Their courting period spanned over three countries and two cultures.
American-Chinese Cecilia Jeong, 40, and Singaporean-Indian Vijay Visvalingam, 43 had a whirlwind romance that resulted in a 14-year marriage that is still going strong.
She first noticed him while backpacking in a bar in Koh Samui, Thailand. He had blue and white cornrows and was busy downing shots with at least eight women surrounding him, Cecilia said.
They bumped into each other again at the Hat Yai, Thailand immigration and Cecilia knew she had to seize the opportunity to talk to him. The couple hit it off and they promised to meet up again in Kuala Lumpur, where they hung out.
Her next stop – Singapore, and Vijay promised to be her guide. Vijay told Her World that on Cecilia's second night in Singapore, he kissed her while they were dancing in a popular nightclub. "It felt awesome. After we kissed, I knew she was my soulmate," he gushed.
He was so sure that he proposed to her the very next day – and the overjoyed but taken aback Cecilia accepted on her last day in Singapore, five days later.
She had two months to ponder how they were going to make it work while completing her backpacking journey through Indonesia, Australia and Japan. Finally, she decided to relocate to Singapore, and rented a dingy flat in Toa Payoh.
Vijay's parents were initially against their marriage as Cecilia was of a different race and religion. When they saw Cecilia's dedication to Vijay however, they relented. The couple registered their marriage in June 1995 and then married in a traditional Indian wedding in June 1996, two years after they met.
Even after 14 years of marriage, the couple remain besotted with each other. They have two girls, aged 11 and 7, and they live in a HDB apartment in Hougang.
Vijay reckons he might have never tied the knot had he not have met Cecilia. "I had this intention of being a swinging bachelor but this woman changed my mind," he said.
Equally lovestruck, Cecilia echoed, "He was everything I looked for in a man."
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