Wedding Reflections
Before I looked at any of the facebook or twitter photos, I wanted to write down my view of the wedding based only on my memory. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Nervy start
Call it butterflies or call it just plain nerves, but I was feeling off at the start wedding. Amanda and I had decided we wouldn't see each other until I put on her veil during the bedeken ceremony. Well, that proved to be quite difficult. At times, I would need to leave the tisch room, and I felt so bad as people wanted to say hello. I was being a tad rude as I focused on getting to where to places without seeing her. Luckily, it all worked out as we signed the ketubah. At the tisch, I asked everyone to honor my grandmother by dancing a bit longer and singing a bit louder in her memory (Amanda says Grandma Lottie and her Grandma Joan were making sure it was a sunny and beautiful day for the wedding).
The Moment
It finally arrived. The boys danced me in to see my bride. Seeing Amanda look so beautiful in her dress made me start tearing up. This was the moment I had envisioned - it was that and even more. Of course my first loving words to her were "I forgot the Tallis!" I'm glad she smiled at that and then I put on her veil.
The Ceremony
I was so happy during the ceremony. It was truly the best 25 minutes of my life. People overuse that phrase, but this is genuine.
The processional was beautiful with our friend Steve Chaitman singing and playing the guitar. No surprise here, but the kids were magical. My nephew Aaron, niece Rachel and Amanda's cousin Jenna brought the place to life with their cuteness.
The room itself was fantastic. It's amazing to think that room could be transformed like that. The lighting was great - some spot lights created a very intimate atmosphere. Amanda's family had also done very well on the chair covers. However, the star of the room was the chuppah. It was so gorgeous. It was outdone by only one thing....
When Amanda walked down the aisle, it was absolutely incredible. Again, I was crying a little - who knew I was such a weaper?
I tried to keep my eyes on her the whole time and really capture the moment in my mind. Once she got up to the chuppah, she did a great job with the seven circles as we held hands on each turn. When we got started, my brother Evan delivered a beautiful service. Amanda and I were so locked in on each other the whole time. We'd whisper little things to make sure we were enjoying the whole thing.
Amanda and I exchanged vows before the ring ceremony. I went first and tearfully talked about the growth of our relationship. I promised to always let her flick my ears, to let her sleep in on her off days, and to love her forever. She promised to be the passports carrier, to make sure the $10 haircut lady gets my hair in back, and to be the best friend I'll ever have.
I did have a mess up that will be a story for years. When repeating the betrothal blessing, Evan told me to "say Li." I was only supposed to recite the word "Li," but I ended up going full on and repeated "Say Li." Well, it was clear that wasn't correct, but it was a funny moment that we'll all remember. Lets hope my friends won't make that mistake in the future!
Our seven wedding blessings were read in Hebrew by Evan and then in English by parents, grandparents and friends. After being wrapped in a borrowed tallis, I stepped on the glass and then yeehaw, the first kiss! It was truly the perfect ceremony for us. It didn't always go exactly as planned, but everything felt natural. Amanda and I were on the same wavelength the entire time.
The Start of Married Life
The only thing I wish I would have done differently during the wedding was right after. I was trying to organize people for pictures, and in the process, was more stressed than needed to be. I wasn't as nice as I could have been. For all those that I didn't give appropriate respect to, please forgive me.
From there on though, the night was splendid! The food was great (the minimal amount I got to). The band was very good. Most importantly, there was plenty of dancing! Not everything went exactly in order, but I also don't believe anyone left having had a bad time.
The whole experience makes me appreciate the wonderful people in our lives. Our families put in an incredible amount of effort to make the weekend spectacular.
We were absolutely floored with how many friends and family came in to be with us. Amanda and I had people from all parts of our lives - from childhood to college to Singapore! It meant everything to us that people invested their time and funds to be with us.
We had the perfect wedding experience. We love you all and can't thank everyone enough.
Michael
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
My Grandma
My Grandma Lottie was one of my best friends. It's as simple as that. Many of my family memories are very tied to her.
I remember at her old apartment, one time climbing through this set of bars that ran from the living room to the dining room.
I remember her saying to me not to get in trouble or she'd flip me inside out and zip me up.
I remember her singing me all of her Yiddish songs, including the one that always made me look at Macy's a different way.
As I grew up, my brothers and I would spend nights at her apartment. She would always sleep on the couch in the other room so that we'd have the comfort of the bed. We'd go over to her house and she'd make us golden lokshen, salad and a chuck roast - of course she'd constantly be in the kitchen, even when we begged her to come out and eat with us so her food wouldn't get cold! That's just who she was - for the most important people in her life, she wanted everything for them first.
Food is so tied into the way I remember my grandmother - especially her baking. When I was very young, she'd make me these chocolate cookies with green and pink marshmallows in them - they were perfect. Mandel breads, ruggalah, sugar cookies, she did it all. However, none of those even came close to her challahs. It is still my favorite food and she's the reason for it. She always said she didn't have a recipe for it and that's the truth. I was so proud when I got to take her challah in on cultural days at school. Other classmates would end the day jealous that they didn't get to eat it all the time.
As I got older, my grandmother and I developed a special friendship. Although, at times, I let my youth get the better of me. On Friday nights in high school, I was regularly responsible for getting my grandma home. It was special one on one time that I didn't always take advantage of - sometimes even getting upset that I wasn't able to rush off with friends. However, I look back on those times and realize how lucky I was to be able to share that time with her.
