Our Love Story (Bangkok with Brendan 13Jan-15Jan)

This post is way over due. 

On 5th April, I blogged about being attached. It's exactly 5 months since we officially got together on 14 January so today is a good day to finally post this long long entry. ^_^ You have been warned!

A bit of background story...

Brendan and I were not a couple yet before the Bangkok trip but we did discussed the idea of being together. He returned from his month long Australia/NewZealand holiday and we had quite a serious talk when we met up for dinner. 

During his trip, we were chatting on whatsapp everyday, nothing abnormal in that as we always chat on whatsapp but somehow it seems different as he always update me where he is. For example, he will message me the very moment he has WIFI or 3G connection and update me "We are going to take a flight to NZ, will message you later! :)" or "I just reached the hotel.. how's your day?". Every day without fail he will message me. 

I didn't think much of it until Welly pointed out to me that a man will not tell his whereabouts or update another person of his itinerary if he doesn't care or love that person. I was like "Hmmm.. OK... BUT WE ARE JUST FRIENDS!", but of course, Welly & the BC gang thought otherwise. They like to discuss and analysed how Brendan cares for me and he is interested in me and blah blah blah.. I will always retort with a "We are just friends" reply. I had a slight suspicion that he likes me, but I brushed it away because we are very very good friends and I don't want to entertain any thoughts that will destroy our friendship.

Anyway, sometime around Christmas last year while chatting with Brendan on whatsapp, the idea of going to Las Vegas together suddenly popped up. He planned to go for a convention this year in January but due to some last minute changes he had to forgo the trip.. he did asked if I would like to join him for this year's, but I couldn't take leave at the last minute so I told him I can't. Anyways, we talked about next year's convention and I told him if he was attached by January 2013, his girlfriend will definitely not allow him to go with me alone. (He had a very clingy ex-girlfriend who even disallow him to go out for dinners with me even though I asked him to ask her out together). Then he said there's 2 options.

1. We are both single
2. We are both attached

I didn't get the hint and I even went on to say "HAIYO! Even if my boyfriend let me go, you think your girlfriend will?" -- or something like that. I can't remember.

I think he was very exasperated at this point and he replied "Attached to each other".

I was so shocked when I saw that message popping up on my screen. I gave him a "OMG" reply with a terrified emoticon face and went to call Welly immediately. I had to leave the whatsapp icon to search for Welly's number so on his screen, all he sees is "Jasmine Tay.. last seen today at XX:XX" right after my "OMG" message. Well, I know his side of the story cos we talked about it afterwards, even laughed about it.. but he was freaking out that night when I disappeared right after. 

On my end, I was calling Welly (he was in Indonesia with Santi) yelling "AHHHH!! I think he's confessing he likes me! OMG! WHAT SHOULD I DO???? How should I reply!?!?! HELP!!!!!"

On Brendan's side, he's freaking out and worrying that I will friend-zone him and our friendship is gonna go bye-bye because I have no feelings for him. 

Welly and Santi were cheering and being all happy because their 'prediction' that Brendan likes me is correct and they are very happy for me. But I was freaking out and yelling at them to stop laughing and help me think of what to do... =.= In the end they just told me to follow my heart and do what's right and hung up the phone. THANKS AH!

So... after 20mins or so, which seems like forever to Brendan... I went back to whatsapp to see him type another message below it "You use Foursquare?" which is a super lame question and super super lame attempt to distract me from the comment he posted before it. Long afterwards I told him he was very lame, and he told me he panicked and did not know what to do. LOL!

Well, so we had a very careful conversation on the possibility of being a couple. He said he thought about it but he's not sure.. I am reminded everyday by Welly & the BC gang so you can say it's also on my mind everyday. We decided to discuss more face to face when he's back, but he started messaging me stuff like "I miss you" or "Sleep early.. can't wait to see you" and other sweet messages. It's very sweet of him but also weird because I still see him as my best friend and not a potential boyfriend. 

