Sharon

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Vote for Sharon!

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Well, it’s been a long time since I’v posted, and I am way overdue. I will post again on Sunday with a more general update of things, but until then, you can go to Sharon’s blog (which I made an RSS feed to over there -> ) because she is REALLY great about posting when we do anything. So if you are wondering what I’ve been up to, just go check out her blog.

This post is to get all of you who are reading this to go here: Sharon on MommyModels to vote for Sharon! She is number 10 on the right, so just click and vote. If she wins, she will get a free photoshoot. That link also has some REALLY gorgeous pics of her for the photoshoot she had, so regardless of whether you want to vote, you should go check it out cause the pics are amazing! Here is a Preview:

One of the Photos from her Photoshoot

Portfolio Progress

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

Another week has come and gone, and here I am again typing for my blog. For those of you who have been following along, I have been working on my portfolio recently. I need a good portfolio since I am often getting new clients, and it would be nice to show them my work showcased on a nice website. So I’ve been working on www.wildkatana.com for the past couple of weeks, and now it is really shaping up. It is built on the Drupal platform, and it lets me post portfolio projects, testimonials, and anything else I want. I heavily customized the system of course. I still have a lot more things to do with it, namely making a blog there for my business (and moving the posts from here to there) and a few other things as well. Go check it out if you want to see what it’s like: WildKatana Design.

Sharon started her Photography Class this week at Dixie College, it is a part of the Community Education Program. She is WAY excited because in her heart Sharon is a student. She would go to school her whole life if she could. Sharon and I also did some fun things this week, like on Friday we went up to Provo with my mom to watch my brother Kendall play Tennis for State, and she wanted to meet up with an old friend, Vicki. Tyler came to watch Kendall play too, so it was good to see him again. Afterwards he gave us the grand tour of his apartment and his new (to him) ‘85 BMW. We went to see a movie (Taken) later with my mom at the $2 Theater. We also had a nice meal at Panda Express.

Sharon and I also went out Saturday. We went to eat at IHOP (I LOVED IT) and then went to play Miniature Golf at the Laser Tag place. It was cool because it was all in a black-light room, and it had lots of cool art work and fun things. We also got to see a Classic Cars show and then went to a movie (Watchmen, it was so bad we left half-way – seriously no plot and bad language and violence, if you haven’t yet seen it: don’t).

I had to give a lesson in Elders Quorum this morning, and it went pretty well. It was about ‘The Power of Forgiving’. Many people had good comments so it went by very smoothly and I was only able to get half of it done. It reminded me of when I used to give trainings to Missionaries on my mission.

Well, I suppose that’s all for this week. I’ve been working hard and things are getting caught up with my work, which is a big relief. I also have been working on the Adjustment of Status forms with Sharon, and we are getting close to being ready to send them in. Hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday. It will be a huge relief once we get those in as well. This summer we are planning on doing fun things with my friends, Paul, Nikki, Chris, Ben and June. Fun days are comin’! And Sharon is going to Hawaii in June to visit her friends there before they graduate.

We still haven’t sent any Thank-You cards, which is really sad because Sharon does have a lot of time during the day >.> I’m looking at you now Sharon with a strange look on my face, you’ll know why later when you read this! I am probably spelling things wrong because I’m not even looking at my keybiard or screen.

Random Pictures for this week:

Sharon and I at Weeping Rock

Is she really that sad to marry me? Haha. I love u babe~

Paul got his Associate’s Degree! Congratulations!

Sharon is a natural!

I love nature!!

Fun in the Park

Go Fish is an intense game

That’s enough for this week, to see more cool pics of the Picnic and hike and other stuff, be sure to check out Sharon’s Blog, it is always much better than mine^^ Until next time~

