Andrea & Brian

We can't wait to share our special day with you!

Saturday October 28, 2017

Shanghai, China

Story

Brian's Story:

The first time I saw Andrea, she was dancing with a group of girlfriends at my favorite nightclub in Shanghai, The Apartment. She was definitely the most beautiful woman I had seen all night, and she was moving to the music, looking bored. I immediately approached her and asked if she would like to dance together. She gave me a canned response about how it was ladies' night and wanted to spend time with her friends. I asked if she would like to go out dancing another night and she replied that she was from out of town so there probably wouldn't be another opportunity. Before Andrea could make any more excuses, I handed her my phone and asked her to input her number so we could keep in touch. Her unique surname Salazar led me to ask her, "Where are you from?" She responded Ecuador, so I said, "Hasta Luego," and left her dancing with her friends. I remember telling my friend Johnny later that same night, "I could totally marry that woman I met tonight, if I ever see her again!"

After several months of sporadic text messages to each other, Andrea called me one random April night to tell me she was in town. My friend Kev and I met up with her again at The Apartment but after waiting 15 minutes for drinks, she said that she wanted to go elsewhere to dance. I told Kev that I would be following Andrea to the next nightclub, so I ditched him there and Andrea and I quickly jumped into a taxicab over to a club I had never been to before called MJs. I didn't realize until after we get into MJs that the club was filled with over 500 men dancing around us, and halfway through the evening, every male in the venue had removed their shirts. Throughout the night, Andrea graciously deflected my repeated efforts to dance closer with her, while I simultaneously deflected numerous attempts by other attendees to dance closer with me.

I dropped off Andrea at her hotel and she hugged me good-night. I was so excited just to have spent the night with her and was hoping we would see each other again.

Andrea's Story:

The first time I saw Brian was a late November evening at Apartment, one of those places I'd visit with my gal friends Irina, Alina and Phoebe only because I wanted to go dancing; they were on the lookout for new dates. I was by the DJ stand and kept moving about as my gals kept disappearing. Suddenly Brian shows up, I scanned him from head to toe and was not very impressed by his dusty shoes and faded shirt. He introduced himself and asked me to dance, so I tried to brush him off. He was polite, yet persistent. I said, "I live out of town, most likely will not see him again," ( I was working in Xiamen at the time). He insisted, saying that I look like I am dancing already, so I said: "It's girls night out" meaning I wanted to spend time with my girlfriends. To my surprise, he said, "Ok, can I get your number? How about we go dancing next time you're in town?" I agreed and we exchanged numbers. Sigh! Finally, I got him out of sight! My gal friends came back and asked: "Who is that?" "Just a guy," I responded. Little did I know..

Once again we met at Apartment, once again I was out and about with my gal pals. Once again, I was a bit bored as the DJ kept changing music genre and tunes. I was about to say good night to the gals and go home when Brian showed up. He did to my surprise show to have some rhythm, and then I said: "How about we move to another place with better music?" Sure! We went to MJ's where we danced for hours and hours. It was indeed a full place with over 500 gay guys. Mostly we went there for the music, but I also wanted to know if Brian was a homophobe. He handled it quite well. All the while he tried to brush against me, I pushed back with a dance move. Every time he brushed close to me, I would dodge him, and at some point I started turning him around to dance with one of the guys behind him. After a few hours, we went to the bar for some water, then went outside for some air. By the time we got out, I was walking on my tiptoes because I realized my feet hurt so much. Brian said he would give me a piggyback ride but I declined. Instead, he took me in a taxi back to my hotel and dropped me off, even though it was really far from his apartment. At the end of the night, I thought Brian was: 1) very much a gentleman, 2) definitely not a homophobe, and 3) had some good stamina for dancing.

Tidbits

How did you first meet?

See Our Story!

Who made the first move? How?

Brian made the first move when he texted me about his Pillow Fight flash mob.

What was your most memorable date?

We spent one of our first dates together at a water fight flash mob that Brian organized in Shanghai. After the fight was over, we relaxed at the People's Square fountain where a violinist busker serenaded us with "Fools Rush In". We continued to walk along the Bund and then to the rooftop to the swatch art peace hotel, with our clothes still soaked from the earlier day.

What's your favorite activity together?

We have enjoyed some memorable cosplaying, from Daenerys and Khal Drogo (Game of Thrones) to Zombies and Samurai (Walking Dead), it seems like almost every Halloween we were trying to surpass the previous year's costumes.

What's the best meal you have eaten together?

We have most enjoyed Ultraviolet in Shanghai and have tried all 3 available menus: A, B and C. Each evening has been a delightful and unforgettable experience.

What's the most memorable trip you have taken together?

Riding a hot-air balloon in Myanmar, attending Carnaval in Rio, Gazing at shooting stars in Sri Lanka, Cruising Around the Mediterranean, Hiking up Macchu Picchu, Climbing karst islands in Krabi, Scooting around temples in Bali, we've been lucky to have taken quite a few memorable trips.

How did you propose?

Brian made a Ted Talk last year:

Where are you going for your honeymoon?

Anywhere with beautiful beaches! Maybe the Maldives before it goes completely underwater?

Who's going to take out the trash?

Ummm... our ayi...

What nicknames do you have for each other?

Brian calls Andrea "mi reina" which means My Queen in Spanish - Andrea calls Brian "baobei" which means Baby in Chinese.

Registry

Your presence is enough of a present to us! We have enough (too much) stuff!