Jeron Teng enjoys the newlywed life with Jeanine Tsoi

MANILA, Philippines — Basketball star Jeron Teng has seamlessly transitioned from the court to the “courtship of a lifetime,” recently tying the knot with former UAAP courtside reporter Jeanine Tsoi.

In an exclusive e-mail interview, Jeron shared some fun moments from their wedding day, as well as surprises and adjustments from their first couple of months together. They tied the knot last Oct. 15 at the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila.

One of his most unforgettable moments was when his dad, PBA legend Alvin Teng, gave a message during the reception.

“Siguro, para sa akin yung pinaka-funny moment during the wedding was when my family — my parents and siblings — gave their speech. Nakakatuwa lang kasi sa family namin talaga, we don’t really give speeches so much. Natuwa lang ako medyo sa dad ko (since) he’s not comfortable talking in front of a lot of people. I think he was supposed to say ‘happy wife, happy life,’ but he ended up saying ‘happy life, happy wife’ (laughs). (It was) funny and memorable.”

Jeron with his parents and siblings — Almira, Jeric, Alyssa, Susan and Alvin Teng.

When asked about unexpected moments in his marriage so far, Jeron said, “I can’t say unexpected but yung pinaka na-touch ako — because I wake up earlier than her as I have training — since we got married, she never missed having breakfast with me in the morning.”

Sharing more about his sweet morning routine with Jeanine, he said, “Kahit sobrang aga ko nagigising, I have breakfast at 7 a.m., kahit late siya natutulog sometimes, she makes sure she has breakfast with me in the morning.”

Have they discovered any quirks and habits about each other that they didn’t know before getting married?

Jeron admitted, “This is kinda hard for me to answer because we’ve been together for like eight years before we got married. So, we really got to know each other that time.

“But siguro, one thing that I learned about Jeanine is that she’s super sensitive, even when she’s sleeping. So yun mga noises can really interrupt her sleep. And sometimes she complains about my snoring (laughs). When I’m too tired, especially from games and trainings, I tend to snore and she’d tell me the next day about my snoring the night before (laughs).”

What makes their relationship strong is because they started out as friends. They met during their college days some 10 years ago at De La Salle University (DLSU), where Jeron was a star player, and Jeanine a courtside reporter.

Sharing their love story, the PBA player recalled how their friendship became something more.

“When I was still studying at DLSU, she was our courtside reporter during that time. And we started off as friends at first. As we got to know each other, lumalabas kami as a group. So, our relationship really started professional eh, na parang to interview me, puro ganun lang,” Jeron said.

“Towards the end, when I started asking her out on dates, yun, nag-click talaga kami and after a few dates, that’s when I realized she’s ‘the one’ because parang ang dami naming similarities, eh. We have the same traditions. We came from a Chinese-Filipino environment. Maraming similarities talaga that I knew she’s ‘the one’ for me.”

Now, two months into their marriage, Jeron is very grateful for Jeanine, describing her as the MVP or “most valuable partner” in their relationship.

“The most valuable partner is really my wife because she really takes care of me well and makes sure everything is well with me. I mean super maalaga na siya before we got married but when we got married, she became extra caring and extra loving. So, I’m a spoiled husband. I really feel the love and care of my wife,” he expressed.

As for the biggest change from being boyfriend-girlfriend to being married, it is that now they make decisions together, whether big or small.

“From when we were just girlfriend-boyfriend (to) now that we’re married, perhaps the biggest change is that we really think as one. Sa lahat ng decisions we think as one, whether they are little things or big things like choosing our furniture, choosing (stuff) for our new home. Lahat talaga… I think it’s a good thing that couples should really think as one,” Jeron said.

When asked about a valuable piece of marriage advice, Jeron stressed the importance of resolving issues before bedtime.

He said, “The most remarkable marriage advice someone gave to us is never end the night without resolving the issue. Kasi siempre now that we’re married, we sleep in one bed. We shouldn’t end the night not being able to fix whatever problems or arguments that we have. Siempre, we always have to end the night well and we always have to fix it no matter how hard it is. We always have to find ways to do so.”