The Proposal- Santorini Day 1

The Proposal: Warning- long post and mushy, mushy love ahead...


One and a half months ago, Ying told me that on the 17th, we will go to London for a short trip.


Two weeks ago, he gave me blue envelope when I was stressed with some conditions on it. 

Signed, sealed and delivered.

15th- He asked me to pack a list of items for 2 days' stay. Some of my clothes hanging on clothesline mysteriously disappeared. Passed the luggage bag to him at night. (He packed his stuff into my bag)


16th- Left my room at 9.30am and was asked to go downstairs to prepare lunch for the trainride. Not allowed to go back up.


10.30am-Suddenly, he came down with a large luggage bag in addition to mine. I asked: Are we going back to Malaysia? OMG. Train to London then to Crawley- super small town. Walked around. Stayed the night. Told need to wake up early next morning. He hid my phone etc without me knowing. 

17th- Early next morning, heard him rustling about. I woke up and asked what he was doing. He said time to wake up. It's 7.50am. We walked to the station. The road was so quiet. I remarked that no one is heading to work and the road is so quiet. Must be small towny folk. Got to the station: Saw the time was 5.44 on the screen. Wondered. Asked Ying what time it was. He said: Almost 8. 


We took a train to Gatwick airport. I was tweeting all the way. Went to check-in counter. 


Guy asks: Where to? 
Ying whispers: Thira. 
Guy: Ok. Cuba? 
Ying(misses it): Yes.
Guy: You need Cuban visa. 
Ying: No. Thira. 
Guy: You don't have Visa, you need Visa. 
Ying: We're going to Greece! Not Cuba! 
Me: WHAT???? We're going to GREECE????!


*Cue wishlist on the right of my blog- "Travels: Santorini" has been the top of that list for a while. Santorini!!!* 


I have wanted to go there ever since I watched the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants I & II. I paused the scenes to take in the view. Finally I googled it and found out it was in Santorini. Thus began the love for the place.


Ying: check your handphone see what time it is.... It was 6am. Turns out he woke me up at 5am! I can't believe I fell for that! Super disorientated.


I proceeded to tweet: 'Headed to Thira. Curiouser and curiouser...' (note this phrase)


4 hour flight to Santorini, Greece on Thomas Cook. 

Arrived at Ecoxenia Studios- gorgeous place in Oia-Ia. 

 Outdoor jacuzzi

 Christopher, the owner and the very quaint reception hut.

Christopher was so kind and offered us an upgrade to a family size studio for free!! He also gave us a lovely session of tourist tips and spots to visit here. He scribbled names of shops, bakeries, seafood, restaurants, cafes, activities etc. on the map of the island he provided for us. Had a lovely half hour or so of a relaxing conversation with him and we headed up to the studio. Typical Greek bed setting on a 2nd wood bunk level!

The balcony, where the deed was done. ;)

The wonderful view from the balcony of the sea and the other rooms.

There is a barbeque towards the right side of the garden (if you can see that chimney-like thing poking out through the trees) which we have since used to grill some lovely steak & sausages!

The dome-shaped roof. I am still baffled at how they build the houses. It is so interesting! This is the view from the bunk where there is a bed on each side.

I was knocked out completely from the lack of sleep. Ying, the sneaky boy woke up and began cooking. Miraculously, he kept it odourless!! He woke me later and said do you know where you are? I was so out of it, I was temporarily disorientated. After that, he told me to take a shower. It was then he began frying things. I was not allowed in the kitchen at all. 


I put on a dress as requested and was led out onto the balcony to a candlelit table and a meal he prepared. I read him a recipe once jokingly saying that if I get to eat it I will be the happiest person alive. He made it for me. He brought all the ingredients from Nottingham! That guy. You wouldn't believe what else he brought. I'll reveal that later.
Starters: Tomato and Basil Soup
Main: Salmon and Tomato Mushroom Rice and Fluffy Buttery Scrambled Eggs. It was perfect. 

