Now what??

People have their honeymoons right after the wedding for a reason - well, two reasons. I'll just talk about one, and that's to relax and recuperate from your wedding day! My goodness, it's almost been two weeks and I'm still tired. So now, we're planning our honeymoon in November. For the longest time, we couldn't even tell people where we were going....and we still can't!! Almost for certain we were going to China (Beijing, Shanghai, Shuzhou, Hangzhou, etc....) but apparently November is Hong Kong's travel down time. So tours aren't guaranteed. Sigh.... the uncertainties of life. On a brighter note, we secured some rather cheap tickets back to Hong Kong. WOOHOO!!!

Wednesday night, my Giants were officially eliminated from postseason play. The game epitomized the Giants' season. We jump out to a 3-0 lead (HR by Bonds to say the least) and give the lead up. Then we come back...only to lose the lead again. We give the ball to the bullpen and they give up a grandslam. Only thing missing was someone pulling a hamstring. I guess it was all too optimistic that the Giants will win the west. Another year of being sucked in and enduring massive disappointment and depression. At least the Niners aren't teasing me as much. So we upset the Rams. We then get crushed 41-3....and then we lose the game of the year against the much hated Bill Parcells and the even more hated Cowboys. Bay Area Sports is moving deeper and deeper into the Dark Ages.

Tutoring highlight of the week:
Jantha, a former student who became a tutor, is moving to Texas this coming December. He's been here for a total of 8 years!!

Jantha, "Yeah, I'm totally gonna miss you guys. I want a picture of all you. Oh...and if you guys wanna go behind my back and plan a surprise party for me, go for it!"

Wedding Cards - AWARDS!!!

A week after our wedding, we finally had time to sort out our cards and gifts. We easily received over 150 cards. And like the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys....we have our own awards and acknowledgements:

Most Modern Looking Card













The 3-D Cards









The Most Artistic Card - The picture doesn't do it justice. The card is a simple orange card with indented dots. Definitely one of a kind!!













The next two were very simple - but sometimes, more is less (and vice versa). The simplicity captured more than something very flowery.























The Loveliest Cards - Runner up to being my Favorite














If you thought those two looked "alike", here's the Doppleganger award. We easily got over 150 cards and only had two doubles!














My last name is "Leung" and these cards are definitely very "Leung." Don't get me wrong...I love them!! If for any reason...because they are so "梁!"














Lastly...after siphoning through all the beautiful cards, whether they were funny, touching, artistic, romantic...this card took home the prize!!

Big head shrimp

Man oh man oh man...

The lack of quality rest must be catching up to me. I've been so big head shrimp the past couple of days. Twice, TWICE, I walked into my company turnstile without badging in. The result...my flesh ramming against metal. The winner, metal. Today at Starbucks, I picked up a coffee jar to check out the price...I end up knocking down all the mugs and saucers, breaking one of them. Luckily, the manager didn't make me pay. I step outside to drive back to work...the car alarm wouldn't work. I keep trying to unlock it, only to set off the alarm!! And I couldn't turn it off!

Grrrrr.....

This is the day the Lord has made...

"In the name of God, I, Henry, take you, Joyce, to be my wife,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better or worse, for richer or poorer,
in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,
until we are parted by death.
This is my solemn vow."

Special thanks to:
My wife: for saying "YES"
Mom and Dad: for doing a stupendous job all these years
The in-laws: for welcoming me into your family
My Groomsmen: for enduring my temper
The Bridesmaids: for balancing out the ugly groomsmen with your beauty
Pastor Alan and Amy: for the weeks of PMC, prayers, guidance, blessings
Jackson, Angela and Samuel: for the love and caring and allowing us to use your car
Mission Fab Five: for being by my side all these years
MyChris and Mel: for being the unsung heroes from pre-engagement till now
Deacon Anthony: for speaking with an English accent
Edwin, Carole and Irene: for lugging around your gear to catch up to our crazy schedule
Brandon: for capturing the moments
Christie: for your demonstration of unending, unselfish love
Sandy: for accomodating and adjusting my imperfect plans to near perfection
Rebe-Guy: for being the voice and life of the party
Joyce: for your empathy
Roy: for appearing in my dream
Joey: for standing in the cold
Karen: for dealing with all those strangers
Candy: for that wonderful hairstyle
Andrew: for 終身美麗
Ken & SoChi: for transforming a typical restaurant into a palace
Peter & Stella: for catching the garter - CONGRATULATIONS!!!
DailoDaiDai: for pressing PLAY at the right moment
MoonChi: for being MoonChi
Carol & Baby: for shining with radiance
Simon: for spreading God's words to my non-English speaking relatives
Lor Shing for dressing up despite not liking to dress up
Vito: for being the man behind the man behind the man

and of course,

thank you Father FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

T-minus 1 day

Went to bed at 3AM working on that darn slide show. I'm so close to getting it finished, yet so far from seeing the final product! Maybe I shouldn't be such a perfectionist. C'est la vie, y'know?

