WANDERLUST & WONTONS

Andrew & Sabrina Get Married!!!

• Andrew & Sabrina • Season 1 • Episode 8

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Ever wondered how the magic of Christmas and the romance of a tropical paradise could blend seamlessly into an unforgettable journey of love? You'll be enchanted as we recount our experiences of engagement and wedding planning, set against the backdrop of Germany's charming Christmas markets and the stunning cliffs of Uluwatu, Bali. Imagine twinkling lights, the aroma of Glühwein, and the thrill of cutting down your own Christmas tree, all playing a part in a heartfelt proposal story. Join us as we share how these cherished moments, accompanied by Sabrina's father's warmth and support, laid the foundation for a future filled with love and unity.

But that's just the beginning! Our destination wedding in Bali was a tapestry of surprises and laughter, from the hilarious Vespa entrance hiccup to the delightful family endeavor of crafting bird cage centerpieces flown in from Hong Kong. Picture a live band harmonizing with the rhythm of the waves and a groom daring the traditional Schubladler dance in lederhosen. We also dive into an unexpected pool party proposal that serves as a joyful reminder to pursue love and dreams with abandon. These stories celebrate spontaneity and the joy of embracing life's little imperfections, urging you to boldly chase what and who you love.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Wanderlust and Wontons, the real-life adventures of Andrew and Sabrina.

Speaker 2:

Imagine you're at a party and you've just met us for the first time and we're having a chat, a banter or whatever comes to mind. That is cool and interesting.

Speaker 1:

We've both lived in many countries for good lengths of time. I'm Asian and overall I've lived a third of my life in North America, a third in Europe, a third in Asia-Australia. I've enjoyed my boarding school years in Dublin, ireland. I enjoyed my single and party life in New York City and there isn't a more amazing city beach than Bondi Beach. Australia. And of course, we love Hong Kong and dim sum.

Speaker 2:

I was born and raised in Munich, germany, till the age of 21, when I decided it was time to explore the world, and have since been on a crazy adventure all over the world, from South America to New York and Asia. You will learn more about us over many podcast episodes, but for now, come along and let's dive straight in so shots.

Speaker 1:

What shall we talk about today? And for those that aren't aware, shots in german means my treasure, yeah, I think it's a cool word for someone to call your partner or someone that you love. The british would be darling and the Americans would be sweetheart and the Aussies would be honey. Same thing term of endearment. So I like the German Schatz.

Speaker 2:

So, schatz, what should we talk about today? Let's talk about our engagement and wedding.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, let's do it, that'll be fun. Another big reveal for you listeners out there Since meeting your father in Munich that first time. Your family has been awesome. They've accepted me without question. I've always felt like they were very welcoming of me, Not to say there weren't any little fun tasks that they had kind of devised for me along the way.

Speaker 2:

I can't make it too easy on you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly, so I remember one of the winters that I arrived for christmas again in munich from hong kong, this time early 6 am. You picked us up from the airport. They were so jet lagged yeah, and went straight to a lovely christmas market in a small town out in the countryside. So for the listeners, maybe you could tell them a bit more about the german christmas market, because I think they are really amazing.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's like out of a fairytale. You have twinkling lights, you have tiny booths with different treats, like Lebkuchen, which is like a gingerbread, but not really a gingerbread, I mean it's really way more awesome than the gingerbread you would get. Glühwein, of course.

Speaker 1:

Glühwein is Laos red wine which you would get at a ski resort.

Speaker 2:

Sauerkraut and fingerling dumplings like potato dumplings.

Speaker 1:

Sausages.

Speaker 2:

Obviously sausages.

Speaker 1:

All kinds of classic German nibbles.

Speaker 1:

Lots of treats there, but the German Christmas markets I really do think are some of the best in the world and they are well known. The ones in Munich, right. And the best in the world, and they are well known, the ones in Munich, right. Yeah, and then you could go to small towns in Germany and go to really authentic little Christmas markets as well, in farm, in farmland and barns, or even in old castles, right, this was an interesting Christmas market because it had Christmas tree farm attached to it yeah and unbeknownst to me, your father's points up oh, you're gonna get the christmas tree for us this is yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So I said okay, great no problem. What an honor are you taught?

