Make Valentine’s Day count this year

Published Feb 12, 2016

Share

Johannesburg - In the run-up to Valentine’s Day, those with the most love in their eyes are the restaurateurs, florists and gift shop retailers, in adoration of the hard-earned cash you’re about to blow on lavish dinners out, blooms and teddy bears with hearts on them.

Why not give them all a miss this year? What about thinking out of the chocolate box this time, and treating your peach to something extraordinary? Everybody loves a maverick after all. And a Valentine’s gift doesn’t have to be a present on the day itself. It can be a voucher for a later adventure, like a helicopter flight or dance course.

Here are a few ideas:

 

Name a star after your love

StarRegister.org provides the opportunity to name celestial bodies such as stars and supernovas. Following an online registration, you choose the object you wish to give a name to, or you can have twin stars named after both of you. You can then check up on it either by entering the co-ordinates or using a telescope. A certificate officially confirming the new name is issued, as well as a star chart and photo e-book. It’s all done and paid for online on https://starregister.org/. It costs $34.99 (R555) to name a star, but look on Groupon www.groupon.co.za for a discount.

 

Love Locks bridge in Pretoria

Buy a padlock and take a drive to the new, specially designed bridge at Huckleberry’s in the Magnolia Dell Park in Pretoria, where you’ll be able to attach your lock, with an inscription if you like, to the bridge.

“This initiative is inspired by the bridges in Paris, where romance reigns and love locks decorate the Pont des Arts as a timeless symbol of love,” says project organiser Liezel van der Merwe. “Couples engrave their names onto the locks, attach it to the bridge and throw the key into the Seine River as a sign of their everlasting love. The Love Lock concept has spread to cities around the world and now it’s Pretoria’s turn.”

 

Learn sexy couple dancing

Award-winning dance instructor Ceasar ‘Adralatino’ Alvarado is offering a six-week “Salsa & Amore” couples package starting February 15 at his new Adralatin private studio in Blairgowrie (near Sandton). It’s only R840 per couple, and his times are flexible. Book at [email protected], or call 081 2077327.

 

Catch an old classic at the bioscope

For Valentine’s Day, The Bioscope, an independent cinema in Fox Street at Joburg’s Maboneng Precinct, is screening When Harry met Sally (1989) at 3pm. High Fidelity (2000), the cult romance, is showing at 5pm, and at 7.30pm is Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance (1993), an anti-Valentine's-romance screening.

The Bioscope uses leather car seats for chairs and you can grab a pizza and a beer while watching your movie. There is a restaurant adjoining The Bioscope that you can order food and drinks from for the movie. Tickets are R50 for the movie, or R104 for movie and pizza (there are various options). Tickets are booked online at www.thebioscope.co.za or buy tickets at the door.

 

Partner Yoga

How about a stylish 90-minute yoga session for two on the 13th floor of 73 Juta Street, Braamfontein, overlooking Joburg?

Melanie Castleman and Steven Heyman will take you and your partner through a series of fun partner yoga poses guaranteed to come with lots of fun and laughter in the process.

If you don’t have a beau, take a friend (whether they have done yoga before or not), or go by yourself and you’ll be teamed up with someone.

After a 90-minute yoga session. you can hang around on the rooftop to socialise and have a healthy snack or drink. It’s on Saturday, February 13, from 9am to 11am. Tickets are R400 per couple (or if you come by yourself, R200). Book tickets on http://yogaworks.nutickets.co.za/ or call Steven on 0728352525.

 

Take a side-car tour for two

This is so popular it’s fully booked for Valentine’s weekend, but why not announce you’ve booked it for another date? You and your beloved mount a Soviet Steed, the Ural Sidecar, and go on a five-hour tour starting at La Wiida Game Reserve and heading for Hartbeespoort, ending the day with a sunset picnic.

Meals are included in the package, and if you can’t ride yourself, you get a driver.

Groupon is offering a special for R1 699, or visit www.uralsidecartours.co.za to look at longer trip options (three days in Mpumalanga, or six days in the Western Cape).

 

Buy your lady a boudoir photoshoot

A 60-minute professional photo shoot where you get to wear your favourite outfits, or lingerie, and use props if you like. This package includes the services of a make-up artist who will do your make-up for the shoot, as well as 30 digital images on DVD in colour, black and white and sepia.

It costs R1 550 and the studio is in Sunninghill, north of Joburg, and is open from Monday to Saturday.

For a naughtier photoshoot, book one with former Playboy magazine photographer Neil Probert. His studio is in Randburg. Again you take your own outfits and props, hair and make-up is included, and it will take about two hours. You get 200 hi-res images to use as you wish. Vouchers for either of these can be purchased on www.celestialgifts.co.za.

 

Take a helicopter ride for two

Climb aboard the Robinson R44 helicopter for a swooping flight over Joburg CBD, or over Klipriver, south of Joburg. The unique feeling of lifting vertically is an experience you’ll never forget.

You depart from Rand Airport (Germiston), and the flights are available on Saturdays and Sundays from 8am to 5pm, weather permitting. Cost is R4 335. Purchase a voucher on www.celestialgifts.co.za.

 

A floating massage for two

Book the Awesome2some package at Cloud Nine Spa in Craighall Park. You both get to relax with a stress-busting flotation treatment, then have a full body massage, with two therapists working simultaneously in perfect synch. Cost is R1 740, and to book you call 011 7889934. There are still openings for Saturday.

 

Have a gourmet picnic in beautiful surroundings

The Westcliff Deli gourmet ‘chic-nic’ launches on Sunday. Couples can order their take-away picnic basket - three options are available - and enjoy it at one of the hotel’s recommended picnic spots, which include the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens with its natural waterfall, and the James and Ethel Gray Park in Melrose, one of the best places in the city to watch the sun set over the Joburg skyline.

To book a chicnic basket contact the reservations department 12 hours in advance of collection by e-mail on [email protected] or phone 011 4816000.

Helen Grange, The Star

Related Topics: