mom has arrived!

i picked my mother up at seoul/incheon international airport last friday night. miraculously, we found each other. here we are minutes after her arrival. we rode the airport limo bus an hour into the heart of the city where we then took a taxi to our hotel in insadong.saturday morning....a funky little art galleryantiquity surrounded by modernity! we visited jogyesa - the largest buddhist temple in seoul.hundreds of lanterns hanging in honor of the upcoming celebration of buddha's birthday on may 12th.a bustling market area in insadong with a vendor selling wonderful dried fruit and nut bars.and another vendor making some sort of paste.the old teashopmom enjoying some "cinnamon punch," a traditional korean drink that is chilled and usually had for dessert after a meal. its intense flavor comes from persimmons, cinnamon, and ginger with three pine nuts floating on top!delicious mandu (dumplings)we happened to stumble upon a street side performance of a traditional korean wedding.check out this "forest of time" stairway!one of many arcades