J&M got Maui'd!

A group of us woke up early to watch the sun rise this morning. But after breakfast, I headed to my room to sleep. The plan was to try out some wind surfing. So I tasked Hwan to find out more information and call me. He called around 1330 after I had napped for a several hours telling me that we could not rent unless we had already booked a lesson and the next lesson was tomorrow. Bah! Hwan is painting the sunrise. When I got to the beach, I also inquired about the sail boat (catamaran) but it had the same limitation so we went kayaking instead.   Afterwards we threw the disc for a bit before going for a run down the beach and then playing a little bit of volleyball with a family and a bit of swimming.   There was a big Halloween party in the main court after the main (mouse, cat?) show but our group basically spent the evening in the bar drinking and chatting.

I got up early this morning to watch the sun rise. I had set my alarm to wake me at 0530 for the 0630 sunrise but my bowels woke me up at 0528. I think my digestive system has been gradually getting worse over the course of the week. Hopefully everything will get back to normal after I return.   The weather was warm and partially cloudy, which made for a pretty sky. Unfortunately the clouds were also at the horizon blocking the view of the sun. I could basically tell when the sun rose but I was unable to capture it. There is always tomorrow. A view from one of the units in our building. (Photo courtesy Hwan.) I spent the rest of the morning catching up on sleep and dealing with some stomach issues. Things have slowly gotten worse as the week progressed. I hope I recover quickly when I get back home. I did mange to make it to the beach in the afternoon. It was too hot for me, but after a quick dip in the ocean two things happened: the sun got blocked by a hug

The day after the wedding, I wanted to sleep in, but I got a call at 0830 from Kendrick asking if I had any Pepto Bismol. It wasn't even for him!   In any case, I spent part of the afternoon swimming in the ocean, throwing the disc around and a little time playing volleyball. However, I was definitely more tired than Sunday and could barely stay in the sun. I spent most of my time sheltering under some shade at the beach.   That night after dinner (where we finished off the bread and some of the cake) we hit the sports bar to try some bowling (except that you had to pay and wear socks so we didn't) and then watched the evening entertainment. I called it in early because I wanted to wake up early the next day to watch the sun rise.

I wanted to take it easy today as we have had some people falling like flies due to sickness and did not want to take any risks before the ceremony. I pre-emptively took some medication to make sure I would make it through the day without any untimely interruptions and hoped that it would last the night as well. The day itself went by quickly. I put on my outfit at the last possible moment as the heat and humidity would quickly turn my shirt and pants into a heavy, soaked burden to carry for the rest of the day. The groomsmen got together in Reg's room to cool down and relax before the group gathered at the rally point. The groomsmen. The ceremony itself took place in the resort next to the one we were staying, and had a view of the beach and some construction that was actually taking place right below us. The wedding was short, and simple, and things went quite smoothly. The sun was blocked by clouds for most of the afternoon which was a huge plus as it kept the temperatur

I tried to take it easy today after yesterday's day at the beach. I tried to sleep in, but had trouble staying asleep, my stomach keeping me from dozing off. I still made it to the end of the breakfast service, and then changed before going to the beach to swim for a couple of hours before heading in to have a bit of lunch. Ransoming the bride. (Photo courtesy Hwan.) After our meal, I watched a pool obstacle course event to pass the time before attending the Russian ransom thing. The ransom was quite interesting to watch, as it reminded me of some of those traditional Chinese tasks for the groom to be. After the many tests, we had the tea ceremony and I had another attack while trying to chat with Maggie.   The food so far has been as expected, so it has been fairly tasty. But I have been pretty tired at night so I haven't stayed up late yet. Possibly because of all of the activity or also because of my reaction to the food.

I woke up a little early to check out the VIP coupons and Sunwing excursions. They were the same as the ones we saw the last time we were in the Dominican Republic, so I had no interest in any of them. Some of the group were interested in going for some deep sea fishing but I think that I will pass as I don't mix well with boats on choppy water usually. The beach volleyball court. After breakfast I spent the rest of the day at the beach, first going in for a dip, then throwing the disc with Hwan, relaxing a bit, then going for another dip, then throwing the disc with Frank, then taking another break before playing some beach volleyball. I hope that I am not sore tomorrow !

I had arranged to pick up Hwan and Ben around 0630 to drive us all to the airport. I had packed everything I could think of: snorkel, water shoes, sunscreen, sandals, etc. I also packed a lot of shirts and shorts. What I forgot to pack was more formal wear for some of the restaurants in the resort. But in any case, we were warned by Elena that there were weight restrictions on both the checked luggage (18 kg) and carry on luggage as well (5 kg)! I managed to squeak under both limits, but the bride and groom's party had quite a bit of reorganization to do as their carry on was way over the limit.   We spent the greater part of the time at the airport waiting on them to reorganize but we couldn't help as our luggage was at the limit or too small to be of any use. We did help convert some cash though.   The flight was uneventful as was the bus ride. Check in was strange as the reception area was not like any of the other tropical reception areas the I had b