Monthly Archives: July 2011
XII. the two visits before the first visit.
On my first recce trip to USS, I met Rudith there during our lunch breaks. She orientated me to all the locations and explained what I could and could not do The main purpose of this trip was to confirm the proposal hot spots as well as to find places for Gideon and Caleb to camp at while they were capturing the moment. I took lots of photos and videos and sent it to the both of them via WhatsApp so that they could get a visual idea of where they could plant themselves without being spotted by Huiyi.
The plan looked really promising as the Pavilion had Far Far Away in the background and I could imagine that with a sunset added, it would make a spectacular backdrop for an equally spectacular proposal. In my mind’s eye, I got excited thinking about how stunning the photos would eventually turn out.
I tried asking for special passes for their entry since they weren’t going in to enjoy the rides but to just snap photos. USS declined my request, which I could understand. So on my way out, I purchased two tickets for the two of them. I didn’t have a choice, really. So I was grateful that DBS was running a promotion with USS and tickets were sold at a small discount.
But I realised the first problem. Unless Gideon and Caleb had excessively expensive camera lenses, there was no way they would be able to capture close-up shots. The entire proposal would also be seen from only two boring perspectives and none of our facial expressions would be captured.
On my second visit to USS, the main purpose was to enter during sunset to ensure that the spot which I had chosen had the sunset in the horizon, and that the crowd would have started to disappear. Much to my shock and horror (but eventual relief), the sunset actually took place where Battlestar Galactica was and not at Far Far Away! This looked like a plan that was doomed for failure because it didn’t contain the all-important sunset criteria!
Then came the final nail in the coffin – the binoculars were out-of-order! There was no way she would be able to look into her “FUTURE far far away…”
Die. Back to the drawing block.
The third plan was officially far far away from success.
Next chapter: the relentless schedule that week.
XI. the red tape that I couldn’t clear.
I actually called USS VIP Tours and asked if I could speak with someone who would be willing to coordinate the event with me. The staff who attended to me was freaked out at my every request, so she brought it to her supervisor who brought it to her manager. Be it to bring equipment in, make a complimentary recce trip, or have Shrek or Fiona make an appearance. I don’t blame them though, because it’s not normal that they speak to some nutcase who wants to execute something unprecedented and radical at the hallowed grounds of USS.
But Rudith was superb. She sent out a couple of emails to the VIP Tours department as well as a couple of her friends who were in Ground Operations. Well, no one had presented them with such a request before and as much as I tried to PR my way into their PR department with my PR tactics as a former PR person, I faced a stone wall time after time. So after a few more email exchanges and phone calls, I decided against doing this officially because it was just way too difficult, cumbersome and tiring to clear the red tape.
Believe it or not, they even told me that Shrek and Fiona cannot go to New York because of intellectual property issues. Apparently, these two characters cannot leave Far Far Away… Can you believe that!? I was bemused by their unbelievable but understandable insistence on sticking to the integrity of the character.
So I had to count on Rudith and the by-left (aka more creative) methods. I must say, she really, Really, REALLY, went out of her way to assist me. Now, what Rudith had done for me, I will not and cannot disclose, even though I really want to because of the magnitude of her kindness, but I do not wish to get her into trouble or set a precedence for USS and get into trouble with them. Not to worry, she didn’t do anything that would cause her to get struck by lightning… So let’s just say that with Rudith’s help, things became way easier to plan and execute, so I was really thankful for her intervention!
Next chapter: the two visits before the actual visit.
your greatest trump card is not ability, but availability.
Now, let’s return to real life for just one more entry.
I’d like to capture how I’ve been blessed over the past two days at the Eagles Leadership Conference 2011 (ELC), which took place at the Suntec City Convention Hall. It was my first ELC. It started when I brought Peter Chao out for his (very) belated birthday meal last month. I asked him if he needed help at ELC and he hooked me up to the various departments. I was ready for most assignments, so long as I could handle it.
