24 Months In the Making

It finally happened.  When we left for Korea, I doubted my parents would be able to visit.  Nevertheless, I harassed them about getting passports and challenged them to a trip.

Welcome to South Korea!

Well I shouldn't have doubted them.  Mom and Dad Haws made it all the way to Seoul for a visit, arriving on Mom's birthday.

Happy Birthday!

What a blessing!  Unfortunately Lauren and I had to work during the week, but the evenings and weekends were filled with great times out and about and stuffing ourselves with delicious food.  We'll let the pictures do the talking though.

First meal in Seoul

Catchin' a baseball game

"She is gonna what?!"

Open wide!

Alright, not bad

North Korean creeper at the JSA

Drinks with Christina and Daniel

St Patrick's Day - Nice green/orange Mom and Dad...

Visiting BIS kindergarten

Seungmin and Eddie near Insadong

Cheers!

KTX to Busan - 300km/hr

Music lessons at the instrument museum

Water show at Lotte in Busan

Shot from Busan Tower

Mandu restaurant from the film Old Boy

Mandu

Having Mom and Dad Haws here for the week was truly a blessing.  Sharing our small space with them was an honor and reinforced how wonderful time with family is.

Thanks for the visit :)

Final two weeks of 2010

The last two weeks of 2010 were some of the best weeks of the entire year.  Mom and Dad Gilmore made their way to Korea to visit with us for a week, have a wonderful Christmas in Seoul, fly to Vietnam for a week, and ring in the new year in Phan Thiet.

Here are some highlights from the trip :)

First dinner in Seoul

The Kindy Christmas Performance

Dinner with Ms. Grace and Christina

The Noraebong crew

Fish Market

The main course at the fish market followed by the live course

Some were more excited about the fish than others...

Christmas Morning

Warm Derek

Gingerbread house 

New sweatshirts, thanks Chris

An abundance of gifts 

Christmas Dinner at Big Rock Brewery

Vietnam

Derek with an excellent photobomb 

First drink in Vietnam - 333 local brew

Quick note on Saigon traffic...WOW!  There were more motorbikes in one place than I've ever seen before.  You cross at will, or whenever...

To say these are popular in Saigon is a severe understatement

These incredible skinny buildings were the norm

Reunification Palace - Saigon

Find this man, get our money back.  We got ripped off only once during the whole trip, and this man is the reason.  We  wanted to take a taxi from point A to point B (wish we would've known it was within walking distance)  but he told us the museum was closed for 3 hours and drove us around to pointless other sites (not entirely pointless - we saw a couple temples and a market - see the following 3 pictures) and lunch.  $125 later...

Religious temple in Saigon

Local Vietnamese market

At the Vietnam War Memorial

Thanks Pam, the restaurant was great!

Our unofficial Vietnamese tour guide and Rick's friend/previous co-worker, Tracy

Vietnamese style coffee

View from 10°57.282' N, 108°14.005' E

Visiting the local sand dunes, which was quite a blast!

These adorable kids were peddling their plastic sleds from .50 to a dollar

The ride down the dunes

Cheers!

Vietnamese Facial

The passed on genetic traits are just leaping off the page

SPF30 sparsely applied once during 9 hours = ineffective

Preparing for New Years

Happy New Year!

Leaving Phan Thiet

We had an amazing time to say the least!