Tony and I are obsessed with Terrace House. It's a Japanese reality show where six strangers, always three guys and three girls, share a house. Unlike Big Brother, the cast can leave the house to go to work or uni, and exit the show whenever they want.
We're in the middle of the third Netflix season (new episodes come out on May 22 - we've been checking!), and are waiting to see how a few new relationships pan out. Dating is a huge focus of the show, and the dating culture is pretty formal. Usually one of the cast members asks someone they're interested in when they're free. Once they settle on a day, the asker starts making plans.
I love the surprise element of the dates. So the other day I asked Tony when he was free and planned a mystery date for him. He asked a lot of questions - what he should wear, when he should be ready - and it was heaps of fun. We ended up going to his favourite cafe to try out the dinner menu. I drove the long way to there to keep him guessing :) A few weeks later he returned the favour, and planned dinner around my favourite dessert in the city (banoffee pie!).
My most recent surprise date for Tony was an artist talk at the National Gallery of Australia that was part of the Terminus exhibition by Jess Johnson and Simon Ward. We're both big fans of their virtual reality and video work, having stumbled across it on trips to Melbourne and Sydney. It was cheap and super cheerful afternoon - the gallery talk was free and we rode our bikes, stopping on the way home for lakeside beers and snacks.
Our Terrace House inspired dates have been fun. Having been together for 10 years (!), we're used to deciding on date activities together... which sometimes means discussing some of the finer points - like do we have enough money in the bank that week? On surprise dates, the person who asked pays :) It also reminds me of those early months of dating where you don't always know where you're going and are up for pretty much anything.
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