Chris said, “Put on your pretty dress for dinner”.. and I figured that was a good idea since 1) it was our last night there and 2) we were going to a nice restaurant where we could sit el fresco style outside. After a few minutes of me moaning that we shouldn’t spend too much on dinner, I finally put on my dress and brushed out my hair. Was wandering around putting on my shoes when Chris asked, “Hey babe, can you wash this knife so we can return it downstairs?” because we borrowed a knife to cut the cheese during our indoor-picnic. “Yep, no worries”, so I took it to the bathroom to wash it.

When I walked back out of the bathroom, Chris was standing out on the balcony, taking in the view. It was almost at the end of sunset, so it was pretty dark except for the sparkling lights by the pool downstairs and along the pathways. I walked out and stood at the glass balcony doors and he turned around, saw me dressed up, and smiled at me.

I stepped out onto the balcony and he enveloped me in a big hug. We both turned to look out over the ocean, quiet for a second as we listened at the waves crashing against the sand.. just taking in the view.

“Isn’t this just perfect?”, he asked.

“Mmmm…..”, I murmured, a bit distracted and entranced instead by the sights and the sounds.

Then…. then… a series of events unfolded, but I can’t really remember it very well because I was in COMPLETE AND UTTER SHOCK the entire time.

But basically, next thing I knew.. Chris was looking down, his left hand cupped around something. It was pretty dark (especially since he was practically cuddling the thing!) so I didn’t really know what was going on.

“We’ve been together for a really long time now…”, he said. Then went onto a little speech that I absolutely can’t remember!!!! :( It had something to do with him wanting us to have many more years together, growing old together, etc, etc.

At this point, I was half un-fazed, because we’ve talked/gushed about stuff like that before. But also half had my heart jumping up into my throat, because I was starting to piece things together and realise what was happening (yes, it took my brain this long to figure out). I hadn’t uttered a word or sound this entire time.

Then he opened the box and nestled instead was ONE SPARKLY RING.

I stared.

He got down on one knee.

“Will you marry me?”

“Hmm..?”

Yes ladies and gentlemen, that was my eloquent response to my boyfriend trying to propose to me. Was just too stunned to really think straight! So my very next sentence?

“Erm.. are you serious??”

“YES!!”, he said

At this point I had pretty much half-collapsed out of shock, and was about to fall right off the balcony. I was leaning on him (he was still down on one knee and looking up expectantly at me) and just gaping in complete surprise.

“Oh hon…. YES! YES!!”, came my response, finally :)

And so he put the ring on my finger… and thus we begin the next stage of Us.

The full realisation of what just happened didn’t really hit me until much later, since we made a pact not to tell anyone whilst we were away. We wanted a little bit of “us time” with this beautiful ring our little secret. It was probably the part I treasured most – that we had this secret, something special that could never be taken away from us.. and no one knew it yet :)

And The Ring?

I find it almost too incredible to believe… but designed it himself and got it made at Percy Marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d never dared step foot into Percy Marks before – with their double-door entrance and security and the way the boutique looks, I’d always felt it too inappropriate and daunting to go in. I’m completely floored that he would not only have stepped inside, but worked with their designer Meriel on The Ring. Apparently “Meriel is a recent winner of a 2007 Harpers Bazaar, Diamond Guild Award. Their painstaking attention to detail is unmistakably Percy Marks”, so my Ring was in good hands teehee! :D

Many months ago, I lost my gold Tiffany & Co ring, that I wear on my ring finger on my right hand. We searched high and low for it, but never found it. Turns out, Chris had stolen it to get the right size :P Still, despite that, it was still too big for my unnaturally thin fingers, so we had to get it resized down to a size 3 (AU “F”). Despite that, still very impressed he went through that effort and had the foresight.. and super pleased I didn’t lose my T&C ring after all :P

I had no idea, but he’d been planning the proposal for ages.. he purchased The Ring allll the way back in Feb this year, and kept the secret the entire time! I later found out he’d wanted to propose when we were in Switzerland/Singapore but that trip got cancelled (remember that?).. no wonder he was do devasted when that happened.

What I was most touched by was when I found out he’d already talked to Mum and Dad about it last month when they were visiting. They went out for lunch together one day and talked about it. I’m a traditionalist so asking my parents first is really important to me, and I just think it’s wonderful that he did that :) I think it means a lot to Mum and Dad too.. and a very smart move to get their blessing first!

So the date we got engaged is 8 June 2008.
Brilliantly, Mum and Dad got engaged 8 June 1974.

And that, is just SPLENDID :)

Our evening activity after a day of lazing about and eating ourselves silly was sunset kayaking. It sounded pretty fun – get into a 2-person kayak and paddle away into the sunset :) We were with a group of Americans that were totally hilarious! We had an absolute blast chatting away, having a glass (or three) of champagne and watching the beautiful colours of the sunset. We were lucky as there were quite a bit of clouds in the sky – perfect for a sunset.

It was one of the most fun activities I’ve ever been on. I just really enjoyed paddling away and getting a (teeny) bit of exercise.. and bobbing in the water.. just having a relaxing but entertaining time. It was picture perfect and the company was fantastic. A simply wonderful activity to round off a wonderful day.

With our ridiculous-looking life saving vests :P

HOOZAH!!!!

Busy taking photos instead of paddling ;)

Our really cute guide

Chris with the 2 of the hilarious Americans

Our kayaks all tied up, and waiting for the sunset…

Front-row seat!