I just wanted to be available to serve Eagles, for they have been exceptional with me. I guess it’s my way of returning their kindness and generosity with me. (And it turns out that my intention to bless them brought about a blessing too – I attended the conference free-of-charge as a volunteer.)
At first, they asked if I could serve as a videographer – I was frank with them and admitted my machinery incompetencies. I think I am more effective as an emcee, usher or with front desk duties. In the end, they assigned me to be a session coordinator (for Workshop 8)… And a narrator (i.e. voice-over) for the ELC 2013 promotion video. Or at least, that was what I thought I was going to do.
But when I came down to meet the producer on Wednesday, I found out that I wasn’t just the narrator… I got more than what I bargained for… I discovered that I would be filmed. Yes, f-i-l-m-i-n-g. Not voice-recording. It was a tremendous privilege, but I was a little stunned at their faith in me. So, I took up the challenge, returned home to memorise the script, rehearsed in front of a mirror, and recorded myself with my iPad 2.
The actual filming took place on Friday at the Grand Ballroom during lunch hour. It went more smoothly than I had anticipated and I only had a couple of bad takes. The producer was pleased with what he saw at playback and we called it a day.
At 9:20am, I received an SMS from Peter Chao. He asked if I was interested to join him at the Fuller Seminary alumni meeting at 10am. Of course I turned up… It was refreshing to meet a couple of the current students, as well as a few prospective students. Let’s just say… I can’t wait to graduate from RMIT. And what happens after that, I’ll let the Lord lead me… (:
Anyway, before the filming, I met Ps Edmund Chan outside the ballroom and told him that I would attend his afternoon workshop, which was titled, “Mentoring the Whole Person”. I told him that I was afraid I couldn’t get seats. To this he said, “Just tell the organisers that you have my personal invitation.”
I smiled at the generous favour I received from him.
Coincidentally, I was filming in the ballroom that he was going to be speaking at. So at the end of the filming, I saw him stroll in to prepare himself for the session. I asked him if I could serve him in any way possible. He said he was fine and proceeded with his own setup. It was already 1:40pm and I haven’t had lunch so I packed my belongings and got ready to leave the hall for a quick meal.
Just before I left, he stopped me.
“Joey, would you still like to help me?”
I was ready to skip lunch to perhaps help him with his slides, run an errand for him or just be his PowerPoint clicker.
“Later, I would like you to spend about five minutes to talk about how we met, and share a couple of your perspectives on mentoring. Edward is here too so I thought it would be a nice polarity to have my oldest and youngest mentoree share something with everyone.”
My jaw dropped as I stared at Ps Edmund.
I was in the company of giants. Ps Edmund is the Reverend Edmund Chan. And Edward is the Datuk Edward Ong (do yourself a favour and google him). Joey Asher Tan is the smallest guy on the totem pole.
“You want me to what?” I tried to communicate that to him with my eyes. He smiled at me.
I had the most stressful lunch, ever, in my entire life. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say later.
Thank God I blogged about our divine appointment – so that really helped to jog my memory. And by God’s grace, within that 15 minutes, I somehow came up with 4 R’s of mentoring (which I chose not to share in the end because I felt it wasn’t necessary).
As Datuk Edward was bringing his sharing to an end, my heart was beating faster and faster to no end! I had never been so nervous before! Ps Edmund introduced me (!) and my hands began to tremble uncontrollably after I took the microphone. I uncharacteristically stammered and stuttered at some parts, and none of the eloquence in my arsenal showed itself. It was a humbling, humbling, humbling experience, but I was happy, happy, happy.
What an honour. What a privilege. What a moment!
It’s never about ability, isn’t it? It’s always about availability. All I wanted to do, was to be available to serve Eagles. And God took care of the rest.
You want me to what?
“I want you to be available.” — God
an intermission: 5,331 words later.
