Dream Come True 2013 - Day 1 (of 7) in Korea - Jeju-do (10 Dec 2013, Tuesday)

After procrastinating for a good one month after returning from this all-time favourite trip of my life (well at least up until 2013), I have FINALLY settled down to blog about it... When I was researching for my trip, I was very thankful for the travel bloggers who blog about their trips so we can have handy tips and advise for people planning their trips abroad, especially to places they would be visiting for the first time. And that was what also inspired me to start this blog.

Well, where does the story begin?

This was sparked off by my uncle's girlfriend (p.s. my uncle is not old, just for the record, something which I think his girlfriend is very insistent because apparently in the natural world, many people would assume uncles are like 30 plus 40, so he is just 7 years older than me, not yet in his 30s). About two months ago (three weeks before the trip), she whatsapp me one morning and asked if we would like to go to Seoul for a year end holiday. Well it wasn't like we do a yearly trip with each other, to be honest, this trip was our very first together. We're just 5 years apart, so it wasn't like there was a huge generation gap, except naturally we were both a little worried if this trip was going to bring us closer or tear us apart... Thank God it was definitely the former.

So with only three weeks to prepare for the trip, we were financially prepared to spend a little more, especially on air ticket. But due to the restricted leaves I had remaining, I went with Korea Air, which cost me around SGD1,200 for a return air ticket to and from Incheon, Seoul. Of course it would have been much better if we had planned our trip way in advance, but I definitely don't regret going on an impromptu trip, especially to my dream country of all time - Korea.

Especially since the K-wave hit across the globe many years back, Korea has been on the list of my love-to-go countries in the world, and here we go!

Took a midnight flight and arrived in Incheon Seoul, around 5.40am. Uncle's girlfriend (hereby onwards known as Ms. K) had arrived one day before me and settled in the apartment we booked through AIRBNB.

This was the room the two of us stayed in together for 5 nights in Seoul.

This room costs us each SGD$188 in total for 7 nights, and it was so reasonably priced that we even vacant it for 1 night when we stayed in Jeju-do. If you would like to book the same one as we did, here is the LINK.

So my first MISSION when I arrive in Seoul is to travel to our accommodation to find Ms. K before we headed together to catch our domestic flight to Jeju-do.

Took the airport bus to Itaewon (where our apartment was), cost less than SGD$20 and bus journey was about 1.5hrs.

Thankful that I connected to the airport wifi and it allowed me to quickly whatsapp Ms. K to inform her that I decided to take the bus instead of the taxi while I board the bus and before the bus left the premises of the airport. After a good one and a half (1.5) hours on the bus, I finally arrived at the bus-stop near our apartment and there she was, standing at the bus-stop waiting for me in the cold, so thankful!

Then we quickly went to our apartment and I placed my luggage before heading out to hitch a cab to the domestic airport Gimpo airport for our flight to Jeju-do. It cost us each pax about SGD$53 to fly from Gimpo to Jeju via Eastarjet and the flight journey was about less than an hour.

Departure at Gimpo airport

Jeju-do - And the first thing that caught my attention was their interior design of the toilets...

Arrived in Jeju-do! The thing we had to do was to find our tour guide... He wasn't an official taxi guide but he was the husband of the host place we were residing in for the one night stay in Jeju-do. So glad to finally meet him at the exit gates and off we went for our tour in Jeju-do.

O'Sulloc Tea Museum

Our first stop in Jeju-do was the O'Sulloc Tea Museum. Well, I choose to visit this place because a close girlfriend of mine was a green-tea fan and since she was not really a mask person, I thought visiting this place would be the perfect place to buy souvenirs for her. Generally nothing much to see at the museum but we did sit down to enjoy a cup of green tea latte and their green tea ice-cream.

Green Tea Latte

Best green tea ice-cream I have ever eaten!

It was almost lunch time, so San (our tour guide for Jeju) drove us to a nearby place for cold noodles. I wasn't quite attracted to the idea for cold noodles when the outside temperature was about 7 - 8 degrees but since it was our first meal in Jeju-do, why not? I've been missing this ever since!

The dry version of the cold noodles - I love it!

The soupy version of the cold noodles, and Ms. K loves it!

Sanbang Shikdang (산방식당) - definitely recommended if you are in the vicinity!!!

After a satisfied meal in our tummy, San drove us to the Yongmeori Coast and it was when we arrived that he informed us that it would be an hour coastal walk. Well, after a good meal, we got to let off the calories somewhere right? So off we went on the Coastal walk, and this was listed as one of the Olle Trails in Jeju-do. There is a total of 16 of such walking routes to explore Jeju-do.

So off we went!

Off we went on the Yongmeori Coastal Walk!

Breathtaking scenery on the walk

There was a clear 'well' in the midst of our walk and many made wishes there because we spotted many coils in the waters.

The walk took us 1.5hrs instead of 1hr because we were the modern people who take pictures of almost everything along the way... So when we finally found the exit, we were excited! But there was a surprise waiting for us!

The last flight of rocky steps which led us to the exit!!!

And this spontaneous coastal walk turned out to be one of our favourite activities done in Jeju-do.

A little story of the Yongmeori Coast...

We spotted this restful pink bear while we were lost on our way to the carpark to find San.. so HUGE!!! Wished I could carry it home...

Tired and most probably because we have been walking in the midst of cold winds for the past hour or so, San drove us to a nearby spot to view the Sangbansan instead of actually hiking it. Jeju-do was basically surrounded by mountains and it eventually got a little confusing to differentiate which was which.

View of the Sangbansan

Our next stop was one of the three waterfalls in Jeju-do, the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. We basically did not quite enjoy this destination, so would probably be a good idea to skip it especially if you were on a tight schedule like us!

The view of the top of the waterfall

On the Seonim Bridge

A map of Jeju

If you are a Korean drama lover like us and you have watched the all-time favourite Secret Garden, you probably don't want to miss the next stop - SEAES HOTEL & RESORTS where the female and male lead's souls were switched for the first time and they kissed thinking that that would switch them back.

Our last stop of the day before dinner was the Seogwipo Olle Market. The market is also part of the Olle Trails in Jeju-do. They sold a wide variety of things and fresh seafood and mandarin etc...