Hawai'i!
This looks amazing!
It's so good.
Cheers!
Whoo!
For Christmas, my sister and I
surprised our parents with airline tickets.
It's been decades
since we’ve traveled together,
and definitely not since Kat and I have had kids.
My dad has been itching to travel,
but he can’t,
because he doesn’t want to leave my mom at home,
who is very much a homebody.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to travel,
but she doesn't really want to travel
So my sister and I joked that the only way
to get her to travel anywhere
is to buy her a non-refundable ticket
so she can’t cancel it and waste the money.
But!
Mom, if there was one place
you could go in the world,
where would it be?
Probably would be Hawai'i.
Because I want to see how beautiful Hawai'i is.
So we bought the tickets,
wrapped them up,
and surprised our parents with them.
We just wrapped it in there!
Okay! I'm like wait, did you guys mix it up?
Read it, what does it say?
We need to go...
Hawai'i!
Wow, are these tickets?
Yeah, we bought tickets!
We can't take it back now,
it's official.
It's non-refundable!
Hawai'i!
We're all going!
All of us!
The whole family is going together.
This is a fake one.
It's real! We bought it!
Your mom's in shock.
She has no words.
The baby?
She's coming!
The whole family's going, in August.
Mom is like...
She's processing.
How about you just get married there?
Congratulations!
We are going to Honolulu, Hawai'i.
It is a 6 hour flight from San Francisco.
6 hours...
with a baby and a toddler.
As tough as it is to fly with kids,
one of my goals in life
is just to treat my parents to more experiences.
Because they're not really getting any younger.
And now that we’ve started to see more success with Made With Lau,
I just want to give back to them.
They worked extremely hard to raise me and my sister,
like 12-hour days, weekends, nightshifts
just to make sure that we would have a good life.
So now that I have the means,
this is the least I could do
to show a little bit of gratitude for what they’ve done for us.
And even if that means we have to endure a little bit of stress
to see my parents’ faces light up like this...
it’s all worth it.
This looks amazing!
Yes, we made it!
Mom, come see how nice it is!
Mom, look at this!
Yeah!
Mui Mui, you cutie!
Mui Mui!
Hi! Hello!
My parents don’t really get to experience other cultures very often.
Back at home, my parents really only eat Chinese food,
so I really wanted to expose them to Hawai'ian food
and other cuisines.
My dad can be a picky eater,
so I was on a personal quest
to find a dish my dad would give the perfect 5/5 Daddy Lau rating to.
4 stars.
Why?
It's okay.
The meat is not big enough.
Surprisingly, my parents wanted to explore
a lot more than I thought they would.
I kind of expected us to hang out in the hotel pool the whole time.
But my dad got over the hotel pool real quick,
and went straight for the ocean,
all by himself, without telling any of us
and was there for like an hour.
But we forgave him, because my dad loves to swim,
and this was his first opportunity to go into the ocean
in over 40 years.
So this is my first time traveling with my kids and our parents
Jenn and Ken.
So we didn't really have a whole lot planned out
because we really just needed to go with the flow
with our kids’ naps, my mom’s knee pain,
and Jenn's pregnancy.
But what I didn’t expect is that
we’d be planning a wedding in under 3 days.
Jenn and Ken got engaged a few years ago,
but never had their wedding due to COVID.
And in that time, they got pregnant.
During the trip,
Jenn and Ken had joked about
getting their marriage license in Hawai'i
before their kid came in a few months.
They were only half serious,
but my mom got so excited,
so we started seriously looking into
trying to make this happen.
But as it turns out,
it's actually not that simple, because
in Hawai'i, in order to get a marriage license,
you actually have to have a ceremony
with a licensed officiant.
So, we now had the challenge
of putting together a wedding in 3 days
and book some vendors during busy season
on short notice in Hawai'i.
So first, we went to Honolulu’s Chinatown for some essentials.
Hi, I'd like to ask
if you have any lucky envelopes for weddings?
Yes, right in the front here!
This double happiness character
is called soeng hei in Chinese.
Soeng hei.
It's for weddings.
It has to have this character?
Yes, it's best
because it's tradition to have it.
Wing git tung sam
one heart together forever.
Yeah.
How long have you had this shop?
Over 30 years.
Wow, that's so long!
Thank you so much!
Thank you very much for letting us shop here!
Send this video back to me!
