A Celebration of Love

14th February. Valentine’s Day. Its a day of love, happiness and celebration for florists and restauranteurs.
Oh, and lovers too!
I know some people look forward to this day. Single guys and girls would scoff at the celebration, saying that its all commercialised and stuff. Others would rather just stay at home and drink themselves crazy. I’m actually one of the latter, despite having a girlfriend. For the 4 years that I have been dating Nicole, we are always in different locations on Valentine’s Day every year.

A friend of mine once said, that Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be just a celebration of love between a husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend (or boyfriend and boyfriend, girlfriend and girlfriend…). It is a celebration of love, and we all have loved ones – our families, friends, workmates, pets and even our soft toys. It can even be our celebration for someone else’s love. I couldn’t agree more.
Which is why I am dedicating this mushy entry to David and Geraldine. Those who suffer from the incurable disease called mushiphobia may turn away now. *cough*Alli*cough*
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A few weeks ago, I opened my mailbox and received this. It came in a pink envelope.

David and Geraldine would be honoured to have you witnessing their Registration of Marriage… before proceeding straightafter to a Coffee and Cake Session as a sign of their heartfelt appreciation for your presence.

Dresscode: Be as PINK as you can.

When I was young, I used to receive invitations to birthday parties. Now I am receiving invitations to registration of marriages. Signs of how old I have become. *sigh*
Dine and Bid (as I like to call them) are from Kuching, and both recently graduated from Curtin University. Geraldine L is 27, and holds a Master’s Degree in Project Management. David N is 28 years old. Before coming to Perth, he used to work as a Malaysian Airlines flight attendant, which makes me snicker everytime I visualise him do that safety-instructions-thing they do on the plane.

I used to think that good-looking guys who can cook really nice food are either jerks or gays, unless their first name is Kenny. David is an exception to this rule. I know because I have broken too many diet plans after they invited us to their house for laksa, curry, ice cream, etc. You would think that David is your typical metrosexual, but I know he can’t resist a bottle of ice cold beer. The truth is, he can be a total gentleman to Dine, yet still be able to hang out with his mates and not bitch about women.
On the other hand, Ah Dine plays the role of big sister to everybody. She’s someone I can totally rely on if I ask for an opinion. Usually when we share our difficulties in love to people, many jump and offer us a listening ear enthusiastically. Unfortunately, most just wanted to hear gossip. With Dine, I know I have someone who genuinely cares for me, listens to me and advises me. After all, she’s the first to help me out when she knew my father’s situation.

During a time when girls were falling for jerks, guys were falling for girls who are attached and couples were complaining about each other, David and Geraldine are having the time of their lives. Although their part time jobs at the restaurant does not pay much, they are perfectly content with what they have, and that’s each other. After 7 years of dating, they still look like they have been dating for 2 weeks – everything they do is together. They even invited Nicole and I to do salsa with them, which is nice, but I decided that salsa is something you eat, not a latin dance only people with disjointed hips can do.
I have always admired couples like Dine and David. They are what I refer to as the perfect couple. Most people would protest, saying that there’s no such thing as a perfect couple. Some would even say loving couples like them make them sick, thanks to too many episodes of romance-hating Sex and the City.
Deep down inside however, I’m sure we are all wanting to be one half of a perfect couple. Getting a partner is one thing. Making it work, to be able to compromise with each other, to be able to give up some degree of personal freedom, to be able to do everything together yet still be able keep ‘the flame’ burning… that’s a whole new different ball game. In the end, everybody just want to be eternally happy with someone they love. And I’m glad they found each other.