Marina and Roberto (above) first met as avatars Rinaz and Cartridge, but took the relationship into real life and will marry at the end of the year. -- PHOTOS: MARINA NOORDIN

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It was a simple but elegant civil ceremony, exactly one month after they met.

Cartridge had relentlessly pursued Rinaz, showing up everywhere she turned. She wasn't really interested, but she saw how caring he was towards his friends and grew fond of him.

Within days, they exchanged their first kiss. They went out on dates, taking in the scenery in different places and dancing the night away at clubs.

Soon, Cartridge popped the question and Rinaz blushingly accepted.

She had always dreamt of living in a house by the sea. Cartridge bought her a prime piece of land. They started building their dream home together.

First, they put up an outdoor gazebo so they could lie in each other's arms and gaze at the sunset. Then, they planted a rose garden, always in full bloom and never in need of weeding.

If this all sounds like a dream, it's because it is.

But the dream home and dream life that was conjured by Singaporean Marina Noordin and Italian Roberto D'Andrea - as Rinaz and Cartridge in Second Life - will soon become reality.

Marina, 31, a multimedia educator in a secondary school, had started playing Second Life for only a week when Roberto's avatar set eyes on her.

Their first meeting was in the sandbox, where newbies go to learn how to build things in the virtual world.

Roberto, 45, a software programmer in real life, said he was drawn by the 'simple elegance' of Marina's avatar.

And when he started chatting with her through instant messaging, he found her positive outlook towards life very refreshing.

Desperate to know her better, he looked for her whenever he logged on and wooed her relentlessly.

After they tied the knot in Second Life in 2004, Roberto and Marina, both single, decided to take their relationship a step further by chatting over the phone and webcam.

Roberto, who lives in Rome and whom Marina describes as a stocky man, did not look anything like the buff Cartridge. But he had a kindly face and smiling disposition.

Roberto said that when he first saw Marina over the webcam, 'her smile just melted me'.

After the initial sizing up, they kept on romancing each other, both in Second Life and on the phone.

Out of curiosity, they consummated their marriage in Second Life, but decided it wasn't worth the bother because it was clunky and mechanical. Exchanging sweet nothings through instant messaging was more of a turn-on.

Eight months later, they were curious to see if they could connect in real life as well.

Roberto said it was not an easy decision to make. They were both aware of the hurdles before them if they decided to pair up in real life.

Besides having to cope with being apart and in different time zones, there was also the issue of having to traverse their different cultures. But in the end, he bought her a ticket to visit him in Rome. She accepted.

In hindsight, Marina thinks it was a stupid, unsafe thing for her to have done. But she enjoyed her 10-day Italian vacation thoroughly and discovered she had many things in common with Roberto.

She said: 'He may not look like his avatar Cartridge, but he was the same person I had got to know in Second Life.'

Roberto said he was relieved to find out that his feelings for Marina were real, and even more heart-felt in real life.

Six months later, it was his turn to visit her in Singapore. He met her parents and her siblings with whom she lives in a Taman Jurong five-room flat.

Roberto started dropping hints of taking the relationship further. During his next visit to Singapore in December last year, he asked to attend Muslim conversion classes.

On his last day here, while they were shopping for computer gadgets in Sim Lim Square, he asked to go to a jewellery shop to get her a ring. Then he popped the question.

They picked a wedding date for this year, Dec 18 - exactly four years after they were married in Second Life. That will be when the couple will hold a traditional Malay wedding in Singapore. It will be followed by a civil ceremony in Rome, Italy.

They considered having a wedding ceremony in the virtual world where they first set eyes on each other, but decided the logistics would take too much time.

It would be a feat to get all of their avatar friends together to attend the wedding ceremony.

Better to spend the time planning for their real-life wedding and, well, their real life in Rome where Marina will move to.

Sandra Davie

Go to straitstimes.com to see the house that Marina and Roberto's avatars built in Second Life.