Speaker 1:

yeah sure, no problems, right. So they said okay, you're off into that truck with that 10 other german guys. So I rock up on this truck, not knowing what the plan was, I figured I'd go out to the christmas tree area and just select one. But as the truck drove out, it literally went out into this field of snow while it was still snowing. Then it stopped in the middle of this field and all of us got out and they handed us a saw each. I said what am I supposed to do with this? And so it turns out you have to go and find your own Christmas tree, saw it down, select whichever one you like and bring it back onto the truck.

Speaker 2:

And those ain't electric saws, those are like handheld saws. Handheld saws, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So there I was, cold, with a howling rain in my face and snow falling down heavily, and there sawing, sawing, sawing away at this Christmas tree, and I was not gonna give up. I had to do it to get the best Christmas tree for the family that winter. So after 10 minutes of pretty intense sawing, I finally managed to saw the tree down, and after that I had to haul this tree all the way back to the truck. I did it. We put the tree on the truck and they drove us back to the Christmas market and they put it into our car A pretty interesting tradition, I must say. I've never done that before, ever In New York we just ordered the tree from the Christmas tree seller that was down the road. But this process couldn't be more fun for them to see me sawing at this tree and probably authentic for me. So great experience all around.

Speaker 2:

I think my dad was slightly disappointed with the size of the tree.

Speaker 1:

I hate to break it to you. It wasn't large enough. Your dad would probably have got a much larger one.

Speaker 2:

Oh, the two-meter tree he would have gotten.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly, exactly. But I think I just got a few brand new points getting the Christmas tree that year for the family. I asked the father for Sabrina's hand in marriage that winter. He was actually pretty cool about it, you know. I think he appreciated me asking, but he always said it was Sabrina's decision to make, which I thought was very supportive of him.

Speaker 2:

Well, knowing my father, he probably would have said something along the lines of why don't you just ask her?

Speaker 1:

Exactly. It's just exactly what he said. So when I returned to Hong Kong, I bought a diamond ring and started to plan how I would propose to Sabrina. Of course, like all things in life, you know, there's little things that change along the way from your intended plan, but you just deal with it. Nothing was going to stop me from proposing to my shots.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's so sweet.

Speaker 1:

I played squash with a friend the next weekend.

Speaker 2:

That sounds already pretty ominous to me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm pretty sporty and athletic, but I hadn't played squash for a very long time and of course shit happens and I tore my Achilles tendon making a lunch. So I decided to fly back to Sydney, australia, to get the surgery done. As my sister knew a very good surgeon there A typical Asian family. We have lots of doctors, so it was just simpler getting it sorted in Sydney. So I flew back to Sydney, the surgery went fine and I was doing rehab A week later.

Speaker 2:

Sabrina flew out to visit you see how you're doing. You're probably already out of the worst recovering.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I rehab pretty fast. So we decided to visit some sites in Sydney.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it was my first time in Sydney, so you felt obliged to kind of show me the city.

Speaker 1:

We visited the Rocks area that day, which is the historic old part of Sydney near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I was still in a wheelchair, it was probably only like I don't know, a week post-surgery.

Speaker 2:

I remember pushing you up the hills or the rocks.

Speaker 1:

And you thought it was really hard. It was really difficult.

Speaker 2:

It turns out you had the brakes on. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I didn't realise it, you didn't realise it.

Speaker 2:

I think it was testing me See how committed I am pushing you around.

Speaker 1:

You definitely scored a few brownie points pushing me around on the wheelchair, but we're still planning how we propose to Sabrina, because I brought the ring from Hong Kong with me right, and you know, some simple Achilles tendon surgery wasn't going to stop me from following through with my plan. So as soon as I was on crutches and a bit more mobile, I planned a day out in Bondi Beach. So we started off at North Bondi on the green lawn.

