Korea Trip September 2018 (Jeju Island)

Posted on Oct 25th, 2018

by mini

Categories:

Travel

JEJU (4 Days 3 Nights)

TRANSPORT

Took Korean Air midnight flight from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Incheon (ICN). Service on board is good. We were given blanket, and mini pouch with disposable tooth brush, tooth paste, and slippers. And headsets too.

We were given 3 choices for breakfast. Eggs, noodles, or porridge. Among my friends, we tried all. Porridge (instant type) is the best of the worst. I couldn’t finish the small egg portion. Wouldn’t order that the next time.

*Landed in Incheon but luggage dented. Protect against scratch but this dent cant avoid. No eyes see.*

From Incheon International Airport, we took train to Gimpo Airport for our next flight on T’way Airline to Jeju.

*Our rental car. Kia Carnival. Parked outside our airbnb garden.*

Prior to this trip, we booked a rental car to travel around Jeju island. A six seater Kia Carnival. It comfortably fit 6 adults and 6 large luggages. Equipped with Korean GPS. Those can understand Korean language, congratulations. You can use that with ease. The GPS can only give directions in English. Looking up for the destination and all buttons on that machine are in Korean. The car rental agency showed us which button to press and instead of typing the destination name in Korean, you can key in contact number. It works the same. Just memorise the steps, and have contact numbers ready. This car have sunroof too. Breathe in clean Jeju air while you are at it.

Click for more information on Car Rental Agency: AJ Rent-a-Car

ACCOMODATION

*Living, Dining, Kitchen. Door right in the centre is the bathroom.*

This is where we stay in Jeju. Located at Seogwipo, south of Jeju island. The house is very clean and homey. All beds are on level 2. Stairs to bedroom are very steep.

The host Mr.Kim is very helpful. He gave us idea on where to go for food, places to visits etc. Advised us when he see the weather changes and some activities are not suitable for that weather. Let us know of the traffic conditions around the island. He have two friendly golden retriever too. Always there to greet us and wagging tails.

*Breakfast by our airbnb host. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

We were surprised the airbnb comes with breakfast every morning. Vegetables toast with freshly squeezed orange juice. Quite yummy. We opted out breakfast on days we need to leave for early activities.

*Another day breakfast by Mrs.Kim. Toast with tuna mayonaise, tomato and cheese. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

Click to find out more on Siru’s Pension.

FOOD

JEJU 5 DAYS TRADITIONAL MARKET

*Assorted Banchan. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

So many varieties of side dishes for sale. They have free samples too. Try some then buy those that suits your palate.

*Sikhye (Sweet Rice Drink) and Silkworm (in the green basket).*

Sikhye is a common beverage consumed by locals. Believed to help those with digestion problems. It has a strong flavor that I can’t describe. Something that I’ll give a pass next time. The same stall offers silkworm snack too. Eeek! If you are feeling adventurous, try some!

There were few stalls in the market offers street style food. We had variety of Twigim(Deep-fried items), hotteok, and tteokbokki. No pictures here because we were too hungry from all the flights and car rides.

Address: 1204-1 Doduil-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea

상희네 SANGHUI’S BLACK PORK CHARCOAL GRILL

This is a must try in Jeju. It is a special breed of pig. They are smaller in size, black in colour. We had this on our first dinner in Jeju.

*Meat from black pig. Grilled along with onions, mushrooms and pumpkin slices.*

*Banchans that came along with the meat orders. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*Perfectly grilled pork ready for the stomach. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

Overall black pork has a deeper pork flavour. We ordered a portion of normal pork too. Taste them side by side, you will notice the difference. Else the difference is not that distinctive. The owner of this restaurant however is very much a bigot.

