Category Archives: A Walk To Remember
Life is a journey that never ends; let’s take a trip into my history to reminisce the (good) ol’ days.
XXXI. the question we’ve all been waiting for.
I finished the song, put my guitar away, and asked her to turn around to see the other five placards behind her. Yes, she was still in shock. (Wouldn’t you, if you were her?) I reveled at her reaction, knowing that my Perth decoys worked to perfection.
Yes, I knew in my heart that the grand surprise proposal was a smashing success! It was worth every inch and ounce of effort put in! What a spectacular result that went beyond my expectations!
I gave her a little over three seconds to savour the moment.
Then I dropped to one knee, removed the engagement ring from the ring box and popped the question. I had rehearsed this a million times but something like this is beyond anyone’s preparation.
I had always wanted to be unique in the way that I phrased the million-dollar question but I thought, “Ah, what the heck, let’s keep it simple and straightforward!”
So I simply asked her, “Will you be my wife?”
(At this point, Yvonne was nodding away furiously as if to egg Huiyi on…)
Huiyi paused, and knowing her, she probably had a billion inner conversations in her head in that two seconds. Then she looked at her three placards and bashfully told me, “YES!”
This was the happiest moment of my life! Of course I beamed to no end – I was delirious!
Huiyi stretched out her left hand towards me. I remained on one knee and I put the most beautiful ring in the world on the most beautiful finger in the world that belonged to the most beautiful lady in the world – an absolutely magnificent moment!
By now, I was completely drenched. So Huiyi put aside the orange umbrella, stepped into the rain with me, brought me back to my feet, held my hands, kissed my lips, and gave me the longest and most assuring embrace I could ever ask for. With that, she convinced me that I was the man whom she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
This was it! We were now officially engaged and probably the happiest couple on the face of this planet!
We enjoyed our long walk back to Privé and exchanged some banter along the way. Huiyi was still in shock – so most of what we did was to smile, and smile, and smile, and smile, and repeatedly declare our love for each other in the simplest ways.
We returned to the clubhouse in complete bliss. There, we thanked the crew for their hard work and dedication, and parted ways with them. Gideon and Caleb were soaked to their undergarments; they went all the way for us and we will always be grateful for their critical roles in capturing our engagement.
“Thanks everyone – see you this weekend!” We bade them farewell as they disappeared into the elevator while as we sashayed into Privé.
Next chapter: the first meal together as an engaged couple.
XXX. the love at first sight.
The walk from the clubhouse to the pier must have been at least around 600 metres. We took nearly 12 minutes to get there. By then, my right arm carrying the heavy umbrella was about to give way and my left arm carrying Huiyi’s bag was completely drenched.
It was such a long walk that I had to reassure her countless times that we were about to arrive. The further we walked, the heavier the rain poured and the darker the sky became. In my mind, my hope for a sunset vanished with every passing minute.
And you know the sunset is over when the street lamps start to glow.
By the time we arrived at the pier, the placards had already lost its adhesive power to remain on the railings. Yvonne improvised and leaned these placards along the railings instead. She looked like a cartoon character carrying a blue polka-dotted umbrella, guarding a $3,000 guitar and five placards that read, “Will You Marry Me? / 让我照顾你”. All this, by herself, as she waited for nearly 30 minutes.
When we finally arrived at the scene, I whispered “Hold the umbrella and enjoy the music, dear!” loudly into Huiyi’s ear. Then I strapped on my guitar and reached into my pocket for my plastic pick. I made a final mental run-through of the chord progression and the Chinese lyrics.
I looked at my iPod and realised that it was still playing the third song so I skipped that track and moved to the fourth song immediately – the original version of 让我照顾你. I left the song to play for just one minute (so that Huiyi would register it in her head), then I pressed “Next track”.
At long last, Huiyi was listening to my version of 让我照顾你
I signaled to Gideon and Caleb that Huiyi’s blindfold would be removed in less than two minutes. And they got into position. I decided to give Yvonne the honour of removing the blindfold. And she took her place beside Huiyi.
They were ever-ready. I was more than ready. This was it already!
On my cue, Yvonne proceeded to lift Huiyi’s blindfold.
Huiyi finally regained sight and had all of five seconds to take in what was going on around her – the venue, the rain, the crew, the guitar, the three “YES!” placards Yvonne slotted into her hands, the drama of the moment… And her fiancé-to-be standing in the rain, ready to belt out the song of their courtship.
EVERYTHING led up to this moment.
