For the first time in three months, I was wearing lipstick.

I had also brushed my hair and put on dangly earrings - a pair of sparkly jewels that had been sitting in my drawer ever since I started working from home in February.

I was going on a blind date and it was time to get out of my haggard, half-hobo state, which had become progressively worse as the days of the circuit breaker flew by.

My rainbow-coloured, polka-dotted pyjama shorts were staying on, though. I did have my limits.

Besides, my date would never have to find out about the shorts as our meeting would be virtual, conducted entirely over a Zoom video call. As long as I remembered not to stand up midway through the call, he would be none the wiser.

As I clicked on the invite link and dialled into the meeting - set up by an enthusiastic match-maker from dating agency Lunch Actually, whose operations had to go online amid the Covid-19 outbreak - I felt the same bout of nerves as I did for any other first date.

Despite being shielded by my laptop screen and, theoretically, the option of a quick-exit plan with a click of the "leave meeting" button, I was still meeting a new person for the first time.

No one wishes to leave a poor first impression, not even over an Internet call.

Also, what would we even talk about? We had not exchanged a single text message beforehand, which we would have if we had matched on a dating app, so he could have been a Donald Trump supporter for all I knew.

Turns out, I did not have to worry so much.

My date was a relatively seasoned virtual dater, having gone on five of these before, so he knew how to keep the chit-chat going.

And while the coronavirus may have upended every aspect of people's lives, even forcing the first date to go online, this so-called "new normal" also presented itself as an easy conversation starter.

"So, how have you adjusted to working from home? Have you also turned into a circuit baker or a quarantine chef? That is a cool Zoom virtual background."

These were natural ice-breaker topics and, before I knew it, we had spoken for more than an hour.

Still, there were some awkward moments.

The weak Wi-Fi connection in my room caused occasional lags in the call, which meant that we had a hard time hearing each other. Or, not realising the other person had finished speaking, we would proceed to talk over each other.

The fact that a camera was perpetually on myself, and that I could see that image so clearly, also made me even more self-conscious than usual.

I never realised that I tilted my head so much or that I tended to laugh with my eyes squeezed shut.

We ended the date with an exchange of our mobile numbers and the vague possibility of meeting in person some day.

As flawed as a virtual first date was, I could see why it was the next best option. During a time when people may be feeling extra lonely, or for those who are just really bored, you work with what you have.

I never thought I would say this, but I'm looking forward to being able to go on physical first dates again.

They will always be awkward, but at least I can share a good meal with the person in the process.

I'll just have to remember to leave those pyjama shorts in the closet.