I’m marrying my Tinder date!

[Ed's note: #TinderTales is a weekly column that attempts to look at online dating. This week, our Tinderella tells us about The Dream: finding The One on Tinder! Have a story to share? Email us at submissions@gmanews.tv]

Like many people, I spend more time online than I should. I've signed up for practically every social media account, I've spent time and money on seat sales and travel deals, and I've taken practically every personality quiz there was.

Unlike many people, though, I wasn't perpetually online because I was bored. It’s actually a job for me.

I started working in digital media in 2010 and throughout my career, I've found all sorts of things on the Internet.

What I hadn't expected to find was love.

I installed Tinder on my phone intrigued by the type of people I see in the app. You may call it market research but it was really just as a way to entertain myself while stuck in Manila traffic. I really didn’t expect much from it. I just enjoyed studying people’s profile depending on their location. I only went out with two guys using the app.

One is a guy I ran a fun marathon with.

The other is now my fiancé.

I opened the app while driving through Ortigas curious to find out how boys in ADB area would fare. I found this geeky guy’s profile who wrote "ISTJ" just below his name. I swiped right then, and we matched!

It turns out he didn’t work for ADB but was on a business trip at that time. He was checked in at one of the hotels in the area.

He was a good conversationalist, often asking open-ended questions that kept our chat going. After talking about the best places to travel in the Philippines, he eventually asked me to take the Myers-Briggs test.

I took it and told him the result – ENFP – and he immediately said, “I like you already! Let’s meet.”

My first reaction was "Whoa! Was that an actual test?"

Intrigued, I agreed to meet him.

Illustration: Jannielyn Ann Bigtas

He was my first official Tinder date and we had so much fun! It turns out the Myers-Briggs test was so effective and played a huge role in the success of our relationship. Our personalities, ISTJ and ENFP, are actually polar opposites. Knowing this early on helped us work on the relationship more.

Just two days after we met, he went back home to Australia. Staying true to ISTJ type, he didn’t leave the Philippines without being clear on his intentions.

On our second date, he asked if we could be exclusive. As a true ENFP, I impulsively replied "YES."

For six months, we had a long distance relationship, seeing each other once every two months.

At that time, the planner in him had already researched how I can move from Manila to Sydney. The spontaneous in me was up for my life’s next adventure – migrate to Australia and be with the man I’m curious to know more about.

Yet my first year in Sydney turned out to be a baptism of fire. It was far from the adventure I thought it would be.

Our differences became more apparent that I actually packed my bags two or three times in a span of three months. Good thing he was level-headed and understood me. So the bags never left Sydney. I stayed with him and got to know him better.

A year after I exhausted my annual tourist Visa, we applied for a partner Visa. When I finally got it, we celebrated over dinner.

On the way home, we were having one of those amazing conversations we always have. We were On a ferry overlooking the Sydney skyline, we were both feeling appreciative. Everything was perfect. Things were beautiful.

I was already teary-eyed and overwhelmed. Life had been very good to us.

Then he got down on one knee and asked if I’ll marry him.

I never got to answer. I just kept on crying but my heart was shouting a big loud YES! — LA, GMA News

The author is marrying her Tinder date this December beside a beautiful lake overlooking the magnificent mountains in Queenstown, New Zealand.