Wed Recap: Why teenagers are annoying

I have mentioned many times how I have a 15 year old daughter from a previous relationship.  Well, today, she is taking her driver's permit test!  Pray for me! 

She and Mr Fix It have been a part of each other's lives since she was 9 years old.  It's kind of crazy...but they love each other and get along great.  Too great...in fact, they sometimes annoy me.  And since Mr Fix It is truly still a big kid himself, the two of them together usually causes me grief.

That said, we definitely wanted to include Little Miss in our wedding ceremony and our vows. 

As you may remember in this post, Mr Fix It made a vow to be a patient and caring step-father to Little Miss.  Well, we wanted her to take some responsibility in our newly formed family as well. 

And so we created a special little part of the ceremony in which she stepped forward and the pastor asked her a brief question about whether she will love and support the two of us in our marriage.  She then was to respond with "I will" after which, Mr Fix It was to place a ring on her finger as well...sort of a little promise ring uniting our entire family. 

Of course, we didn't run through this at the rehearsal and so no one knew what the heck was going on. It's kind of silly and we laughed our way through most of it.  Little Miss wasn't sure where to stand or how to walk around me to join us.  In addition, as you'll see, she totally held true to herself as me and Mr Fix It did with her little 'unplanned' response.  Check it:

I could have killed her!  Little twerp.  Teenagers are so cocky and annoying...they just can't hold to traditions and rules of any type.  Oh well...everyone laughed, and I did, too at the time, but afterwards I told her she was a pain! 

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos by Robert Mullins Photography
Raw video footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

Wed Recap: The planner and the wing-it guy

I'm still following up with ceremony recaps - but there's only a few more to go.  However, today is again, one that is sort of a favorite...because it is the only time during our ceremony that I actually got choked up (though briefly). 

In my post last week about our pastor talking about both me and Mr Fix It and why he 'likes us,' he mentioned that I am a planner and that Mr Fix It is a surfer.  Well, in today's post, I am sharing with you our personally written messages to each other. 

And as you'll see in the video, Mr Fix It just 'wings it' and didn't have anything specific prepared or written down.  This is exactly why I didn't involve him in the writing of the traditional vows I shared last week, because he really just waits until he is in the moment to make decisions and share thoughts.  :)

The funny thing is, me being the planner, I knew one day Mr Fix It and I would get married.  And so early on in our six year relationship, I started keeping a journal that every once in a very great while, I would write a note or reminder about something he did or said or something I thought about him.  Basically, as soon as we got engaged, I went back through those old journal entries to gain inspiration and then wrote out this letter to Mr Fix It.  It was written probably a good 9 to 12 months before our wedding and I didn't look at it again until it was time to print it out when we were going over the ceremony with our pastor.  So yes, it was well planned in advance - at least mine was.

So here it is, the video of our messages to each other.

I just absolutely love how our pastor knew how to put us at ease and lighten a mood with a simple statement like when he tells Mr Fix It 'he's not going to top' my message. :)

Share Time:  Did/Will you include a personally written note or message to each other in addition to the vows you recite?  Or will you maybe write your vows as the written notes to one another?  How much time did you put into writing them out?  Did you wait until the last minute or have them prepared very early on?

Raw video footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills
Unless otherwise indicated, photos by Robert Mullins

Wed Recap: What are we really here for?

Okay, okay.  So the flowers were amazing (post to follow).

The favors were all a huge hit with the guests.  The video made everyone laugh and was executed just as I had hoped for. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

The food was good.  The guests kept the dance floor alive and we heard nothing but compliments and thank you's for how amazing the wedding was and how much fun everyone had.  But what was the real reason we were supposed to be there all about?  Wasn't this whole day, this whole event really about the 30 minutes that we spent standing on an altar holding hands with our closest family and friends flanked on either side of us or lovingly gazing upon us with their approval?

Ah yes, the ceremony is indeed what this day was about.  For it was Mr Fix It's desire to make me his wife and love me forever that brought us to this point.  It was the holy desire of our Creator that we live together under an eternal vow of monogamy and respect and hard work and commitment that brought us to this mutual decision to become husband and wife. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

And so the next several recaps I give you will be all about our ceremony.  I promise they won't be mundane...because our ceremony was pretty funny at some points.  I already shared about our ring bearer carrying the sign that said "Run, John, Run" last week.  And when I finally made it to the top of the stairs on the altar I was anything but timid and shy and 'proper.'  I interrupted our officiant, my old high school pastor, Lyle right before he could really even say anything.

