Operation Happily Ever After - The Amazin gRace debrief

By Her Imperial Majesty's decree, here's the debrief from the male perspective.

How it originated:
I have been googling and youtubing around for ages, seeking inspirations from the myriad of "Perfect Proposal"s and "THE Most Amazing Proposal"s. Alas, many of them fall painfully short of expectations. I wouldn't dare to imagine the look on Grace's face when she sees me emerging from a paper box/rubbish bin at her door with a bouquet in one hand and a ring box in the other.

I thought my big break came when I chanced upon this astounding proposal at Disneyland CA on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpojZ0COU3Y
It was nearly perfect - the venue, the atmosphere, the songs - everything so dreamy and Disney-ish that it would doubtlessly leave an engraving 10 feet deep in Grace's mind. My only lingering doubt was that it was too perfect, too smooth, too "professional", almost like a mini musical on its own with perfect lighting and sound system. And after some googling, it turned out to be a staged promotional gimmick indeed - the "Erika" has a different boyfriend in real life, and the "John" is gay. Boo.
http://jezebel.com/5304650/disneyland-musical-marriage-proposal-magical--romantic-or-lamest-scam-ever

But it did sort of confirm my original intention to do it in Disneyland - or at the very least, END it in Disneyland. Grace is every bit a Disney girl, able to sing just about every Disney song ever released and recall every character ever appeared. And Tokyo Disneyland has a special significance to the two of us, being the themepark that we visited twice during our three Japan trips. With a little help from Disneyland, I was confident that my proposal would not pale too sharply in contrast from the staged one mentioned above.

I called Tokyo Disneyland, and spoke to the customer service representative at great length. To my disappointment, they did not accede to ANY of my requests. First I asked to be included in a musical or performance, and assured them that I won't sing out of tune by demonstrating with two lines from Enchanted. The poor guy politely rejected in a quavering voice. Then, I asked if it'd be possible for me to be a stand-in for some nameless characters during their parades - you know, those toy soldiers/weird animals that nobody really pays much attention to. Again, no. At last, desperate, I asked if there was ANYTHING that their staff could do to help me out - passing some flowers to her perhaps, or hiding some props for me before I pop the question. I offered to pay for such services if rendered. The Jap guy was hesitant in his English but adamant in his reply - NO. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Disneyland Tokyo is owned and run by the japanese Oriental Land Company rather than Walt Disney itself.

In contrast, the Californian Disneyland rejected the first two requests but promised that its helpers would gladly assist in most fashions "in line with park guidelines", on an individual basis. Alas, Disneyland CA has no special significance to us, even though I would be in LA for Marshall in Feb. Also, I wanted to settle this around our 5th year Official Anniversary (or 5.5th unofficially). Hence, I was back to square one again.

The notion of the Amazing Race struck me as a divine inspiration out of the blue one day. It seemed so apt, since Grace has been wanting to do it for ages; and the letters can be rearranged to read "Amazin Grace". Symbolically, it will let her relive her experience going through life alone, something that she has not experienced for the past 5 years as we have been virtually inseparable, especially during tours. At the end of the race, when the century-old question surfaces, her decision would be especially meaningful - to continue racing through life alone, or to join me as a team and face the challenges ahead together for the rest of our lives.

And hence the planning and preparations began.



How it materialized:
I had immense trouble getting tickets for ANA or JAL, both of which were airlines that Grace had yearned for, since it was going to be the Chinese New Year period then and many airlines were fully booked for the return leg (13th Feb, New Year's Eve. Our parents would strangle me if I make us both miss the reunion dinners). Finally I managed to snatch the last two tickets on JAL from zuji.com (They were OOS for a few days, but resurfaced probably due to cancellations, and OOS again after I bought them). The price was anything but friendly, with the bill coming up to over 1.5k, substantially more than what we typically pay for on Thai or China Eastern. And I couldn't leave until 9th Feb as I had a presentation on that day. In the aftermath, Grace couldn't stop complaining about me paying so much for a mere 4-day trip. But it was worth every penny in retrospect :)

I wouldn't want to bore you with the details that went into the preparation process, so I'll try to keep this brief. The original plan was much more elaborate than the final version, with a two-day race and many physically demanding tasks such as:

Ramen making - to say that Grace loves Ramen is an understatement, so I figured it'd be memorable for her to step into the shoes of the ramen chefs and get her hands on making some noodles. Alas, the plan backfired when none of the famous ramen shops that we've been to accepted my request, citing reasons from "never done it before" and "tencho wouldn't agree", to their dedication to their trade which wouldn't allow them to make such exceptions.

Unagi roasting - Yet another one of Grace's favourites, and she was fascinated by the Wolverine-like "claws" that the chefs use to roast Unagis at Nagoya. For reasons similar to those above, no restaurant budged. I wonder if they were concerned about keeping their trade secrets.