Magic and Munchkins

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Well, this week has been nice, since I was able to get caught up with all of my clients except one now, so I’m not so stressed out from work, and also because I got to go over to Paul’s house twice, once on Wednesday to play Age of Empires 2 (Sharon actually liked it!) and then again on Friday night to play Magic: The Gathering and Munchkins with some of my friends who I haven’t seen in a while. Joe Wasden, Justin Williamson and his girlfriend, Chris Lambert, and Ben Wilsterman all came to Paul’s and we had a lot of fun. I ended up winning both games, though the first one was a team game so 3 of us won that one. It reminded me of old times, and I wish we could do it more often. Now that summer is here we are going to try to do things every week with as many people who can come. Sharon is being a good sport even though she is often times bored (and my friends are usually too preoccupied with cards to be polite and talk to her haha). I made it up to her on Saturday when we went to the St. George park by the Library to have a nice picnik together. Sharon made some delicious sandwiches and devilled eggs and we also had yougurt and strawberries. It was an excellent lunch. Some cute kids came and made friends with us, we shared our lunch and bubbles with them and they shared their laughter and smiles with us, both parties profiting thereby. Sharon had a lovely little bird leave a lovely little doodoo on her head, so I guess she was really lucky that day. After playing in the water there at the park and taking lots of pictures, we went over to the Red Cliffs Mall to do some shopping. Sharon was really mad at me for not taking her there sooner (I thought I had), because there are some stores there she really liked but she didn’t know they were there til yesterday. We bought some shirts at Hollister and some more shirts at American Eagle. It was a lot of fun and we came home feeling tired but happy.

Sharon made some Bak Kut Teh for dinner while I weed-eated the lawn. The Bak Kut Teh was really tasty and smelled delicious. We also went over to my Grandma’s house to take some pics and ended up getting a tour of the property and a nice wedding gift from Grandma and Grandpa.

Today was Mother’s Day and we had a really nice program during Sacrament Meeting. Sharon and I got up early (for us) at 7:40 and made my mom breakfast in bed, following a family tradition. We also sang ‘Mother I Love You’ (well, I sang it solo since Sharon didn’t know the words). Kendall was at Mission Prep (crazy they even have it on Mother’s Day). Now we are all back home and getting ready for dinner with all of the extended family over at our house to celebrate Mother’s Day.

In other news, I’ve been working on my business website, which will serve as a place for me to showcase my work and give information about my business. It is http://www.wildkatana.com. It is not finished yet, but you can check it out anyways if you are curious. I am also looking into getting a Business License and registering my business officially, so I can start cashing my checks which are made out to my Business name (WildKatana Design) rather than my name (already a few people have done this ><). I’ll report on that next week.

Sharon and I are also working on getting the Adjustment of Status forms ready to send in (like 6 forms with multiple pages each, plus lots of other supporting documentation and photocopies of records, etc). It is a complicated process, and costs $1010! Anyways, we will be happy when it is all settled.

I’m Married!

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Well, it’s been a long time since I updated this, so let me apologize first. I married Sharon Ting Ee Wen on the 15th of April, 2009 in the Bountiful, Utah Temple. It was the happiest day of my life. It snowed after we came out of the temple, so it was amazing and gorgeous. Sharon actually said she wanted to get married in the snow, so she got her wish! I had lots of my family and extended family come, and many of Sharon’s friends came as well as her mom and her sister, Ivy, and her friends Doreen and Vicky. It was all really nice.

That Saturday we had a reception at the Lichfield Pond. It was really windy but that didn’t stop us from having a killer time. We rode the bumper boats, had a slideshow and danced to some of our favorite songs played by the DJ. It was a really beautiful setting, and we had a lot of fun there, and some good food. Oh yeah, for pics of all of these happenings, please see Sharon’s New Blog which she has put a lot of work into the designing of. She has been really diligent and good about posting tons of pictures and commentaries, so I would definitely recommend checking it out. Ee Wen is her Chinese name, so her new website is www.eewenstales.com .

Thanks to all who have sent gifts, we are still trying to get to sending the Thank-You notes, but they will come, I promise!

Since the wedding, I’ve been pretty busy trying to catch up with my work (since I was gone for the better part of a month, the work just piled up!). Things are going well, I went rock-climbing with Paul, Nikki, Chris and Ben, so that was a blast. I’ll re-commit to writing on this blog at least every Sunday again now that things have quieted down a bit. I love you all!

Back in the USA, and it’s my Birthday!

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Yay! I am back in the USA! Those of you who faithfully read my blog (Granny, I’m thinking of you~) probably noticed that I missed posting last week. First two days late, and now missing a whole week. Well, it was because I was sick, and I didn’t want any of you guys to catch it, so I decided to wait til I was better first. Isn’t that considerate of me? I thought so too. Here’s the scoop on what’s been going on:

We had a super long trip coming back to the USA. We went from Miri -> Kuala Lumpur (9 hour layover) -> Tokyo (10 hour layover) -> San Francisco (2 hour layover, just right) -> Las Vegas -> 2 hour drive to Toquerville. All in all, it was over 40 hours of traveling. I think in that much time, I got less than 3 hours of sleep. And since I was still recovering, I had a relapse when I got back home (Monday and Tuesday I was pretty sick). The good news is, I’m feeling much better now.

