Ex Mediacorp actress Ong Ai Leng, 42, recently reunited with her husband, Hongkong director Kenne Yam after 15 months apart.

And boy, was the process challenging. As Ai Leng, who is Malaysian, shared in an Instagram post, the couple faced a number of difficulties getting approval for Ai Leng to enter Hongkong, as Hongkong did not allow foreigners to enter.

Therefore, even though Ai Leng and her husband had registered their marriage in Hongkong, there was quite a bit of red tape that they had to wade through.

At first, when Ai Leng’s husband called Hongkong’s Immigration Department, the staff on-duty assured him that Ai Leng would be granted entry into Hongkong, since their marriage is registered there. However, when Ai Leng went to book her flight to Hongkong through Cathay Pacific, she was initially turned away.

In the end, Ai Leng managed to make it to Hongkong, after “preparing loads of documents”. She left Malaysia on September 11, and finished her 21-day quarantine on October 2.

Ai Leng also revealed in an Instagram post that she started “tearing up” as she was checking in for her flight to Hongkong.

“Yes, I’m on the plane right now, and can finally go to see my husband. From June last year, till now. I’ve never given up. Spent money to apply for two entry permits from China, which expired one after the other. Then, when I wanted to go over again, I had some family issues [to attend to]. Then, when things took a turn for the better, and I wanted to [go to my husband] again, Malaysia was classified as a Class A epidemic area. But I persisted in booking my plane ticket and quarantine stay,” she wrote.

“For you, I spent half a year’s worth of savings to travel across land and sea to see you. But actually, the money doesn’t matter. We can always find ways to earn it back after spending it. But it’s [the disappointment] of spending money, but still being unable to meet, coupled with the many setbacks and disappointment, the endless hope and anticipation, that’s the hardest to bear,” said Ai Leng in another post, after touching down in Hongkong.

She went on to reveal that before she left Malaysia, she had sent her husband a list of food items and supplies that she would need for her 21-day quarantine.

“Then, [you] said that you wanted to try waiting for me, to see if we could meet [after dropping off the food supplies]. I originally felt that it was a waste of time ‘cos what if after waiting, we were unable to meet. But who knew that it was really possible. Director Yam, you must have shot too many sweet idol dramas to be able to think of something like that. I was really moved by you,” wrote Ai Leng.

“From thousands of miles apart, to within a hundred miles, and now, just a street apart,” she added.

Now isn’t that the sweetest?

Thankfully, since Ai Leng has long completed her quarantine, the couple are finally reunited after 15 months apart.

In an interview with UWeekly, Ai Leng quipped that when she walked out of her quarantine hotel, she felt as if she was “walking down the Avenue of Stars” with all the camera flashes from “the parents waiting for their kids to be released [from quarantine].

“Very funny feeling. [Almost like a ] prison break,” she went on to the describe the experience in an Instagram post.

Now that the couple have reunited, they sure are having fun playing tourists in the city. Here's a pic of her outside upscale shopping mall K11 MUSEA in Tsim Sha Tsui.

And the fitness influencer has, of course, been indulging in all of Hongkong’s good food and its restaurants like the famous Kam’s Roast Goose.

After everything she's been through, we think Ai Leng deserves not a cheat day but a cheat year.

Photos: Ong Ai Leng/Instagram