The day we finally met (early January) after his month long holiday... He came to my place to pass me the Macadamia nuts he bought for me then we went to Vivocity for dinner before he drove me to work (my shift was 9pm then). During the dinner we catch up a bit on each other's lives before going onto the main topic: "Should we be a couple?". 

I thought the dinner will be super awkward & weird.. but surprisingly it went well. We talked about the pros and cons of being in a relationship, blah blah.. It's quite 'business-like' if I may say. I guess we want to make sure that starting a relationship must be better than our current friendship if not we shouldn't even start lest we lose each other as a friend.

We did not confirm our status of being a couple during the dinner, but decided to start dating. Yea, super old fashioned.. but I guess it's the best way to find out if we are suitable to be a couple.. we went for movie dates, dinner dates and stuff..

He left for Bangkok on 10Jan and I was to join him on 13Jan. During the few days there alone, he kept contemplating about asking me to officially be his girlfriend (that's what he told me afterwards). He said he was isolated in his hotel room and had a lot of time to think.

So.. that's a bit of background on what happened the 2 weeks before our Bangkok trip. Seems like forever ago...

***********

He had to travel to Bangkok for a business trip on 10Jan-13Jan and decided to extend his stay so I can fly over and join him for a short getaway. I actually applied for leave from 10Jan-15Jan, but getting my leave approved is a bitch so instead I had to use my off days on Friday/Saturday and ask another colleague to swap shift with me on the Sunday (I work for her another day) so I can go for a short 3 days trip.

Since it's a last minute trip (I only decided to go less than 2 weeks prior), there's no way I can get promo tickets on budget carriers so I booked my tickets with Singapore Airlines cos the price difference is only around S$80 for the return trip. I also paid for the airport fast track service S$40+ because immigration is a bitch in Bangkok - usually it'll take around 1hour to clear immigration if it's a good day. I don't wanna waste time queuing like an idiot so I just bought the fast track online at http://fasttrack.in.th/index.php . It's my first time using their service but it's good!

I had to work until 6am on Friday then fly immediately at 8.40am, which means I had to bring my luggage to the office and cab to the airport, but I fell sick a few days before and got such a bad cold that I had to take MC on 12Jan, which is a blessing in disguise cos I have 1 day to sleep properly and recover.

Brendan called me at 6.30am in the morning asking me if I am awake cos he's afraid I will oversleep and miss my flight. LOL! At that time I was already preparing to leave the house. 

My breakfast before I flew!

It's the first time I am flying alone for leisure, not work. Felt weird.

Brendan came to the airport to pick me up. Before I arrived, he was so concerned that I will lose my way that he actually took photos of the meeting points and exit points so I will know where to meet him when I exit from the arrival hall. He always forget that I was a tourleader before and I have a knack for locating signs and exits very well. LOL! I told 

Anyways, we met up and cabbed to our hotel. We stayed at the St Regis Bangkok! I won a 2 nights stay last year in a lucky draw and decided to use it for this trip since I seldom go to Bangkok and it expires in September this year.

It is the best hotel I ever stayed in! Reason being cos it's the Caroline Astor Suite and it's mad huge and chio!!

The director sales & marketing of the hotel came to welcome us personally!

Welcome letter in the room..

We walked around the room and "wow" at it cos it's really breath-taking gorgeous. We settled down and put down our stuff and went out for a late lunch! :)

We took a train to Siam Paragon which was just 2 stops away.

Old school fare card!

Some ching-chong CNY deco at the mall..

YES! It's that long ago. Omg.

This is one of the rare pictures of me..

I refused to be in pictures because I had a horrible ulcer on my upper lip which mutated and caused my lips to swell.. it was so bad that we had to find medicine from the pharmacy and I had to keep applying it to numb the pain. Not a good start to our trip. :(

My sister asked me to try the roast duck at MK Steamboat restaurant. She had it when she went with my mum previously. It is nice. :) The char siew is not so nice though..

Mushroom madness!

