LOVE AND ROMANCE

CUPID struck on Saturday night as the winners of the fabulous GulfWeekly Valentine's Day competition took their limousine ride to love at the Movenpick Hotel.

Hurriyah El Islamy and husband Adlin Hisyam Uddin, both in their 30s, first met in an internet chat room in 1998.

At the time he was in Leeds, England, finishing his degree in electrical engineering and she was in Malaysia having just completed a degree in law and considering travelling to the UK to study for a master's.

Adlin said: "I didn't realise it but my name, in Indonesian, means someone who is proud of himself, but not it a good way, so she scolded me.

"It was 7.01am (UK time) on September 29, 1998, and I just thought, why is this person that I don't even know scolding me. At first I didn't even know that she was a girl! I thought it was a guy, even when we got chatting and I said I would try and find out about a law course in Exeter."

But the misunderstanding was soon sorted out and the couple chatted on-line for several months getting to know each other and when Hurriyah saw our competition she had to tell us of her most romantic moment.

She wrote: 'About four months later I received a phone call from a lady who insisted I should listen to the radio that afternoon. I did not know what it was about. I was a little worried. I asked all the friends I met to sit with me and listen to the radio, apparently it was a new programme called Love Song and Dedication.

'The DJ made a phone and got a person on the line. He made a special dedication for me, mentioned my full name and location and then came the dedication "Dear, will you marry me?" The DJ then played Ronan Keating's When You Say Nothing At All which has since become our song.

'The dedication was chosen as the advert for the programme - imagine listening to someone on the radio mention your name and ask you to marry him and this was repeated five times a day for a whole month!'

Despite never having met face to face, Hurriyah agreed to the proposal and the pair finally met when Adlin returned to Malaysia in August 1999.

They got married in Indonesia on January 20, 2001 and moved to Bahrain in 2004 after Adlin was offered a job while the couple were in Glasgow for Hurriyah's studies.

Now he works for the government and she is a bank legal adviser and mum to son Adzka, six.

On her entry Hurriyah wrote: 'I won't say he (Adlin) is generally romantic, but he is in a special way. He remembers the exact time and date I scolded him in that chat room, he kept all our email correspondence and, after more than a decade, he still remembers all the details, even the name of the DJ.

'I love his unusual way of expressing his love to me.'

When told of her win a delighted Hurriyah whooped with excitement and asked: "Are you sure this is not a joke? Did we really win? I can't wait to tell my husband. Thankyou so much GulfWeekly."

On Saturday night the couple were picked up by luxury car company Limousina and taken to the Movenpick for a sumptuous Valentine's meal, with chocolates and music for lovers.

Afterwards Adlin said: "It was a real surprise to find that Hurriyah's entry had won and we were both delighted. We had a lovely romantic evening and really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks again to GulfWeekly, Limousina and the Movenpick."

Narmeen Mohamed Ilyas

Ilyas is not the type that gives chocolates and brings flowers home. But once in a while he does his magic and I can cry and laugh for hours thinking that is exactly why I love him.

Our marriage was a rushed affair with opposition from my side, firstly because I am Sri Lankan and he is Pakistani and also because I converted to Islam. My father did not attend my wedding and my mother was only allowed to see me for an hour.

I was so lonely at the door when we were supposed to enter the hall because my father and my family were supposed to lead me to the stage and, while his side was full, I had no-one on mine.

I was scared and upset and maybe would have broken down just then if he hadn't caught my hand and quietly led me to the stage as if we were alone and he also had no-one. That was so wonderful of him, in an instant I forgot my feelings and started to enjoy my wedding.

He had been raised not to show public affection and it was the first time in five years he had taken my hand in public though I had often pestered him to.

Tracey Morrison

Steven first came to work in the Middle East in April 2002. His first leave home was in the September and he booked a weekend to New York for us to celebrate my 30th birthday which he had missed. We visited the Empire State Building and he surprised me by getting down on one knee and proposing.