At Kuala Lumpur, we watched a bunch of movies on my laptop at the McDonald’s while we waited. I LOVE MARLEY AND ME! Wow, it is really such a good movie. I really cried like a baby, and that is saying a lot because I hardly ever get teary eyed, and here I was actually sobbing in a McDonald’s with people walking by. It struck a chord in me when I thought of all the good dogs I’ve owned or been associated with over the years (Little Black Sambo ;;).I highly recommend that everyone go see this great movie.

At the Narita airport in Tokyo, we tried to meet up with one of my good friends who is currently teaching English in Japan, Nathan Godfrey. He spent $200 and came to Tokyo via the Bullet Train, but unfortunately we weren’t able to come out of the Airport to meet him, because we had already gone through security and had our boarding passes. So that really stunk. Thanks Nate for coming, it’s the thought that counts, and you’re a really great friend for coming. We’ll have to meet up next time we are in Japan (hopefully in a couple years).

For more details of the trip, I suggest reading Sharon’s blog.

Next big news item: Sharon and I bought a car! I found it on Craigslist for $1000, and Sharon and I split it. It is a 1995 Ford Taurus, in decent condition and running smoothly. Some of the parts are getting old, like the doors, but we feel blessed to have found such a good car for such a good price. We have been grateful every time we drive it. I bought insurance through Geico for it the other day, but I still have to send in the papers for the title and go get it registered under my name. Maybe tomorrow…

This coming week is going to be very busy for Sharon and I, since we are getting MARRIED! (Finally!). But before I get into that, let me finish last week. After healing up from my sickness and buying a car, I’ve been trying to get caught up in my work (Wildkatana Design, my web-design business). I got a lot accomplished but still have a lot to go. Paul invited Sharon and I to go rock-climbing with him and Nikki, his wife. We decided to go and had a lot of fun. It was the first time for Sharon and I, so we were a bit scared but we made it up our first climb! Paul and Nikki let us use their gear and we found a good cliff and started climbing. Sharon did really well, and we have some nice pics. I’m sure she’ll post some on her blog. I held my own as well, and besides bumping my head made it up relatively easily. Afterwards we learned how to play Texas Hold ‘Em with them (another first). We also went and got a membership at Costco’s and bought some stuff for the Reception. Also, my Grandma Stratford threw a Bridal Shower for Sharon on Friday after we went to get her Endowments at the St. George Temple. We had it at the Golden Corral, and had some relatives and friends come. Lia, Sharon’s friend, came, and so did Paul and Nikki. It was a lot of fun.

Today (Sunday) is my Birthday! I turned 23. It is also Easter, so we had a good Church program. After church we had an Easter Dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Stratford. I got stuffed, it was really good. After that, we had cake and ice cream and I opened my gifts. Sharon gave me a really nice watch, which I’m sure is because I always ask her what time it is, haha. My mom gave me a nice shirt and some cool shades, which is also good since my old shades which I loved got ran over in Malaysia. They will come in handy tomorrow when we drive to Las Vegas to pick up Sharon’s mom. After the gifts, we watched an old recording of my 3rd Birthday Party. Tyler and I were the only ones on the scene and it was really fun to see how we were back then. It also had the Christmas of 1992 on the same tape, so we actually got to see Chantelle and Kendall too, along with younger versions of the Rita and Allen family (everyone was there).

I also got to speak with Tyler, Chantelle and my dad on the phone, who had all called to wish me a Happy Birthday. I will see them all this week at the Wedding/Reception, so that will be nice.

Sharon and I are just settling in to our new life here in the USA, and we are using lots of Chap-stick (Malaysia is very humid, while Utah is notoriously arid). We will undoubtedly have a lot of pictures to post after the wedding and reception. We sent out the Invitations last week so hopefully everone has one now. We are going to be very busy this week getting everything ready, but we are very excited about it. Until next week, Jumpa Lagi!

