I finally went to my first football match yesterday.  My company bought Arsenal season tickets this year to distribute amongst clients and employees.  Arsenal was due to crush Middlesbrough (aka Boro) but that didn't happen so the fan atmosphere quickly turned sour as Boro was ahead 1 - 0 for most of the game.  I wanted to learn some team chants but people were mainly shouting random swear words.  There was a lot of 'oh for fuck's sake' and 'you're a wanker' and 'you're a cunt'.  So now you all know how to swear properly if ever in England! 

I actually knew some of the players since I watched a lot of the World Cup this year.  Freddie Ljungberg (you may know as the CK model), Thierry Henry, and Jens Lehmann (that really great German goal keeper) all play for Arsenal.

Emirates Stadium

Don't the players look so tiny and cute?  Looks like a foosball table from the upper stands.

 

My ultra talented friend has created a handy map of places in SF that can serve you up some late night grub.  If you're living in SF or planning to visit, check out Open Late SF!

For the past 3 years I've celebrated my birthday outside of London and this year was no exception.  This time I decided to check out the Amalfi Coast of Italy.  We based ourselves in Sorrento, rented a car, and explored the surrounding areas. 

The hubby booked a great hotel spack dab in the middle of town opposite the main piazza.  It's perched on the cliff top allowing you great views of the coast and Mt. Vesuvius.  A great perk of the hotel is a hidden elevator which takes you from the top of the cliff all the way down to the bottom where the port is. This saves you a breathless climb up the stairs. 

A really good pizza place in the town square is Pizzeria Aurora.  The cheese and ham calzone was to die for.  We had a €20 meal and a €100 bottle of wine there so they were especially nice to us. 

The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria

Us @ the hotel (doesn't it look like a fake background it's so nice?)

View of Mt. Vesuvius (the volcano that destroyed Pompei) from the hotel

On our first day in Sorrento we walked around town which only takes a few hours. Then we hopped in the car and drove south to Positano, one of the most famous coastal towns in Italy - known for its postcard quality scenery.  This town only has 1 road and it's one way.  We later found this to be the case with several other Italian cliff-side towns.  I mean no wonder...the towns are already so precariously perched on the sides of the cliffs ...there's hardly room for 2 lane roads. If in Positano, have a meal at Chez Black, known for their famous squid ink pasta with cuttlefish.  You get a bib with your meal because it creates such a mess.  We were too chicken to eat it!!!

Overlooking Positano

On our 2nd day we took the ferry over to Capri which takes about half an hour.  The seas were quite rough that day and people were literally freeeeeaaaaking out during the journey over.  Little Italian ladies were cursing/praying/screaming/crying.  It really was unpleasant and I couldn't wait to get on land.  Capri was pretty posh just like everyone says.  Since the seas were so choppy, they closed the Grotto Azurra and I was sooooo bummed.  It's one of the highlights of going to Capri.    I guess now we have an excuse to go back one of these days. 

Port of Capri

View from the outlook at the Gardens of Augusto

Lunch @ La Capannina.  It's a notable restaurant on the island - frequented in the old days by Jackie O and Onassis.  I had to try the Caprese salad & it was definitely the best I've ever had.

That night we returned to Sorrento and had dinner at Don Alfonso, one of the best restaurants in all of Italy.  The people at our hotel recommended it to us and it was a superb.  We had the tasting menu and everything was excellent.  We had ricotta and fish balls in consomme, baby goat with herbs, and many other mouth-watering dishes. 

On our last day, we visited the ruins of Pompei. Coincidentally, the city was ruined exactly 1900 years before my birthday! August 24, 79.  I can't wait for that question to pop up in a trivia game.  If you ever visit Pompei but don't want to take the tour, buy the tour book from the dude right in front of the audio guide rental. It gives suggested itineraries depending on the number of hours you want to spend.  We found it really helpful and much preferable to an organized tour which I try to avoid.  Snoooooze.

The Forum of Pompei with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

As this was our 4th trip to Italy, we've now explored most of the Italian mainland.  We've discovered that it's vineyards, big cities, and coastal towns are all extremely beautiful and lovely to visit. Next Italy trips will be the islands, Sardinia and Sicily. 

In a few weeks, we'll be going to Budapest!  'A better version of Prague' I've heard it's called. 

Ok word of warning about YSL Muse in white - do not rub against denim!  The bag rubbed against my jeans upon FIRST usage and blue color was transfered on it.  Leather cleaner has gotten most of the stain out but not all. Some blue is still stuck within the grains of the leather.   Apparently this happens a lot, as confirmed by the store.  Hello, you'd think they would mention this to you when selling the bag. Who doesn't wear jeans?

