“As a feeling, an epiphany is the sudden realization
or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something.
The term is used in either a philosophical or literal sense
to signify that the claimant has “found the last piece
of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture”,
or has new information or experience, often
insignificant by itself, that illuminates a deeper
or numinous foundation frame of reference.”
- Wikipedia

6 January 2008 – a magical night that I will never forget. The day that I said ‘yes’ to spending my life with my dearest darling…
“Perfect” is the only word I can describe his elaborate and intricately designed surprises that caught me totally off guard and swept me off my feet.

This is his proposal, in a nutshell…
(for complete story, please read my previous post on the blog)

• Christmas Eve night: A simple card and a simple “Merry Christmas” just after the clock struck 12.
• 25 Dec – 04 Jan: a whole series of presents/tasks, almost one every day, to keep me entertained/busy throughout the holiday season. Among these were:
  • Cycling on Xmas Day with FM and his UCSD friends at Pulau Ubin, the very island where we first met
  • The Love Book of Answers
  • French Movie “Love Me if you Dare”
  • Mini-treasure hunt around our office/lab building that ended with a box wrapped in black wrapper. Instructions: Present to be kept and not opened until told in the future.
  • Task to write a reflective post on our blog about our past, present and future together (see “Love 2008” post on 3 Jan 08)
  • Task to add another 3 new backgrounds that FM had created to our blog (refresh the page to see all background designs on the top left corner)
  • Task to buy a blindfold for myself to be used in the future (???)
  • Another present wrapped in black wrapping paper (again, not to be opened). This one was very small in size. Clue: This is either the most expensive or the cheapest thing you’ve ever received, but regardless, I’ll give you the best that I can.
• 05 Jan (Friday night): Night cycling! A re-enactment of our little catalytic excursion back in July 04…

• 06 Jan (Saturday): As we made our separate ways back home the morning after night cycling, the next set of instructions from FM came: “Check the web. The next clue is on our website.” After looking around the wiki that FM just installed a few days back on randomtots.com, I found this song hiding in a page titled “CLUE”:
  

  On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
  Twelve drummers drumming
  Eleven pipers piping
  Ten lords a-leaping
  Nine ladies dancing
  Eight maids a-milking
  Seven swans a-swimming
  Six geese a-laying
  Five golden rings
  Four calling birds
  Three French hens
  Two turtle doves
  And a partridge in a pear tree

  = SENTOSA

And so after a good shower, we were out of the house again, to Sentosa!

• The new luge ride at Siloso Beach
• A sneak preview at our hotel room @ Siloso Beach Resort… or rather, the upper rooftop level of our room – a nice little private Jacuzzi overlooking the beach and sea! Oooh….
• Super yummy seafood dinner at Barnacles @ Shangri-La – juicy giant lobster and wine!

When we reached back at our hotel after dinner, FM led me to the rooftop level along the common corridor for a long time… When he finally opened the door and beckoned me into the room, he was dressed very smartly in a black long-sleeved shirt. Behind him, the flickering of a candle faintly lit the Jacuzzi pool, and rose petals floated within…

Then he led me down the “rose petal littered” stairs to the room… What greeted me left me open-mouthed. *gasp* On the bed was “i ♥ u” written in rose petals, surrounding the 2 black-box presents, and the room was dimly lit with tea lights… Simply magical.

I sat down at the end of the bed, and he knelt down in front of me.

• First, he gave me a card, with the “Epiphany” msg (see top of this post).
• Then, I chose to open the big black present. A beautiful gold-plated rose…
• The 2nd tiny black box was next. An Idealscope…
• and he reached for a little white box and flipped it open. With a bulb shining down within the box, the shiny stone stared right up at me.

“Will you marry me?”

My mind raced and blanked out all at the same time, as I stared at him, shocked, surprised, touched… and finally, I barely whispered “yes, of course” and nodded my head. A long hug, tears of joy/shock followed and he soon put on the ring for me…

For the rest of the night, it was pure bliss and happiness, as we enjoyed our chilled champagne in the comfort of our private rooftop Jacuzzi, lit by the dim flickering flame of the poolside candle…

So ’tis was my long exciting adventures of the 12 days of Xmas 2007, leading up to the epiphany on the night of 5^th Jan 08 onto the day of 6^th Jan 08 with my dearest darling…

His elaborate plans that completely blew me away…

His proposal not long after the clock struck 12 that night which absolutely stunned me…

And the ever-so-charming him that I totally am in love with…

~ 06 January 2008 ~
Epiphany – the Twelfth Day after Christmas
A Day to Remember, Forever…