You get the tickets. We've got the plan.
The roses have wilted, the chocolates are long digested and the shine of that cubic zirconia is wearing off. St Valentine's Day is behind us and we can return to ducking relationship issues, right? You should be so lucky ...
The event: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change promises 'a hilarious look at the truths and myths behind dating, love and marriage - from first dates, meeting the parents, newborns, family car trips and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set'. Riotous for the celibate, no doubt, but do the rest of us really want to be reminded of the horrors of mating? If New York audiences are anything to go by, the answer is yes. With a seven-year run off-Broadway, the play has earned a strong following in the Big Apple. Director Suzy Deline and actors Casey Blaine, Samantha Ho Kriegel, Mark Parker and Bruce Vincent bring this musical to Hong Kong's broken hearts. The tale about the search for love has moved a number of sweaty, young New Yorkers to take the stage and propose marriage to their beloveds. We'll have to wait and see if Hong Kongers are infected by the same loss of inhibitions.
The show will be performed at the Fringe Club Theatre, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, from March 5-8, 7.30pm; March 7-8, 9.30pm. Tickets $180/$150/$120 from HK Ticketing or the Fringe box office 2521 2176.
Calm the nerves: If you're looking to impress, apologise or just stare at each other, head to one of Hong Kong's best-kept secrets. The Lobby Lounge at the Intercontinental Hotel (18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, tel: 2721 1211) is a huge, comfortable space offering a spectacular view of Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong island. No pretentious Venetian blinds covering the windows here. What's more, the staff are friendly and the bar snacks generous. The bar has just introduced a new range of cocktails called Nine Dragons (the literal translation of Kowloon). At $80 to $155, they aren't the cheapest drinks in town but you can at least relax and sip them as slowly as you like.
A quieter alternative is afternoon tea ($250 for two plus 10 per cent), which is accompanied by live piano music. It includes finger sandwiches (cucumber and peppered creme cheese, smoked salmon and horseradish, ham and English mustard, egg and salmon caviar), seasonal fruit and traditional English scones with all the trimmings. There are also limitless pastries, and a choice of teas and coffee.