I've been missing my Fiji Water but we've been told that there won't be any shipments to Europe until October. So out of curiosity I decided to try and find out why. A quick Google search has revealed that some parts of Fiji are facing sever water shortages and it is a raging politic debate about how to fix the problem.  How about you stop shipping out your water?  The situation sounds pretty dire according to an article in the Fiji Times "...residents, even in Suva, face constant, unannounced water cuts at peak hours, extremely low water pressure and even contaminated water. We now have the appalling situation where Health authorities are warning about skin diseases, eye diseases and gastro-enteritis problems created by unsafe tap water."

If this is the case, then you can't really feel good about buying this product until they fix their own water infastructure problems.

Apparently, Volvic is almost as good for your skin as Fiji so now I am trying that.

Hoorah, after months of deliberation I finally settled on a new bag which I picked up this afternoon. It is luverly! Happy bday to me!

YSL muse

I just clicked on some Featured Content and it was an anorexic girl's site with links to a whole load of anorexic blog rings. Girls (maybe guys too?) post up pictures of themselves with ribs protruding and others compliment them on how skinny they are.  Time counters priding themselves that their last meal was 1 day 5 hours and 25 minutes ago.  Food diaries with a total calorie count of one day being 215.  Nicole Richie as their idol.

And in juxtaposition, the other people in this world who are starving but not by their own will.  Read this.

 

My new obsession is Fiji Water which began after I read that it can boost your metabolism.  And even if it doesn't, I have to drink water anyway right? So it can't hurt.  I've started to drink loads of Fiji water and while I don't think my metabolism has budged (durrr) I think my skin has gotten a lot better!  I normally drink loads of water anyway so my consumption hasn't gone up.  But maybe it's because I've cut down on drinking tap water?  Well, whatever it is I like the results.  And I did some research on my new favorite drink and found out that that it has caused quite a stir.  It's actually been voted as the best tasting bottled water.  And the company has done a lot of good things for the Fijian people.  Fiji Water surpasses national revenues in all other local industries and their staff are the highest paid in the country.  They've also set up trusts to build new schools, improve health, sanitation, etc. 

And an excerpt from an article in Pacific Mag says: 

"Word of mouth carries them the rest of the way. Fiji bottling plant general manager, and the company’s sole expatriate in Fiji, Ian Lincolne, told Pacific Magazine, “We have found that people get passionate about Fiji Water and many become product evangelists—they tell their friends and become extremely loyal. This loyalty has been one of the most invaluable assets we have."

So that is what I am doing. Drink Fiji!!

And for all you environmentalists out there, it may be appalling to ship water all the way from Fiji but I have also read that the water arrives on cargo ships that are coming here anyway so there are no additional emissions.

Whether that is true or not I do not know. And whether it will boost my metabolism or not I do not know.  But the taste is good and it's water so I drink it.

I am wiped .... no energy to work much longer ...

Will just post what I am getting for my birthday from hubby.    It is on 4 weeks back order, though, so I won't get it until after.  Also would not mind having her wardrobe from the movie but I'm sure I would not look 1/2 as good.  Breaking up with Brad was the best thing that ever happened to her! She looks so much better now even though she is getting old. 

It's been a few months since the wedding and I haven't picked out which photos I want in the professional album yet.  It's staring at me from my to-do list.  Having to pick through 1900 pictures is no easy task.  I have to say that I am rather disappointed with how the pictures turned out so that may be another reason why I haven't done it yet. I used Eugene Kam who is supposed to be one of the best wedding photographers on Oahu.  He was on time, professional, and delivered the proofs in lightening quick speed, but I don't think his photos evoked enough romance or creativity.  Thus, I am just disappointed that he didn't take enough detailed shots, candid moments, or quirky angled/perspective shots.  Also, most of the shots in the reception room are way too dark and not useable.  He made a comment that it was a great wedding to photograph (but maybe he says that to everyone right?) so that made me expect more amazing shots as well.  I think he does do good work and has a very good reputation, but maybe he wasn't the best match for us.

Some of his better shots

Our wedding video also did not meet our expectations.  We hired Angel De Armas to do the video.  He produced a very classy video but it was way too short and left out several parts of the wedding.  He didn't include all the speeches which we of course want to hear again!  In particular, hubby gave a surprise speech in Cantonese and we were both dying to hear that again since he is German/Polish with no previous Chinese speaking experience. We've requested additional footage so hopefully the revised DVD will be a lot better. 

I guess while I'm in a reviewing type of mood...I'll go through our other vendors...been meaning to do that as well.

Royal Hawaiian Hotel - Surprisingly, there are not a lot of venues in Honolulu with beach front reception rooms.  The Royal has a ballroom just a few steps away from the beach with an adjacent cocktail area.  It's a very good venue if you want to have the ceremony and reception all in the same place.  You can either get married by the beach or in a more private garden area like we did.  The Royal is one of the more upscale hotels in Honolulu but I think the hotel needs a makeover.  Their wedding planner also really messed up.  On the day of our wedding, there was a parade running right in front of the hotel and a lot of roads in that area were going to be closed.  We found this out 2 days before the wedding and alerted her to this fact.  We were sooooooo mad.  So we had to call all of our guests to let them know and this wasn't something you wanted to deal with on such short notice. 

