First Trip of the Season

On Thursday we had a nice little trip down to Fukuoka. What was expected to be a very rainy time, has ended up being fairly nice. Time has been going fast, but we still have one more day here down here.

The day after we got there, we met up with an old mission companion of mine. We have been staying at their house and enjoying time with them. One of the first paces we went when we got here was the beach. It was so nice to feel the sand in our toes and hear the waves of the ocean!

This is my old mission companion (Yohei Fukuyama) and I. We were given the... decorations from his daughter, Izumi.

Emily has been so fun to watch with their kids. You can tell by her facial expression that it is probably time to start a family. :)

We made gyoza last night, which is kind of like pot stickers. The Fukuyama's are so nice; they had another American couple staying with them and some other family. From left to right; Kokoro (Maria's sister), Emily, Maria (Yohei's wife), Yohei, and Ashley.

These are Yohei and Maria's kids. Izumi is 3 and loves Disney stuff, so we get along well. Senjiro is about a year and a half old and has also been a lot of fun. 

During our first night in Fukuoka, we stayed at a hotel and got to walk around and explore the city a little bit. This was one of the fun places to take pictures.

This is called "Dashi," and is a huge cart piled up high with all kinds of people and what not. Not too sure what the meaning or significance of it is though.

This was just a cool display at one of the shrines we went to.

There were all kinds of statues, and although this may not have been the most polite, I tried to mimic some of the faces.

Again, maybe not the politest gesture, but am I not doing a great job?

This is in front of the Fukuoka Temple. Izumi, Kokoro, and Emily.

The Fukuyama's also took us to the zoo. Needless to say, we had a blast. I mean, look at this picture. :)

I love these little stands to take pictures at. This is Emily working hard scooping up after the elephants. 

This is me with Senjiro in front of the hippo display.

This was such awesome ramen! They have special ramen down here in Fukuoka called "Hakata Ramen." Instead of the soup base being soy sauce or miso flavored, it is something called tonkotsu.

Another cool looking shrine.

We went to this sports place and I got to ride a mechanical bull. It was pretty weak though... You had to press a button the whole time to get it to move.

The same sports place. You pay a flat fee and get to play with as many things as you want for a certain time limit.The place was at least five floors and had a skating rink; places to play basketball, volleyball, badminton, and tennis; batting cage; arcade; bowling; and all kinds of other stuff. It was pretty fun.

Needless to say, we are having a lot of fun down here. Unfortunately, we head back to Aizu tomorrow, but then we'll be getting ready for our next trip up north to Aomori. Hope that everyone is well and enjoying spring!