It's all about the Ring... Diamonds are a girl's best friend.... bling bling!

I must say that when i was younger, I really am not a big fan of diamonds and I do not see the big fuss of it. I was like telling myself that I would rather use the money on something else other than a diamond but here I am now... obsessing over my proposal ring.

When I was 21, my mom gave me her diamond. It was initially a diamond ring but she removed it and made it into a heart shaped pendant for me. She asked me what I wanted for my 21st birthday and I have no freaking idea as all I wanted was to spend time with my friends and that made me happy.

I could have asked for money but come to think of it, I am glad that I did not as the money can be easily earned back but the gift from my mom will last forever *singing diamonds are forever.. forever..*

Well actually when I got it from my mom since my 21st birthday, never have I wore it once. I was scared to lose it and kinda wasn't really into it at that time and I still never got to taking it out to wear it yet.

Before dada proposed to me, he did sort of ask me what kind of diamonds do I like. Well all along I fancy a princess cut diamond or even a heart shaped ones but I decided against it and think a solitaire suits better. At that point of time, I knew nothing about diamonds and not even sure what's good in the market and where can we purchase it except for places like lee hwa, soo kee and the usual stores we see in the mall. I have always heard of the lovely blue box that make most girls' knees go weak but never really dared to walk into the shop to take a look at them.

We sort of looked around for what type of setting I fancy but its the same classic kind that draws me over. Dada brought me to some places to see e.g. gold heart, Tiffany, Larry Jewellery, Charlotte de Atelier and some other places I can't recall. At times I was getting tired as I do not know what I like and we were planning on getting married anytime soon yet so I just go along but was quite sure my taste will change when time passes by. I have seasonal preference haha..

I must say I am pretty impress by dada as he really made an effort to find out about diamonds, what to look out for and how to choose the perfect one for me. He wanted the best, but its the best out of the best for me. I read somewhere online that this guy posted that he went into Tiffany & Co or was it Larry's I can't recall, to buy a proposal ring for his girlfriend and he said that as long as it is Tiffany's its good. Personally if dada is like this, I will be very disappointed as I feel it's as if the guy's lazy and is taking the easy way out.

And how did i know that dada did not take the easy way out? It's cause I know he has been emailing the New York Tiffany headquarters to provide him with the specific specs of each diamond that he shortlisted. He showed them to me and I was very touched as I see the effort that he has put in, ensuring that I have the best cut and proportion so that my diamond is mad shiny.

What made it special? Dada requested for the ring to be shipped from the States so that he can buy it for me. *P.S requesting for sending from the States does not incur additional cost - Thank god!* And why it's so special its cause my dada is not a big boss, a big shot or someone who comes from a rich or well to do family. He comes from a humble background and cause he loves me, he save and save so that he can buy me something that he wants for me.

I know a lot of people wonder why did he spend so much and that it is a waste of money or whatever but seriously I don't really give a shit as to what they think cause it's mine and I love it! I think seriously that's what dada wants to, that his little princess is happy.. Though I feel his wallet is not that happy haha.. well start to save again lo.

I love the way it looks on my finger and loves the Oohing and Aahing from others who sees it. Most importantly I love it that it is from dada and I will treasure it.

Now say you are a guy and you want your girl to marry you. Please at least prepare a decent proposal as you are asking the girl of our dreams to spend the rest of her life with you. At least have some decency to do something for her. I have to say if dada ever used the typical "Let's get a HDB" reason to ask me to marry him. I may have or will beat him upside down haha. It doesn't have to be something fancy. Some girls prefer the private and quiet way. But please.. at least something ok..

To select the perfect diamond ring, most importantly is the 4Cs.

- Cut
- Clarity
- Colours
- Carat

Well different people will treat each C with different importance. Some may treat all with equal importance.

