Hinching

Figure 1. Photo taken in front of Taipei 101 during New Year 2008

First step ever.

Christmas was just right around the corner. In the last week or so before Christmas, being the lazy me, under my request, Dian had been casually dropping hints on what to get her that Christmas. She liked this but not that. She wears this size in this shop but a different one in another shop because sizes are never the same (How confusing is that!). She liked this black shoe but not the one beside it (All the shoes at Nine West look exactly the same!) and so on.

Being the stingy bastard I am, I always hurried her if we ever did slow down while walking past Tiffany’s. I wasn’t spared from Swarovski though. Her choice of jewelry was understated elegance. Mine was affordable.

Anyway. There was I. Right in front of Tiffany’s at Queens Plaza Brisbane on a Friday night alone. Dian had a Christmas party at work that very night giving me a chance to get my Christmas gift for her. Putting on a confident face, I walked in—right foot first. I was officially inside. Yatta! (I did it!)

Figure 2. The most expensive little blue box I will ever buy

Choices, choices.

“Tiffany’s Sterling Silver or Swarovski’s glass crystal?” I questioned several of my female friends online prior to my final decision. It was a stupid question but I needed to know for sure. Or at least a reaffirmation.

I spent the first good half hour circling the sterling silver section. The Tiffany’s signature collection were a bit too Tiffany. The pearl jewelry (Pearls are from Japan) were on the pricey end. The Elsa range looked very promising especially the tear drop range. So did was the Gehre-designed range. Choices, choices.

S.Hussain—the sales assistant who assisted me while I walked between the Gehre and Elsa range was courteous, soft-spoken and patient. I was sure she encounters helpless guys like me on a constant basis. I finally decided on a piece from the Gehry collection—Frank Gehry® Orchid double drop pendant.

Figure 3. Dian with her Frank Gehry double orchid necklace pendant

Of excitement.

The assistant lead me to table in between the sterling silver section and the ‘i-can-never-afford’ section. A table of the little blue boxes every women loves to see. “Would you like to have your gift in the blue box or green box (It was Christmas)” she asked courteously. “The blue, of course.” I replied.

On the 21st of December, we exchanged our Christmas gifts. My first gift was a children’s book called Not A Box by Antoinette Portis which unintentionally contradicted my next gift—the little blue box. At the end of the day, it was not just a box, not just a piece of sterling silver albeit an expensive one, it was the effort that counted the most. After all, she meant a lot to me. And that was what counted.

Figure 4. ‘Not a Box’ and the Little Bue Box

p.s. I am so going to allocate some funds to the ‘next little blue box’ emergency fund just in case I ever need to use it for a proposal to a future wife. But between you and me, fingers crossed my future wife doesn’t read this. Or perhaps should I use the money elsewhere like put it on a billboard instead? Anyway I’m single and mildly available. Pffft.

Do you desire a little blue box from Tiffany’s?