Saijo

Saijo today! Marty and I served in Saijo together. I was in my last transfer and he had 6 months to go. He was my District Leader. I was his STL. I remember at the time thinking he was a really great Elder, and my companion told me she thought I liked him haha but I was also a very focused missionary. As a side note I think the more Marty and I tell our story, the more we make it sound like we really liked each other on the mission.haha. 

There was one big reason we wanted to go to Saijo...they have an amazing Okonomiyaki restaurant. (Can you tell we're foodies from all my posts?) I'm happy to report it was still there and still amazing. The restaurant was a bit cramped, and the couple next to us with a bigger table saw we had a baby and traded us places to give us more room. I was taken a back that a) they noticed we could use some more space b) volunteered to switch us without us even asking! Grateful for kind people.

Qs

Emi and Dad

We both got American style Okonomiyaki. I was side they didn't have the Mexican kind like they did when I was a missionary.

This chef was otsukare. It was sooo hot in the restaurant and he was making all of these by himself. 

After Okonomiyaki, Emi was pretty tired so we decided to just walk to the church so she could nap in the stroller. It was a long walk (about an hour), but Marty and I both agreed it was worth it to let her sleep in her stroller. We had a great time just chatting about mission stuff and other random things. 

On this walk we had a breakthrough. Marty's the type of guy that finds what he likes and just sticks with it. He always gets Oreo shakes because he knows he likes them. He has the same few restaurants he likes to go to. He will find a shirt he likes and get the same one in different colors. You get the point...Well the same applies to vacations. He likes Hawaii, Japan, New York, and Pagosa. And he could be content just going to those places. In the past I've told him one day I'd like to go to Europe, but he hasn't seen the need because we have places we already know we like. Well on this walk, he told me he'd be willing to travel with me anywhere in the world as long as our kids don't come along. 

Yes...I totally agree. Vacation without a child at this point anywhere sounds good! 

We eventually made it to the church, and as we were approaching we saw a bunch of gaijin dressed nice. Turns out they were the missionaries! They were just getting out of district meeting. Marty even knew the brother of one of the missionaries from school--such a small world! We had fun talking with them, and of course had to take a stop at Hallows to buy them (and us) some ice cream.

The Saijo church was a bit smaller than we remembered.

Emi's face.haha. Also totally have okonomiyaki in my teeth.haha

After chatting for a bit, we headed to the eki. Marty and I had bought melon pan and ice cream for ourselves. I was looking forward to this treat because McCarrey Shimai and I went to Hallows almost every day to grab melon pan and ice cream when we were missionaries. To be fair, she was on her last transfer, and I had one more to go and we had to have something to keep us going! When we got to the eki the ice cream was melted, but I was not going to let that stop me from enjoying my treat. Marty was kind enough to entertain Emi as I sat there with chocolate ice cream dripping from the melon pan. I could feel the judgement from the nihonjin but nothing was going to get in my way.haha. It wasn't quite as good as I remembered, but I'm attributing that to melted ice cream.

Back to Hiroshima in the afternoon and evening. 

Gyoza outside our bedroom for dinner so Emi could sleep. We did gyoza and eating outside our room multiple times this trip.haha.