Dear readers,
I hope you’ve enjoyed our proposal story so far. Congratulations – we’ve arrived at Chapter X! But guess what, I’m only one-third through… (:
To be frank, I’m pleasantly surprised by the sudden and dramatic spike in the number of views. The last three-day running total was a staggering 1,273 hits, with 510 hits on Thursday, smashing the previous record (from last July) of 335 hits by a mile. I am amazed and amused at people’s interest in the way we got engaged.
But in all honesty, it makes me beam with pride yet I am also greatly humbled by it… Either way, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for checking out our lives. As we continue our pilgrimage, we’d like to ask you to keep us in your prayers. (:
Nonetheless, do allow me to carry out some housekeeping before we proceed with this series.
Firstly, we’ve taken part in a Facebook photo contest which you may already know about. We were initially in the lead, but another couple has overtaken us by around 90 Likes. So here’s the deal – I’m going to thank you in advance for helping us win this contest. Besides, it’ll take less than a minute of your time.
Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. Thanks. (:
And when you have time, do pop over to our pre-wedding blog. It’s called ILYTTE, which stands for “I Love You ‘Til The End”. As we count down to our wedding on 12th August 2012, we’ll try our best to journal this once-in-a-lifetime experience. For now, ILYTTE mirrors my blog, but in time, it will be home to other exciting stuff like Huiyi’s insights(!), RSVP forms, photos and more importantly, our preparation process.
As you know, I’ll be posting at least two entries per day from now until the end of the month. So may I invite you once again to subscribe to my blog via email? Allow me to save you some trouble and serve you some convenience.
One of the joys of writing has always been to hear from readers… Would you do me the honour of interacting with me by sharing with me your thoughts, opinions, feelings – anything and whatever – because I’d love to hear from you. (: Also, instead of posting your comments on Facebook, would you be kind enough to leave your comments here instead? Those precious comments will get lost in Facebook after some time but it would be safely archived on my blog.
Finally, if you’ve just joined us, here’s what you’ve missed:
- prologue to the proposal story.
- I. the elements of a memorable proposal.
- II. the crucial milestone – her family must know.
- III. the most nerve-wrecking moment.
- IV. the ultimate engagement ring.
- V. the first idea – Perth.
- VI. the second idea – Mapletree Business City.
- VII. the first group of people involved.
- VIII. the secret weapon – her birthday.
- IX. the third idea – Universal Studios Singapore.
- X. the preparation before USS.
Alternative, you can simply click on the ILYTTE tab above. (:
X. the preparation before USS.
Looking back to before the recce trip, I remember asking Cheryl about her recent experience at USS. She was the one who told me about the Pavilion and how the sun set beautifully over there. That actually prompted the site visit. She even sent me some of the photos she took at the Pavilion when she was there. It was important that I saw it for myself.
I also consulted Joel, who visited USS with Cheryl (and two others). Both of them gave me insights into what I would expect at USS as a visitor. Rudith however, could provide real advice on what I could or couldn’t do in USS, since she worked there. So I took the liberty to randomly and suddenly message her via FaceBook.
And within an hour, I received her reply via WhatsApp! I explained to her why I could not add her as a friend on FaceBook and that our communication would have to be discreet.
Normally, Huiyi has full access to everything in my iPhone (since I have nothing to hide) but in those crucial weeks, I was cautious whenever I texted or received a message from someone. I couldn’t afford to give it away due to a careless mistake of concealment.
Anyway, Rudith goes on to play an important role in my proposal. And considering that I was a complete stranger to her, what she did for me spoke volumes about the generosity of her character. You’ll discover soon why I’ve said that…
Next chapter: the red tape that I couldn’t clear.
IX. the third idea – Universal Studios Singapore.
Since I was going to visit USS with Huiyi on her birthday, I considered proposing there instead. It would have been an enchanting, unique and memorable proposal at the very least. After all, how many people have actually proposed at USS before? I had already planned for Gideon and Caleb to camp at the alley to capture the entire sequence.
