2014 Dec 12-19 - Jeju Island (S. Korea) 제주도 / 濟州島 Fly-drive trip

___________________________

12 December 2014

Singapore->Shanghai 上海

___________________________

We arrived at the Terminal 3 of Changi International Airport at about 10am in the morning and took a 5-hr China Eastern flight to Shanghai. This time we just wanted to do a stopover overnight before boarding a flight to Jeju. Hence, we wanted to stay not too far away from the Pudong Airport.

Waiting for free shuttle bus to Southern Airlines Pearl Hotel.

Boarded the free shuttle bus.

Checked into the hotel.

And walked nearby to eat seafood BBQ dinner.

___________________________

13 December 2014

Shanghai 上海 -> Jeju

___________________________

After we arrived at Jeju International Airport, we took a free airport shuttle bus to pick up a rental car at the car rental office (KT Kumho).

And we drove south towards Pyoseon.

Jaeki's husband brought us to this local restaurant, 5 minutes drive away from his BnB guesthouse, Bulteok Guesthouse. This restaurant belonged to his friend.

We had a sumptuous dinner here!

Time to take a stroll outside, and return back to the BnB guesthouse.

The Bulteok Guesthouse also operated a cafe and the girls played with their puppy.

We rested early for the night.

___________________________

14 December 2014

Jeju

___________________________

Rise and shine! We woke up early to explore the surrounding area of the guesthouse.

Time to set off to Osulloc Tea Museum again.

Time to stock up on Innisfree products first.

Then we proceeded with the greentea refreshments and snacks.

It was cold outside.

Rows of tea plantation

Next we proceeded to visit Soingook Theme Park 소인국테마파크

Soingook Theme Park is Jejudo’s major tourist attraction, covering about 20,000 square meters of land, holding various miniature models of famous architecture from all over the world

We decided to have an early buffet lunch at this canteen

Next off to Sanbada ATV Experience Center

Here we get to ride the ATV over sandy and rocky terrains

We needed to get dressed against the sand and for safety

We took some candid shots along the coastline.

Soon it was getting dark as winter has shorter days.

We proceeded to emart Seogwipo 이마트 서귀포점 for dinner and shopping before returning to the guesthouse to rest for the night.

___________________________

15 December 2014

Jeju

___________________________

Olivia and myself got up very early this morning to see the sunrise.

We strolled along the narrow pathway towards the black coast

Beautiful sunrise!

First stop of visit was 正房瀑布 Jeongbang Falls 정방폭포

This time we managed to get really close to the falls

Next off nearby 외돌개 Oedolgae 獨立岩

We visited Cheonjeyeon Falls 천제연폭포 again

We proceeded next to visit the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum 믿거나말거나박물관

Kind of disappointed of the internal exhibits

We drove back to the coastline and visited the Jusangjeollidae 주상절리대

Time for dinner. We got back to the guesthouse in the late afternoon.

There was this outdoor cooking and laundry area

It was very cold out there

Stuff that we bought from emart

We also bought vacuum-packed / cooked Korean rice, just soak them in boiled water

And we finished off everything in the room

___________________________

16 December 2014

Jeju

___________________________

We checked out of the guesthouse in the morning.

As we loaded up the luggage, we watched the beautiful sunrise before we set off.

First destination on the list was ilchul Land / Sunrise Land 일출랜드

Ilchulland is a resting complex especially for families with different themes and convenient facilities. At the center is the Micheon Cave which a thousand beauties lie in. There are other destinations: Jeju Jonggajip (straw-thatched roof house), Riverside Park, Cactus Greenhouse, Subtropical Promenade, Jeju Wild Flowers/ Basalt Bonsai Garden, Sculpture Path, Grass Park, Zoo of Old Memory, Trail, and Craft Art Experience Center.

Next, we proceeded to the Jeju Trick Art Museum.

We were at the resting area / cafeteria. Plenty of candies to choose from.

A reflection of the chair without Olivia

Next up, we went to Seongeup Folk Village 성읍민속마을

Seongeup folk village in Jeju, Korea is a 600-year-old collection of thatched-roof houses surrounded by a wall made from the volcanic island\’s porous basalt rock. Dol hareubang statues depicting stone grandfathers stand guard in the village. Carved from the same black rock, they can be seen all over the island and have become symbols of Jeju province. Black pigs are raised by villagers to keep the island\’s snake population under control, and black pork is also considered a local specialty. It is different from the Jeju Folklore Museum as there are people still staying in this village.

We decided to eat lunch at one of the local eating houses.

After lunch, we drove on the eastern side of Jeju, and we checked in to the house belonging to Joaqium and Anna; a visit to our Jeju friends.

It was in the afternoon, since it was still too early to dinner, we proceeded to visit Seopjikoji again and this time from another entrance.

It was raining and the wind was very strong and cold.

The earlier plan was to drive to Jeju-si to eat.

However, when we were driving up the mountain road, it began to snow heavily, and the car lost traction, there was plenty of sleet. The roads were also fully covered with sleet and snow, we could not see the actual paths and lanes as there was no street lights through the meandering roads. There were a few local cars which crashed into trees or ditched into the side trenches of drainage. For safety purpose, we aborted the plan and came back to the house. Lucky we had those some ready stuff which we could cook for dinner.

___________________________

17 December 2014

Jeju

___________________________

Rise and shine! It snowed throughout the night.

A snowy scene different from the previous day

The girls played with snow in the morning.

We drove to the port to take a ferry to Udo Island.

We stopped the car at the ticket office to buy tickets.

We parked and lined up the car, getting ready to drive up the ferry when it arrived.

We boarded on the ferry by reversing the cars one at a time onto the ferry. It sailed towards Udo.

We made landfall on Udo!

From Udo port, we took a leisure drive along the coastal road circumnavigating Udo Island in a clockwise direction.

As we drove to the eastern side of Udo, we came upon several small eating houses, we decided to stop at one of these and have our lunch.

We ordered fresh clams, grilled fish and fish soup

After lunch, the girls played with the dogs belong to the eating house.

Further travelling down, we came to a lighthouse.

Stone sculpture of a mermaid

Stone sculpture of a Haenyo

Haenyeo (Also spelled haenyo) (Hangul: 해녀; lit. sea women) are female divers in the Korean province of Jeju. Known for their independent spirit, iron will and determination, the haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju

After spending 3 hours on the island, we drove back to the Udo port.

And once again, we reversed our car into the ferry (a similar one as below photograph).

The ferry set sail back to the Jeju port near Seongsan peninsula

Many seagulls nearby

After we landed back in Jeju, we drove back to the house.

It was a sunny afternoon and all the snow had melted.

Pomelos and mandarins were growing healthily in the yard

Joaqium's daughter had just flew back from University in Seoul. And we were invited to join them for a steamboat dinner in their house. I brought over a half-dozen bottles of Soju as well.