Got about 4 hours worth of sleep. Woke up and headed out to San Francisco for our wedding rehersal. Everybody arrived on time, which was amazing. I didn't realize the rehersal would be so intense. Deacon Anthony actually had us go through our vows. Embarrasingly...I choked up big time when I first heard myself say those words. I got about two phrases into my vow to God and to Joyce and I couldn't hold back the tears. The tears of joy came pouring out of me...my throat was tied in knots, I couldn't even muster any words out. Funny thing is, I asked Gracie to prepare an emergency kit for Joyce: Kleenex, eyedrops, Shout Wipes, etc.... and it turns out I was the one who needed the emergency kit. I hope I don't start crying tomorrow, again. Then of course, Joyce blows through her vows and makes me look like a crybaby. LOL!!

After breakfast, we headed over to Koi Palace for our rehersal lunch. Oh man...it was amazing to see our relatives again. If only I could do this everyday, go to a teahouse with my friends and family and just eat and share. Some of my groomsmen surprised everyone when they ordered 6 orders of Shrimp Dumplings. WHOAAAAAAAAAA..... and they finished it!!!!

When lunch was over, Joyce and her bridesmaid went off to her bachelorette party. Jeff and I went off to run our errands. Time was ticking away so quickly. I got back to San Jose around 6 and had to start working on the slide show - argh...that dreaded piece of thing!! Shoulda listened to Christie and ask someone to do it for us.

My groomsmen and a buddy who flew in from New York came over and we had piece and sodas for dinner. That was my last meal as a bachelor. =) How fitting that God brought them all there with me.

As time continued to tick away, I went over to spend a few hours with my spiritual family. To get away from all the planning, logistics, schedule, etc.....and be able to emerse myself into God's words. Amazingly, our cell group was studying one of my favorite verses in the bible, Psalm 139 - which also happens to be my favorite Streams of Praise song. The time of fellowship and worship and prayer brought me into a realm of peace and calm that only God can prepare for me.

Time doesn't stop to wait for you...I still had that slide show to tackle after coming home from the cell group. An all too familiar position. 2AM in the morning, and I was sitting in front of the computer, working on a program. Only, this wasn't some assignment I didn't want to turn in. This is my way of coining my relationship together in roughly 5 minutes. I can't let it be done sloppily.

3AM and things finally coming together. It's not done...but I really need to go to sleep now. And geez...it's 3AM!!!!

I'M GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

T-minus 6 days

Saturday night, I had my proverbial Bachelor's Party. I've always preferred to be out of the spotlight and didn't even want a party in my honor. A dinner with some friends would've been the way to go. But whatever...we had dinner at Vics Stewart in Walnut Creek - the steakhouse I've been dying to go to for over a year now. Since it was my last weekend in bachelorhood, I thought I'd go a little over the edge. So the guys bought me a 49oz bone-in porterhouse. Finish it I get my name engraved on the wall and officially become a member of the 49er club.
I must admit...I cheated a little. I handed off a piece or two to my friend....but I could've finished it without their help, I think. Meat was oozing out of every hole of my body by the time I was 70% done. Used all my might to keep the food from regurgitating.








It wasn't till we got back to Dave & Busters that I felt better. The guys bought me 4 rounds of drinks and I guess thanks to the 3 lbs of beef, I didn't even get a buzz. A bunch of the boys were disappointed we weren't going to have some naughty fun.

"But it's your bachelor's party!!"

"We won't tell Joyce."

"Dude....this is why we're taking you out."

I heard it all. Ah well... whoever said a bachelor's party needs to be naughty?

