JEJU ISLAND DAY 2

JEJU ISLAND DAY 2

DAY 2 - EXPLORING THE EAST COAST

WARM AND COZY FILMING LOCATION
THE HORSE RIDING SCENE  

It's our second day in Jeju Island and we started the day by going to Warm and Cozy filming location near Seongsan Ilchulbong (known as the Sunrise Peak). The horse riding scene was filmed near Seongsan Ilchulbong, from this location you get an exclusive picture perfect view of Seongsan Ilchulbong.

QUICK SNACK : PARIS BAGUETTE AT SEONGSAN ILCHULBONG

Before we amidst the journey to hike up the Sunrise Peak, Vivien and I decided to wake ourselves up a little bit with coffee. We opted Paris Baguette, a famous South Korea bakery chain. We sat by the window of Paris Baguette's second floor and it offered such a nice morning snack view of Seongsan Ilchulbong.

SEONGSAN ILCHULBONG 성산 일출봉

Seongsan Ilchulbong or known as The Sunrise peak is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Based on the explanation from Wikipedia, Seongsan Ilchulbong is an archetypal tuff cone formed by hydrovolcanic eruptions upon a shallow seabed about five thousand years ago.

Entrance fee (individuals) : KRW5,000 (adult) / KRW2,500 (teenagers & childrens) 

*tips : choose a comfortable clothes & shoes to hike up to Seongsan Ilchulbong. I totally recommend long sleeves top, because Vivien had terrible sunburn aftermath. 

I recommend you to hike up through the flat steep way and come down with the stairs and not the other way around.
you'll thank me later :)

at the peak of Seongsan Ilchulbong

WOMAN DIVER SHOW 해녀

Jeju Island is famous for its woman diver show. This community of women, some aged in their 80s, goes diving 10m under the sea to gather shellfish, such as abalone or sea urchins and they prepare it fresh for you and you can buy a plate to try. You can see the woman diver show at 1.30PM and 3PM at Seongsan Ilchulbong, the entrance fee is KRW2,000. 

We skipped this attraction just because we didn't have the strength to walk down to the beach(and imagine we still need to walk up) after hiking up to the peak of Seongsan Ilchulbong.

MUST TRY : HALLABONG (한라봉) JUICE

At Seongsan Ilchulbong tourist area, you will find many Hallabong stalls. Hallabong is a special orange grown in Jeju Island. It's original name is Dekopon, but since its shape looks like Hallasan Peak , it is named Hallabong. Hallabong tasted like mandarin, it is sweeter and less sour than orange. Since it was a hot day and we were exhausted from the hike, we freshen up with Hallabong Juice.

SEOPJIKOJI  섭지코지

Seopjikoji is another famous tourist attraction in Jeju Island. This location has been used for several Korean drama filming site. There's this lighthouse that appeared in one of the scene in Boys Before Flower where the main actor kissed the main actress (aww!) as well as  All In, My Girl, and various Korean variety shows such as Running Man and 2Days1Night. 

In spring, you are able to enjoy the blooms of Canola Flowers. 

MINT RESTAURANT

You would be familiar to this restaurant if you're a k-drama fan. Yes. This restaurant has been used as filming location for some of the popular k-drama, from Boys Before Flowers, The Legend of The Blue Sea to the latest Something in The Rain.  

It's a beautiful venue and it offers magnificent view of Jeju coastlines. We did not dine in here but we really appreciate the staff who allowed us in to only take photos.

This restaurant is located near the lighthouse at Seopjikoji Beach. 

 

latest drama filmed at Mint Restaurant : Something in The Rain

JEJU FOLK VILLAGE / DAE JANG GUM FILMING LOCATION 

From Seopjikoji, we travelled to Jeju Folk Village by taxi (KRW16,500) but when we got to the gate and looked at the entrance fee, both Vivien and I looked at each other. It is KRW13,000 per person. It was not that we didn't have the budget for it, but perhaps, the exhaustion of hiking pulled us back and made us reconsider if we would be willing to spend that much for this particular attraction.

Originally I wanted to come here because I used to watch Dae Jang Gum after school on my local TV and it was so long ago. I loved the series and it's only natural that you wanted to visit the filming location. We ended up only taking picture of its gate and used the toilet :)

SEOGWIPO MAEIL OLLE MARKET 서귀포매일 올레시장 

Last stop of our Jeju trip : the traditional market!
You can find many different things in this market, from souvenirs, signature Jeju fresh produced or alcohol, and of course local street food.  

We tried Peanut Mandu (dumpling), turned out it is pretty popular judging from its long queue. It's a peanut shaped dumpling and its skin is made from peanut. We opted the non-spicy meat filling and it costs KRW5,000 (4 dumplings). Besides mandu, the stall also sells peanut soft serve.  

different kimchi

Peanut Mandu

such a delicate mandu (dumpling) skin. 9/10!

MUST TRY : Peanut Mandu Stall 

DINNER : SEOGWIPO TOWN CENTER  

There's something about  how particularly picky you become when you are exhausted from wandering around for a whole day (with a hike) and did 20,000 steps already at 8PM. That was how we felt. We could've gone around and explore more restaurants but we sought after comfort food. 

We randomly selected restaurant in Seogwipo Town Center. We ordered Bulgogi and Bibimbap, classic Korean dishes a foreigner would have.

We then went back to the hotel early to pack our luggage since we had to leave early in the morning.  

Overall, I was glad that we put Jeju Island as our first stop. Imagine you are going on a holiday to escape the hustle bustle of big city and your first stop is a holiday island. Jeju was able to give that relaxing ambiance and I guess being in the nature recharged you in a way nobody can really explain. 

I wanted to put some note here as a summary of our trip :

• We didn't purchase portable wifi or SIM CARD. Because when we arrived at Incheon airport or Gimpo, we thought we would get either of those in Jeju Island. Turned out Jeju Island has free wifi on the entire island (even on the bus) and we couldn't find SIM Card at the convenient store so we really depended on the free wifi and we got around just fine. (Later in the trip, we also did not purchase any wifi or Sim Card through out our South Korea trip)

• T-Money card can be bought at convenient stores. The card costs KRW2,500 and during Jeju Island, I topped up KRW15,000 in total. I didn't remember how much I spent for transport in Jeju with T-Money Card. But note that this card can be used for metro and other public transportation in other cities in South Korea. 

• People of Jeju-do are friendly but not many can speak English. But they are helpful in giving direction and Google Translate is your best friend.

• Most of the restaurants in Jeju has English translated menu, even if they don't, again, fish out Google translate and you can used camera-translation feature. Technology is your best friend again and again.

I hope the summary of my Jeju trip helps you in planning yours. Enroute to BUSAN next! Stay tune xx