24th March 2007

Erin is such a fun-loving person. Fun and games are really essential elements in her life… So what better way to propose to her than to play a game!

The name of the game is “Scavenger Hunt down Memory Lane”. Erin was given clues to the next destination where she would find more clues to the next…and so on… There were many many stations, 12 in all, where she would be reminded of the moments that Thomas and Erin had spent together. To make things simple for her (and for Thomas of course), the clues were planted in the Marina Square and Suntec City area.

How did Thomas conduct the game then? Well, he had to first plant the clues (with the help of his great sister, Michelle) a day before the proposal. Don’t you think this was easy… Thomas had to sheepishly plant it without getting too much attention, yet be concerned with the possibility of cleaning aunties clearing them away! All embarrassing scenes were caught in video by the way, thanks to his ‘wonderful’ sister... :)

On the day itself, Thomas had sent Erin to Temasek Polytechnic as she had some experiments to run. With the afternoon free, Thomas quickly collected the 99 rose bouquet he had ordered earlier, and rushed to the area where the game would be conducted to check on all the clues, just in case some itchy fingers removed them. When all were in place, he went to pick Erin and brought her to Marina Square. There, he insisted on getting a bottle of water each (just so that Erin won’t go dehydrated in the process…). That’s the closest thing, one could get, to a “water parade” before a deployment… After buying the drink, Thomas passed her the bag he was holding and claimed he was urgent and needed the loo. He then rushed off to get his videocam, got back, found a secure hiding spot and sms her to open the bag he had passed her earlier on, which had actually carried the instructions to the game!

And there she went, all excited about playing the game. She walked from station to station so quickly, Thomas had to chase after and yet be careful enough not to let her discover him, as the game should be completed by Erin herself. Why then did Erin not sense that this could be a plot for a proposal? Well, Thomas had actually wrote in the instructions that the game was to spice up her life a bit, amidst all the work and stress. Erin took that reason without question.

Erin breezed through stations after stations. Thomas got worried. This was because he had to go prepare himself for the last station. "No time to follow her and videocam then." He rushed to prepare himself and brought the huge bouquet, videocam, tripod and ring to the final station, the Esplanade Bridge. There, he set up everything and waited for Erin to turn up. Many passerbys gave their curious looks, which Thomas had to brace himself against...

Finally Erin came. Thomas congratulated her on completing the hunt, sang her a self-composed song, and knelt down with the bouquet and ring. He proposed to her and she said yes with tears of happiness. They hugged. Many gave “sounds” of blessing as they walked past which were all recorded in the videocam, which was set to record the whole process.

The night ended with tears of joy and bliss. And of course, a nice dinner at San Marco at the Lighthouse (Fullerton Hotel).