It has been a while since student Herman Teo took his girlfriend on shopping dates. Since the 23-year-old revealed his geeky side to her, they have been playing games at home or watching anime on the computer.
Ms Jeanne Lim, 21, says laughing: 'He's trained me to like the same things. I had never watched anime before I met him.'
He cheerfully admits that he is an 'otaku', a Japanese term for hardcore fans with obsessive interests. He owns about 50 toy figurines of characters from Japanese cartoon series such as Gundam and runs a website on Japanese popular culture at riuva.com
He even put together a stack of anime DVDs guaranteed to get people interested in his hobby. 'They're all with my girlfriend now,' he grins.
'I now prefer Japanese songs too,' says Ms Lim, who used to be a fan of Kelly Clarkson.
Before she met him, she used her laptop only to shop online. 'I used to hate computers or staring at the screen, but now I'm doing it every day to watch anime,' she says.
The couple are classmates studying food science and technology at the National University of Singapore. They have been dating for 11/2 years.
Ms Lim admits she often finds her boyfriend's geek nature annoying: 'He hides in his room for hours at the computer.'
However, he is mindful of her feelings, she says, and will go shopping if she asks. It was his softer side that attracted her, when he made sure she got home safely after she fell ill at a party in January last year.
'He also makes me laugh and is fun to be around. He's very knowledgeable and helps me if I have questions about our studies,' she adds.
For her birthday this year, he bought her a camera because she wanted to share his interest in photography.
'Sometimes I call him Otaku King or Geek King, but I wouldn't change him,' she says.
For Mr Teo, the attraction lies in his girlfriend's 'tsundere' nature, which the Japanese describe as good-hearted on the inside, but strong and cold on the outside. 'It's a rather appealing attribute in fictional characters, and in her,' he says.
He says he hid his geeky side from her at first, so as not to scare her off, but is extremely glad she decided to give his hobbies a try.
'I've trained her well,' he jokes, using the same words she does. 'She's not just your typical girl any more.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
