Our Story
Many people have asked us how we met, because we seem like the most unlikely case of meeting each other, being based 1,600km apart and separated by the South China Sea.
The Beginning of Many Beginnings
Joel, having worked in McDonald's Malaysia since the tender age of 16 (as a part-time crew while still in high school in our hometown of Petaling Jaya, Selangor), had already been based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Land Below The Wind) with the franchisee of McDonald's restaurants in Sabah since 1995, when Mary-Ann joined Golden Arches Restaurants Sdn Bhd, the franchisee of McDonald's in Malaysia, in 2004. Based in Petaling Jaya, it wasn't until 2005, when she transferred to the Marketing department, that we begun working with each other via e-mails and the telephone.
Those e-mail and telephone communications bore no significance to either of us, as they were purely work-related. However, we vividly recall a telephone conversation sometime towards the end 2006 that, initially a work-related call, ended only after an hour of getting to know each other better! Actually, he did most of the talking, as she felt it inappropriate to be on the telephone for so long in the office! (She felt it impolite to stop him mid-conversation because he is "franchisee". So there, bosses, she wasn't using office hours for personal reasons!) Nevertheless, the other details of that telephone call are vague to us, and we still debate over who made that call! (That is how insignificant we were to each other then.)
Nonetheless, we had developed a friendlier relationship after that telephone conversation, and maintained that friendship when Mary-Ann left McDonald's Malaysia for 7-Eleven Malaysia in April 2007. Oh, and no, up until then, we had not met each other in person - or so we think - despite Joel traveling to Petaling Jaya off and on for business purposes and to visit his family members.
Until We Meet Again...
... In Kota Kinabalu. Thanks to AirAsia and its RM0.00 fare promotions, Mary-Ann, together with her best friend and a girlfriend took advantage of this deal to travel to a part of Malaysia none of them have explored - East Malaysia (specifically Kota Kinabalu, Sabah) - for a weekend getaway. Coincidentally, just a little after purchasing the flight tickets, Mary-Ann decided to climb Mount Kinabalu later that same year. For someone who has never stepped on East Malaysian soil, she'd sure be visiting Kota Kinabalu a lot! (And she hadn't known yet that that's where she'd be ending up!)
Naturally, she shared these news with Joel, and he offered to be her group's tour guide for the weekend. It is a usual deed for him, for he'd shown many people around the nature resort city.
So 12 April 2008 came, Mary-Ann and her two friends boarded their flights to Kota Kinabalu, where Joel was waiting at the airport (no, not true, because the plane landed early and the small group waited for him instead, so it is not as romantic as you may picture it to be!)... And the rest, as they say, is history.
Not quite yet!
When Two Hearts Meet...
... Back in Petaling Jaya. After that 3D/2N weekend getaway to Kota Kinabalu, we became very close and shared our innermost thoughts and feelings with each other on a daily basis... Via telephone and MSN Messenger. Two weeks later, Joel traveled back to Petaling Jaya for a meeting, but arrived four days earlier than needed just so he can send Mary-Ann to the airport for her flight to Hanoi, Vietnam two days later. Because he could not carry a bouquet of flowers into the flight to present to Mary-Ann when she picked him up at the airport, he had a dozen pink roses delivered to her office earlier in the day.
That night (actually, it was in the wee hours of the morning of 1 May 2008, after his arrival at almost 11.00pm on 30 April 2008 followed by supper at the mamak), Joel asked Mary-Ann if she would like to be the future Mrs Law.
Was that somewhat a proposal? Perhaps, because we knew we'd want to spend the rest of our lives with each other. We are evil twins, yet we complement each other.
The Proposal
Not the romantic kind that makes you melt.
Because we were separated by the sea, and Joel wanted to be sure Mary-Ann got the ring she likes and wants, we had shopped for the perfect diamond ring together in the Klang Valley. However, because the jeweler took three weeks for the ring to be perfect, Joel had to return to Kota Kinabalu without the ring. And she had to collect the ring from the jeweler on his behalf.
*Romantic music playing in the background stops abruptly*
"I wanted to propose to her at the summit of Mount Kinabalu, but I was afraid the 0.45 carat diamond ring would drop and roll down the mountain," Joel said. So it was in one of those unromantic settings at home one fateful day in August 2008 (after Mary-Ann had relocated - yes, she left her job, passions, family, friends and life behind - to the slower-paced city of Kota Kinabalu she'd only visited for three days) that he spontaneously got down on one knee and asked her if she will marry him.
He Says
"She is the one I truly love and want to spend the rest of my life with. I agree with Mary-Ann: I am, indeed, not a romantic guy but I am trying my best to be one (perhaps still not romantic enough but I am learning the ropes). She has sacrificed so much by leaving so much behind to join me. For that, darling, I love you even more.
I never thought that I will marry someone who touches my heart so deeply in such a short period of time. She is a wonderful person, and mind you, she can cook very well too! Darling, I love your fried rice. Thank you for the lovely meals you have prepared for me.
It is never easy when two persons decide to come together and be ONE, but with God's blessings and grace, we will see it through. I thank God for Mary-Ann, she has brought so much joy and meaning to my life."
~Joel~
She Says
"God created this amazing love story that leaves me in awe till this day. His love for me and blessings just continue to flow graciously.
McDonald's has been my favorite quick service restaurant since I was little, when Dad used to buy me Beefburger at 99 sen. During my college days, I was an extra in the McDonald's Ayam Goreng McD TV commercial and got paid for the two-day shoot.
On the first day of my first job in 2003, my first client I visited was McDonald's Malaysia. A year later, I was offered a position in the Corporate Communications department of McDonald's Malaysia.
I worked at McDonald's with deep passion in my heart for the brand, and until today, is the company / brand I have served the longest yet (almost three years), and is the brand that I am most passionate about.
I must be destined to spend the rest of my life with a McDonald's guy!
God is good and i'm lovin' it!"
~Mary-Ann~
7 November, 2009
Ever wondered why we select 7 November, 2009 to tie the knot?
It was when Mary-Ann joined 7-Eleven Malaysia that our friendship blossomed, hence our wedding date of 7-11 (7 November) to pay tribute to the significance of the period.
