While waiting for the perfect man to come along it's important to keep having fun in the meantime.

And that sometimes means breaking a few rules.

One of my dating laws is to avoid the under-25s. I'm nearly 28 now and find that youngsters are often students, broke, or living at home.

I was all of these things a few years ago but times have changed.

However, when I held a cocktail party last Saturday and a couple of bronzed Dutchmen trooped in, I forgot my promise.

They were both hockey players and friends of my housemate's cousin. Irrepressibly Dutch, they accents made me giggle so much I nearly dropped my Slippery Nipple.

One of them, Jan, was so friendly and sincere that I stopped caring he had a girl's name.

I also ignored the fact he was a mere 24 - younger even than my little brother. He was also a student.

We were soon chatting and laughing together. Somehow the cocktails had an effect on my memory and I can't tell you much more about the evening, except that we exchanged phone numbers.

The next day he text and invited me to a Bollywood-themed hockey club night the following Saturday. How could I refuse?

I borrowed a jeweled and embroidered turquoise outfit from a kindly colleague.

On the night, I painted on some eyeliner and stuck on a bindi.

Arriving, the Dutchman was nowhere to be seen, but he sent me a text:"If close by the train station, then yes I am near." I think this meant he was on his way.

I enjoyed happy hour with my friends until I spied him arriving, sporting a huge turban and a pair of aviator shades. I was impressed.

We had a great night and left the club at 2am. The weather was of arctic temperatures so I suggested we share a cab home and go Dutch on the fare (no pun intended).

"Um, I don't have much cash right now," he said in his transatlantic-Dutch manner. "Sorry. Shall we find a bus?"
I sighed.

I might be a poor journalist but he was an even poorer student, and I can't afford to fund a boy's lifestyle as well as my own.

We trooped, shivering, towards a distant, lonely-looking night-bus stop.

My toyboy had been fun for a week but I know I won't be expecting any tulips from Amsterdam.