From The Straits Times    |

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. The occasion is one that is marked by expressions of love and sweet nothings, or inflated prices of chocolates and flowers, depending on whether you are a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty type of person.

Whether you are one half of a happy couple full of plans for the day or single and ready to sleep the day off, here are four V-Day videos to perk you up.

1. IDRIS ELBA SEEKS A VALENTINE… FOR A CAUSE

Last month, English actor Idris Elba delivered a sultry appeal to his followers for a valentine.

“That’s right, love,” the Luther star says in the video posted on his Facebook page. “Just you and me. No one else around. Just us.”

The video has garnered more than 7.4 million views, 109,000 likes and nearly 100,000 shares since it was posted on Jan 11.

The valentine appeal is part of the 44-year-old’s collaboration with fund-raising platform Omaze, with donations going to W.E. Can Lead, an organisation that helps girls in Africa get quality education.

The winner will be picked from donors, with those who donate more getting a higher chance to go on the date.

The prize is a candlelit meal with Elba at one of his favourite restaurants.

2. EASY, QUICK WAYS TO MAKE V-DAY-THEMED FINGER FOOD

This video, which has been going around on Whatsapp, shows innovative ways to prepare food in the shapes of hearts and flowers.

Among the cutesy creations are heart-shaped tomatoes, rose-shaped strawberries and flowers made with carrots and cucumber.

3. WHAT TYPE IS YOUR PARTNER? 

A 3min 45sec skit, posted on YouTube on Feb 5 by Singapore internet channel Happy-TV, shows different types of partners one could have.

There is the romantic boyfriend, who prepares a bed covered with red balloons, a Ferrero Rocher box and roses, juxtaposed with a gaming one who buys his girlfriend a PlayStation 4 game.

Happy-TV’s V-Day special has been viewed more than 7,600 times.

4. GREAT EXPECTATIONS VERSUS REALITY

Valentine’s Day brings with it great expectations from the type of gift you are expecting, to the romantic quotient of the date you want to go on. However, the reality can often be very different.

A 1min 32sec video video, titled Valentine’s Day: Expectations Versus Reality, explores this.

It was posted by media website Thrillist on its Facebook page on Feb 8, in collaboration with jewellery retailer Pandora, to 45,000 views.

It ends with a shot of the man who forgot that its Valentine’s Day and the words: “Don’t be this guy.”

The original version of this story was published in The Straits Times on Feb 10, 2017.

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