Valentine's Day 2012

This year’s Valentine’s Day had been another one for the books. That’s why I’m posting this in my blog so as everything is on record (for future reference for my husband lest he repeats his surprises).

The day before Valentine’s Day, my husband and I already made a pact: we would have dinner (c/o a group voucher) and he would not buy me any expensive stuff (i.e. flowers, jewelry, etc.).

Come morning, I woke up with a long-stemmed rose on the pillow beside me. Sweet eh? When I went out of our bedroom, I saw spread on our dining table this loot:

Above the chocolates is the single rose which made me smile

My favorite dark and mint chocolates

Yey! I commended my husband for being such a good boy and for following our pact. He actually spent his money on something consumable. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE flowers. But I just can’t accept how expensive flowers get during Valentine’s Day.

So far so good right?

Well, I was really so happy throughout the day. But when I called up my husband and told him that I could just go undertime so we wouldn’t get stuck during the Valentine’s Day rush, he told me that I have to wait for the flowers he ordered for me.

Okay, I should be thankful right? Yes, I’m thankful. But I had this really awful experience with flower deliveries every Valentine’s Day.

Last year, I got the wrong delivery. Instead of tulips, I got pink roses. I had to wait until 7 p.m. until the mix up got sorted out. By the time my tulips got delivered in our office, I was fuming mad, and the tulips were so dead. Suffice it to say that I was traumatized by the whole thing.

I hope you understand why I was really apprehensive about this flower delivery.

Okay, so what happened? 5 o’clock came and went but still no flower was delivered. You can just imagine how angry I was by that time. By 6 p.m., I had no choice but to proceed to our date.

What really happened? The flower company (Flowers by Sylvia) really didn’t deliver the flowers my husband ordered. They just delivered my flowers the next day, February 15, after I personally called them up and gave them my piece.

Still in plastic

I have to admit that  these are beautiful!

Perfect blooms

What is really annoying about this company is they are so arrogant in handling customer complaints. I asked them when my flowers would be delivered and they just simply replied, “Nagyon na po.” But when I asked where they would deliver the flowers, they nonchalantly asked me, “Saan ho nga pala ito idedeliver?”

What kind of company is this?! Haaay…

So did my Valentines’ Day turn out to be okay? Yes it did.

We spent the remaining of the night dining in Hotel H2O. The dinner setup by Makan Makan was weird since we had to sit in groups of 10 (ala wedding reception) and fall in line for the buffet. Check out the pictures of that Valentine’s night.

Corridor outside Hotel H2O

Entrance to H2O and the Ocean Park-Manila

The central lobby of the Ocean Park where one could appreciate the light display of the dome above

In real life this dome changes color :)

Prom slash wedding reception sign

 

The weird table setup

Buffet attack

Confused waiters

"Sana nag-Pancake house na lang tayo. Mas intimate pa," said my husband.

By the way, this event was done in the Pacific Ballroom of Hotel H2O. There was this mermaid show, which we didn’t get to see, for we were seated way way far from the aquarium. The food was good, especially the squid dish. There was also an acoustic group that serenaded the audience.

My husband and I just noticed how the entire evening seemed to be like an On the Job Training final exams for Hotel and Restaurant Management students. It was actually hilarious how the receptionists got confused with the sitting arrangements of couples. Some families were separated into two tables while some couples demanded for a new table setup for two to have a sense of privacy. You can just imagine waiters carrying these heavy glass tables and steel chairs from I don’t know where just to appease disgruntled couples. Good for us, we were one of those few who got to be in the venue ahead of time so we were able to choose where we could seat.

Again, did my Valentine’s Day 2012 turn out to be okay? Of course it did. Actually, in retrospect, that day really made me appreciate my husband more. Can you imagine how difficult it was for him to placate a livid Tina? Even I would find it terrifying to face me in my tantrums mode.

Valentine’s day this year was just lovely because I got to spend a wonderful night with my man, hold his hand, and laugh at all the strange and funny things life hurl at us.