The next decade....what's in store?

How the 39th birthday went

I think I prefer being away from Jamaica for my birthday, generally speaking. I'm able to do anything I want to do. However, this birthday last Saturday was spent well, so it wasn't the usual 'ho hum' kind of birthday that one could have had.

As you know, my friend 'Galliwasp' tied the knot on Saturday. That was a 10 am affair and by the time we got done with the reception, it was about 3:00pm. Came home, relaxed and then went by her parents' house where the newlyweds had invited people to.

What that did was allow people who could not come for the morning part, to share with the couple in the evening. Also, because weddings are expensive ventures, not everybody could be invited to the morning session, so they had an opportunity to be with the couple on their special day....(and my special day too!).

Great idea, don't ya think?

You know, my brother was commenting the other day at the other wedding we went to, how cynical he is of weddings, having seen many marriages go off track and all vows go through the window after a short time. Me too. I look at a couple interacting and I form my opinion about the future health of their relationship.

I haven't been wrong too often. I have a good feeling about this one.

When you get to my age (ha!) you have to spread out the celebration, so it continued into Sunday and the family went to brunch at a hotel called the Terra Nova. Mucho mucho food (Camp....help me out, ah fuhget what food is in Spanish....alimiento?). There were all types of salad, including a nice seafood salad, a lot of meat like lamb and pork and curry chicken, and plenty plenty more (I walked on by), breakfast type stuff like ackee & saltfish, callaloo, dumplings and bammy, plus cheeses, smoked seafood, breads, desserts and fruit.

The service was moderate. Our main waiter Hewen was quite interactive and not stiff, so that was pleasant enough.

The one draw back was this. The Terra Nova is an old style hotel. Previously, brunch was served on the verandah so you had that nice country house feel to it. They've since moved it into a square room, which is a kind of air conditioned tent. The tent is not the problem. The problem is that you're in a great hall kind of place, like a banquet hall, and so it is not intimate. And anybody who there with si-maddy them not supposed to be with....well, there is no hiding place. The room is too open.

There were also people there dressed to the nines, while others were in denim shorts. They should have a standardized dress code, evern if it is 'no shorts allowed'. Jamaica's culture is such that shorts is not fashionable wear, no care if is Oscar de la Renta or Versace.

The rounding out of the birthday weekend was a solo flight to see flightplan.

Posted by yamfoot at October 24, 2005 12:28 AM