Asia
SARANGHAEYO PART 2: JEJU
January 23, 2016The flight from Seoul to Jeju took about an hour. We booked 2 different lodgings here; a 2 bedrooms apartment at Happy House Pension for the first night (to cover the southern part of the island), and EJ Hotel for the second night, which is situated in the city (northern part of the island). We took the Airport Limousine Bus (#600) from the airport to Seogwipo and got off at Jungmun Tourist Complex. From there, we made a call to the owner of Happy House Pension, who then came to pick us up.
Only about a 5 minutes' drive away, the apartment had a good size living room, a fully equipped kitchen, free WiFi, a balcony that overlooks the surrounding greenery and on top of that, breakfast was included - simple sandwich and toast with jam, coffee and milk. The owner was very friendly and after knowing we were interested to try some black pork (one of Jeju's famous food), he took us to a nearby small dining place. He explained that there are some restaurants out there that claimed they serve the authentic black pork when they were not. I have no idea what was the name of the place. It didn't really look like a restaurant to me, more like a small canteen for some nearby workers with only 4 to 5 tables. The owner showed us the menu and did the ordering for us as the staffs there spoke very little English. We ordered the BBQ black pork and ginseng chicken soup. Before leaving, the owner told us to give him a call when we are done so he could come get us as this place was quite out of the way and it would be hard for us to get a cab.
This was GOOD! Tender, juicy and had quite a distinct unique taste even without marination, unlike regular pork which is somewhat chewier |
This wasn't as good as the one we had in Tosokchon. |
The museum has five categories of art : trick art, digital art, object art, sculpture, and Provence art. This is one place that is definitely worth visiting. Be prepared to spend at least 2.5 - 3 hours here. Lots of interesting 3D arts, we had a lot of fun laughing at each other's 'impressive' poses and took silly pictures. We were so engrossed that we lost track of the time until they announced they were closing soon!
Some interesting paintings. |
Some interesting paintings. |
The and wings |
The last section, Provence art - a pastel-colored fairy tale village in which large bear dolls don various period costumes. |
I would recommended to visit during the day as there is an outdoor area. It was already dark and they were closing, so we didn't get to take photo there. From here, we took a walk to the main road, dropped by a convenience store to get some food stuff before grabbing a taxi back to the apartment.
We booked for a 9-hour private tour the next day. The tour guide cum driver picked us up at 8 a.m. Our first stop was Jeongbang Waterfall, one of the famous waterfalls here in Jeju. Situated very close to the sea, some say it is the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean.
Though some may argue that its water falls into a sheltered cove rather than straight into the ocean. |
The houses |
The iconic Dol hareubangs. They are considered to be gods offering both protection and fertility, placed outside of gates for protection against demons. |
The legendary black-haired pigs - an especially well-known characteristics of Jeju folk culture. Black pork yumzzz!! |
The trail all the way up to the lighthouse. |
Breathtaking view of the sea. |
Stroll leisurely and enjoy the view. |
Going up the metal steps of the lighthouse, you can view the whole seashore at a glance.
The chapel in the drama 'All in'. Sadly, this has been closed down and replaced by a candy house. |
View of Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (our next destination) from far. |
Abalone porridge |
Raw sea cucumber |
Raw shellfish |
Fried baby crabs |
Halfway through. |
The iconic Deong Gyeong Dol, or Lamp Rock. |
Beautiful landscapes on the way. |
The volcanic crater of Seongsan Ilchulbong - formed by hydrovolcanic eruption about 5,000 years ago. |
Because of the remarkable scenery, this place truly deserves this title. |
Picture taken from Wikipedia. Magnificent, isn't it? |
The beach where female divers (haenyeo) hold performances for the public. |
Its length ranks amongst the top 10 in the world. |
Inside Manjanggul Cave. |
One can see the signs of how the lava once flowed inside. |
Mind your steps as the cave is long, dark and slippery. |
Manjanggul Cave's lava column. |
On the way back, Mr. Tour Guide made a detour to the Mysterious Road (Dokkaebi Road) as a bonus :D He said it will just take a few minutes to experience it, so why not? This road has earned its name as objects and liquid appear to roll and flow up the hill instead of down. Stop the vehicle on the starting line, put it in neutral, take the foot off the brake and rather than moving backwards, we moved forward. While this was a pretty cool experience, there is an explanation for it. We were actually rolling down hill. Because the landscape was skewed, it created an optical illusion and gave the illusion that one is traveling up hill. Though not a mystery anymore as it has been clarified as an optical illusion, the Koreans have done a great job marketing this Mysterious Road into a tourist spot.
We were famished when we reached EJ Hotel. After checking in and dropping our luggages, we took a cab to Heukdonga Jeju for more black pork!!! This is DEFINITELY THE PLACE (with shouty capitals!) to go for black pork in Jeju!
Look for the logo with a pig snout :D |
Absolutely gorgeous! Check out the marbling! |
Amazingly, there is no oily feeling like that of normal pork |
The meat was fresh and was grilled on coal so the flavor was great |
The generous portions of sides complemented the meat beautifully. |
The next morning, we wandered around the area near our hotel, in search for breakfast. As it was pretty early then, most of the shops were still closed. Finally we found a place that was opened and walked in. Apparently, South Koreans don't do breakfast; a traditional Korean breakfast is like any other meal during the day! Haha. We looked around and saw another table eating Tteokbokki, some soup and Kimbap, so we ordered the same. Kimbap literally means seaweed and rice and it is the twin brother of sushi roll, except that none of the ingredients are raw fish. It is made from steamed white rice and various other ingredients (egg, pickled radish, cooked spinach, processed fish cake etc.), all rolled in seaweed and served in bite-size slices. It is then served with some kimchi and a few crisp slices of yellow pickled radish. So I guess as long as you can buy it in the morning - be it beef stew, rice cakes, blood sausage or noodle soup, in Korea, you can call it breakfast. Lol.
Time to head back to Seoul! Oh ya, here's something interesting. The taxi driver that sent us to Jeju Airport was quite chatty. Of course we were more than happy to engage in a conversation with him, EXCEPT that he couldn't speak English and we couldn't speak Korean. Hah! So, it was like chicken and duck talk. Since he still continued talking after knowing the fact that we didn't understand, my hubby turned on one of those 'Learn Korean' apps and we tried communicating with him with the help of the app. Mannn, he was fascinated by it! When we reached the airport, he even gave us a discount on the fare. Thanks to the app!! Haha!
Time to head back to Seoul! Oh ya, here's something interesting. The taxi driver that sent us to Jeju Airport was quite chatty. Of course we were more than happy to engage in a conversation with him, EXCEPT that he couldn't speak English and we couldn't speak Korean. Hah! So, it was like chicken and duck talk. Since he still continued talking after knowing the fact that we didn't understand, my hubby turned on one of those 'Learn Korean' apps and we tried communicating with him with the help of the app. Mannn, he was fascinated by it! When we reached the airport, he even gave us a discount on the fare. Thanks to the app!! Haha!
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