the beehyve chronicles

Smuin Ballet presents

"The Christmas Ballet, 2004 Edition"

Due to boredom and having a lot of free time during the holidays, I decided to watch this ballet show at downtown San Francisco. Besides, it was my uncle's treat and he usually knows all the good happenings.

Act I: The Classical Christmas

After having watched a handful of these in the past, I still can't decipher what the performers' movements meant. During the first act, all I saw were bouncy people in tight clothing.

Act II: The Cool Christmas

The second act was quite surprising. The dancers enacted the lyrics from modern Christmas songs like "Frosty" and "Jingle Bell Rock." From that act was the only time I will ever see a breakdancing/moonwalking snowman and tap-dancing pine trees. The audience at the middle orchestra section surely had a first hand experience of "White Christmas." Never have I seen humor put cleverly in one act.

I must say that this is the first ballet show that didn't put me to sleep. I can't wait to watch their next one.

Drinking under the Stars- Dec 23 '04

Last night, Anthony and I bought some pulutan and a pint of beer each. Gone are the days of Growers Savory Hot and San Mig Strong Ice. Now is the era of Cheetos Flaming Hot and Corona Extra with lemon. We had our inuman at the veranda because it's just too cold outside the house.

Most houses in the Bay Area are not decorated for the holidays at all. On our street, our house is the only one with a parol and Christmas lights. Most probably, we will be the only family having a Noche Buena tonight. As a rule, the Christmas presents can only be opened at the morning you wake up on Dec 25. What's up with that?

The newlyweds, Jamie Lee and Edward - Dec 18 '04

After getting lost for a while, we finally found the wedding venue. We had to cross two narrow bridges just to get there. The place was in the middle of nowhere but it looked very historical because of its castle-like facade. It had one room for the wedding ceremony and another for the reception.

One custom that intrigued me was the manner of donating money to the couple. Anyone who wanted to will have to pin the dollar bills to the clothes of either the bride or the groom before doing a slow dance. The newlyweds ended up with dollar bill crowns and sashes.

More importanly though, is that they served alcohol at the bar. Now that's a wedding!

Mary Ann's Beetle

Cars depreciate at a very fast rate in the States. My cousin Mary Ann bought a salvaged Beetle for only $6,000! You do the Math.

Man-made Lake by my cousin Diana's house

Someday I'm moving to Sacramento and live like a king.