Mary Katherine's Bakery - The wedding cake was a total disaster.  It was melting from the very start of the wedding. From when we made our grand entrance.  We had a layer of fondant on top which I thought didn't melt. It did taste good, though - coconut flavor.  But it didn't make for a very good photo op. 

Our less than impressive cake

Yvonne Floral - She turned out some really amazing work. It was very challenging to work long distance on flowers though.  The flowers were responsible for one of my only breakdown moments.  Despite me sending through loads of examples of what I wanted, the message going across to her for some reason.  But in the end it all worked out and she made an extremely beautiful arch for the ceremony.  The centerpeices didn't come out 100% like how I wanted but they were pretty darn nice.  I did think my bouquet was way too small.  It's only very slightly bigger than those of my bridemaids'. I told her that I'm quite tall and needed a bigger than average bouquet but she didn't listen. 

Ceremony arch

Centerpiece

Bouquets (my teeny bouquet in center)

Celebrity Tuxedos - They really stunk!! They messed up our orders and had really poor quality tuxes.  But they're one of the only places with a website so I was able to pick out the styles long distance.  I definitely wouldn't recommend them.  The tuxes did not look good in the pictures. 

Accel Chair Rental - We rented the chivari chairs for ceremony and reception.  As far as I know, there were no problems with the chairs but I do think that they're a bit cheap looking.  And one of them collapsed under the weight of one of our guests. Haha. 

Reverend Frank Mak - He did a great job with the rehearsal and the actual ceremony.  He's a very caring man and really puts you at ease. He did make a boo-boo by calling my hubby by his father's name during the ceremony, but that was just funny.

Weddings by Grace and Mona - I worked with Mona and her assitant Elizabeth.  I don't think they were a good match for someone like me.  I am definitely too aggressive for the likes of those two.  They were probably wondering what hit them when I came along.  They didn't provide much opinions on anything and I really wanted one of those bitchy take charge wedding planners.  They did help me and I'm glad I hired them, but I definitely had my fair share of frustrations dealing with them as well.  I'd recommend them if you're a more chilled out bride ... but how many of you could call yourselves that? Hehe. They also have very reasonable fees....so maybe you can't expect too much for that price. 

Flute ala Harp - We hired a flute and harp duo to play during the ceremony. I picked out all the songs I wanted them to play but they could have played all the wrong ones for all I know... my mind was totally somewhere else and I can't remember anything they played.

Na Kama - We hired a Hawaiian band to play during cocktail hour and during dinner.  They were really great and put everyone in a mood.  I think it's nice not to have music that's too loud during dinner so that people can talk. Hawaiian music doesn't tend to overwhelm your conversations so it was perfect.

Nueva Vida - This was our 3rd set of musicians who played during the dancing part of our program.  They were really excellent musicians, but chose to play a lot of slow songs.  Needless to say, this doesn't get people on the dance floor.  I was too busy to fix the situation.  I would have told them to speed it up a little!  But they really were excellent and surprised us by playing our father/daughter + mother/son dance for us.  I had prepared a CD but they ended up playing it for us.  It was awesome!!! I think everyone was in awe.

The Wedding Shop - This is one of the only places that stock Vera Wang dresses in London so I had no choice but to go here.  I also knew the owner so I got a nice discount.  For the amount of money that you spend on a VW dress, you expect some pretty darn good service but this was definitely lacking.  They messed up appointments, misplaced dresses, 'forgot' to make alterations, etc.  For some reason they also try and push you to leave your alterations until the very last minute.  They didn't call me when my dress came in because I don't think they wanted me to start alterations yet. But I did not stand for that and good thing b/c of how they 'forgot' to make the 1st round of alterations.  One of the girls went on holiday and didn't have anyone take over my dress alteration. 

Dorys Foltin - She did make-up for myself, the girls, and my mom.  I was really happy with the job she did.  She definitely listens to what you want.  It was pretty hot and the make-up lasted through the heat so that was an A+.  She also did some nice hair extensions for me.  Only thing is that she had to rush off to another wedding appointment so she probably should have planned her time better.

NiftyGal - My maid of honor did all my wedding stationary from save the dates, to invites, to programs.  Everything turned out awesome and I owe her! Really hard working and attention to detail.  I don't think she likes doing wedding stationary very much but of course she did it for me.  She's a very talented graphic designer and would be interested in other projects, namely packaging design. 

Laura Hooper - She did a wonderful job with the calligraphy and was lightening quick. I would highly recommend her.  She did make a few spelling errors but I will give her a bit of a break since Hawaiian street names can be very tricky. Of course she will do corrections free of charge.

Okay, that is about it. I don't want to get into the itty bitty details for vendors like who provided accessories, gown pressing, etc.