Jeju 2.0 Sarah Thursday, June 26, 2014

At the top of Sunrise Peak

This trip has been full of surprises from the start, but I'm glad that as a semi-experienced traveler, I'm not thrown off by last minute changes or letting itinerary swaps rob me of my joy. Take for example our Jeju leg of our Korea trip, our flight with Jeju Air, along with all of the flights to Jeju that day were cancelled due to the weather conditions (strong winds in Jeju). Despite the initial shock and setback, we were able to have the option of receiving a refund or be able to change our flight (allowed only once) to another date and time. Fortunately, our schedule was not set in stone and due to some prior cancellations, we were able to head to Jeju the following week without any extra charges (our flights were sale seats and during the weekdays, so if we had left or came back on a weekend, then additional payments may have been necessary). Overall, another reason I recommend taking Jeju Air as they have efficient customer service and are am able to handle unexpected situations very smoothly.

Such artwork to the eyes-made by the waves crashing onto the sand

So I absolutely love everything about Jeju and would highly recommend you adding this nature-esque or as the Koreans like to dub it, the "honey moon" island on your list of to see, to eat, and to do when paying a visit to Korea. So loved that I would probably make an excuse to come here whenever I do step foot onto this country. It's such a beautiful and extraordinary getaway from the buzzing and tourist hotspots of Seoul. A nice break from the metropolitan, and a fabulous getaway for a weekend or even longer.


As I've been to Jeju before as an exchange student two years ago, I had a better idea of planning the trip this time. I did repeat some places Ive been to before as it was my friends' first time, but I didn't mind as every experience is a new one depending on who you go with and when you go. This time, we stayed with B&B Pan Guesthouse in Jeju-Si, about a 5-10 minute taxi ride from the airport. Its location was in a convenient "downtown" area of Jeju, and the host, Martin was kind and friendly. There was a complimentary decent breakfast provided each morning and best of all, tour options (provided at an extra, but reasonable cost as most travelers tend to hire taxi drivers to drive them around Jeju for a day since attractions are far apart) and itinerary recommendations by the local hostel owner himself!

Caught this on Odo-Island-apparently all the seafood caught is exported to Japan

amazing grandma-age ladies that scuba dives (without oxygen tanks!) for the seafood

We were in Jeju a total of 3 nights and 2 full days, so on our first full day we decided to take a tour to the East side of Jeju. This included the following:

-scenic beach and coastal areas
-Manjanggul Cave*
-lunch break
-O-do Island + speedboat tour
-Sunrise Peak/Seongsanllchulbong Peak*
-Stone Park

* refers to places with an admission cost (make sure to bring ID because if you are 24 or younger, you only  have to pay 1000W as this is considered a Youth rate; regular adult rate is 2000W)

It was a first for me and my friends at O-do Island and it was the highlight of  the whole trip. I highly recommend you to take the motorboat ride/tour here, it's exhilarating and intriguing to be up close and personal to Odo. It also gets your adrenaline rushing and pumped up for such a joy ride! If you're not a boat person, you can rent bikes, scooters, ATVs or even a horse to go around the island to do some sight seeing. Also, do try the locally made peanut ice cream as peanut is grown on this "cow" shaped island (Koreans are quite imaginative with their myths and imagery about this island and jeju in general)-fresh and delish!

on the way to Odo-our yellow was too tacky to not be noticed

On our second day, we decided to head out on our own and took the bus from the Jeju Bus Terminal to Seogwipo, the southern most city on Jeju Island which is about an hour ride away. From there, our itinerary was walkable the whole day and we were able to explore to the following:

-Jeongbang Waterfalls*
-Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls*
-안갈리 밖갈리 traditional 정식 restaurant lunch (side dish meal)
-Saeseom Island & Saeyeong bridge
-Oedolgae (where a scene from the famous Jewel in the Palace Korean drama was filmed)

*required to tay admission rate;  youth rate available as well

To be honest, the waterfalls aren't that great if you've seen the size of waterfalls back in Canada or elsewhere, but it's convenient and cheap enough to worth checking out when you are in Seogwipo. However, Saeseom Island and Oedolgae have become one of my two favorite spots in all of Jeju to just gaze out into the horizon and ponder. Saeseom is a walk away south from Cheonjiyeong waterfalls and there is the bridge that connects you to this little island. Being the rebels that we were, we jumped the fence that fenced off the circumference of the island and daydreamed on the farthest point facing the ocean! The view was jawdrop amazing. You gotta see it to believe it! And don't forget your camera!

