How We Met
Jags and I met on May 17, 2011. It was a blind date (secretly, upon my request) set up by two of our close friends. He chose a bar for our date and set it after dinner to make the meet-up more casual. Dinner just sounded too fussy for him, plus he didn’t want to be stuck with me until the end of dinner if we didn’t click. On the other hand, I knew all along that it was him that I am being set up with so I didn’t worry much about where we will meet. I was just nervous about the fact that I am going on a date with my crush.
Our date lasted for four hours. We both had a great time and decided we’d continue to see each other.
Three months after our very first date, he asked me to be his girlfriend.
See, it doesn’t hurt to make the first move as long as it is done subtly. Sometimes, a little nudge is all he needs. In our case, I just had to ask our friends for that “blind date” and the rest is history.
how they asked
Jags and I have been together for over 4.5 years and we are both 31. Because of these, I would always get asked the question that I find the hardest to answer – when are you planning to get married? I’ve formulated many different permutations of responses for this question! The titas (aunties in Filipino) are the hardest to convince. I started dreading going to occasions where I’d see them!
Jags and I have traveled to over 30 different cities, mostly abroad. We went to Europe twice, and all the special events I could think of have passed (birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s day, Christmas day and so on), still no proposal until October 12, 2015 during our second trip to Europe.
I didn’t expect it at all because a week before our trip, he flew to Hong Kong for business. I hinted about whether he’s getting me a ring and I sort of took his answer to mean as “not yet”. Apparently, he flew all the way to Hong Kong to pick up my custom-made ring. Jags proposed to me with an excellent round brilliant cut diamond ring.
The Day of the Proposal:
On our first day in Santorini, he said he’d take me out on a nice dinner date in a restaurant at the other side of the island. At about 5ish, he was bugging me to get up from bed and get dressed. I was being difficult because it was too hot outside.
This was the view from our balcony. It was bright and sunny in Santorini.
I asked if we could just have a simple dinner in some gyro place nearby. He started going back and forth the reception area. He said he’s trying to coordinate with the restaurant on the directions and whether we can move our reservations. I felt he was already getting stressed so I decided to start cooperating. I insisted on taking the bus because it’s a lot cheaper than a cab, plus it’s too early for dinner, but he insisted that we take the cab so it’s faster. I wondered why he was in such a rush but never had a hint of what will happen next.
When we arrived in Imerovigli, I saw a bunch of tourists taking pictures of the traditional cave houses lining the caldera. I started taking pictures too because, hey, there must be something in there that’s photo-worthy!
A view of the caldera in Imerovigli, Santorini.
When I turned around, he wasn’t there anymore. I looked for him and found him on the roof of the Anastasi Church. When I got to the top, he suggested that we take a picture of ourselves against the beautiful backdrop – the Santorini caldera.
While setting up my tripod, a random guy volunteered to take our photos. Why not?! After a couple of shots, Jags started asking for more. It was very unlike him, he would’ve been embarrassed to oblige a stranger to take our photos. Apparently, the nice guy who volunteered to take our photos is a hired photographer).
For the last shot, he asked me to turn around. He placed his arms around me, and suddenly, I started hearing the same song he played when he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was I’m Yours by Jason Mraz.
I turned around and saw him down on one knee, tearfully asking me to marry him. I SAID YES!
