Our Story
Share our romantic journey, from the time we met until we got together and tied the knot. You may find it interesting to learn that, before we discovered the magic of love, we actually started in a not-so-friendly way. Read on and you'll know us more...
The first encounter...
It was on 19 August 2000 that these two persons who were totally unknown to each other, crossed their paths for the first time in a bus! We were supposed to go on a leisure trip organized by a common friend of ours, Leong sir, and I was late on board the bus as I was out for drinks with some friends the night before. Jessie, invited to the trip by another common friend of ours Danny, was one of those waiting impatiently in the bus. We hardly cared about each other's presence, nevertheless that's the first encounter.
We met again...
After the trip to Lanjut, we met again in Piccolo Mondo in Jalan Bukit Bintang a few weeks later to view our photos. That was when I was deeply attracted to her sweet smiles as she was seated across the table opposite me. I told one of my friends at the gathering who was seated next to me, that I found Jessie's smiles very lovely and attractive. From that moment onwards, I started to pay attention at her, although there was no real feeling yet. However, she was still indifferent about me & not concerned too much about my presence at the gathering.
More outings together...
It was not until about a few months later that we met each other once again. This time, we went for an outing at Red Box Karaoke at Low Yat Plaza together with some other friends, including Tow Ping, Wilson & Maggie. After that, we went for dinner.
The next meeting was a dinner outing with the same bunch of friends at the Chicken Buffet Restaurant in Sunway Pyramid. I remember picking her up from her home together with Tow Ping, Wilson etc. We even went to pick up Maggie and by that time my little Wira was already overloaded hahaha...
It was at this time that I started to develop some special feelings towards Jessie and I decided to go after her, although no real proactive action was taken until some time later.
Buddhist Society Activities...
We've always attributed our relationship to Buddha and it was indeed that Buddhism was the bonding factor between us.
First, we met again after some time during Wesak Day in 2001 at Maha Vihara Temple when we were both helping Leong sir to sell some stuffs at the stalls. I remember Jessie was promoting Buddhist CDs while I was responsible to prepare vegetarian burger. I always kept my eyes on her but she wasn't too bothered about me.
After that, we were both involved in a Buddhist prayer ceremony at Sentul Meditation Centre in August 2001. At the end of the ceremony, all of us took the LRT to Dataran Merdeka to celebrate the National Day where we enjoyed the fireworks.
Then, we both participated in the Bodhi Mass Wedding project. During this project, we went to many places to promote the event to our fellow FGS members and other Buddhists. It was also during this project that Jessie was becoming unimpressed with me, especially with my attitude.
At the same time also joined the reading class at Sentul Meditation Centre. Although we din't talk much, but I began to fall for her.
This has continued for a while and not until some time mid of 2002 that things started to improve a little when we participated in the inaugural Short-term Monastic Retreat Program at Dong Zhen Temple in Jenjarom.
We continued as ordinary temple friends. During CNY in 2003 we joined the trip to visit FGS establishments and temples in Taiwan. It was a tour around Taiwan, from Taipei in the North to the East Coast and then to the South where we visited Fo Guang Shan (FGS) in Kaoshiung. We spent a few days there enjoying the floral exhibition as well as other attractions at Fo Guang Shan.
We also participated in a few other programs organized by FGS, for instance treasure hunts, activities at the temples and other programs.
When friendship develops into love...
As we went along as normal temple friends, day in day out, week in week out, our friendship developed and grew into stronger ties when we began to share some more personal talking points. We continued to go out in big groups including outings in Awana Resort and trip to Genting with our common friends.
We also went on a trip to Korea during the CNY of 2004 together with Carmen & Temmie. This was when Carmen met her husband Ah Woo whom soon became a new member in our outings together.
Our relationship grew even stronger in the following months and we finally got together as boyfriend-girlfriend on 25 June 2004.
My Proposal...
It was on our 28th month "anniversary" dinner, on 25 October 2006, that I finally got all my acts together to propose to her.
Before that, I spent almost close to two hours at our favourite jewelry boutique choosing the right diamond with the right combination of everything (4C, design, ring etc).
I didn't express my intention to propose to her during the dinner. It was until we were on the way back that I presented her with the proposal ring and she was so surprised to see it, when she accepted my proposal and that was the turning point of our relationship, moving into the next level.
Our Marriage Registration...
Initially we intended to have our marriage registration in conjunction with our 36th month "anniversary", which was supposed to be on Monday 25 June 2007. However, as it was a Monday and we thought we should have it on a weekend for the convenience our family and friends.
Therefore, we decided to hold our marriage registration on Sunday 24 June 2007 in Maha Vihara Buddhist Temple.
Most of our family members from both sides as well as our very best friends attended the function, including Koh Yin & Ah Woo with their baby, Ian & Brenda, Brandon & Temmie, Phoo & Cindy, Stanley & Jessy with both their children, Maggie, Daryl, Eato & Cheryl.