And Lyle did a wonderful job of making our ceremony very personal and unique to us.  Unfortunately, I did not remember any of it!  I swear!  The next days and weeks on our honeymoon were a blur to me when I tried to remember what was said and done at our ceremony.  So thank goodness we have the video!  Because as fabulous as the photos are to look at, they don't remind you of what your first kiss was really like or how long it lasted.  They don't remind you of how you threatened the guests who RSVP'd and then didn't show up on the wedding day like I did :)  They certainly won't help translate how you tried to show your groom how to put together your unity cross when he couldn't make it work.  Oh yes, our ceremony was definitely us to a tee.  Right down to the random conversations we had with each other while the soloist was singing and the way we interacted as we walked out of the ceremony into our private room. 

So stay tuned because I have some of my favorite little posts this week filled with strange and fun videos and photos.  For today, I'll share the very beginning of our ceremony with a few pieced together clips of our first words to each other at the end of the aisle and our pastor's introduction:

Yes, I wanted to take it all in for sure.  So I tried to turn around and look out at everyone who was there...even if for just a brief moment.  I mean, all of my bridesmaids and family and friends had been mingling together before the ceremony began.  I was the only one who didn't get to greet them or say hi.  So I tried to scan their faces.  You can see here that I waved at a few of them.  I specifically remember my friend, Kristin waving back at me.

And I have to admit, I really didn't like how the bridesmaids were staggered on the altar stairs...I wish I would have looked at that better during our rehearsal and told my coordinator I wanted them in a straight line as I had originally intended.  But I just wasn't thinking straight.  I really was not myself for my own wedding day as you'll see.  You'll notice in this little video clip during our getting ready time that I had truly 'checked out' at different points during the day:

But oh well.  It is what it is.  And what it was, was a wonderful day and a great ceremony thanks to my hubby and our pastor, Lyle. 

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos by Robert Mullins Photography
Raw video footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

H-moon Recap: An open letter to the women who massaged us

Mr Fix It and I are huge fans of massages.  I even have my own personal aesthetician who does facials and massages and waxings for me on a regular basis - she was even at my wedding :)  One way Mr Fix It coaxed me into going to Bali was by raving about how you can get these cheap massages on the beach for like less than $5 for an hour!  Sign me up! 

Unfortunately, the women who offer these massages on the shoreline or on the cliffs are typically really old ladies who are not the cleanest people in the world and while I love immersing myself in the culture and truly do like interacting with the locals, they hound you about a massage even when you don't want one which becomes quite annoying.  Most of my time on the beach was spent faking that I was asleep :)

Before we left the land of Oz, we decided to get a massage in a place we passed at the local shopping mall we visited.  Below are a few letters to let these people know what we thought of our experiences:

To the Asian guy who gave me a massage in Australia:

I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful full body massage you gave me while I was visting the Gold Coast on my honeymoon in April.  $60 for a 60 min massage is pretty typical of the price we pay in the states and you did great considering it was a 'walk in' joint.

I do, however, want to apologize for my husband.  I guess having 'rooms' that are really only a bed with curtains between them might not be the greatest idea when you have customers who don't appreciate your services.  At first I didn't think anything of it when I heard him say a couple times that his girl was pushing too hard on him.  That is really unusual considering he usually likes deep tissue massages.  And maybe she didn't realize that he had just pulled his back surfing the day before which was why he was trying to get the muscles worked out.  Instead, he felt like she was reinjuring him instead of helping.

I felt really bad for her once he finally sat up in the middle of the massage and told her that he was done and wanted her to stop.  He tried to maintain his patience and be polite.  But when your manager came in to see what all the fuss was about, he couldn't keep it in anymore and just had to say that 'she didn't know what she was doing' and she shouldn't be giving massages.  You really didn't need to keep apologizing for her.  I felt bad that I think he almost made her cry.  It wasn't your fault and you did a fabulous job on me so no worries.

Thankfully, I found my hubby shopping down the mall and just let him vent for a few minutes about what a sucky job she did on him.  Next time, I'll just come by myself :)

To the two young ladies who work at the Balinese massage parlor we stopped in on our first night in Bali:

How can we ever thank you for the fabulous job you did when we stopped in for a massage during our honeymoon?  My husband had a horrible experience in Australia the day before and after a six hour plane ride, we were so excited to stroll past your shop just around the corner from our hotel.  Though your massage was about $25 for an hour, which was definitely more than the lovely old woman on the beach was offering, it was way worth it!

