6.017

22 (Thu) January 2015

Not So Awful After All

3.5

at Obaltan

-Nonhyeon, Seoul-

with the family and the in-laws

The Prodigal Son Returns to Be a Father to His Sons, a Grandson to His Grandparents, Day 1.

In town for a few days, arrived this evening, flying back Monday night.

3 tasks on the agenda : (1) attend Z’s daycare pageant (his first) (maybe his last)–done; (2) ski with D; (3) engage in shamanistic ritual for the grandparents.

Nick of Time: early this morning, snagged a wait-listed business class seat on the noontime flight from MNL to ICN—can’t imagine why all flights on a Thursday afternoon at this time of year would be fully booked; miraculously departed on time—that’s never once happened in my experience, on any flight going thru Ninoy Aquino International Airport; upon arrival in Incheon, whizzed through the diplomatic immigration lane—courtesy of my United Nations Laissez-Passer passport; my luggage was the 5th bag to come out—“priority”-tagged; shuttle bus arrived within 1 minute—no exaggeration; eerily light traffic on the way in—unusual for late afternoon in Seoul; entered the auditorium just seconds before the evening’s final performance—which lasted 2 minutes.  If any part of that 7-hour journey hadn’t happened as such (e.g., if the shuttle bus had hit one additional red light on the way in), I would’ve missed the whole thing.

Curtains up, Z was dragged by his teacher into the spotlight, bawling hysterically.  The poor kid just wasn’t into it, mortified more than terrified.  When I called his name–I’m the only one in the world who calls him “Mo”–he instantly stopped crying and smiled, looked up to see me at the front of the audience, and jumped off the stage and into my arms.  Like a corny ending to a Hollywood family movie.  Totally worth the trip.

Afterwards, we had dinner at Obaltan (see most recently 3.052 Grilled Yang + Daechang).

In contradiction of what I claimed about offal (pun-intended) in the above-referenced post with the tongue-in-cheek title (pun intended), it would appear that I don’t mind certain organs if they’re prepared in certain ways.