gosh... it's that day of the year again, where ppl spend silly amounts of $$$.

seriously, i would rather my bf buys me a single stalk of flower every other week during the year.
hmm though that now sounds like he will spend more in the long run, as my fav flower is hard to come by...
*grin*
anyway, got this artical off the StraitsTimes online.
enjoy!

My bouquet is bigger than yours
Valentine's Day becomes a competitive sport as women compare prices and sizes of bouquets. By Sarah Ng

Who says money can't buy love? How about $50?
Yes, it's that time of the year when men say it with flowers.

But that minimum order of six stems on Valentine's Day tomorrow will not buy romance with many working women these days.

The workplace now has a new sport on V-Day.
And size matters in this race to be the object of greatest envy.

'Do you know how good it feels to have the whole office looking at you with envy?'
said civil servant Irene Lim, 29, recalling her thrill at receiving a dozen red roses topped by a heart-shaped balloon last Feb 14.

'It may not be that special for an attractive woman used to getting attention all the time, but for a plain-looking girl like me, it is magical.'

Few will deny that feel-good feeling although shipping executive Susan Ng, 27,
takes a dim view of the blooming competition.

'I had an ex-colleague who would put her giant bouquet in a prominent spot on her table and then lament loudly,
'Aiya, why must he send to the office, very malu (Malay for embarrassing) for me',
but we all knew that she was enjoying it. It's so shallow and childish.'

Perhaps, but it's not peculiar to Singapore.

According to The Times of London women in Britain too love this game of one-upmanship:
Whose bouquet is bigger? Whose present is more extravagant?
Who is being taken to a more fashionable restaurant?

Like them, many women here view these displays of affection as a barometer of love.
Marketing director Ling Tan, 31, is typical.
She recalls her disappointment last year waiting and waiting for that bouquet from her boyfriend of nine months.

'My heart would skip a beat every time a dispatch rider walked through the door.
I was hoping that since it was our first Valentine's Day, he would do something special, like send flowers to my office.

'But nothing came till I left at 6pm,' she said.

What made it worse, she added, was watching two colleagues become the centre of attention and the memory of previous boyfriends dutifully dispatching bouquets of red roses or white lilies to her office.

But an hour later, he surprised her. At dinner, in a posh hotel, he handed her half a dozen red roses.

Ms Tan, like many, is keeping her fingers crossed that tomorrow, big blooms will arrive at her office.
'Sure, it's shallow but which woman doesn't want to feel like a princess, especially when most around her are getting special treatment.'

Florists concur, saying eight out of 10 men want the bouquets delivered to their beloved's office.
Said a Greeting Cuts spokesman: 'The wife or girlfriend is in the office most of the day...
If the flowers are given when they meet for dinner, the day is almost over and it would seem a bit pointless.'

Raising the ante for the bachelor girls are husbands like Mr Kelvin Yeo.
Said the 30-year-old advertising and promotions executive,
who spent $150 on a dozen red roses last year:'My wife doesn't demand that I send her flowers to the office, but some of her colleagues' boyfriends do, so I do the same.
Better play safe and make her happy.'

Whatever the reason, love sure makes money for the petal pushers.
On Valentine's Day, prices are doubled, with a standard bouquet of six roses starting at $50, one dozen from $80, and 999 stalks from $2,000.

They are also convinced that it's young love that sparked off the sport.
'It's usually in the beginning of the relationship when the guy wants to impress the girl.
They say they want to make the girlfriend feel proud among their colleagues,' said Mr Kenneth Chee, 46, owner of Joachim Florist & Gifts.

But there is no denying the stress. Florists tell of single and unattached women sending flowers to themselves and spending beyond $100 on red roses, tulips or lilies.
But they are rare, said Ms Sheila Salim, 39, customer service supervisor at FarEastFlora.com. 'Their reason is that they don't want to feel left out.'

Then there are those who get more than their share of attention.
For these women, money certainly buys love.
Said the owner of Dove Florist in Cineleisure Orchard, Ms Yow Lai Keng:
'When a woman calls about the value of bouquets, she often got flowers from different men.'