Happiness in Ten Courses

Mr. Monkey's cousin Opto married Dr. Arizona yesterday. It was a traditional Taiwanese affair at a popular hotel for such events, complete with large posed studio portraits and rampant red double happiness symbols.

The florals were sweet and cheery and the aisle Cinderella-esque.

The processional.

Opto's father passed away not long ago, so Mr. Monkey's father walked our dear Opto down the aisle. He was so proud to be at Opto's side.

It was a lovely ceremony officiated by Dr. Arizona's sister.

Little Monkey Niece had the greatest time playing with all of her cousins and Mr. Monkey during the cocktail hour.

LMN didn't enjoy being posed for photographs. She gets shy in big groups!

I ended up wearing an old Banana Republic dress I bought last year instead of the Michael Kors dress I bought on Wednesday, which seemed too light and flouncy for the cloudy day. This BR dress was made of thicker fabric, which worked well for the cool weather. This was the only full-length pic of us both, which I snapped in a dirty reflective window.

The hors d'oeuvres included sushi and dim sum delights.

The cocktail hour also offered a personal delight for me. A nice young couple introduced themselves to me, and the husband said, "My wife's too embarrassed to tell you this, but she reads your blog!"

How cool is that?! I felt as happy as a Z-list celebrity being recognized at the supermarket for the first time!

It turns out MJ, a friend of Opto, found me when she was planning her wedding and has been reading ever since. Her husband D is also a lawyer, so our Monkey adventures have some resonance for both MJ and D. Thanks for saying hello! As dorky as it may sound, I was really excited to meet you both!

And then it was time for the reception.

Our table had a tall centerpiece.

Favors were little packets of flowering tea.

The cake was reminiscent of one featured in Martha Stewart Weddings a few years ago. I always love polka dots!

Some family pics at our table.


The entrance of the wedding party and the bride and groom.

The first dance.

LMN thought my bright orange bracelet was a great toy.



My sister-in-law showed me the funniest picture of LMN in the rain the other day.

LMN perked up when she heard "Be Our Guest" being played.

I laughed so hard as the waitstaff marched into the ballroom to the Disney song.

Let the foodfest commence!

(1) Shrimp Salad. This was shrimp and cubed cantaloupe and honeydew slathered in mayonnaise. Not my fave (because of all that unadulterated mayo -- blech), but the quality of the shrimp was very good.


(2) Baked Scallops With Butter and Basil. Fresh and delicious. I had two!

(3) Garden Vegetables With Conpoy Topping. For those of you who are scratching your heads, conpoy is dried scallop. Unmemorable dish.

(4) Prince's Shark Fin Soup With Crabmeat (before and after I added vinegar). It's very un-PC, but I love shark fin soup, and I especially love it with the tang of vinegar. This was pretty tasty, although I prefer my shark fin soup a tad less gelatinous.


(5) Braised Fresh Abalone With Mushrooms. I had some of the abalone and spinach. Enjoyable.


(6) Pan Fried Lobster With House Special Sauce. The home run of the night! I could've eaten the whole platter myself!


(7) Chef's Special Succulent Roast Chicken With Garlic Sauce. Not extraordinary, but still yummy.

Note: At this point, my battery died, and my back-up battery was also mysteriously drained. Mr. Monkey's brother let me borrow his point-and-shoot. So nice! Thank you!

(8) Steamed Fresh Catch. I don't know what kind of fish this was, but it was excellent. I really savored this.

(9) Double Happiness Egg Noodles. I always love this. It's pretty hard to screw up.

(10) Puree of Sweet Beans With Lotus Seeds, Rice Ball, and Purple Rice. Somebody at our table didn't want hers. I had her bowl in addition to my own. Mmm. Enough said.

Opto's first wardrobe change was to a red modified chi pao with a drop waist and ruffled hem.

Mr. Monkey's father gave a great speech in Taiwanese. He directed people who didn't speak Taiwanese to "ask your neighbor." Ha!

LMN, however, was not paying attention at all to her grandfather's speech.

Opto's last wardrobe change was to a blue ball gown. Apologies for my crappy pictures. Opto was absolutely beautiful in real life!

My slice of wedding cake was light and not too sweet.

Brother-bride and mother-groom dance.

In typical Taiwanese fashion, all the old people practically flew out of the room right after the last course. The Monkeys boogied for awhile, hugged the bride, and went home, bellies very very full.

Thank you so much for inviting us, Opto and Dr. Arizona! Best wishes for a long and happy marriage!