Blog 42 - 20th May

Our son Liam stayed with us in Seoul for 10 days. He came from Niigata in Japan where he is living and working. His visit also coincided with Buddha's birthday. Here we are visitng Bongeun-sa Temple where traditonal paper sculptures decorate the gardens at this time of year. Liam seems to be sticking his finger into this poor child's mouth. Perhaps he's stolen his kimchi!

Liam also celebrated his 25th birthday while he was here. His twin brother, Jacob, celebrated in Canberra however, we connected via Skype on the 6th May. We had a crazy night with Kelly, Liam, Damien and me climbing up to Namsan Tower, the lookout for tourists during the day and clearly the place for lovers during the evening! Damien is looking particularly handsome shouting out in his best Korea how happy he is to have his son here. We tried to drive, got turned away so parked illegally and caught a bus that then took us on the entire circuit to return. A mad dash to the train station follwed so Kelly could catch the last train home to Gumi. We got there just in time!

Going to this outstanding Korean vegetarian restaurant, Chaegundaam, www.chaegundaam.com near Coex has become a tradition when we have visitors. The food and service are excellent and we even booked a private room so we could party all night for Liam's big day!

The Buddha's birthday parade in Insa dong went for 3 hours, however we had VIP seats thanks to Romy, my Korean teacher who is also a Buddhist Dharma. This Lotus Lantern Festival involves over 100,000 people carrying laterns of all shapes and sizes. Buddhists believe that by lighting a lantern on this day, it symblises doing good deeds and eliminating the darkness of the world's troubles.

Tradional drummers, floats and music reminded us of the Christmas parades in Australia. The dragon below is a symbol of power, strength and good luck.

Coming home from the Lantern Festival and after mandoo (Koream dumplings) for dinner, here we are with our friends Mark and Esther, all looking very gorgeous in the subway. Oh how we love the Green Line, number 2! For those who have visited us you will know that it is always crowded and we are packed like sardines.

Thanks for staying with us and for the great time we had, Liam and also for these photos. Feel free to check out Liam's blog of Japanese skateboarding and snowboarding and other stuff at www.liammugavin.tumblr.com and on this llink below.

liam's photo blog - JPN life