If you know me well enough, I would never do anything without reason. The last person she saw (before being blindfolded) was me and the last voice she heard (through the iPod) was mine as well. So I planned it in such a way that I was the first person she saw when she opened her eyes, and the first voice she heard when the earphones were removed.
I looked into her eyes, and chorused 让我照顾你 as earnestly and as sincerely as I could.
I meant every single word I sang. And I sang my heart out to her. I wasn’t there to impress… I was there to assure. I wasn’t there to be a star… I was there to start a new phase of my relationship with her.
Huiyi stood there with bewilderment in her eyes. She was shell-shocked to say the least, and was still trying to get her head around what was going on. She had no idea this was coming her way… Nothing in life prepared her for this moment…
Next chapter: the question we’ve all been waiting for.
XXIX. the wait is finally over!
The three blindfolds she could choose from were an indigo one, a cream one (which the crew advised me to choose), a Sharingan one (thank God the crew banned me from picking this one from Naruto… On hindsight for it would have turned the entire proposal video into a comedy!).
With her concealment gear on, I left her for a split second and ran into the gents to get Gideon and Caleb to come out. Then I dashed over to the Privé reception and told them my name and that I had reserved two seats for tonight.
Then I chucked my barang-barang with the waitress who served me. I told her proudly and beaming, “Please look after my stuff for a while. I’m going to propose to my girlfriend now!” and scooted off to Huiyi’s side.
It was still pouring when I was ready to set off so I took the nearest available umbrella I could find – Gideon’s. This time it wasn’t broken and flowery anymore. It was bright orange and it added a wonderful “fun” element to the video (that would be produced later).
One of my favourite photos - it has that 下一站幸福 feel about it!
Orange was, after all, one of my top three favourite colours as well as one of the colours at the engagement party later that night. It was a great contrast to the doom and gloom of the thunderstorm. And it was picture perfect as far as I was concerned.
I held the heavy umbrella as she held on to my right arm. Bravely and against all odds, we attacked the downpour that greeted us. Nothing was going to stop our impending engagement just as nothing would stop us in our journey of life and love.
As soon as the rain hit the umbrella, she let out a soft sigh, realising that she started to get pelted by the merciless rain. I told her, almost prophetically, to “Just follow me”.
Next chapter: the love at first sight.
XXVIII. the change parade and the final countdown.
We took the elevator up to the ground floor and I made her show me where the toilet was. After all, she thought it was my first time at the clubhouse, remember? So thankfully, she ushered us into the washrooms that I had hope both of us would change in respectively.
I entered the gents and found Gideon and Caleb inside. All three of us were excited. I could finally show my true emotions and I could barely contain my excitement! They had to hush me down in case my voice travelled to the adjacent ladies.
I realised then that all my years of executing a change-parade in the SAF was a dress rehearsal (no pun intended!) in preparation for this. I changed into a checkered Esprit shirt, slipped on my new favourite pair of black Levi’s jeans, laced up my brown Timberland boots, touched up my hair, made a final check of the logistics required (especially the ring!) and was out of the washroom within three minutes.
Huiyi, however, took her own sweet time in changing and dolling up for the dinner. So I spent the next 10 minutes waiting for her to emerge from the ladies. Gideon and Caleb patiently waited inside the gents the entire time.
When she emerged from the washroom, she looked exactly the way I had hope she would look – the stylish girl-next-door look that I fell in love with and grew to adore. I was pleased that everything had turned out fine so far (except for the rain).
I didn’t say much to her except that I was going to bring her to somewhere special and that she needed to put on a blindfold and listen to music from my iPod (so that she could neither see the path nor hear the clicking sounds from the camera shutter).
She hesitantly complied, thinking that I must probably have something silly up my sleeves, as one of the mini-birthday surprises planned for her. Surprise, yes. Mini, I’m not too sure about that…
Next chapter: the wait is finally over!
XXVII. the lead-up to the proposal.
Yvonne also took leave for the day to provide another helping hand. I involved her for two main reasons. I wanted Huiyi to share this precious moment with her best friend, and I needed someone to safeguard the equipment at the pier while Gideon and Caleb waited for me to arrive. They were camping in the gents where I was going to change into my evening attire.
By the time I hopped into the Subaru, the crew reported their 100% readiness for Project Will-You-Marry-Me. The placards were pasted onto the railings, the guitar was in place, and the camera crew was in position. This was it – now we were only waiting for the stars of the show to arrive!
I drove into the clubhouse car park and parked at the first available car park lot I found because I was afraid that Huiyi may recognise Gideon’s car. Thank God he’s a smart boy – he parked in an obscure lot. We gathered our barang-barang, and I took my time with this because it was crucial that I didn’t miss out on any item, and exited the car for the lift lobby.