For cut, I personally feel that this is very important as it will play a big part in how brilliant your diamond will shine. A normal cut should have 58 facets for a round standard diamond. The crown angel and the pavillion angel must be of a certain proportion so that it will look good. I believe dada told me before that there is a calculator online (from GIA?) to tell you how your diamond fare when you enter in the different Angles and Proportion of your diamond. That's what he did as a basic check before he bought mine too so as to have another assurance and a piece of mine. The Polish and Symmetry plays a huge part as well as all these will affect the grading of your diamond. My personally recommendation of course will be a triple excellent piece for polish, symmetry and proportions but! A very good rating works pretty fine too.

For clarity, it ranges from Flawless to Included. The closer the clarity gets to being flawless, the more expensive the diamond. The order of the clarity goes like this

1) FL - Flawless
2) IF - Internally Flawless
3) VVS1, VVS2 - Very Very Slightly Included
4) VS1, VS2 - Very Slightly Included
5) SI1, SI2 - Slightly Included
6) I1, I2, I3 - Included

Based on what I know, a VS2 and above is good enough as the inclusions can't really be seen with the naked eye so if you want a bigger rock but not sure where to trim the fat, this maybe a good place to look into.

For Colours, it does not start with A or B but it starts from D to Z. What I am refering here is a pure white diamond. Of course if yours is a yellow or pink one, that I have to say I do not know how to tell hehehe... How are the colours differentiated? The diamond graders just place the diamonds with their pavilion up (bottoms up hehe), and examine them using white light against a white background.
The colour of the diamonds are then compared to the calibration diamonds provided by grading labs. The DEF colours are usually knows as the colourless range, the GHI will be the near colourless range while K-M are faintly tinted and so on. Please take note of the fluorescence of the diamond as well as usually from what I know, they should be stated as none. The higher the fluorescence, the more it affects the value of the diamond... in a bad way that is..

Lastly!!! its the Carat! This I have nothing to say cause it all depends on the budget and the suitability of the diamond for the girl. Most importantly it is the heart that counts coming from the guy.

But be sure at least to sound out the girl what kinda ring they might fancy otherwise they are going to be stuck with it for the rest of their lifes so at least get something they might like. Get help from her family or friends and I am sure there will be people willing to help on this.

Branding plays a big part as well I guess. Of course if it's a designer brand, get ready to pay more. Please ensure to check on the after service. Some places only offer a one time polishing service and that's it. Others will provide lifetime cleaning services to you.

Not forgetting please ensure that your diamond is certified by a reputable lab. Certs from AGS, GIA are the more commonly known ones. Tiffany and Co has their own personal lab to grade their diamonds whereas for Larry Lazare diamonds, on top of the GIA cert, they have another in house cert to ensure that it is indeed under strict grading by Lazare themselves as well.

All these little information as passed on to me from dada and I am very happy he shared with me the journey he had to find the perfect ring for me.

You all can go to the following website for more information for diamond ring:

http://www.proposalring.com/
http://www.pricescope.com/
http://www.diamondring.com/

Thank you dear once again and your princess loves you.

:)

Up next, I will blog more on my wedding bands! Stay tune!

The big day!

Well I am engaged!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! *gives the girly high pitch scream and starts jumping around.*

This is definitely not what I expected I swear as I thought it is not going to happen till like a few months later.

Come to think of it I want to laugh.. a few days prior to the proposal, Mathilda, Elaine and a few other girls were like asking me on separate occasions when will Ron propose to me and they are suspecting its soon!

I brushed off the idea as the day before the proposal, I told Ron that a few of my girlfriends have been asking me about it and that I am suspecting its on my birthday! Haha I am always playing around with my words to trick him out of saying something.

He told me that if I want a proposal anytime soon, it will just be a “any-o-how” kinda thing and that I will be sooooo not impressed.

So I was like ok loh! As I did not want it to be a “Want to buy HDB not” moment as its damn corny la. So not romantic at all!

So here’s the lovely story on what happened that faithful day:

4th July 2009 - Saturday

We woke up at around noon and I was very tired as we want for supper the night before. I was nagging at dada what could be so important to Zhen Hui and Sharon that they are not free to celebrate my birthday with me today.

