano that Annie and I bought for my mom's birthday. My brother works at the Apple Store in Los Gatos - the closest store to what some Mac Evangelists call Mecca, a.k.a. Apple Headquarters, Cupertino. He says that Steve Jobs stops in sometimes so the staff there is always on pins and needles.

Anyway, while at Auntie Debbie's house we had a good time just talking and remembering old times. We also made an effort to take the famous Cousins Photo that we always take when we're there. The last time we took it, it was in the 80's. When I track down the old photo, I'll post it side by side with this one so you can see how dorky we are/were.

My brother sacrificed some cousin-bonding time to chauffeur me back to SDO. It was a good thing he dropped me off with plenty of time to spare because when I stepped out of the car, the curb was the shore to a sea of frustrated, delayed air-travellers. There was a siren sounding and flashing lights in the airport and everyone had been evacuated.

"Cool!", I thought to myself. Perhaps no I can be an integral part of a terror plot overthrow! Maybe I can tackle an escaping hijacker or trip an unknowing hostage taker. No such luck. There were firemen on hand and they ran into the Southwest terminal, hose in hand, but I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Shortly after the firemen went in, they came back out and besides the reassuring "no one will miss their flights" announcement over the PA, there wasn't a peep about what was going on. I made it back home only about an hour late coming home if even that late. It was a fun trip and my only regret was that we couldn't shrug pragmatics aside and bring the whole family for a multi-day trip.
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A few more pictures: