If you're too busy for a Valentine's Day date, here are some Friday and weekend date ideas
By Desiree Koh
If you still haven’t got a Valentine’s Day date planned for your significant other, fret not. You still have Friday and the weekend to make up for it – and it doesn’t have to mean splashing out on a Michelin-starred meal and overpriced roses. Check out these contemporary Valentine’s date ideas for a perfect combination of whimsy and romance.
Circle the Bay
Ditch the crowds at Marina Bay Sands, Jubilee Bridge and Merlion Park and have yourself your own Marina Bay sunset in a Floating Donut boat, complete with sparkling wine and platters of seafood or charcuterie and cheese. An a la carte menu with other dishes and beverages is also available. Along with its usual sails starting from 11am, the Floating Donut Company is offering 60- or 90-minute sails for two this weekend, with the last departure at 6.30pm. It should make for quite the spectacular nightfall – especially as i Light Singapore illuminates the skyline after dark. The Donuts depart from Boat Quay.
Tickets:
Valentine’s Day: One-hour couple cruise $364.87 per hour from 11am
After Feb 14: One-hour couple cruise from $233.05 (a la carte), $293.07 (cold cuts and cheese platter), $306.02 (seafood platter).
Group cruises and other durations also available.
Give the wheels a spin
Hop on two wheels and escape the Singapore hustle for the soft, undulating landscape of Seletar. A leisurely cycle through Aerospace Way takes you through lanes such as Lambeth Walk, Battersea Road and Piccadilly, and past clusters of black-and-white colonial bungalows. Roll right up to Wheeler’s Estate at The Oval@Seletar Aerospace Park, an 11-acre former Royal Air Force base now dotted with Senegal mahogany and angsana trees. You could skip the four-course Valentine’s Day menu at the second floor restaurant (housed in a heritage building, no less) in favour of going al fresco on the patio, or stretch out on the lawn with a picnic from the café. Alternatively, park next to the Seletar Airport runway with good eats from any of the cafes in the vicinity.
Jazz up the evening
French-Caribbean chantreuse Tricia Evy will perform nightly until Feb 16 at Cool Cats, the chandelier-dappled jazz club at the NCO Club on Beach Road. You’re in store for some soulful amour with her fresh take on the songbooks of legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. Just for the occasion, a quirky Valentine’s Day surprise gift box from Hendrick’s Gin will be served with all Hendrick’s cocktails. No better reason to shake things up.
Showtime: 9.30pm to midnight from February 13 to 16
Ticket: None required
This is a major level up on the usual drive-in theatre experience. You’ll be cosied up in a luxurious Land Rover on the lush lawns of W Singapore – Sentosa Cove with rom coms playing on a sprawling screen (La La Land, Feb 14, Wonder, Feb 15, and Florence Foster Jenkins, Feb 16). A decadent three-course dinner curated by SKIRT, the hotel’s fine steakhouse, will be served right to your car, including signature dishes such as Wagyu beef brisket, and lobster and scallop soft rolls.
Showtime: 7.30pm from February 14 to 16
Tickets: $279 per couple, $399 with wine pairing