We had to change into our evening attire as we were in still in our sweaty and smelly USS tee-shirt and shorts. I managed to persuade her into wearing that Zara blouse; a week ago, I asked her why I haven’t seen her in that blouse for such a long time. I even pretended to lament, “Such a nice and expensive top, but yet you don’t wear it often enough…” She said she had already put it aside for Perth. Yes, she had also intended to wear that blouse for the proposal that she thought I was going to execute in Perth.
I frowned and told her that she has more than enough time to get it washed and packed for Perth. I persuaded her to wear something nice at Privé since it was a high-end restaurant. Again, she obediently complied with little resistance. I think it’s because every girl would want to look good on her birthday. Dining at a posh restaurant was my excuse to change into something pretty.
Next chapter: the change parade and the final countdown.
XXVI. the rain on my parade.
See the rest of the photo album here.
I was as cool as a cucumber the entire day. I was so composed that I impressed myself because not once did I give it away by verbal or nonverbal cues. And I exploited Huiyi’s frequent toilet visits to update and keep myself updated with Gideon and Caleb. There was no way she could tell what my evening plans were.
It was bright and sunny the entire day, and it looked really promising that we would be treated to a beautiful sunset later. The only time I started to panic (on the inside) was when we couldn’t complete the last attraction.
The Waterworld show actually stopped halfway due to the inclement weather. Lightning struck and it began to drizzle. I received an SMS from the crew already at KBM and they did not bring positive news too. I had to pull myself together and trust that the Lord would clear the skies for me.
But He didn’t.
The one thing I persistently petitioned God for the entire week was for a nice sunset, for it was the only element out of my control; I had indented sunset, but God indented a thunderstorm. And I understood the idioms “Rain on my parade” and “When it rains, it pours” at a whole new level. There was nothing I could do except to remain positive.
We left USS to return to the car with dark and heavy clouds hanging over us. As soon as we exited the car park, before we hit the U-turn at Sentosa Gateway, a deluge of precipitation suddenly hit us.
“Woah, heng we got into the car in time man! Otherwise we would have gotten drenched!”
This actually translated as, “Sian sian sian sian sian sian sian sian sian sian!!!”
Nonetheless, I texted the crew at KBM with bravado, “Rain or shine, we will proceed! Nothing will stop me from getting engaged today!”
Next chapter: the lead-up to the proposal.
XXV. the actual visit to USS.
See the rest of the photo album here.
It was crucial that we secured the Subaru Impreza (Huiyi’s mother’s car) for the day and Huiyi used her birthday trump card to ensure that. She picked me up in the morning, not knowing that I had barely three hours of rest the night before; I was tying up all the loose ends of what would be the most exciting day of our courtship so far.
We ate a simple breakfast of chai tow kuay and chwee kuay at Ghim Moh Market. Then we drove to Telok Blangah Road and parked the car behind Seah Imm Food Centre, displaying a dashboard full of coupons to ensure that we didn’t receive a parking summon when we returned from USS.
Then I asked her if she wanted to take the bus or the monorail into Sentosa. It would have been my third time if we took the bus but I had to pretend that it was my first time attempting to enter USS. She opted for the monorail.
We entered USS together – her first time and my third – and I felt so terrible and guilty having to act surprised, astonished and impressed by all the sights and sounds we were taking in.
- “Let’s try to find the map of this place.” (I could navigate USS with my eyes closed.)
- “Look, Kungfu Panda! Let’s take a picture with him!” (This was my third time seeing Po.)
- “This place is really cool uh? I didn’t know it’d be so crowded.” (I knew all along.)
- “We can pick up a couple of souvenirs at the gift shop later if you want.” (There’s nothing nice in there.)
- “Huh? We’ve walked one round already? USS is smaller than I thought!” (Same thing I told Rudith… Twice!)
- “Let’s look for the washroom.” (I pretended to study the map.)
- “Dear, what’s Universal Express Pass?” (I wanted to answer my own question…)
- “Shall we have lunch at Coffeebean instead?” (I wanted to avoid the overpriced and overrated restaurants in USS.)
After we queued up for and completed our first ride (Shrek in 4D), we decided that we should each pay $30 extra and purchase the express pass. And we were glad we did because we took all but two rides and didn’t get a chance to revisit a ride! More importantly, the $60 spent helped to prevent disappointment; the only ride that urged for a repeated attempt was Battlestar Galactica. The other rides simply did not justify the waiting time.
Next chapter: the rain on my parade.
joey asher | misunderstoodsunshinekid 