One of the first things he did was whip out a sticker book of my favourite Japanese cartoon as an early morning "anniversary gift". It doesn't sound like much, but I loved it!
We took a train to Shimokitazawa, a hip neighbourhood in Tokyo to explore - starting with brunch!They were playing classical music over a speaker system as we milled around the streets deciding on where we should settle down . Incredibly magical. Eventually, though, we walked over to the south side (the more "hipster" side) and had a glorious pancake brunch at JS Pancake Cafe.
Halfway through brunch, he whips out a scrapbook with 60 photos - for the 60 months of official couplehood, ending off with a cute note - I was blissfully unaware that first alphabet of every first line spelt "WILL YOU MARRY ME".
Not long after leaving our second record store, the rain pelted down.
There weren't many places we could take shelter in, and we weren't nearly hungry enough for a second meal.Our only option was to run into a game station and wait out the rain. The only problem was, the game stations were pretty small and there was only so much we could do at each one before there wasn't anything left to do.
The rain wasn't too heavy anymore, so we began darting from one game station to the next in this tiny alley littered with vending machines. Eventually, we arrived at a 3-storey game station - arcade games abound!
We were just walking around the arcade, looking for games to play and things to do when we decided to go for Purikura on the 3rd floor! It was a pretty intense place -Japanese girls seem to take their Purikura pretty seriously. There were lit mirrors lining an entire wall, hair dryers, curling irons, and a couple of Japanese girls unabashedly doing hair and makeup before taking their photos.
We randomly decided on a machine and went in! The first machine was pretty insane. They had a software to automatically enlarge your eyes and we both looked kinda extraterrestrial-y in the photos. But we weren't going to allow our Purikura experience be tainted by just one machine! We figured that the older machines probably would make us look more "normal" and went ahead for another round!
It was great, our skin looked great (as it always does with Purikura. those machines are magic), a high-pitched Japanese voice squealing instructions at you...
When suddenly...
He gets down on one knee, whips out a white glossy box and opens it to reveal the ring I'd been fantasising about for months. He customised the colour and added a couple more diamonds to make it really, truly the ring of my dreams.
"KJ, will you marry me?"
There was no hesitation and no second thoughts. As cliche as it may be, I said yes!
"Will you go on fun adventures with me the rest of our lives?"
"Of course!"
So in a swirl of lights, green screen, and Japanese frenzy, we got engaged!
It was everything I wanted it to be - I gave him a whole bunch of conditions before the proposal. I didn't want it to be a public spectacle (definitely no flash mobs), I wanted it to be fun, and I didn't want it to be overly mushy.
I couldn't be happier to be planning my wedding with my nutcase fiance, and whether it's quirky and fun like mine, public and loud, or mushy and teary, I hope every girl finds the right man to propose to them in a way they've always wanted.
Or even that some girls propose to the right men in a way they've always wanted, too ;)
xx,
Miss D.
