Dear Mookie, 29 Suddenly, Big Buddha Butts and then Some
Our Dearest Mookie,
So the birthday celebrations for your mommy kicked off early on Saturday night when the whole family gathered for a celebration feast, including a special seaweed birthday soup, vegetable pancakes, tofu and all sorts of yummy sidedishes. Your unlce jaeyong brought a very special chocolate blueberry cake from sticky fingers.
Good stuff. There was even a present for you Mookie to add to your bling bling.
We said goodbye to your cousin heeyeon, since she will be at her other grandmother's this week. We weren't ready to say goodbye just yet and miss her already.
We've gotten into the habit of chanting phrases like she does.
On Sunday, your mom and dad ventured southeast to Gyoungju early on Sunday morning taking the train (Korail), a very smooth and comfy ride.
Sunday was our day to visit Bulguksa (Temple) and Seokguram Grotto (Big Buddha Statue/Carving). Aspects of both these sites were taken/destroyed during the Japanese Invasion, but have since been returned and restored... Both temples were built around the 8th century during the Unified Silla kingdom in the Korean peninsula. They were built well and the structures lasted pretty much until the Japanese occupation in 1910, when the colonial government promptly started removing all of the valuable artifacts from Korea to Japan. However, because Japan had such a strong grip on Korea, the colonial Japan decided that they didn’t need to move all the way to Japan when they could just keep them here and do whatever they wanted with them. Bulguksa, they left it alone because it was a standard temple but with some beautiful stairways and buildings. But Seokguram was special. A very big Buddha statue was located inside of a grotto and the craftsmanship of the Buddha was and still is unbelievably refined. So, of course, they thought it would be best to take every piece of the grotto out of there and put it all back just so that the structure can last for another thousand years. When they did that, they filled the gaps in the grotto with cement, and destroyed the organically built ventilation system. Now so much humidity sips in and get trapped inside, they have to have a dehumidifier inside the grotto and block the entrance with glass. Your grandma says that what they tried is slowly destroying the whole Seokguram and they should’ve left it alone.
In Gyoungju, there are lots of cool things to see, but surprisingly very little to eat for vegans like ourselves despite being in a big Buddhist hub.
Our timing was off, so we couldn't eat at the temples. We were missing grandma's cooking and veg friendliness of seoul.
Even right outside the temples, people were selling squid and cooked silkworms for consumption. We refrained from taking pictures of those. Yuck.
ALL the food places seemed fishy and meaty and frankly, after a near disastrous lunch experience, we couldn't stomach negotiating in that atmosphere. Shamefully and reluctantly, we ate dinner at a fancy hotel buffet, which sadly was equally as meaty... but we settled for plates of uncontaminated pasta, tomato sauce, and salad.
Monday morning we woke up and we kicked off your mom's birthday at Namsam Mountain. Your mom highly recommends it as a place to start off the year. A really nice, steep hike to a Buddhist temple retreat, and along the way were tombs of Shilla Kings, stream crossings, and these amazing Buddhist rock statues and carvings from around the 8th century. We like big Buddhas and we don't know why. Actually we do. We like to see them. You'd probably like them too. The final stretch to the retreat was a pretty vertical, rocky ascent, but at least we didn't have an 80 kg bag of rice on our back, like the Buddhist behind us. On our return back down, your daddy picked up other people's garbage discards from the mountain.
We got back to town and then headed on commuter rail to Dondaegu. There we saw these female buddhist monks. One of them was very chatty and the other was a good listener. We took the train with them for a whole hour, never once hearing the chatty monk stop talking, or listening monk speak a word.
First stop in Daegu was a vegetarian restaurant, Borisu. Big contrast to our Gyoungju eats... but this veg place also had eggs... little weird olive sized eggs from small birds called Mechuri. :-(
Daegu is Korea's third largest city after Seoul and Busan. It's known for its textiles. But we came to Daegu primarily to visit the Korean Animal Protection Society (KAPS). Now mookie, what we are about to tell you might shock you.
So you might want to sit down. Or curl up in that number 6 position you like.In Korea, there is a problem with dog meat in that it exists. After the Korean War was over, the nation was devastated economically. People had no food and some people turned to eating dogs and cats. It wasn’t a proud thing for someone to do, but they deemed it necessary for survival. Now… it’s been at least fifty years and as the living standards of people got better, a lot of people who used to eat dog and cat meat stopped. However, the market has been commercialized quite a bit. There are dog and cat meat trades dealers in many places and the meat is marketed as a continuation of “tradition” and good for virility. The animals in this trade are brutally abused and confined and sadly have no protection under Korean Law. We met Sunnan Keum, founder of KAPS, who is a vegetarian and animal lover. She wants to end this trade, and feels that for all animal abuse to stop in Korea, we must first protect the dogs. She and her sister are the first activists doing this kind of animal protection work in Korea , working with strays, spay/neuter, and working to shut down this trade. We met some of their canine and feline rescues. Big and little waggies. You would have had fun sniffing them. Many of them were western dogs. Many Koreans are importing companion animals, but then don’t know about spay and neuter or how to properly care for the dogs, and they end up on the street subject to the dog dealing trade. Sunnan feels sorry for them because they are neglected and abused each time they are passed on, from the breeder, to the trader, to the owner, to the dog meat dealer.
It’s very sad. But Sunnan and her organization are working hard to be a good friend to the dogs.
We returned home on the train, relaxing and recollecting the days’ travels.
Came home to a wonderful meal by Grandma, with rice cake dessert and leftover sticky fingers....
Today is our last day here. Missing you very much.
Looking forward to seeing you very soon.
With lots of love,
Mom and Dad
So the birthday celebrations for your mommy kicked off early on Saturday night when the whole family gathered for a celebration feast, including a special seaweed birthday soup, vegetable pancakes, tofu and all sorts of yummy sidedishes. Your unlce jaeyong brought a very special chocolate blueberry cake from sticky fingers.
Good stuff. There was even a present for you Mookie to add to your bling bling.
We said goodbye to your cousin heeyeon, since she will be at her other grandmother's this week. We weren't ready to say goodbye just yet and miss her already.
We've gotten into the habit of chanting phrases like she does.
On Sunday, your mom and dad ventured southeast to Gyoungju early on Sunday morning taking the train (Korail), a very smooth and comfy ride.
Sunday was our day to visit Bulguksa (Temple) and Seokguram Grotto (Big Buddha Statue/Carving). Aspects of both these sites were taken/destroyed during the Japanese Invasion, but have since been returned and restored... Both temples were built around the 8th century during the Unified Silla kingdom in the Korean peninsula. They were built well and the structures lasted pretty much until the Japanese occupation in 1910, when the colonial government promptly started removing all of the valuable artifacts from Korea to Japan. However, because Japan had such a strong grip on Korea, the colonial Japan decided that they didn’t need to move all the way to Japan when they could just keep them here and do whatever they wanted with them. Bulguksa, they left it alone because it was a standard temple but with some beautiful stairways and buildings. But Seokguram was special. A very big Buddha statue was located inside of a grotto and the craftsmanship of the Buddha was and still is unbelievably refined. So, of course, they thought it would be best to take every piece of the grotto out of there and put it all back just so that the structure can last for another thousand years. When they did that, they filled the gaps in the grotto with cement, and destroyed the organically built ventilation system. Now so much humidity sips in and get trapped inside, they have to have a dehumidifier inside the grotto and block the entrance with glass. Your grandma says that what they tried is slowly destroying the whole Seokguram and they should’ve left it alone.
In Gyoungju, there are lots of cool things to see, but surprisingly very little to eat for vegans like ourselves despite being in a big Buddhist hub.
Our timing was off, so we couldn't eat at the temples. We were missing grandma's cooking and veg friendliness of seoul.
Even right outside the temples, people were selling squid and cooked silkworms for consumption. We refrained from taking pictures of those. Yuck.
ALL the food places seemed fishy and meaty and frankly, after a near disastrous lunch experience, we couldn't stomach negotiating in that atmosphere. Shamefully and reluctantly, we ate dinner at a fancy hotel buffet, which sadly was equally as meaty... but we settled for plates of uncontaminated pasta, tomato sauce, and salad.
Monday morning we woke up and we kicked off your mom's birthday at Namsam Mountain. Your mom highly recommends it as a place to start off the year. A really nice, steep hike to a Buddhist temple retreat, and along the way were tombs of Shilla Kings, stream crossings, and these amazing Buddhist rock statues and carvings from around the 8th century. We like big Buddhas and we don't know why. Actually we do. We like to see them. You'd probably like them too. The final stretch to the retreat was a pretty vertical, rocky ascent, but at least we didn't have an 80 kg bag of rice on our back, like the Buddhist behind us. On our return back down, your daddy picked up other people's garbage discards from the mountain.
We got back to town and then headed on commuter rail to Dondaegu. There we saw these female buddhist monks. One of them was very chatty and the other was a good listener. We took the train with them for a whole hour, never once hearing the chatty monk stop talking, or listening monk speak a word.
First stop in Daegu was a vegetarian restaurant, Borisu. Big contrast to our Gyoungju eats... but this veg place also had eggs... little weird olive sized eggs from small birds called Mechuri. :-(
Daegu is Korea's third largest city after Seoul and Busan. It's known for its textiles. But we came to Daegu primarily to visit the Korean Animal Protection Society (KAPS). Now mookie, what we are about to tell you might shock you.
So you might want to sit down. Or curl up in that number 6 position you like.In Korea, there is a problem with dog meat in that it exists. After the Korean War was over, the nation was devastated economically. People had no food and some people turned to eating dogs and cats. It wasn’t a proud thing for someone to do, but they deemed it necessary for survival. Now… it’s been at least fifty years and as the living standards of people got better, a lot of people who used to eat dog and cat meat stopped. However, the market has been commercialized quite a bit. There are dog and cat meat trades dealers in many places and the meat is marketed as a continuation of “tradition” and good for virility. The animals in this trade are brutally abused and confined and sadly have no protection under Korean Law. We met Sunnan Keum, founder of KAPS, who is a vegetarian and animal lover. She wants to end this trade, and feels that for all animal abuse to stop in Korea, we must first protect the dogs. She and her sister are the first activists doing this kind of animal protection work in Korea , working with strays, spay/neuter, and working to shut down this trade. We met some of their canine and feline rescues. Big and little waggies. You would have had fun sniffing them. Many of them were western dogs. Many Koreans are importing companion animals, but then don’t know about spay and neuter or how to properly care for the dogs, and they end up on the street subject to the dog dealing trade. Sunnan feels sorry for them because they are neglected and abused each time they are passed on, from the breeder, to the trader, to the owner, to the dog meat dealer.
It’s very sad. But Sunnan and her organization are working hard to be a good friend to the dogs.
We returned home on the train, relaxing and recollecting the days’ travels.
Came home to a wonderful meal by Grandma, with rice cake dessert and leftover sticky fingers....
Today is our last day here. Missing you very much.
Looking forward to seeing you very soon.
With lots of love,
Mom and Dad
posted by Wan Park at 1:08 PM
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