Six Hundred & Thirty One; Jeju Island, the wonder of nature.

Jeju Island, the wonder of nature.

This post has been in my draft since last week,

& I was hesitating whether to post it due to the recent Sewol ferry incident in South Korea..

I decided to post this blog post eventually.

My deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims and the loved ones,

& I sincerely hope that the survivors and the loved ones of the victims 

will have the strength to tide through this difficult period..

I saw the story of this brave young lady,

who saved the lives of many on board of the ferry.

A salute to her for such an act of bravery and great sacrifice ..

She was a true angel and heroine.

May she rest in peace..

When a misfortune like this happen,

we are often reminded of many things..

The vulnerability and unpredictability of Life,

the things and people we take for granted,

the heroes we meet in our lives, etc..

I guess it's really about how we truly remember the things we learn 

from such painful events,

and continue to apply them in our daily lives..

Okay, heavy thoughts aside, 

now, do allow me to share more about this Jeju experience.

Jeju Day 1

I don't know if I have mentioned before,

but the three of us experienced quite a number of dramas for this Korea trip.

Losing our wifi device right before we board the train to Jeju,

was one of the dramas.

We dropped it in the the cab unknowingly.........

Lesson 1 of the day: Be careful of your belongings.......
(no matter how cliche it sounds)

Having to pay compensation was one thing,

but what made us more miserable, was the thought of having 

unstable internet connection for the next two days......

hahahah.

Eventually, Melvin purchased (we split the cost though!) the overseas internet usage from his carrier,

and we connected to his connection via hotspot.

The connection was SO terrible.

So yup, if you are like us

i.e cannot live without the phone,

I would suggest that you rent a wifi device. :)

(As for Seoul, there are a lot of WIFI spots around,
but I still think a wifi device is better.......)

So... we took the plane from Gimpo Airport to Jeju Island,
which took about 1 hour,
to embark on our 2D1N Jeju journey.

.

We took the earliest plane flight.

Our first meal in Jeju, at the airport.

So this is when our second drama of the day occurred.
As mentioned, we did not plan our itinerary for this trip..
We were still deciding between renting a car or hiring a driver;
and eventually, we decided to rent a car.
However, we did not book the car in advance,
because we thought that we could do so when we reach there.
Apparently........ not.
At the counters, we were told that there were no more cars available for rental.
(Which I honestly do not believe...... but oh well, what to do?!)

Lesson 2 of the day: Book your car in advance if you intend to rent a car.

(Note: You need to have your international driving license!
Check the rental requirements from the car rental company beforehand)
You may check out this website for more into :)

We felt so lost at that moment..
Thankfully, one of the ladies at the information counter
came to our rescue when we approached her!
(The ladies at the car rental counters were honestly not helpful at all.
They seemed impatient in answering our queries,
like they just can't be bothered with talking to tourists, somehow.
I'm being honest.
Maybe it was just that batch of ladies on duty that day,
giving some benefit of doubt that not all of them are like that.)
Eventually, with the help of the lady,
we managed to book a taxi driver for 8 hours a day,
for both days.
(KRW 150,000 for 8 hours)
PHEW~~~ transport settled!

The driver came to pick us up within 15 minutes.
Headed to our hotel to drop our stuff,
& off we went for our Jeju Day 1 Adventure!

We got really excited when we first saw these along the road,

& we requested the driver to stop for a while so that we could snap some photos.

hahahah. Typical tourists.

(& then eventually we realized that they were EVERYWHERE!)

Did my first outfit shoot, for Hollyhoque here.

More photos here

First destination: Cheonjeyeon Falls

Yup, & even more cherry blossoms :)

Lesson 3 of the day: Cheonjeyeon VS Cheonjiyeon 
These are two different popular attractions,
which are often confused for one another.
Both are situated at Seogwipo, just a few kilometres apart.

Cheonjeyeon Waterfall

Cheonjeyeon Waterfall is a three-tier waterfall. In first cascade, the cliff is 22m high, 

and the water falls into Cheonjeyeon pond which is 21m deep.

