Maui Madness in March

We were guests at the lovely wedding of Russell's pal Jon Suzukawa to his lady love Christine Martinez, which took place on the island of Maui on Monday March 23. In true Jon & Christine style, they had a gangload of activities for their guests, like scuba diving, Pacific Whale Foundation whalewatch eco-tour, the Old Lahaina Luau, and of course LOTS and LOTS of partying!

Most of us stayed in the Wailea area of Maui, since that's where much of the wedding-related action was taking place. But many guests (including the wedding party) got to Maui the week before and several days exploring the island and meeting & getting to know each other. Russell & I stayed at a condo at Wailea Elua Village with his coworker-friend Rachel & her husband Rich Vigil, which was (thankfully) stumbling distance from Jon & Christine's hotel.

Here's a link to the wedding website for those two crazy kids: Christine & Jon in Maui

And here's a link to our pictures HERE (I only posted small pics, let me know if you'd like me to send you any of the full-size files)

We had a mindblowing time in Maui, experiencing the most amazing things, including but not limited to:
- Snorkeling with the sea turtles, and hearing the whale songs while we were underwater
- Close encounters of the baby-whale kind (our slideshow appears below)
- Spotting a playful seal next to our beach
- Having The Best Giant Mai Tai In The World at Humuhumunukunukuapua'a restaurant & feeding their humongous freshwater carp
- Frying panfuls of spam for Spam Musubi in Jon & Christine's luxury penthouse hotel suite

An awesome time was had by all. Thank you to Jon & Christine for making such an experience possible, and for sharing your love of Maui with all of us! Congratulations to the wonderful couple!

Tribute to Momma

Here's a little ditty from Fountains of Wayne, which was THE PERFECT SONG epitomizing everything our family feels about our momma Julie. Her birthday is March 30 (although it's the 29th today, it's technically tomorrow in the Philippines). Happy Birthday Ma!

We're totally gay for Mamma Mia & HSM

Last night, we had one of our movie/dinner theme nights: Mamma Mia (the Musical) and a big fat Greek Dinner potluck. Pictures of our feast can be viewed HERE. Of course the meal was accompanied by generous servings of ouzo, wine, and beer.

We actually started off by watching High School Musical 3. I guess one could argue the Greek connection due to the latent homosexuality of the male leads, but I digress...

Here's a bit of the giddiness that is Mamma Mia:

More Potluck Action (cuz ya can't get enuff!)

And here are some more shots from Tu & Herman (click HERE for the pictures)
Although I'm warning you now, there are a LOT of close-ups. So don't click on that link if you're eating. Or just finished eating. Or if you have eyes. Or are a human being.

Potluck "Off The Beaten Path"

Tu & Herman had the brilliant idea to hold a "Bizarre Foods" type of Potluck dinner. Or as they described it, "The theme behind this event is for everyone to share a dish that is 'off the beaten path', something a little exotic/fear factorish or just a little different." Everything was surprisingly delicious, even though I was reeling from all the rich fatty mystery meats the next day.

Russell & I chronicled the evolution of the two dishes we brought: Lengua in creamy mushroom sauce and Sisig, two traditional Filipino dishes that we actually had & really liked during our visit to the Philippines. Pictures of our food preparation in all its gory details, as well as the MUCH more appetizing pictures of the delectable potluck dishes, can be found HERE.

Of course no party of this sort would be complete without that Filipino party staple: The Balut (fertilized duck embryo). Here are some slideshows of balut-eating in progress:

Justa's does a shot of Balut


Tu's turn to eat Balut at her potluck


It took a while to convince Billy, Marco, and Jason to do it, but they succumbed to peer pressure and took the Balut Challenge