2 Days late…

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Well, for the first time all year, I am two days late on my weekly post. I do, however, have plenty of excuses to throw up in my defence, which you will soon hear whether you want to or not:

Sunday I was sick! I don’t get sick very often, and when I am sick, it really tries my patience. I really don’t like being sick. It all started that restless night in an Inn in Bintulu…

Saturday night in Bintulu I was exhausted from traveling all week AND had just gotten back from seeing my friends in Sungai Plan Flats (perhaps for the last time for a while more to come) and when I got back to the Inn, I just laid down on the bed and fell asleep (after helping Sharon grade her papers for school). It was nice and peaceful — UNTIL 11 PM WHEN I WAS AWOKEN BY LOUD DANCE-HALL MUSIC WHICH HAD A CONSTANT POUND-POUNDING OF HUGE BASS SPEAKERS. It was coming from the club which was situated -to my dismay- right next door to the Inn. We’re talking about 1 door (the door to my room) being the only thing separating me from the crazy dance music. Well, how long could it last, I thought. Give it a couple hours and it will quiet down.

5 AM. I had been awoken numerous times during the night by the incessant pounding of the music. I swear they were playing the same songs over and over. At about 5:45 the music finally stopped, and I was able to sleep for a couple more hours before getting out of bed. When I woke up in the morning I discovered that my throat was raw and sore from the aircon which had been blowing on me all night. That was the start of my sickness. Sunday morning we went to the Bintulu 2nd Branch for sacrament meeting, where I was able to see all of my friends for the last time before heading back to Miri.

Wednesday Night we flew in to Kuala Lumpur for Sharon’s Visa Interview. We landed late and didn’t get to our hotel until about 1 am. The desk person was very rude and smoked like a Steam Train. We slept well for a few hours, then got up at 6 am to get ready for the Interview.

Thursday we went to the Interview at the US Embassy after eating Breakfast at McDonalds (yay!). Immigration has been hasseling me because my Passport was full and there was no more space to stamp in it, so I got some extra pages put in at the US Embassy as well. Once Sharon submitted all of her papers, she was told to return at 1:30 pm for the interview. That meant we had about 3 hours to kill. So we went to KLCC to window shop (well, Sharon bought some makeup stuff) and eat lunch (A&W!). Then we went back to the Embassy for the Interview. This was the part that had us most worried, because if the Embassy Worker didn’t accept my Affidavit of Support, we wouldn’t be able to get the Visa. This was in all of our prayers for the past two months. I actually make enough at my current job to pass the minimum amount required by the Affidavit, but since I am self-employed, we were afraid it might cause problems.

Fortunately, the worked was very nice and we felt very comfortable during the interview. She accepted the Affidavit and we were told to come back the next day at 3 pm to get the Visa! Wow! We had gotten it! We were so excited. It was pouring down rain outside but we ran to the taxi stand (getting mildly wet) and flagged down a taxi. This was the answer to our prayers.

On the way back to the Hotel, we somehow managed to get a Crazy Indian taxi driver. He was literally insane haha! Or at least eccentric. It made for an interesting ride. He was a nice guy though and was the most honest driver we had in KL.

That night we went to see a movie at Times Square: Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was a good movie.

Friday we had some time to kill in the morning so we went back to Times Square and ate breakfast at… WENDY’S!!!! Wow, I was so excited to find that KL now has a Wendy’s! It is my favorite fast food restaurant, and I was happy to eat there. We then bought tickets to see another movie, returned to the hotel to check out, and went back to watch ‘Race to Witch Mountain’. It was a good movie as well, we enjoyed it. After the movie we took a taxi to the place we were supposed to pick up the Visa. There was a long line so I was worried at first, but it actually went by pretty fast. After we got the Visa (YAY) we took a taxi to KL Sentral, then a bus to the Airport. Our flight was delayed by 2 hours so that stunk, but luckily we were able to watch ‘The Office’ and play some games on my laptop. We didn’t get in to Miri until 12 am. When we got back, we went right to bed so we would be ready to go to Bintulu the next morning for Sharon’s interview with President Skelton for the Temple Recommend.

Saturday was Zone Conference in Bintulu, so we got to see all of the missionaries. Sharon passed the interview (no surprises hehe) and we were now all set. I had bought the plane tickets to return to the US earlier that morning, so we now had everything we needed! We were so happy!

