Korea Winter Discovery --- Day 3

Day 03 - Jeju Island

Temp: 2 - 6c

"Are we late?"

After the late night escapade yesterday, most of us had difficulties climbing out of the comfortable bed in our hotel room. However, we would not want to miss what was arranged in that day. Since it was our last day in Jeju, Sean would need to squeeze whatever that was left in the itinerary for Jeju.

As expected, our group was the last to reach the hotel lobby and board the coach...sianzzzz... and off we went for breakfast. The breakfast was more satisfying than yesterday's Mcdonald's as it was abalone porridge. Though it was relatively bland, the seaweed and other sides made up for the taste. However, the egg was not as appetising as the other dishes. Overall, a good meal for the start of the day.

side dishes

highlight of the meal, Abalone porridge

the elusive abalone

emptied bowls and plates...

After breakfast, we were brought to the Rape Seed Flower Farm, which is one of the few flowers that can survive the extreme weather in winter. Of course, these beautiful flowers provided us with photo taking opportunities that we would not want to miss.

Rape Seed Flower Farm, Jeju

The Palm

group photo no.1, Rape Seed Flower Farm, Jeju

group photo no.2, Rape Seed Flower Farm, Jeju

group photo no.3, Rape Seed Flower Farm, Jeju

After the flower farm, we moved on to Seongsan Sunrise Peak, which is 438 above sea level.

FYI:
Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak rose from under the sea in a volcanic eruption about 100,000 years ago. Located on the eastern end of Jejudo Island, there is a huge crater at the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. The crater is about 600m in diameter and 90m high. With the 99 sharp rocks surrounding the crater, it looks like a gigantic crown. While the southeast and north sides are cliffs, the northwest side is a hill with grass that is connected to the Seongsan Village. The ridge is good for walks and for horse riding as well. The sunrise from the crater is magnificent. Also the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak between the bright yellow colored rapeseed flowers in the spring is a sight that must be seen.

Seongsan Sunrise Peak

group photo, foot of Seongsan, Jeju

Definitely, it was a tedious climb up the volcano, however, nothing is going to stop us from reaching the peak for the breath-taking scenery. So we started the uphill climb...

starting the climb...

Of course, photo were taken during the climb up as everywhere is a nice backdrop for pictures.

capturing slutty moment...

Finally, we reached the peak, crater of the volcano and the view there did not disappoint us... it was magnificent!!!!

crater of the volcano

fantastic view...

Proof of reaching the top....

group photo, summit of Seongsan, Jeju

Into 3rd day of the tour, we were to tour the land as well as explore the sea of Korea, as we set off for the Submarine ride. Davidgan mentioned that the ferry ride to the Submarine will be choppy, for those who have sea-sickness, oh, pop a pill, but anyway, its too late, so just hop onto the ride. Apparently, a old lady didnt hear david's advice but nonetheless, who would want to skip the main highlights of this tour? its like sgd50+ flying off if you dont take a tour underwater.

As the submarine was not docked near the island, we were to board a ferry that brought us to the vessel.

outside the pier

all ready to go...

the ferry

As the wind was very strong, the sea was very choppy, the ferry ride was definitely not suitable for the people with sea-sickness. On the ferry, there is this lady selling grilled cuttlefish and other assorted dried seafood, which is very delicious for a snack on the ferry.

Finally, we arrived at the docking pier for the submarine. Though the submarine appeared to be small, it actually has a huge capacity.

the submarine

group photo, before submarine ride, Jeju

And off we dived into the deep blue sea... in fact we went down to just 30m under the sea. oh, ok, we were expecting it to go like 200m since the submarine had a 3 digit screen showing the depth of our descent.

inside the vessel

At first, not a fish was in sight and it was quite boring... but fishes start to gather round the vessel as though they were trained to do so(or maybe it is due to the fish feed that the diver was carrying)

the diver

fishes

more fishes

ok finally more & more coral reefs

After about 30 minutes, the ride was over and we were brought back to the surface(duh!)...hmm, how short, but nonetheless, it was an experience of a lifetime!

out of the vessel

More photo taking....

group photo, after submarine ride, Jeju

On the journey back to Jeju island, we decided to venture out of the ferry's cabin for photo taking... and definitely, it was very difficult to pose with very very strong cold wind blowing at us( no wonder Sean said that we will remember the wind in Jeju)

scarf-fed . picture of the trip. lesson learnt: never wear too many scarves, it will give a moment of blindness

we got off the ferry and rushed for photo taking at the pier as we were trying not to be the last to board the coach again... lol...

