With all honesty, there is nothing much to prepare when it comes to a low-cost date as the term speaks for itself. 😀 But, I am just writing this article to share the budget-friendly wedding anniversary date that hubby and I had last August 17.

For starters, I am a low-maintenance girl (please read this article: https://thejourneymansmoments.wordpress.com/2018/09/20/how-to-identify-a-low-maintenance-woman-3-things-to-know/) so pulling off a low-cost date with me is not a problem. That is, no hassle for hubby dear. 😀

The Low-Cost Date That Was

This is the part where my husband and I were able to pull off a less than 500php anniversary date. Pretty cheap, right? But it’s yet another memorable experience for the record. 🙂

My husband and I are pretty tight on finances lately because we’re brewing something for the family project. And our motto ever since is this, “live below our means” which was also how my parents raised me and my siblings.

I told my husband that we need not shell out so much to celebrate our anniversary because there are so many opportunities where we can still celebrate it meaningfully and have a good time.

The Plan

A month before our wedding anniversary date my husband asked me what are our plans for the celebration. I told him we have no plans. lol I told him we will ask God for leading where and how He wants us to celebrate the anniversary. So I never planned anything.

Then 2 days before our anniversary, I remembered I came across this rainforest in Pasig near our new place. I was able to check out the place and I thought it’s the perfect spot for our celebration – a breather, more nature tripping, and a way to explore our new neighborhood.

I then proposed the idea to hubby dear and he agreed. But, the day before we went there, I already gave him a heads up that we will be going there a la backpacking. So any mishaps along the way, we will take it as part of the experience.

This is opposite to the getaways that hubby is used to with all the comfort and convenience. I explained that we will be commuting via public transportation and we’ll have to prepare ourselves for any unpleasant and unforeseen challenges along the way.

I guess this is part of being a low-maintenance woman. I love raw experiences. These raw experiences are those unexpected events that made the entire journey as memorable. Not because it is fun but because you learned something along the way.

The Nature Tripping

Back to our nature tripping adventure, it began to drizzle when we went out of the house. We walked to the main road, had a quick lunch at a fast food restaurant, and asked directions on how to get to the rainforest park. We got different suggestions and decided to follow one. We boarded a jeepney, paid 8 pesos for the fare, but here’s where the challenge started – the driver misunderstood the destination where we will get off.

It was only then that we realized our mistake for calling the rainforest park as Pasig Park. lol The Pasig park is actually the one in front of the municipal hall. Thinking we’re totally lost, I told hubby dear we will just get off at a nearby wet market we passed by earlier. There will be lots of public transport terminals there since it’s a public market. It will be easier for us to ask directions going to the rainforest.

At this point, hubby dear is already close to losing his patience and feels like backing out already. lol He told me we are wasting so much precious time being lost and all and the drizzle is starting to become heavy rains already.

Ah yes, these are the moments why I love these “backpacking” experiences. It will test your character’s endurance when situations posit themselves as pretty tough. So I patiently told him that he can go back home if he wants to but I will continue on with the journey.

The Journey in A Marriage

Then I continued explaining that we must take it just like the trials in our marriage. It is not only the good things that happened that made our entire experience as a married couple worthwhile, meaningful and fulfilling but also the bad experiences. What is more important is how we deal with these trials and came out successfully in dealing with all of them.

Isn’t it amazing that I got to share that wisdom exactly during our wedding anniversary? God’s timing is always perfect – never early, never late. 😉

The Trek Must Go On

I was able to convince hubby dear that our plans for that day will push through no matter what. I asked people around how to get to the rainforest. One security guard gave me the directions and asked me to be vigilant. He thought that maybe I was going alone because hubby was walking far behind me. The guard probably wondered why this beautiful lady (according to my imagination) is going to a rainforest alone. lol 😀

Hubby dear was able to catch up with me and I told him the instructions that the guard gave me. We followed the instructions and got to the tricycle terminal going into the rainforest. That was my first tricycle ride experience wherein they placed a small bench inside making the normal 2-seater interior as a 4-seater. I never thought it’s possible but there it was. That’s another new experience to add to my list.

We got there in about 30 minutes. When we arrived, the rain heavily poured. So my husband’s spirits were also close to being absolutely dampened. lol We waited for the rain to stop and after 5 minutes, it did. Unfortunately, only some of the facilities were open to the public because the others were rented out for birthday celebrations.

We only got to try 3 park attractions but we sure did have fun. We are definitely going back for the other recreation activities that we weren’t able to try. We ended the day with our favorite street foods i.e. “isaw” (grilled chicken intestines), pork barbecue, potato wedges, hotdog on a stick, and a dragonfruit shake. This was my favorite part, by the way. 😉

It’s my first time to try a dragonfruit shake, too. I like it but love, hmm, not really. 😀 It has a peculiar grassy taste but I’m pretty sure it’s very healthy. But after the long walks, you’ll appreciate it enough as refreshingly good.

Here’s our list of expenses for that day (2 pax):

Jeepney fare to Pasig palengke – 16.00php (8.00 each)

Tricycle fare to Pasig rainforest – 20.00php (10.00 each)

Rainforest Park Fees – 100.00 php (50.00 each for 3 main attractions – Maze, Flower Fields, Zoo)

Snacks – 100-200.00php

Tricycle fare back to Pasig palengke – 20.00php

Jeepney fare back to our place – 16.00php

TOTAL: Php 372.00

God’s Plans Are Always Better

By the time we reached home, we were both exhausted and yet undeniably happy. I told hubby it’s a good thing he never backed out from our low-cost date and getaway. He could’ve missed yet another experience to add on to our ever-growing list of couples’ learning experience, adventure, and fun. So, he’s the one who said now that we’re definitely going back. lol 😉

Ah yes, being low-maintenance doesn’t mean your experience will be less. Also, being a low-maintenance woman doesn’t mean I have low standards. In fact, the opposite is true. I have high standards as a woman because my standards are God’s standards.

And in every relationship and marriage, what are God’s standards? These are loyalty, faithfulness, respect, honor, and love as described in 1 Corinthians 13. I made all of these known to my husband even when we’re just dating and I guess they’re among the reasons why we are where we are now as a husband and a wife despite some setbacks.

And of course, the goodness of the Lord just never fails. It never does. And it will remain the same as always and forever. To Him be the glory always. ❤

“Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.” – Proverbs 19:14

A low-maintenance woman with high Godly standards,

P.S.

By the way, R.A.V.E. stands for Rainforest Adventure Experience. I also didn’t include photos from this experience because I still need to resize them one by one so they won’t take up much of my WordPress storage space (free domain problems. lol) 😀