Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Little known Valentine escapes
A FEW hours from now, restaurants and motels, hotels, condotels and all others in between would see a streaming line of reservations and accommodations from couples taking advantage of the Valentine fever.
I try not to be sarcastic of the season but what the heck. Valentine's Day celebrated every February 14 is in honor of a certain St. Valentine but my druid religious teacher cum religious historian said that Christendom is not really sure if which St. Valentine it was out of the four saints with the same name (author Jessica Zafra claims there are more than four). Other than this, it is not clear why the saint was associated with a day that it symbolizes.
In much older days, saint where "unscrupulously" chosen out of a roster of folk heroes and characters, before the standard Vatican procedure on sainthood. So it might as well be that the person associated with the date has evolved from the same with Catholic calendars imbedding the name on February 14 it became a part of our standard body of knowledge of Valentine's Day.
With companies capitalizing on the Valentine's Day with marketing gimmicks, the date itself had become entomb under the trash of commercialism. But never the less people are still drawn to the date spawning a horde of anxiety among partners who scamper to fuel the commercial enterprise of cotton hearts, chocolates, roses and cheesy poems on Valentine cards.
February 14 would surely see to extremists who would be wearing red (or variations of the same) causing a sea of traffic on malls and food establishments. But there are, however, a few establishments one might take interest to take your partner to.
Try visiting these a little bit "secluded" escapes for Valentine's Day. Coffee Academy at Sto. Rosario Street would prove to be a good place to spend time with your love one. Almost hidden from plain sight it can provide enough privacy for small talks.
La Veranda near Angeles University Foundation along McArthur Highway is also a good spot for night dates, with heartwarming brews to perk up your partners' inner most desires. Or if you are in for a heavy eating, you might want to spend your date at Toll House. Though the service time is a bit time consuming, it would provide you and your date enough time to talk things up.
And if you are a bit short on the budget you may want to take your partner to Nepo Quad (suppressed giggles) you only need to really be early to get the best grass space in front of Angeles Electric be one with a throng of couples (mostly students) populating the park area. The proximity of the place with Nepo Mall would provide easy access to food establishments.
But a word of advice though, try bringing your partner on a date a day before or after Valentine's Day because nothing beats a romantic rendezvous that is best savored without the nerve-wrecking human traffic and money-draining expenses. So go out and have fun this season of hearts, but then again, better look for a partner first.
Happy Valentine's Day!
The author is accepting invites, comments, suggestions, love notes, indignant rebuttals, hate-mail and what-have-you: email:ianocampoflora@yahoo.com (0927-542-5466). (IOF)
