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Mariam (aka Afsana), best friend of the bride
I have so much to say about "Afsana" my life long best friend and sister. I cannot imagine my life without her, even though she can become a 'soup nazi' and a drill sergeant. We met our freshman year in high school, and have been best friends ever since. We literally grew up together; discovered make-up, the love for crazy laughter, desire for drama at times, tears, love of traveling, shopping/spending money on stuff we don't need (waiting in the parking lot at the mall before they opened), irresistible love for food, and of course boys!
High school seems only like yesterday. We would meet in the gym bathroom before our first period class and rub on that Mac 'red brick' colored lipstick in front of the wide mirror. I can still smell the aqua net and mousse lingering in the air while we primp our hair bear heads!
Although we went our separate ways in college, we still managed to stay close and always be there for each other (although she has a tough time remembering my birthdays!). We would travel together (Italy, London, Hong Kong, Thailand...and yes road trips to So Cal, and our yearly trips to Vegas rituals aka 'business trips') and only managed to annoy other people without annoying each other (spending 5 hours in the Max & Co. store in Rome). Don't get us wrong, we bicker. But like all sisters, we would bond like crazy when we see a cute outfit or when there is a photo opportunity! Together we also acquired the taste of alcohol...sort of, I still cringe at the smell of Tequila, think of ourselves as the hot mamas at clubs, and yes...agree that I had the crazy love for glitter!
We would always imagine that as we grew older together, we would turn into these beautiful swans...and we have :) I am so proud of your beauty, of your life, and your accomplishments! We always said that we would be each other's bridesmaids when we got married and I can't believe this day has come. I am so happy that you are a part of my life and a part of this day. As always, we share the next stage of life together and I know we will have so much more to come! |
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Andrew, best friend of the groom
Andy is the biggest dork in the world. I met him during Freshman year in College and our lives have been intertwined (for better or worse :) ). To be honest I didn't really know Andy too well during Freshman year. He only knew me as "the guy who is really good at Quake in school" and I only knew him as "the guy who is always hanging out in my dorm room for some reason." I ran into Andy again in my Computer Science class, and I still remember when the professor said that we would need to find a programming partner for our homework, we literally just made eye contact with each other across the classroom and nodded to each other. We got started off on the wrong foot as he was always late to my place to work on the programs together, and I soon realized that it was because he was a top player on the school volleyball team and he would always had volleyball practice until very late in the night. Eventually I gave up waiting for him and I would just finish the program assignments by myself :). I think Andy still owes me for that up until today!
Eventually Andy and I got to know each other really well through the times we spent studying for our classes, eating at Denny's, and playing golf together. We've spent so many nights just chatting about life, career, relationship problems, etc. He's always been the kind of person who would take the time to listen to my problems and would genuinely want to be there for me during tough times. And, of course, I consulted him before I had enough courage to propose to Anita. I am so glad I met someone like him. |
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Heather, friend of the bride
Miss Heather. My Wong Faye and entrepreneur friend! I still remember those days when we would go karaoke and sing Faye Wong's "Doe duck ta" together and "Eyes on Me" the Final Fantasy theme song. We met during my college days and she was my only Taiwanese friend that could translate Mandarin into Cantonese, therefore I could understand what the heck all my friends were talking about :) I then soon realized that she was more than just a girl with a good voice and a sweet smile, she is also a KICK BUTT drinker!!! This girl can down 5 bottles of alcohol and still be standing and smiling!
I am so glad that we are a part of each other's lives by meeting fortune tellers in Taiwan, L.A, etc..., sharing relationship advice, and business ideas. I can always turn to Miss Heather when I need inspiration! Thanks for being there for me and I am absolutely excited that you are part of our special day! |
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Jill, best friend of the bride
Jill, Jill. There's so much I to say about Jill, my true Taiwanese friend.
I met Jill in college as we shared a photography class together. I still remember our first conversation as I noticed that she wore a 'Baby-Gshock" watch on her wrist. Before we knew it, our 'PN' makeup conversation took off from there. Her English was, well honestly...really bad at the time. I could barely understand her, and therefore we would depend on her Mandarin skills (which I could barely understand) and my Cantonese skills (which she could barely understand) to get the point across. Geeshhh...ahahhaha...that's how we communicated.
From that point on, our friendship and her English grew (no offense Jill!). From the early days of Karaoke, guys, playing cards at the cafeteria, to studying for exams, we quickly became best friends for better or for worse.
