Two months ago on our sixth anniversary, the love of my life got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. To say I was not expecting it would be a big lie, what with my Asian parents bringing up the topic of marriage every single time I called them. As our anniversary and our Japan trip approached, my parents started speculating on the possibilities of our engagement happening then.

I'm not a big fan of surprises or the unknown, so I got my detective cap on and tried every trick I had in my books to coax/persuade/trick/interrogate Steven into revealing even just a sliver of detail about what's happening on our anniversary (apart from our dinner in Nobu). Finally, on a terrible day at work I asked him right away if I should be expecting a proposal, and he said: "These things take time..." 

How about six years? Is that enough time? Those few words broke my heart because it seemed like there's something about me, or about us that he is still unsure of. Needless to say I texted him a long-winded essay littered with words like "commitment," "perfection," "security," "future," straight out of Dr. Phil..

Later that day I acknowledged that perhaps I had overreacted, so we got on our day. On our anniversary, I was buzzed with excitement about our Japan trip and totally immersed in bliss with Steven's company and the beautiful food at Nobu that I couldn't care less if we just "live in sin" forever.

It was a beautiful night, one of those late Spring nights with cool breeze, where you can just feel the summer air, but it is not stinking hot as the Australian summer tend to be. We had the windows down on our way home from Crown Melbourne, when Steven did a last-minute sharp right turn on the road leading to Brighton beach, where we first met. "Let's' chill out by the beach, it's a nice night," he says. OK then...

Our spot on the beach was a tucked away cove with spectacular vista of city lights. I remember fondly of that night in 2009, we sat in Steve's Ford Falcon and talked for hours about everything and nothing. Oh how time has passed! The tucked away cove is now a hangout spot for dreadlock-wearing hippies in their RVs. But beside the car park is a small park of sort with a few benches. That'll do.

In complete darkness, I went on and on about how beautiful the night was...how excited I was to be going to Japan with him, what we needed to get from Big W the next day, and how full I was from the food earlier. At some point, I noticed that Steven was a bit fidgety and he was standing behind me. So I urged him to sit, repeatedly. "Yea, later..." he said at one time. "I feel like standing," he said another time. "Alright! I'll come and sit!"

Then he was there, on one knee, with a slight tremble in his voice, telling me all those wonderful things and asked me to his life partner. With a sky full of stars,  a van of hippies and the city lights as witness, I agreed to be his wife.

... And so here we are, planning a wedding.