Speaker 2:

You wrote a beautiful self-composed poem to me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, shout out to your Ireland boarding school days, exactly so I wrote a poem for her and I recited it to her on the green lawn. And then we walked along the esplanade. Well, I hobbled on my crutches and you walked all. We walked along the esplanade. Well, I hobbled on my crutches, and you walked all the way along the esplanade up to Icebergs, which is this beautiful restaurant, bar and swimming club, overlooking Bondi Beach from the cliffs and the ocean.

Speaker 2:

It's a beautiful spot. If you ever happen to be in Sydney, definitely check it out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it was a beautiful Sunday day too, so we were lucky and we went up onto the balcony and it's a tribute to how we met at Laris in Shanghai, we ordered two martinis and I proposed to Sabrina right there.

Speaker 2:

The only thing I couldn't do was Was the knee fall. You didn't drop down on your knees when you asked me.

Speaker 1:

I guess you had a good excuse I was on my crutches. It was pretty hard to do, but I did propose to her and you said yes, and that's how we were engaged. We then planned our wedding, which took a year later, and we decided to have a destination wedding on the island of Bali, which wasn't too far from Hong Kong, and you know, our friends from Europe and America and Australia could treat it as a bit of a holiday as well.

Speaker 2:

I mean, who doesn't love a destination wedding?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, and we knew that Bali pretty well and we chose to have the wedding on the cliffs of Uluwatu. So Uluwatu is southern Bali and if you think, for the Europeans, the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast which drop down into the ocean, or for the Americans, think about the cliffs along the California coastline. It truly is really beautiful, one of my favorite spots around the world. We rented a really nice villa with a swimming pool, a massive lawn, not far from the Bulgari Hotel, which had a beautiful view of the sunset.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we had a full program planned around it. Sunset drinks overlooking the rice paddy fields for our guests. The night before the wedding, a seafood dinner at the Jambaran beach for the bridal party. Yeah, it was great.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was really really great. Like all weddings, not everything goes to plan, but I think these little imperfections along the way make it more special, For sure. So we had planned a wedding on the lawn, where there were tables and there was the arches where we were going to do our wedding vows.

Speaker 2:

My father was tasked with bringing me down the aisle but, being Sabrina, I couldn't go with the expected just my father walking me down. I had to do something creative.

Speaker 1:

So I had this thought, or this vision of my father bringing me down on a Vespa so the wedding planner had hired a Vespa, a really nice Vespa, and your father hopped on it and you were on his back and he was supposed to drive me down all the way down down the aisle to meet you to meet? Yeah, exactly, but as it turned out, the wedding planner had forgotten to fill it up with petrol. There was no gas in the tank and your father had to improvise yes, so what he?

Speaker 1:

did was like use his feet just to push you, you and the vespa down the aisle, little Flintstones style.

Speaker 2:

It was hilarious. The guests were all laughing. And my poor dad. I still feel for him and I kept telling him it's okay, you just get up and you walk me down, but he was determined he's going to make my wish come true and bring me down on this Vespa, regardless of how.

Speaker 1:

And he was throwing his face to the reddest red that I've ever seen. But he, he did the job well he did, he did the other things that we did in our wedding, which were really great, was he decided to personalize the decorations on the table as well. And what did you bring from hong kong?

Speaker 2:

so we brought a ton of wooden bird cages from hong kong over to bali. I think people must have thought we're crazy, because we had them in hand luggage as well. Like imagine people bringing like 20 bird cages on the plane in the overhead compartments. We ordered a bunch of flowers through the wedding planner and they delivered. The morning of the wedding All the family members came and helped us decorate these bird cages with fresh flowers and put some Swarovski crystals on them. Candles inside and turn up beautifully.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was a beautiful centerpiece for all the tables and I also think the whole exercise brought the families together my side of the family, because my aunts and uncles were there, your side of the family to do something.

Speaker 2:

And get to know them really, because it was probably the first time I've seen them all together, right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, prior to the wedding actually starting right, so that was really great. And then the wedding itself went very well. We had a live band come on after the speeches, you know, overlooking the pool, and everyone went into a dance mode. Oh yeah, and your parents decided they will have a final series of tests for me, German style.

