photo highlights from the trip (or moments i remembered my camera)

cuban sandwich from paseos.  one word: yum.
theo's chocolate factory.  i bought a gift pack for pete.  flavors include: coffee, nib brittle (ground cacao bean), coconut curry, bread & chocolate, vanilla chocolate, hazelnut crunch, fig fennel & almond, chai tea.  they are all really tasty.  i think i ate about 500 chocolate samples at the factory.  our spunky tour guide was raving about all of the health benefits of chocolate which just fed our (the tourists) fire for eating chocolate.  near the end of the tour she remarked she'd "give in" and taste a sample with us, but that she'd need to be careful or she might eat a whole chocolate bar (!).  i thought, "seriously!?" she made this comment after she had dished out dozens of samples and i had already consumed about 5 pounds of chocolate : ) ha!

flowers from pike's place market.  such a great place.  i think people who work with these flowers must be in a good mood all the time.  who wouldn't when surrounded by such beauty!

oliver, the master chopstick eater.  so cute. so smart.  i love his mama too.

ovi loves his grandpa dash.

besties.
japan.  tokyo. sushi. awesome.
green tea kit kats

after writing my summary of the trip I realized I left out some pretty important activities.  so, i was able to have lunch with peter's grandparents: ted & gladys, and Caleb Smith (a cousin) after church.  it was so great to visit with them.  everyone looked great.  i was thankful to spend the afternoon with them.  i just love and admire them so much.

i had lunch/dinner dates with so many great, dear friends who i miss so much.  friends from gulf drive (our old neighborhood) rock hill and grace & peace.  i was able to rub bellies and babies that i hadn't seen before we left!  so wonderful.   

in seattle, susan & I had lunch with some family friends.  we always called them "howard's family" (it's a korean thing).  they were gracious, kind, and generous.  they took us to a really good thai restaurant, which i was excited about since good thai food is kind of hard to find in daegu.  i'm glad to know susan has a "family" in seattle to fall back on. 

and a note about the japanese grandpa.  i called him to see if he wanted to show us his garden, but he never answered his phone.  he did call back, literally as we were walking out the door to the airport for my flight back to seoul.  he was dear and sweet, lamenting our ironic timing.  i've since looked him up and have discovered he's a well published author in the field of environmental science.  he's a pretty fascinating fella.  matsuo tsukada.  you should look him up.