09:53.

June 15, Thursday was ray + me's anniversary. It was a working day so we decided that we would only properly celebrate on Sat instead. Besides, my man obviously had something up his sleeves, only letting on that "you will know why it (the "real" celebrations) needs to be on Sat when you know what it is".

Still, we wanted to have a nice dinner on Thursday. The plan was to first go to my place, let me shower and change and then his place and let him do the same. When we got to my apt, I went to my bedroom to get ready and R a y casually urged me "Take your time lah, we got lots of time. I don't want us to rush".

So I was slowly choosing what to wear. I decided to amble out to ask his opinion about something and hey wait, what did my boyfriend go?

I walked around the house, wondering if it's some hide-and-seek then decided to open the front door and see if his shoes are still there. I opened the door, went "honey?" and a second later, he sort of "popped out" from one side with one arm suspiciously deliberately hidden by the wall.

Then with a big grin, he presented Pressie No. 1 =)












12 roses, one for every month we have been together :)





He later told me the story of the roses. The delivery man had came too early (r a y specified "earliest 615pm" so we would def be at my apt) - he called r a y at 5-ish, saying he couldn't find my condo. R a y went out of the company to talk to him and spotted him across the road! But somehow, when my dearest asked the guy "hey wait, are you in a brown polo?", the delivery dude responded with a "don't worry! don't worry! I'll get it there in time!" and hopped into his van and drove off. And....... my sweetheart went to his car and gave chase! Hahaha. He called the guy back (while on the van's tail) and was trying to direct him to where my condo is. After more of a roundabout chase, all was settled. Hehe. But ain't he sweet to orchestrate every thing? :)

*love*

Then there was Saturday.....



90 minutes of Pampering at Spa Indrani, located at The Pamper Level in uber posh Starhill Gallery. Click through for pix! :D




I only sneaked one shot off. Oopsie. This was the massage room. It was really cool, the jacuzzi was surrounded by rocks and sand (!) on a raised floor so it was surrounded by a sunkened lighted area where the loose sand had the spa's name imprinted onto them.

Before the massage room, they took me to this huggggeee room with a steam bath (the "plastic" seats and walls type where steam comes out of a sprout, not the wood and concrete sauna ones), two showers, one big warm hydropool/ jacuzzi and a cold plunge pool. The steam bath and showers were on one end then you take a small flight up to the pools area... I'm gg to borrow Germie's expression - le sigh... and the whole big room was mine alone! No need to share! Whee!

Oh, and after half an hour (you get to choose how long you want to spend in this room *rolls eyes in awed disbelief*), then I went to the room on the left where the masseur gave me a foot bath and scrub (I like!) with sea salt before the actual 60-minute Javanese massage. By that time, I was already feeling super pampered and soothed.


After I dozed off twice lulled by the very good massage, it was over (*sob*) but man, I felt really good and deknotted and all. I was feeling all knotted and stressed in my joints late last week, my love really got me a good pressie. So extravagant! But so sweeeet. The masseur walked me out the winding, mood lit corridors to the waiting area when R a y and some snacks and a herbal tea (you know, I really like the herbal tea one gets after spas) was waiting for me.





No kidding, the Pamper Zone is de lux and you get teasers to visit it every where. And oh, Starhill Gallery's toilets - with their designer sinks and taps, many mirrors, good design and aromatherapy-ed surroundings get my vote as the best public loos in Msia. Just a random note....


We then moved on to tea at this place called Tiffin Bay also at Starhill Gallery. They didn't allow photos taking but the spa's after-spa room was overlooking the lounge/ cafe so I took some pix of their crazy furniture and interior design. They had lamps made out of dishes and kettles and striped, spotted, flowered... etc couches. According to R a y, a New York designer did the whole gallery's unusual design.















You could see the twin towers from Tiffin Bay. The night view must be spectacular. And you can't quite see them but there's a pretty good jazz band playing at the corner. It's a lovely place. The atmosphere inside and outside were starkly different. Starhill Gallery's not the type of place I usually visit, I guess, 'cause it screams "posh" (heaps more than say, Paragon) but it was just a very lovely afternoon. Very very lovely. The green tea latte was amazingly good, so was the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and the nicely presented apple crumble with ice cream. Mmmmm :)



We then walked out for an amble and went to Bentley Music, three floors of guitars, drums and keyboards =D Feels like the days when we went to Drummers Paradise and JB Hi Fi :)

Then it was a nice drive around KL while the sun was setting and casting orange shades over the twin towers and every where. We drove out to Ampang and R a y didn't disclose where we were having dinner until we got there itself.



Tamarind Hill! A multi-award winning Thai restaurant with Balinese decor. Situated on a hill, of course :)













You had to walk through these rustic gates (reminds me of Jane Austin type of gardens) and walk up a stone pathway, lit by lamp poles and flanked by little aromatherapy type candles in pretty holders.








I don't have pictures of the food but they were good stuff! We were sat at that veranda on the left (a mosquito web covered the whole verdana discretely to prevent bugs).








So that was how we celebrated our anniversary. What did I get him? I got him a coffee table picture book (laid out and captioned by me via a design programme, printed professionally and bounded with a woven cover and back like Bookbinders' books) chronicling our first year together (The story of "Us") and a hand-made card. He loved it, so do I. heh. But in the face of how he so extravagantly spoiled me and treated me like an indrani ("queen" in sanskrit), I almost feel bad for not doing more. Not that he would have that.

It's great having R a y in my life. When I look back at how far we have come, I still feel awed. And I can't help but be thankful. Thankful and overwhelmed by gratitude. Thank You, God, for writing the story of us, for allowing us to have a hand in choosing to have the story of us, for leading and guiding us every step in this story of us.

Help us love each other more every day and always love You more than we love each other. That even as our love for each other increase, our love for You increase continuously more so.
We love You, we respect You and again, we dedicate this love to You.

Amen.

And R a y love? Thank you :)

I love you.