Celebrating Valentine's Day around Asia

14th February is Valentine's Day. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. This westerned celebration of love is now very common around Asia.

Every February across the country, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this particular day?

The history of Valentine's Day and its patron saint is shouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long since been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains both christian and ancient Roman tradition.

IN SINGAPORE - Making Dollars and Sense on Valentine's Day

Singapore is known for its love for the Valentine's Day celebrations because for the hospitality business there are lots of money to be made on this day. Heavy advertising and aggressive promotions are seen on newspapers, televisions and radio. And this starts weeks before Valentine's Day for Singaporeans eager not to miss a booking at hotels and restaurants.

Valentine's Day is a big event in Singapore and you can expect shows, musical carnivals, performances that are held throughout the city in bars, clubs and hotels. Also, Valentine's day is probably the most popular day for young couples to get married. Hotels and restaurants are fully book on Valentine's Day - prices on Valentine's day are more expensive. But competition amongst them is still very keen and so themed evenings are getting increasingly popular. While Valentine's Day may be one of the busiest days in the calendar for restaurants, the rush tends to come at the last minute.

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IN JAPAN - A Chocolate Valentine

Japanese women who crave chocolate but not its calories are discovering they don't have to put it in their mouths – this Valentine's Day, they can slather it on their bodies or wear it instead.

Women in Japan are expected to give chocolate to boyfriends and husbands for Valentine's Day, with the men reciprocating a month later, but this year it seems that some Japanese women are ditching tradition and pampering themselves.

At the upscale Tokyo Prince Hotel, women are being offered an overnight package that includes a 75-minute chocolate massage costing up to 50,000 yen, at Japan 's growing ranks of single and financially secure women. The hotel is promoting cocoa as good for the skin, hoping to soothe fears that a love of chocolate leads to an expanding waistline by using it in less conventional ways. Apart from experiencing chocolate on the skin, women can also show their chocolate mania as an original fashion statement. And though the hotel isn't exactly spelling it out, chocolate's link with romance can be traced back a few thousand years to when the ancient Aztecs associated it with their goddess of fertility.

Chocolate contains a variety of substances, some of which, like caffeine, are addictive and others that have positive health benefits such as reducing coughing. The presence in chocolate of the feel-good chemicals serotonin and phenethylamine, mild sexual stimulants, have led to the romantic lore that chocolate is an aphrodisiac and so giving and receiving chocolate has become an inextricable part of the modern courtship ritual.

In a country where plastic replicas of food displayed outside restaurants have become an art form, department store Takashimaya is offering a limited number of tiaras with diamond-shaped figures made to resemble chocolate. Unfortunately, the tiara cannot be eaten as the chocolate figures include plastic. And the price – at 71,400 yen (590 dollars) – may be equally difficult to digest.

More Valentine's news from Japan

Valentine's day....Japanese Way

IN KOREA - A Candy Valentine

The traditional gift of candy takes place in Korea on February 14, but only from females to males. There is another special day for males to give gifts to females and this is celebrated on March 14. March 14 in Korea is known as "White Day." On "White Day," many young men confess their love for the first time to their sweethearts.

For those young people who have no particular romantic partners, the Koreans have set aside yet another date...April 14, also known as "Black Day." On that date, such individuals get together and partake of Ja Jang Myun noodles, which are black in color, hence the name of the day.

REST OF ASIA - Valentine's day is taking a back seat....

Because of the proximity of this year Valentine's day to Lunar New Year, many people are snubbing this Western romantic day to prepare for the Lunar New Year, which is just 4 days away.

More Valentine's news around Asia

China's rich spend big to celebrate Valentine's day

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