In recent years, it's been very tough for my grandmother. And so, I choose to remember her in the way that will always warm my heart and inspire my memories. The ones where I imagine her singing show tunes with her family, going out with Aunt Babe to dance the night away in Miami, her coming home to my grandfather, raising my dad to be the amazing fella he is today, and mostly for being the wonderful Yiddishe mama I always knew.
I'll miss her desperately - it crushes me that I couldn't be at the funeral, but I know she wanted me to have my adventures in life.
A part of me is always built from her. A part that makes me and our family strong.
Yingalah #3, Mikey, Mikaluvichka
I remember at her old apartment, one time climbing through this set of bars that ran from the living room to the dining room.
I remember her saying to me not to get in trouble or she'd flip me inside out and zip me up.
I remember her singing me all of her Yiddish songs, including the one that always made me look at Macy's a different way.
As I grew up, my brothers and I would spend nights at her apartment. She would always sleep on the couch in the other room so that we'd have the comfort of the bed. We'd go over to her house and she'd make us golden lokshen, salad and a chuck roast - of course she'd constantly be in the kitchen, even when we begged her to come out and eat with us so her food wouldn't get cold! That's just who she was - for the most important people in her life, she wanted everything for them first.
Food is so tied into the way I remember my grandmother - especially her baking. When I was very young, she'd make me these chocolate cookies with green and pink marshmallows in them - they were perfect. Mandel breads, ruggalah, sugar cookies, she did it all. However, none of those even came close to her challahs. It is still my favorite food and she's the reason for it. She always said she didn't have a recipe for it and that's the truth. I was so proud when I got to take her challah in on cultural days at school. Other classmates would end the day jealous that they didn't get to eat it all the time.
As I got older, my grandmother and I developed a special friendship. Although, at times, I let my youth get the better of me. On Friday nights in high school, I was regularly responsible for getting my grandma home. It was special one on one time that I didn't always take advantage of - sometimes even getting upset that I wasn't able to rush off with friends. However, I look back on those times and realize how lucky I was to be able to share that time with her.
In recent years, it's been very tough for my grandmother. And so, I choose to remember her in the way that will always warm my heart and inspire my memories. The ones where I imagine her singing show tunes with her family, going out with Aunt Babe to dance the night away in Miami, her coming home to my grandfather, raising my dad to be the amazing fella he is today, and mostly for being the wonderful Yiddishe mama I always knew.
I'll miss her desperately - it crushes me that I couldn't be at the funeral, but I know she wanted me to have my adventures in life.
A part of me is always built from her. A part that makes me and our family strong.
Yingalah #3, Mikey, Mikaluvichka
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Mapping Out May
May 2011 was traveltastic for Amanda and me. We were very fortunate to take two great trips. Our decision to not come back to the US until the wedding allowed us these extra days, and we made sure to take advantage.
New Zealand
Auckland
We started and ended our trip in Auckland, the city of sails. It's a very beautiful city with a lovely downtown area. What sets it apart from any other city for me was it's closeness to the water and the fact that it's all pretty new. Many of the colonial buildings are less than 150 years old.
While here, we took a bus around the city, went up to the Auckland Sky Tower and visited Rangitoto Volcanic Island. One of my favorite things had nothing to do with sights though. On the second leg of our trip, we went to a local bar and watched the Auckland Blues rugby team on TV. Rugby is definitely the number one sport in that country and seeing their passion for it was great.
Queenstown
The nature in and around Queenstown is truly majestic. The mountains, the lakes, the streams, all of it is jaw dropping.
The camera didn't have to do much work on this trip-the views themselves look like they come out of a picture book. While here, we took a boat ride on Lake Wakatipu, went on a trip to the Milford Sound, and perhaps my favorite, did a Lord of the Rings nature tour. On the LOTR trip, they took us to places where the films were shot, but more importantly, it was just the sensational nature that made it worth it.
The last big thing in Queenstown was the most nerve wrecking - I went bungy jumping! It's supposed to be the home of the original bungy. When I got up there, I was extremely nervous, but kept saying just do it, just do it.
Once the guide told me to wiggle out to the edge (eek), there was basically no other choice. It's hard to describe, the free falling with absolutely no control of your movements. I wanted to grab something but couldn't. It was over in seconds, a short and body busting experience. It will probably be the only time I ever do that, but it was worth it.
Wanaka
Midway through our stay on the south island, we spent two days at a bed and breakfast at Lake Wanaka. Of all the things we did on the trip, this was maybe the one thing I'd change. To be honest, my favorite part was the drive to and from this small lake town. Not that this isn't a great place, it just was a very difficult place without being able to drive. Unfortunately, neither Amanda or I had a valid license for this trip. It would have been great if we were able to just get in a car and drive, see the nature, but alas, we still had a great time taking all forms of public transport.
Bali
About two weeks after New Zealand, we visited Bali, Indonesia. This was one of my Singapore Bucket List places to visit and, well, it wasn't as awesome as I'd expected.
To be fair, it just was different to what we'd built up, and we should have planned in a different way. Bali seems to be a place where you go once, figure out how it all works and then go another time. 
