Sabrina has already written a story about our engagement (here it is) so I just wanted to write about where we were and why I chose that place.
We were in Sanya for the weekend as you know, and before we left Shanghai I had planned to take us to Yalong Bay for a day where I would treat Sabrina to a Spa treatment, then have a nice leisurely lunch, take a stroll on the beach and then find a nice romantic place to propose.
I was armed with the ring, a bag of Sabrina's favorite plum lollies, an appointment time for our Spa treatment at Mangrove Tree Resort and some random thoughts of how to put our wonderful two and a half years together into the proposal.
We had a wonderful treatment and a wonderful lunch at Mangrove Tree, and I suggested we take a walk along the beach. The beach was much quieter that the beach at Dadonghai, there were no buggies zooming everywhere and there wasn't a single bus load of tourists led by someone selling them diving lessons shouting a hundred miles an hour into a megaphone. So in other words it was blissfully peaceful!
We walked along the beach heading to the West. I had my eyes peeled looking for the perfect spot, initially I thought we would have to walk all the way up to the headland to find a peaceful, private spot. We walked for quite awhile past sun baking tourists, parked jet skis, past beach volley ball nets, past a huge group of people do activities on the beach (part of some incentive group) until final I found a whole stretch of beach absolutely deserted, and in the middle of some vines growing down the sand was this lovely old wooden rowing boat.
I knew exactly what this meant. A perfect romantic, secluded spot for my moment to shine and create another wonderful story in our lives!
I took out the camera and took some shots, then as Sabrina explained, I put down the camera and pulled her close to me and managed to spill out some words - my heart racing and the sweat forming on my brow. Luckily for me she said yes (well, who could resist my charms and rugged bald head anyway)!
When we had finished with our hugs and kisses of joy we took the time out to capture the moment and the memory of our special time with the abandoned row boat on the beach at Yalong Bay by taking some photos.
This one is just after we were officially engaged:
This one is my favorite - just Sabrina in the boat:
So you want to know where this magical boat is right?
Well, we were standing in front of the Hilton Sanya which was still under the last minute throws of preparation for their opening. It really looks like a spectacular place, and both Sabrina I look forward to returning there sometime soon to see how it looks when finished.
After we returned from our trip to Sanya I spoke to June Seah, the Marketing and Communications Manager at Hilton Sanya. June told me that the row boat had been laying on the beach ever since they had started construction on the resort. Apparently the General Manager (Mr. Dirk De Cuyper) liked it and thought that it should stay.
So a big thank you to the Hilton Sanya and to the GM who had provided us with a great photogenic spot on the beach for photo lovers and lovers of the romantic kind!
I was also told about
a wonderful event that they held over Christmas at the Hilton Sanya. As part of their pre opening preparations they need to do some dry runs for the staff across all aspects of the hotels operation, including
housekeeping and the restaurants. So instead of the usual welcome of paying guests for what is known as a `soft opening' (small group of guests before they are actively promoting the resort) the management team decided to do something different and meaningful. So they invited a group of orphans to come and join them for 4 days of activities and fun at the 5 star resort - culminating with Christmas day and a visit from you know who. 
Many of these children are orphans or from disadvantaged families across China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing and of course some locals from Sanya.
It appears to have been a very exciting time for these kids, most of them have never left their town or city before, let alone flown or stayed at a 5 star resort! And then there was Santa Claus! I wonder what they thought of a guy in a red suit and funny white beard giving them toys!
All in all it sounds and looks as though it was a great success, and a very meaningful way for the resort management to give something to the community and at the same time get some valuable experience for their staff. A true win win story.
If you are interested, you can read the press release from the Hilton Download hilton_sanya_soft_opened_on_christmas_with_60_children.doc
Brad
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