Congratulations to Our Newlywed Friends 1/3    Howie & Hanh 2/1    Christina & Greg 2/13  Sylvia & Carlson 4/3    Toni & Bill 5/1    Beverly & Alistair 5/29  Katy & Hanns 5/30  Helen & Gilbert 6/5    Helen & Stephen 6/12  Yvette & Pierre 6/26   Cynthia & Peter 6/26   Shirley & Paul 7/3     Gina & Alfred 9/5     Eugenia & Bennet 9/5     Helen & Dante 10/16  Kathy & Sean 10/30  Amie & Paul 11/20  Randi & Matt

Alan & Mae-Ling’s 1999 Holiday Letter      Greetings! It’s that holiday season again when we reflect upon the last 12 months, think of friends and family, and look forward to what the new year may bring. We will long remember 1999 as the "Year of the Weddings" as over a dozen of our friends and family members walked down the path of matrimony. Whether it was a picture perfect Martha Stewart cake, a groom on his knee serenading his bride, or a couple reading poignant letters to their parents, we appreciated all the personal touches and relived our own happy wedding memories. True to our reputation as the "Party Couple", we threw a few big bashes of our own. Most memorable of all was ML’s 29th birthday party aboard our make-believe train, the Shanghai Express. Friends came dressed Shanghai-style and suddenly found themselves in the middle of a murder mystery game that we had written. We also celebrated Alan’s 30th birthday with an adventurous scavenger hunt around the Bay Area, followed by a BBQ at ML's mom's house. Our greatest reward in creating these games was witnessing the winning teams bond together, whether to figure out who really killed Mr. X.O. Lee in our Shanghai Express murder game or to convince a cop to take a picture of the team in his patrol car as part of the scavenger hunt. As for any parties in the year 2000, it'll be ML's turn next to hit the big 3-0… Between all the parties and weddings, we managed to find time for work. After consulting for 8 years – 5 at Westt, Alan joined the rest of Silicon Valley to work at an Internet startup. He is now the Partner Manager at Worldprints.com. ML was not far behind. While toying with several different party-related ideas, ML found Great Entertaining and enthusiastically started as Programming Manager for the party-supply e-tailer. We hope you will take a moment to surf these two sites and keep us gainfully employed.      Before ML found Great Entertaining, we enjoyed the luxury of her flexible schedule during our critical first year of marriage. Of course, we had our share of issues and arguments, but ML’s relatively stress-free lifestyle helped smooth out the kinks. With ML brightening the garden with flowers and filling the house with the aroma of home-cooked meals, how could we possibly stay angry at each other for long? Now that ML is working again, we no longer take for granted our quality time together. Believe it or not, one of our newly shared hobbies during this precious time is playing Scrabble!      The highlight of the year was, of course, our 1st Anniversary/2nd Honeymoon Mediterranean Romance Cruise aboard Holland America’s SS Rotterdam. Traveling with our family and friends, we visited Milan, Florence, Venice, Olympia (Greece), Athens, Kusadasi (Turkey), Malta, Naples/Capri, Rome, Monaco/Monte Carlo, and Barcelona. Inspired by his high school ancient history teacher, Alan loved touring the temple ruins, especially the Parthenon. Stunning architecture by Gaudi and endless varieties of tapas made Barcelona a favorite city for ML. The travel bug is temporarily out of our systems, but we also wish to avoid the Y2K bug; so, we have decided to stay home in the Bay Area for the turn of the Millennium.      In last year’s Holiday letter, we hinted at a Dragon-year baby. There's nothing to report yet, but we are happy to announce the birth of our new niece, Alison Wong (picture above). For more pictures and details from this past year and upcoming events, you can always catch up with us at www.iTien.com. We wish you and your family a peaceful and joyous holiday! Love, Alan & Mae-Ling