I would say you both had magic hands.  I must admit that I wasn't totally excited about *every* part of the 'Balinese' massage though.  I am not a fan of having the balls of my feet slammed against with your fist.  And the slapping sound I heard as you smacked my back at that one point was not anything I'd ever heard before whilst getting a massage.  It was also interesting to see you try to stretch my legs in ways that made me believe you thought I was a Gumby doll.  Unfortunately, I'm just not that flexible.

But regardless, I still felt great afterwards and my husband was feeling totally restored and repaired at this point.  It was a great end to our first night in Bali.

Kind of a bummer that we came back a couple nights later and you both weren't working :(  We ended up with a guy and girl that didn't quite meet up to the standard you had set.  By that point, I was truly over the whole massage experience in this part of the world.  Mr Fix It was not impressing me with these massages he raved about.  Oh well.  At least we had *one* good experience abroad...so thanks for that!

Source

To the old woman who wouldn't leave me alone while I was sunbathing at Bingin's beach:

I appreciate that you make your living by preying upon all the people who frequent the little eatery up there on the cliff top.  It was nice to have a place to grab some grub and lounge around for a few hours while my husband was out surfing in the water.  It was not so nice however to have you continually 'pinch' me in an effort to entice me into employing your services for a 'may-sauge'.  Really?  Pinching my arm up and down while I am trying to listen to my ipod and lay on a mat is not my idea of relaxation.  Maybe that's your idea of a massage but definitely nothing I've ever experienced before. 

I should have just given you $5 to get you to leave me alone and go away, but I was trying to be polite.  Thankfully, Mr Fix It did not make me go back there again the next day when he went to surf.  Lounging by my resort infinity pool was way more enjoyable than being attacked by the likes of sand crabs who think they are masseuses. 

Personal Photo

I like doing this (above) as opposed to this (below)

Kuta Beach Massages Source

At our final resort at the Blue Point Bay Villas, we scheduled a couples massage at what was truly a resort type spa...while not the greatest full body massage I've ever received, it was at least decent.  However, I felt the 2 ladies who were running their hands all over me and Mr Fix It's body were maybe just a little too friendly.  The woman who was massaging me gave me my first ever experience of a breast massage...something that most masseuses I've worked with have never done before.  When I mentioned it to Mr Fix It as we left the spa, he indicated that his lady also got a little touchy feely and came very close to his manhood at least one or two times to where he tightened up a bit wondering if he was going to be offered a 'happy ending'?

Source

This (above) was not as relaxing to me as this (below)

Source:  Blue Point Bay Villas

We ended our honeymoon with one final attempt at the Bali massage experience by getting a 30 minute head, neck and foot massage in the airport in Denpasar.  That was actually not that bad and you can't complain about getting a massage while stuck in an airport :) 
TODAY'S TIP:  Don't think that one culture's idea of relaxation will translate well into another culture!

Wed recap: The one where the bride doesn't know what the first dance song is

So if you didn't know about it, our first dance was one of those things that fell by the wayside during our planning process.  Originally, we fully intended to pay for dance lessons and have a choreographed swing dance.  But the day of our first lesson (which was supposed to take place at Dancing with the Stars' Cheryl Burke's studio), we cancelled our appointment because we were afraid we would have to put our dog to sleep that day.  Thankfully, he made it many more months but the dancing lessons became more of a stress than something we were excited about.

There was just too much going on with all the other wedding plans, work issues, family related issues and the uncertainty of what was going on with our doggie.  It was a pretty emotional time.  So we finally just agreed that we didn't have the time, money or motivation to perfect a choreographed routine.

Since we didn't really have 'a song' that was just 'ours,' I had no idea what we were going to dance to.  But Mr Fix It had mentioned several times in the year that he had a special song that he wanted to dedicate to me at some point during our wedding day.  I asked him to coordinate with our DJ if they thought it would be sufficient for us to dance our first dance to.  They both said it was a little 'fast' but if we wanted to bop or bounce to it, it would be fine.  The only condition was that Mr Fix It did not want me hearing it until our wedding day.  I was actually okay with this.  Though I was nervous about it (and with good reason as you'll see in a moment), it was kind of cool to know that there was something I would actually have to look forward to as a surprise for *me* since I had planned so many things for my guests and even my groom.  And I loved the idea of waiting to hear the song that reminded Mr Fix It of me on our wedding day.

