Going the distance

Would you quit your job and move to another country for a boyfriend of four months? Or brave the frigid Arctic Circle with someone you met online? Three Singapore women who have taken such extraordinary leaps of faith share how they went the extra mile to make their romantic relationships thrive.

- CHELSIA TAN & GRACE MA

Crossing continents for each other

When Charlotte Chow, 34, and Hayato Isa, 39, met at a coffee joint in 2014, neither would have imagined that this encounter would culminate in a whirlwind romance.

As Charlotte Chow spied a tall and handsome stranger seated across her at a cafe in Shenton Way, her interest was piqued. The medical device territory manager was in between work appointments when she decided to start a conversation with Hayato Isa on a whim.

"We joined tables and talked. I can't even remember what we said to each other; it's probably just inconsequential stuff," she says.

That conversation, however, revealed a shared passion for food and it sparked a budding friendship where they hung out over meals at restaurants around Singapore.

"We started out going for dinners because we both love food, and he didn't know what else there was to do here. At that point, he was already living in Singapore for five years and was looking for new experiences," says Charlotte.

She reckons that Hayato - a Japanese expatriate who was working in fixed income sales with a bank - might have been open to that spontaneous encounter in the coffee shop as "he had probably let his guard down a little bit" with her.

"I guess he usually gets picked up by a lot of men. And he doesn't really get chatted up by Singapore women... so when I said, 'hi', he said 'hi' back," she says.

Their platonic friendship took an unexpected turn three months later, when Hayato introduced Charlotte as his girlfriend to his friend over lunch. "I actually didn't know we were officially together, and when he said I was his girlfriend, I was like: What does this mean?" she exclaims with a hint of incredulity.