celebrating 90 years

sibling resentments and fears of inconvenience made my family frustratingly unenthused about taking their matriarch somewhere special for her 90th birthday. various reasons nixed tokyo and jeju-do plans. thankfully, in the end 17 of us spanning four generations took her on a (karaoke) norae-bus from daegu to busan. whaddya know we actually enjoyed ourselves. there and back my moms friend instituted a 'sing or else' directive. i did sinatra and greenday.

4 generations

once in beautiful busan we took a coupla hour cruise along the coast and enjoyed a yummy korean-style sashimi lunch. afterwards we stopped at beomoesa ( 범어사 ), a buddhist temple built in 678 (rebuilt in 1592 after japanese invasion and in 1613 after a fire). at its height it was much larger and housed over 1000 monks. it was one of the most impressive ancient korean sites that ive seen.

most importantly my grandmother - who raised 8 children alone through a civil war - had a ball. happy birthday halmuhnee!
more 2006 korea photos here.
more 2005 korea photos here.