Still, there were some gorgeous sights there including the Tanah Lot Temple, the Uluwatu Temple and the rice fields all over the place. A big thanks goes to my friend Melanie who suggested a nature walk in the town of Ubud. It was a fantastic way to see the rice fields and jungle like environment.
Joplin Tornado
Now on a much more serious note, while I've loved traveling and seeing the awesomeness of the earth, we've all been reminded lately that there is another side to mother nature. Christchurch, Tokyo, Alabama, Oklahoma City, Missouri, Massachusetts, it seems to be one natural disaster after another. The Joplin, Missouri tornado has been the one that has been on my mind the most. This is a city that I've driven through, eaten in and met people from. In a day, the entire city was changed forever. It reminds me that we should always appreciate the good things in our life.
Michael
New Zealand
Auckland
We started and ended our trip in Auckland, the city of sails. It's a very beautiful city with a lovely downtown area. What sets it apart from any other city for me was it's closeness to the water and the fact that it's all pretty new. Many of the colonial buildings are less than 150 years old.
While here, we took a bus around the city, went up to the Auckland Sky Tower and visited Rangitoto Volcanic Island. One of my favorite things had nothing to do with sights though. On the second leg of our trip, we went to a local bar and watched the Auckland Blues rugby team on TV. Rugby is definitely the number one sport in that country and seeing their passion for it was great.
Queenstown
The nature in and around Queenstown is truly majestic. The mountains, the lakes, the streams, all of it is jaw dropping.
The camera didn't have to do much work on this trip-the views themselves look like they come out of a picture book. While here, we took a boat ride on Lake Wakatipu, went on a trip to the Milford Sound, and perhaps my favorite, did a Lord of the Rings nature tour. On the LOTR trip, they took us to places where the films were shot, but more importantly, it was just the sensational nature that made it worth it.The last big thing in Queenstown was the most nerve wrecking - I went bungy jumping! It's supposed to be the home of the original bungy. When I got up there, I was extremely nervous, but kept saying just do it, just do it.
Once the guide told me to wiggle out to the edge (eek), there was basically no other choice. It's hard to describe, the free falling with absolutely no control of your movements. I wanted to grab something but couldn't. It was over in seconds, a short and body busting experience. It will probably be the only time I ever do that, but it was worth it.Wanaka
Midway through our stay on the south island, we spent two days at a bed and breakfast at Lake Wanaka. Of all the things we did on the trip, this was maybe the one thing I'd change. To be honest, my favorite part was the drive to and from this small lake town. Not that this isn't a great place, it just was a very difficult place without being able to drive. Unfortunately, neither Amanda or I had a valid license for this trip. It would have been great if we were able to just get in a car and drive, see the nature, but alas, we still had a great time taking all forms of public transport.
Bali
About two weeks after New Zealand, we visited Bali, Indonesia. This was one of my Singapore Bucket List places to visit and, well, it wasn't as awesome as I'd expected.
To be fair, it just was different to what we'd built up, and we should have planned in a different way. Bali seems to be a place where you go once, figure out how it all works and then go another time. 
Still, there were some gorgeous sights there including the Tanah Lot Temple, the Uluwatu Temple and the rice fields all over the place. A big thanks goes to my friend Melanie who suggested a nature walk in the town of Ubud. It was a fantastic way to see the rice fields and jungle like environment.
Joplin Tornado
Now on a much more serious note, while I've loved traveling and seeing the awesomeness of the earth, we've all been reminded lately that there is another side to mother nature. Christchurch, Tokyo, Alabama, Oklahoma City, Missouri, Massachusetts, it seems to be one natural disaster after another. The Joplin, Missouri tornado has been the one that has been on my mind the most. This is a city that I've driven through, eaten in and met people from. In a day, the entire city was changed forever. It reminds me that we should always appreciate the good things in our life.
Michael
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Fly to Seoul
Last week, we had one of the most "Welcome to Asia" trips so far. Not that the others haven't been special, but traveling around SE Asia is different than going up to South Korea.
Our experience was made much easier by my good buddy Jordan. We went up there to visit him (he teaches at an English school). He has picked up a good amount of the language and was able to get us through some conversations with cabbies, restaurants, etc. This is partly the reason the trip was so different.
We normally go on trips geared for a tourist, staying in the main site seeing areas, restaurants with English menus and the like. This experience had us staying with a friend in a suburb of Seoul, eating at neighborhood restaurants and seeing what living there was like.
Palaces
Easily the coolest tourist thing we saw was Gyeongbokgung Palace. I wont pretend that I looked into the Joseon dynasty before coming here, but man are the palaces beautiful. We noticed right away how calm it was for a tourist spot.
In our previous travels, the main tourist sites were very cramped, not that easy to get around and not nearly as peaceful. Another plus was the beautiful weather, somewhere about 55 degrees with the sun shining.
The immensity of this palace is all around. There are buildings for this and that, and lodging quarters, and on and on. All of them have a very similar style. As I joked, the designer was trying to keep a theme throughout ;)
When Amanda left, I visited the Changdeokgung or East Palace. It had many similar features, but didn't have the same beauty with the water and bridges. Still, let's not be picky here, the architecture is simply gorgeous, as is the attention to detail.
We visited my kind of palace on Sunday afternoon when we went to the Seoul Olympics park and saw all the stadiums used for the 1988 Olympiad. Many of the main venues are in the same area.