Sunday night when I checked my email, there was a message saying there was a problem with the airline reservation and that I would have to call immediately to clear it up. It had been sent right after we left for Bintulu on Saturday Morning. I quickly called the number (despite being sick) and spoke with an agent who said they needed to mail the tickets to us since it wasn’t an e-ticket flight. This really had us worried since Malaysia’s post system is notoriously slow, and we were leaving Friday morning for KL. I tried to see if there was any other way, but the guy kept reassuring me that it would get here on time since it was being shipped by FedEx Second Day mail. We were skeptical but we really had no choice, so we agreed. Thus began the worrying over the plane tickets.

Monday morning I received another email saying I needed to call immediately about the Reservation. To make a long story short, here is a transcript of my final call with their Agents this morning (Tuesday Morning):

Ma’am, I realize this isn’t your fault, but let me explain my situation:
This is the eleventh time in the past 2 days that I’ve had to call this number and speak with an agent. I’ve been told all kinds of different stories why my tickets could not be ticketed, and have had to change my itinerary 5 or 6 times. I’ve been told to wait 3-4 hours on two occasions, and 4-6 hours on two other occasions and they all promised me the confirmation would be sent within that time. Needless to say, after more than 24 hours of waiting for this confirmation message, I still haven’t received any. I called an agent last night (it is morning time here) and she promised me that my trip would be ticketed and I would receive the confirmation email within 4-6 hours. That was 9 hours ago now.
My fiancee and I are flying to the USA to be married, so these tickets are very important to us. My fiancee is very nervous because the trip has not been ticketed yet, and I’ve been sick the past few days so it has been a nightmare for us. I promised her last night that the trip would be ticketed by morning because of what the agent promised me, and now it has still not been ticketed. I really can’t wait any more, I need to get this situation resolved now. We cannot go on like this.
I am calling you to find out why my our trip has not been ticketed yet like the agents have told us it would be.

Wow. So much worrying and so many times I had to call them. I have their hold music memorized. I spent about $15 on the calls. I was told to wait 4-6 hours so many times. Even the last time I called this morning that was her answer. Our flights had been changed so many times. Anyways, just after lunch time, I received the long-awaited confirmation email that our tickets had been confirmed! Finally! Sharon and I were both really happy. I will be returning to the USA this Saturday, flying in to the Las Vegas Airport with my darling Sharon. I am still a bit sick and I have a ton of work to do before then, but I’m hoping that I will get feeling better before we fly, and that I can finish a lot of my work first. I guess all’s well that ends well, so we are happy to be COMING BACK TO THE USA!

As a side note, I was looking at my site stats and it said that someone found my site by searching for D&C 90:24. Sure enough, when I searched google, my study journal was on the first page. Some other wierd searches include:Singapore Airport Electric Shaver, and Iban Alcohol Problems. Haha

Another Sidenote: If you read a post, comment on it! I always comment on posts when I read them, and it really is nice to see what other people think. There’s a comment form just right down below this, just enter something and press Submit! It’s not going to explode your computer, I promise*!

* Promises made in a sarcastic tone are not binding in a court of law.

April 15th is the ‘Big Day’!

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Well, Sharon and I have been engaged for a long time, but whenever anyone asks us ‘When is the big day?’ we always had to reply ‘We don’t know yet, we are still waiting for the Visa’. Well, the time has now come (finally) where we can say that April 15th is the day that we are going to get Married, Sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Bountiful Temple. We are way excited about it and have been planning everything out. We’ve been ordering a lot of things online since we are still in Malaysia.

Sharon’s interview date at the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is on March 26th, and we should get the Visa the next day. We are planning on returning to the USA in the first week of April. Then we will waste no time in tying the knot. Sharon’s sister and mom are flying in to see the wedding as well, so that is exciting. Doreen, one of Sharon’s best friends, is also flying in. We are planning the days leading up to and following the wedding as well. The Reception will be that Saturday (April 18th) at the Lichfield Pond House.

This is officially the call to all my relatives and friends who wish to attend to start clearing your calendar. We are planning on sending out invites soon, so if you don’t get one and think you should have, then be sure to email me so I can tell you personally that you didn’t make the list (haha, j/k ^^)

In other news, this is my 100th post on my blog! I’ve been writing now for over two years, and it’s kinda sad I’m only at 100. I’ve decided to start posting things for my Web Design business in another section, the Wildkatana Design section. I will post tutorials, portfolio entries, remarks about projects, and anything else that would be too boring for you the ‘once-a-week-reader’ of my blog. Don’t worry, you won’t see those posts on the main page, they are well hidden and can only easily be found by searching on google.