6 plus 2

After the Submarine ride, the adventure continued when we reach the Tangerine Farm.

The Farm is a free for all buffet where we can pluck and eat as many tangerine as we want... but each person was only allowed to bring back three unless you want to purchase a crate to be shipped back to Singapore by yourself. And best of all, if you did not like any, just throw them, fling them on the floor. So its fruit-plucking galore!

By the way, the owner of the farm hangs fake tangerine on the first few rows of trees so as to allow tourist(especially people like us) to take pictures even when it is not the season for tangerine. He even went to the extent of putting up props for photo taking... hmmmm...

not for eating :-(

just a photo

laundry washing...

We learnt how to pick out juicy tangerine, we are suppose to choose tangerines that are hard instead of soft ones as they are supposed to be tastier. I guess we cannot judge a tangerine by its appearance. Indeed, the tangerine we plucked by following this rule are superb, combining with the chill from the cold weather, it was a wonderful and healthy appetizer before our lunch.

fresh from the trees

Mascot of Jeju

The stone statue shown above is suppose to be the guardian of Jeju island, we can see it in many different forms almost everywhere in Jeju. According to our tour guide, Sean, when you touch his ears, you will be blessed with prosperity, his nose, a son and his mouth, a daughter respectively.

more than enough for the next tour group

any fresher, you have to 'pluck' it yourself...

Actually, the farm was quite commercialised, the tangerines were all packed and are ready to be sold to potential customers, and the farm also sell chocolates that the fillings are made from real tangerine extracts. Of course, other flavours like catus flowers, pineapple and tea are also available. The chocolates are packed into four box per pack with assorted flavours or just tangerines. Its KRW10,000 per 4 boxes ~ SGD15-16 for 4.

After visiting the tangerines farm, we proceeded on to our lunch, which is suppose to be one of the special meal in the package,"BBQ Black pork". Eugene has been awaiting for that special black pork moment

wonderful lunch....

BBQ black pork

side dishes

The black pork, as usual in Korea, was marinated till it was red in colour, but it was not spicy. The dishes added delights to the meal, especially the lettuce that was provided to wrap the pork with, provided a refreshing taste to the otherwise rather oily meat. Overall, this special meal satisified our taste buds.

After lunch, as there were snow/ice readily available just outside the restaurant, we decided to seize the chance to have a snow fight, behaving like some kindegarden kids. Well, we went for the trip to have fun anyway so might as well make full use of every available opportunity...lol

Ra on a mission...

slutty sneak attack...

After the short snow fight, we were hurried to the venue for Horse Riding, which is just a big open field. We were handed jackets and cowboy hats for the ride... lol... more 'costumes' for photo taking.

For the riding part, we were guided for the first round. Kelvin's horse decided to stop for a snack along this round, and start nibbling on the bushes near the track, soon, some horse behind also joined in the fun. For the next two round, we were riding without anyone experienced to lead and the horses were galloping like they were at Kranji in Singapore. Well, it was a brand new experience for most of us. It was a ride of a lifetime!

ready... GO!!!!

group photo, after horse riding, Jeju


After the wild ride, we moved on to Cheongjiyeon Waterfall, which the name gave an impression that it will be very grand and majestic, just what we need as a backdrop for more photo. However, it was merely a almost dried up stream, the bridge across it proved to
be a better background than the 'waterfall'.