Outside the track stadium, there's a little rink set up, where Jordan plays hockey. Walking up to the stadium really gave me chills (or maybe it was the 40 degree weather with sun setting). While waiting for Jordan's game, we went inside the basketball arena. I was pretty impressed, and it was cool that a local team was having a fan appreciation day.
Blend of Modern and New
One of my favorite parts of the city was how the traditional architecture is mixed in with the modern structures.
One of the temples we went to was literally across the street from the large convention center and many a skyscraper. It shows the value in holding onto these heritage sites.
Baseball
The love of baseball in South Korea appears to be immense. Everywhere you go, people are wearing MLB hats (and nice ones too, all fitted New Eras) and clothes. To go even deeper, I went to a spring training game for the SK Wyverns, the defending Korea league champions.
Let me just say, an MLB team would be decently happy with about 500 people showing up for a spring training game in 42 degree weather at 1PM on a Monday! The stadium in Incheon is really modern and nice, with little restaurants inside, and also local stalls.
I loved that people were eating ramen noodles at the game. Who needs peanuts and cracker jacks? Haha, there were snacks like that as well. The game itself was very entertaining, with a 9-8 final scoreline. The baseball level is similar to minor league quality.
Food
The food there is very good, especially the barbeque. Jordan took us to his favorite place in his neighborhood and the beef was excellent. Let's be straight here: meat, fire, awesome sauce equals a winning combination. Plus, surrounding the fire where the meat is cooking, there's also a "scrambled egg" mixed with kimchi type dish forming. That was easily my second favorite part.
We went to many of his favorite places. The best burger place, the best chicken galbi place (very spicy chicken mixed in this cool fry pan), a great snack food restaurant, a "bomb" fried chicken place...definitely not hungry for most of the trip. On the cheeky home front, I stopped in a Sbarro and a Krispy Kreme because we don't have such fine institutions in Singapore. I enjoyed both and am not at all embarrassed to say I ate there in Korea.
Of course, all these are good, but nothing compared to the genius of col-pops.
This is one of the smartest fast food innovations I've ever seen, and I'm shocked a US chain hasn't picked it up. In the same cup, this restaurant puts cola at the bottom of the cup, then puts a lid on it, then puts a pile of chicken poppers on top. It's seriously very smart. You have one hand to hold your food and drink, the other to eat it. Why hasn't KFC in the US done this? I could see the mass marketing now.
All in all, I got exactly what I wanted from the trip. We were able to see many sites and get a good feel for the way people live, plus I got to hang out with one of my best friends.
Anyang-bye bye,
Michael
Our experience was made much easier by my good buddy Jordan. We went up there to visit him (he teaches at an English school). He has picked up a good amount of the language and was able to get us through some conversations with cabbies, restaurants, etc. This is partly the reason the trip was so different.
We normally go on trips geared for a tourist, staying in the main site seeing areas, restaurants with English menus and the like. This experience had us staying with a friend in a suburb of Seoul, eating at neighborhood restaurants and seeing what living there was like.Palaces
Easily the coolest tourist thing we saw was Gyeongbokgung Palace. I wont pretend that I looked into the Joseon dynasty before coming here, but man are the palaces beautiful. We noticed right away how calm it was for a tourist spot.
In our previous travels, the main tourist sites were very cramped, not that easy to get around and not nearly as peaceful. Another plus was the beautiful weather, somewhere about 55 degrees with the sun shining.The immensity of this palace is all around. There are buildings for this and that, and lodging quarters, and on and on. All of them have a very similar style. As I joked, the designer was trying to keep a theme throughout ;)
When Amanda left, I visited the Changdeokgung or East Palace. It had many similar features, but didn't have the same beauty with the water and bridges. Still, let's not be picky here, the architecture is simply gorgeous, as is the attention to detail.
We visited my kind of palace on Sunday afternoon when we went to the Seoul Olympics park and saw all the stadiums used for the 1988 Olympiad. Many of the main venues are in the same area.
Outside the track stadium, there's a little rink set up, where Jordan plays hockey. Walking up to the stadium really gave me chills (or maybe it was the 40 degree weather with sun setting). While waiting for Jordan's game, we went inside the basketball arena. I was pretty impressed, and it was cool that a local team was having a fan appreciation day.Blend of Modern and New
One of my favorite parts of the city was how the traditional architecture is mixed in with the modern structures.
One of the temples we went to was literally across the street from the large convention center and many a skyscraper. It shows the value in holding onto these heritage sites.Baseball
The love of baseball in South Korea appears to be immense. Everywhere you go, people are wearing MLB hats (and nice ones too, all fitted New Eras) and clothes. To go even deeper, I went to a spring training game for the SK Wyverns, the defending Korea league champions.
Let me just say, an MLB team would be decently happy with about 500 people showing up for a spring training game in 42 degree weather at 1PM on a Monday! The stadium in Incheon is really modern and nice, with little restaurants inside, and also local stalls.
I loved that people were eating ramen noodles at the game. Who needs peanuts and cracker jacks? Haha, there were snacks like that as well. The game itself was very entertaining, with a 9-8 final scoreline. The baseball level is similar to minor league quality.Food
The food there is very good, especially the barbeque. Jordan took us to his favorite place in his neighborhood and the beef was excellent. Let's be straight here: meat, fire, awesome sauce equals a winning combination. Plus, surrounding the fire where the meat is cooking, there's also a "scrambled egg" mixed with kimchi type dish forming. That was easily my second favorite part.
