Sayang Central

When Minli awoke on Wednesday, June 30th, 2004, she knew I had a surprise or two planned for her, but she had no idea exactly how much I had planned for this day. You see, that day was to be a major turning point in both our lives, as it was the day that I would ask Minli to marry me.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to find an excuse to have our bags packed, so she was well aware that we’d be visiting the airport, and thus most likely traveling on a plane, but I had thus far concealed our destination from her. I checked in our luggage, not letting Minli see the boarding passes, though of course she read the destination off the luggage tag. Thankfully, “KOA,” the abbreviation for Kona Airport, is also the name of a well-known type of hardwood tree that grows in Hawaii, so I was able to imply that we’d be flying to a place with some significant quantity of this tree.

Being who she is, she immediately dragged me to a tourist kiosk and demanded to know which island we would be visiting, so that she could select the correct brochure. This combined with the prominent display of our flight’s destination at the gate, allowed her to exact some victory over my secretive ways.

I, of course, quickly negated that victory by hopping up and rushing her to the gate when they called for First-Class passengers. Almost vengefully, Minli informed me that they only called up First-Class only, so we should sit down and wait for them to call us up – to which I responded by pointing out our seat assignments: 1A and 1B. Flabbergasted, she demanded to know why we were traveling First-Class, but I simply responded, “Frequent Flyer Miles” – which was entirely true. The first of the surprises revealed, Minli settled comfortably into the huge leather seats and soaked up the First-Class treatment for the full duration of the 43 minute flight to Kona.

(ML: Yes, this was a big surprise. I thought that it was the only surprise, though, so wasn’t expecting anything else.)

After picking up the rental car and grabbing a quick lunch and a bit of discount shopping… those Ross stores are everywhere! I drove Minli 30 minutes up the Kohala Coast of the Big Island to the Mauna Lani Resort. Met at the car by a hostess who presented us with flower leis, we checked into a truly stunning hotel – they check you in by seating you at a private wooden desk, serving you juice and giving a full overview of the activities offered at the hotel.

We hopped up to our room, freshened up a bit from our flight, and I declared, “Let’s go for a walk of the grounds!” You see, I had picked this resort, knowing full well that this place had very extensive grounds, with two beach coves and a fair number of paths through a network of fish ponds and restored historic sites. Knowing that any elaborate plans would surely go awry, my plan for proposal was simply to find a nice spot and do it then.

(ML: All this time, I’m wondering why on earth Paul wants to walk around the grounds. We aren’t exactly the most athletic couple, you see. Our version of a monthly exercise routine is a nice 5 minute run-walk to brunch.)

Thus, we set out to walk to the distant cove, following the oceanfront path by the fish ponds. We came across a number of nice spots, but none of them were “just right” in my opinion. After ¾ mile of walking, we reached the other cove, but I wanted to keep walking, so we continued walking past the cove. Beyond the cove was a long path with rock outcroppings into the ocean. Minli took the map away from me at this point, and decided this was a nice enough spot, and should be the furthest away from the hotel that we venture. I however, quickly grew convinced that she knew exactly what I was planning, and had decided, “This is a nice enough spot, you idiot, let’s do it here.” Minli, on the other hand, subscribes firmly to the belief that the further you walk from a place, the further you have to walk back, and had simply decided that we had walked far enough.

(ML: It was at least a mile of random walking, and I couldn’t see anything ahead that was worth walking to, even though Paul insisted on carrying on. I gave up and sat down at the spot because I decided that the continual walking was absolutely ridiculous and that I had had enough. Didn’t really want to walk all the way to the other end of the island, plus I was getting a little dehydrated. And by the way, it’s true that the further you walk from a place, the further you have to walk back (assuming the route is approximately a straight line and on a single plane, which it was). The statement obviously won’t be true if you walked in a circle.)

We sat here for some time, chatting and taking pictures, even making a silly little video. Deciding that 1) I can’t kneel here, the rocks are sharp, and 2) this place is too warm and not pretty enough, I let the moment pass and we headed back towards the hotel. Continuing to project my thoughts on Minli, she seemed a little disappointed, like she had guessed incorrectly, and I wasn’t planning anything huge for her – of course, it was just the initial stages of exhaustion and dehydration setting in.

(ML: Mad, all mad. The silly had this incredible imaginary script going on in his head and was projecting it on me. Given that we only had 3 short days in Kona, I was seriously just wondering why we weren’t going sight-seeing or shopping instead. =) )

We walked back, picking a different path through the fish ponds. It was high tide, so the paths were covered in water in some places, and Minli decided that she’d rather step on sharp rocks and squishy little fish instead of get her sandals wet. We stopped at a bench in the middle of the ponds, and stared off into the distance for some time. Some people might find such things romantic and relaxing, but I know Minli was bored out of her mind. Surveying the scene and deciding that there was too much mud (due to the high tide), fallen leaves, and not enough of the bright sunshine and ocean surf that I had come to Hawaii to obtain, I let this location pass as well.

I remark to Minli that the sun will probably set soon, and that it’d be fun to go off and find a nice secluded spot to watch the sunset. Minli, noting that it was only 5 pm, “politely” informed me that the sun will not set for at least two hours. Deciding that was fine with me, as we’d already been walking for over an hour and a half, two more hours would be just fine… after all, I can propose and then we can sit and watch the sunset together. So we continue walking.