Here are three of the many photos I took with my iPhone 4 during the first recce trip:
The Pavilion @ New York, where she'd be.
Far Far Away across the lake, where I'd be.
This is what she'd see from the Pavilion.
The idea was to propose at the Pavilion (a little hut with powerful binoculars at the outskirts of New York, overlooking Far Far Away). I would blindfold Huiyi and bring her to the Pavilion and leave her there to listen to tracks that I had lined up for her in the playlist, while I quickly make my way to Far Far Away. The end of the playlist would include a pre-recorded sound clip of my voice asking her to remove her blindfold.
Immediately, she would be visually greeted with an A2-sized poster that reads, “I will show you your FUTURE far far away…” I would have placed this poster directly below or beside the binoculars before I scooted off to Far Far Away. She would then look into the binoculars as prompted and see me at Far Far Away (*inserts Huiyi’s shocked reaction here*) where I would be holding up five placards (either concurrently or consecutively, I hadn’t decided then) that looked like this:
At this point, I will then gesture to her to return to the iPod to listen to the next track – the song that I had recorded for her. During my second recce trip to USS, I had already timed how long it would take for me to run (90 seconds) or walk (180 seconds) from Far Far Away to New York, and vice-versa. I had more than enough time to move from Point A to Point B.
Now, the idea was to link up with Shrek and Princess Fiona (whom I would have hired for an hour) to deliver to her a set of three placards after she finishes the song. These A3-sized placards would have the same words – “Yes!” – printed on it in different colours. I printed these placards for her to show me her obvious and only response to my earlier question at Far Far Away. (I honestly thought that by doing it this way, I would have stayed true to my cheeky personality.)
Then I would take a relaxing stroll back to the Pavilion from Far Far Away, since I only needed 180 seconds, and the song lasted four minutes. As soon as she sees me promenading in, Shrek and Fiona would prompt her to show me her response with one of the placards. I would then saunter towards her, and finally get down on one knee to put the engagement ring on her finger.
The sweetest spot in USS.
And when she agrees to become my fiancée, we would embrace, kiss, enjoy this special moment together and take lots of photos in the basking sunset. (Gideon and Caleb would have appeared by then…) Then we would take a short 20-metre amble to Mel’s Drive In (an American restaurant in USS), where our friends would already be waiting in ambush to commence the engagement party immediately. Finally, the evening would end at 8:55pm, and I would usher everyone outside to watch USS’ complimentary and fireworks scheduled at 9pm.
It was an extremely complicated, but comprehensive plan. Yet I was convinced of it. It was an ambitious plan of course, but nothing was beyond an idealistic sanguine.
Next chapter: the preparation before USS.
VIII. the secret weapon – her birthday.
You must bear in mind that throughout this entire time of planning, Huiyi has absolutely no idea that she would become my fiancée before we arrived in Perth. Every other day, I imagine her imagining the sunset scene that Perth promises – great! – it’s going according to plan.
But there’s a part of me that fears giving away the idea for I used to have a reputation of a surprise spoiler. So the last thing that I wanted was to spoil what possibly would be the greatest surprise I would ever spring on anyone!
We had wanted to visit Universal Studios Singapore (USS) for the longest time but was always reluctant because of the exorbitant entry fee and average rides. Hence it was our blessing that Huiyi had friends in right places; Rudith worked in USS and was a friend from Huiyi’s university days. They had lunch together recently and seemed to hit it off well. Well, well enough for Rudith to magnanimously offer two of her limited eight annual staff discounts to us so that we could enter USS at a knock-down price.
Huiyi proceeded to purchase a pair of tickets through Rudith and I offered to pay for it as part of her birthday present. We had wanted to go on a Thursday instead of a Friday simply because we speculated a smaller crowd. But after a week of deliberation, we decided to have it on Friday instead.
Next chapter: the third idea – Universal Studios Singapore.
joey asher | misunderstoodsunshinekid 