He became very quiet suddenly during the dinner and I asked him "What are you thinking about?".. And he said "You sure you want me to tell you here? Now?".. I got the hint and I said "NO! Tell me after midnight. Now is a bad date cos it's Friday the 13th!"

Yummy Red Ruby! Only in Thailand the "Red Ruby" is pink! :)

Walked around a bit.. Went to Loft cos I remembered going there with Wany a few years ago and they have lots of cutesy stuff. :)

Wanted to buy one for my sister then decide that she has too many soft toys.

NARAYA! Yes, I went crazy there. Not too crazy though.

I wanted to buy the bigger bags, but the designs were MEH. Sigh.

Pink elephants!

Brendan was trying to cheer me up when I was having an emo breakdown and he said "Think of happy things! Fluffy clouds! Pink elephants!" I was so amused by the absurdity of the Pink Elephants comment that I laughed and became happier. Since then whenever I am sad he will say "Pink Elephants!". ❤

Brendan bought this for me. ❤

Souvenirs for friends and colleagues.

I don't know what to buy and these seems the most practical. Haha!

Now, pictures of the hotels and our suite! You may notice the photos are taken during night/day and may not be in sequence. I took the photos of the lobby during the night when we returned from our shopping and of our suite during the day when we checked in. 

The lobby looks beautiful! :)

There are pots of tea complimentary.
They will also send it to your room! Coffee, Tea and snacks 24/7.


The check-in desk is not at the 1st floor.
You have to take a lift up. Atas max!

In all the times we took the lifts in St Regis, we are always alone! We never once shared lift with anyone! I don't know if the hotel is not running at full occupancy or it's just a coincidence.

Check-in desks. Super comfy seats!

The 2nd lift to bring you up to the rooms/suites.

Our lift landing on our floor. Spot Brendan! Haha!

The walkway to our suite..

We were escorted up by our personal butler! He even have his own namecard!

What you see when you open the main door.

There is a guest toilet immediately on the right.

We seldom use this though, cos there's a bigger one in the bedroom.

The living room! 

Dining table and a view of the golf course outside..

Such a pretty view that's seldom seen in Bangkok! All green!

He brought us tea while we settled down! 

Brendan loves the biscuits! Haha!

Hello!

Complimentary bottles of mineral water!

They gave us lots and lots of bottles everyday!

The other side of the living room, the work area.

This was where Brendan set up his laptop and his electronic devices.

He was very impressed with the plugs and switches. Techie stuff.

Oh! Spot my blue luggage in the corner! Hee!

This is what we saw when we walked into the bedroom!

It's really huge! There are 2 wardrobes! His & Hers!

The TV can be pushed outwards to face our bed!

The lounge chair became my storage place for my shopping & stuff.

The windows overlook the swimming pool!

Our butler then showed us around the suite and where the safe box is, etc.

After turn down service, this is how our room looks at night. :)

Every night they will put snacks beside our bed! Different each day!

And.. the wonderful toilet! ^___^

His & Her sinks! I took the one on the right cos it had a hair dryer. Hee!

On the other side is the bathtub! 

The shower and toilet bowl is behind the glass doors on the left.

It looks super gorgeous!

You can soak and have a view of the city, but to maintain your privacy, you can lower down the curtains which is automatically controlled by a button! Cool! I had bubble baths every night! :) I love bubble baths!

Outdoor smoking area that connects to the bar.

It is too hot to lounge here.

Breakfast! Yummy breakfast!

A mark of a good buffet breakfast is the pastries..

And St Regis passed with flying colours! Bread was so good!

Bottled jams! They even have coconut jam (white one on the top)

Brendan was so happy with the cheese selection.

Dried fruits to go with the cheese!

There are sashimi, sushi, dimsum...

Spot the fridge! There's bottles of freshly squeezed juice and it's all part of the buffet! Just order from the waitresses! They make a mean Ice Tea too! :)

You don't have to queue for hot food at the live cooking stations!

Just bring these cards along and they will send it to your table! Wow!

