Fun Couple Activities We Tried On The Weekend

What do you do on a date? Especially with a long-time partner?

Talking gets boring. So does dining out and going to the movies.

After 8 years seeing each other every weekend, my boyfriend and I finally felt the need to spice up our weekly hangout. The other Sunday we came up with some activities both exciting and helpful for our situation: learning to cook (as we'll soon move out, hopefully), improving our English and Finnish (as we'll soon pursue some degrees in Finland, hopefully), exchanging cool things we have learned during the week (as we're simply nerds), and watching some show or movie (as we need to entertain before we burn out). 

We tested the plan and found these 5 activities most enjoyable:

1. Analyze Dishes at Restaurant

Go to your favorite place, order some dishes you may be able to make at home, together find out the ingredients, memorize the taste and texture to later recreate!

We went to PastaHouse, our favorite Italian restaurant in Hanoi, ordered spaghetti alla carbonara and penne vegetariana to examine (please ignore the Hawaiian pizza; my Italian friends will kill me if they know I crave it).

PastaHouse Tô Hiệu. Photo by Linh Vu.

2. Cook a Simple Dish

As we had lots of tomatoes, we saved carbonara for next time and made linguini al ragù, also known as linguine bolognese, with a premade spices pack and the result was beyond expectations. 

Maybe thanks to the quality Barilla pasta. This is the first time I've bought it. 

Because I felt rich and unbothered. ✨😎

The three times cheaper domestic brand was out of stock, actually. lol. It's starchy, and way more soggy. Barilla was totally worth it. 

With only a few ingredients (a pack of Knorr or Maggie powder, 500g grounded beef and pork, 400g minced tomatoes, 230ml water, and 250g pasta), this dish was incredibly easy, 100% beginner-friendly. 

Look how professional our result was! 

It tasted authentic as well. I couldn't believe we made it. Cooking turns out not as hard as you imagine, and even fun when done with your love.

 Linh and Silvia's first homemade ragù. Photo by Silvia Nguyen.

3. Watch an Old Kdrama

Why old? They feature legendary actors and actresses in their 20s, and flip phones.

We watched the Korean romcom Full House (2004) because I was obsessed with Song Hye Kyo. Her beauty makes your heart sing. We didn't expect such a beauty could make us burst out laughing so many times. 

I can't wait to watch next episodes with Linh. In the meantime, I keep replaying the series sound track 운명 (Fate) by Why. Aaa look how pretty Kyo is!!

4. Exchange New Knowledge

Share fascinating facts you learned in the week.

As Linh is studying IT, he shared with me about computer science. 

Conversely, I'm into many subjects at a time. I shared with him the philosophical idea that we're fragment of conscious and he fell asleep. I haven't fully comprehended it so he naturally was confused, but I still felt happy I made my first attempt to explain such a mind-bending concept to someone.

5. Play a Language Game

If you're both learning a language, this session will spark some fun competition and reinforce your vocabulary.

We played a Finnish Quiz. You only need a dictionary and in turn quiz each other. It's simply asking, What is "new"? or What is "uusi"?. You can keep scores to see who knows more.

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Hope these ideas help you love birds create quality time together!

There will be Fun Couple Activities We Tried On The Weekend Part 2, I'm sure.