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A couple of weeks before the
proposal day, I decided that I would make her a sushi dinner
with a special menu. A long time ago, I worked as a sushi
chef for many (seven) years. I had never made sushi outside
of the restaurant. But Vivian loves sushi, and I knew I
could make all of her favorites better than any restaurant.
Also, I had never prepared ANY kind of meal for her, and I
thought she would appreciate the role reversal. I then
started to work on the menu and researching local fish
distributors.
A week prior,
I bought all of the non-perishable items that I needed to
set up the dinner. On the day of the proposal, I
got everything else: assorted fish, quail eggs, foie
gras, black truffles, dessert, and lots of roses.
Six hours before I expected
her to be home, I started preparing the sushi rice and
setting up the sushi bar.
Sixty seconds before she walked
in, everything was set up, and I was ready to surprise her
at the door. |
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It was a typical Friday at
work, and I couldn't wait to go home and start the weekend.
I was looking forward to a relaxing night, but Phil called
and told me about all of the errands we needed to run right
after work. So I rushed home. And when I got there ... his
car wasn't even there! I thought he had tried to sneak in a
Brazilian jiu-jitsu session and was running late.
 I opened the front door, and
I was greeted with a pleasant surprise! The room was lit up
by endless candles, and the fireplace was crackling. A big
bouquet of fresh roses sat on the counter. Our favorite slow
songs were playing in the background. And Phil was standing
in the middle of the room, in full sushi-man uniform. He
smiled, handed me a hot towel, and said, "Welcome to BebeSushi" ("Bebe" is our nickname for each other.)
I then noticed that he had
converted the kitchen counter area into a sushi bar, and he
sat me down on the single barstool at the bar. There was an
elegant place setting, topped off with a custom-printed,
8-course prix-fixe menu.
(Click the image to the right for a PDF of
the menu.) |
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When she asked me what the
special occasion was, I told her it was for her birthday,
because I didn't want her to catch on that I was about to
propose.
I poured her a glass of her
favorite sake, set out a bowl of edamame, and I started to get to work. |
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Although many of the menu
items were familiar, because they were my favorites, Phil
put his own twist on each one, and came up with a unique
name.
The first item was "Imma
Be." This is one of our favorite Black Eyed Peas songs,
because my family calls me "Ah-Bee." So Phil makes me sing
this song whenever it comes on, because it sounds like "I'm
Ah-Bee." |
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As a further play on words,
this dish was the Ama Ebi (Japanese sweet shrimp). If you
say "Ama Ebi" quickly, it sounds like "Imma Be." |
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 The next item was the "La
Folie Roll." We celebrated our 8-month anniversary at La
Folie restaurant, and two of the most memorable dishes we
ate there were their fresh salmon lollipops and duck foie
gras. This roll featured both fresh salmon and duck foie
gras.
 We celebrated our 6-month
anniversary in Maui last October. So the next roll was the
"October Roll," which was an homage to some of our
favorite meals in Maui. The roll included ahi tuna,
pineapple slivers, and crushed macadamia nuts.
 Next was the "Valentine's
Roll." We spent our first Valentine's together at Coi
restaurant, and I loved the Dungeness crab soup and mushroom
risotto. So this roll included both Dungeness crab and
black truffle mushrooms. |
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 Vivian likes her spicy
scallops handrolls, but very mild. So the next course was
"Extra Mild Spicy Scallops."
(Click on thumbnails for larger
pics of the food.) |
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 I thought the next one was
the most creative: "You and I." Uni is one of our
usuals, and I LOVE fresh uni. But of all the times that
we've ordered it, I never thought of the way that it's
spelled: U-N-I. What a clever guy! |
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 "OVO" was the next
dish, named after the Cirque du Soleil show that we recently
saw together. "Ovo" is Latin for "egg," and the dish was
tobiko (fish eggs) topped with uzura (quail eggs). |
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I was able to figure out the
meanings behind each of the dishes except for the last one:
Ultimate Triple "Carrot" Delight. I assumed this
was a carrot cake dessert. But "carrot" had quotes around
it, and Phil likes his play on words. I thought MAYBE this
was a carrot cake with a ring on it?? Was he going to
propose to me tonight??? |
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I then asked her if she
could find the hidden message inside the menu. |
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Hidden message? I flipped
the menu over to see if anything was written on the back.
Nope. I then stared more closely at the menu names, and
everything was aligned vertically. The first letters of the menu items spelled
out: "I L-O-V-E Y-O-U"
Awwww! |
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 I served dessert, a
Chocolate Decadence cake and a Strawberry Mouse cake from Draeger's. We moved to
the living room, and ate dessert sitting
on foot stools. I was going to be on bended knee soon, and
it would be awkward to have her high up on a barstool while
I was proposing. |
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Over dessert, he started
talking about our next steps together as a couple. He
suggested that we go ring shopping together in the coming
weeks. I was starting to fill with joy just at the thought
that he wanted to buy a ring!
Then he said "... Or you can
accept this one for now," while dropping to one knee. He
reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring box with a huge
diamond!
I was absolutely stunned and
speechless when I saw it!
Tears slowly started to roll
down my cheeks. Phil continued to speak, and I was trying to
catch the words coming out of his mouth ... but the ring was
so stunning that I couldn't hear a single word that he said. |
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I originally thought I was
going to man through it without crying. But seeing her
reaction broke me down. I started to cry as well, but I knew
I had to muscle through the proposal. |
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I gathered myself to focus
back on Phil and our moment. Happy tears continued to stream
down my cheeks. I looked at Phil, and started to hear his
words, expressing his feelings and how he sees our future
together.
But seeing
tears roll down his cheeks made me cry even more. |
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I knew I was going to become
a mumbling, teary mess pretty soon, so I had to say those
words before I lost all motor skills. I barely managed to get it
out:
"Vivian
Chu ... Will you marry
me?" |
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All I could do was nod. But
I realized that I needed to say "yes."
So I swallowed hard, finally
found my voice, and said "YES!"
When he put the ring on my
finger, I felt like the happiest girl ever.
We hugged, while sharing a
joyous cry together. He managed to continue whispering into
my ear while we were hugging, but all I could do was nod
along. I still couldn't really hear what he was saying,
because I was crying too hard, but I knew he was saying
something nice and good. So I was just nodding to
everything. I was so overwhelmed with emotions. |
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I told her that everything
in my life suddenly made sense when I met her. That every
fight with every ex, every previous heart-ache, every
struggle I dealt with ... was to make me into a better
person, and to fully appreciate her. I then promised that I
would always be there for her. |
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That night, I saw a different
side of
Phil Yeh. He looked different to me.
I saw him as my fiance and
soon-to-be husband. And I couldn't be
happier.
That night, I couldn't sleep
a wink. I was so overwhelmed with joy and the excitement of
this new chapter of our lives.
But Phil slept like a pig.
Probably from all the previous planning and hard work. He
just needed a good night of rest now. |
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And that's it! That's
the proposal story! |
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The End! |