I’m thinking about doing the same thing for my study journal, but am too lazy right now and besides I only have a couple posts about my study journal.

Sharon and I went to see The Pink Panther 2 at the theater last night. We wanted to see Bride Wars but it was only playing in the afternoons, so we bought Pink Panther instead. It was hilarious! Steve Martin did an excellent job and Sharon and I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically the entire time. It’s good to get a good laugh from time to time.

I’ve been working hard on a new project this week, and it’s almost done. This site is my nicest one yet, and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It’s a culmination of everything I’ve learned over the past 6 months of doing this.

My portfolio will officially be posted in a portfolio category on this blog, which is not made yet. But I promise to make that this week, including screenshots and commentary.

New Traditions

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

Well, since it has been such a long time since I have posted anything, and since New Year’s is coming up, I figured I’d get a head start and make a resolution now:

I am going to update my blog at least once a week, on Sunday, with an overview of my life for the past week. This will be a sort of journal for me. For all those wishing to know what I have been up to for the past few months of silence, I would suggest checking Sharon’s blog, since she updated it every time we did anything big.

This past week has been a bit busy for me. We got back from our trip to KK about a week and a half ago, and we’ve been Celebrating Christmas by going Christmas Caroling with the ward members. The way they do it here is kind of funny. They schedule it. They have a schedule that they will go to so and so’s house and that person knows beforehand so they prepare lots of snacks and treats. So we go there and we go inside the house and sing some christmas songs then eat and talk, then on to the next house. We do about 4 houses a night because each house takes at least 30-45 mins. We only did member’s houses, and since our group is so small (the chinese group) we did almos all the members. It was fun and took two days, but it was very different from American caroling, where the receiver is usually unaware beforehand, and treats are not expected, and we don’t usually go inside it seems. Anyways, that was an interesting experience.

Sharon and I went shopping for our primary kids (we have 5 regulars now) and it was fun. We bought them each two toys (some were really poor so we knew they would be getting nothing else this christmas) then we taught them a primary lesson about giving gifts, and how Jesus was God’s gift to the world, and how they can give to jesus by giving their love and service to those around them. Then we gave them their gifts. It was a good lesson. Sharon also gave a really good talk about Jesus’ love for us that Sunday.

Then on Tuesday we had a Ward Christmas Party, and it was a lot of fun to get together with the Iban members and have a good celebration, with lots of Songs and Food.

Christmas was also really enjoyable, I was able to sleep in and Sharon and I gave her mom our gift to her (two boxes of bird’s nests, a real delicacy here). Then we did something I’ve never done before on Christmas: We went Shopping. Apparently it is a tradition of sorts here, because the malls never close and so many people go shopping on holidays. I thought it was really funny because in the USA you couldn’t really go shopping even if you wanted to, because all of the stores are closed except maybe Wal-Mart or something.

Anyways, Sharon’s mom bought me a nice belt, which I needed, so that was good. Sharon gave me a lot of gifts this year: some shirts for Chinese New Year, a laptop bag and some laptop accessories, and a really really nice massage (the best gift was just being here with her^^).

Then yesterday Sharon’s old friend Doreen (she’s my friend too, from BYU-Hawaii) was back in town visiting her family for the holidays, so we spent a whole day with her (consisting mostly of them shopping and me following them around). I met Nguti ak Maja at the Mall surprisingly, I recognized her and she recognized me at the same time. I baptized her in Bintulu, and she is working in Miri now, so I had a nice talk with her for a minute before we exchanged phone numbers. I am planning on going back to bintulu tomorrow to visit some old friends. That night we went to eat at Soho’s with Doreen, so that was fun.

Bangkok Trip Map

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Well, Sharon has already written about the trip to Bangkok (also check out her ‘Bangok Day 2‘ blog post), so I figure why reinvent the wheel when I could do something different to compliment it (like inventing a steering wheel). Anyways, here is a map that I made of our trip, complete with text and pictures! (I’d suggest clicking on the ‘View Larger Map’ to see it better)

View Larger Map

And Here are some captionated Photos!

