I sure do like it! So I put a ring on it!

Yesterday Carman and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary. After 4 years, Carman pretty much figured my pattern out. She always expect me to lie about getting a little bit late from work (ie, meetings, traffic,... etc) and come home with flowers on special occasions like this. So this year, I got the florist to deliver the flowers while I'm at work. Surprise #1. Pretty funny when Carman told me afterward that the guy that delivered the flower rang the door bell, and then ask Carman (in Chinese) "Are you Beh Beh?" Haha~ I wrote on the envelope "Dear BeBe~".... -_-;

Later that evening I took Carman to Herons at Fairmont Waterfront for dinner. It was a nice restaurant. I've never been and I was tricked by the photos they have on their website to think we would have a panoramic view of Vancouver's inner harbor! I should've booked Five Sails at Pan Pacific instead! But fortunately, food at Herons was really good. We did get a small view of the harbor, so overall we were pretty satisfied~





After the good food, I convinced Carman to go take some photos with me around the harbor. This is what I have been nervous about the whole past freakin month! I set up the camera, pretending to have the intention to simply take some photos of the two of us....



...then I pulled out the ring, got down onto one knee, and asked Carman to marry me!





Hm... surprise #2!!! Hahaha!

She said yes, of course. Hahaha! Because I'm such a great catch! Hahaha. No I'm joking. She's the great catch. I can't imagine getting down on my knee for anyone else. I'm never more certain that she's the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. As I look up at her face beaming with the biggest smile I have ever seen, I knew I did the right thing.

Anyway, I have been so nervous about HOW to propose. This isn't something I have experience with! I went online for ideas... but most of them are so corny... or wouldn't work at all for us. Like... take her to the place where you both had your first date.... well, I would have to buy us both a plane ticket to Hong Kong then! I have thought of hiding the ring in Kahlua and Bu's litter box, and then ask her to help me clean it (this is my chore usually). She would've found the ring while sifting through the poop. She would've NEVER expected that! But then I was concerned whether she'd want to put the ring on after that. So I scraped that idea. Haha!

In the end, I kept it simple. Knowing Carman, I figure she will like to have this moment just to ourselves. So I didn't go with ideas like getting our friends to hide out somewhere with "Marry Me" signs and stuff. And of course, I capture the process with my camera. I think this is the part she really appreciate because she probably had instant tunnel vision that focused on only the ring and was completely unaware of anything around her. This way, she can relive the moment over and over again when she look at the photos. :)

She absolutely looooooooved the ring~ It's a 1.03 ct round brilliant solitaire. I think I did alright with that. Heehee~ Shopping for an engagement ring was another unique experience. I didn't realize I knew so little about diamonds before actually shopping for one. Apparently there are so much more to diamonds then your usual 4 C's. It has been stressful trying to find the right diamond. I had to sneak around while she's at school, or take a couple hours off work to go to the mall so she won't suspect anything. In the end, this whole process was totally worth it, of course.




So yup! We're engaged! I know this announcement will break many girl's hearts out there now that I'm officially off the market. .... Ahahahahahah! Must be time for my meds.

Bebe~ I'm so lucky to have you in my life. With our engagement, I hope this shows you my promise to you I will be by your side through thick and thin. There's no one else in this world I want other than you to spend my life with. I love you.

Listening to...
Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not The One

Listening to...

Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow

Their new album The E.N.D. is the BEST album I've heard this year. Make sure to get the deluxe version though. The second disc has some wicked remixes of their old songs like "Pump It Harder," "Let's Get It Re-started," etc. This is an A+ album!

VIP Treatment

No, too bad we weren't the ones getting the VIP treatment but the ones GIVING it~ Haha. The VIP in question here is Carman's grandma. Her grandma made the long trip from Guangzhou to Hong Kong to making a 5-day stop here in Vancouver and finally to Toronto where Carman's uncle lives.

It was the longest 5 days we've ever experienced. Carman's grandma is a bit of a queen. Everything needs to be perfect for her. The hard part about that is she won't request anything herself. She'll tell us not to go out of our way to cater to her and anything we choose to do for her is fine. Hahaha~ Far from the truth. We gave up our bed for her because her back won't be able to tolerate the soft cushions of the sofa. Carman got up early every morning to go for dim sum with her. Grandma has no more real teeth left... so there aren't many things she can chew and eat. Of course, when I ask her what she can eat... she'll tell me "I can eat everything, don't worry." And when I suggest this and that... she can't chew anything of it. Hahaha!

We couldn't play the usual tour guide with her because she can't handle walking too much and to far. So she mostly declined all offers to visit all the touristy sites. So... there's nothing to do but stay at home. She likes to play MJ, and hinted to Carman a few times. Carman of course picked up on it so we played a few games with her. I even took a hour off work early to rush home to play 4 rounds with her, before Carman has to head out and go to school in the evening.

Grandma left last night with Ted, Carman's brother, to Toronto. I have to say that Ted have also been incredible being grandma's escort all this time. You know how old people are... we think she packed her whole house into 4 giant luggage. Grandma maintained that she can carry the things herself and don't need nobody. But face it... there's no way a 78 year old lady with bad knees can lift 4 23 lbs bags in addition to hand carried luggage. So Ted ended up by default responsible for all the heavy lifting. This guy didn't complain once. Such a great kid. He'll get lots of rewards when he returns to us next week~ I miss him already. Haha!

Anyway, I think between the 3 of us, grandma got the most prestige treatment we have ever given to any guests. We're direct representatives of Carman's mom, and I think we did her proud. And thank god my parents have been so accomadating too. Especially Dad making the extra trip to the airport to help us transport the giant luggage. I don't think grandma has any legitimate reasons to complain about anything. Hahaha. 5 star services!

Anyway, we finally got our basement suite back to ourselves. We'll won't have to provide such service until grandma decides she's had enough of Toronto. Ooooooh, we can't wait!!! Hahaha!