From there, the water goes to the second waterfall 

and falls 30m and continues to the third waterfall.

Eventually, the water reaches the ocean.

Cheonjeyeon means 'Pond of the Emperor of Heaven'.

The very first fall that we saw.

I love the sound of the waterfalls and river flowing.
I love the ambience and that peaceful feeling.
(Despite the noise that came from some tourists who were shouting to one another.)

Water from the first tier flowing to the second tier

The second tier

What a beautiful sight!!

Unfortunately, due to time constraints,

we missed out on the third tier.. :(

Apparently, we missed out on Seonimgyo Bridge too.

Cheonjeyeon Falls

Address: Seogwipo-si Saekdal-dong 3381-1 

제주특별자치도 서귀포시

색달로189번길 27 (색달동)

We grabbed some fruit juices before we moved on to the next location

Next stop: Jungman Beach

Jungman Beach is one of the most well-known on Jeju Island,
and is popular with surfers because of its huge waves.

I only took two photos of the beach because..

I was freezing in a romper (plus a grey cardigan) for the second shoot.

hahahah. I forgot the temperature that day,

but I think it was around 10-12 deg Celsius + strong wind.

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

The "huh-you-called-me?" aka surprised look,
as suggested by Mel. hahahah

My special friend, Melissa, and I self-entertained ourselves (see video), as usual.
We had so much fun while trembling in the cold!

Jungman Beach

3039, Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

제주특별자치도 서귀포시 산록남로

Our third location.. was this random canola field which we spotted along our journey.

Imagine our excitement when we saw this canola field!!!!!!

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Next location was at another huge field area..

This was when the third drama of the day occurred:

Our cab got stuck in the mud.

Our driver attempted to drive passed a muddy area,

and the wheels got stuck in the mud instead......

Eventually, he called for a tow service to help to get the car out of the mud :O

& so, while waiting for the tow service to arrive,

we did our outfit shoots.

This location was CRAZILY COLD.

Imagine an open field with extremely strong and howling wind throughout......

Nevertheless, I managed to self-entertain,

and kind of succeeded in my mission to create the happy photos for this set .

hahahah!

By the way, these limited edition rompers are from DIDD :)

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

We can never have enough of nature.

I think an ideal holiday for me,

is when I get to be close to nature.
Truly living in the moment and breathing in the fresh air~~

Beautiful is an understatement to describe Jeju.
It's no wonder Jeju is one of the world's new 7 Wonders of Nature!

Dinner was at a Black Pork BBQ restaurant

(we were too famished and didn't take note of the name....)

Black pork is probably Jeju's most famous food,
so it's a must-try!
The meat were soooooooooooo tender and tasty.
And the best thing?
We didn't have to BBQ the food ourselves,
because one of the ladies came to cook everything for us.
All that we had to do, was to indulge in the yummy delicacies.
I don't know if it was because the shop was quite empty at the time when we visited..
Psst.. the crabs that you see as one of the side dishes?
It is actually raw crabs marinated in soy sauce,
aka Gejang.
Hmm.. I tried and I really couldn't get used to the taste.
(tried BBQ-ing it to cook it hahahah but still, I didn't like it.)

We were back in our hotel at around 6+pm,

and ended our night early because Melissa and I only had 1 hour of sleep the night before!

(& that was when Melvin took a 20minutes walk out alone to the convenience store,

to buy back supper for himself,

and bento sets as breakfast for us the next morning.

AWWWW SO SWEET HOR.

By the way, he is single and available.

hahahah!)

Day 2

We told the driver to pick us up at 11am,

so that we could reach the airport by 7pm for our flight.

(booked him for 8 hours again)

First stop: Jungman Daepo Coast Jusangjeolli Cliff

The Jusangjeolli are stone pillars piled up along the coast 

and is a designated cultural monument of Jejudo Island. 

The Jusangjeolli was formed when the lava from Mt.Hallasan 

erupted into the sea of Jungmun. 

