Palisades Park and Fort Lee, NJ (August 2023)

After we left Sonesta ES Suites Hotel in Malvern, PA on August 12, we arrived at Gayeon Korean Restaurant in Fort Lee, NJ to have lunch with Chairman Sung Eun Hong's couple. It was the first time that Kristin joined the gathering. Mrs. Hong has recovered a lot from the serious situation she had to endure from an almost fatal car accident in Belize. I am deeply grateful for his friendship even after I left New York City in 2009.

We checked in at Hilton Garden Inn in Ridgefield Park, NJ. At the hotel, my college friend Young Wook Yoo came to give an acupuncture treatment to Kristin. It was very kind of him to come to the hotel for the treatment. He used to be in custom jewelry business for long time, but he ended up closing the operation unsuccessfully. Later I learned that he had a cancer that triggered the betrayal of his employees who happened to be his relatives. It was sad to hear the news.

In the evening, we met up with Mrs. Kyung Hee Choi, our travel companion, at Han Sang in Palisades Park, NJ. It was a great joy to see her again after we traveled together to Patagonia early this year. We look forward to our planned trip to Morocco in February 2024.

On Sunday, we worshiped at New Jersey Harvest Church where Pastor Minsong Ahn is shepherding. Mr. Yoo also worships here. We saw Pastor Ahn and his wife briefly.

After the worship service, we had lunch with Mr. Yoo and his wife at a Chinese restaurant owned and operated by Mrs. Yoo's older sister. I learned several new facts about Mr. Yoo's past including his stomach cancer. He came to give another treatment to Kristin on Monday.

In the evening, I met up with Elder Kisoo Sohn and his wife. Mr. Sohn is a junior to me at Agape Club while I was studying at Yonsei University. He used to work for Daewoo and has been running a dry cleaning business for more than 30 years. Whoa! It was a joyous reunion. Moreover, he gave me money at the parking lot to support the ministry. I shared a half of it with Mr. Yoo and the other half was used well for the BAM Field Trip in October.

On Monday, Kristin had lunch with her college friends and I stopped by to say Hi. Hee Ok Lee, one of her friends, had been married recently and her husband was also there. We had a happy short union.

I had lunch with Mr. Tae Ok Park, CPA and my college friend. He has been taking care of my tax returns for the past dozen years or so. He told me about what transpired between him and Mr. Yoo when he had to close his business operation. He was upset with Mr. Yoo who suddenly discontinued their relationship with some unsettled money matter. I only wished for their reconciliation.

It was a short but a sweet visit to New Jersey area. 

After the lunch, we left New Jersey to drive to Philadelphia to Ji Bae's house. We were supposed to park our TS Camper at his house until we return in early March. We had dinner with Ji's family at a Korean restaurant. We met Janet, Ji's wife, for the first time. She is a Pediatrician. Their daughter Joanne was so cute. We made friends pretty quickly. 

After the dinner, Ji took us to the Central Train Station in Philadelphia where we took an Amtrak train to go to the EWR in New Jersey to fly out of the country. - Jeffrey