The Long Weekend in Orlando

Hubby and I just spent a long, warm, and fun weekend in Orlando. We thankfully left as the temperatures in Boston dropped to freezing. As usual with all our travels, our schedule was so crazy, it was tighter than Joan River's face. We went from seeing family, to getting ready for my cousin Jessica's wedding rehearsal, to the wedding itself, to trying to squeeze in some time to spend the day in the Disney parks to see the newer attractions, and to see M's niece play the role of Jasmine in the show, 'Fantasmic!'

I flew to Orlando a day ahead of M because I needed to rehearse with the pianist the songs I was going to sing in the ceremony. In the plane, I happened to sit in a row with an old snoot of a lady who refused to even acknowledge my presence. I usually get a smile or a nod from the person with whom I share a row, especially if we're both travelling alone. She was sitting by the window and I was by the aisle while the middle seat remained empty. When the flight attendant came to get our used cups, I offered to reach for her cup in order to give it to the flight attendant. She ignored me completely and raised her hand higher to avoid my hand. Later during the flight, I sneezed once and covered my face completely when I did. She quickly covered her nose and mouth, and a few seconds later, reached inside her bag and took out a surgical mask and wore it for the rest of the flight! She even bumped me out of the way with no apologies while I was reaching for my bag in the overhead compartment. I chalked it up to her probably having a bad day but on our way out of the plane, she chirped pleasantries to the flight crew. I guess it was me she did not like. Despite my 'Boston' look of blouse, short wool skirt, tights and knee high boots, she probably saw me as the short-lived stereotype of a diseased, SARS-infested Asian. It was all quite amusing. I was so tempted to fake a sneeze again while we were waiting in the aisle for everyone to disembark just to see her squirm. However, I decided I didn't want to waste my energy even for the pleasure of being mean to someone who is totally rude.

The wedding was beautiful. The only snafu for me was that the pianist played a higher key of 'Ave Maria' than we had rehearsed, and I was already singing a high Celine Dion version. I was caught a bit off-guard and didn't do as well as I hoped. I was thankful that the great acoustics in the St. James Cathedral and the pipe organ mostly hid the strain that I knew my vocal chords were experiencing. The second song 'Grow Old With Me' went much better. The reception afterwards was as well-planned as the ceremony and was a lot of fun. I have been to countless weddings as I have been invited either as a guest or to sing. They ranged from the nice and simple ones to the most lavish. I would rank this one high on my list of favorites. It was well-thought out, simple and classy, quite lavish yet not excessive or gaudy. The family went all-out and spared no expense. The food was nothing short of the best, the filet mignon was cooked, or should I say, undercooked to perfection and the champagne and wine flowed freely. Their only daughter was getting married and she deserved no less, not because she was one of those spoiled brats, but simply because she is this genuinely nice, warm, very wise and pleasant human being, and she was marrying this equally nice boy who was her high school sweetheart and passed all the criteria of my Aunt and Uncle, that is, Filipino, of good family, Catholic and Republican. :) Congratulations Jessica and Joe!

We spent our last day hitting the Disney Parks. We hopped from Animal Kingdom, to Epcot to try Mission Space, and finally to Disney-MGM Studios to watch 'Fantasmic!'. I waxed nostalgic and remembered my days as one of the Mouse's workerbees in the International Exchange Program. I've been to many theme parks and there is no other park that really does it the way Disney does - the cleanliness, the guest service and the way they make everyone's experience as fun and memorable as possible. Just spending the day there made me want to move back to Florida and work for the Mouse again.