iriam Quiambao dishes about the new challenges she's taking on-marriage to an expatriate, setting up home in a foreign country, shaping her future.

Asked why the quick shift form dating to marriage, Miriam Quiambao, 28, announces, "'Cause I'm pregnant!"

With her washboard abs, she fools none of us of course. "Hindi ako pregnant!" she takes it back right away and laughs. The truth: "We just couldn't wait to finally be with each other." Daily long-distance calls and monthly weekends together just wasn't cutting it for her and her man. "Sobra na kaming mabibitin. We wanted to be with each other every day."

Days spent in the island paradise of Boracay has given the 1999 Miss Universe First Runner-Up a golden glow, while months preparing for her belly-baring wedding gown has made her already svelte frame look even leaner. Here she is posing for our cover story just five days after her intimate 100-guests-only wedding at the Holy Rosary Church in Boracay.

Almost immediately after she and Hong Kong-based Italian businessman Claudio Rondinelli, 34, exchanged I dos, Miriam returned to Manila to wrap up work commitments, like this interview and her taping of the remaining episodes of All About You (GMA-7). Two days after our conversation, she was to go off on a 10-day trip to the Maldives for a proper honeymoon with her amore.

By now, Miriam must be used to living a fast pace. After all, she met, fell in love, and married her husband all within one year. But, as she tells us, her decisions are not about hurrying to get form here to there, but because she is certain of her place in life.

A romantic beginning
Backtrack to a year before: The former beauty queen was a single woman ready to hit the dating scene again after her breakup with model turned TV host Hans Montenegro. In fact she already had a prospect in mind. But a friend, designer Rhett Eala, decide to play matchmaker and insisted on introducing Miriam to an Italian man named Claudio, who was in the country on business. Because she didn't want to her pal down, Miriam agreed to setup. "Pinabigyan ko lang talaga. I would never do a thing like that excepts only to be nice to Rhett."

The date turned out to be unmemorable-at least for one of them. "He was in jeans and jacket," recalls Miriam. "When Rhett and I walked in nakatingin siya sa akin. We talked, we had a drink. After 30 minutes, nagpaalam na ako kasi inaantok na ako." Despite the brush-off, Claudio was smitten with the morena beauty and he set out to earn her affections. The following day, when Miriam picked up a dress she had ordered from Eala, there were six dozen pink roses waiting for her to wish her luck on the awards night she was attending that night. Then it was her turn to be swept away. "I totally appreciated his gesture because in the past year and a half, I never received flowers from a guy. Kasi nga yung ex ko ayaw magbigay ng flowers."

Miriam sent Claudio, a text message to thank him for his thoughtfulness. The man called her up right away. "He told me, 'Since you like flowers I'm going to send you flowers every day from today until the next time we meet. So when are we going to meet?'" Miriam recalls from that conversation with the romantic Italian. The two agreed to meet after one week. And so on every single day of the week that followed Miriam received six dozen pink roses from her romantic Italian suitor. Before they hung up, she remembers Claudio telling her," You better not stand me up otherwise you'll owe me a round-trip ticket to Hong Kong." Yes, he would be flying in just to meet up with her.

How did they manage dating across two countries? "He'd some to Manila every two to three weeks," says Miriam, who basked happily in her then-boyfriend's devotion. "He'd spend the whole weekend here. Lalabas kami, Coffee, lunch, dinner, whatever."

Even if Claudio is a foreigner, Miriam says she found an easy connection with him. "We just clicked from the time we met. We have the same sense of humor. When I crack a joke, he gets it. Italians are so much like Filipinos: cariñoso, Katoliko, close sa family."

Hong Kong love affair
After two months of dating. Miriam and Claudio officially became a couple. Hong Kong, she says, was the point of no return. "Doon nahulog and loob ko sa kanya," Miriam admits. "I saw how he treats his maids. He's so nice to them. He's also so close to his dogs. I saw how he takes care of them. Ibig sabihin ganoon din siya mag-care sa akin, dib a? Basta super malambing siya, he's such a gentleman. So sinagot ko na siya."