The sun starts to set…

Beautiful colours in the sky

CHEERS!!

Just gorgeous

After having a shower, we adjourned for some drinks at the hotel’s casual bar.. with some lovely Brie and crackers. It was just perfect, just the 2 of us in a little corner area, chilling out and having a nice chat :) Just unwinding comfortably to round off a great day.

Cheese, crackers, nougat and wines that we bought

The bar

CHEERS

Playing Checkers.. Chris let me win :P

OH HAI!

Relaxing

Us

Heh…

ROFL!

After that, we got a bite of dinner at Toucan Tango, a poolside restaurant that’s casual dining and oh-so-chic to be lounging by the pool and nibbling on fries. We arrived at 9pm and the kitchen was closing, but they were nice and squeezed us in anyway, never once hurrying us up to leave. We sat right by the pool and had glorious views of the palm trees fringing the pool as well as the beach and ocean which was a few meters away.

Great food too! Was thoroughly satisfied with the tasty Thai chicken salad and sneaked some of Chris’ Steak sandwich because it looked too good ;) I’m surprised the food on the island is so good – I’d expected average quality since they do have monopoly (ie. only a few restaurants on the island so you’re kind of restricted to only them). But the cuisine’s fantastic and the ingredients are all really fresh! I envy the chefs that live in such a wonderful place and get to cook for happy holidayers all day long ;)

Sitting at Toucan Tango

Us, looking a bit tired

Thai chicken salad with mango and coconut

Steak sandwich with caramelised onions, lettuce, tomato and basil aioli

The view of the pool area at night. Tres romantic :)

But of course, the next day was much, much better…………… ;)

I should’ve known this would’ve been a KICK ASS HOLIDAY the moment we saw little market stalls lined up in the resort, right by the beach. We saw them after dinner the night before and it was pretty late so the place was deserted, but we snooped around and discovered a big BBQ and some wine signs.

AHA.

A FOOD FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!

So of course, straight after breakfast the next day, we made a beeline for the market stalls, wallets in hand. They had just gotten started, and food was sizzling away and people had just started wandering around. Keen to buy some nice cheese and wine and maybe some other snacks, we were distracted by the first stall, Movekpick of Switzerland ice cream! It looked absolutely delicious, but considering we’d just had breakfast, it probably wasn’t appropriate to have any ;)

Then………

The lady said, “Would you like some ice cream” and we nonchalantly replied “Mmmm looks good”, ready to decline and walk away. Then she added, almost as an afterthought, “They’re free”.

It was like time stopped.

Come again?? We didn’t quite realise what was going on, but who are we to pass up a freebie.. especially when it’s the expensive-Switzerland-icecream kind? ;) “Gingerbread, please!” for me, and “Maple Walnut!” for Chris. Dumbfounded, we watched as she scooped full scoops of ice cream into full-size bowls. We were expecting little spoons dipped into the ice cream for a mere taste or something, not full bowls! “Mmm it’s good. Can we buy some more?” we asked, thinking it’d be a good idea to get some later in the afternoon as well. “Nope!” she smiled. The ice creams were free and full-sized, and you couldn’t even buy them if you wanted to. LOL!

A bit stunned by it all, we moved on to the next store. It was wine. Lovely Australian wine. “A taste?” smiled the lady. Now who are we go decline? ;) Turns out, you can only get the wine for free as well, you can’t go buy it ;) And so it was, for every stall.

It wasn’t just standard freebie food. It was oysters, scallops, salmon, lamb, steak, rich chocolate, King Island cheeses, etc, etc, etc… All cooked fresh before your eyes and served to you piping hot. It was heaven! Despite having had a heavy breakfast, we ate ourselves silly ;) Unbelievably, it was FREE FOOD ALL DAY, the whole time we were on the island. It don’t get any better than that :)

Glorious cheese!

Amazing King Island ash brie

Fried seafood served by a pretty chick :P

Antipasto goodies, I think

Fresh fruit that they made fruit cocktails with – yum!

Super fresh seafood

Oysters and grilled salmon

Cooking up the scallops and prawns

The only stall that you could purchase from – I bought 3 bars of the nougat, they’re terrific

Chocolate fountain with strawberries and marshmallows. SO gooooood…

Super cute kid! He had chocolate everywhere, it was soooo adorable, made Chris and I want kids pronto :P

Walnut & maple syrup ice cream

More free ice cream!

It’s IRON CHEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With real chefs from the island’s restaurants!

We got front row seats! WHEE!

My favourite chips in the world

The chefs start their preparations

WHOOSH!

Pancetta wrapped around sweet potato and brie, sitting on brocollini

Spicy Thai vermicelli

Thai green curry with crayfish and prawns – OMG this was divine…

Tom yum soup with prawns and peppered steak

Prawn salad – it was so fresh!!

Seared peppered steak. LOVED this :)

Toffee apple with fresh whipped cream

Double chocolate ice cream

All stuffed, it was time to relax by the pool and just waste the afternoon away under the sun ;) I couldn’t imagine a better afternoon spent just lazing about doing absolutely nothing.

Sitting on a bridge over the pool. This was really romantic at night!

Pool bar

The pool’s right next to the ocean

Chilling out

Hot guy!

Haha

Mmmm this is life

You know you’re marrying The One when he comes bearing food and wine, when you’re lounging on a deckchair in the sun :)

My view from the deckchair!

It was just as well we had a big afternoon full of food and doing nothing, since we needed all the energy we had for our evening trip……..