In Japan you give cash at weddings, not presents. Yoko was surprised when I offered to buy her something here. I'll do the same for Mackey but again probably do the $300 min, have to talk about it with her (Mackey) during my trip. My total for Erin's wedding in gifts was probably around $100 which I consider a good amount and reasonable. $300 is not reasonable to me, but it is expected and I don't want to hurt Yoko. Apparently the $ goes entirely the parents for the wedding, basically the parents are kind of pre-paying for the wedding and then the guests pay them back (is a way you can think of it). Imagine, even if you only have close family & friends (say 15 ppl) you're still raking in a minimum of 4500 -_- (probably closer to 10000 with that type of group). They really need to start using registries in Japan >_<
Nope, never been, wanted to go for a while - but not alone : P We're going to Maui~ Really? Alaska is actually more expensive? *_* Maybe it depends on where you're flying out of? My SFO-HNL-OGG tickets cost me $800 @_@ Yes, getting close to a Japan trip and more expensive than SFO-JFK Why do you want to go up to Alaska, anyway? ^^; To see Stephen?
I will ^.^ I'll tell Yoko 'Hi' too - but I won't say it in a way that will make it think I'm giving her family more $ because of it -_- (here's $ from Liz, from Erin, from my parents, ugh - I can only imagine it going there)
Holy crap, it costs over $300 per person for a wedding in Japan?!??! Yikes... I was estimating what it would cost for a wedding around here [ahem] and it would be like $50-100 per person depending on how nice your venue is. Scary.
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Well, we are going to try to see Stephan in Fairbanks...in January. Art's going to be a groomsman for his wedding, so he's definitely going. But roundtrip tickets to Fairbanks are $714 during that period, so we're going to be on a tight budget to make both of our tickets.
...I hope I'm not going to freeze....
I went on Kayak.com and, out of curiosity, checked what the cost would be to fly to Honolulu, since it's the main island and we have lots of friends there. [Yes, it can be a big tourist trap, but it was great fun!] Roundtrip fare: $360
Although, now tickets for Fairbanks have dropped to $560. It's a good thing we waited to buy them. Yatta!
Well, they expect that much at least. I don't know how much it actually costs to get the whole wedding together (venue, reception, dress, etc) but I have heard it is expensive and they tend to go for quite elaborate (yes, that is lumping all weddings in Japan together : P I don't know enough to be specific).
Oo, oo!! When? When are you looking at a venue for?! You know I'll go ^___^ Just hope you're not planning May 2010, not sure if I can do two weddings in one month (well, I could if they were both US : P )
Alaska is actually one of those reverse-season locations, isn't it? (like Australia) Meaning it would actually be warmest in January?? (of course warmest for one of the coldest places in the world is not saying much : P ) You should snap up those tickets now - this is a great time since labor day fare sales have started. Almost quite a few airlines (if you're buying direct and not through travelocity/expedia) will let you get the $ difference in a voucher good for the amount as long as you call them. I've done that twice with United.
You also might want to look into a travel agency option - sometimes they have cheaper fares for 2+ people even if you don't need a hotel+car (or if you do even better ^.^)
Never been to Alaska but I want to go someday so that I can see the aurora borealis - if you see it while you're there make sure to take pictures~ Also pictures of Stephan's wedding of course ^_^
Yeah, trips to HNL are actually quite a bit cheaper than to OGG. There are also more direct flights from SFO-HNL than SFO-OGG (apparently SEA-OGG is direct and cheap though >_< my brother's doing that one). We're going to Maui since my parents had been once before and wanted to go again. Since I've never been I would have been fine with any of the islands ^^;
Maui's fun :) Although if I remember correctly you don't like the sun, and there's a lot of that. If you want suggestions for things to do there, I have some. Do you know where you're staying there?
Nope, not a huge fan. But I still want to go to Hawaii and Okinawa (two big sun areas ^^; ) I'll just have a hat and sunglasses with me all the time + lots of sunblock~ BTW what happened to your babydragon username? Do you no longer use it? I need to add your new one to my friend's list..