At Oedolgae, you can actually spot Saeseom from a distance as we were surprise to find out that it was closer than we thought despite walking our way here from there. If you have time, you can actually walk along the coastal edge of the island and trek farther West. This was the last place on our itinerary so we took longer to just watch the sun pace downwards and the fall of the sky change to a gradually duller hue. It isn't until now that I'm writing that I'd realize this place is actually famous because of a rock (not sure if I even spotted this rock or did, but didn't realize the significance of it!), coined "Oedolgae Rock" that was filmed in a scene for Jewel in the Palace. Despite this, we still had an enjoyable time submersing ourselves into our surroundings.

Oedolgae

All in all Jeju was worth it once again. The changes made to our flight was also advantageous to us as we were able to receive better weather as a result. In God's timing, there is never wrong timing, but we were so thankful for what we were able to accomplish in Jeju!

Lastly, make sure to check out the Black Pork Street (heuk dweji) in Jeju-si,the first restaurant on your left when you pass the main gate/sign is affordable and comes with many side dishes (like steam egg nomnomnom). The first image below is what the store front looks like!

P.S. The renown Jeju orange ice cream sandwich is ridiculously hard to find (made and only sold on Jeju Island). I went back to the same place I got it two years ago and it was gone and I was told they didn't make it anymore, but they had this orange flavour popsicle and squeeze tube version instead. But, thankfully I was able to indulge it in on the last day at a random fruit market in Jeju-si! So don't give up, and if you spot it, you must try it!

Dr. Fish Cafe in Myeongdong Sarah Monday, June 16, 2014

Places in Seoul come and go as quick as the weather changes and sometimes it sucks when you fall in love with a place and am not able to find it again. Coming back this time, there were some memory etched eateries, shops and places I wanted to revisit, yet they have either closed, moved with no new location listed, or just MIA for no reason at all. It's only been two years, but I feel the pace of things in Korea, and for that matter, Asia, is so much quicker than that of North America.

Thus, I really felt a need to make a post about the infamous "Dr.Fish" Cafe in Seoul as it felt like my friends and I took a while before we finally discovered its location after going out of our way to hunt it down specifically. I love reading travel blogs and insights bloggers have to share as I'm one myself, but the only downfall is that blogs are not in real-time, as in it isn't written the day the reader reads it and wants to do or go to what is suggested. Thus, I must put a disclaimer that as of June 2014 this cafe is existing (moved from Gangnam,where it use to be located two years ago). 

Inside of "Dr.Fish" cafe (4th Flr)

So I never got to go to this cafe to get my dead skin on my feet eaten two years ago, but ironically I was able to get it done a few times during my SEA trip. However, my friends had never tried it before so we really wanted to go knowing how diverse and abundant the cafe culture here in Seoul is. Even though we had very precise directions from one blog about its hidden location in Gangnam, we traveled all the way there to only find out it was gone. Thankfully on another day, my Korean friend used Naver (the Korean equivalent to Google) to hunt down its present location and fingers cross, it still exists, but in Myeongdong now.

Directions

In terms of directions, I think the best I can give is to exit out of Eulgiro Ipgu station (green line) exit 5 where you will be coming out of the back end of Myeongdong. Then either ask for directions from people on the street or  figure out how to get directions to go to Hotel Sky Park Central via maps (I'm sure giving this as a landmark will be much more permanent then eateries and shops that close and open so often) which is about a 5-6 minute walk away. From the entrance of the hotel, look across the street and there should be a building with the a green tree symbol on one of the floors (the space/design looks very natural and rustic like). On the main floor where the entrance of the building is, there is a sign with these words "나무그늘" which literally translates to "the shade of a tree" cafe and it resides from the 4th to the 6th floor. Take the elevator up to the fourth floor and voila, you have arrived! The cost is only 3000W for 20 minutes, but you have to also purchase at least one drink on the menu in order to get this service done (4000-7000W). It's not bad at all for a cafe like this and as there was a promotion going on, we even got a free toast with the purchase of two drinks (honey bread mmmm!). 

