Mr. and Mrs. Wang

We finally did it! The wedding night was absolutely phenomenal and even better than we had expected. The entire day had a surreal feel to it and I couldn’t stop smiling. I loved seeing my friends showing their support, family goes without saying, and my beautiful bride of course. It will go down as the best day in my life despite getting zero sleep and being preceded by a bit of stress to ensure everything would go smoothly and according to plan. My grandmother of 83 passed away the Friday before, a couple hours before our rehearsal dinner. I had just picked up Doug from the train station and we were eating lunch at Five Guys in Rockville Town Square when I got the call from my dad. She had been diagnosed as in the final stages of cancer a month or so ago and it was beyond devastating to me. I still think of her often and miss her wonderful spirit and kind heart. Since my parents were always working during my early years, she lived in our house with us and basically raised me until I was old enough to take care of myself. She’s taught me so much about values and morality and doing the right thing, and being sympathetic to others, even when it’s difficult to do so. As you might imagine it was a very difficult time for us to go through being that the wedding was the next day, but eventually I came to peace that she had finally found her resting place and is far better off now than she ever was. Her firm beliefs and spirituality defined her as a person, and even on her deathbed she maintained her usual cheery disposition. She told us not to worry about her, and that she was happy with where she was going. I never really had a chance to say it anywhere else since I didn’t mention it at the wedding during my speech and I don’t really believe in putting this kind of stuff in social media broadcasts, but here it is, on my private blog: Wai Po, I know the Lord has taken you home. Thank you for all you’ve helped me with when I least deserved it. May you rest in peace; I know we’ll come face to face again someday.

As expected, the night before the wedding was impossibly hectic from morning to the wee hours of the night trying to get everything in place. This resulted in about 2 hours of actual sleep, including my groomsmen, who slept over, and Doug, who slept in my bed <3. After the after-party in our suite upstairs (which, by the way, was pretty sick), close friends were heavily intoxicated and crashed in various corners of the room. We had an 8 AM flight to the Maldives to catch, which meant we had to be at the airport by 6 AM, which meant we would have to leave the hotel at around 4:30 AM, which basically meant to us pulling another all-nighter. I'd never felt so exhausted in my life, but it was a good kind of fatigue. Yen and I were one now, and our minds were at peace. Our friends had a blast, and to sum up the night into one word it would have to be: epic. You just had to be there. To the people who ended up not going, sorry to say this, but, you seriously missed out on the experience of a lifetime. Once we got to the Maldives, 24 hours and 3 transfers later, the first thing we did was pass out for several hours into a comatose state. The airport lost our luggage but we were so tired at that point it became an afterthought. Sleep first, belongings later. They ended up losing it for two days before it was express shipped to us, which was kind of annoying. As for the Four Seasons Resort we stayed at for seven days and seven nights, however, heaven on earth would not do its description justice. There are plenty of pictures on my FB that captured some of our finest moments. What better way to ring in our marriage by living like king and queen for a week in total seclusion, on a tropical beach with white sand and crystal clear water? Our villa was a water bungalow above water with every luxurious amenity you could fathom, including our own infinity pool overlooking the Indian Ocean. We ended up doing a ton of water excursions and of course eating awesome food every meal and overall just having the time of our lives.
Honestly, once I came back, I felt more ready to grind than ever. Living in serenity is nice, but what still makes me tick is what I do best. The competitiveness in me is like an urge I can't control, and I was eager to get back to the felt. August is my month of redemption since I was unable to play for half of July due to to wedding planning and honeymoon, and I'm looking to close out the summer on a hot note.