AstroBanana Trilogy Part III

As trilogies go, everything that has a beginning has an end. 

The time has come for E.B. Skywannabe to do what a Jedi Knight must do. And no, messing up sentence structures, it's not about. With a hint of reluctance, he powers up his lightsabre and leaps into the deep abyss...

Not the story you have been waiting for? Oops! What about this one...

It was early March 2008. Eric Banana and Astro Girl had been in a relationship for nearly a year. They were trying to decide where to go for dinner to celebrate their first anniversary (which falls on 23 March) together. Knowing that Astro Girl is not a big fan of fancy expensive restaurants, Eric Banana suggested going to Ma Maison, a restaurant which serves nice, reasonably-priced Japanese Western food, at The Central in Clarke Quay. 

A week or so before the anniversary (read: 14 March 2008), Eric Banana was a troubled man. He could not get to sleep that night as he had suddenly come up with the grand idea of proposing to Astro Girl on their anniversary date. Actually, he did have a very good opportunity when they were in Hong Kong a few weeks ago. AstroBanana went up to Victoria Peak then and took a stroll to a secluded area with a breathtaking night view. But somehow Eric Banana did not pop the question at that time. What a waste! Anyway, after finetuning his proposal idea, he went to get what he needed the next day. He also called to place a reservation for a table at Ma Maison on 23 March 2008.

The day soon arrived. That afternoon, Eric Banana met Astro Girl to watch a Korean movie - Secret Sunshine (密阳) - at The Picturehouse. Technically, Eric Banana could have proposed in the cinema. It would be appropriate too; after all, AstroBanana did meet each other for the first time in a cinema. But Eric Banana resisted the temptation and decided to stick to his original plan.

After the movie, they made their way to The Central. Upon reaching Ma Maison, they were led to a table by the window with a nice view of the river. While Eric Banana did not inform the restaurant of his plan, things somehow worked out his way. AstroBanana's table was in a corner, segregated from the rest of the restaurant. There was only another table next to their table. The candlelit setting was cosy. It was the perfect spot for the proposal.

The moment he sat down, Eric Banana started to look for the right moment to pop the question. He decided to wait till they placed their orders first. Aware that Ma Maison serves the food pretty quickly, Eric Banana eventually opted to wait until they had finished eating as he did not want his proposal to be disrupted halfway. Service was excellent that evening by the way.

Throughout dinner, Eric Banana was pretty nervous. What if Astro Girl said no?! Well, there was always Plan B to fall back on. Eric Banana's Plan B was fairly simple: Clobber Astro Girl on the head with a club and drag her by the feet back to his cave. It was not going to be a pretty sight though.

When they were finally done with dinner, Eric Banana knew he had to slow down the pace a little. He would lose the opportunity to propose the moment they stepped out of the restaurant. Astro Girl said she did not want to have dessert (argh, why not?!) so Eric Banana started weaving his little web of deceit. He pretended to be very full from the dinner and needed to order a cup of hot tea to aid in digestion. Smart right? 

Out of the blue (quite literally), Eric Banana whipped out a lil' blue box and passed it to Astro Girl. Wah, so outright one meh? Well, he told her that he got her a little something as an anniversary present. A curious Astro Girl opened the box and found a Tiffany sterling silver charm bracelet inside.

Anything from Tiffany usually makes a nice present. Astro Girl thanked Eric Banana for the present. He went on to mumble, "You know, some Tiffany charm bracelets have charms on them. Yours doesn't have..."

*short but dramatic pause*

"...which means you probably need this." 

And out of nowhere, Eric Banana pulled out a second lil' blue box. Wah!

Astro Girl was surprised to see the second lil' blue box and had no idea what the impish Eric Banana was up to. When she opened the box, she found a Tiffany sterling silver charm with the words "Marry Me" etched on it. At the same time, Eric Banana asked Astro Girl the timeless question: "Dear, will you marry me?"

There were no flowers. There was no diamond ring. Eric Banana did not go down on one knee. But Astro Girl unexpectedly said yes. (Note: In fact, she thought it was a rather unconventional way of proposing.) Yay! It was the happiest moment in Eric Banana's life (*erm* at least until the next happiest moment arrives.) He added in a somewhat apologetic tone, "Sorry dear, I hope you don't mind but I could not afford a Tiffany ring. I wanted to get you something from Goldheart but you said you rated it in the same category as Taka Jewellery." (Context: They went out the day before and Astro Girl had made that very comment.)

Astro Girl said that she did not mind the fact that Eric Banana did not propose with a ring. As to how much she meant her words - only she knows. AstroBanana went on to talk about diamond rings. For Astro Girl, Taka Jewellery was obviously out. So were Citigems and SK Jewellery. Goldheart was not highly regarded by her either. Astro Girl was leaning towards Soo Kee's Brilliant Rose diamond collection and Lee Hwa's Destinee diamond collection. Eric Banana asked, "What about Tiffany?" (a leading question obviously) Astro Girl replied, "Nice but overpriced. Not worth spending so much money on." At that very moment, Eric Banana pulled out a third lil' blue box from nowhere and commented, "Hmmm, that means you are probably not going to like this..."

And inside the third box was a Lucida diamond ring from Tiffany. Astro Girl was elated to see the ring because Eric Banana had led her to believe that there was no ring. Guess Astro Girl was somewhat relieved that Eric Banana was not such a cheapskate after all. But her instincts soon kicked in and she felt 心疼 (read: heartache) that Eric Banana had spent so much money on a ring :|

Actually, Astro Girl had already considered the possibility of Eric Banana proposing on that day so it was not a total surprise. Astro Girl asked Eric Banana a really odd question after the proposal though: "Did you make some arrangement with the restaurant?" A puzzled Eric Banana said no. Astro Girl followed up with "Then why was the waitress so friendly to you the whole evening?" UH-OH. Eric Banana detected the tension in the air (jealousy?) and tried to defuse the situation by replying, "Oh. Really? I didn't notice. I was too preoccupied with getting the order of the boxes right. Where got time to notice anything else?" Phew.

That was how Eric Banana won Astro Girl's hand in marriage.

The end? Not yet...

... and they lived happily ever after. 

The End.