Our Engagement Story

When you break the engagement news, almost always the first question you are asked is, "how did he propose?" It just shows how much pressure men are put under to pull off one of the most memorable and talked-about moments of your life. I do kind of feel for them, but then again, you only have to do it once (hopefully). 

So did Minsik live up to the expectation? 

We have been together for 5+ years now, so generally surprises are rare in our relationship. The same was for the engagement, in that we have been talking about engagement/wedding for a while before we got engaged. So there was no surprise about the fact that he popped the question. 

So I knew it was coming, just did not know how it was going to happen. As for when, there were series of rather unfortunate and unintended incidents leading up to event that gave me some hints as to when it was going to happen. 

One month before the engagement

As many might already know, Minsik loves Lego. One weekend, he awarded to himself a Lego Star Wars R2-D2. After spending 1-2 days building the entire thing (I imagine he built it purposely slow the savour the moment), he discovered that there was a piece missing. Shock, horror! 

So the following weekend, we made another trip to the toy store where he bought it to notify them about the missing piece. He even took photos of his beloved R2-D2 to show where the missing piece should be. The shop assistant there was very attentive and reviewed the photos. While looking at the photos, he unwittingly swiped Minsik's touch screen and before you know it, pictures of a Lego robot was replaced by a photo of princess cut engagement rings worn on unidentified hands (probably a shop assistant). Unbelievable. I started laughing, Minsik was clearly not impressed, and the poor shop assistant totally panicked and swiped back quickly to get rid of the photo. 

However the damage was already done. This was one month before our anniversary and our trip to Melbourne. So it was not difficult for me to guess that it was going to happen on our anniversary. Especially since he told me earlier that he had to pick up "some earrings" for his friend's wife in Melbourne at duty free. Yeah, right. He continued to deny that he got a ring and promised that he was going to make it a surprise when it happens. I tried to look at it positively, and prepared myself for the big event. 

The day that we got engaged

On 10 July 2014, which was also our 5-year anniversary, we set out for Melbourne. 

When we got to the airport, Minsik told me that he had to pick up "some earrings" for his friend in Melbourne. I had some stuff to buy duty free anyway so I let him do his thing. 

When we got to Melbourne, there was a longest line I have ever seen at any airport. We did not even have checked-in luggage but we waited around 2 hours to get to the customs. Whilst waiting, Minsik disclosed that he declared the "earrings" on his customs declaration form.

Angela: "You do know that if you declare it, they will ask what the item is, right? And you might have to tell them in front of me." 

Minsik: "Umm, yeah... (shit)"

So when we got to customs, the lady asked Minsik to go to another line. She told me to go with him, because we were travelling together.

When we got to the special section of the airport where they nag people about their questionable items, the man started to ask questions:

The airport guy: "What is the item that you have?"

Minsik: "Umm, I can tell you, but I can't tell you in front of her."

The moment he said it, you could see the guy instantly felt bad as he knew what it was. He asked me to step aside and stand in the corner few meters away so I could not hear their conversation (although it was not hard to imagine what they would be talking about). According to Minsik, the guy asked, "Is it a ring? Is it an engagement ring?" No surprises there. 

Luckily, the guy made a quick call to his colleague and we were let go. But damage was already done, by now I knew what was going to happen that night. I was quite upset and Minsik was annoyed too, but I guess looking back now it makes our story more interesting, although unintentionally so. 

The actual event

So that evening, we went on the Colonial Tram Dinner in Melbourne, which was surprisingly good! Music and atmosphere were right up my alley. Very vintage, jazzy and totally felt like you have travelled back in time. Service and food were also excellent, which was surprising since we expected it to be quite touristy (it is not touristy at all). Although super-tired from our trip, we had a great dinner. 

So at the end of the dinner, he handed me a big box that he was carrying for the whole day. I opened a box, that inside was another box, made out of Lego (check it out below and more pictures are found here). To be honest, as someone with limited capacity to appreciate Lego, I did not at first fully comprehend the details that went into it. Minsik of course tried to explain, how he spent months ordering pieces online all the way from Poland. It is indeed very pretty, and the waiter even commented on it. 

As I knew the content inside, I did not open it at the restaurant. I wanted the moment to be more intimate and perhaps more importantly, did not want to excuse Minsik from doing it the proper way! So after we left dinner, I found a chair, which forced him to get on his knee, and do it properly. When I opened a box, there were bride and groom minifigures and a ring box. Minsik is not someone who enjoys expressing himself with words, so he did not say much, other than to repeat, "Come on! Come on! Say yes!" 

So I said yes, and here we are now. 

Looking back now, it may not have been the most perfect proposal, in that I was not surprised and it did not happen the way it happens in movies. But I think what is important is not the moment. It is what the moment entails. 

For us, it was the days after the engagement that was really exciting. It was really great that we got to enjoy it between just the two of us, away from Auckland and on a holiday. We had an awesome short getaway in Melbourne, brunching on a weekday, eating 4-5 meals per day, drinking delicious cocktails, chatting about our future, enjoying beautiful winter weather, and watching Les Miserables (worth going to Melbourne for it!). We did not announce our engagement until we got back, with the exception of Martin's friend and his wife whom we caught up with in Melbourne for dinner one night. It was very exciting to be able to share the news in person and show off my my ring!

Having had some time to digest being engaged first, we also got to plan how we were going to announce it. We wanted to do it in a fun way (and Minsik wanted to show off his Lego creation). When we got to Auckland, this is the photo we used to announce our engagement: 

The two football figures shown are my anniversary presents to Minsik, given to him on the same night. I ordered them from MINIFIGS.ME: 

  

So this is the story of how we got engaged. It was certainly one of the most memorable moments of our lives so far, but we know the best is yet to come!