We Got Engaged!

I would like everyone to official meet my guitar playing, John Mayer-loving, goofy man - Harry Liu! After dating (officially) for 4.5 years, we were both back in Northern California in the Bay Area in the summer of 2018. At this point in our relationship, we had been through many life transitions, but never lived more than a 2 hour drive away from each other. At the end of 2018 summer, Harry was sent on a last minute business trip to India a couple weeks before my 3 week Greece trip. Meaning we would not be able to see each other for about a month - which was quite long for us. Props to my couples that do long-distance relationships! As gorgeous and fun as my Greece trip was, I definitely started to miss Harry more and more as time passed by. As many healthy married couples have recommended - we had definitely been having the marriage talk at many points up until this. So I had an inkling that Harry was going to propose to me sometime soon.

CL: So we have to take this way back to early 2018, take me through your proposal brainstorming process.

HL: Let’s see.. I honestly started thinking about the proposal details in maybe January or February 2018. I had no idea how to pull off a proposal without you having at least an inkling of what was going to happen.

CL: Haha, are you referring to the time in the summer you fell asleep at my place with your laptop wide open while looking at flights from SF to Athens, Greece?

HL: Maybe, maybe not.. anyways, I actually had a couple of ideas thought out! One was a forest proposal in the middle of Yosemite National Park with the help of your friends. I was planning on bringing a generator, string lights, picnic blanket, and all kinds of goodies to surprise you. But I ended up surprising you while you were on vacation in Greece because go big or go home, right? (I ended up going big and then going home anyways.)

CL: It was definitely big alright. I wasn’t expecting anything that big at all! I remember being super suspicious after I caught you checking flight tickets to Greece, but then work called you on a last minute (with barely a 2 week notice) training trip to Bangalore, India during my Greece trip.

HL: I was actually really nervous since my work trip directly conflicted with my flight to Greece. I was sweating bullets when I asked my skip-level manager, “Hey, so can I move this whole India trip you want to send me on?” But in the end, I managed to take a 2-week business trip to India and fit in a proposal after that without rousing too much suspicion from you. I actually flew from Bangalore to Dubai to San Francisco to pick up the ring, get my international driver’s permit, and do laundry. Then 12 hours later, I flew from San Francisco to Toronto to Athens and then took a ferry from Athens to Santorini and docked at midnight. The whole time, I was so nervous something was going to get delayed AND that I was going to misplace the ring - that’s something I would totally do.

CL: That last minute work trip was actually what threw all my suspicions of a Greece proposal out the window. That and Katie telling me straight to my face that you were not coming to Greece! That tricky lady. She had been very empathic the entire trip about maximizing our day time to visit as many places as possible, but on the morning of the proposal in Santorini, after checking in to our hotel, she insisted on staying inside to charge her phone for a little bit longer and to “rest”. I found this a little bit odd, but I honestly didn’t question it too much at this point. Then when she was finally ready to go, she was on her phone quite an awful lot. She had been recording videos the whole trip to document our travels, so I was not the least bit suspicious when she pulled up her camera to follow me as we exited the hotel towards our ATV. Then I found you there holding one of those airport signs with my name on it and all I could do was squeal. I had missed you so much after not seeing you for weeks and it was SO surreal to see you again in Greece of all places. I totally did not expect it.

HL: I’m so glad I surprised you because when I got to my Airbnb, I told Katie to turn on Facebook Messenger location tracking. When she did I was shocked to see my dot getting closer to hers as my Airbnb host drove us to my room. Turns out, I was only a few minutes walk away from your hotel! This part of Santorini is also really, really quiet at night so I was so paranoid that me even talking in the streets would give it away so I didn’t make a peep. Everything was worth it when I drove over to your hotel the next day and surprised you out in front, the look on your face was priceless.

CL: I was SO giddy and could not contain the excitement. I remember thinking that you were absolutely crazy!!

HL: I am crazy! For you! And a little crazy due to the countless number of timezones I had been in for the past two days. I was just so happy to see you but I still had to pull off the proposal itself. I picked out a spot by the cliffside in Santorini that’s called “The Heart of Santorini”. It has an outline of a heart in a rock outcropping that overlooks the Aegean Sea and I thought it might be a great place to propose. Keep in mind though, this was all through dragging my way through Street View in Google Maps without having gone there at all. We drove there and walked the semi-treacherous steps down to the spot and then I got down on one knee. You should take it from here haha.

CL: Haha it was all SUCH blur - I remember there being so much adrenaline running through me that I couldn’t stand still. When you led me to the mountain top spot, gave your speech, and pulled the ring out - all I can make out in the video amidst the wind roaring was me shouting “it’s upside down!!” in reference to the ring box. My heart fluttered a bit at the thought of the ring falling out of the box down the 90 degree drop to our left, but it didn’t and honestly it felt like a dream. I still can’t believe you flew to Greece to propose to me. You’re the sweetest and I don’t deserve you!!

HL: Well you definitely deserve it and let’s just both be thankful that I didn’t drop the ring into the sea. Imagine that conversation… love you!

Katie was the real MVP here - coordinating the surprise with Harry, keeping my suspicions low, and recording everything for us that day. She was even sweet enough to book us three a nice dinner at Ammoudi Tavern, literally right next to the sea, for a celebratory dinner. On our walk down from the main part of Oia, we slowly descended towards the waters and were seated quickly with our reservation. I was still in such disbelief that Harry was here and next to me that I was barely hungry.

My gorgeous engagement ring from Natalie Marie Jewellery - great pick Harry!!

