Before Valentine's Day

Only a few days before Valentine's. Many things are going through my head. This year is different. I won't be alone this year. I've got a date...

It started out with a show at the Drama Centre. Then a movie, a dinner, a bus ride home, more dinners, church visit, another bus ride, another movie, dinner, Christmas eve, night cycling on New Year's Eve, dinner, bumping into her on the train, ice-cream fondue, Sentosa Flower Festival, walk on the beach, Ben & Jerry's, dinner, theatre, another church visit. Finally, Valentine's Day.

For someone ordinary, it was a challenge to come up with a romantic day. I guess real life romance don't work the way they do in the movies and television. They've got retakes. More importantly, they've got million dollar budgets. Plus, everybody looks oh-so-glamourous. That's reel life.

Real life, however, is somewhat different. It is not always a bed of roses. Things may not go as planned. You can't promise the moon and the stars. But you can promise time and effort for a relationship and keep it. I ever came across this analogy of claypot rice. If you prepare claypot rice by cutting corners, you won't get good claypot rice. Good claypot rice takes time, effort, patience and understanding.

I definitely believe in the claypot rice theory to relationships. Past relationships have been somewhat strong flavoured dishes that were all the rage. Then they just got boring and faded away.

This time, I want to make things right all the way. But I'm rather disappointed with myself for the lousy plan for Valentine's Day. I'll have to put in more effort for the next date.