Travel Blog: South Korea Trip 2014 Day 1, 韩国之旅第一天, 9 Feb 14

South Korea Trip Day 1: 9 February 2014, Sunday - Jeju Island
韩国之旅第一天：2月9日2014年, 星期天 - 济州岛

Attractions for the day:
Mysterious Road 神奇之路 [Google Maps Link]
Dragon Head Rock 龙头岩 [Google Maps Link]

Accommodation for the day:
Jeju Oriental Hotel 济州东方酒店 [Google Maps Link]

First time visiting Korea! And it was our first time taking up a tour package. Decided not to do free and easy this time round since we had no time to do research, as well as Korea was somewhere not familiar to us. Maybe there would be language barrier, or so we thought. But we soon realized that most of the locals could actually speak Mandarin fluently, with some even better than their English. This must be due to the huge influx of Chinese tourists over the years. We took up the 8 Days "ALL IN" Korea Deluxe Package from Hong Thai Travel. Cost $1688 per pax for the package in February 2014, which was still winter in Korea. This amount excluded the additional tour leader fees of S$2 for each day of travel, Korean tour guide fee of KRW 40,000.

As usual, my parents would fetch us to the airport. After checking in with the rest of the tour group, and meeting up with our tour leader, Patrick, we still had a lot of time before our plane would take off. This was due to some delays in the flight. So we started exploring Terminal 3 and there happened to be some Russian displays. Good photo-taking opportunity. Probably a trip to Russia next?

Feels like we're in Russia.

And look at all these Russian dolls.

We entered the departure area while my parents left for home. We still had a lot of time, so Dear went to surf internet at the terminals while I caught a bit of the EPL match between Chelsea and Newcastle. So shiok can actually sit at the sofas and enjoy a game of soccer. That's one of the things you could do at Singapore's Changi Airport terminals. The only problem was all the seats were taken, and the sound was off LOL. Therefore I stood watching a few moments of the match from one level above. Pretty good view I'd say.

Caught a game of Chelsea vs Newcastle.

Later on, we were getting hungry, therefore we bought some meals from McDonald's. Great way to satisfy our hungry stomachs. But way too sinful as it was 1am in the morning!

What else but McDonald's when we're hungry?

We got onto our Korean Air plane eventually and tried to sleep all the way. We woke up to the call from the flight stewardess to decide on what meals we wanted. And then we enjoyed our scrumptious breakfast before we touched down at Incheon International Airport.

Itadakimasu!

Western set.

It's always a joy to have meals on a plane.

By the time we reached Incheon International Airport, it was already local time 10:30am. With the South Korean timezone one hour ahead of Singapore's, we had to adjust our bio clock. Not much issue here. And our phones auto-adjusted to the local timezone as well. After going through the customs, we had to walk to the carpark area to board our coach to fetch us to Gimpo International Airport to take a domestic flight to Jeju Island. And for the first time, Dear experienced the thrill of breathing and seeing her own breath in the cold winter air. Also quite a nostalgic experience for me since the last time I experienced winter was back in 2005.

The Korean Air plane that brought us to South Korea.

Waiting to go through the customs.

Dear breathes her first winter air and excited at the visible breath.

Along the way, we crossed roads and bridges, witnessed huge patches of land and sea, and saw a very different yet interesting sight of South Korea's landscapes and infrastructure. Something you would never see in the sunny island of Singapore. That's what makes traveling to a foreign land so captivating and exhilarating.

It's a whole new world out there for us to explore.

Once we reached Gimpo International Airport, the tour leader and tour guide, Andy, quickly assembled the rest of the tour group, who had taken China Airlines, and brought us to the waiting area to take our domestic flight. Bought our first foodstuff from the convenience stores in the airport. Some banana milk and warm bottled ginseng drink which my mother had reminded us to try to drink during our trip. It would help to warm up our bodies and prevent us from falling sick due to us being not used to the winter. The tour guide also mentioned that we must always try to drink warm water to prevent us from falling sick as we Singaporeans are from a tropical atmosphere, therefore our bodies might not be able to handle the cold air we keep breathing in during the winter at South Korea.

Some Korean drum display at Gimpo International Airport.

Time to try some banana milk.

Taking a domestic flight to Jeju-do.

Soon, it was time to take off on the domestic flight, and we boarded the plane. The flight took about an hour or so. Finally! We had reached Jeju-do. Then we boarded a shuttle service to fetch us to the terminal, checked out and boarded our coach, which included a photographer, whose name was ID, who would join us for the rest of the trip.

Short shuttle service from the plane to the terminal.

Welcome to Jeju-do!

Tried some warm bottled ginseng drink.

The first stop for the day was the Mysterious Road. It was a stretch of road which seemed going uphill, but bottles and cars can actually go up the slope as if to defy gravity. There is an explanation for this optical illusion. There's actually nothing mysterious or fascinating if you know the reason behind it. We stopped for less than 20 minutes at this attraction to witness the optical illusion and also to have some snacks at the nearby food stall.

Momorange at the Mysterious Road.

The stall-holders here earning a quick buck from our tour group.

Some deep-fried snacks on a cold winter day. Perfect combination.

Tastes pretty ok.

Our coach for the two days in Jeju-do.

