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ometimes, online dating is not as simple as making an appointment to meet at a cafe after a few chatting and emailing sessions. The far-reaching possibilities of the Internet can also mean overseas love for some online dating enthusiasts.

Mark Rully, an Australian living in New South Wales, met his wife, Nyla, who lived in Jakarta back then, through the online dating service eHarmony.

Nyla's online profile, which featured a haiku she wrote herself, charmed Rully and he decided to write her a casual message stating his admiration.

"I didn't' expect anything when I wrote her that message," he told The Jakarta Post in an online interview via email Friday.

"On the net, that first message was the equivalent of running into a stranger on the street and liking their dress and you paying them a compliment about the dress."

eHarmony was Rully's first serious attempt at finding a date through the Internet, after previously signing up to several other cyber social networks.

"eHarmony was the first site I subscribed to with the purpose of *finding someone,'" he said. "I was conscious of the effort, because I realized I had less and less time to socialize outside of my profession."

Before meeting Nyla, Rully became acquainted with several other girls through eHarmony, and other online media.

"I have to admit I did flirt a little with some of the women I met online," he said.

However, those affairs did not develop into anything substantial.

At first, he did not take online dating seriously, he said.

"I didn't have any expectations. I don't think it would have worked as well if I had, because the nature of online dating is very obscure. You never know what's going to happen or who you're going to meet."

The casual admiration of Nyla's haiku eventually evolved into long, intimate emails, Rully recalled.

"The first couple of weeks when we started emailing each other were revelatory in terms of what we wanted and where we wanted to go in life, personally and professionally."

After two months of intense emails and phone calls, the two decided to meet in person in Jakarta and got engaged in less than a year.

The online relationship proved to be more accommodating for the couple, Rully said. "What we lacked in physical contact we gained in intellectual contact, we wrote extensively and talked everything out. The lack of physical presence gave way to communication, believe it or not."

eHarmony, like other online dating services, requires the applicants to fill in a questionnaire to get their profile and find them a match based on common interests or possible chemistry. However, there are some which simply let the subscribers find their own match.

Rully admitted that sometimes he found online dating more convenient than real-life dating.

"I work very long hours and I don't have time to go on a date, or follow up a date, or send flowers, or anything like that," he said.

However, cyber-world romance does not really rule out any possibility of bumps and grinds.