By Amma PrempehCourier Staff Columnist
Grand romantic gestures (see: moonlit cruise to Heart Castle, trip for two to LA, lighting up the Bay Bridge with your bae’s name) are probably not an option for most Logan students. However, the classic plans (see: movie, sushi, oversized/overdone teddy bear) have grown cliched and unimaginative.
Luckily, our school is in the Bay Area, one of the most creative and mercurial locations in the world. Valentine’s Day plans should- and can- reflect this. With a little extra effort, you can spend February 14th at an inspired event in San Francisco, Berkeley, or other nearby cities. After all, your special someone deserves a special something.
1.Instead of Fifty Shades of Grey at Century 25,
try an indie or Oscar Nominated film at an arthouse cinema. Landmark Theatres (East Bay)
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see 50 Shades of Grey (seriously, nothing), but the local theaters will be full of like-minded couples. If you’re willing to wait to see that, well, romp, of a film, there are many alternatives. The indie/classics/foreign Landmark Theatres chain offer these. Go to the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park to watch a compilation of the 2015 Oscar Nominated Short Films before award day arrives. At the Shattuck, near UC Berkeley, see films like Two Days, One Night; Wild; and The Theory of Everything which are rife with romanticism, if not necessarily romance. Still, these great, intellectual features will give you and your date much to discuss over post-cinema coffee.
Guild Theatre: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA
Shattuck Cinema: 2230 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA
2. Don’t give a dozen red roses,
Take a 39,000 tulip walk – Tulipmania 2015
Some joke about tulips and two lips belongs here, but this column is better than that. And better than a standard Safeway Bouquet is taking the BART to San Francisco’s Pier 39 for the annual Tulipmania flower fest. The free guided tour begins at 10AM, taking off from Entrance Plaza. It concludes at the Pier Market Seafood Restaurant with complimentary refreshments. Self-guided tours are another option, so couples can wander in botanical bliss at their own pace.
Pier 39, Beach Street & The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA
3. Pass on a formal dinner,
To volunteer at a kitchen or micro-farm – Eco SF School Farm Volunteer Work Party
At the *heart* of Valentine’s Day is celebrating love and care. You and your significant other can share the love by volunteering this Saturday in a variety ways. Quick online research can lead the discerning couple to soup kitchen, retirement home, and youth shelter volunteer opportunities throughout the Bay Area. Bring the light of love to those who need it most. For those looking to get down and dirty, The School Farm’s monthly “work party” falls on Valentine’s Day. Green thumbs and complete amateurs are welcome to help with weeding, watering, planting, and hoeing between 12:00 and 4:00PM.
The School Farm: 555 Portola Drive, San Francisco, CA
4. Trade cozying up to your SO,
for cozying up to SF strangers – the great san francisco valentines day pillow fight | Valentine’s Day “Jericho” Urban Nerf Spy Game
for cozying up to SF strangers – the great san francisco valentines day pillow fight | Valentine’s Day “Jericho” Urban Nerf Spy Game
Private pillow fights are totally an option. However, because we live in quirky San Francisco, heading to Herman Plaza at 6 p.m. to join approximately 1000 strangers armed to the teeth with soft, soft pillows is also totally an option. Love is in the air, and so are feathers. The Pillow Fight’s organizers describe the annual event as people “lovingly beat the crap out of each other”. If cuddly competition is less your and your beloved’s speed, the “Jericho” Urban Nerf Spy Game might be. The ongoing live-action game series pits teams of “agents” against one another to see who can score the sneakiest win while adventuring about public settings throughout the city. The organizers promise “intrigue, deception, and adrenaline” at absolutely no cost. Be sure to a RSVP, then bring a Nerf Gun and bandana. Cupid won’t have jack on you.
Justin Herman Plaza, 1 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
Cupid’s Span, San Francisco Bicycle Route 30, San Francisco, CA
5. Mix Valentine’s Day,
with Lunar New Year festivities.
Lunar New Year 2015 is February 19th, which means fetes within the various local East Asian communities are already well underway. San Francisco, boasting the United State’s largest Chinatown, has many free events planned. St. Mary’s Square, in the heart of Chinatown, easily reachable from the Montgomery St. BART Station, will give host a preview of the larger parade at 10:30 a.m.. Lion dancers, giant puppets, stilt walkers, and costume performers will make their way down Grant Ave, with the procession culminating in a ribbon cutting at Washington St. That’s where the magic of the Chinese New Year Flower Fair happens. Celebrant families will be out purchasing flowers, foods, and other traditional items. Visitors get to see dance, steel drum musicians, and, with over 80 concession booths, sample art, fashion and food. At the Language of the Birds Plaza, within walking distance of the Flower Fair, the 12th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration offers dumplings, hand-made noodles, origami, operatic face painting, and Instagram-worthy photo-ops with dragons and lions. The 19th Annual Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival, from 10:30AM to 5:30Pm celebrates Tet Nguyen DAn with Lion and Dragon dances, traditional rituals, raffles, karaoke, and Li Xi- or Red Envelope- giveaways for children. The Vietnamese Festival is hosted at the United Nations Plaza. Bottomline, the red-friendly atmospheres of Lunar New Year celebrations are the place to be this Valentine’s Day.