Harry was able to join us on our last stop in Greece for a sunset cruise with Spiridakos Sailing Cruises. This was actually one of my favorite experiences in Santorini, Greece. They cooked us dinner on the boat, had drinks for us, and even provided us fuzzy blankets when the sun started to set. Our tour guide was the perfect balance of entertaining and informative. We stopped at two locations to snorkel and swim at and met a few friendly tourists on our boat as well. For all the sunsets we saw on the trip - this one was my favorite. It was really the perfect way to end this trip. I left Greece tanned, relaxed, well-fed, and a FIANCÉ!

Farewell Greece! Thanks for being so good to us!

Santorini, Greece

Oh Santorini - aka honeymoon heaven. Katie and I turned to each other on multiple occasions and joked about how we were on a honeymoon trip, but with each other instead of our significant others. We had ridden Sea Jet ferries a couple of times for the previous islands, which provided crowded but clean seating, some snacks for sales, and unfortunately a delayed ride for both trips (the first a 30 minute delay but the second a 5 hour delay - so be flexible). This leg of the trip, we chose to ride the Golden Star Ferry and the moment we stepped foot onto the ferry, our eyes lit up. We had no idea we could enjoy a ferry ride so much. There was plenty of roomy seating, light lunches provided, plenty of tables by the window, and the ride was smooth as can be. When researching which ferries you would want to take, note that some are longer rides with a cheaper price while others a shorter ride with a steeper price, so choose whatever works best for you! We noticed some people were battling sea sickness the first couple of Sea Jet ferry rides, so pack some ginger ale or ginger candies if you experience motion sickness easily! Otherwise, the ferry rides are a great place to kick back, nap, read, and relax.

We checked into one of our absolute favorite Airbnbs in the area of Mesaria of Santorini. We ran into our Airbnb host as she was checking in on cleaning services for a different unit and she went out of her way to make time to chat with us about her backstory. She was so kind and even offered to call and book an ATV company on our behalf to bring an ATV straight up to our Airbnb for rental. It was at a great price and made the entire experience very convenient. The Airbnb itself was gorgeous with its own outdoor pool AND an indoor jacuzzi right in our own bedroom. Katie and I definitely felt so spoiled this trip.

After checking in to the Airbnb, we again were itching to do the two things we consistently made time for on the trip: watch the sunset + sip on wine. So we darted over on our ATV over to Santo Winery to accomplish both of these goals at once. This spot was recommended by multiple friends and sources so we figured we would have to check it out! The winery overlooks the blue waters and islands from a high top location. We ordered the 6 wine flight (each glass is 60mL) that came with some local olives, cheese, and pretzels on the side to accompany the tasting experience. They also offer a 10 and a 16 wine flight - so choose what your heart desires! They offer some savory snacks (sandwiches/toast) and desserts (panna cotta, baklava with ice cream, and more) if you are hungry as well.

To choose your flight, they give you a pamphlet of their available wines and ask you to pick the few that you wished to taste. We chose the following:

1. Santo Sparkling White: we were drawn to the white-peach and hints of honeycomb flavors that paired quite well with the cheeses

2. Santorini Assyrtiko: a dry white wine that had citrus and floral notes

3. Santorini Nykteri: another dry white wine that was aged 3 months in oak that had green apple and pear flowers

4. Santorini Nykteri Reserve: our last dry white wine that was aged 9 months in oak barrels and 3 months in the bottle

5. Crescendo: a dry red wine with what the menu describes as a “dynamic crescendo that will captivate your senses”

6. Vinsanto: a sweet dessert wine that was described to be naturally sweet from sun-dried grapes

The sunset from Santo Winery was nothing short of spectacular. There was live music on the balcony (peep the lady in hot pink) who saw us taking a photos/videos of her beautiful voice and proceeded to wave at us - so sweet!

We ended our first night in Santorini sipping even more wine & watching shows from our personal indoor jacuzzi (placed quite literally right next to our bed) - the Santorini dream!!

The next day, we decided we wanted to walk by many of the beautiful hotels with pools off the edges of the mountaintops in Firostefani that we were definitely not rich enough to stay at. These are some of the typical cliff-side hotels with pools overlooking the gorgeous sea. We walked by, gawked, and stopped at Galini Cafe for some crepes, honey truffle, and a baby dutch pancake. The view was wonderful and the food was delicious!

The most crowded and famous part of Santorini has to be the coastal town of Oia. This is the area you want to walk around if you want to see the whitewashed houses perched on the island hillsides of Santorini overlooking the vast blue waters that you see in the photos that make the island so famous. We chose to live outside of Oia (as it is much less expensive to do so) and decided to travel there for a day to visit instead. To get the full Santorini honeymoon experience, I would definitely recommend staying at one of the crazy hotels with infinite pools on the caldera edge that can be found here in Oia, but also in Firostefani, Imerovigli, and Fira as well. We will definitely save up some $$$ and make it our goal for next time!! It was incredibly crowded when we arrived to Oia, so get there early in the morning if you want to avoid the crowds. We stopped by some gorgeous famous structures like the Three Bells of Fira, but mostly enjoyed just walking around, stopping by some shops to buy souvenirs, and exploring the beautiful area.

Enjoy these photos of Katie and thank you to her for basically being my model at this point of the trip! Santorini was the last of our stops on Greece, but hold up, the Greece story isn’t over?? And why are there 3 beers in this last photo below? Was it not just you and Katie on this trip? What in the world is going on?! Stay tuned for the not-so-surprising surprise that came next!