Speaker 2:

Although we are officially married already. You could have like completely failed and it's like too late now. I'm married to your daughter already.

Speaker 1:

I think they just wanted to make fun of me for one last time.

Speaker 2:

Oh, for sure yeah.

Speaker 1:

And I was happy. I was a total sport about it. So they brought me a lederhosen from Germany. A lederhosen for your listeners. Listeners is a completely leather made sort of shorts with leather suspenders and you wear it with a white shirt underneath. It is what the traditionally a man would wear at specific events in in Bavaria yes, for weddings, oktoberfest festivals.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you'll see it on.

Speaker 1:

Oktoberfest is beer festival in Munich all the time, so all the guys wearing their lederhosen and the women would wear A dindo. A dindo and there you're sligging beer and eating beer food. So, I put it on in the heat of. Bali sweating away, and they decided to then turn on the German umpapa music, which is basically the German band music, the traditional folk music in Germany which they play at a lot of traditional festivals. Right, and they asked me to put on my most.

Speaker 2:

Your best Schubladler. Yeah, what is that? So Schubladler is basically a traditional dance and there's a lot of clapping clapping on your thighs, on your feet and you just dance and nobody really knows how it's done. At least I have no clue. Neither has my family. But put it on Andrew to figure it out.

Speaker 1:

Figure it out exactly as an Asian guy. Obviously I haven't seen much of this true butler, so I've probably seen it once or twice. I give it a go Tap my feet, tap my thighs, wiggle around. Anyway, it was fun. The guests all cracked up, looked fairly professional. I did the best I could.

Speaker 2:

Not the most authentic, but good enough, good enough, good enough to pass the test.

Speaker 1:

Then, your father brought out his second test, which was some tobacco from Germany, and decided to ask me To snort it. To snort it, yeah. And I was like, what am I supposed to do with this? So I was like, okay, I don't smoke, your father doesn't smoke either. So I was like, fine, I'll just do it. So I put a little bit on my hand and then I snorted it and then yay, nothing happened.

Speaker 2:

Well, it did kick in, didn't it? It did kick in yeah, was Well, it did kick in, didn't it? It did kick in. Yeah, was it quite uncomfortable.

Speaker 1:

No, actually it's all in the heat of the moment, so it was all fine. In the end.

Speaker 2:

It probably had the added benefit of giving me extra amounts of energy for the rest of the wedding night In the end it turned out to be chewing tobacco, so the way of consumption was completely wrong.

Speaker 1:

It's classic because your dad's not a smoker, so you don't know what to do. Anyway, just pick it up and you go for it. You probably didn't think I was. I was prepared to do it. They just put the challenge up. Exactly why not? But all in all, fun and games, um, and then around midnight I think, everybody then decided they would somehow wander into the pool and make it into this big pool party, right?

Speaker 1:

yeah yeah, that was really fun because it was fairly unintended as the band played on. The first time I saw my father, who's this grey-haired, much older Chinese gentleman, wander into a pool champagne in hand and midnight partying with us young people, so I know it was great because everyone kind of just did their thing and enjoyed it.

Speaker 2:

They just handed out bikinis and off they went into the pool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, everyone took whatever shorts they could find from the rooms and just kind of pretty much went for it. I think if you love someone, there is really nothing that should stand in your way, whether it be an Achilles tendon surgery, stopping you from proposing to the person you care about.

Speaker 2:

Whether it's a wheelchair with the brakes on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, or little mishaps along the way. There are always going to be little imperfections that happen to your plan, and there are always going to be little things and obstacles that you probably have to overcome to get to where you want to, but in the end it's all worth it and the proposal went well and the wedding was awesome. So if it's something you truly want to do, or a person that you truly love that you would like to propose to you should just do it.

Speaker 2:

Go for it.

Speaker 1:

Go for it exactly. So I hope you enjoyed our episode as revealing about how we proposed and our wedding, and hope you enjoyed it as well and see you soon.