Let's go Global for the perfect valentine's day outing

BUENOS AIRES

5:00 p.m., Feb. 14: Spend the early evening walking around the striking Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires, which was built in 2001 after a global open call for designs was won by three Argentinian architects. It hosts an impressive permanent collection of contemporary work and shows indie films and documentaries in the evenings.

7:00 p.m.: Take a stroll next door in Palermo'€™s lush Tres de Febrero Park, dotted with little lakes and gazebos. Paddle boats are optional, but make sure you stop in the beautifully landscaped rose garden, which hosts nearly 20,000 blooming bushes.

9:00 p.m.: Make a reservation at the playful, ultra-modern Aramburu for dinner and ask for the table overlooking the kitchen; it'€™s one of the city'€™s most exciting to watch in action.

11:30 p.m.: Drinks at the Oak Bar, a cozy, elegant room, conveniently tucked into the Palacio Duhau, a neoclassical palace run by Park Hyatt, where you should definitely make a reservation to stay the night.

SEOUL

3:00 p.m.: Valentine'€™s Day tradition in Seoul may dictate that women give men chocolate'€“with men returning the favor on White Day (March 14) and singles crying into their Jajangmyeon on Black Day (April 14)'€”but hey, you'€™re a modern couple, so dispense with that and share in the gift of art from the Samsung Corporation. On the edge of trendy, multicultural Hannam-dong, the Leeum Museum has permanent and special exhibitions dedicated to traditional Korean artwork (calligraphy, painting, ceramics), as well as a modern and contemporary wing. The complex'€™s three buildings, designed by Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel, and Rem Koolhaas, are lustful for any architecture fan.

6:00 p.m.: From there it'€™s a short walk to a restaurant masquerading as a museum. Si Hwa Dam translates to '€œpoetry, painting, and conversation'€-and it'€™s not overselling itself. Elaborate set menus stretch modern Korean fine dining into the fantastical with dishes inspired by art and nature. Fire up that Instagram.

8:30 p.m.: Now it'€™s time to take a selfie. Huff up the stone stairs'€“or opt for the cable car'€”to the 860-foot peak of Mount Namsan. Yes, the N Seoul Tower is touristy and full of love-struck teenagers, but at night it'€™s a riot of multicolored light and offers some of the best views of the glittering skyline. Bring a padlock: like Paris'€™s Pont de l'€™Archevêché, '€œLocks of Love'€ are snapped onto fences and purpose-built structures by lovers who then throw away the key (into provided recycling bins).

10:00 p.m.: Back down to earth, grab a cab to the new Four Seasons hotel to settle into the rich leather and mahogany speakeasy vibes of the subterranean Charles H. James Beard Award-winning head bartender Chris Lowder (from New York'€™s NoMad hotel) tweaks rakish 1900s-era tipples into the city'€™s best cocktails with such Korean ingredients as chilli flakes, jujube, and grape molasses. There'€™s also a flight of Manhattan variations. And, ahem, some luxurious rooms upstairs.

SHANGHAI

10:00 a.m., most Saturdays: While like most of mainland China, Shanghai celebrates Qixi as the primary love holiday, this date itinerary works for most Saturdays when you want to spend a romantic day with your date. (The Saturday of Valentine'€™s Day weekend will be a little quiet this year, as it falls on the last weekend of the Chinese lunar new year holiday when everyone is scurrying back from their hometowns.) Start by taking one of unTour'€™s Hands on Dumpling Delights tour, on which you'€™ll sample some of the best dumplings Shanghai has to offer'€”including street stall potstickers and soup-filled xiaolongbao. Finally, you'€™ll learn how to make your own pan-fried dumplings in a tasty cooking class.

2:00 p.m.: After all that walking and eating, the perfect remedy will be a massage in a beautiful Shanghainese setting. Yu Massage on Wuyuan Lu, just off historic Wukang road, has charming wood-lined interiors and antique wallpaper'€”and you'€™ll get sweet red date tea served to you before and after your treatments. Try the four hands oil massage.

4:00 p.m.: If you'€™re gong to go to a museum, make it the New Shanghai History Museum. Shaped like a nautilus, this modern structure, opened last year, has a 140-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton and fossils of extinct prehistoric animals once indigenous to the area, such as the Yangtze Alligator.

6:00 p.m.: Logan'€™s Punch was one of the first in a newly gentrified area of Shanghai that'€™s fast becoming cocktail-bar central. Logan fancies itself a punch bar, with such heaping bowls of cocktails as the Salted Caramel Old Fashioned to share. Try El Ocho next door if you can'€™t get in, or El Coctel, which is nearby to your dinner.

8:00 p.m.: Impress your date with one of Shanghai'€™s best French meals, at Franck in the Ferguson Lane complex. It is cozy and candlelit, and the prices will let him or her know right away this is a special occasion'€“but the incredible food, prepared with top-quality ingredients, lives up to the price tag. The menu varies, depending on what was at the market that day, and vinophiles are able to wander the wine cave and peek at what they'€™d like to drink with dinner.

10:00 p.m.: Just over a year old, the Heyday Vintage Jazz Lounge on Tai'€™an Lu still feels under the radar'€”even though it'€™s beginning to win awards for its infectious live music and luxurious vibe.

LONDON

11:00 a.m.: Public declarations of lifelong commitment often involve lawyers or tattoo artists. Either way, love hurts. A painless alternative is available in London on Valentine'€™s weekend, when a master stonemason will pass on the secrets of his craft during a workshop in the courtyard of Southwark Cathedral. It'€™s all the idea of Bompas & Parr, two friends who create unusual parties and events. Last year'€™s Valentine'€™s celebration was Anatomical Whisky Tasting, in which aged spirits were consumed from the contours of bodies of people the same age as the drink. Sam Bompas and Harry Parr are also the team behind Alcoholic Architecture, where guests inhale cocktails in a walk-in cloud bar.

4:00 p.m.: After the carving session, classmates will be invited to Alcoholic Architecture for a breathable gin cloud and cocktails based on drinks originally created by monks near the Gothic cathedral, with its hundreds of years of history. The stones weigh more than 5 kilograms and measure 300 mm x 210 mm, so take care not to drop one on your foot: Breathe sensibly.

5:30 p.m.: After a day like that, you'€™ll need to get some food into you. Stop by Portland, a favorite of London chefs, for a delicious, low-key, early supper without all the Valentine'€™s Day fuss. The game pithivier is always a surprise'€“filled with a variety of meats and game sauce. Its richness always feels like an indulgence, though.

7:30 p.m.: The popular revival of Miss Saigon at the Prince Edward theater will end its run at the end of this month, so catch it now. The romance, sorrow, and incredible score will have you and your date feeling weepy and energized, just in time for:

11:00 p.m.: Drinks and table tennis at Bounce Ping Pong. It specializes in gin cocktails and the kind of gameplay that no one is good at, but everyone enjoys.