The Engagement Story

Andy proposed to me on Saturday, August 19th, 2006. It's a rather long story. Read on...

I flew down to LA this past weekend to celebrate that fact that Andy finished taking his Board exam for internal medicine. We were supposed to meet up at 9:30 am, with him driving all the way from Newport Beach to pick me up at my parents' place in Temple City (an hour's drive one-way.) I talked to him on Saturday morning. He told me that someone else was picking me up instead. That was kind of curious, though this was not the first time that Andy had said that to me. He said that someone else was picking me up when he surprised me for my birthday two years ago. Back then, Joy had shown up at my doorstep to take me shopping. We met up with Sherry at the mall to go shopping for a dress for my fancy birthday dinner with Andy.

At 9:30 am on Saturday, a limo shows up at the door. My jaw dropped. I was immediately excited and nervous and thought that Andy would propose that day.

The limo driver got out and handed me a card. In it, Andy said that he wanted to celebrate that he was done with Boards. He had an itinerary for the day all planned out. He told me that the limo would take me to Laguna Beach, where there's a 5-star spa at the Montage Resort and Spa. Andy had called beforehand and reserved a 2-hour spa treatment for me, followed by an appointment with a hair dresser and an appointment with make-up and lessons. The spa treatment included a mud wrap, hydrotherapy (where I get in a tub and water jets massage my back), a vitamin scrub, and a fully-body massage. I was so relaxed at the end. The service was exceptional.

I met Andy after my hair appointment (for a haircut and styling) and makeup appointment. Since the resort is right next to the beach, we explored the hotel and the beach for 2 hours.

For dinner, Andy had made reservations at the resort's posh restaurant, called Studio. He ordered a tasting menu for both of us, which involved an 8-or-so-course meal. Each dish came with a wine pairing. The tasting menu is seasonal because the award-winning chef (James Boyce) travels along the coast finding the freshest ingredients to put on the menu. We had ahi tuna, octopus with seaweed salad and caviar, creamed corn risotto, seared fish, prawn, salmon, Japanese Wagyu beef and truffle, and molten chocolate cake with rum raisin ice cream. We took pics of the dishes. It was so yummy.

So, all along, I had suspicions that Andy would propose. He acted normal, though. I was enjoying myself, so I didn't get nervous waiting for him to propose. After dinner, we sat in the lobby and walked around the hotel. It was relaxing and everything felt normal. It was also getting very late at night, so I had stopped suspecting that he would propose that day. Perhaps the reason for all this pampering was really a celebration that he was done with the Boards exam. I didn't want to get my hopes up.

Andy suggested that we check out the beach at night, so we walked down to the ocean. We sat there for over an hour, chatting and enjoying each other's company. (For you video game buffs, I mentioned that the ocean reminded me of Kingdom Hearts II. Andy said, "I can be Sora and you can be my Kairi.") Somewhere in our conversation, Andy reached into his backpack and pulled out the ring. I was shocked because I had stopped suspecting that he was going to propose. I forget his exact words...Andy was quite smooth and everything became a blur...he asked, "Will you be my wife forever?" I said, "Of course!"

The next day (Sunday), we went to church service together. Afterwards, we dropped by Fashion Island. I asked him why we were at the mall. He told me that the experience is not over yet. We went to the Build-a-Bear-Workshop and made a teddy bear together. I picked out the outfits and accessories. The bear became a cool-looking Bruin bear. The reason that Andy took me to the Build-a-Bear-Workshop (besides knowing that I like stuffed animals) is that each stuffed animal comes with a birth certificate. The bear's birth certificate would have the engagement date (Saturday's date) on it, a cute way to keep a record of the special date.

All right, that's the end of the story. Pretty romantic and neat, eh? The hostesses at the spa kept commenting that a boyfriend who would pamper me like that is a boyfriend worth keeping. Yep, I agree.