We ate while watching the magnificent sunset. The sky was so clear that day and the sun was completely round. The sunset was perfect. I keep wishing I had a DSLR to show everyone the clearest possible replica of the event. Sadly, I only have a regular Canon digicam. :) 

He said, once you finish your meal, you can open the envelope. Ask me any questions about the trip and I will answer. (I have been asking endless questions since I began packing)

After I finished the meal, I opened the envelope. 

He told me to go to the edge of the balcony with him and read the contents aloud in his arms. He kept saying, "LOUDER babe!! Louder!"


The story within was taken from a chapter in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (for those who know me very well, you will have been exposed to my obsession with Alice and her story). He used the exact font from the original book which was such a difficult task. He used tea to make the book look old and paperback-y.

2006 because that was when we started dating.

The story was taken from Chapter 2 The Pool of Tears. He adapted it to become Debbie's Adventures in Wonderland Chapter 2- The Pool of Joy! It was written to include reality which is one of my most favourite effects! It affects me deeply as a few of you might know after I read The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaardner, I was riveted till the very end when the Joker appeared and it ended with a reality question on philosophy. It clonked my heart super hard. So the effect of the story was so powerful and completely the best suited proposal prop ever!!!! Ying, you are a genius. You are my soulmate- I have said this to you before. I know it's so cliche and some people say it is rubbish but I don't. Knowing you makes me wonder everyday: How is it possible that I could have found someone like you who 'warms the cockles of my heart' (to borrow Ern's phrase). I love watching you do things, watch you grow and learn new things. You are the most fascinating person in the world. 


The story in the envelope began with: 'Curiouser and curiouser...' I TELL YOU. My heart was just like a lock and key situation. *Click* You know the moment? CLICK. Sigh..... He knows me so well. Funnily enough, I never used that phrase ever before :D Also, 'Good-by' is spelled like that on purpose because Lewis Carroll spells it that way!

 When I was reading the second half of the story, where the letter to me began... I started to cry because it was just so touching. I didn't even realise he went behind me at that time. I stopped for a while because I was really absorbed into the story and crying already. Music began behind me (Jim Brickman's 'Beautiful' began playing) when I read it. 

When I finished the last line, I turned according to the story and he was down on one knee saying: "I love you with all my heart. I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"


I bawled my heart out. :') Out of shock and insane happiness. My heart was just so full, I cannot even describe it. Never have I ever felt like that before. It was such an amazing proposal, better than anything I would have ever imagined(if I did, I never did... haha.. I don't imagine these things). He knew me so well and that I loved the fact that it was the two of us and no one else. I gathered myself after a while and (Haha according to him) said, "Yes! Yes! Of course!" 

He showed me what was in the big luggage finally.... He had brought EVERYTHING (well, close to everything!) from Nottingham because he wanted this to be a perfect week. He brought tons of food, spices, feet cushions for my sore feet and many 'in-case' things. You name it, he brought it! I was seeing an amplified side of his perfectionism. INSANE AND OH SO SWEET!!!!!!!

Every spice we own. Haha!

 On top of these shoes, he brought me slippers and home fluffy ones for wearing indoors!

He printed an entire guide to Santorini! It's so handy because we're here for a week.

We sat outside on the balcony after the proposal under The Big Dipper which was shining so brightly right above us in the clear, night sky. He showed me the entire planning process which OMG was so tedious and suspensive!!! KUDOS to him for being able to hold it in for so so long. I would have cracked from Day 2.


The ring story is such a long one. I will attempt to shorten it. (This TMI Part is for the benefit of myself- so that I can remember this in years to come: In short, the ring is from Mazal Diamonds in Antwerp, Belgium. It is a Petite Bezel setting which he picked because it is unique and we've never seen it before. He didn't pick any with the regular 4 prong/more because according to research, it causes alot of injury(snag in hair, slash fiancee/ own face, scratches against walls etc...) This cut shows the diamond in its entirety. I cannot stop staring at it). *Excuse the runny mascara- I cried hard hehe*

Engaged!