Okay!
The younger generation won't continue the business.
They won't?
No.
Then you'd have to close it down?
That's right.
There aren't many shops like this.
Lots of people need the products you sell.
I understand that,
but it's not very sustainable even though people need it.
Like his generation.
But his generation will do it.
He even went to Chinatown
to buy incense for praying.
Yes, that's right.
Paper money and incense.
I have them come over to pray for New Year's and holidays.
Yes, teach them.
Yeah, I want to learn it.
For all your stationery needs,
go here!
Connie's great!
You guys ready to get married?
Yeah!
This is my son!
My other son!
What's up?
Thanks for watching, Eric!
Getting flowers for this girl.
She's getting married.
You excited?
Yeah. Are you?
Very excited!
Thanks for your help.
I couldn't have done it without you.
Oh my god, of course.
Literally!
Oh, tie it around twice?
Wow, very pretty!
Typical Dad.
Just going off on his own.
Turning around,
looking at us like
"What's the problem?"
"What's the problem, why aren't you guys coming?"
Let's try Yong's Kitchen.
Wonton Noodle Soup, please.
One Wonton Noodle Soup.
Right here.
Yes!
This is 4 stars.
4 stars? Okay.
It's a bit broken up.
The beef is pretty good.
This is Beef Chow Fun with Gravy.
The chow fun noodles are at the bottom,
with cooked ingredients on top.
You can get lazy with this dish.
If you mess up the noodles, they're hidden underneath anyway.
The ingredients on top cover everything up.
4 stars for this, too.
4 stars.
They could have loosened up the noodles more.
It's a bit clumpy.
Is this you?
Oh my god, yeah!
It is!!
And you know to come here to eat!
Cam is so cute!
Hi!
You're amazing!
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you!
Are you that chef?
Yes!
My son watches you all the time!
He makes so many kinds of food!
Yeah!
Oh my god! This is unreal.
This is a celebrity moment.
Thank you so, so much!
I tell him to learn from you
Now, it's at 9.
He's been recognized 9 times?
9 times, and
and I would say today is not done yet,
so that's across 3 days.
As stressful as planning a wedding can be,
we didn’t want to let it to stop us from having fun
and spending time together.
This is good!
4 stars to eat it like this.
If they added mustard or ginger,
I think it'd taste even better.
Okay, you guys are so cute.
Something I’ll never forget is
just getting to see my parents get to be kids again.
Bye!
Let's swim over there.
Where?
It's deep here.
It's not deep at all!
Daddy and I got you, okay?
You have nothing to be afraid of with me here!
Hi!
Mom, are you having fun?
Yes!
Acting like a big kid!
Ocean!
We're in the... ocean!
Say, "I'm having fun!"
Fun, fun, fun!
You like it?
What would you rate it out of 5?
5!
Yeah!
Daddy, enjoy my favorite ice cream!
Is it good?
Back for seconds!
Wow!
Chicken Long Rice.
Chicken noodles.
That's pretty good.
How many stars?
4 stars.
If I made this, I'd want to make it even silkier.
3.5 stars.
Usually, the noodles would be very...
bouncy.
This is too soft?
Too soft, way too soft.
11 out of 10.
Wow!
Kalua pork
and lau lau!
Made With Lau Lau!
And poi!
Tastes like nothing.
Yeah, it's just like a basic food.
Is that the leaf you can eat?
Like a very old-style food.
Yeah, it's really old style.
How many stars?
4 stars.
That's pretty good.
You've never had taro leaf before.
I don't like sauce, I'll eat it plain.
The original flavor.
This cooking is worth 4 stars.
The flavor is good,
it's hard to give 5 stars, for me.
Better if it's not cooked as much, right?
No, this needs a long cook.
It's like a braise.
It's hard to compare their cooking style with Cantonese food.
Which one do you like more?
The lau lau.
He likes the lau lau!
Made With Lau Lau!
The lau lau is less dry.
The Kalua pork is drier.
So up until this point,
we still did not have a wedding officiant or a venue.
So I called around,
and luckily, my friends Philip and Kristen in Oahu
really came through for us.
Philip Lemoine is one of my closest content creator friends
who inspired me when I was first starting Made With Lau,
and he has a ton of connections in the wedding industry.
Philip, and his wife Kristin, a wedding photographer,
agreed to help us shoot the wedding last minute,
and they helped us lock down a venue and find a wedding officiant.
