"Things kept coming up," said Pang, 35. "It was eerie."

But the way they got together wasn't eerie.

In May 2004, a mutual friend set up a business meeting between the two. Pang needed help promoting an Asian product he wanted to introduce in the U.S. The friend urged Bowers, a director in corporate communications at Communications Pacific, to talk with him. She reluctantly agreed.

Bowers suspected a setup. And she wasn't looking for a boyfriend. "I was just living life at that point," said Bowers, 31. "You can't look for a relationship. It's just not going to work."

Bowers and Pang met a few weeks later for drinks at Brew Moon Restaurant. There was a mutual attraction, but that didn't change the focus of their meeting.

They planned to meet a week later, this time with his business partners. By the end of the meeting, she casually mentioned her first canoe regatta coming up that weekend.

"If you guys win your senior race," he said, "I'll take you out to celebrate."

Her crew won. Pang took her to dinner at Yanagi Sushi, then, after some trash-talking by Bowers, to play darts at Eastside Grill.

"I was royally defeated (at darts)," Bowers recalled.

By then the attraction was undeniable.

They spent the next couple of days together, going to lunch and paddling outside Waikiki.

Despite their growing feelings for each other, they were both unsure about a relationship. He was traveling nearly every month for his job. She didn't want to rush into anything so soon.

But after two months of dating, Bowers poured out her heart and told him that she decided she wanted to make this relationship work, despite the time apart.

"He was perfect for me," Bowers said.

And Pang knew his feelings for Bowers were serious when she met his then-10-year-old son, DJ.

"He told me, 'I like her. She's cool,' " said Pang. "And I didn't (prompt) him. That gave me the green light to look deeper into this."

Pang left for Taiwan for six months, returning to Hawai'i every five weeks and staying with Bowers. While apart, they e-mailed each other all the time and talked on the phone at least twice a day. The distance strengthened their relationship.

"We really got to know each other," Bowers said. "I had to trust him. ... We spent a lot of time talking and listening."

By December, Pang knew.

He ordered an engagement ring and had it shipped from Taiwan to Cincinnati, where he was meeting Bowers and her family for Christmas. But a snowstorm slowed the shipment, and the ring didn't get there in time.

That didn't stop Pang from proposing.

On Christmas morning — after asking her parents for permission — Pang turned to Bowers and took her hand. "You mean a lot to me," he started, as her parents looked on, smiling. Bowers had no idea what was going on.

He asked her to marry him. In her shock, Bowers didn't answer right away.

"She was stunned," Pang said, laughing. "It took her dad to say, 'Well, what's the answer?' "

She said yes, cried, then called everyone they knew to share the news. When they returned home, Pang moved into Bowers' apartment in Makiki.

They planned an October wedding — before the holiday rush and after the annual Na Wahine O Ke Kai canoe race.

Life hasn't changed much for the couple, who are looking for a house. But their priorities have changed: Now, their relationship comes first.

"Our relationship is the single most important thing in my life," Bowers said. "I treasure it, cherish it. ... You should make the relationship your No. 1 priority. You cannot lose yourself or who you are. But you need to have common goals, common interests and common values for it to work."

And, in their case, a common philosophy on Sundays, which now, thanks to Pang, is spent doing absolutely nothing.

"Yeah," Bowers said, "that's been nice."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.