We didn’t get home until late last night and we were very tired from the days activities so I decided to wait to post until the morning. Yesterday was really fun and we had some great experience. We woke up and went to the pastry shop that’s around the corner. We had some pastries for breakfast. Having that shop around the corner is very dangerous because I think I may gain a ton of weight eating there. After breakfast we had about an hour to kill before leaving for Fukuyama. We ended up walking around the river for a little while. We rode the train to Fukuyama. This is the area Corey spent 6 months on his mission at. We walked around and he said a lot has changed in the last 20 years and he can’t remember much.

We walked to the Fukuyama castle which is right next to the train station. Unfortunately the castle is closed on Mondays and we couldn’t go inside. Instead we walked around the grounds and met some of Corey’s old friends. We had a picnic lunch under the cherry blossom trees with them. They call it hana mi. His friends brought food and we all ate and talked. Well I didn’t talk much but they did. I understood about 10% of what they were saying but Corey’s friend Yuma speaks english really well and was able to translate for me sometimes.

After lunch Yuma took us around to see some of the sights. He took us to a shrine, Abuto Kannon, that is on a cliff over the ocean. It was very peaceful and I loved looking out over the ocean. Yuma was very helpful and explained a lot of things to us as we went around a little village called Tomonoura. It’s an old fishing village that was able to avoid damage from WWII. Since it has some historic buildings and streets it has become a place where they will film movies. They filmed part of Wolverine here. Yuma said he got to be an extra but they cut the part out with him in it. He showed us where Hugh Jackman stayed and walked.

From the village we rode a replica of a historic boat to an island where we participated in an onsen. An onesen is a hot spring bath. Corey was never allowed to go to these as a missionary so he asked Yuma to take us to one. Traditionally they would bathe naked but I insisted that I would only go to one if it allowed clothes. Yuma delivered. It was a really neat experience. There are three heated caves and you have steps to follow. First you sit for 10-15 minutes in the first cave then head to a heated pool outside. Back to the second cave for 10-15 min. Then outside to bathe in the very cold ocean. You walk the beach from one side to the other and then bathe in another heated pool. Next you head to the last cave and sit for another 10-15 min. Last you head to the dressing rooms and shower and soak in the last pool. It was actually very nice and relaxing. It felt good on our sore muscles from all the stair climbing and walking.

After the onesen we went to do Yoga. Yuma leads a class in Fukuyama and invited us to join. I love yoga! I wish that I would do it more often. I think the last time I did yoga was last August. I always feel stretched and invigorated after a yoga session. I think we may have some soreness today because of it.

To end the day we went to a curry place for dinner with Corey’s friends. It was really good and tastes just like what we make at home. This day was a wonderful experience and really cool to get a locals perspective with Yuma. Not to mention he took us around in a car and we didn’t have to walk so much today.

This morning we woke up to a lot of rain. We had a complementary breakfast in the hotel cafe. There were these croissants that were so buttery and flaky. I forgot to get a picture of them but I will try tomorrow if they have them. Our plan for today was to go to a Shinto shrine and the Imperial Palace gardens. First we had to stop at the local convenient store to pick up some umbrellas. It was just our luck that this is one of the coldest days they’ve had this time of year. Many places in Japan are seeing snow so we are lucky that we just had rain. I guess we had to bring the cold with us from Idaho.

Once we got our umbrellas we headed to the train station and then on foot to the shrine. The cherry blossoms are finishing up here and they are beautiful. There is a war museum at the shrine. We spent a few hours there. It was a good use of our time to get warm and out of the rain. It’s interesting to see the war history of Japan. Even more interesting was getting a different perspective on WWII.

After the shrine we were pretty hungry and walked to a restaurant. We both ate Mabodofu. It’s something that I’ve learned to make at home but I really wanted to taste what an authentic one was like. It was delicious. They gave us a big bowl of it. It’s about as much as I normally make for my whole family. As we look around it seems like everyone was finishing all that they ordered and I don’t know if it is unkind to not eat everything. So I ate all of it and was so stuffed by the end.

After that we walked through the Imperial Palace Gardens. On the way there we stopped at a public toilet and yes I took a picture of the public toilets in the women’s bathroom. It is definitely an adventure. The gardens are beautiful and we took our time walking around. I wish it hadn’t been so cold and wet because I know we would have spent the rest of the day there if we could. However, our shoes were squishy with water and we were freezing so after a couple of hours we made our way back to the hotel to dry off and get warm. Even though it was rainy and cold we had a good experience. Tomorrow we head for Kyoto

Day 2: This day started before the sun was up. We had to catch a flight from SLC to Seattle at 7am. That means getting up and being to the airport by 5am. Once we landed in Seattle we had a couple of hours to kill before our flight to Tokyo took off. Corey was hungry so we walked around the airport and found Beechers Handmade cheese. I remember from Preston’s choir trip that there was a place in Pike’s Place Market that Preston said the mac and cheese was the best thing about his trip. It’s the same place only they have a shop in the airport too! So Corey ordered a mac and cheese and we waited for our next flight.

Once our plane took off for Tokyo they pretty much started serving us food from the time we got in the air until we landed. It’s an over nine hour flight so I was feeling pretty stuffed by the time we landed. It’s funny how much they offer you to drink and then you watch as the line for the bathroom would get super long. I wasn’t falling for that trick and only had a drink when I needed one. I only had to use the small bathroom on the plane once!

Day 3: At some point, because of the international date line, day 2 morphed into day 3. All I know is we took off on Monday at 11:30am and landed on Tuesday at 12:30pm. I was only able to sleep for about an hour on the plane. This means when I normally would be going to bed at home it’s the middle of the next day in Tokyo. Even though all I wanted to do was sleep Corey and I made sure we stayed awake until 9:00pm in Tokyo. My brain has stopped working and I feel like I’m in a hazy fog. Hopefully by staying awake we can sleep through the night and feel great tomorrow. It’s been a long day. I’ve had some really yummy ramen and we rode the Big O in Tokyo which gave us a wonderful view of the Tokyo skyline. Our hotel room is comically small. The bathroom is about as big as the one on the plane. This was expected and it doesn’t really matter to us because we don’t plan on spending too much time at the hotel. Well time to get some shut eye so we can explore more of Tokyo tomorrow.

This year my hubby and I celebrate 20 years of being married! We decided to celebrate by going on a trip to Japan. Corey served a mission there for our church back in 1996-1998. It’s been 21 years since he has been there. We are both excited for this adventure and wanted to keep our kids informed on what we have been up to. Corey’s mom, Nammy, is staying with our kids for a couple of weeks as we go on this adventure. We are so blessed to have her there with them!

Day 1: This is a short day because we have such a long lay over in Salt Lake City. We flew from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake which was a rough flight with lots of turbulence but luckily it’s a very short flight. We have a 10 hour lay over; it’s over night so Corey and I get to spend a night in SLC. We are staying at the Sheraton in downtown. We decided we wanted to try the Indian restaurant that’s a block from the hotel. I know that’s a little daring especially when we’re going to be on a plane pretty much all day tomorrow. The food was a very delicious. We hope it doesn’t come back to bite us later.