We hosted a BBQ for our friends from Hong Kong. They came to Guam for a wedding. The newlyweds are the young lady with the blue sweater and the young man with the white t-shirt. They are also from Hong Kong. Guam is a popular wedding destination. Four of them also went deep sea fishing. They had a great fishing trip. They hooked up a marlin, caught Mahi Mahi and bonita (skipjack) tuna. They all said they had a blast. Super nice and humble people..
Here are pictures of the BBQ...
Here is a picture of our Hong Kong guests. My wife, Lupe is in the middle with the pearl necklace and my good buddy, Vince Santos, is in the middle of the back row with the ball cap. Everyone else is from Hong Kong.
Here is they view our guests had as they came up the driveway to the Olivas household, complete with Tiki torches for that nice tropical setting.
Closer view of the eating area supplemented by lighting on the pugua (betelnut) trees.
Some of the food. As the night wore on we came out with freshly caught Mahi Mahi, and Shrimp Kebabs, Spanish Rice and a few other items. Here we have white rice, marlin kelaguen, cabbage cold slaw (Lupe's Slaw), fresh pan de sol dinner buns, mustard fried chicken, BBQ ribs, homemade chili beans with top sirloin chunks, smoked yellowfin tuna deviled eggs....
Moving on we have fresh honeydew melon, fresh papaya, Manila banana, rakyo, diago, of course the fresh lemon finadenne (hot dipping sauce).
Here we added the hot pepper and calamansi lemons..
Then we brought out the chilled Mangoes...
Group picture before everyone really tore into the food.
Another group picture. I am in this one. Guess which one is me?
My good friend Vince Santos from Santa Rita, explaining some of the menu items....At least I hope he was...
The Newlywed Bride is spooning some chili beans...
Then the Mahi Mahi came off the BBQ. As I mentioned earlier, four of our guests had been out on a charter fishing boat with a good buddy of mine. They hooked up a marlin and a few other fish. This was one super fresh Mahi Mahi that Lupe prepared and I BBQ'd in foil. They simply loved it. One of our guests told me a fish like this would cost them about $300 in Hong Kong. As much as they love to eat fish, they can only afford certain kinds. Needless to say, we all tore this up!!!!
My wife,Lupe, is refilling the marlin kelaguen (similar to fish ceviche). Our guests loved everything. We were so happy that they enjoyed all the food. I can't tell you how many times our guests went back to the table. And we were all doing the same thing. Just like how we do it here all the time. They were eating practically the whole time they were here!!!! Just like island style. Hey that's what we do and so did they. It was a pure joy to have our guests enjoy themselves. I hope they come back again!!
Yep, the Mahi was definitely hit hard!!
Hitting Lupe's slaw again... and you can see the BBQ'd shrimp kebabs next to the marling kelaguen. We all must of ate at least 40 of those alone....
Group pic around the Mahi.....
The chili was also very popular. Our guests don't typically eat this kind of food in Hong Kong. Reminds them of the western foods.
My next door neighbor, Harold, was definitely enjoying the chow. He especially loved the mustard fried chicken with my little kick in there (smoked paprika)
Harold getting into some Mahi. And a whole lot of picture taking went on all night. These are some of their memories of Guam...
More Mahi....
This is the Auntie, caught in the act. She loved everything and showed it many times...Hehe!!
This is the grooms Mother. Loved the fish...
The Auntie biting into a donne' sali (a type of hot pepper). I waited for her reaction. Hardly anything at all...not hot for her!!!
The groom's father loving the mango. There isn't a whole lot of fresh mango like this in Hong Kong. His son, Stanley, my friend, said that this mango was the best mango he ever had eaten. And they were cold.
Mom is liking the fresh Manila bananas..... She is giving her seal of approval. Can you tell?
This is the bride's Mother. She is having some more fish.
Auntie is eating mango now. When I brought the bowl out, it never made it to the table before she picked hers. She was trying to peel it with her fingers, but I recommended the tooth method. Bite and tear... too easy...
Lupe brought out the chilled coconuts for a very refreshing drink. This amped up the conversation. It was obvious that they loved it.
Lupe and the Auntie showing off their "guns". Lupe had the ladies going all night long. Lupe is so friendly.
Lupe is still talking and.....
The ladies are still listening. They followed Lupe everywhere. Lupe took them for a tour of the yard showing them all the different trees, plants and flowers...They were amazed.
Hong Kong is all city and Stanley told me that the cost of living is very high there. Gas costs almost $9/gal. Now that is expensive. I recommended that he move to Guam.
Groom's Mom is loving that juicy, sweet mango..
The newlywed bride enjoying the mustard fried chicken.
You can tell how close we all became in such a short while. Vince and the Dad, with his son Stanley on the other side of Vince, showing that friendship. They won't soon forget us or Guam...
Our last group photo and cover shot. I love this photo as they all shot up with the "Shaka" on their own. The young man in the white t-shirt on the their right is the Groom and Stanley's brother.
Stanley (pink shirt) told me this that surprised but touched me. He said that this is the best family gathering that he can remember. This is the first time that the family had ever traveled together (it is very expensive for them) and the best ever BBQ or party that they have attended. They just don't do these things in Hong Kong due to the expense. Gatherings are small and it is very hard to get the family together due to everyone's schedules. Stanley said that this was the trip of a lifetime and they will never forget it. Stanley also told me that all of his family members were saying the same thing and could not believe the hospitality.
As we say on Guam, this is the Hafa Adai Spirit!!!
So ends the trip and memories of a lifetime.
We were so honored to have met and hosted our special Hong Kong guests. We are waiting to do this again!!!
That's Island Hospitality!!
Until next time...
