{"id":2271,"date":"2012-02-13T08:44:58","date_gmt":"2012-02-13T16:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=2271"},"modified":"2012-03-01T14:45:17","modified_gmt":"2012-03-01T22:45:17","slug":"valentine%e2%80%99s-day-on-a-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2012\/02\/13\/valentine%e2%80%99s-day-on-a-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentine\u2019s Day on a budget"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Valentine\u2019s Day is fast approaching and it&#8217;s always nice to be able to spend it doing something nice with that someone special. So, if you\u2019re stumped for ideas, and cash, here are a few suggestions to get you on your way:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2274\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2274\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ferry-bluewater1-928x370.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2274\" title=\"ferry-bluewater1-928x370\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ferry-bluewater1-928x370-300x119.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"119\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ferry-bluewater1-928x370-300x119.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ferry-bluewater1-928x370-180x71.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/ferry-bluewater1-928x370.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2274\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Take a harbour ferry ride with your sweetie (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>A different kind of date<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The traditional \u201cdinner and a movie\u201d date can get old; you can\u2019t really talk during the movie, and paying $7 for a bag of popcorn is ridiculous! Get creative: have a picnic in your living room. Chocolate-covered strawberries and heart-shaped pizza? Yumm! Instead of sitting silent during a movie, laugh over a fun board game<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dinner recommendations <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth Smyth, columnist for <em>EAT Magazine<\/em> and Camosun instructor, suggests Cafe Ceylon, an Indian food cafe with reasonable prices she calls \u201ca hidden gem,\u201d for an &#8220;exquisite&#8221; lunch. Another spot Smyth suggests is an Ethiopian buffet restaurant in Esquimalt called the Blue Nile. &#8220;If you&#8217;re not caught up in candle lights, and your date is adventurous and not fancy polished, bring them to Esquimalt. Make a joke about it!&#8221; she laughs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sidney by the sea <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Smyth also suggests taking a trip up to Sidney to peruse the bookstores, walk along the harbour, and stop for Thai food. &#8220;For the more introverted people, this is a sweet date,&#8221; says Smyth. &#8220;Sabhai Thai has a nice atmosphere and is nicely decorated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ferry for two<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Taking one of those small green harbour ferries to Fisherman\u2019s Wharf from the Victoria harbour costs only $5. After a lovely ride, stop for fish \u2018n\u2019 chips by the unique boathouses, then watch the sunset along Dallas Road.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Movie date<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a movie date <em>is<\/em> something you\u2019re into, the Roxy on Hillside and Quadra has a dirt-cheap double feature (just $4!) every Tuesday, including Valentine\u2019s Day. Comfortable couches are located at the back of the theater for you to snuggle up on with your significant other. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Skate with your sweetie<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For a fun, recreational date, skating or swimming at the Oak Bay Recreation Centre is only a toonie after 11 pm. A little late, but it&#8217;s a great thing to do after a drink or a walk around the city. Handholding included.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Build a love nest<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s face it; you&#8217;re really never too old to build forts in your living room. Create an ambience with nature sounds and twinkle lights. A bottle of wine, chocolates, and camping games and you&#8217;ve got yourself an adventure without having to leave the house.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Valentine\u2019s Day is fast approaching and it&#8217;s always nice to be able to spend it doing something nice with that someone special. So, if you\u2019re stumped for ideas, and cash, here are a few suggestions to get you on your way: A different kind of date The traditional \u201cdinner and a movie\u201d date can get [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2271"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2273,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions\/2273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}