They are rock pillars shaped like cubes or hexagons of various sizes 

and almost seem as if stonemasons had carved them out. 

The administration of the district named them 'Jisatgae Rocks' 

from their old name 'Jisatgae'. 

Its 20 m cliff makes it a popular spot for high tide, sea angling. 

The waves of the high tides crashing into the side of the cliff 

provide a breathtaking view of the ocean surrounding the pillars.

Source

Jusangjeolli Cliff

2663, Jungmun-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do 

제주 서귀포시 중문동 2663

Passed by this place, 

where we saw a female diver, 

who looked at least 60 years old.

After some research, I found out that they are actually called Haenyo

aka Korean Mermaids.

Lesson 4 of the day:  Haenyo aka Korean Mermaids

Often referred to as Korean Mermaids, 

haenyo (women divers on Jeju and Udo Islands) 

can dive up to 20 meters, holding their breath for several minutes 

as they harvest the sea bed for abalone, sea urchin, octopus and seaweed. 

Yet such work in a prevailing Confucian society didn’t sustain itself without considerable costs. 

The haenyo of Jeju and Udo Island have fought for years protecting their rights against men, governments and even armies in order to make a living from the sea. 

Source

We almost wanted to request to take a photo with the Haenyo, 

but decided not to interrupt her.

Grabbed two photos from here:

Source

Source

We captured a photo of her trolley (with her catches of the day) though:

Took the chance to snap some photos of ourselves of course.

Thank you Melvin! :D

So many happy photos of us from this trip,

and so many precious memories shared :)

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Next, we passed by this place and I just found out

(after googling for an hour. gosh!

I basically searched for all the lighthouses in Jeju,

just to find out the exact name of this place.

Should have asked the driver about the name!!!)

 it was Namwon Port,

one of the common stops for people who hike in Jeju.

Obviously not a tourist attraction, just a quiet and peaceful area,
with a black sand beach.

'

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Here's an Instavideo of the Jusangjeolli + Namsan Port

The last stop, was non-other than..

Photos captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Seopjikoji!

Seopjikoji is located at the end of the eastern shore of Jeju-do Island. 

"Seopji" is the old name for the area, 

and "Koji" is Jeju dialect meaning a sudden bump on land. 

This place is well-known, for the filming of a Korean drama named "All In"

The church, known for being the set of filming for the Korean drama "All In"

We were lucky to be at this place at the right time of the year.
Because further up the hill, we were greeted by...

A magnificent view of canola flowers!!!!!!

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Photo captured by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Remember the canola flowers we chanced upon on Day 1 

and we were already very excited?

IMAGINE OUR EXCITEMENT (multiplied by 100 times) when we saw this!

I think the best month to visit to see these beautiful sight is in April :)

Even Melvin could not resist taking a few shots!

We were reluctant to leave this place,

until our driver called Melvin several times to rush us back to the car.

Glad he did that though,

 or else we could have been too absorbed and just stayed there til the sun set,

&.. another drama could have occurred 

i.e missing our flight back to Gimpo.

hahahahah.

Seopijikoji

261, Seopjikoji-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do 

제주특별자치도 서귀포시 성산읍 섭지코지로 261

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We may not have visited a lot of the famous places for this Jeju trip,

but I think the ones that we went were all breathtaking. 

I am just so glad and thankful that this trip happened :')

Anyway, there are some other places which I researched on and wanted to visit,

but didn't have the time to.

You may want to consider,

if you are planning for a trip to Jeju:

-Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (aka Sunrise peak)

-Hallasan National Park

-Cheonjiyeon Waterfall

Manjanggul Cave

-Mysterious Road

-Trick Art Museum

-Jeju Folk Village

-Jeju Mini Mini Land

-Kimnyoung Maze Park

-Jeju Loveland

Had our dinner at the Jeju airport,

took our flight back to Gimpo at 9+pm,

and that concluded our 2D1N Jeju adventure :)

Will be back to update more about the rest of our trip in Seoul,
when I am done editing the photos.....
Til then! :)