Seasons one and two (as well as the prequel season zero) of alphabet dating certainly pushed the boundaries of what a “date” is, and that continues in season three with even more tenuous examples for each letter of the alphabet. For the record, doing something together (no matter what it is!) counts as a date in this series which is not always about visiting glamorous places and doing exciting things but just getting out there and exploring locations we wouldn’t normally go to. Without further ado, lets kick off the final season of alphabet dating with what we did for the second set of letters…

F is for Farmer’s Market (February 2023)

Taking place at in east Ikebukuro every weekend, we went here one Sunday morning. The farmers market wasn’t quite as lively an area as we thought it might be. The number of stalls was fairly limited but there were some interesting food, drink and craft products on sale but we sadly left empty handed and instead got some lunch at a cafe in a different park.

G is for Gokokuji Temple (February 2023)

Over the years I have passed this sizeable temple on many, many occasions but had never ever bothered to get off my bicycle to take a closer look. Time to change that so we took an easy ride down the Yurakucho line to Gokokuji station where this serene and well-maintained Buddhist temple (not to be confused with Gotokuji Temple a.k.a. the cat temple in Setagaya) with 17h century origins is situated right next door.

H is for Hoya (February 2023)

You win some, you lose some! This particular trip came about from just looking at stations along the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and Hoya was one that neither of us had ever visited. This place epitomises the true spirit of alpahabet dating in terms of looking around new areas but it sure won’t live too long in the memory.

I is for Ippudo Ramen (February 2023)

Along with Ichiran, this is one of the most popular ramen chains with foreign visitors. However, I had never been there until this time although I had consumed a few of the Ippudo ramen canned drinks available in few vending machines. The taste was pretty much as expected; enjoyable enough but nothing better than what I had had elsewhere.

J is for Jenga (February 2023)

Pretty sad to bring such a game home from work but that is exactly what I did in order to tick off the letter J from this list! When I started this alphabet dating lark I had some games in mind but here we are in season 3 and there hasn’t been a single one! Until now! Jenga was actually a bigger success than I thought it would be!

Click on the following links to read about previous alphabet dating posts…

S01E01     S01E02     S01E03     S01E04     S01E05     S01E06

S00E01     S00E02     S00E03     S00E04     S00E05     S00E06

S02E01     S02E02     S02E03   S02E04   S02E05   S02E06

S03E01