i'm still at home. i'm still sick. i'm still suffering from the bout of stomach flu. CRAP~!!! when the virus is dormant, life's placid. i'm still myself. but when it strikes, oh man... crap.
i just wanna thank those who tagged / SMS-ed / called / prayed for me. i really DO feel touched, ok? i really DO feel loved. thanks guys =)
i don't think i will blog again anytime before / on Valentine's Day. so i shall post this article up as a pre-V day food for thought to all who are here. cheers!!!
One girl's anti-Valentine sentiment
Simran Panaech
I will officially declare it now - I am anti-Valentine.
After years of denying it, refusing to acknowledge it, I think it's time I officially said it to everyone - I hate Valentine's Day.
Not because I'm a cynic, not because I'm unromantic, not because I'm single - I just disagree with the whole concept behind this day.
It boils down to one simple thing - why must there be one allocated day to show your significant other your love? Shouldn't that happen every day?
Yes, I know some of you may argue then why have a Mother's Day or Father's Day, for that matter. But I think that's different - parents should get a day for themselves. They did give us life after all, it's the least we can do!
I believe Valentine's Day is an excuse for every business to jack up their prices. It is the one day in the year when it's too expensive to go out to eat or drink, too expensive to buy gifts, chocolates or flowers, too expensive to express something that should be conveyed all the time.
Love between two people should not have an assigned day for expression. It also gives an excuse for a person to be lax all year and only perk up that one day to show that they are paying attention to their partner. It's also added pressure to live up to all the commerciality of the day and, frankly, it all seems rather forced.
How many times have we heard of a woman yelling at her man because he did not deliver on Valentine's Day? How many stories have we heard that a woman gets upset that her boyfriend forgot this dreaded day?
Ok, now I can hear you say maybe it's the woman's fault for having such high expectations. I mean, has anyone really heard of a man crying over the lack of gifts or love his lady friend did not give him on this day?
So let me pronounce this loud and clear - I am a woman who is anti-Valentine.
I remember one year when a guy I had a crush on walked past me on the street in our university campus and said "Happy Valentine's Day", only for me to give him a puzzled look. And when it dawned on me what he said, I mumbled the same in return.
Rather embarrassing since the reply came quite a distance away. He couldn't quite figure out why I wasn't pleased with his greeting.
A year later, when we were together as a couple, he knew better than to remind me of the day. He, of course, was extremely pleased he didn't have to splurge on anything to show me his love. He was also the envy of his friends who thought he was so lucky to have a girlfriend like me who didn't focus on the "importance" of this day. (This is a new idea !)
We were a couple who always showed love to each other. The best thing about that is it's always a great surprise and it makes it all the more special as it happens on any regular day.
But I will level with you on one thing. I did have two very bad Valentine's Days with another boyfriend and, even though I already had not liked the occasion that much before, I reckon the anti-Valentine sentiment cemented from then.
Please don't think "oh, she had a bad one/ got ditched/ never had any admirers" as the reasons behind it. It's just that I can't warm to the fake lovey-dovey-ness of this puke-inducing day.
So for those of you who agree with me, especially the women, here's my anti-Valentine mantra:
February 14th is just February 14th. Have a great normal day!
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here's another article by Suzanne Sng, dated 11 Feb 2oo8. i am a fan of her girltalk columns every Monday on The Straits Times (Life!). yea~!!!
Valentine's Day? Bah!
The last time I observed Valentine’s Day, I did it by dumping my then-boyfriend.
Yes, call me a heartless b***h, but Feb 14 is just a normal day to me, and as good, or in this case, as bad, as any other for breaking up.
It didn’t hurt that we both didn’t believe in celebrating what we referred to as “that pagan holiday”, even when we were madly in love.
Now, I’m as much a romantic as any other female. I adore long walks on the beach at sunset and I would never turn down presents of roses, chocolates and other clichéd tokens of love.
I draw the line, though, at candlelight dinners. I like to see what I’m eating, and preferable without singeing my eyebrows.
But while poring over the Valentine’s Day special in Urban last week, purely for proof reading purposes since I’ve never paid such close attention to this sort of gift guides before, I found myself stifling gasps of horror every 10 seconds.
Not only was there a V Day package for a candlelit dinner at the Night Safari, the meal was going to be served on a moving tram. The first thought that popped into my head was “fire hazard”. The second was “motion-sickness”. (So true !!!)
Then I noticed the price - $450 per couple. It included a free flow of alcohol, so I presume you can quaff your money’s worth, but getting completely wasted kind of defeats the purpose of a romantic night out.
But if I thought $450 was a wee bit exorbitant, I was wrong. It apparently is the market rate for packaged sweet nothings.