6 more days. Joyce and I just hammered out the seating charts and seating arrangements. We're getting so much help that we're overwhelmed, almost to tears, by everyone's kindness and eagerness. We didn't even had to ask for help really...everyone basically stepped up knowing we'll need all the help we can get. Only problem is...we have no clue on how to ever thank everyone enough. Fruit basket? Dozen roses? Or maybe a bunch of IOU's - whenever you need help, just gimme a call.

T-minus 6 days... and the one thing I'm stressing over right now isn't my wedding, but the fact that the Giants are 7 games back with 20 games left to play.

T-minus 8 days

Went to the dentist on Wednesday for a routine cleaning. And almost ended up getting a root canal!! Geez.... luckily, the dentist recommended trying a DEEP filling instead. If things worsen, then a root canal it is. Ugh.....

Wednesday night, Pastor Alan surprised everyone with some grim news. But I have faith that God will work miraculous things!!

After the prayer meeting, we had our first official Wedding Meeting. Goodness...we talked and talked and talked. If we weren't worried or stressed out before, we are now!! Maybe it's the way people at church have been doing things, everyone is SOOOO detail oriented. My style is to have a rough idea and then play things by ear. So the outcome of the meeting is a long list of "To-Do's" Hahahahahhaha...Thanks Christie and Chris for staying out so late lor.

Tutoring highlight of the week: I walk up to one of the new tutors and ask him....
H: Hey Raymond, I thought you weren't going to tutor this year. What made you change your mind?
R: Yeah, I wasn't going to sign up. But last week, Pastor Ted talked about this guy, I think his name was Peter. And he had enough faith to walk on water. It really had an effect in me.

新的生命

今天靈收﹕

Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.

神將我同曉瑜帶在一起﹐ 是祂的應許。 生命不再是她的或是我的﹐ 而是神的。 新的生命﹐ 新的目標﹐ 新的“標竿。” 一起共創明天。 (Gee...why does that last phrase soundlike a TVB slogan?)

捕風

The last couple of days TWA time has been quite enjoyable. I can't even pronounce the name of the book I'm reading: Ec·cle·si·as·tes. Heh...

Dictionary.com defines this as "Old Testament book consisting of reflections on the vanity of human life; is traditionally attributed to Solomon but probably was written about 250 BC."

This was written over 2000 years ago, so why does it still touch a sore spot with every verse I read? I only wish I'd read this a couple of years ago when I was going through my quarter-life crisis. "MEANINGLESS!! MEANINGLESS!!" In fact, I think this should be a pre-requisite to studying Purpose Driven Life. It really sets the tone of many people's mindframe regardless of which stage of life they're in. They can be recent college grads seeking out a career. They can be career oriented professionals feeling they're stuck in a rut. They can be retired naval officers without a purpose or meaning to their life now they're service is no longer needed.

So am I living my life to chase after the wind?

Independence!!

Day three of my East Coast trip and we went over the Ben Franklin bridge over to New Jersey for a meeting with a vendor. Meeting well exceedingly well and was over by 3:30PM. We initially were afraid the meeting may run over, so we decided to fly home Thursday instead of Wednesday night - don't want to rush. That meant, I had all of Wednesday evening to explore Philadelphia. And explore I did....

I walked from downtown Philly, all the way up Benjamin Franklin Parkway. On the way, I saw the City Library, the Rodin Museum, Ben Franklin Institute, a plethora of statues and sculptures and lastly the Philadelphia Museum of Art. For those who are unfamiliar with this place...you may remember in Rocky II, when Stallone gets ready for his final fight with Apollo Creed, he runs around the neighborhood herding kids to the final destination - these stairs! THESE STAIRS! I was at those stairs!!



The walk lasted me about 1.5 hours. I started to head back to the hotel to meet up with Dale and Freida for dinner. The three of us walked towards the wharf, stopping by the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall - the birthplace of the US Constitution. Then we passed by the Tomb of the Unknown soldiers and a cemetery. How many of these souls gave up their lives so I can live in the freedom that I have today?? Then I think of the soldiers in Iraq and my heart weeps of sorrow. The night was full of perks and pinks. We basically walked through 200 years of history when we passed by those wonderful brick houses that we only see in history books. The streets were laid of bricks and cobblestones. One word to describe this all is "CHARACTER." You really can't find this anywhere else but the City of Brotherly Love.

A short black women, a medium built Irish and a tall skinny Chinese guy walks around Southern Philly.... and we all fit right in with the crowd. I had a great time. Thank you Father for letting me see your glory everywhere I go.