K-Pop Land Trip: Jeju Island

Another trip that I was looking forward in this year is trip to South Korea. It was not easy to get approval from hubby to book the tickets as he didn't think there's many things to see and do in South Korea. After persuading and convinced him that the reason I want to go there NOT because the influence of the K-drama, but the beauty of that country itself, finally he agreed to go. Anybody knows that is not true, of course the one and only reason to go there is because of the influences of K-drama. But on my defense, I only watched less than 10 dramas which does not qualify me as K-drama addict (unlike my mom!). Haha...

Anyway, after searching the best dates to see the autumn foliage, waiting anxiously for the Air Asia Sale, endless review reading and comprehensive itinerary discussion, finally the time has come. We went to 2 part of South Korea, Jeju Island and Seoul. For this part, I will cover Jeju Island first.

Jeju Island is like Hawaii for South Korea people. They went there for honeymoon and the weather is slightly warmer than in Seoul. Initially we want to go there after Seoul but after consulting few friends that went there before, they advised to go before Seoul. We booked the flight ticket a month before. I was thinking of doing the adventure trip which is by taking KTX train from Seoul to Busan, then take a ferry to Jeju. The KTX train to Busan takes around 2 hours, but the ferry from Busan to Jeju takes 8 hours! So we decided to take flight there which is around 1 hour only.

Arrived in Incheon International Airport around 8am and our flight to Jeju is around 2 pm. Purposely took longer buffer as we need to change airport and didn't want to rush just in case the flight from KL delay. This is the second time I'm in Incheon International Airport. The first one was a transit to New York few years ago which I had food poisoning when traveling alone. One of the worst experience, pulling luggage in and out of toilet and finally slept on the bench dehydrated. So this time around I was able to explore more of the airport than the toilets.. Haha.

Took our sweet time in Incheon before took the train to Gimpo International Airport. After checking in for our flight, we decided to find lunch. This is the first challenge of food finding. After walking round surveying the food (which is not much since Gimpo is quite small), we finally settled for a plate of what looked like sotong masak merah with rice. The menu written in Korean but there is a number at the side. After memorizing the number, we went in and realized it's a food court. How do we know which stall selling this squid? Then light bulb moment. I took a picture of that food and showed the cashier that I want this. She was quite amused and told us to go to the specific stall. Success!

We arrived at Jeju International Airport around 4pm and followed the instruction from Yeha Tour, a company I used to rent a car, off we went to the parking lot. I thought it will be easy but when I arrived at the designated parking lot, I saw at least 7 rent-a-car company vans that converted to mini office. I have no idea which one is ours. Suddenly it become like Amazing Race. With luggage in our hand, trying to match the Korean word in the email with every white van. Finally we found our van with a help of another van. Our car rental company showed us the car (we got Hyundai Sonata..yuhuu), trying to explain to us in limited English and lots of acting and sounds (with his friend laughing beside him) and finally off we go. The GPS was included in the rental but it was in Korean. The good news is this is South Korea and their technology is way ahead. By using telephone number of the place that we want to go, the GPS can bring you there. So jot down all the telephone number and just key in into the GPS. He gave us the map of Jeju in Korean but with telephone number. We brought Jeju map in English without telephone number. At the end, the matching game of two maps was our main activity before any trip.

My hotel in Jeju is Little France Hotel which located in Seogwipo and located at the other side of Jeju-do city where the airport is located. It took around an hour from airport to the hotel as we have to cross Mount Hallasan which is located in the middle of the island. The view was so beautiful. We were oohh and ahhh along the way. When there's a scenic view, we would stopped and took some picture. That was the best part of driving your own versus tour group and public transport.

Loveland... Definitely 18sx..

Before we went to the other side of the island aka Seogwipo, we went to the Loveland first as it was located in Jeju-do. It's a park filled with sex theme sculptures  which definitely not suitable for below 18 years old. Haha. Then drive through the so called Mysterious Road which seriously I didn't understand what the fuss is all about. There's a lot of tour bus though so I told my husband to just drove away.

