Osaka Sukiyanen!

Basically that means "I Love Osaka", in the Osaka dialect.  I'm "from" Osaka, and that's where we went tonight.  :)  We visited one of our local Japanese restaurants so that our three children who are studying Japanese could have some more cultural experience.  It's been quite a while since our last visit because it's a bit on the expensive side for a family of seven, so tonight was a special treat.

Michaela and Chris even give the customary Japanese pose!

Oh it was so yummy!!  I wanted to order everything on the menu.  I don't realize how much I miss Japan until I walk into a place like this.  The smells, the tastes, the sounds, the sights.  It's all nostalgic for me.  It's easy to slip into conversation with the Japanese waitress and want to keep chatting forever just to use my rusty Japanese.  It's a part of me, a part of me that doesn't get to come out all that often.

My Japanese "bucket" is definitely not full, so I'm going to have to charm Chris into going to Missouri's Osaka once in a while on our weekly lunch dates.  I need that little bit of home, it's good for my soul!

Even a miniature coi pond....ahhh, a little piece of Japan in the Midwest.