(ML: It was 4 pm, not 5, and thus there would at least be 2 and a half hours before sunset. Paul left out a very critical element of the story here. I was dehydrated, and knew that Paul, for some strange reason, wanted to keep on walking. So when we got to a soda machine, I stopped for a soda. Paul requested that the soda be Mountain Dew (his favorite drink), so I concurred and got a can of that. After my first sip, Paul takes the can from me and takes a huge gulp. I get another sip, upon which the can gets taken away again. Two minutes later, I reach for the can, only to find that it’s completely empty. There goes my attempt to combat dehydration so that I can proceed on the aimless walk with my very strange boyfriend.)

We came across a nice spot, a rock outcropping extending into the surf, but the outcropping was also shared by a massage table, for the hotel’s “Massage by the Sea” spa treatment. Passed this by and continued walking.

And walking.

And walking.

Eventually, Minli starts to lag behind, dragging her feet. “I’m tired, and lightheaded, and thirsty!” After briefly considering, and then vetoing, any ideas of finding a spot to propose in the immediate vicinity, I decided to give up, and walk back to the hotel. Of course, Minli was no longer tired for the walk back, but I wasn’t about to point this out to her.

(ML: I had of course gauged the amount of walking I would have to do to get back to the hotel, and at this point, I decided that that was the farthest I could go without fainting from dehydration on the way back. I asked Paul if there was necessarily anything we were walking to, but he sort of shrugged and just said he wanted to look at the scenery. Since I decided that the walk was completely aimless, I didn’t want to continue. And by the way, I was still tired for the walk back, but just didn’t complain about. Might I remind everyone that we had, in total, walked at least 3 miles in the hot afternoon sun.)

We returned to the hotel room, re-hydrated, rested for a bit and watched a bit of TV. I was perfectly happy to sit here and wait until dinner, but Minli suggested, hey the sun’s about to set, let’s go out and watch, like you had been trying to do several hours ago. Forcibly overcoming my inertia (hey, we’d just walked for several miles), we each picked our books and grabbed the cribbage board (the latest contest between the two of us).

We then proceeded to the beach right in front of the hotel, sitting on a pair of cabana chairs. We played cards for a bit, and I noticed the sun was finally about to set. Looking around at the many other cabana chairs lining the beach and the half-dozen other couples that had come out to watch the sunset, I decided that this, again what not the right spot. So I suggested, “Let’s go over to that rock outcropping by the massage table and watch the sunset from there.”

(ML: The “rock outcropping” was at least 200 metres away. I’m going metric because I really can’t think in miles, and the last few references to miles are killing me. Also, the rock outcropping didn’t seem to be any better a spot to watch the sunset as compared to the nice comfy cabana chairs we were on. Rock = hard, Cabana chairs = soft. Where was the sense in moving?)

Minli gave me a look of disbelief and exclaimed something to the effect of “What the hell’s wrong with this spot?” Nonetheless, she agreed to go over to that outcropping and let me watch my much anticipated sunset. As we got to the spot, she points at the table and suggests that we sit there to watch. When I explain that I don’t want to sit on the massage table, and would rather climb out on the rocks right near the crashing surf, Minli gave me a look that screamed, “Who the hell are you and where’s my boyfriend? Why the hell don’t you want to sit on the nice, soft, comfy massage table!?” But again, since it was my sunset, she demurred and accompanied me out on to the rocks.

(ML: Note that the description of the look is purely Paul’s projection of what he thought I was thinking. (Refer to paragraph 7 to see how accurate his projection was for the previous incident) I was just busy going mad from all the walking.)

We sat there chatting, and I segued into a discussion of how long we’d been together. 1293 days, in fact, to the hour, just as the sun was beginning to set. Minli, suspicious of how I knew the exact total, grew extremely anxious, as I fumbled around, trying extracting the ring from the pouch I had securely stowed in the bottom of my pocket.

(ML: Not so much anxious, more confused and bewildered.)

I turned to her, presented the ring to an incredibly wide-eyed Minli, and asked, “Minli ‘Sayang’ Lim, will you marry me?”

She stared in complete shock at the ring, then at me, and asked through a huge grin, in an absurdly high-pitched voice, “Are you joking?”

Not daunted by this answer, I asked again, “Minli, will you marry me?”

She continued to stare at the ring, and then again at me, now with tears in her eyes, accompanying her smile and high-pitched voice, “Okay.”

Still insisting on the ‘correct’ response, I place the book I was reading on the rocks, knelt upon it, and asked her from one knee, “Minli, will you marry me?”

Finally, she said “Yes.”

I placed the ring on her finger and we embraced for a while, hugging for the first time as fiancée and fiancé.

To close it all off, in true Sayang fashion, we looked up to finish watching the sunset, and found that it had completely dropped behind the horizon while we were distracted! And as if that wasn’t enough to add a bit of quirkiness to our shared moment, the book I was reading was entitled Big Trouble, by Dave Barry, an eerie echo of a comment made by a waiter during our first date, “Oh boy, this one’s going to be a handful,” made in reference to none other than my fiancée, Minli.

(ML: What a romantic (albeit quirky) proposal. All thanks to Paul, we now have a great story to tell, something which we can look back and laugh at together for many years to come.)

posted by Paul @ 7/08/2004 11:38:48 PM 1 comments