Then we were roommates (Jill- the pack rat and Anita- the Winnie the Pooh nut). Jill is my sister, my relationship advisor, and my partner in crime! Through our numerous trips to Vegas, LA, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan...we never once argued or got on each other's nerves. We both have the love for yummy food, shopping, and buying lots of crap that becomes junk in our rooms (including the time in Tokyo when we both had to buy a pair of house slippers to wear out on the street because our high heels were killing our feet). Then there were the days of clubs, boys, and "body guards" (protected us from the rest of the boys :p). Many times we would go home forgetting our keys, that we would need a friend to climb up to our 2nd floor balcony and enter through our window and open the door for us.
We had our crazy moments, but we also worked hard. Many times we would barely see each other during the course of a few weeks even though we shared the same apartment because we had such busy schedules between work and school.
After my graduation, Jill moved to L.A. to further her education and I stayed behind after our travels in Hong Kong for a job. We remained close and compared notes between the new found L.A. life and the new found Hong Kong life. We both admitted we had some adjusting to deal with as we were no longer in the down-to-earth Bay Area. We survived.
Now we are looking at the next stages in life. I know that no matter where we are, we are will stay close for the rest of our lives. I am so lucky to have a friend like Jill. I know life will bring her to wonderful places with wonderful people...I am just glad to be one of them! |
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Dana, friend of the bride
Dana, my twin, my neighbor, and my best bud. Wow, I met this girl when we both worked at Tiffany's few years back. My first impression was "wow, she must not be older than 18". Soon enough we discovered that we share so many things alike: relationship advice, love for Pearl Ball drinks, hot pot, grilled rice balls (Tanto and Gochi), cute tops, jewelry, and our silly whining habits.
At Tiffany's we also both had a similar black wrap dress that we wore over and over again because we were both lazy to wear suits to work. We would also be so worried that the other person would not make their sales quotas, that time and time again we would give each other our own sales to make sure that we took care of each other (little that we knew, this was a cycle that balanced each other out!) :)
Now we are neighbors, buds, and we share "Lost" nights together. I know I can always count on Dana to be there for me when I need her and I know she knows it goes both ways (especially when I want a partner in crime to make an ice cream run). From freakin' out about buying furniture, to our weekly Target shopping runs, to reading gossip magazines, I am so happy to have her as my friend! Our favorite phrase at Tiffany's was "I hate my life", but now I think it should be "I love my life" and I am so happy that we are able to share it with each other! |
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Christophe, friend of the groom
Christophe is known as the French metro-sexual within our circle of friends. I still remember when he was this shy, skinny guy at my first job who didn't really want to socialize with anybody. However, after some intense sessions at the gym for the past 7 years, he is a complete different person! Christophe is now confident, muscular and fashionable - Girls can't keep their eyes off him! Christophe and I first met when I started working at E*TRADE in 2001, and it didn't take long for us to become great friends as we were both avid snowboarders. Throughout the years Chris and I have traveled to many places together: LA, Tahoe, Reno, Hong Kong, Thailand. He makes a great traveling buddy as he would always just say "Yeah sure if you want" whenever I would want to visit places that I wanted to go to. :) |
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Dennis, friend of the groom
Dennis and I met each other on the first day during Freshmen year in College. We were both video game addicts back then, and we would spend many late nights playing Starcraft online against other people. When we were hungry, we would ride our bikes all the way from the dorm out to South Davis (about 3 miles away) where In-and-out was located to get food. Looking back I am still amazed by how we didn't get hit by any cars as we biked through this narrow underpass with all the cars passing through. We used to just sit around late at night and chat about what we would be doing in 10 years, and I can't believe time flies so fast that 10 years have already gone by! Dennis is now a successful accountant at Barclays and he is a part time student at Haas Business School for his MBA degree. Oh and he's getting married this August! I can't wait to go to your wedding. :) |
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Will, friend of the groom
Will and I go way back to the High School years. We coincidentally had just arrived to the US from Hong Kong in the same summer, and naturally we relied on each other a lot during those years. Will is a math wiz and he used to patiently help me out with my math problems all the time, and for that, I am still very thankful to have him being part of my life. We ended up going to the same College and we became roommates, and, of course, he became addicted to video gaming too because of me :). We spent countless hours playing Quake and Starcraft online together. It's interesting to look back at those times and realize how much we have grown since. |
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