Find this hotel entrance (the fish cafe is in a building across the street!)

Sign on the main street of the building-walk or take the elevator to the 4th floor

You make your purchase on the 4th flr than proceed to the 5th flr for the Dr. fish experience

The procedure

All in all it was worth the experience and the cafe is very comfortable while the fish tank is sanitized and highly hygienic. Even if you didn't want to try the fish experience, this is a great cafe to just relax and chill at.

If there are any questions, please comment below as I know how frustrating it can be not being able to find something! 

Seoul-full of Activities Sarah Monday, June 09, 2014

I remember mentioning and being in awe of how active this city is with the abundance of public workout machines, healthy middle age people and outdoor activities you can do here. Early mornings, the Hangang River and park areas are already busy with bikers, intense walkers and morning people leisurely strolling around. At my current accommodations, I am fortunate to be about a 15-20 minute to the nearest Hangang hotspot. In spite of all the walking I find myself doing in this country, inclusive of touring attractions, subway transfers (which some can be ridiculously long and complex), and walking up and down hills, I still find joy when I do go cycling, walking and people watching (couples alert!) along the river, and even hiking for seven hours (you can read more about it below!).


Mount. Seoraksan

Entrance of Seoraksan National Park

My two friends and I headed to Seoraksan earlier this week and it reminded me so much of Canada. Seoraksan is located in Sokcho City, which is about a 2.5-3 hours bus from Seoul and since the hike is about 5 hours one way (our goal was the highest peak, Daecheongbong), that meant we had to leave Seoul at 6:30am in the morning to catch the earliest express bus into Sokcho, and from there it's another short local transit to get to Seoraksan National Park. You can find more details here and via other blogs, but it's definitely worth a day, if not an overnight trip. We didn't make it to the top due to timing as we had plan to head back to Seoul the same day, but the surreal view of eroded rocks and mounts, refreshing fresh scent of air, and natural elements combined was worth 3/4 of the way that we did reached.

Tip: make sure to bring lots of sustainable snacks/food as there aren't any food stalls or eateries you can purchase from as you hike up and also go to the washroom when you do sight one as they will be hard to come by when  you do need to go!


World Cup Stadium Park & surroundings

This is a new found favourite area to reflect, people watch, and just sit and adore Seoul at. It was a day on my own where I decided to walk to the World Cup Stadium in Seoul where sport matches and concerts are usually held at (the 2002 FIFA World Cup was held here and there's also an small museum about it as well). I found out later on that it was actually a day before Dream Concert (K-pop obviously) was being held, so it was nice to have some white noise in the background while I was enjoying myself at the World Cup Park across the street, which is made up of a few parks here. This park is super family friendly, has a manmade pond area, fishes to spot, great destinations for walks and picnics, a leash-free dog area (I was so happy dog watching!), AND an overpass that leads to the Hangang River into Nanji Park. It was amazing and beautiful to just soak everything up and even have a spontaneous conversation on a bench with a grandma that sat beside me! I will definitely be returning here for some peace and surprises.

Overpass into Nanji Park

Coex Aquarium


Though this wasn't all too outdoor-sy, it did consist of things from the wild that intrigued me. I must say I never thought of recommending an aquarium in a mall as it sounds like it was made for the very reason of tourists or young children, and secondly because I would've never known about this place if it wasn't for word of mouth mentioning that it was worth a visit, which I can finally agree on now. "Co-Ex"actually stands for COvention centers and EXhibition halls as this area in Gangnam is a growing area for businesses and and international showcases so it only made sense this complex is being populated with more hotels, shops, and restaurants of course. Though, this aquarium is actually quite impressive with over 40000 species and stretches from the main level where you enter to further below. Initially I thought it just consist of little fishes in various tanks, but it does get more exciting the more you explore it. My friend and I were lucky to have received a 30% discount off admission as they had this social media promotion going on via Kakao Story, so be sure to check out the website when you plan to go to to see what kind of discounts they may have!

A mailbox turned fishtank

My favorite! Such an adorable manitee