Sharon told me on Monday that she wasn’t able to make it on Saturday as she had something on and wanted me to celebrate on Sunday with her. I was like what to do! I want my girlfriends and my dada to celebrate with me as that is the most important thing to me.

So I have no choice but to say ok (though quite reluctantly but haha :P)

So dada said why not we go for our dinner just the 2 of us and I just let him plan the whole thing himself.

He suggested Oosh Restaurant in Dempsey which is somewhere we wanted to go but have not been. Our reservation was at 7.30pm and since it was still early, dada suggested we take a walk in the Botanical Gardens instead.

We only covered a small area as it was simply too big and was just busy snapping pictures away hehe.


Me at the entrance!


I love this signage not sure why haha


The map so that I will not get lost!




Taken from Swan Lake






Due to the high heels that I have worn, my feet were so tired that I suggested that we go to the restaurant first.

We took a cab there (wasted $5 as it was so near only but its ok cause leg pain haha) and when I reached there, the waiter told me to wait for a while as they need to go see if the table was set properly.

I was telling dada that the place don’t seem to be crowded so why must be so troublesome still need to wait.

It seems so ATAS to me I told him that maybe we should change location cause it seems expensive. But he reassured me as he said it is my birthday so we can have something better.

I looked around the place and find the ambience quite romantic and was pretty excited. The waiter then guided us to our table and showed us the menu.

It was just a small table, enough for 2, with a candle lit in the middle and was pretty impress as it was kinda romantic.

As I was browsing through the menu, someone actually tapped me from behind and screamed “SURPRISE!!!”

I was like “WHAT THE!!” haha and I saw Sharon, Zhenhui, Ade and Jennifer behind me!


I was very happy as I was like telling them that I was thinking what could be more important to them than celebrating my birthday this weekend hahahahaa!

I was then guided to a bigger table with the surroundings decorated with the “Happy Birthday” sign as well as heart shaped balloons!



We were laughing away and trying to gather up to take pictures as well as order our food. The Portobello mushrooms are delicious! I simply love it! They ordered the oysters but were pretty disappointed as they thought that it was raw but it was baked with garlic and I think cheese. Still! I thought it tasted horrible! Haha Kaixin (my sis) came to join us as well and I was sooooo happy!


From left to right: Zhenhui, Jen, Ade


From left to right: Top: Kx, me, Sharon. Bottom: Zh, Jen, Ade







After our order was taken, someone tapped me from behind AGAIN and give me a big bouquet of flowers with a dish covered with a lid from.. They told me it is my birthday cake and I was still digesting that information in my mind.. (Slow yea i know haha). Anyway they were rushing me and quickly sang the birthday song and yet in my mind I was like WTH! Where’s my candles and why are they singing so fast? I wasn’t fast enough to react and I was like huh.. Ok cake... ok open up the lid.. And in the lid lay a pretty blue box that simply melt my heart...

Dear and I went ring shopping before like half a year back cause he wanted to know what kinda designs I like and as you know... picky me.. I am very particular about things haha! So I told him I like Goldheart (cause Ailin’s ring is so nice la), Larry Lazare (due to the many reviews that it is v bling!!) and last but not least Tiffany. As much as I like Tiffany, I know its blardy ex la so I tell him whatever he buys for me I will like it! So the rest was up to him... but deep in my heart I was praying that Tiffany be mine!!!!

So back to the proposal! After I saw the box, dear took it and started to adjust his chair so that he can kneel down... I never expect him to do this.. to kneel down that is but he did! He said a few words to me.. (Dun wan to tell you what haha) and I can see tears in his eyes.. (so sweet) I know he sincerely meant it and I love him so much so I said yes! Of course la!!! Haha

I love my ring la!! So big!! So happy!!! But at that time i was still WTH just happened and I did not take it in all.. So shocked and surprised.. I did not cry (not the sort who cry in front of others and I think none of my friends ever saw me cry before!! Not even my besties). Sharon did a nice and lovely Proposal Cert for us! I love it!




My Engagement Ring!!




The pictures does not do any justice to my ring at all! It's very sparkly.


The cert unsigned!