So without further ado, here is the video of our first dance...I warn you that the video is shaky and the videographer walked around a bit so it's not edited video, but it will give you a look at our special moment.

Raw footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

It was in fact so special because even though it was awkward to dance to a 'fast' song and even though Mr Fix It is not the greatest dancer :) and we looked really out of sync and such together, it was still our moment.  As the song began, it was hard for me to hear the words, so Mr Fix It decided to sing them to me in my ear.  We just swayed close together and I listened to these words and then it was seriously over before I knew it.

I was completely oblivious to all the people standing around probably bored out of their mind and wondering why we didn't break into a choreographed dance - my family and friends know this is totally my style and I know they were expecting it - but everyone else wasn't in the room at that moment.  And honestly, as you see us talking in the video, I have no freaking idea what the heck we were saying to each other in those moments :)

And just for fun, here are the lyrics to the song which I had to later listen to again on my ipod during our honeymoon to truly appreciate them.  It was really special because Mr Fix It always jokes with me that I was the first person he ever loved or had sex with which is so obviously not true considering he's been married and divorced and has left a plethora of women in his wake.  So it was kind of romantic to think that he truly thinks of me as his 'first' and his 'last.'  :)

Barry White - My First, My Last, My Everything

The first, the last, my everything

And the answer to all my dreams

You're my sun, my moon, my guiding star

My kind of wonderful, that's what you are

I know there's only, only one like you

There's no way they could have made two

You're all I'm living for

Your love I'll keep for evermore

You're the first, you're the last, my everything

And with you I've found so many things

A love so new only you could bring

Can't you see it's you

You make me feel this way

You're like a fresh morning dew on a brand new day

I see so many ways that I

Can love you till the day I die

You're my reality, yet I'm lost in a-a-a a dream

You're the first, the last, my everything

All photos by Robert Mullins Photography

Wed Recap: I see you! (The first look that almost wasn't...)

There are many things debated by brides (and mothers...and grooms) when planning a wedding.  Perhaps one of the most hotly debated topics is whether or not to do a 'First Look' between the bride and groom *before* the ceremony and that infamous walk down the aisle.  I shared our reasoning behind our decision back here.  And I am very glad that we did this.

Like most things at our wedding, I had a vision in my head of how this was going to play out.  The difference between our first look and most other brides is that I did not want to deprive our family (and especially our mothers) of being a part of the moment when we first lay eyes on each other all decked out in wedding attire.  And thankfully, our venue provided a wonderful way for us to still have some sort of intimate moment but still have our family and wedding party members participate.

The maids (with family behind them) hanging on the patio waiting for our first look...

Of course, nothing goes according to plan and like other things on that day, this moment was almost ruined...by none other than Mr Fix It himself.  You will see in today's video that as I come out to begin taking photos with my bridesmaids, I am directing somebody to find our coordinator and the groomsmen and be sure they keep Mr Fix It held back when he arrives until I can hide out of sight.  The grounds were huge and there were many ways to get around the different areas.  But mainly, there is a little parking lot that we had parked in that takes you straight by the reception room and down towards the ceremony and dressing areas.  So I was pretty confident he would get held up there.  WRONG!

Mr Fix It decides to park upstairs and come down through the zoo into the ceremony area bypassing the reception room where all of the coordinators were working and the cocktail area where the guys had gathered.  So instead, while this shot was being taken:

I suddenly hear somebody say "There's John!"  To which I reply "No, it isn't...where?"  Sure enough, I caught a brief glimpse of Mr Fix It carrying his tux marching down a walkway straight to our ceremony area where I was standing all by my lonesome smack dab in the center of the chairs!  I start screaming at him to turn around and go back the other way and then all my bridesmaids start screaming at him to go back and smartly they all run over and surround me like a pack of protective wolves while I drop down into crouch mode on the ground in the center of the ladies. 

Mr Fix It is totally confused and has no idea what or why everyone is yelling at him but he must have suddenly got it because he did go back the other way finally.  The next shot in the video is me chiding the groomsmen for not handling like the only real duty they had on the wedding day - keeping track of Mr Fix It!!!  Unfortunately, no one - not the photographer or videographer - got any shots of footage of this little mishap as it unfolded.  It would have been funny.

Anyway, so as you'll see, I had our family all wait on the patio just outside the bridal cottage at the end of the bridge that leads to the ceremony.  Mr Fix It stood in the center of all the ceremony chairs/aisle with his back to me.  I made my way across the bridge and snuck up on him.

