Jeju Island 제주

Flew to Jeju Island during one of my longer weekends in school!

Gimpo Airport has numerous flights out of Seoul to Jeju everyday, so there’s no problem booking a seat. Incheon, however, has very little flights in comparison.

Arrived at Jeju after a short 50-minute flight..and the first stop was the Trick Art Museum. Nothing much really, but just a lot of funny visual tricks available for photo ops.

Hahahahahaha! I must say I had quite a bit of fun here.

Then we went on a mission to seek out the 3 major waterfalls on Jeju Island! Well, okay, I kind of forced my friends to go along with me because I’m quite a huge fan of waterfalls.

The first one was Jeongbang Waterfall (正房瀑布). This 23-metre waterfall is widely known as the only waterfall in Asia that flows out directly into the ocean..but this is disputed by many people (even though guidebooks continually state it as a fact).

Jeongbang was my favourite waterfall out of the 3 I saw in Jeju. It’s really pretty and I liked that I managed to get so physically close to it.

Korean ahjumma (auntie) selling 1,000 KRW ice-cream. I ate like a hundred of these ice-creams in South Korea hahahahaha. It’s the ice-watery kind, not the milky kind, so I really loved it.

Second waterfall we saw was Cheonjiyeon Waterfall (天地淵瀑布). Bah, flooded with tourists.

The last waterfall was Cheonjeyeon Waterfall (天帝淵瀑布). This is the widest waterfall of all 3, and actually looks the most magnificent due to its width and lush surroundings.

Had enough of hiking and went to Jeju Island’s very own Teddy Bear Museum.

This is the first Teddy Bear Museum in South Korea, and the one at Namsan Seoul Tower is actually the second branch. I was pretty annoyed because all the exhibits here are enclosed in glass boxes, so I couldn’t take any nice photographs at all.

The teddy bears here portray famous public figures and artworks..quite cute, but I preferred the historical perspective taken by the Namsan’s branch.

This Jeju branch is also very popular with Korean drama fans, because it played a big role in the wildly successful idol drama ‘Goong’.

Omo. THE BEATLES! My favourite exhibit!

There’s a section on saving wildlife..I thought this was the most creative section of the entire museum. Serious environmental lessons injected with a dash of wit and humour.

This Korean girl wanted to break into the phone booth and talk to the bear. I looked at her struggle for a full 10 minutes.  Lmao.

After Teddy Bear Museum, I VISITED MY IDEA OF A PARADISE OH MY GOD.

SOUTH KOREA’S MOST FAMOUS GREEN TEA FARM – O’SULLOC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE GREEN TEA SO MUCH, I CAN’T EVEN EXPRESS IT FULLY IN WORDS OMG OMG OMG. OMO!!!

ROWS AND ROWS OF GREEN TEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AM I IN HEAVEN!!?!@?!@?!

Okay I need to stop using caps lock.

I can just stay here and smell the leaves forever.

O’Sulloc even has a Green Tea Museum…*dizzy with happiness*

All kinds of green-tea related products can be found here..from skincare to food and to tea powder…and the prices are not cheap.

OH MY GOD. FOOD MADE OUT OF GREEN TEA. ALL OF THEM.

THIS IS THE FREAKING BEST GREEN TEA ICE-CREAM I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE.

IT IS FREAKING YUMMY!!! The green tea taste EXPLODES in your mouth!!!!

I had two of this..and if it was cheaper, I think I would’ve eaten 10.

After the paradise tour, we hopped over to Jeju’s Miniature World.

Mad boring and pointless. Don’t visit..unless you have nothing to do.

Visited Lotte Hotel on the second day of our trip. Lotte Hotel, like all things related to ‘Lotte’, is the grandest hotel on Jeju Island.

Yeah, let’s do the same pose!

I loitered around the Lotte Casino while my friends went in to exchange currency…and then I got bored.

So I went to a random jackpot machine and put in 500 KRW.

Pulled the lever, expecting nothing in return..and…

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOL   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!! INSTANT JACKPOT   !!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOL   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KA-CHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CRAZY LUCKY!!! HAHAHA!!

I HAS GOOD KARMA.

Well, I had a rather handsome payout. Yay.

Had lunch at Lotte Hotel’s really fancy Mu Gung Hwa restaurant.

Unless you have a lot of cash to spare, I suggest that you don’t spend or buy ANYTHING AT ALL in Lotte Hotel. Because it’s really TOO expensive.

Jeju is very famous for their black pork, so try it if you are a meat lover. I didn’t like it. And even though the fatty parts were supposed to be expensive, I didn’t touch them at all.

Koreans normally wrap meat and side dishes up in vegetable leafs, and then fold them into something like popiah or tacos before eating.

Kimichi balls (o_O) mega love kimchi!

After lunch, we continue our road trip to Mi Cheon Cave, a very famous volcano lava tube!

Enormous windmills!

I have never been inside a volcano lava tube before, so visiting Mi Cheon was the highlight of my trip.

Such an eye-opener!

The moment I entered the lava tube, a blast of cold wind hit my face.

It was freezing inside the tube, maybe around temperatures of 12 to 14-degree Celsius. Keep in mind that the external environment was extremely hot as it was during summer! It was really quite a wondrous experience. The entire place was dripping wet too.

Trivial science lesson: The lava tube is so cold because lava is a terrific insulator. Also, cold air falls while hot air rises, so all the cold air is trapped inside the underground cave by the lava!

The red part of the lava formation looked like melted chocolate in real life.

I stayed behind to take photos while my friends walked away.

It was a lot darker in real life and I kind of freaked myself out, as the cave was very silent and you could hear echoes of water dripping. Brr. I’m a wuss.

This is the famous ‘grandfather’ (dol hareubang 돌 하르방) of Jeju Island. You can see statues of him everywhere. These statues are supposed to be gods protecting the island and offering fertility to the island’s dwellers.

Walked around Jeju on our last night and we found KYOCHON CHICKEN!!! LUCKY!!

KyoChon chicken is possibly the most famous fried chicken chain-store in South Korea, and is endorsed by big names such as Super Junior. We were dying to eat KyoChon to see what the fuss is all about.

Super Junior welcomes you in with their pretty boy looks. Lol at Korea and their celebrity obsession.

The white bottle is Makgeolli, a very famous type of rice wine in South Korea. It used to be a favourite of farmers, but is now immensely popular among the younger generations.

And when in South Korea, you will most likely see two brands of beer being sold – Hite or Cass.

Cass is apparently the best beer in South Korea, so go for that, although I can’t really taste the difference between the two.

And KyoChon chicken..is the best fried chicken I have ever eaten. IS SUPER YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY! No wonder it’s such a hit in South Korea!

My traumatised friend. She wasn’t drunk..she was just annoyed that I kept playing with a stray kitten in the area. She’s super scared of animals hahahahahaha.

Meow.

Anyway, I feel that Jeju Island is overly-glamourised by the media, especially by Korean idol dramas. So don’t expect too much if you visit the place.

Advertisement