IT IS normal to be a bit nervous before a first date.

But logistics manager Choy Wing Kin was sweating bullets last Thursday night at the lobby of the Shangri-La hotel.

This was no ordinary date.

Mr Choy was meeting reigning Miss Singapore Universe Rachel Kum. It is his prize for correctly guessing she would come out tops this year in a contest conducted by the NS Portal website in May.

The 39-year-old, who is single, told The New Paper that he had gone to the hair salon to get his hair coloured and styled earlier in the day. 'I have a few grey hairs,' he said shyly.

Moments before meeting her, he asked this reporter for tips. 'I haven't prepared any topics to talk about,' he said, looking slightly flustered. 'Can you recommend some?'

After The New Paper suggested trying to find some common interests - travel, TV shows? - he was off to the BLU restaurant, on the 24th floor of the Shangri-La.

From the get-go, Mr Choy was clearly in awe of the 24-year-old beauty, who stood almost half a head taller than him in her high heels. She looked demure.

Once in a lifetime

Both seemed reluctant to start chatting to each other.

It didn't help that there was an entourage following them, which included Miss Singapore Universe (MSU) organiser Daryl Pang, and folks from NS Portal.

When Mr Pang pointed out to Mr Choy that 'it's not every day you get to have dinner with Miss Singapore Universe', the latter eagerly replied: 'Probably only once in a lifetime.'

With that, it was time to leave the couple alone at their candlelit table in a corner of the restaurant.

Did romance blossom?

Not a chance, according to Rachel. 'I have a boyfriend,' she declared.

Still, Mr Choy said the dinner 'went very well'. He said Rachel talked mostly about her preparations for the upcoming Miss Universe 2009 competition, to be held in the Bahamas on 23 Aug.

She also impressed him with talk of her adventure travels to places like Antarctica.

Apart from that, Mr Choy said she 'shared some things about her own personal life, but I can't share that with you'.

He also said she spoke about her parents, and her family life.

As for Rachel, she said the date went 'okay'.

She added that she felt she was the chattier of the two during the date.

'He was quite shy, so I didn't want to make it awkward,' she said. 'I just tried to keep the conversation going.'

She described Mr Choy as 'quite quiet' but also 'bubbly'. 'When he responded to something I said, he would be very excited,' she said.

She confirmed that she had poured out some personal concerns - though it was restricted to her feelings about the lack of support of our local chapter of Miss Universe.

'In Singapore, it's not a big deal. The support here is definitely not as great as in other cities, like in Indonesia or the South American countries,' she said.

But Mr Choy, ever the ardent fan, has confidence in Rachel.

'She'll be in the top five,' he said, without hesitation.

The furthest a Singaporean beauty has got at the international competition was when it was hosted here in 1987 - Marion Nicole Teo reached the top 10 and was named the seventh runner-up.

Mr Choy, clearly smitten, believes Rachel has the goods to get even further.

He gushed: 'She's very beautiful, and very outspoken and confident.'

This article was first published in The New Paper