Well, I have been on Matt about us getting engaged for a while now. Nothing like the steady, deliberate pressure from the likes of me. We went to Malaysia this past weekend - to Kota Kinabalu. I actually had a bit of a commitment in Taiwan the day before so I was a bit out of sorts and focus on my usual pressuring ways (indeed one of my less endearing qualities). We had been at the Shangri-La for 22 hours, the sun was setting and we took cute couple pictures in the golden glow of the twilight. Typical Matt arm length face shots where my moon-face is wholly magnified. After some of this Matt suggests we walk to the water to watch the cloudless sunset, which was stunning in a Key West caliber way, surprisingly. I had a quest to sort out my Sony camera's settings and right the sun in its memory. Matt wanted me to sit on a bench but I was committed to the camera. Matt then suggested we head back to the terrace of our room (we were on the first level so we could walk to the water). He asked me to sit down but I was restless and hungry, so I got a snack to eat on the terrace (a Golden Grahams cereal bar imported from Portugal). He told me he loved me and he wanted to be with me and got down on one knee (not a trivial feat as he is down one foot at the moment) and asked me to marry him! I hesitated for a second because I didn't see it coming (and I always thought I would see it coming) and asked if he was kidding. I then said yes and we hugged and kissed and I put my ring on my finger and were excited in the now darkness.
We then dined on a seafood grilled dinner along the water. I let Matt eat most of the steak and I wrestled away the larger prawn. I insisted that we have 2 glasses of champagne at dinner and was quickly tipsy thereafter. We then walked over to the surprisingly cool bar of the hotel, where I had a riveting cranberry juice and a fun Canadian cover band sang our favorite Black Eyed Peas tunes.
This was April 5. I called my sister and parents upon my return to Macau. Minjenah was appropriately excited and Mom was too in her typical conversationally-absent demeanor. My mom suggested that she just let Dad know because he was on the can. She certainly knew how to let the wind out of my sails! But I wouldn't let her completely deflate me. Not during MY engagement.