Some Updates – Finally

Friday, September 5th, 2008

Well, it has been a long time since I have written (3 weeks) and so I am way overdue. I have done so many things that it seems like there is just too much to write about, and I don’t really know where to start. Sharon is hounding me to write, and I know that I have promised a lot of people that I would, so here goes:
First, let me start with a brief summary of the past 3 weeks:
The Arrival
After the flight from LA to Taipei, I ended up in Kuala Lumpur, the capitol city of Malaysia. It was a sight for sore eyes, since it had been a couple of years since I had been there, and it really felt so good to be back. I love KL! The airport is really nice, but I didn’t get a lot of time to enjoy it because I had a flight to catch, so i quickly went to my connecting flight to Miri, Malaysia.
During the flight from West Malaysia to East Malaysia, I couldn’t help smiling to myself the entire way. The people around me probably thought I was either crazy or had attained the Buddhist goal of Nirvana, but in truth I was just thinking of how happy I was to be able to see my sweetheart Sharon again. I envisioned it in my mind at least a dozen times. I was so excited! When the plane landed, it was even better than I had imagined! Sharon was waiting for me at the terminal, and boy did she look gorgeous. She came up and hugged me big and I was the happiest man in Malaysia. She took me outside to her mom’s car, and I got to meet (for the first time) her wonderful mom. Judy Hii Ai Huong is one of the nicest women I have ever met, which is a big relief considering that I had been really scared of meeting her. She drove me to her house and showed me my new (and Ivy’s old) room. I settled in and fell asleep (the first I’d gotten for a long time).
The next couple of days were spent preparing things for the reception and running errands. One memorable and notable thing we did was have a photo-shoot. It was a lot of fun, but somewhat grueling (it lasted all day). Sharon had I think 7 dresses, so we took a lot of photos. I think that she has posted many of the pics, and she even has lots of them in a slide-show on her blog, here is the link: Slideshow
Anyways, the next big thing we did was drive down to Sibu for a reception with her family there.

Sibu Reception
Sharon has many relatives in Sibu, because that is where both her Mom and Dad are from, and it is where she grew up as a kid. Later she moved to Kota Kinabalu, then to Miri, but that is another story. There were so many relatives of hers there that I met. Her Dad’s Mom is there and she is a kind old lady, still healthy and strong despite her old age. She came from China a long time ago to Malaysia, so that is Sharon’s heritage. All of her Aunts and Uncles and Cousins were there, and so it was quite confusing at times since everyone spoke Chinese (and not even Mandarin, but FuChao, so I didn’t have much chance at comprehension). Speaking of Chinese, I am getting better slowly at Mandarin, and I can understand the gist of most sentences, so that is good. Anyways, in Sibu I was able to meet Sharon’s Dad for the first time. Jackson Ting is bluff-faced and seems kind of stern when you first meet him, but he is a really kind and nice guy, and the important thing is that I can tell he loves Sharon so much. She is his oldest daughter, and he wants to make sure she is taken care of. I love Sharon very much as well, and when he could see this, he liked me as well. I must admit that I was very scared to meet him the first time. Haha. Anyways, her family is all very nice and very Chinese, so it was a lot of fun. We had the reception at a Hotel there in Sibu, and it was very nice with lots of people. They had an MC who was very outspoken, and basically I made a fool of myself many times trying to get their customs right. Of note among the customs were the Yam Seng, where everyone stands toasts the bride and groom. I had a hard time of opening the ‘Champagne’ (sparkling cider, I’m Mormon, remember?) bottle, since it was my first time opening one. The idea is to shake it up and then pop the cork and spray it, then fill up a pyramid of glasses with it. I didn’t know there were three toasts, so after the first yam seng I totally drained the cup, and had to borrow some from Sharon for the other two, haha. Another custom is the giving of ‘ang pao’ or gift money to the bride and groom. We went around collecting little red envelopes with money inside, so that was a lot of fun. After we got home, Sharon immediately began counting the ang pao (she is very chinese, haha). Anyways, it was so much fun and I really wish my friends and family could have been there as well to enjoy it, but I guess all of you who weren’t able to come to this one still have a chance to redeem yourselves and come to my ‘real’ reception after we are married in the temple in Utah. Haha.

Whew, this is really starting to be a long post, and I still have so much more to write about. Okay, I am going to have to do this in installments. Be sure to check back for my future posts about our adventures in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Thailand, and our reception in Miri!

In the mean time, here are some pics from the Sibu Reception:

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