Address:
상희네 SANGHUI’S BLACK PORK CHARCOAL GRILL
278 Chilsimni-ro Seogwipo-si Jeju-do
Phone: 064-762 9888

오설록 OSULLOC TEA HOUSE

In this tea house the have a small pathway of tea museum explaining tea from the past and a wall exhibiting pretty tea pots and cups. In the cafe itself, employees were roasting tea leafs. As we enter, the smell of roasted tea leaves is very inviting and pleasant. We were in green tea heaven. They sell all their green tea products and merchandise here too.

*Green Tea Roll with mascarpone cream cheese. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

This swiss roll is a must try! The sponge cake is soft and fragrant from green tea and paired so well with the mascarpone cheese cream filling. Next time I’m there, I will get the whole roll. Says the person who rarely eat desserts. This swiss roll is not overly sweet. SOOOOO GOOD!!

*Green tea ice cream. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

Tried the best seller sejak green tea. They are nice as well. Deeper green tea flavour than the normal green tea.

*Sejak Green Tea. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

Address:
오설록 티뮤지엄 OSULLOC TEA MUSEUM
15 Sinhwayeoksa-ro Andeok-myeon Seogwipo-si Jeju-do
Phone: 064-794 5312

사계바다 SAGYE SEA

Restaurant is right infront of the sea. Nice view while we have our lunch. The smell of sea and sound of wave is so relaxing.

*Sliced Raw Fish and chobap(sushi). Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

I have no idea what kind of fish is this but they are fresh. Not a tinge of bad fishy smell.

*Abalone noodle soup. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

This is a clear soup base. This order came with fresh knife cut noodles. Add noodles to cook as you eat.

*Seafood Noodles. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

This set came together with the sliced raw fish and chobap above. This is a mild spicy soup base and they came with instant ramen. The fresh abalone and octopus was so nice! Yum!

Address:
사계바다 SAGYE SEA
26 Hyeongjehaean-ro Andeok-myeon Seogwipo-si Jeju-do
Phone: 064-794 5501

서귀포올레시장 SEOGWIPO OLLE MARKET

*Mini puffs filled with orange jams. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

These mini puffs are not bad. Similar to Kaya balls we find in Malaysia except these are filled with orange jams. If not mistaken they are a kind of mandarin orange jams. Citrus-y and more like desserts compared

*Garlic fried chicken. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

There were a few stalls selling this garlic fried chicken. As we were walking around in the market, lots of people were carrying buckets of fried chicken around. So we went on a hunting mission to track the famous stall. Unfortunately, by time we found the store, they were already packing and cleaning the store. We settled for a nearby stall selling same items. It wasn’t as good as what we imagined. Maybe because it is a take-away order and by time we eat back in the airbnb, chicken already soggy. Soggy fried chicken is a no-no.

Address:
서귀포올레시장 SEOGWIPO OLLE MARKET
18 Jungang-ro 62beon-gil Seogwipo-si Jeju-do
Phone: 064-762 1949

명진전복 MYEONGJIN ABALONE

Best dish of the meal. So simple yet so good.

*Abalone Hot Stone Rice. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

The hot stone rice is least of my favorite. I love my rice on the softer side. This one came too hard and dry for my liking.

*Abalone Seaweed Porridge. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

The look of this porridge is not that much. But they are better than the hot stone rice. Better than the abalone porridge we have in Seoul. They have more seaweed in this bowl which make the porridge so tasty with all the umami-ness.

Grilled mackerel came as a free dish with our orders. Additional servings of this fish is at 5000won per serving. Perfectly grilled and well seasoned. Nice nice nice.

*Abalone sashimi. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

Abalone sashimi is very fresh. My friends love it for the chewy/crunchy bites in abalone sashimi. As for me, grilled/cooked version is better.

Address:
명진전복 MYEONGJIN ABALONE
1282 Haemajihaean-ro Gujwa-eup Jeju-si Jeju-do
Phone: 064-782 9944

모래비 MORAEBI CAFE

There are a number of different cafes on this street. Most of them offer alfresco seats with beach front views. This is the one I went because it is the nearest to where we parked and the blue theme caught our attention.