A trip on the Singapore Flyer comes with only a glass of champagne each, no food except for a box of chocolates (so have your dinner beforehand), a rose posy and a goodie bag, and costs $390 for a half-hour ride.
The capsule does come with themed décor, presumably featuring heart shapes and / or half naked cherubs, piped-in background music and – this is the part which made me shudder and cringe simultaneously – an LCD screen to display lovey dovey messages.
Even if you are in the mood for some sweet lovin’ from the very conducive environment, you will have to behave because there will be nine other couples sharing your romantic moment in the same confined space.
To ensure complete privacy, prepare to pat $3,990 to book the entire capsule.
For a cheaper ride, how about booking a London cab which comes it’s very own violinist to serenade you?
For $250, you are presented with three roses and will be ferried to anywhere your heart desires.
Just make sure it’s not to a hospital’s A&E department from having your eye poked out by the violinist wielding a bow within the tight confines of the vehicle. (WAHAHA~!!!)
Grudgingly, I have to admire these savvy and creative marketeers for knowing exactly how to package a concept as nebulous and deeply personal as romance.
I’m not sure what it is about these special Valentine’s Day packages that makes me break out in hives – the opportunistic jacking up of prices for the day or the ridiculous gimmicks which make love a parody of itself.
Perhaps I’ve become more cynical over the years, as the grand gestures of amour become even grander, and cheesier.
I have nothing against couples who choose to sip champagne on a giant ferris wheel or ride in a cab with the strains of violin music in their ears, if they can afford it and it is truly meaningful to them.
But what makes me weal on the knees is someone cleaning my house, doing my laundry and ironing and then cooking me a (non-candlelit) dinner. Hardly anyone’s idea of romantic, I’m sure.
If I’m starting to sound like I’ve eaten some extremely sour grapes, let me assure you that I’m not some bitter old maid who had never been showered with Valentine’s days gifts.
I was one presented wit an abnormally large plush toy dog. It put all the other stuffed animals and sheepish boyfriends I saw while lugging it around Orchard Road that Valentine’s Day to shame. I’m not kidding about its size – it took up an entire seat on the MRT ride home, much to my chagrin.
Similarly, I’ve been embarrassed by a very pink gift box topped with the ubiquitous teddy bear branding a heart, large unwieldy bouquets which gave my arms a strenuous workout and enough Ferrero Rocher to make me hate the taste of it forever. (Hilarious !!!)
To those who brought the above items for me to show you love, I did mean it when I said thank you. In fact, I mean it more now that I have finally woken up to their exorbitant prices on that one day a year. How can 36 roses cost $600?
To put things in perspective, one of the best presents I have received cost nothing at all.
It was scrawled on a yellow Post-It and said simply: “I got you nothing because that’s what you wanted. XXX”
When someone knows you well enough to know you are not acting coy about not wanting to celebrate “that pagan holiday” and you are secure enough with each other that your relationship is not determined by that one day on the calendar, well, that is better than chocolates and flowers.
Truly, the best present is that gift of your heart.
And I do apologize if the next cliché I’m about to trot on out gives you an attack of hives – if you love someone, every day should be Valentine’s Day.
AMEN !!! isn't it so true? these two articles reflect my view.
what are your opinions on this issue? drop me a tag, ya?
actually, i kinda thank God that Mr Osgodby was my form teacher ( English teacher as well). i also thank God that i took Literature, even if it is just elective. i learnt to appreciate the humour as well as light sarcasm in articles. i also learnt to sift out the ironies and paradoxes whenever i read such columns. i learnt to be discerning and have a mind of my own, rather than believing an article hook, line and sinker. of course, GP helped a bit.
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The definitions of gossip:
dictionary.com - idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others: the endless gossip about Hollywood stars.
merriam-webster - a: rumor or report of an intimate nature; b: a chatty talk
webster's - (noun) Light informal conversation for social occasions.
(verb) Wag one's tongue; speak about others and reveal secrets or intimacies
oxford - casual conversation about other people
therefore, according to the above defintions, if i have not met A for, let's say, 3 months, can i ask, "Hey! Do you know what's A been doing? i've not met her in ages!" and if this conversation continues, is it considered gossip [since gossip = casual conversation about other people (Oxford)]?
i always thought that gossip means talking about someone BEHIND his / her back.
now, i am taught that gossip = WHISPERING.
it was until 5 minutes ago that i conducted my mini-research, that i realised what i thought, and what i was taught, are WRONG~!!!
things are getting quite confusing now. so, what actually is gossipping?
i just know that WHISPERING ISN'T GOSSIPPING. it's so totally wrong!
once again, happy Valentine's Day.
