Sacha, an ob/gyn resident, married Harvey Chou, also a doctor, in a ceremony and reception at the Kohl Mansion in Burlingame. The groom is an orthopedic surgeon at Centinela Hospital in Los Angeles. Sacha is a Saratoga High grad of '96 and attendants were fellow SHS classmates Ching-Pei Hu and Vivian Shan.

Here's how relaxed the wedding party was: Shan, a recent law school grad, studied for the bar exam as she waited for the ceremony to begin. The third attendant was Theresa Sim, a college classmate of the bride's.

Sacha was an outstanding student at SHS. She founded and was president of the local chapter of Junior Statesmen of America and was on the swim team. She and her bridesmaids graduated at the top of their class. She went on to Columbia for a BS in biology and then to UC-Irvine for her medical degree. The groom went to Yale for an undergrad degree and UC-Irvine for his medical training.

The bride's brother Michael, 15, a sophomore at Harker Academy, was an usher. A week after the wedding, the groom's parents, Chu Chu and Chaw Kuo hosted a traditional Chinese banquet in Los Angeles to honor the couple. Besides knowing their ABCs, the bride and groom are ABCs (American-born Chinese).

DEDICATED TRAVELERS: Saratogans Teresa and Carl Robinson--she's an artist who uses found materials, he's a retired pediatrician--are dedicated travelers, often managing three major trips a year. This 12-month period was no exception. Their destinations, starting with the most recent, were the Baltic, Vietnam and Croatia.

(What is it about Croatia? That seems to be such a popular destination lately that a friend of mine complains that at gatherings nowadays she's the only one who can't talk knowingly about Croatia.) The Robinsons' Croatian trip was last fall on a chartered sailboat, a water-based tour of islands and coastline stops.

The Baltic trip was a cruise on a small (fewer than 100 passengers) Lindblad boat from Copenhagen to St. Petersburg that took in eight countries, including Estonia, Latvia, Danish and Swedish islands, Germany and Poland. In Poland Lech Walesa even came aboard and chatted up the travelers.

The former Polish president and leader of the Solidarity movement is now evidently a goodwill ambassador of sorts for his country. Carl called him approachable, idealistic and engaging.

The Robinsons spent three weeks early in the year in Vietnam, a country Carl called beautiful--the people friendly, the food great. "We went into the highlands, and that was the part we liked the best." They had a guide, so language was not a problem.

Some 65 percent of Vietnam citizens are under 30 and don't have personal memories of the Vietnam war. Plus, Vietnam's economic status has improved so much since the boycotts were removed that the U.S. is held in high repute these days, Carl reports. The U.S. was instrumental in the boycott lifting.

Margie Hammack of Los Gatos and Joan Bose of Saratoga traveled with the Robinsons. As for the Robinson offspring, they are both pursuing theatrical goals: Dean appeared in the ACT production of Black Rider last summer; Karen directs the Georgia Shakespeare Festival and teaches theater at Kennesaw State. One of her productions is based on a Chinese myth and she has been invited to China to participate in an upcoming drama festival.

MISSION TRIP: Five folks from Immanuel Lutheran Church--John and Dorothy Terrill and Carl and Melva Vollersen of Saratoga; and Mitzie Eddy of Los Gatos--have recently returned from a 12-day mission trip to Cartagena, Colombia.

There they joined in the work being done by Dan and Berit Wick, also of Saratoga and Immanuel Lutheran. The Wicks are on a mission in Cartagena at Colegio Latinoamericano.

Melva and Mitzie taught crafts, and one result was a colorful banner now hanging in the school library. Dorothy, a dietitian, gave 10 nutrition presentations in several different settings to more than 400 people.

Besides working at the school, the group helped out at 19 other community posts, including the El Pozon and Nelson Mandela refugee centers. They taught classes and crafts at a center for abused girls and at two public schools.

CONCERTS: Community Concert series will host the Montana Mandolin Society on Sept. 25; the Trio Jubilee chamber music Jan. 22; operatic tenor Nathan Granner and classical guitarist Beau Bledsoe March 19; and Karin Schaup, classical guitarist, April 9. All concerts are 2:30 p.m. at Los Gatos Methodist Church. Tickets on sale at 408.377.1106.

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