My Valentines' Day

It's Feb 14 once again. The day for love. The day for being with your loved ones. If you're single, it's a day you spend with your other single friends coz the ones with significant others will be out tonight or at the very least, will have plans.

Back when I was single, I've always considered V-day as a day where restaurants are packed and flower shops have the license to jack up their prices. But I've always just decided to enjoy the day and what it has to offer (when I could) or avoid the day altogether just escape the traffic and expensive meals the day comes with.

The first time I decided to just enjoy the day and what it had to offer, me and a friend decided to go to the UP Fair together. We didn't have girlfriends at the time and so we just decided to go to the UP Fair on Valentines' day, as if it were a normal day where we would have some roommate bonding. We did have a good time bonding though. We talked about the pressure that the day brings. We agreed on three things that night:

1. That we would never allow Valentines day to pressure us as single guys
2. That if we did get girlfriends, we'd let the day pass as a normal day and reserve the romantic stuff for other days
3. That we had no idea how to enjoy the UP Fair; we decided to call it a night at 10pm (ok, this one is off topic but I remember this so well. lol)

For the most time, we stuck with this formula for our Valentines day. We hung out with friends and that was it. When the traffic turned to be unbearable, we'd stay in and have a few drinks. That was our escape from Valentines Day. Every year, I've always had quite a number of single guy and girl friends so I never felt lonely on this day.

Two years ago though, I stopped being single. I tried to sell my girlfriend the idea of letting Valentines' day pass by without any plans. She did not like it one bit. We didn't end up fighting but we ended up planning the whole day together; our first Valentines' was a Sunday. It was fun and I now get the appeal that most couples find in Valentines day. My girlfriend has this idea that if we were to celebrate Valentines, it should be something that isn't typical - meaning, not just a fancy dinner. Last year, we went wake boarding and this year (we celebrated early), we went trekking.

We had a great day! I can't lie. I genuinely enjoyed the day. By nature, however, I am just a home body. I prefer to stay at home and enjoy the comfort of my four walls. I think I'll be selling her the idea of a simple in-house celebration. I mean, I'm all for celebrating but what made Feb 14 the day to celebrate?

When I was single, Feb 14 didn't come with any expectations. Now, that I'm not, the expectations can be a bit daunting. My girlfriend just told me a story of her friend who always expects something to be prepared on Valentines by her husband and always gets disappointed that he doesn't prepare anything. The cycle happens every year. The girls gets disappointed, they fight, the guy says that he's still as loyal as ever to her, they kiss and make up. The guy even goes on to say that some guys who prepare so much for Valentines might even be disloyal to their partners and that she should be happy he's not like that.

I for one don't compare myself to how other guys prepare their plans. I do, however, compare myself to my last year self. I constantly try to outdo what my last year self did the previous year and since I poured my heart out into last year's Valentines, I had to step up my game this year. In the end, it's all worth it. Seeing her smile at the end of the night. Our pictures from the day didn't disappoint either. We had one of our most memorable experience to date! However, I'd want to try staying in one time. Like a movie marathon with popcorn and ice cream and a couple of two player games (we can get pretty competitive). These kinds of activities are easier on the pocket and definitely more intimate as you don't have another couple just a feet feet away from you.

My sister told me this year that her favorite Valentines date was with her and her husband having dinner in the garden. They had a candle lit dinner and a table set up and everything. A few feet away from their table, a smaller table was setup almost identical to their own for their two sons. They all dressed up, went to the garden and had an intimate family dinner.

I see what my sister liked in that memory of their Valentines dinner. She had her husband and her two boys there. That's all she really wants for Valentines day. Flowers, chocolates, dinner out and gifts are all nice bonuses but one thing that should always be present on Valentines day is your presence for your significant other. Whether you're in Cebu's most expensive restaurant or just at home playing board games, the point of Valentines is to be present for each other. That's all anyone ever wants on this day.

Traveling the world

Ahhhh... traveling.

Working in a resort, I experience a lot of travelers - all are guests are travelers! I like seeing them come in and out of the resort doing all the touristy stuff in Cebu. I really envy the travelers I see everyday. I love traveling. I really do. I love being placed in a country unfamiliar to me and I have to navigate my way through it. I often joke to my friends that my brain is a GPS. The people I travel with (friends or family) get shocked when I tell them exactly where to go, which turns to take and the schedules of things like the lights shows and trains. I really just rely on google for my information which I research ahead of time - that includes google maps!

So when I tell my friends that I've been to less countries than the number of fingers on one hand, they don't believe me. They even try to look for tells on my face that say I'm lying to them but never find any. That's coz it's true! Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore are the only other countries I've been to. I really want to add more countries to my short list but I doubt that's happening any time soon. I've been ton Hong Kong and Singapore twice, China once and just last August, me and my friends visited Japan (it was my second time as well).

So imagine my excitement when my friend who's now based in Australia, invited me over this coming June! And that's winter for them so it'll be my first taste of winter. I've told myself that the next country I visit will be one I have never been to and all was going according to plan. I've rejected some fun trips (even free trips like traveling with the folks to Japan so they'd have a - ahem - cargador). Australia was my next stop and nothing was gonna stop me.

That is until my sister said she wanted to see the cherry blossoms in Japan this April. Conversation went something like this:

Sister 1 : Jon, what's in Japan that the kids will want to do?
Me: Tokyo Disneyland
Sister 1: Okay. And when will the cherry blossoms bloom?
Me: Around March to April
Sister 1: Okay. Coz we're planning on taking the kids to Japan to Disneyland. Wanna come? (She was asking my other sister)
Sister 2: Let me check my schedule...
Sister 1: Jon, you're coming with us coz we need someone to tour us around.
Me: o.O

I love Japan. I can honestly say I'd love to go back there again. But I had just been there a few months ago and revisiting sites I've been to just a few months back might just bore me. I've tried selling the idea of Korea and Lotte World or Osaka and Universal Studios (If I'm going back to Japan, visiting another region would at least be a level up), but I think the kids' hearts are set on a Disneyland.

No doubt I'm gonna enjoy traveling with my family if our trip indeed does push through but I have half a mind to skip the trip altogether. I travel to gain new experiences and if I'm just going to do a repeat performance of my latest Japan trip, it might just not be worth it.

I'm still super stoked on Australia and will probably tire myself out visiting every nook and cranny of that place. And looking for snow. That's a need for a Filipino boy who has never seen or felt snow in his life. This is gonna be fun!