Pottery making - For this I had no trouble getting offers for help, some free and some at a price. Eventually I scraped the idea for fear of time overruns (just in case the Japanese master craftsman is too meticulous about standards and takes a vernier caliper for measurements, Grace wouldn't be out of the place until after sunset - and I wouldn't be able to spot her in the dark then).

Sake brewing, or rather rice-smashing - we saw this last year during a visit to a sake brewery. Plan abandoned due to time constraint - getting to Kansai and back is insane for a 4 day trip.

There are also other plans like Pachinko (scraped last-minute due to security concerns), baseball (scraped after failing to find a suitable venue and helper), watching sumo wrestling (scraped after timing clashes), kimono-changing (scraped as we have done it before, and Tokyo is just too modern for kimonos), find-the-vending-machine-that-sells-fresh-popcorns (scraped after fears of difficulty in locating it), etc etc. The final list of tasks was much more practical and executable (For the Snuggle Or Struggle detour, it was initially meant to be a Road Block with Struggle only. Why am I so soft-hearted? +_+"). Guess I'm too risk-averse to let her try the real deal :P

Getting the clues out was yet another major headache. I cross-referenced with many websites and forums for the most realistic-looking templates, eventually finding a forum that had a few images of real, used Amazing Race clue cards and based my version on that. I'm not exactly adept at Photoshop, so it was quite an arduous process to get everything out - all the different clue cards, team cards, envelops, etc, and several versions of them before finalizing on what I felt was the most appropriate. I also created an information sheet with Grace's name, picture and a rough description of my intentions and the task that she has to perform before receiving the next clue, just so as to ensure that the local helpers would recognize her instead of passing the envelope to the wrong person.

Initial plan was to print everything out in color and then stick the card front (with logos like Route Info, Detour, Road Block, etc) with the card back (with the clue details), but I figured that it wouldn't look very realistic and eventually handed the softcopy over to a professional printing shop at Peninsula Plaza and had them do it. For the envelops and all those cards, total cost was around 50. Mini ouch but it aint nothing compared to the air tickets, so it wasn't remotely as painful :D



How it went:
For this part you can largely rely on Grace's detailed account. I will try not to recount how dense Grace was in failing to notice that big, bright yellow envelope in plain sight :P

Convincing Grace's parents to let her go barely a day before departure was a huge risk - I had to keep the surprise under cover or it won't be a surprise no more - but it was much easier than I thought. Her mother agreed without much persuasion, though she did press for more details like WHERE we were going. I promised her I'd give her a detailed account once I'm back, but she pressed again the next evening prior to departure, and I relented but begged her to keep it secret.

Execution-wise, I did my fair share of sprinting to and fro, always ahead of her to ensure all stations were in order and always trying to keep an eye on her. Two major disappointments were:
(1) Narita Tourist Information Centre, which I had called previously to confirm that they would be able to assist me in passing the next Road Block envelope to Grace. Alas, when we touched down, I realized to my dismay that the counter was not open yet. We reached too early. And the staff at the Narita AIRPORT information counter next to it refused to cooperate. I had no choice but to wait for Grace to show up and hand over the clue myself, instead of racing ahead to set up the next station.
(2) Tokyo Disney Resort Information Centre, which I had also phoned in to check previously. But for some reason (maybe I looked too suspicious? +_+") the lady at the customer service counter would only oblige if Grace were to reach in 5 minutes, something that I cannot ascertain as her mobile roaming was NOT activated according to plan. Once again, I had to stand at the Maihama station entrance to wait for her.

Slight disappointments include getting spotted twice (once at Uguisudani station while waiting for train, once near Disneyland entrance while trying to observe Grace yet remain invisible), and Grace purchasing the 3rd most popular cake at Takano instead of the #1 cake that she has been craving for (I should have set the minimum purchase amount to 2000 Yen instead). And of course, at the final leg, Grace ending her silent wish prematurely (it was supposed to last over 30 seconds, something I specified in the clues, but she finished it in less than half the time. Hmph...should I disqualify her? ^^").



How it ended:
I had prepared a mini speech mentally prior to the definitive moment, but it all vaporized the moment our eyes met. I managed to squeeze out a few Phil lines initially, but once I'm on my knees, my voice was trembling, my mind was blank, and my chest was brimming with so much emotions that I found it hard to breathe. The culmination of 5.5 years, 2009 days of friendship, companionship, trust and love, the sheer magnitude of the sudden realization of the significance of that moment, the impact of gazing upon those very eyes that drew me in and make me lose myself hopelessly back in our JC days, blurred my vision. Whatever I said during those moments, it was unrehearsed, pure and straight from the bottom of my heart. I cannot recall much in retrospect, but I do remember distinctly that I made a promise, a promise that I vow to keep as long as I shall live.

Here's to Happily Ever After :)