Disclaimer: There are inaccuracies in the fiance's account but since he painstakingly wrote it - I shall post it up for remembrance. It is no brainer when women say the men never get it - the details, especially. For the record, he did not give me a ring when he asked me to be his gf, only flowers.
So then read on for his side on how he popped the big question.
So then read on for his side on how he popped the big question.
5th May
is our Anniversary. A year ago from that date, in 2012, I surprised her
with a bouquet of flowers (my first to her) and gave her my ring, and
asked her to be my gf. Within a second she beamed and said ‘yes!’
Till this day we still laugh about how eager she was. But well, would she be the same for the marriage proposal?
Of
course, you gotta be sure that this is the girl you wanna marry for the
rest of your lives. While I was certainly sure, but the road has not
always been easy. We actually had an argument just before our 1st
Anniversary that made things a little uneasy. But you know, a guy that
has a plan always sticks to his plan if he’s worth his salt.
So
first up, I know the date I want to propose. However, where should I
go? I have a tight budget to keep to and somehow many of the locations I
had wanted seemingly filled up when I tried to make my bookings. It was
frustrating. While googling, I saw on ad on google:
‘Mystery 5-star SG hotel at rock-bottom prices!’
Ok, sounds interesting. I clicked on it and it brought me to Zuji.com.sg.
They
had a ‘mystery 5-star SG hotel deal’ that gave some clues to where it
was. It was a very inexpensive deal, was only about $200 plus a night.
The ad read:
"A luxurious resort-style 5-star hotel in SG that is close to the central Singapore!”
Ok, so Orchard, City Hall, where?
“Situated in a beautiful island setting!”
Ok must be Sentosa then!
“Winner of various awards, this hotel is visually stunning in architecture and is near to many attractions!”
I
googled every single hotel in Sentosa, and decided that it was Hotel
Michael in Resorts World Sentosa. Architecturally stunning, and winner
of 3 prestigious awards. Should be this, right?
I was still hemming and hawing, but I knew that this was a supposedly nice place and, well, I clicked on ‘book’.
These
travel websites only reveal the hotel after you have made payment, and
drum roll… it was indeed Hotel Michael! I was pleasantly surprised;
Hotel Michael is rather pricey, going for at least $400 during the same
period a night, so I thought it was a steal!
Then the scramble to get everything ready. Flowers, a nice bottle of wine, and the plans to pop the question.
First
up, flowers: I called the hotel to see if they can provide the flowers,
because well, I’m proposing. Maybe they can throw it in for free?
A
Filipino lady answered the phone, “Congratulations sir, we can provide
flowers for you, for $60. We have red roses, and pink roses.”
She
sounded fake, uninterested, and generally bored out of her mind. I
tried negotiating but decided not to and just to get it from the hotel,
to save the time of getting down to the hotel and placing the bouquet
there. I wanted to surprise her and had to meet her before to take her
to the hotel, and I couldn’t hide the bouquet in the room in time before
the surprise. Kudos to RSW for hiring unmotivated hospitality workers.
And only 2 types of flowers, and I can’t even choose how they will do
the bouquet. So it was a gamble really, for all you know it could be
butt ugly like some bouquets I’ve seen out there.
Then
I went to a place that I knew sold decent wines: Straits Wine at Craig
Road. Well they have many branches but this one is closest to me. I
called to reserve a bottle of Woodstock Little Miss Collet Moscato
(can’t remember the year, but doesn’t really matter unless its a bit
old), because I know its gonna be a girly tipple that she would like.
Grabbed it the day before, packed some champagnes flutes (they fit into a
tupperware better and well drinking moscato with them is ok) and then
its on to the big day.
I picked her up on the
big day. She asked me why I had such big bag with me (I only booked one
night) and I told her my clothes take up a lot of space. Which is true!
And before that, I had given her clues on where we were going and she
actually guessed it right once. This girl’s a smart one, fellas. Anyway,
I managed to dodge her further questions and just drove her straight to
Sentosa.
“I knew it! It’s Hotel Michael!”
Ah
well. Anyway she would know when we get there sooner or later. We
parked the car (thank goodness for free-parking as hotel guests) and
walked to the hotel. It was quite a walk, given that RWS is quite large,
and isn’t the most well-designed place to be at. Getting from point A
to B takes you on a roundabout as the architect’s intention is to
attempt to make you cross the shops every time you wanna get to
somewhere.
We were at the check-in counter at
the hotel and I swear this place is flooded with PRCs. They were
crawling out of the woodwork. I just hope there wasn’t any of them on
our floor, they tend to be so damn loud and smoke in their rooms even
though they are on the non-smoking floors. The interior, to be honest,
seems a pale shadow of Michael Graves’ work. I wonder how much money
Genting paid him to use his name for the hotel! He didn’t even design
it, it was just ‘inspired’ by his works. The project probably was given
to the boss’ son-in-law or something to come up with a bad copy of the
real thing.
We got to the room and thankfully
the flowers were there, as instructed. Well, I paid this $$, they better
damn well make sure they do it right. And it wasn’t too bad, nothing
fancy but at least presentable.
We got talking
and then hit the idea that we should exchange our Anniversary gifts
there and then. We started exchanging our gifts. Oh gosh, I suddenly
felt a tinge of excitement. And nervousness!
And then it was done. She started to put away her stuff when I said, “Hang on, I have one more present.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, but you have to close your eyes.”
She did, and I reached in my bag and grabbed the box with the all-important ring, and opened it. It creaked open. Dang.
“Ok you can open your eyes.”
She beamed with this mixture of delighted and embarrassed smile. Very cute. “What’s this!”
Well,
then I delivered my proposal. It wasn’t a very long and verbose one,
but I told her that she is the person that makes me experience all
spectrums of emotions from day one, and I knew that she was the one I
want to spend the rest of my life with. God has placed her in my life
for a reason, and me in hers as well; and we met under such cliched yet
unbelievable circumstances. I loved her, and I believe she loved me too,
and ask for her hand in marriage…
“Yes!”
She
took less than a second to reply. Again. Immediately after I finished,
she already said yes and gave me her hand to put the ring on. It fit a
little loose (gosh I underestimated the size of her fingers), but no
biggie, I can call my craftsman for an alteration.
She
beamed and spread her fingers towards the light on the ceiling. “Whoa,
how many carats is that?” She pointed to the main stone on the ring.
“1 carat, as asked.” I smiled in reply.
“What are these? Diamonds as well?” She pointed to the yellow diamonds that surrounded the main stone.
“Yup! Yellow diamonds!”
“So pretty! So pretty I must tell my mother!”
Ok she spend the next half an hour texting her mom and sister. But why won’t she, they were so excited for her as well.
It was strange though, she said she would probably cry at her proposal, but she didn’t.
Ah well, let’s pour the moscato in celebration first. I cracked open the bottle and poured it out for us in celebration.
“Awwww thanks baby!”
After a glass, I asked her. “How come you never cry ah?”
“Eh, haha, because it’s still day. I will probably cry during night time.”
D’oh! Fellas, now you know. If you want her to be visibly touched, do it in the night time.
“And also why you never film this down! It can go into the wedding video!”
Uhhhhh dammit. Oops. Ok, lesson no. 2 learned.
But all in all, she accepted, and I was delighted!
