The Proposal [Part 3] - The Big Day

This is a recount of what had happened on the big day, 5th December 2009.

On this day, I bade my colleagues farewell after lunch. Just as I was about to leave, my Chief Product Officer asked where I was going, so I gave them a rundown of my plans. They congratulated me, wished me luck and off I went.

Time: 2:15pm
The first stop was the florist at Raffles Place MRT, so I strolled over and collected my bouquet of rose, and 10 handfuls of rose petals. The bouquet was nice and presentable, even though it's only 3 stalks of roses, while the 10 handfuls of rose petals was more than I had expected. Happy!

Time: 2:30pm
From Raffles Place MRT, I took another brisk (and hot) walk back to Boat Quay (my office), to Clarke Quay and finally reached Swissotel Merchant Court.

Time 2:45pm
I arrived at the hotel 15 minutes before the official check-in time, slightly soaked in sweat, and proceeded to check-in. I told the concierge that I was going to propose that day, and asked if I was able to get a better room with bath tub at no additional charges (Haa! Cheapo..). At first, she had trouble acceding to my requests, but after a longer wait, I got the free upgrade! Woo Hoo! I found out later, to my pleasant surprise, that the actual rates of the room given to us was double of what I paid for, and we loved the room.

Time: 3:00pm
I got the access to my room, and up I went, to prepare the room. First, I emptied my bag and arranged my belongings in the wardrobe. Then I plugged my MacBook to the power for some music while I continued to decorate the bed with rose petals. With the rose petals, I made a heart (with a piercing arrow) on the bed and placed the ring in the middle of the heart. The bouquet of roses and doraemon-wrapped iPod Touch were stacked beside the heart.

The arrangement took a bit of time, and I still had some rose petals left after that. So, I sprinkled some at the doorway to create a path that led to the bedroom, and some in the bath tub.

Next, I synced my HP with my MacBook (via BlueTooth) again and went through some trial runs before I selected the utmost important track to be played when we enter the room: Olivia Ong's Love. I feel quite proud of myself for coming up with the idea of using BlueTooth to start iTunes. Isn't technology a wonder?

Anyway, after all the preparations, the time was only 3:30pm.. Hmm.. I still have time.. To shit! LOL! Let's try the toilet!

..... FLUSH!!!

Then, I realised that the bath tub was dirty! There was quite a lot of hair (short, non curly) scattered in the bath tub. Since, by that time, I had already decorated the room, I didn't want to call housekeeping so I cleaned the bath tub myself. After I am done, it was almost 4:00pm.

Time: 4:00pm
OK! Cake collection! I went back down, crossed the bridge and walked to Nectarie to collect my Strawberry Shortcake. Oh no! The cake was lined with almonds, and she hated almonds! I didn't expect this but there was nothing I could do.. I thought I had created another boo boo again.. Shucks..

Time: 4:10pm
I walked back to the hotel, feeling down..

Time 4:20pm
Once I was back in the room, I refrigerated the cake, and double checked that everything was in place. Then I remembered that I would like to enjoy a soak in the bubbles later, so I called the service line, but they said they don't have it.. Alamak! I have to go buy it.. NOW!

It was about 4:30pm then, and I had to leave too because she was knocking off at 5:30pm.

4:30pm
On my way to Clarke Quay MRT, I walked around Central to see if I could find the foam for the bath. Nope.. 4:50pm. Time was running out, so I decided to make my way to Somerset first; Took the NE train to Dhoby Ghaut, then to Somerset.

5:15pm
Since I was like 15 minutes earlier, I messaged her to ask if she would be able to leave on time. She replied that she was still in a meeting and might be slightly late which gave me ample time to make my way to CentrePoint to get the foam bath.

First, I checked Body Shop which was selling a small bottle of foam bath for $15+.. So expensive. Then I went to Mark's and Spencer and eventually found a (larger) bottle for $7+ only. I paid and left quickly, afraid that her meeting would end before I reached.

5:35pm
I was sweating like a dog when I finally reached the lobby of her office, but it turned out that she was still in a meeting! I sat at the lobby waiting for her, and fed myself to the hungry mosquitoes.

6:10pm
Finally, she was out of the meeting!

My original plan was to take a bus to The Gallery Hotel for our dinner at Satsuma Shochu. But we'll be late for my reservations at 6:30pm if we did that, so we took a cab instead. Yes! I love cabs!

6:30pm
We arrived on the dot, and were ushered to a cosy corner. The service was exceptional as the waitress really knows her stuff, and all her recommendations were superb! The restaurant is famous for its grilled items, and I ate quite a lot because everything was so delicious.

As we were enjoying our dinner, it began to rain.. I was quite worried then, because the plan was to stroll to the hotel after our dinner. Luckily, as we were finishing our dinner, the rain stopped, so we were able to stroll along Singapore River towards Clarke Quay.

At this juncture, I'd like to point out that I had not been watching the clock since our dinner started, because.. I don't want the happy times to pass by so quickly..

Anyway, she was clueless of what my plans were and where I was going to bring her next, so I told her that we were going to The Central for some desserts.

When we finally reached Brewerkz, I told her that I need to use the toilet (as always..), so I suggested using the ones at Swissotel Merchant Court. Idea!

I went to the toilet to relieve myself and sober myself of the sake which I drank during dinner. I could feel butterflies flying in my stomach then. After I reappeared, I led her, not out of the hotel, but to the elevators. At last, she knew what's going to happen next..

Actually, she already knew that I'll be booking a hotel stay for 3 days 2 nights (because she had to tell her parents that she'll be staying out) but she didn't know which hotel. Now, the riddle was answered so she just smiled and followed me up to the room.

As I slowly opened the door, I re-synced my HP with iTunes via BlueTooth, albeit a bit clumsily. Then once that was all done (about 5s?), I switched on the lights and led her into the room. Rose petals adorned the doorway, as she made her way to the bedroom, and she was very touched by what she saw in front of her, on the bed.

Then she asked "What's that?", pointing to the ring in the middle of the heart. Nervous as I was, I took the ring and her hand, with one knee down, and asked "Will you marry me?". She teared and said "Yes."

She might have expected the proposal to be over already, but I still have more surprises. I asked her to open the doraemon-wrapped present, and she was totally clueless about the contents. When she finally realised that it's an iPod Touch, she was very surprised at such a geeky present, but when she saw the engraving at the back, she teared again.

Wait! There's still more. I made a video, remember? I made it because I knew I'll be too nervous and forget everything that I wanted to say, and that's what had happened. Anyway, I told her that I made a video and it's inside the iPod. She opened the file and we watched it together, laughing and tearing (again)!

That night, she teared a total of 3 times, tears of happiness that was. She's happy, and I was happy. I love her, and I feel fortunate that I'll be spending the rest of my life with her.

Then, it's time to cut the cake! We called room service and asked for some utensils, and not only did they bring us utensils, they brought us complimentary fruits and chocolates (yummy!) too. I sang a birthday song for her and we ate the delicious cake. She was ok, even though the cake was lined with almonds. She's just afraid of almond drink (snigger). Phew!

We ended the day feeling over-dosed with sugar, and smelling nice from the bubble bath.