Thankfully, it didnt disappoint. The hallabong ice cream was good! If I’m not mistaken the ice cream here are all homemade. They offer a range of bakery items too which looks yummy but I was too full for those.

Address:
모래비 MORAEBI CAFE
462 Haemajihaean-ro Gujwa-eup Jeju-si Jeju-do
Phone: 064-782 2306

PLACES TO VISIT

MOUNT HALLA (HALLASAN)

When we were at the trail entrance to summit of Hallasan, we noticed that the trail would be a 5.8 km hike (5 hours to complete). We changed our mind and turned to another trail nearby. This one doesn’t go up to Hallasan, but can see some view of it. Just 30 mins slow hike.

*View of Hallasan from this shorter trail peak.*

*That little dome is the peak of Hallasan, the tallest in South Korea.*

용머리해안 YONGMEORI BEACH

*Some ship to view but it was not open. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*View from the ship area. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

Visitors can walk down to the beach area but will have to pay an entrance fee of 2000won.

천제연 폭포 CHEONJEYEON WATERFALL

*First stop: clear blue pond with mirrored stones. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*Second stop: Waterfall. Image Credit: JazsLow.*

*Third stop: Seonimgyo Bridge, the seven nymphs bridge. Image Credit: JazsLow.*

Entrance Fee: 2500won/adult
Address:
132, Cheonjeyeon-ro, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do.

주상절리대(대포동지삿개) DAEPO JUSANGJEOLLI CLIFF

These rocks/cliff formation were result of the lava.

Entrance Fee: 2000won/adult
Address:
36-30, Ieodo-ro, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

제주민속촌 JEJU FOLK VILLAGE

*A very basic structured water transport. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*Walkway leading to more sample living quarters. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*The wooden poles acts as gates to block animals going into the house. Owners aligned into the holes in the stones to create barricade.*

*This is a poor man’s house. That wood pole supports the roof structure. There is only one room for all cooking, sleeping and storing. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*A pigsty and that’s black pig famous in Jeju.*

*Table setting for middle society.The house has wooden floors.*

*Middle society houses have separated rooms for sleeping,living and cooking.*

The court house where the government official will interrogate suspects. The suspect will sit on the chair in the middle and get tortured. Or suspect lie down on the wooden planks to get beaten in the ass just like those seen in k-drama. Image Credit: Jazs Low.

Overall, this place is an eye-opener to how Koreans live in the past. There are different levels of society statuses and are all displayed in this made-up village. We came across a tour group who had only 30 mins to walk through everything. We spent about 2 hours to see everything. Reckon this is a good spot for family with kids to visit. Information boards explaining each locations are all in Korean language. Rental for audio translation assist is available at the entrance at 2000won.

Entrance Fee: 11000won/adult, 9000won/senior citizen, 8000won/teenage, 7000won/child
Address:
631-34, Minsokhaean-ro, Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

성산일출봉 SEONGSAN ILCHULBONG

*Proper pathway up the mountain. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*There is a tuff cone at the peak formed by hydrovolcanic eruptions 5000 years ago. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*Walkway down to female divers performance near the hut. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

I did not make it to the top because my toes blistered. My friends did and it didnt take them long to make walk up. Probably 40 mins round trip.

*Female divers (해녀 Haenyeo) performance. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

*Getting ready to dive. These ajummas/halmeoni dive without any oxigen tanks. Image Credit: Jazs Low.*

There are 2 sessions of performance by 해녀 Haenyeo (female divers) daily. Basically showing how their job is like. Most of the haenyeos are already aged over 50s. They dive in search for seafood like abalones, octopus, sea urchin etc. and sell them.

Entrance Fee: 2000won/adult, 1000won/teenage, 1000won/child
Address:
284-12, Ilchul-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

That is all for Jeju Island. 4 days 3 nights here is not enough to explore the whole island. Only explored half of it. But most of the must see and must eat, we had it. Feeling satisfied for all the experience in Jeju Island.

Next is Seoul! That will be in another post.