Day 3 South Korea 2012

Day 3

Next flight was at 12.00 pm to Gunsan.  

With so much time and at early hour,  the only thing to do was marketing.

It seems that the koreans don't start work early , such as food stall or restaurant.

Jeju Folk Market

All sort of items.. like a shopping mall

There are some friendly and grumpy old folks

Must try their unique tangerines, kiwis, dried food.

and street food

The bus to Jeonju from airport is synced with the arrival time.About 1 hour of travelling to get to Jeonju. Jeonju Hanok VillageA very happpening rural village

  After checking into Yang Sa Jae hanok house, we seeked for their local delicacies.I read that jeonju bibimbap is special but I don't think the taste is that great though.

Over-rated and not cheap.

 The brown leaves in the middle have a really nasty taste. AVOID!!

 Geonggi PalaceMini palace outskirt of SeoulFirst palace of Joseon Era

Retired old folk playing chinese chess with hangeul font

cake with walnut and something sweet in it
Seemed like long queuebut i don't like the taste

Walking around the whole hanok village.I love the texture of their fences, truly unique and exquisite korean architecture.I'm just an aficionado for architecture.

 
Entered one korean life experience museumIt's darn cold and museum workers were still hibernating. So , most tourists just self-entertained.

Dinner was their instant noodle due to heavy and late lunch.

Day 2 South Korea 2012

Day 2

Jeju is beautiful but most of its beautiful spots are sporadic throughout the island by more than 5 km apart.  Taxi is the best option if you go in group in Jeju.

Waiting for the bus is a waste of time as the bus comes about every 20 minutes and you need to change bus at certain point just to get to a tourist spot.   Unless you have lots of time, bus should not be an option!

Gatepost ..iconic for jeju island

Jeju folk village museum

Joseon Era

I love all the small details as it transports us back to the past.

Flowers and fruits springing to life!

This fruit plants grow between the grasses.

Some of the chinese resembling architecture

Jeju Unique architecture

The familiar scene in most saguek dramas

Due to lost track of time, few precious of hours were wasted just traveling and changing of buses.

Our last stop at Jeju Bus Terminal.  Completely not prepared, I's not sure where to stay.  I tried to communicate with the young adults if they know somewhere nearby to stay.  God bless my soul, Again!  I met with a good samaritan lady from Wales?? who offered to guide us to a backpacker place that she knows nearby.   There was a korean traveler guy who offered to help but told him we got help from the lady.  Most korean young adults are helpful as much as they can and especially if they can speak english , plus they are quite speedy using the internet access on their phones to give you a better direction or suggestion.

Dinner and coffee and desert in Jeju city

Cheap and great!

Day 1 South Korea 2012

Huh... Finally , South Korea !

What was really exciting is that to enter the location scenes that I have been watching in korean dramas.   Deja Vu...

  Food wise : my verdict is that I love their side dishes, be it kimchi or pickled vegetables/beans.  Spiciness represent korea a lot and I love it!

 The people are really very friendly once they know you are tourist!

But beware in rural areas as there are just the normal old grumpy folks.

Day 1 

KL - Incheon - Jeju Island

Upon arrival, I's blown away by the chilly wind, as my winter jacket was still in the backpack.

We proceeded directly to Gimpo Airport by express train.

No flights delay is the best news!

  While waiting for our flight, we just hang around at the ubiquitous 'family mart' @ korean version of 7-eleven.  Koreans love coffee a lot!  Sandwich was bought from airasia.. totally not recommended and why would anyone worry having no food nearby in a first world country??!!
beats me!

Before coming here, I emailed Mr. Lee regarding renting a bike in jeju but unfortunately, he replied on the arrival date.. what a great timing!!
So plan was scraped.
I didn't really have much time to plan in detail as usually I plan 1 year ahead and currently very busy with my job until the day I left for korea.  I even forgotten about taking my credit card!  Last minute packing is bad!!!  Not being ready is Worst!
I just researched for interesting places that I want to see in South Korea but season and weather can be detrimental to sudden plans.

Never ever travel anytime near winter.. try imagining walking in cold for about 16 hours straight!
Not that winter is not an option.. only if you stay out in cold less than 10 hours then it will be recommended... Taking pictures of snow is great but the weather can kill a person!!
Flowers aren't blooming at this moment , snows has melted away and it can be pathetic for photographers!!  So don't ever travel the in-between seasons!

Jeju Island
First thing, eat hot food to give your body warm!!
You need to constantly eat for the body to metabolize for heat.
I think this restaurant in jeju has set the standard of my palate for korean food because I kept comparing the others with ahjumma's side dishes.
Food were randomly picked from the korean-font menu.

As I love rice, bibimbap is my favourite!

 Other Foods

 
The guesthouse offered us free bicycle.
We stopped along the beach.  The water was freezing and crystal clear.
I envy their oceans!

On the way to seopkoji where a lot of dramas were filmed over there.
I think the scenery was more familiar if it is spring.
Lots of farm fenced by volcanic stone walls.

Radish and cabbage farms

Reeds!!

Grandfather Stone figure

Drama location
Sea shells breeding between the rocks.

Seaweeds

 Ahjumma jeju diver in action

I need flowers for this place!!
Were art thou oh my flowers!!

First Dinner