So a big thank you to Philip and Kristin
because this wedding absolutely
would not have happened without you guys.
And with one day left,
the last challenge was to figure what we were all going to wear
for this spontaneous wedding,
because none of us packed anything for it.
All right, rating Dad's breakfast.
Very soothing.
5 out of 5.
Good morning!
Did Hong Doy like the noodles?
Yeah.
Hey, what would you rate Dad's soup?
Oh, this is one of the best meals in Hawai'i!
5 out of 5.
Literally, this is so good to have.
The greens?
Yeah.
So good.
Let me have a bite.
I really like it
because it's a natural sweet.
Delicious,
fragrant,
silky,
sweet.
One every day.
I've had one every day since I've been here in Hawai'i.
In this kind hot weather,
with beautiful beaches,
it's very enjoyable.
It's so good.
This is a very enjoyable life.
What's happening tomorrow?
We're getting married!
Whoo! We're getting married!
Hello!
We're looking for a dress for her.
I think the light one.
How are you feeling?
I'm feeling...
nervous about Mom finding a dress.
It took us literally all day
to find outfits that everyone was happy with.
That looks clean, dude!
It was especially a big deal for my mom,
because her daughter's big day meant a lot to her,
and she really wanted to wear something special for it.
And for me, I still had yet to find an entree
that my dad would give his coveted 5/5 Daddy Lau rating to.
How many stars?
5 stars?
5 out of 5!
100%.
100%, yeah.
Wow!
Crispy crust, tender meat.
And finally, the day my parents have been waiting decades for…
Handsome!
Two handsome guys!
Hi! Oh my gosh, you guys look so cute.
Hello!
Wow!
Cammy, you ready for a wedding?
Yeah!
You ready for this?
Yeah!
I'm not ready!
Wait, I object!
I want to begin by saying congratulations to both of you
on this wonderful and joyful day in your life.
As you two have come to beautiful Hawai'i
to share your marriage vows,
to create family with each other,
and to make a dream come true.
Yes, I do.
Whoo!
Yes, I do.
Beautiful, beautiful.
Then I now pronounce you husband and wife!
You may seal your vows with a kiss!
Whoo!
I present you as husband and wife!
Kenneth and Jennifer!
Yay! Woohoo!
Welcome to the family!
I'll leave Jennifer to you, then.
Spend lots of time together with her, okay?
Okay!
And you shouldn't be so irritable, okay?
It all feels very exciting, very happy,
and very relaxing.
One big thing as a parent is done
and Daddy's super, super happy.
I'm absolutely overjoyed.
Isn't it wonderful to watch your kids get married?
What wishes do you have for them?
I hope that in their life together,
they care for each other and are accepting of each other.
I wish them a harmonious life.
All in all, this trip was
more than a dream come true.
While Kat and I had certainly our fair share
of stress and emotional breakdowns,
it was a small price to pay to gain a brother
and to see the pure joy on our kids’ faces.
And it was especially fulfilling
to see my parents finally express their own desires,
because for decades,
I felt like my parents’ lives were
defined by self-restraint and sacrifice.
For my mom,
she got to enjoy all the sweets Hawai’i had to offer.
I got to learn how much she loved shopping for dresses
on our very first mother-son date together
and I got to see her fierce Mommy Lau negotiator come out.
This is $60, no tax.
$60, no tax?
Yeah.
$40 for 2.
For my dad, he just really wanted to chill in the ocean.
Every morning, my dad would sit on the balcony, watching the sunrise
having some Chinese tea before everyone woke up.
And every time he saw a breathtaking view,
my sister and I would listen for this click,
"How beautiful!"
and it just meant a lot to us.
He was also particularly interested in the foliage.
Where's Dad going?
Dad, the gardener.
And of course, even on vacation,
he couldn't help but make food for his family.
You can take the cook out of the kitchen.
You can't take the kitchen out of the cook.
Not even at Lanikai Beach.
As a kid,
we didn’t do trips like this very often,
and I spent even less time with my grandparents,
so I’m just really grateful that
we get to create these memories together.
I’m grateful that I get to document
how much love flows through our family,
and I’m especially grateful that one day our kids will grow up,
watch these videos,
and come to understand
how inspiring and selfless their grandparents are.
Mom and Dad,
thank you for everything.
I love you.