FYI:Cheonjiyeon, meaning god’s pond, derives its name from the legend that the seven fairies serving the King of Heaven came down to the pond by stairs of cloud and bathed in its clean water. Apart from the wild Dampalsu trees, the wooded area also contains a great variety of rare plants such as brambles, Songyeopnan as well as Gusiljappam trees, Sanyuja trees (Chinese lemon trees), and camellias.

group photo, Cheongjiyeon Waterfall, Jeju

Cheongjiyeon Waterfall

Fountain of Five Blessings

This fountain symbolises the five blessings of longevity(tortoise), wealth(boar), honor(dragon), love(mandarin duck) and sons(carp). Supposely, if you stand in front of the animal of your choice and throws coins into the lucky bag in the center, if it goes into the bag, you will recieve the blessing.

So after some coins tossing(the coins collected were said to be contribution for some charity), we continued on our photo taking journey.

yoga, anyone?

where's 2?

After the locations visited in the morning which required some form of excercise, we were more than willing to visit the Teddy Bear Museum, furthermore, this museum was highly advertised(after Princess Hours) so we were looking forward to the visit.

FYI: The Teddy Bear Museum exhibits everything about Teddy Bears, which have been loved worldwide for 100 years. Inside the two galleries you can meet the teddy bears from various countries.The gallery is segmented into three sections, the History Hall, the Art Hall and the Project Exhibition Hall. At the History Hall, you can see the 100- year history of teddy bears including famous scenes, popular teddy bears of different eras, and antique teddy bears. The Mona Lisa teddy bear and the teddy bears of the “The Last Supper” (Leonardo Da Vinci) will especially catch your eyes. At the Art Hall are the latest artworks of world’s famous designers, and you will also find animation characters beloved by children. And there is a section you must not miss, where you can find the smallest Teddy Bear in the world at the size of 4.5mm.At the museum garden, you can meet the marvelous teddy bear sculptures and models. The garden outside the museum is decorated with various themes such as the Korean Black bear family and the magical pond is also a great site to see.

outside the museum

Though the museum was not as grand as some of us imagined, it was fully filled with bears. Bears from different era, bears impersonating celebrities. Everything were bear-rified(a new term coined by Aaron). At the ground floor, there was a souvenir store that sells all items, consisting of bears(duh!) and bears plushies. Of course, we spent some $$$ there as well as time deciding on which bear to buy(leading us to being the last again).

bear-rified Princess Hours' characters

world's smallest bear

After the museum, we went to the Mysterious Road, where we witness the phenomenon of a vehicle moving up a slope with its engine turned off. Well, the truth behind it, is optical illusion and the road is actually a down slope....zzzz.... and it was quite dark when we reached there so nothing much to spark our interest.....zzzzz...... it had been better if it was done during daytime.

demostration @ Mysterious Road

For dinner, we had another 'special' meal. It was suppose to be a mini Imperial dinner, however, the dishes served failed to impress us. It was delicious(except the rock hard fish that looked and tasted like fishes from SFI cookhouse) but it was just not classy enough for a supposedly Imperial meal.

Mini Imperial dinner

Korean tom yam soup. yes. that fat prawn!

After the meal, we went back to the hotel to deposit our shopping bags, and out we went for out daily night exploration. Of course, exploration = photo & induldgence on supper...

Lobby, Namseoul Plaza Hotel, Jeju

endorsing " the lumen"

spot the mistake...

along Jeju's street

Baskin Robbins, Jeju

Hmmmmm.... Ice cream in winter. Since Baskin Robbins were not available in Singapore, we gave in to temptation despite the weather telling us not to. Baskin offers a wide variety of flavours and all of them look yummy!!!

ice cream in ice cold weather

Typical road side store selling snacks and out of the ordinary foodstuff like larvae.

exotic snacks...

Certainly, an ice cream was not enough for our sweet tooth, so more donuts @ Dunkin(it was just next to Baskins, we made a detour to The Face Shop) before we retired to the hotel.

assortment of donuts...

Trivia: Dunkin and Baskin belong to the same mother company.

a nice warm mocha...

Bye Bye Jeju.... exciting days ahead back in Seoul.... a night filled with anticipation....