Also, note that in the world of wedding videography, some things are not always totally 'real.' As you'll see in this video, we had our first look (which felt a little awkward sometimes) and then the videographers had us go back and do a second take so they could shoot us from different angles. The second look is actually the one they used on our video trailer and we felt much more relaxed I think. Kind of silly but I loved it :)

This video was created with raw footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

I love the look on Mr Fix It's face and how he looks like he is afraid to touch me in my gown. He just looked petrified. :) I love how our family was cheering in the background and how they screamed things like "Pinch his butt!" and "Save it for the honeymoon!"

And now for the pictures that captured the real moment of our first look:

This was the view from our family's vantage point taken by my cousin Bridesmaid A:

This is the first of many photos and video which include what I call my 'Frile' or 'smown.'  It is this horrible version of a smile and a frown which has some sort of emotion behind it.  It made it's first appearance on this blog in the Moments Before video recap last week and was obvious in yesterday's video interview as well.  :)

He is asking me if I am 'getting close' and says he can hear me

I think somebody said to 'Pinch his butt' which made me laugh!

The REAL first look!

Followed by our first kiss of the day!  Wowza!

I love this shot taken by my cousin BM A

He just kept stepping back and staring at me

I did in fact pinch his butt when I met him the first time :)

Our first look was not tearful as I had thought it might be.  Mr Fix It didn't even really smile the entire time.  The moment was just calm and collected and a little funny.  We got to hug, kiss and tell each other how wonderful we looked without having to stick to the script of a ceremony.  Mr Fix It got to be himself as was made obvious when he looks down my chest trying to see how it's possible that I have more cleavage than normal :)  And then he made his stupid, perverted comments which made the videographers laugh.  I couldn't get upset though because that is totally the man I married.  I just had to laugh.

The one thing I do remember which is not really seen or heard anywhere on the video is that in those moments he stepped back and looked at me and said "You look very, very, very, very, very, very, very pretty."  It was so funny...he said the word 'very' like 8 or 9 times.  It totally stuck out in my head and I have not forgotten it.  It was nothing like I expected it to be, but so totally perfectly us...nerves and all.

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  If you want to do a first look, do it!  Regardless of when you see each other on the wedding day, nothing takes away from what you feel the moment you walk down that aisle.  After our first look, during our ceremony, as I walked across the bridge, I glanced at the altar to see Mr Fix It, but then my gaze went straight ahead...all I could see were the guests and I smiled at them.  As I turned the corner to the main 'aisle,' I stopped for a moment holding my dad back.  I know I had a huge smile on my face and wasn't sure if I was fighting back tears or not.  But one thing I fully remember very powerfully was how breathless I felt...so much so, that I raised my shoulders and chest and took a huge breath of air - almost like a heavy sigh.  Then I made the march the rest of the way down the aisle.  From that moment on, my eyes were solidly fixed on Mr Fix It.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Robert Mullins Photography

Wed Recap: The only tears shed on our wedding day...

...at least that I know of, came when I was basically all alone in the bridal cottage. Well, it was just me...and my videographer. Silly, I know. There were a few brief moments that I got choked up:

*  When I turned the corner during my walk down the aisle and saw Mr Fix It
*  At the very end of the letter I read to him during our ceremony
*  And at one point during my speech/toast at the reception

But other than that, there was no time during our wedding day that I actually shed any tears (except for what I'm about to show you).  And if you know me, you know that is *SO* unlike me!  I am a bawler...anything that touches a heart string, scares me, saddens me, even makes me laugh hard will bring on the waterfall of tears.  So I was anticipating lots of them on my wedding day.  But nope...as you'll see in this video, this was the only time that I actually started crying.

Our videographer includes a little thing he calls the 'He Said, She Said' interview in his wedding interviews.  He basically takes a few moments on the wedding day to pull the bride and groom each aside individually away from everyone else, and asks them some basic questions about how they met, how he proposed, what they love about each other and what they want to say to each other on their wedding day.  Here's our little interview:

At first, when I saw samples of this on our videographer's web site, I thought it was cheesy.  But now, I love this because it totally shows our different versions of the key moments of our lives together :)  I love how Mr Fix It thinks he proposed on Christmas Eve (when we spent the whole night with my extended family) when it was actually Christmas morning with just my mom and daughter.  I love that the thing he shares about me that he likes is my OCD behavior which he constantly kids me about and complains about. 