We went to many of his favorite places. The best burger place, the best chicken galbi place (very spicy chicken mixed in this cool fry pan), a great snack food restaurant, a "bomb" fried chicken place...definitely not hungry for most of the trip. On the cheeky home front, I stopped in a Sbarro and a Krispy Kreme because we don't have such fine institutions in Singapore. I enjoyed both and am not at all embarrassed to say I ate there in Korea.
Of course, all these are good, but nothing compared to the genius of col-pops.
This is one of the smartest fast food innovations I've ever seen, and I'm shocked a US chain hasn't picked it up. In the same cup, this restaurant puts cola at the bottom of the cup, then puts a lid on it, then puts a pile of chicken poppers on top. It's seriously very smart. You have one hand to hold your food and drink, the other to eat it. Why hasn't KFC in the US done this? I could see the mass marketing now. All in all, I got exactly what I wanted from the trip. We were able to see many sites and get a good feel for the way people live, plus I got to hang out with one of my best friends.
Anyang-bye bye,
Michael
Saturday, February 5, 2011
7 on 6
Lot's to cover in this blog, so we'll jump right to it.
New Year's in Vietnam
Amanda and I celebrated New Year's in Saigon. I had been to the city with my buddy Jordan, but got a totally different experience with Amanda (as I'd expected). On NYE, we went out to a nice restaurant and just walked around the main city area. In the middle of one of the main districts, it felt like Vietnam's Times Square. It was packed with people and motorbikes. There were concerts going on, a food festival, just tons of stuff. We had a really nice time on that trip-explored some of the Mekong River, looked into custom made wedding dresses, and of course, had eating adventures.
Golf Lessons
I started taking golf lessons a couple of weeks ago. Our plan is to be here for a while, and if that is the case, I'd love to play golf out here. The biggest issue is that it's quite expensive. So, my theory is that if I going to being paying a bit to play, I'd like to play well.
So far, I've really enjoyed the lessons. My instructor is an Aussie guy who also teaches Felix. I'm not headed to the PGA tour just yet, but going to the driving range has become more fun.
Lofty Heights
One of the big reasons I wanted to write this blog was because of the cool places we've gone to in the last couple of weeks. Early in the month, our friend had a birthday get together at a bar called Altitude.
It's a roof top bar on the 63rd floor of an office building. The 360-degree view of Singapore is absolutely stellar (Stellar also happens to be the name of their restaurant hahaha). 
Then for another birthday party, we went to a rooftop bar at the Fullerton Bay Hotel. It's a brand new hotel sitting right along Marina Bay. The atmosphere is wonderful and so are the views.
The other day while there, I just couldn't help but think these are places I'd never be going to back at home. Yes, there are places like this in Dallas. I just don't feel we'd go though. Maybe in the future, we'll search these places out. For now, I'm enjoying them (except for the drink prices-they're outrageous).
7 on 6
Today, February 6th, marks seven years since Amanda and I started dating. It always makes me laugh thinking about our first"date."
I never expected asking her out then, would lead me to one day asking her to be my wife.
We were simply too young at the time, however our relationship grew as we grew up.
Here we are seven years later, and I honestly think we are in one of the best periods of our relationship for sure.
That's all,
Michael
New Year's in Vietnam
Amanda and I celebrated New Year's in Saigon. I had been to the city with my buddy Jordan, but got a totally different experience with Amanda (as I'd expected). On NYE, we went out to a nice restaurant and just walked around the main city area. In the middle of one of the main districts, it felt like Vietnam's Times Square. It was packed with people and motorbikes. There were concerts going on, a food festival, just tons of stuff. We had a really nice time on that trip-explored some of the Mekong River, looked into custom made wedding dresses, and of course, had eating adventures.
Golf Lessons
I started taking golf lessons a couple of weeks ago. Our plan is to be here for a while, and if that is the case, I'd love to play golf out here. The biggest issue is that it's quite expensive. So, my theory is that if I going to being paying a bit to play, I'd like to play well.
So far, I've really enjoyed the lessons. My instructor is an Aussie guy who also teaches Felix. I'm not headed to the PGA tour just yet, but going to the driving range has become more fun.
Lofty Heights
One of the big reasons I wanted to write this blog was because of the cool places we've gone to in the last couple of weeks. Early in the month, our friend had a birthday get together at a bar called Altitude.
It's a roof top bar on the 63rd floor of an office building. The 360-degree view of Singapore is absolutely stellar (Stellar also happens to be the name of their restaurant hahaha). 
Then for another birthday party, we went to a rooftop bar at the Fullerton Bay Hotel. It's a brand new hotel sitting right along Marina Bay. The atmosphere is wonderful and so are the views.
The other day while there, I just couldn't help but think these are places I'd never be going to back at home. Yes, there are places like this in Dallas. I just don't feel we'd go though. Maybe in the future, we'll search these places out. For now, I'm enjoying them (except for the drink prices-they're outrageous).
7 on 6
Today, February 6th, marks seven years since Amanda and I started dating. It always makes me laugh thinking about our first"date."
I never expected asking her out then, would lead me to one day asking her to be my wife.
We were simply too young at the time, however our relationship grew as we grew up.
Here we are seven years later, and I honestly think we are in one of the best periods of our relationship for sure.
That's all,
Michael
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Answer
Quite a bit has changed in my life since my last post. Most importantly, I just got a haircut. Of course, I'm just kidding. The biggest change is that Amanda and I are now engaged to be married! It's been something I've been thinking of for years, and now it's a reality!
Cowboys Comeback
Coming back to Dallas for the second time since moving was really wonderful. Before Amanda arrived, I went with Evan and David to see the Cowboys. I absolutely loved it. I had wanted us to do something special while in town, and this was it!
It was the first time in years that the three of us had been able to do something as just us. Of course, this is completely understandable. We live three separate lives. However, on this day, it was fun to be together doing something we all enjoy. Plus, since the Cowboys were playing so terribly leading up to it, there was no pressure of them winning or losing hahaha.
Most Important Question of my Life
That brings me to the big story of coming home. Pretty much since July, I had known the timing was starting to feel right. Ultimately, Thanksgiving seemed to be the best option so we could celebrate with the family. However, I knew Amanda wanted it to be special, so I had to trick her a bit to keep it a surprise.
"Erev Thanksgiving" as the Rabbi put it, we went to a park near her family's house. For weeks, I had been saying we'd go on a "Dallas Date Night." My brilliant plan was to then have her think it would be a three part date.
Part one was a picnic in the park. Man, was I nervous. I just kept eating so she wouldn't see how shaky I was. As we finished wrapping up the picnic blanket, I told her there was no part two. That's when I went down on one knee!
It was very quiet, the atmosphere was wonderful with the sun setting, just the two of us. The ring is her grandmother's, so it has very special meaning. To be honest, I don't remember hearing the word yes, but judging by her hug and kiss shortly following, I figured the answer was what I had been looking for.
It's so funny how technology has changed the way family news is spread now.
Of course, we immediately let our families know. However, it's tough wanting to make sure you tell everyone and not have someone see it on facebook! So, we asked everyone to wait on the social media congratulations until we had told everyone.
As soon as we put up our first message, things totally changed.
Here are some of my favorite responses we got.
From Zach Sagett - "Good to hear your finally getting wifed up! Congrats buddy"
From Charlie Hannema (also engaged) - HOUSE! That a baby! Welcome to the cool kids club.
From Sam Korotkin - "Your officially the first of any friends of mine to get married! so this is really the first time ever I've congratulated someone for getting married so I'm really not sure how it works. I guess I just say congrats?!?!
From Andrea Horowitz - "is it possible to me more excited than you?"
From Nicki Marder - "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! omg im shaking like mad! Congrats over and over and over! I love you both!"
From Scott Schaefer - "That's something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!!"
From Steve Chaitman - "ahhhhh! i feel this compulsive need to watch how i met your mother in the early seasons! MAZAL TOV!"
From Max Hyman - "Things (I think) I'm thankful for: The Jets barely squeaking out of 3 games in a row, hopefully another 10 win Mizzou football season (though it's a disappointment, let's remember people), Mizzou's new basketball uniforms, and Michael Rosenhouse and Amanda Paige Rude getting engaged!"
Thanksgiving
The rest of our trip was very nice. We had excellent holiday meals with both families. Food was a key factor in the trip hahaha. We had birthdays to celebrate, the first night of Hannukah, lots of wonderful things.
Since we've been back it's been mostly work for the two of us. Amanda is still settling in to her new job.
It seems like she's starting to get the handle of it now. Hannukah was really nice, we lit the candles pretty much every night. Work wise, I was helping produce our SC Year in Review show for the last two weeks. I'm happy with the show, but also realize there are parts that could have been better. It's all a good learning process.
We haven't been able to do much wedding planning, but we think we have a date in mind. Socially, we had a good time at our friends' company launch party. Alex and Shavit have created a discount company called CityNomads. It's a online coupon company that is based off group buying. All the best to them!
We've just planned a new year's trip to Ho Chi Minh City. I'm excited to go back and hope Amanda will enjoy it as well.
Enjoy the holiday season!
Michael
Cowboys Comeback
Coming back to Dallas for the second time since moving was really wonderful. Before Amanda arrived, I went with Evan and David to see the Cowboys. I absolutely loved it. I had wanted us to do something special while in town, and this was it!
It was the first time in years that the three of us had been able to do something as just us. Of course, this is completely understandable. We live three separate lives. However, on this day, it was fun to be together doing something we all enjoy. Plus, since the Cowboys were playing so terribly leading up to it, there was no pressure of them winning or losing hahaha.Most Important Question of my Life
That brings me to the big story of coming home. Pretty much since July, I had known the timing was starting to feel right. Ultimately, Thanksgiving seemed to be the best option so we could celebrate with the family. However, I knew Amanda wanted it to be special, so I had to trick her a bit to keep it a surprise.
"Erev Thanksgiving" as the Rabbi put it, we went to a park near her family's house. For weeks, I had been saying we'd go on a "Dallas Date Night." My brilliant plan was to then have her think it would be a three part date.
Part one was a picnic in the park. Man, was I nervous. I just kept eating so she wouldn't see how shaky I was. As we finished wrapping up the picnic blanket, I told her there was no part two. That's when I went down on one knee!
It was very quiet, the atmosphere was wonderful with the sun setting, just the two of us. The ring is her grandmother's, so it has very special meaning. To be honest, I don't remember hearing the word yes, but judging by her hug and kiss shortly following, I figured the answer was what I had been looking for.
It's so funny how technology has changed the way family news is spread now.
Of course, we immediately let our families know. However, it's tough wanting to make sure you tell everyone and not have someone see it on facebook! So, we asked everyone to wait on the social media congratulations until we had told everyone.
As soon as we put up our first message, things totally changed.
Here are some of my favorite responses we got.
From Zach Sagett - "Good to hear your finally getting wifed up! Congrats buddy"
From Charlie Hannema (also engaged) - HOUSE! That a baby! Welcome to the cool kids club.
From Sam Korotkin - "Your officially the first of any friends of mine to get married! so this is really the first time ever I've congratulated someone for getting married so I'm really not sure how it works. I guess I just say congrats?!?!
From Andrea Horowitz - "is it possible to me more excited than you?"
From Nicki Marder - "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! omg im shaking like mad! Congrats over and over and over! I love you both!"
From Scott Schaefer - "That's something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!!"
From Steve Chaitman - "ahhhhh! i feel this compulsive need to watch how i met your mother in the early seasons! MAZAL TOV!"
From Max Hyman - "Things (I think) I'm thankful for: The Jets barely squeaking out of 3 games in a row, hopefully another 10 win Mizzou football season (though it's a disappointment, let's remember people), Mizzou's new basketball uniforms, and Michael Rosenhouse and Amanda Paige Rude getting engaged!"
Thanksgiving
The rest of our trip was very nice. We had excellent holiday meals with both families. Food was a key factor in the trip hahaha. We had birthdays to celebrate, the first night of Hannukah, lots of wonderful things.
Since we've been back it's been mostly work for the two of us. Amanda is still settling in to her new job.
It seems like she's starting to get the handle of it now. Hannukah was really nice, we lit the candles pretty much every night. Work wise, I was helping produce our SC Year in Review show for the last two weeks. I'm happy with the show, but also realize there are parts that could have been better. It's all a good learning process.We haven't been able to do much wedding planning, but we think we have a date in mind. Socially, we had a good time at our friends' company launch party. Alex and Shavit have created a discount company called CityNomads. It's a online coupon company that is based off group buying. All the best to them!
We've just planned a new year's trip to Ho Chi Minh City. I'm excited to go back and hope Amanda will enjoy it as well.
Enjoy the holiday season!
Michael
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Bangkok Bound
Going to Bangkok was very interesting. There were things I've never seen before, and it's probably safe to say, I'd rather not see again. Here are the highlights.
Friday Night
After settling into the hotel, we decided to go out and explore the area we were staying in. Bangkok is a very big city, with a feel on par of any of America's big cities. Big highways, train system, etc. Well, apparently we were staying near the business district. We quickly learned there was another business going on the streets near where we stayed. Let's just say there were plenty of women hanging around the corners, eager to meet the tourist.
Canal Tour
The hotel offered a free tour for staying in the hotel, so we picked a long tail boat tour. We had a really great guide who spoke excellent English. The boat takes you along the water, showing off many of the amazing buildings there. The temples are simply unbelievable.There are 400 of them in the city, and they are all so intricately done. They take you take an area of the water where you get to feed tons of catfish. Very cool to see all the fish.
People can't fish in this one section as it's deemed a holy area.
The houses along the water were all very different. They ranged from some rundown buildings, to some beautiful two story houses. A lot of them had very cool Thai designs as well.
One thing that really stuck out at me was watching these kids play in the water. They couldn't have had a care in the world. They were just splish splashing and looked so happy.
Weekend Market
After our tour, we went to an awesome market. I've been to three or four markets now in SE Asia and this was different than all of them. It was massive. The coolest part was the little shops inside. It wasn't just a bunch of stands selling knockoff watches or bags. They were all like a bunch of cool vintage clothing shops, arts type stuff, food stalls and more. Lots of tourists there, but that's to be expected as it apparently is only open on weekends.
Long Table + Gulliver's Tavern
For dinner, we took a suggestion from a friend and went to the Long Table. It's a cool bar on the 25th floor of a hotel. The food was just okay. The setting was very nice though. After, we went to this cool Western bar we found called Gulliver's Tavern. We were watching all the English football matches, and I just loved being in a true sports bar atmosphere again. I'm going to have to find something similar in Singapore.
Sports thanks to twitter
Last weekend was a huge sports one for me. Unfortunately, my tv options were limited, but luckily I had Internet and was able to check twitter often for updates. Watching the updates unfold for the Texas playoff game was so nerve wrecking. Absolutely incredible seeing all the tweets at the end about A-Rod striking out looking to finish it.
On top of that, Mizzou was having a huge football weekend. Missouri was hosting number one Oklahoma, and ESPN sent it's Gameday crew to Columbia for the first time. Pretty much the whole week leading up to it, I'd been missing Mizzou a lot. It's mostly about missing my friends there. Especially because some of my best friendships at school developed from watching our Tigers together. All that being said, it was an amazing feeling to see the positive messages about the game. When it was over, I could tell I'd have a great day.
Grand Palace
After going for the requisite vacation massage (when they're 15 dollars, why the heck not), we visited the Grand Palace. It is massive. It's not a typical palace like I would normally expect.
It's more a collection of temples and shrines. The mixture of architecture really struck me. There was colonial styled buildings and more tradition Thai ones as well. Some were a mix. The only downside, it was very, very, very, very hot.
Sirocco
So, this may be one of my favorite stories. We went to this restaurant thinking it would be a nice type of dinner,
but we never expected it to be like this. On the 63rd floor of this beautiful hotel sits a very nice restaurant. After a quick glance at the menu, it was very clear we were in way over our heads. Let's just say we decided to only have dessert there (and a $13 can of coke hahahaha-never expected to write that line). The view of the sunset from there was really incredible though. Unlike anything I've been able to experience before.
Funny Taxi
As we headed back to the airport, we ended up with a taxi driver that spoke almost no English (we are in Thailand, it's not to be unexpected). More importantly, we noticed he was driving with the gasoline tank on empty. We just had to hope and pray the car didn't stop in the middle of the freeway. Luckily, there was no issue.
A good weekend. There is a ton of culture there. As you may have noticed, I didn't talk about food as much this time. That's because everything was just okay. We ate Pad Thai three times, only once did I really think it was good. The best was a cashew nut chicken we had.
That's a bit about Bangkok.
Michael
Friday Night
After settling into the hotel, we decided to go out and explore the area we were staying in. Bangkok is a very big city, with a feel on par of any of America's big cities. Big highways, train system, etc. Well, apparently we were staying near the business district. We quickly learned there was another business going on the streets near where we stayed. Let's just say there were plenty of women hanging around the corners, eager to meet the tourist.
Canal Tour
The hotel offered a free tour for staying in the hotel, so we picked a long tail boat tour. We had a really great guide who spoke excellent English. The boat takes you along the water, showing off many of the amazing buildings there. The temples are simply unbelievable.There are 400 of them in the city, and they are all so intricately done. They take you take an area of the water where you get to feed tons of catfish. Very cool to see all the fish.
People can't fish in this one section as it's deemed a holy area.The houses along the water were all very different. They ranged from some rundown buildings, to some beautiful two story houses. A lot of them had very cool Thai designs as well.
One thing that really stuck out at me was watching these kids play in the water. They couldn't have had a care in the world. They were just splish splashing and looked so happy.
Weekend Market
After our tour, we went to an awesome market. I've been to three or four markets now in SE Asia and this was different than all of them. It was massive. The coolest part was the little shops inside. It wasn't just a bunch of stands selling knockoff watches or bags. They were all like a bunch of cool vintage clothing shops, arts type stuff, food stalls and more. Lots of tourists there, but that's to be expected as it apparently is only open on weekends.
Long Table + Gulliver's Tavern
For dinner, we took a suggestion from a friend and went to the Long Table. It's a cool bar on the 25th floor of a hotel. The food was just okay. The setting was very nice though. After, we went to this cool Western bar we found called Gulliver's Tavern. We were watching all the English football matches, and I just loved being in a true sports bar atmosphere again. I'm going to have to find something similar in Singapore.
Sports thanks to twitter
Last weekend was a huge sports one for me. Unfortunately, my tv options were limited, but luckily I had Internet and was able to check twitter often for updates. Watching the updates unfold for the Texas playoff game was so nerve wrecking. Absolutely incredible seeing all the tweets at the end about A-Rod striking out looking to finish it.
On top of that, Mizzou was having a huge football weekend. Missouri was hosting number one Oklahoma, and ESPN sent it's Gameday crew to Columbia for the first time. Pretty much the whole week leading up to it, I'd been missing Mizzou a lot. It's mostly about missing my friends there. Especially because some of my best friendships at school developed from watching our Tigers together. All that being said, it was an amazing feeling to see the positive messages about the game. When it was over, I could tell I'd have a great day.
Grand Palace
After going for the requisite vacation massage (when they're 15 dollars, why the heck not), we visited the Grand Palace. It is massive. It's not a typical palace like I would normally expect.
It's more a collection of temples and shrines. The mixture of architecture really struck me. There was colonial styled buildings and more tradition Thai ones as well. Some were a mix. The only downside, it was very, very, very, very hot.Sirocco
So, this may be one of my favorite stories. We went to this restaurant thinking it would be a nice type of dinner,
but we never expected it to be like this. On the 63rd floor of this beautiful hotel sits a very nice restaurant. After a quick glance at the menu, it was very clear we were in way over our heads. Let's just say we decided to only have dessert there (and a $13 can of coke hahahaha-never expected to write that line). The view of the sunset from there was really incredible though. Unlike anything I've been able to experience before.
Funny Taxi
As we headed back to the airport, we ended up with a taxi driver that spoke almost no English (we are in Thailand, it's not to be unexpected). More importantly, we noticed he was driving with the gasoline tank on empty. We just had to hope and pray the car didn't stop in the middle of the freeway. Luckily, there was no issue.
A good weekend. There is a ton of culture there. As you may have noticed, I didn't talk about food as much this time. That's because everything was just okay. We ate Pad Thai three times, only once did I really think it was good. The best was a cashew nut chicken we had.
That's a bit about Bangkok.
Michael
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