We penned down our signature!

They have gotten it videoed:



Zhenhui then told me she have a surprise for me and then asked me over to another place in the restaurant where I can see a live band perform. She told me she made a special arrangement and the live band sang a birthday song to me.. It was ooh so sweet! So nice le!

After the song, the band asked if I want to join them for a song and I was like what the? I wasn’t even prepared and I am sure I can’t think of any song to sing right then haha so we went back to the table.

The waiter then called me back to the same place as the band wanted to dedicate another song to me.. It was a slow piece I think by John Mayer and dada was with me.. So I talked to him.. Just the 2 of us.. And asked him how long he took to prepare and how did he do it.. He then spills it all to me and it was then I cried. I cried cause I was touched by what he did, by how much he may spent on my ring cause I was shocked when he told me the size, by how much my friends have done for me to make this a special day. On Wednesday, dada bluff me say he was going out with his guy friends for a game of billard but in actual fact he met Zhenhui to recee Dempsey to find a nice place. Zhenhui actually drove him there and went with him to scout the place.. And during lunch time, Zhenhui, Sharon and him met up too to plan on the whole thing.. I will get him to blog from his side of the story as well haha..

The thing about dada is he knows that I will get suspicious and will do silly things.. Dada knows that I may check up on him and he actually got Zhenhui to keep my ring so that she can bring it on the actual day. Truth is that on Friday, I got suspicious as I wondered why the girls cannot meet me! I was still v annoyed with it haha. I was looking around dada’s bag to see if got anything special or something but of course I did not find anything. I think dada did tell Zhenhui that I will search his bag or something for clues and I am guilty as charged lol. I found nothing! And I suspect nothing! That is what made it more shocking for me!
But of course I dried my tears before I do back to my table and Zhenhui then ask me why we never slow dance -.-“

We had our dinner and it was lovely.. and we took ooh so many pictures...


Yummy Portobello!






















After that we approached to PS Cafe to have Desserts!! Yummy! It was a long wait though as they do not take in advance reservation. Then came Shengwei, Patrick, Tingfeng, Wanyi and Gordon.
















Sharon with her hungry face haha

We ordered so many desserts and fries! So full I nearly vomit!








My flowers smell lovely!!! So big the bouquet and I love it!





Sharon wanted to perform a magic trick and we got Gordon to bring a stack of card. Please see video below as it was hilarious. Her and her silly tricks as usual.



It was one of the most memoriable day of my life!


I'm engaged!!

Thanks to dada and all my friends to create this lovely birthday/proposal for me.

Thank you dada for everything!! I love you and my birthday present too!


Lovely e-ring with tiffany charm bracelet!

Thank you Zhenhui for bringing Ron to source for a lovely place as well as help him keep the ring, collect the flowers, go buy the deco..

Thanks Sharon for buying the deco and plan it all (Ron told me it was you who messaged him to ask if U guys should plan a surprise for me!) I know it’s not easy to carry the balloons and walk around in Bugis!

Thanks Jennifer, Ade, Kaixin, Tingfeng, Shengwei, Patrick, Wanyi and Gordon for coming!!

Thank you Jen, Ade, Sharon, Zh, Mich and Neng for the speakers to match my lappy!



Thank you meimei for the dior gloss! I love it!



Thank you to all from ML for my lovely Precious momeny figurine!! and Su Anne for the lovely earrings! (pictures not up yet)

I love you all!

Dada has proposed to me!!!

What a thoughtful and sweet gesture!

Fancy roping in all my girls to help as well!!

I am so touched!!

I cried but i did not cry in front of my friends cause I am usually a tough girl and I don't think my friends have ever seen me cry before...

But i did cry when i was alone with dada

not forgetting that I actually had my eyelashes on so I have to be careful as well!!

It was definitely an unforgetable day for me!!

I will blog down the whole event and will get dada to blog from his POV as well hehe..

Need to wait for all the pictures to be ready before i start.. wait not here not there!

Happy birthday to me!!

Really v v happy!!

I love you dear!!!

I love you girls too~~