(Wedding) Proposal—The Moment

It was the second day of our trip in Batanes.  The scenery during our first day was great but there were lots of tourists with us and I really didn't want a public proposal.  Waiting for the right moment in a 3-day trip is torture, I almost proposed in our hotel room just to get it over with, good thing I didn't.  I thought, "sayang naman ang Batanes kung hindi gagamitin".

Our second day didn't go exactly as planned either, our boat ride to Sabtang didn't push through because of rough waters due to typhoon Vongfong so we just went on our day 3 tour.

Location 1: Honesty Coffee Shop

Love wore the "Vakul" and I wore the "Talugong". Crista, (our tour guide/photographer) told us that some Ivatans wear these in their weddings. I was thinking about proposing right then and there but it just wasn't the right feeling.

Location 2: Oldest Ivatan House

OK I wasn't really thinking about proposing here but the "harana" shot got me thinking. Good thing I didn't, the lighting was not good and Love was wearing her cap.

Location 3: Roadside Beach

We just stopped by this beach along the road.  We were alone and the view was great.  I was really thinking about proposing right there but I thought that if I was going to propose on a beach I should have gone to Dakak or Caramoan.  It was a close stoppage.

Location 4: Tayid Lighthouse
I saw the lighthouse in a painting in our hotel, it's in the middle of the hills and there were no other tourists aside from us.  This is it 100% go!

While Love was admiring the view, I pulled out the ring box from my satchel. She gave her phone to Crista for our site-to-site pictorial and she headed to the lighthouse.  As I passed Crista, I whispered to her, "kuha ka lang ng kuha".  She didn't answer but I guess she knew what to do (best tour guide ever).  Then I approached Love in front of the lighthouse.

Me: I Love you!
Love: I Love you too.
Me: May ipapakita ako sa'yo
Then I opened the box
Love: Ano yan!!!  (and then some words in her panicky voice I can't really remember anymore) 
I started to kneel
Love: (more panic)
Me: Will you marry me?
Love: sigurado ka na ba? (while panicking and crying) 8 months palang tayo ano ka ba?
I just continued to smile.
Love: (after what seemed to be a long, long pause) Yes!
Whew!  Success!
Me: Antagal mo naman sumagot.

I placed the ring on her finger and it was a perfect fit (the estimation technique worked).  She said she loved it.

After more crying and hugging, she asked me if our parents knew, then I showed her our dinner picture when I asked for their permission.

Then we looked at the pictures Crista took.  She was a natural.  She was teary-eyed also.

We then talked about how I planned the proposal while Crista still took our pictures.

When we return to Batanes, I plan on buying a nice painting of the Tayid Lighthouse for our home. Our best memory so far.