The next day, after an early morning breakfast with Charles' family who had all travelled from Toronto to attend the wedding, Charles & Tess were off on their honeymoon. The newlyweds spent eight glorious days on Lake Okanagan at an annual Lyons family summer retreat called "Fintry". Tess' immediate (and some extended) family were there, too. Charles rented a white S70 Volvo the week before the wedding, but the night before the wedding surprised Tess with a 1999 Convertible "Arrest Me Red" Mustang!

Saturday, May 30, 1998 was a fairly drizzly and miserable day in Hong Kong, but the ambience reminiscent of our first days together in Hong Kong. In the late afternoon, Charles and I took the Star Ferry over to Kowloon side, as later that evening we would be seeing JOSEPH AND THE TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT on Kowloon side. We walked around the island for a bit, and then Charles claimed that on a day like this, a Heineken certainly would go down nicely. Wanting to stay close to the performance centre, we chose The Regent, a lovely harbourside five star hotel. Despite his earlier talk of Heineken's, Charles ordered a grapefruit squash, which I thought odd.

The view from the bar is truly "Hong Kong" - showing the harbour and the amazing buildings of Hong Kong side to their best advantage through HUGE floor to ceilings windows. The piano player was tinkling out favourite songs, the lighting was low and the sun was setting faintly far behind us. Sometime during the middle of Frank Sinatra's "Send in the Clowns", Charles looked away from his (empty) grapefruit squash glass. Then, leaning across the table he reached for my hand and proposed. He came around to my side of the table, and while on one knee (and my eyes closed tight) Charles slipped the most incredible ring on my finger. Tables around us began laughing and clapping. The pianist changed songs and started playing Vanessa Williams' "Saved The Best For Last".

A lady at a table near us, who turned out to be from Louisiana, came over to congratulate us. Upon looking at the ring she turned to her two friends and yelled "You should SEE this ROCK!" By then half the lobby lounge knew what happened.

Charles promptly ordered a Heineken.

Now, like any event like this there are always funny stories. The first one being that Charles had no idea, when he returned from Singapore with diamond in tow, how he would propose. So, he decided to keep the ring in his pocket, knowing that the right moment would present itself within 48 hours. The diamond merchant in Singapore gave him a small silk satchel (in addition to a leather ring box) for easy and safe caring of the ring. Friday night Charles arrived home, changed into his traditional t-shirt and boxers house wear, and slipped the satchel into the right hand pocket of his bath robe.

A busy Saturday morning presented itself with various chores. The maid arrived and Tess slipped into the shower. Ten minutes later Charles walked past the computer room, to discover Tess wearing his bathrobe. UH-OH! Charles then presented Tess with her bathrobe, and she made the quick change without question, or ever knowing the ring was inches away from her. An hour later the two headed out to run some errands. Again, the satchel sat in Charles right hand shorts pocket... but Charles, fearing this valuable item might disappear from his pocket, used a safety-pin to secure it to his shorts. (Charles attributes this brilliant security move to inheriting his father's "good idea" genes!) Tess never knew.

Several hours later Tess & Charles once again headed out to Saturday nights festivities. This time the satchel was safety pinned to the inside of his trousers right hand pocket! At the Regent, Tess watched as Charles carefully removed the satchel from his trouser pocket, hilariously fully pulled from his pants. Then with Charles down on one knee, the ring slipped onto Tess' finger.