Lots of food please! 

Ice tea is da bomb!

Vermicelli! Yums!

Brendan and his perfectly made triple sunny side ups

Eggs Benedict! YUMS TO THE MAX!

The 1st day was good, but the 2nd day's one was not so good.

Guess it's different chefs. :(

On the 1st day, after our late lunch/early dinner at MK and shopping around for a bit, we went back to the hotel. We chatted and chatted while lying in bed and I kinda drifted off to sleep. I was super sleepy but he shook me and woke me up and started telling me about how we met, how he felt about me and stuff. It was past midnight and he was confessing that he likes me! Face to face! It was quite a long speech. Later I asked if he rehearsed it, but he said it's spontaneous... So after the long romantic speech he asked very solemnly if I will accept him as his boyfriend. "Will you Jasmine Tay take me Brendan Chew as your boyfriend?", or something like that. I can't remember the exact words. I said "Yes", kissed him and went to sleep. Very killsport right? But I was sooo tired! At least I stayed awake enough to answer him! So, this is how 14th January became our anniversary date. ❤

On the 2nd day, I called Welly early in the morning and asked Brendan to speak to him. I wanted him to Welly personally that we are attached now cos I promised him that if we are, he will be the 1st person to know. He was so happy he was stunned speechless...

When Brendan passed the phone to me, Welly yelled "JAS! I SO HAPPY FOR YOU I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY! Please tell Brendan sorry! I was so happy that I can't talk! Not I don't want to talk to him!". Hahahahaha! 

We only told Welly cos he is the ringleader of the BC Gang. We decided to keep our relationship under wraps until we feel ready to announce to the world. Over the next few weeks, I slowly let my sister, Wany, and other friends into the secret.. though to them it's not a secret cos they already suspected we were an item and waiting for us to admit it. LOL! 

So, we went to Chatuchak Market (JJ Market) but I gave up after 1.5hours of walking because it was just too hot and I am not really into shopping. Well, maybe the things they sell are not really what I am interested in. Brendan was so amazed that I am not into shopping cos his cousin's ex-girlfriend spent a whole day in JJ, around 12hours and he thought I will be like her (frankly he was quite worried). His cousin had to beg her to stop and rest cos she bought so much stuff, she had to buy a 'china' bag to put all her stuff and went off to another night market to shop somemore!. Told him he is blessed because I am totally not like that. LOL! We went back to the hotel and laze the day away watching videos in the room. At night we went for a lovely dinner cruise! Pictures in my next post for the cruise! :)

On the 3rd day, our check-out time was 4pm and our flights back were in the evening.. We thought of going to MBK to catch a movie or go shopping, but in the end decided to laze around until check-out time. 

Last dinner in Bangkok! :)

We flew on different flights, different airlines back.. His flight was 1 hour earlier than mine. The check-in girl at his airline counter was giving us the *WOOO* "Are you here on a secret rendezvous?" face. =.=

My dinner onboard the plane..! I didn't take a photo of my breakfast from Singapore to Bangkok as I did not take it. I was so tired that I slept all the way.. The stewardess kept waking me up to try to feed me ice cream and food but I told her to leave me in peace and let me sleep..His parents came and pick him up and we left separately because his parents still don't know about me since we were still in the "underground relationship" phase.

My sister came to the airport to meet me for dinner! :)

I did not tell her then that we were already attached though she kept asking. 

Sorry Pui! 

So basically, that's what happened during the 3 days we spent in Bangkok! We basically spent most of our time in the room cos it was so hot out there and I was sleep deprived for weeks. I just wanted to laze around and snooze and I got my wish! Also, it was a bonus to have someone to cuddle with. ❤

It's been 5 months already but still feels like yesterday! I am really happy and blessed because I finally feel like I have found my soul-mate who loves me as much as I love him. It's wonderful to be in a relationship with a man who is your best friend turned boyfriend. ^_^

P.S: See my earlier post for our romantic dinner cruise onboard the Apsara!