If you're reading this, you likely know how we met. Still, here's our story--always good to have a little recap.

He was late to yoga; in his defence, he went to a different stairwell, the one next to Chef Chew.

When he walked in, my first thought was, "What is this white guy doing in my studio?" Little did I know, this white guy is here to stay, for the rest of my life.

[A]: It was peaceful morning except some daily working routine (the reason of being late) to the beautiful studio, friendly atmosphere, where you feel like home, belong to the team and group of like-minded people who ready to spend the entire day learning and improving themselves, having fun and rest at the same time.

He stayed for all of the classes during that day (from 9am - 10pm). We joined most of the classes together. During the second last class, we had a brief moment of improv partnering. We were running on pure adrenaline at that point. Perhaps it was the adrenaline that sent the electric current through my arms when our palms grazed each other. Or perhaps, it was a sign that we were destined for something more...where two souls finally found one another.

[A]: She taught us the piece from "Swan Lake", the most famous Russian Ballet and it was already impressive. She introduced herself after the class with genuine smile and shining eyes in the way that I will never forget... Major in math, dance teacher...

Was it love at first sight? Did we like each other from Day 1? For me, it was definitely mere friendship. For him, he found me interesting and would like to know me better...but whether to the extent of romantic desire, I don't think so.

[A]: Even it after long day, being physically exhausted, I was not able to sleep until late night thinking about the day, new experiences and emotions, and also about this girl...

His first time making onigiri!

During the dinner, he shared that he have not tried much (or any, because he eats salad everyday--the same salad, without dressing...) Malaysian food despite having been in the country for 8 months! Imagine how shocked I was... Of course I offered to bring him around to eat food!

** I'm happy to announce, he is no longer eating the same salad everyday. I have successfully introduced him to the world of flavours 😊

[A]: She opened the entire world of different flavours and food related experiences. It is part of the culture, but also her passion, being always open for opportunities and adventures. That's how Asian Journey started (even I have already spent almost 1 year in Asia), I'm grateful for such beautiful start of our friendship. Btw, I was impressed by becoming a part of philosophical club during the post yoga supper where we had a conversation about love and happiness in the way how portrayed and imagined it many years before it actually happened.

As promised, I took him to experience Malaysian food. My original plan was to either 1) lunch then tea, or 2) tea then dinner. He offered a third option, class -> lunch -> tea -> dinner -> event at Kongsi KL. And me being me replied, "SURE!"

[A]: She replied in the same way as she did during the IDD "Yes, sure". Of course, I was nervous as we were supposed to spent the entire day together, but I was genuinely looking forward to talk with her, to get to know her a bit better, her journey and hear her stories. We were so different in all the aspects: countries, cultures, languages, education, upbringing, interests, religion, race, life perspectives...

After 10 minutes, I realised, I barely know this guy and I just agreed to spend one whole day with him?? HELP. Texted Hwei and thank the Lord she is free the next day to join us!

[A]: I was fully okay with that, fully understanding that I'm still a stranger and it will be just safer to have someone with her.

It turned out, I had nothing to worry about. Aleks and I had such great conversation from the start...his quickness to listen and genial demeanour, kept the conversation easy and comfortable.

[A]: Hours passed like minutes and it was so easy, and comfortable to talk with her about everything in the world... Probably we have much more in common than I though...

I don't think we intended it to be a date? Our previous Saturday together was so wholesome that both of us knew, we want to keep this friendship (or whatever we had) going. For me, I just really wanted to get to know this person better.

[A]: I was happy to adopt this practice of every weekend to go and eat out together

After class, he came to my place to freshen up. Met my family. My mum dropped us off at the station. Through it all, nothing was awkward, everything flowed naturally...like it was meant to happen.

[A]: It is to good to be true, isn't it?

We talked and talked through the night... How did it ended? We decided to be more than friends, to have a try at this thing called relationship despite all the uncertainties and nuances.

[A]: It was very easy decision, I had no doubts, it felt right, but it was unbelievable... Fate, destiny, chance, wonder, fortune... What was it... We discussed it so many times and continue doing it until now from time to time....

Yeap. Shocking, I know. But hey, who's counting right?

It's been a little over a year since our first date, or even our first meeting. But it feels like we've been together for YEARS. We often say, if one week of time spent together is equivalent to a year, then technically we've already been together for our whole lives.

[A]: Difficult to believe, but finally we are here to celebrate our union and love for each other what was pre-destined based on many messages from Universe.

** A message we got from a temple in Taiwan mentioned that we've been great companion in our previous lives 🤔 Perhaps there is some truth to in that.