Claudio knew early on that Miriam was the one for him. In fact, after just four week of being a "we," he proposed marriage. Miriam wanted to say yes but she felt it was too early to be certain. Her reply: "I would say yes now if only to reassure you that I want to marry you. But ask me again in six months.

And so he did ask her again nine months after that initial proposal. It was on one of her visits in Hong Kong that he popped the question. Well, a series of questions first before the big one. "We went to the new house he had renovated. He asked me when my contract with GMA-7 would end, I said in December. Then he asked if I was willing to move to Hong Kong the following January," Miriam says she hesitated for a split-second, thinking of her responsibilities back home and the uncertainty of starting over in a foreign country. "But do you want to move here? Claudio asked me, and then he popped the question. I paused for a second, hugged him, and then cried."

Who's moving where?
When the reality of what she agreed to sank in, the apprehensions followed. "I'm leaving everything behind," Miriam remembers thinking. "My career is going uphill and there could be more doors opening for me. I'm leaving my family and my friends. There, I will have no one but him. It's such a big step. Very, very scary."

Miriam found herself pondering some very weighty issues: "I asked myself, what do you want? Is our love worth giving up my career for? If I finally met my one true love will I get him go just because I'm afraid to move in with him?" Miriam dealt with her worries and came to the conclusion that Claudio's proposal was indeed a dream come true. "I realized that marriage is what I've been looking for," Miriam says, "and that having family of my own if what I've been looking forward for the past few years."

The decision to leave her career and move to another country is entirely hers says Miriam, which makes it all the more empowering. "He didn't force me or ask me to leave my job just to be with him, it was totally my choice. Hindi puwede na magkahiwalay kami kasi mag-asawa kami. I wanted to make sure that our living situation would be conducive to the marriage."

It's also a matter of being practical. If Claudio were the one to transfer to Manila, he would have to build his business from scratch. From Miriam's statement, it sounds like business is going great for the Rondinellis. "With our present condition, I don't really have to work," busy. Ang tiny request lang niya is to keep my work schedule flexible because when he travels, I have to travel along."

Still, Miriam is currently putting together her modeling portfolio for possible gigs in Hong Kong. This Physical Therapy graduate may also head back to school, but this time study to become an entrepreneur. "I've always wanted to get into business," she says. "Tingnan ko pa. Everything is still up in the air. I'm just looking at my options and preparing everything so when I get there I'm ready."

Perfectly ready
Miriam's fears of the unknown eventually disappeared after spending more time in Hong Kong. "I was shuttling back and forth and he has been introducing me to all his friends. I've been launching with them, having dinner, or going out for drinks with them, so we're all fairly acquainted." Miriam is also excited about their new home-it's got a mountain behind it that overlooks the Hong Kong harbor and comes with a great view of the metropolis. She's also got a growing list of new adventures: "Hong Kong pala is not just for business or shopping. There are so many things I can do there like play gold with my husband, or mountain-climbing."

So how does she like being Mrs. Rondinelli so far? "Actually it's really not much different from before. Medyo weird but nice feeling. And now, when people want to interview me, I also have to consider his feelings."

What's good about their relationship Miriam says is that they always find a way to compromise. "We treat each other as equals. We consult each other on particular decisions. He doesn't impose himself or his wants on me. I, in turn, also respect his desires."

But going back to my original question: Wasn't the decision to get married done in haste? Miriam says she just knew it was time and Claudio was the one. "I was ready for this marriage because I believe that I've achieve everything I wanted to happen in my life for now-movie, commercials, my own TV show. I have become. I have dealt with my insecurities. I'm entering into a relationship not needing anything, but able to give. It's the same for Claudio. I think that when a woman decides to get married she should make sure that she's complete, because it is in your completeness that you will attract a person who's also complete."

Wise words
Miriam shares the best advice on marriage that she received from some close friends and some perfect strangers.

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