Irene says...

I had no idea that Malcolm was going to propose to me on the 28th of February, 2012.

We had been joking that I would propose to him on the 29th of February if he still hadn’t done it, but he was one step ahead of me (for a change) and proposed to me while we were in Jeju Island. Even though he had the ring in the bag that I had access to every day, I didn’t suspect a thing!

Just after 10pm on the 28th of February, Malcolm went down on his knee and said, “I would love for you to become my wife.” I couldn’t let him ‘off the hook’ that easily... I replied, “Is there a question in there?” He asked me if I would marry him, and well, I’m sure you can guess what my answer was... a very excited and assuring “Yes!”

I’m extremely honoured and thankful to have Malcs in my life and I’m looking forward to getting married to this wonderful man the Lord has blessed me with. Malcs, you are a great friend, wonderful boyfriend and an amazing fiancé - I love you very much!

Malcolm says...

At the start of 2012 as Irene and I planned to visit my family in Australia for our winter vacation, I thought about how, when, where and all the details of getting down on one knee to ask her to marry me. But nothing seemed romantic enough or right to me. A few weeks before leaving to go to Australia we had dinner with our close friend Fred. He talked about going to Jeju island in late February for his winter vacation and by the end of the dinner conversation we had agreed to go with him once we returned from Australia.

As we talked over dinner I felt that this trip to Jeju was my opportunity to ask Irene to marry me. Firstly, Jeju has always been a special place for Irene and I as this was the first place we visited together as a couple. Secondly, the timing of the trip would be in the last week of February so I would just have enough time to squeeze in a proposal before the leap year. Thirdly, I would have time on my trip to Australia to find the perfect ring for her.

So Irene and I set off to Australia for our vacation 'Down Under'. While there I found a wonderful ring for her and ordered it online, but had it shipped directly to Korea so that she wouldn't suspect a thing. On Valentines Day in Australia we went shopping with my older sister who happened to stop in at a jewellers. While there we looked at different rings through the glass cabinets and luckily she pointed out rings that matched the kind of ring that I had already chosen for her. I knew I was on the right track so far.

When we got back to Korea I had to discreetly hide the ring for a few days in a place she would never look, before we set off on our Jeju trip. While planning the Jeju trip I had decided to pop the question on our last day in Jeju, which was coincidently on February 28th. But to get the ring to Jeju was a challenge as I needed to keep it somewhere hidden. I decided the best thing was to hide it in plain sight in my carry on bag. Luckily, though she looked through the bag a number of times for different things, she never saw the ring box.

For the big day I planned to take a ferry over to Udo (a small island which supposedly has a beautiful white beach, off the east coast of Jeju). I hoped to go for a walk on the beach with her and there ask her to marry me. With our friend Fred there, I thought I would be able to ask him to take a few pics of the two of us on the beach together, and while doing that I would take out the ring and ask the question. Then we would have some pics of the proposal to show others thanks to him.

But on the morning for the big gesture, we woke up to a cold, windy and rainy day. All day it poured with rain and the wind was gusting so strongly that we decided to take a ferry to the island would not be worth it. Instead we drove into Jeju city, watched a movie, spent a few hours at a coffee shop and killed time indoors out of the awful weather. By evening when we returned to our hotel the rain had stopped but it was still blowing a gale and it was quite cold outside.

My plans for a romantic beach proposal were ruined and we would be leaving Jeju early the next morning. I thought I still might have a chance to go for a walk along the beach in front of our hotel that night with Irene and still be able to pop the question on the sand. But with the weather not letting up at all I knew that a suggestion to go for a walk on the beach on a dark, cold and windy night would be laughable. I also thought to wait until first thing in the morning and get up early but it was also risky as the weather was unlikely to change by sunrise and I would have to explain to Irene why we should get up even earlier than we planned the next day.

By 10pm I knew my hopes of any kind of romantic beach proposal had been dashed. Irene was watching TV on her bed in the hotel room. During a commercial break I retrieved the ring box from my carry on bag and then interrupted her 'Iron Man 2' movie to tell her how lucky I was to have her in my life. I think I tried to explain that it wasn't a romantic setting on a hotel room bed in front of the TV but I got down on my knees beside the bed and told her I would love for her to be my wife. After my carefully thought out speech, she looked at me with a mischievous grin and asked, "Is there a question in there?" So I rephrased my question and she willingly said, "Yes!"

I never doubted for a moment that she would say anything but 'Yes' because I think we are meant for each other. Since meeting Irene and getting to know her I feel like a piece of myself that I never had before is suddenly complete. Irene, I'm looking forward to spending each day with you and feeling more and more fulfilled than the day before. Thanks for saying yes and for patiently waiting for me to surprise you unexpectedly. I promise to one day watch the rest of Iron Man 2 with you, uninterrupted.

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