Next on the itinerary was the Dragon Head Rock or the Yongduam Rock. It was an area near the sea at the Northern part of Jeju. We alighted at the bus park and walked towards the coast. Plenty of tourists were there climbing the stairs that led to the ideal spot for taking pictures of the Yongduam Rock. Somehow it didn't fascinate me that there was this rock that was supposed to look like the head of a dragon. It is just the work of Mother Nature after thousands of years perhaps. And it seemed quite ridiculous that people started imagining that a piece of rock looked like a certain mythical creature. Nevertheless, we witnessed how strong the wind was, as well as the thunderous waves that kept smashing against the rocks. The chilly wind was so strong that by just standing at the cliffs, we felt such extremely cold temperatures that we decided not to stay there for too long. We spent some time to explore the area after taking pictures of and with the Yongduam Rock.

There were plenty of Dol Hareubangs in the area, as well as all over Jeju-do. These were stone sculptures that were supposed to bless anyone who touches the nose to bear a boy or a girl, depending on which one of the pair that was touched. Of course we had to take pictures with these magical sculptures. There was also a shop nearby that was hanging some squids to dry.

A pair of Dol Hareubangs.

Yongduam - Dragon Head Rock

The rocks decorating the area.

And here's the Dragon Head Rock.

We had to climb all the way down these steps.

We're here!

Dear wants a baby boy?

Dried squids.

I want both boy and girl lol.

Me and Dragon Head Rock.

Dear and the vast ocean.

Really strong waves on that day. Can't imagine falling into the raging waters.

Jeju-do is also famous for their sea-women, or Haenyo. These women would dive into the seas around Jeju to hunt for seaweed, as well as other types of seafood, for their livelihood. We found a statue of a Haenyo just next to the Yongduam Rock area. It was sculptured into the image of a mermaid. And after that, we visited some of the nearby souvenirs shops before heading back to our coach.

Statue of a Haenyo, or Sea Woman.

Souvenir shop selling mostly miniature Dol Hareubangs.

A stall selling the specialty of Jeju-do - oranges!

We were then brought to a restaurant nearby where we had our first Korean meal of the trip. It was some very dry pork, which came together with rice, fish, and various other side dishes. Definitely not my definition of a satisfactory Korean meal.

A restaurant which prepared our first local meal in Korea.

Some very dry-looking/tasting pork with a few side dishes.

After the very early dinner at 4pm, we were then brought to Jeju Oriental Hotel. The tour guide said that we would end the programme for the day as it had been a tiring day with all the traveling and flying. Hence we ended the day at around 5pm, when we reached the hotel. We then unpacked our stuff and jumped right into bed as we were really exhausted.

Our hotel room at Jeju Oriental Hotel.

We could watch our favourite Korean shows on TV!

A little coffee table and chair at the side of the room.

We woke up at around 9pm and decided we should not waste the night away sleeping. Also, we had started feeling hungry! We then put on our winter gear and ventured out into the streets beyond our hotel. It was raining but we decided to just bring umbrellas along to find some local food to satisfy our hunger. We walked along the street and came to a restaurant that seemed to sell quite a lot of local food. Seemed like they specialized in noodles, so we decided to order a bowl of noodles each. Dear ordered some cold noodles. It was freezing outside and she wanted cold noodles... I ordered some steaming hot soupy pork noodles. After the meal, we both agreed that what we just had was definitely better than what the tour guide had arranged for us in our previous meal.

Some Singaporean also came here before and left a note.

Looks like a nice place to have a decent local Korean meal.

Not enough space in our stomachs to try all these.

Dear ordered some cold noodles.

I preferred something hot and soupy to fight the cold weather outside.

Try it if you're nearby.

A whole stretch of restaurants, mostly for seafood.

To end off the day, as usual, we would visit the nearest convenience store and grab some food and drinks. We then watched some Korean shows on TV while enjoying the food. Awesome!

Some snacks and Korean soju from the convenience store.

Jeju Oriental Hotel

Address: 47 Tapdong-ro, Samdo 2(i)-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea
Tel: +82-64-752-8222
Website: http://www.oriental.co.kr

For a list of the hotels/resorts available for booking in Jeju via Agoda.com, click here.
To make a hotel booking at Jeju Oriental Hotel, click here.

Links to our South Korea Trip 2014
Day 2 - Jeju Island 济州岛
Day 2 - Jeju Island - Trick Art Museum 济州岛 - 幻觉艺术博物馆
Day 2 - Jeju Island - Jeju Glass Castle 济州岛 - 玻璃城堡
Day 2 - Jeju Island - Teddy Bear Museum 济州岛 - 泰迪熊博物馆
Day 3 - Nami Island 南怡岛, Seorak Waterpia 韩华温泉水上乐园
Day 4 - Yongpyong Resort 龙平豪华度假村
Day 5 - Everland 爱宝乐园, Lotte World 乐天世界
Day 5 - Everland 爱宝乐园
Day 5 - Lotte World 乐天世界
Day 6 - Ice Gallery 冰雕艺术体验馆, Myeondong 明洞, Namdaemun 南大门, Jump Show JUMP 演出
Day 7 - Mapo Agricultural and Marine Products Market 麻浦农水产物市场
Souvenirs