As deep as the ocean

When we drove 8 crazy hours to Perhentian Island for my PADI course last month, little did I know that I would come away with more than an open water certification; but that my relationship status would change from being "In a Relationship” to “Engaged”!

S popped the question on August 20, during our last dive at a beautiful coral reef called Tokong Laut, after close to a year of patient and meticulous planning (since Christmas 2006, to be exact).

The exquisite pearl ring was firmly strapped into a seashell he sneaked back from the Bahamas in 2005 and carefully placed on a coral bed at a 20m depth.

I didn’t see it at first and it took some effort on his part to point it out to me. Even then, I thought he'd spotted another moray eel hiding underneath the rocks and wanted to draw my attention to it.

When I finally saw the ring, my first thought was that it was some poor shipwreck soul's treasure which happened to drop out of the sky! When he pointed to my finger, immediately I was aghast and horrified that he could actually ask me to put it on! Instead, I gingerly picked up the seashell and paddled over to my dive instructor, Fatcat who was floating ahead, totally ignorant of the drama occuring behind him, with an excited gesture, “See what we both found!”


While I was so pleased with myself for "discovering somebody else's treasure", S was frantically signalling me for “OK” (meaning yes) or “something wrong” (no). Still clueless, I waved back a half-hearted “What on earth are you talking about?!"

Only when he pointed the ring to my finger again and again did reality finally hit me (duh!). I waited until we all got into the boat (more like tumbled into it and accumulated yet a couple more bruises!) and allowed Fatcat to make the official announcement with congratulations all around.

S then reminded me that I had yet to give my answer, to which I replied “Of course I’ll marry you, you big oaf! It’s too late to say no, isn’t it!”

In all, it was a surreal experience and totally awesome with fabulous visibility in the clear blue waters amidst the coral inhabitants bearing witness!

We’ve yet to confirm the actual date and everything else that comes with the package, but rest assured I'll give y'all a heads-up of our unconventional wedding plans after we've worked out the details :-)