We returned to New York in May 2003 and, with a small group of family and friends, we got married in the Empire State Building then took yellow cabs to the Hard Rock CafŽ for our wedding dinner before riding the subway to the Yankees Stadium to watch baseball.

Bhagyashree Bharath Nayak

In these many years we have seen a lot of ups and downs, more downs than ups actually - financial crisis, job uncertainty, sickness, a miscarriage.

And all through the way we have been together side by side. And we have been winners all the way because we knew that we were not alone but together in the fight.

My husband may not profess his love for me but whenever we go through a dark road or have to climb the stairs he turns around to hold my hand and guides me (my vision is limited due to a tumour).

He doesn't need to give me gifts but his ability to sense my needs and being with me all the way is what makes this relationship special.

Reg T Braggs

I have been married to the most beautiful woman for a looooong time.

Three years into our marriage, I was attending college and the four days leading up to our third anniversary I received unsigned cards on my car.

Day one said 'nice to see you handsome', day two 'you seem like a really great guy', day three 'I am yearning for you' and day four 'let's meet'. Each day my wife denied all knowledge of the cards and got angry and on the fourth day she instructed me to go to the meeting with her best friend.

It was in a hotel and we knocked three times on the room door before it opened and standing there in candle light was my beautiful bride in lingerie with rose petals on the floor and bed, a two-tier wedding cake on the table and bubbly chilling in the ice bucket. I was so impressed with the love of my life Mrs Kecia L Braggs.

Glenn Castelino

The first day we met in Gloria Jeans for a coffee, the second day we reflected about our respective conversations, the third day ... God enlightened us and we got engaged.

It was the quickest decision I ever made in my life!

Today I always say to her

Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain

Teardrops and laughter, pleasure and pain,

We can't have all bright days in life, but one thing is true

No cloud is so dark that my love can't shine through.

Edrina, it's just for you.

Sandhya Venugopal

The most romantic moment of my life was when we met for the first time after our engagement. He took me for dinner. The evening was just the way I imagined, there was music, fun, romance, everything. Then at the end he presented me with a bracelet.

I can never forget that evening, not because it was our first date but it was the most wonderful evening of my life.

Mary Clark

My husband Ron is a true romantic and never stops surprising me, even after 30 years together.

One memorable experience was during a cruise in 1986. Our song is Evergreen by Barbra Streisand. During the course of the cruise we often listened to the piano player and, without my knowledge, Ron asked him to play it for me. Unfortunately the pianist didn't know it but he learned and one evening he invited Ron and I to the lounge and played it just for us. I was so touched and very emotional.

He later played it again and we danced together with some friends from the USA.

A couple of weeks after we got home a delivery arrived from our friends, it was a rose playing Evergreen which I still have.

Dennis Richardson

I met my wife to be, Florence, in September 1965 at an alumni dance and on New Year's Eve of that same year I proposed. The plan was to wait until Valentine's Day but I couldn't contain my happiness that I had found the love of my life. We were married in June 1966 and we still feel the same about each other as we did then only much more deeply.

Our golden years are ahead for us now and there is no-one else I want to share them with. I have decided to write this because I want the world to know how much Flo means to me and for her to see it in print would be the greatest gift I could give her for Valentine's Day.

Arunisha Kotwani

Of all the romantic moments, the closest to my heart are those few dates before we expressed our love for each other ... 12 years back. The best Valentine gift I ever got from him was a card, as thick as a book, especially made by him. He would give me cards every month rather than find an occasion to make a card for me.

Soon after he proposed, he got a job in Bahrain in 1998 and his parting words on our future were "I don't know how and when we shall be married and we can't marry without your parents' consent (we are from different religions). For me it was like the end of the world but his phone call on reaching Bahrain safely brought life back to me.

Shristi Sinha

Once we were travelling by train in India and my birthday was on the day of the journey. When the train stopped at a station a delivery boy came to me and handed over a bouquet of flowers and a cake, on which was written 'to my loving wife'.

My husband had made the arrangements in advance so that I could celebrate my birthday on the train.