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On Saturday, January 4th, 2003, our very own Tin, better known as NK_Khaavren, was married to his longtime better-half, Leia.

Being that a majority of the larger family resides in Southern California, Tin and Leia decided to have the wedding and reception in Orange County. As many of you know, this is my neck-of-the-woods. = ) Obviously NK needed to send some representatives to this special occasion... So I packed up Teaa and Litebringer into the ol' NK Jeep Cherokee and headed down to the Regent West Restaurant for Tin and Leia's reception.

Upon arrival, bride and groom were busy at the front entrance greeting guests, and taking pictures. I introduced myself and family to them, and we were escorted to table 22. One of the Groomsmen approached to welcome us and introduced himself. It was none other than Harry, aka NK_Guan-Yu from Asheron's Call! The Best Man (Tin's brother Tri) also stopped by to chat a bit. I cannot begin to tell you all how nice all of the family and friends were, and how at-ease they made us feel. Whenever you show up to an event where you've never met any of these people before, you're always a little skeptical... not here. Within 10 minutes we felt as if we knew everyone at our table and we ended up staying almost 5 hours! (In Litebringer terms, we were there 5 years.. heh)

To recap the evening, first was cocktails and guest arrivals. Leia's best friend and her husband were seated at our table and introduced themselves. Also present was a young lady who I believe (not sure) was an long-time 'friend' of Tri's. Rounding out our Über Table were two high school ladies (mom and dad sat at a different table) who's family were friends of the wedding family. Ok, so everyone introduced themselves and there's only one thing left to do; open the wine! Teaa and I opted for the red wine and the other couple went for the white wine. The youngin's drank soda. = D

At this point, Harry returned to involve me in a little joke on Tin... he handed me a photo of Tin, and told me that when the Best Man (Tri) would toast the bride and groom, he would ask for all Tin admirers to 'give up' their cherished Tin photographs, since Tin was now officially off of the market. Upon asking for the photographs, about 15 young ladies brought Tri their Tin photos... then he said "C'mon now... I know there's more out there..." at which point me and about 5 other guys walked up and turned in our Tin photos... heh pretty funny...

Now was time for the feast, otherwise known as dinner. I say feast, because it was served in courses, 9 in all! First was brought out the Cold Cuts platter, pictured below.
Ok, now I can't tell you everything that's on this platter. After all, this is a traditional Vietnamese restaurant so this is all going to be very new... In the middle under all the garnish was some regular cold cuts like Ham and Turkey, but the stuff around the side was a bit more ambiguous. The stuff on the forward edge of the plate was definitely jellyfish, and we were told that the round bluish-geen things around the edge of the plate were '100 year eggs'. That explains the color = ) hehe The other couple there dared us to try and eat one without shedding a tear.. we declined = D

Conversations ensued, wine flowed. The second course was Shark Fin Crab Meat soup. This soup reminded me of traditional Chinese Egg-Drop soup (the thick texture), but it had a very distinct flavor. Not too bad! Next up was Chicken with Shrimp Paste. Now we're talkin'! heh This stuff was GREAT, and YES, I did eat my entire dinner using traditional chopsticks! heh

Alright, course number four goes to House Special Lobster. Ok, now I must admit that I'm just not a fan. Lobster never really kicked in for me... I much prefer Shrimp prawns to Lobster. I ate some tho.. it wasn't bad. Course #5: Crispy Duck! I guess duck is an aquired taste. It's very close to dark meat portions of chicken, but a bit more dense. It wasn't bad, but I'll stay preferred to chicken. Course #6: Shrimp with Walnuts. Did I mention my fondness for shrimp? Mmmm!! The shrimp had a very thick sauce on it, and it complimented it prefectly. 9 outta 10! (10 reserved for Italian style Shrimp Scampi).

We move on to course #7: Fried Fish. This isn't fish portions, it's the ENTIRE FISH (big one too!), brought in on a large platter and staring you right in the eyes. Not a big fan of fish either (besides fresh stream trout), but I ate some and it was pretty good. Course #8 was traditional Fried Rice. Very good, but hard to eat using chopsticks... I think there was more on the floor than in me by the time I was done... heh And lastly, course 9 was dessert, Sweetened Taro. The taro root is the ingredient for the Hawaiian finger-treat 'Poi', and here the Vietnamese use it as a base for a very thick dessert that includes mini-crab apples and other assorted fruits. Wasn't bad, but again it's definitely an aquired taste.

Well dinner was definitely a fabulous treat. And after a whole bottle of wine was had between Teaa and myself, it was definitely time to hunt down a second bottle (there were a few empty tables near the back of the reception). Unfortunatley, it appears table 21 beat us to the extra bottle of wine, at which point I suggested that our table declare WAR on table 21!! eheh Yes, I cause TROUBLE everywhere I go... 0 : )

There were 2 frustrating situations at work here. #1, Kaje had planned on flying in from Chi Town and attending the reception, but a massive trip of that kind requires everything (including the moon and planets) to line up in perfect order. They didn't, and so Keith couldn't make it. We missed ya bro... you would've had a GREAT time...

#2, since Tin was the main attraction, we couldn't sit down and chat. That's understandable, and I must say that it really didn't make that big of a difference. Guan-Yu was EXTREMELY cordial and attentive in place of Tin (thanks SO MUCH HARRY!!). He fussed around us quite a bit and worked the ENTIRE room tirelessly and effortlessly. And Tri, Tin's brother and Best Man also came by quite a few times to check on our table. These two guys knew EXACTLY how to make sure the program moved right along... Congrats to you both! I'm sure Tin and Leia appreciate how smoothly things went on your guy's watch! (As a side note - Just to let you, the reader, know... there had to be well over 250 people at this reception. It was a HUGE crowd!) And Tin, my brother Knight, we will surely have to make up for any loss of socializing by taking the wives out to dinner next time you are down in LA! Deal?

Tin and Leia are currently on Honeymoon through the rest of this week.

To you both, I raise one last toast to your life together. May it be full of health, wealth, and lots of 'Little Knights' (if you so desire). You two make the perfect and most handsome couple, and obviously love each other very much.

Cheers!