$$$ Valentines Day$$$

Love, Money and Valentines Day.

Once upon a time, not too long ago, we use to refer to Valentines Day as Saint Valentines Day after the patron Saint of lust….sorry I mean Love* (in reality apparently some martyred Roman Priest during the reign of Claudius the second.) Of course centuries later none of that matters as long as randy devils get a pathetic excuse to palpitate for a supposed love one. Not to mention the effects of commercialism. Let’s face it, sex sells and no matter how romantic one intends to be love isn’t going to come cheap. Here in Hong Kong, despite the chilly weather, five star Hotels and posh restaurants, pulled out all stops to heat up the action and their coffers with “romantic getaways” and dinners. A leading Hotel, had a stunning one off package valued at USD 10,000 for the night, in the Presidential Suite, including a helicopter tour of the harbor, a diamond ring and Rolls Royce transfer. Another leading Restaurant touted the usual aphrodisiacs of Champagne and Oysters along with Caviar and Vodka. Sounds to me the only thing you are likely to get up for that night is a very upset stomach!

So why oh why do we bother with Valentines Day at all? Do single women pine for an unexpected romantic liaison? Do single men out there have a chance anyway?

I once knew one married couple, wherein the female stated, “who needs some card and gift, after ten years of marriage you should know by then if you are happy in love without all that nonsense.” Sounds to me like the romance has well and truly gone out the window on that marriage. Ok now here I will start to sound like a real hypocrite, however, in my defence I am a romantic at heart. So even after my very own fifteen years of marriage, I still give my wife a card and flowers on the V day itself. Even if I am not in the country at the time, if I was really that romantic, wouldn’t I make an effort to actually be there on the day?

Back to the sordid subject of money, how much does or should love cost, oh how I love thee let me count the cash….sorry I mean ways. Oprah once said, in life you can be surrounded by a whole bunch of people but the ones you want are not the ones that will only stick around while you have a Limo, but those that will also be with you when you have to catch a bus. Right I can really see that happening in Hong Kong, I don’t even know how to catch a bus here let alone anyone that actually does. So love may well be a pretty lonely place in Hong Kong after all.

So as Valentines Day passes us once again, I write this while listening to Sarah Vaughn signing “Sweet Affection.” Oh yes how sweet it is…enjoy$.