A Stroll Down Memory Lane (Literally)

At the suggestion of my aunt, I made my way back to her apartment today and we drove about an hour to Incheon to see my eldest cousin's family on my father's side. My cousins are Yeonho (연호) and Yeonkuk (연국). I also met with Yeonho's (연호) family, including his son Yuejae (의재) and Hari (하리) who are about 13 and 11, respectively. We enjoyed some fruit and caught up on old times. It was fun to chat with them, as in their memories, I'm still about 11. Here are a few pictures:

We drove back with little traffic luckily and I met Junghae's (정혜) family and Taeseung (태승) for dinner. We made our way to Samsung town which is underneath the Samsung corporate complex and has a bunch of restaurants. We ate at a delicious sushi restaurant before Taeseung (태승) had to run off to a 40 and over basketball league. It's unbelievable that we're all getting so much older, myself included! A few pictures of our fancy sushi experience: 

While Heeyoung (희영), Junghae's (정혜) husband dropped off their son back at the apartment, Junghae (정혜) and I headed over to our 2nd uncle's house. I had originally planned to eat dinner with my 3rd uncle on my dad's side tonight, and when that got cancelled, I decided I wanted to see my 2nd uncle one more time. 

This ended up being a great idea, because he was not only in good spirits, but it was a bit hectic on Sunday. It was enjoyable to chat with him more personally as he asked really sweet questions and was an attentive listener. He also enjoyed seeing pictures of us all out on the town last night. He was instrumental in bringing us all together as well as keeping us in line when we were growing up - this has led to our generation being so close and like friends. Junghae (정혜) managed to take a quick candid of our chat:

Afterwards, we met Heeyoung (희영) at a dive-y bar in Gangnam. These new parents of 2 little ones were excited to be out on a school night!

We then decided it would be fun to visit our grandmother's apartment which was only about a 10 minute bus ride away. There has been so much re-development that from the street, you cannot even recognize the old complex. At my grandmother's apartment, where she lived for over 10 years, the family used to gather, eat, and laugh. It's also really old considering the super modern high rises and Seoul real estate boom. The address is seared in my memory: building 23, apartment 901. We had fun taking pictures quietly (as it was around midnight) and taking in the same views. The open balcony looked out to the Han river and the parking lots were packed with double parked cars. We used to throw water balloons off the balcony and the window and doors would be wide open during the stifling summer, as the breeze was amazing. Here are a few night photos of our stroll:

This whole trip has literally been a stroll down memory lane - fun stories and anecdotes as I cherish my childhood and my annual trips to Korea. I have my family to thank for then and now, as each time I remember as well as make new memories. My parents were truly generous as they prioritized this for me and my brother. I plan to continue to pay it forward as my family comes to visit us in New York - it's clearly not the same, but it's the least I can do!