The next day we started early as there's a lot to cover. The size of Jeju Island is about 3 times of Singapore and it has a lot of natural wonders. It has many inactive volcanoes which over the years has created a beautiful landscape. We started with Cheonjeyeon Waterfall. It was in the middle of green lush with 3 waterfalls and Seonimgyo Bridge. The weather was so nice and it was so relaxing to walk around.

Seonimgyo Bridge

Cheonjeyeon Waterfall

Next we drove to Mount Songaksan along the coastal road. The water was so blue and from far you can see the Mount Songaksan rising tall contrasting the bright blue ocean. On the right of the road is Mount Sanbangsan. We thought we can drive up to the top of Mount Songaksan, but actually not. So we decided to save energy and not to hike to the top. 

Lunch was next. According to the map, there's a seafood restaurant nearby. Once arrived, the waitress can't speak a single word of English beside pork and chicken. And there's no menu. Tried to order fish and end up acting the word fish to get the message across. Luckily she understood and brought us the best fish I ever taste. Seriously, it tasted a bit like asam pedas but not the same. She just not brought us the fish, but tofu soup, fish ball and so many other things! Andddd that was the cheapest food we had in this whole South Korea trip. Only Korean Won 10,000. If you compare apple to apple, it's like 10 ringgit. 

Yummy lunch.. the soup hasn't arrived..

Satisfied with delicious and cheap lunch we proceed to our next destination, Jungmun Daepo Columnar Jointed Lava. It was mind blowing! The rocks looked like a rectangular column being stacked together. Masya Allah, it's actually from the lava flowing and after few thousand years, it become like that. The beauty of Allah's creation.

Cantik kan

While trying to find Jungmun Daepo, we drove in front The Seaes Hotel where the filming of Secret Garden was held. I was like some crazy fan pointing to the hotel while unamused driver calmly drove by, until my husband gave me an option to go in and took some pictures. Macam orang mengantuk disorong bantal, mesti la nak kan. Waaaa... such as beautiful hotel. Took some pictures from far (konon tak nak nampak macam groupies sangat).

This is the location of Secret Garden....

Jeongbang Waterfall

Next destination was Jeongbang Waterfall. Ok, there are a lot of waterfall in Jeju. We decided to go to 2 only. This waterfall is quite unique coz it flows to the ocean. Supposedly one of the few waterfall that flows direct to ocean in Asia. Saw people selling and eating so food at the foot of the waterfall, but not sure what's that, so we just ignored.

Second last destination of the day was Jeju Folk Village Museum. We cheated a bit and took a short cut. Apparently this is where drama Jewel in the Palace was shot. I didn't watch it so I was not so crazy about this place. It has the model of the traditional village of Jeju. I just didn't understand why different type of occupation have different type of house. It showed that I don't really like history. Haha.

Jeju Folk Village Museum

The last destination and the one that my husband has kept his energy was Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (Seongsan Sunrise Peak). It was known to have the best view of sunrise in Jeju. Of course if you want to wake up at 4am to catch the sunrise. I didn't climb to the top coz of health reason so husband climbed to the top and took a lot of pictures and video for me. Then the sun started to set behind Mount Hallasan and it was awesome and it is also mean it is getting colder. I was waiting at the foot of the Seongsan freezing cold while waiting for the hubby to get down. Once he got down I rushed to the car. Couldn't stand the cold anymore. We ate dinner around that area before going back to hotel.

That's the peak...

It's actually an inactive volcano. This is the crater that now looks like a field in the middle of it.

The thing about Jeju Island is tat the halal food is hard to find and most of them are located at Jeju-do. But seafood is abundant. So seafood become our main food in Jeju. 

Dinner... More seafood.

The next morning after check out we decided to drive around Jeju-do. GPS brough us different route to Jeju-do, still crossing Mount Hallasan but different view. Still oohhh and aahhh along the way. Jeju Island is definitely beautiful around autumn season. Orange, red, yellow and green seems to blend nicely and created a shady canopy along the road. 

The view along the way

Decided to go to  airport direct as traffic was quite heavy in Jeju-do compared to Seogwipo. End up driving around for LPG station to top up before returning the car. All petrol and LPG station are local company. No Shell in sight! Returned the rental car and flew to Seoul with 12.25 pm flight.

Pheww... I am in the mood of writing, hence the long post =)