Yep, we're staying here: http://www.kahanavillage.com/ So far we're planning to go horseback riding (my Mom & I only), to a Lu'au, whale watching, + Thanksgiving dinner (since we'll be there during that day).
Um, don't know yet ^^; We haven't really planned out very much of the trip aside from plane tix and accommodations ^^; Looking at the Old Lahaina Luau website though it seems a bit $$ for us, maybe... Might look into cheaper options.
In Japan you give cash at weddings, not presents. Yoko was surprised when I offered to buy her something here. I'll do the same for Mackey but again probably do the $300 min, have to talk about it with her (Mackey) during my trip. My total for Erin's wedding in gifts was probably around $100 which I consider a good amount and reasonable. $300 is not reasonable to me, but it is expected and I don't want to hurt Yoko. Apparently the $ goes entirely the parents for the wedding, basically the parents are kind of pre-paying for the wedding and then the guests pay them back (is a way you can think of it). Imagine, even if you only have close family & friends (say 15 ppl) you're still raking in a minimum of 4500 -_- (probably closer to 10000 with that type of group). They really need to start using registries in Japan >_<
Nope, never been, wanted to go for a while - but not alone : P We're going to Maui~ Really? Alaska is actually more expensive? *_* Maybe it depends on where you're flying out of? My SFO-HNL-OGG tickets cost me $800 @_@ Yes, getting close to a Japan trip and more expensive than SFO-JFK Why do you want to go up to Alaska, anyway? ^^; To see Stephen?
I will ^.^ I'll tell Yoko 'Hi' too - but I won't say it in a way that will make it think I'm giving her family more $ because of it -_- (here's $ from Liz, from Erin, from my parents, ugh - I can only imagine it going there)
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Well, we are going to try to see Stephan in Fairbanks...in January. Art's going to be a groomsman for his wedding, so he's definitely going. But roundtrip tickets to Fairbanks are $714 during that period, so we're going to be on a tight budget to make both of our tickets.
...I hope I'm not going to freeze....
I went on Kayak.com and, out of curiosity, checked what the cost would be to fly to Honolulu, since it's the main island and we have lots of friends there. [Yes, it can be a big tourist trap, but it was great fun!] Roundtrip fare: $360
Although, now tickets for Fairbanks have dropped to $560. It's a good thing we waited to buy them. Yatta!
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Oo, oo!! When? When are you looking at a venue for?! You know I'll go ^___^ Just hope you're not planning May 2010, not sure if I can do two weddings in one month (well, I could if they were both US : P )
Alaska is actually one of those reverse-season locations, isn't it? (like Australia) Meaning it would actually be warmest in January?? (of course warmest for one of the coldest places in the world is not saying much : P ) You should snap up those tickets now - this is a great time since labor day fare sales have started. Almost quite a few airlines (if you're buying direct and not through travelocity/expedia) will let you get the $ difference in a voucher good for the amount as long as you call them. I've done that twice with United.
You also might want to look into a travel agency option - sometimes they have cheaper fares for 2+ people even if you don't need a hotel+car (or if you do even better ^.^)
Never been to Alaska but I want to go someday so that I can see the aurora borealis - if you see it while you're there make sure to take pictures~ Also pictures of Stephan's wedding of course ^_^
Yeah, trips to HNL are actually quite a bit cheaper than to OGG. There are also more direct flights from SFO-HNL than SFO-OGG (apparently SEA-OGG is direct and cheap though >_< my brother's doing that one). We're going to Maui since my parents had been once before and wanted to go again. Since I've never been I would have been fine with any of the islands ^^;
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Yep, we're staying here: http://www.kahanavillage.com/ So far we're planning to go horseback riding (my Mom & I only), to a Lu'au, whale watching, + Thanksgiving dinner (since we'll be there during that day).
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