Last weekend I went to San Francisco for Hellen and Peter’s wedding. Hellen the bride was a bridemaid of her friend Charissa, who was married last March, so I got to know Hellen and Peter back then. In addition, I was very glad to see their friends, Wilma and Alvin (who later again MC’ed the reception), were there too.

We started off the morning by visiting Hellen and her bridesmaids at a salon, while my assistant Hellen (yeah, Hellen with two ‘L’s’) went to Peter’s parents house to see the groom and his party. After a short gathering at the couple’s condo, the whole bridal party went to the beautiful Legion of Honor. In the early afternoon, Hellen and Peter got married at the beautiful St. Mark’s Cathedral. After the ceremony, we went to the piers, a busy touristy spot, thus getting a lot of ‘Congratulations!’. Nicely and surprisingly, when we walked onto Pier 7, it was completely empty. The Sun was getting lower and we got some very nice images.

It was a great trip for me. Not only I got to see many familiar faces, got to visit the beautiful San Francisco, also my assistant, the ‘Other’ Hellen, is my good friend. With her knowledge of the city, I didn’t have to worry about going from place to place. Hellen and Peter planned their wedding day well and it was just a great, happy day for everyone!

Click the link below to see a quick slideshow:

http://jackzyoung.com/Webshow/Hellen_Peter_Wedding/index.html

A few shots of old Chinese architecture, etc.

My cousin, Wang Lin and his husband Enda, live in Beijing.  A 100 days ago Lin gave birth to their daughter, Nina.  A few days ago I saw Nina the first time.  She was soooo cute!!  As 100-day is a big milestone for a baby in Chinese culture, we went to Ritan Park and had some fun taking images of the family!

The Temple of Heaven,  constructed from 1406 to 1420, is a complex of Taoist buildings situated in southeastern urban Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest.

I took a morning walk through the park with my son and found out that at least two thirds of the people there were not tourists but regulars.  They probably have some kind of passes and come to the pine trees covered park every day for physical exercises and entertainments.  The forms of activities include group dancing, group signninig (either western opera or traditional Chinese), Tai Ji, Martical Arts, even calligraphy.  Everyone involved were having a great time participating.  It was absolutely amazing.

On the way out this Tai Ji master caught my eyes.  He had white hairs and was in tradtional white silk dress.  His movements were very smooth.