Imagine her surprise - and pride.

Mrs Carol Neo, 44, was in the seaside town of Sozopol, Bulgaria, and got to meet the mayor. When she told him she was from Singapore, he smiled.

She recalled: "The mayor told me that Singapore is so clean and the Government is so good. I'm very proud that people in Eastern Europe know about Singapore."

The full-time housewife and mother of two was there in June to take part in the Mrs Planet 2013 beauty pageant. She became the first Asian to win the title since it started in 2007.

The pageant is held annually in Bulgaria and organised for married women by Bulgarian modelling agency Intersound Ltd.

The third-generation Singaporean also bagged two other awards: Best National Costume and the Municipality of Sozopol Award.

The Municipality of Sozopol award is given to the woman who makes the biggest impression on the mayor of Sozopol, whom the contestants had to meet.

As for the national costume, it is probably the first time a beauty contestant has won with a costume designed here that hasn't been ridiculed.

Awesome

Mrs Neo described the costume, designed by Dicky of The Wedding Couture Bridal, as "an awesome creation".

The pageant had 45 contestants from countries like Ukraine, Malaysia and Nigeria. This is the first year Singapore took part in the competition.

Mrs Neo, who started participating in beauty pageants only this year, was selected to represent Singapore after she won the Mrs Singapore Planet award, one of the titles in the Mrs Singapore pageant, in May.

When the Mrs Singapore organisers approached her to participate in Mrs Planet, she told them her family had plans to go on a holiday in Perth, so she would have to check with them.

But her children convinced her to take up the offer.

She said: "My kids were more for it than me.

They said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience".

She relented and took part in the pageant while her husband of 16 years, a Singapore Airlines pilot, and their children, 12 and 10 years old, holidayed on their own in Perth.

As proud as she is of Singapore, she said there were some things Bulgaria could teach us. The Bulgarians are mindful of their trash and they actively recycle, she said.

"We have the ability to do all these things, yet we're not," she added.

She said that the most challenging part for her was facing the other contestants.

She said with a laugh: "They were so tall, pretty without make-up, and had big boobs".

Most of the other contestants were models or had a modelling agency of their own.

Figuring she had no chance, she decided to take it as a holiday. Then she learnt she had won the pageant.

Get The New Paper for more stories.

Click here for more photos.