As for the rest of the tears on our wedding day, I asked my mom if she cried and she said she didn't but only because she just felt so relaxed and 'present' in the moment.  She said she was truly able to enjoy everything because she knew I had it all covered.  I wish I could have said the same...I think if I had been 'present' myself, I probably would have actually been crying a lot more!

We did catch mom wiping a tear at this moment :)

Photo by Robert Mullins Photography

I asked my sister if she cried and she said she 'almost' cried when I was walking down the aisle, but she felt like it was mostly because of the words to the song I had playing.  That song was played on my ipod while I was driving for the entire year before our wedding and it made me cry every single time I'd listen to it before the wedding!

I did notice (and shared with you) that my sister-in-law and mother-in-law were crying when I walked down the aisle.  So sweet!  I expected that Mr Fix It might cry at some point during the day, but he held it together, too. 

It was funny, because when we let all the girls back into the bridal cottage after the interview, they all walked in and saw me crying.  My mom said to the videographer, Gary, "What did you do to her?!?"  I laughed and my makeup artist quickly touched up my eyes.  And that was it. 

So did any of you ladies cry on your big day?  Or if you are a bride-to-be, do you expect you will cry at some point? 

Tomorrow is one of my favorite video recaps:  our first look!

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  BLOT, don't wipe your tears if you cry.  Just dab at the corners of your eyes :)  And false eyelashes do wonders as well because if you do start crying, you can buy the black ones and don't even need to wear mascara!

H-moon Recap: Video of SCARY Bali!

If you've never been outside of the US, you may not know that most of the world drives on the left side of the road...or as I like to call it:  The *wrong* side of the road!

Thankfully, Mr Fix It is an international traveler and is used to this.  So when we arrived in Australia and picked up our rental car, he was able to easily adapt and became the official driver of the trip.  The main thing I learned in Australia is that it's basically like home, but they have a lot of different signs and lots of turnabouts.  If you don't know what those are, they are basically round intersections where no one ever has to stop.  They look like this:

And you're warned about them with this sign:

I really loved the signs in Oz...here's a few that are a little different from what we have back here in the States:

Cross walk

Instead of a sign showing a rest stop/area ahead, they tell you this:

Instead of 'Exit' signs, the airport directed us with this:

It made me feel like they were trying to tell me to get the hell out and FAST!

And instead of a passing lane sign, they call it:

Anyway, as far as the roundabouts, we don't really have these anywhere at home.  On about day 4 of our stay in Oz, we finally figured out the program and learned that you have to stay to the inside of the circle if you are going through to the 3rd or 4th exit...otherwise, you are forced to exit on the first or second street you come up to. 

Mr Fix It was scared that I would be a total stress case because we both argue with each other over who is the worse driver.  He likes to sight see while driving which freaks the heck out of me since you should typically have your eyes on the road while your hands are on the steering wheel, but I guess that isn't the case in his world.  I stayed pretty calm for the entire trip...even during the one or two times he drove down the *wrong* side of the road in Australia!

But driving in Bali was entirely different.  Nothing could have prepared me for the carnage that they provide by means of motor vehicle transportation. 

First off, we had to rent a car that was basically an ancient mini van to store Mr Fix It's surfboards in it because you're not supposed to drive with anything on the roof or a rack.  After spending an hour at the airport trying to negotiate the terms of a week long rental, we finally jumped into a little van and headed off to find a hotel...only to notice after pulling out of the airport and into the city that the rental car company gave us a car on EMPTY!!!  WTH?!?  We hadn't even exchanged our money yet so we had no rhupia and no way of finding a gas station in this little 3rd world country.

We proceeded to try to yell out to passers by "Petrol?!?" asking where a gas station was...they pointed and repeated petrol but we never found one from their directions.  Thank the Lord we finally came across one and filled up.  And thankfully, we only had to fill the tank once the entire week.  No problem...except the next day while pulling out early to find our first beach spot, the car suddenly jerked forward and we found that there were no lower gears in the manual transmission...Mr Fix It was left at an intersection with only 2nd and 4th gear.  Again, thankfully, we hadn't driven too far so we headed back to the airport and made the guy get us a new vehicle and we were finally on our way.

As we pulled out onto the streets and into the culture and city, I found myself pretty amazed by how different life was here than in my beautiful Orange County in So Cal.  There were motorbikes everywhere!!!  And horrible roads and traffic no matter what time of the day.  I can't even begin to describe it, so I will let this video give you a firsthand experience...enjoy me and Mr Fix It's commentary of a few days of brief video I shot while we were about and about: