Korea Winter Itinerary 2016 / 2017 Day 6

Day 6
Stay: Ocean Suites Jeju Hotel

09:45 | Cheonjeyeon Waterfalls

11:00 | Choonsim's House 춘심이네

13:30 | Seopjikoji
15:00 | Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)

16:30 | Mazeland

19:30 | Black Pork Street - Hwaro Hyang

21:30 | E-Mart

Started our journey from the hostel at 9am, where we drove towards south west of Jeju before we continued to the east and north of Jeju.

CHEONJEYEON WATERFALLS

GPS 738 1529

Address: 2232 Jungmun-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju-do

Operating Hours: 08:00 - 18:00

Admission: 2,500 won

Carpark: free

Travel time: 30 mins from Jeju R Hotel

Cheonjiyeon Falls and Cheonjeyeon Falls are 2 different waterfalls. Cheonjiyeon is located nearer to Seogwipo city while Cheonjeyeon is located at Jungmun which is at the south-west of Jeju. There's another waterfalls in Jeju, named Jeongbang, which is very near to our hostel at Seogwipo. While looking for info on these 3 waterfalls, images of Cheonjeyeon captured me the most so we decided to visit this one. In fact my blog's cover photo is actually Cheonjeyeon Falls! Hehe... Photo captured using only my phone cam.. I think it would looked a lot nicer if it was taken with a DSLR. Another reason we are willing to travel all the way back to the west was because the restaurant we planned to have our lunch is nearby that area.

Chenjeyeon is different from the usual waterfalls because it is a 3-tier waterfalls namely Cheonjeyeon Falls, 2nd Falls and 3rd Falls with the water eventually flows to the ocean.

Cheonjeyeon Falls
Look at the blue water and the rocks formation

Now that I'm looking at the picture of Cheonjeyeon Falls, I realised there is no water flowing down like what we always imagine a waterfall would be. It just looked like a blue pond there. Apparently cold water flows out from the ceiling of the cave and gathers in the pond and from there, the water falls twice creating the second and third falls.

Second Falls

Cheonjeyoen is also called Pond of Heaven because according to Korean legend, 7 nymphs would descend from the heaven at night to bath at the waterfalls' pond. The carvings of the nymphs can be seen on Seonimgypo Bridge which is the famous landmark at Cheonjeyeon.

Cheonjeyeon Falls
Seonimgypo Bridge with the carving of the 7 nymphs

On Seonimgypo Bridge

Seonimgypo Bridge

Cheonjeyeon Falls
View from Seonimgypo Bridge towards the north

We only managed to walk to the first 2 falls because we were stunned when we saw at the staircases down to the 3rd Falls. We did walked a short distance down to the 3rd Falls, but the thought of having to walk all the way upslope back to the entrance caused us to surrender halfway. The sun was shining brightly that day though the temp was around 10⁰C but we were already feeling a bit warm walking along the staircases.

Cheonjeyeon Falls
Clear bright sunny day

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CHOONSIM'S HOUSE 춘심이네 GRILLED CUTLASS FISH

GPS 794 4010

Address: 160-4 Changcheon-ri, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo, Jeju-do

Operating Hours: 10:00 - 15:30 | 17:30 - 20:00

Carpark: Free

Travel time: 20 mins from Cheonjeyeon Falls

Website: http://www.snname.com/

Total cost: 78,000 won

This restaurant serves grilled or stew cutlass fish. The cost for each set is charged per group of 2, 3 or 4 persons. Mic declared this as the best meal he had in this trip. Just look at their amazing spread of banchan! Got quail eggs some more and still can ask for more 😝. There were so many (handsome) staffs in the restaurant, service was good, fast and friendly. Though the staffs can barely speak English but we appreciate their effort in teaching us how to eat the cutlass fish and warned us on the fish bones and part of the fish that cannot be eaten (using sign language 😆).

Banchan 1: California rolls and jelly?

Banchan 2: Kimchi pancake, anchovies, corn/pumpkin soup?, salad, fried fish and japchae

Banchan 3: kimchi, vege tofu salad & my fav quail eggs!

Table full of banchan before the main dish arrives

The main course! Grilled cutlass fish! Daebak!

Using his amazing skill, the staff helped us to remove the fishbones. I was watching him doing his job in awe

When we were done eating 1 side of the fish, the staff came over and helped us again to remove the whole fish bones. TQ!!

And the staff taught us how to enjoy the cutlass fish with the onions

The above picture was taken while we were driving on the opposite road. Yellow signboard is the restaurant's name, restaurant building (grey colour) is on the left side while the carpark is beside and behind the building where the white car is parking. Before we left, the cashier even asked us to grab complimentary bottles of mineral water from their fridge. How considerate! We will definitely come back again! 😋

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SEOPJIKOJI

GPS 782 0080

Address: 107, Seopjikoji-ro, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

Operating Hours: N/A
Admission: Free

Carpark: 500 (we thought it was 1,000 won but the lady only collected 500 won from us)

Travel time: 1 hr 40 mins from Choonsim's House

Started our long journey to the east of Jeju after our satisfying lunch. Lucky that the main road in Jeju is pretty straight with lesser car so it was a big relief to me. I was still very nervous driving on the right sided road and Mic kept reminding me to turn into the correct lane at the T or cross junction (that's the place I mixed up most).

We knew we are reaching Seopjikoji when we were driving along the coastal road. There's even a restroom by the roadside which we stopped by because I wanted to see the sea and feel the strong wind. We took some pictures there but our hair looks really chaotic.. so.. never mind that. It's the feeling at the moment at that place that counts 😄.

Driving along the coastal towards Seopjikoji

It was my second time here and I had been looking forward to visit this place again because I really luv the scenery here. The first time I came, it was raining with strong wind so I only managed to walk till the church. The images of big waves hitting on the cliff really amazed me though I was a little scared at that time. Lucky that the weather was good and windy this time around. It was a weekday so there wasn't many people there. The tour buses only started to arrive when we were leaving 🍀.

At the start of the trail at Seopjikoji.
We will reached the church on the left, followed by the Lighthouse on the right and the Zippo Museum at the centre

Beautiful blue sea

The church which was a filming site is closed to public.
It had been renovated as it looked different from the first time I visited this place.

Horse Riding

The Lighthouse

Mic was amazed with at view of Seongsan Ilchulbong from Seopjikoji.
And he wasn't aware that's where we will be heading to next.

The good thing about free and easy trip is that we can take our own sweet time to walk leisurely. Therefore, we had covered whole Seopjikoji including Zippo Museum and walked to the back the Seopjikoji which had the view of Seongsan Ilchulbong.

Zippo Museum at Seopjikoji

Unique lighters, so as the price

View of the lighthouse from Zippo Museum

Spotted a white horse
Jeju is also famous for raspseed (canola) as you can see here. It has yet to fully bloom

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SEONGSAN ILCHULBONG (SUNRISE PEAK)

GPS 783 0959

Add: 284-12, Ilchul-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

Operating Hour: 1 hour before sunrise - sunset

Admission: Adults 2,000 won
Carpark: Free

Travel time: 15 minutes from Seopjikoji

(source: google map)

I searched and found several GPS numbers for this place. Unsure which is the correct one, I jotted down 4 numbers. The first GPS that I tried (GPS provided above) accurately leads me Seongsan. You will see an Innisfree shop at the corner of a T junction on your right. Followed the road beside Innisfree, you will reach ample parking space at the entrance of Seongsan. I parked at a small parking space beside Innisfree because I wasn't sure if there is any parking space inside. Furthermore, there are numerous shops here which I wanted to go e.g. Innisfree, Isaac Toast & Starbucks, so I just parked here since we will be heading down to the shops after that.

View from the carpark

Seongsan Ilchulbong is a tuff cone formed from volcanic eruption under the sea thousands of years ago. It looks like a gigantic crown from afar. If you are able to drag yourself up in the morning, this is a good place to watch sunrise. Noticed that the opening hour of this place is based on sunrise timing, so you have to check the sunrise timing if you planned to go early.

Women divers performance

Haenyeo are female divers specially found in Jeju Island, also known as the Korean mermaids. On my first trip to Sunrise Peak, I vividly remembered our Korean tour guide told us that this profession became a female-dominated industry due to significant numbers of men passed away in sea-diving accidents, leaving this job to their wives. When I searched on Google, there are many other reasons that lead to this but whatever it is, Haenyeo is something unique that represent Jeju and I hope this will be continue, maybe not as a profession, but as a culture of Jeju.

The first time I came, the strong wind and rain deterred us from climbing up to the crater. Thankfully the weather was good this time around. The wind is still strong, which is a good thing, because climbing up the stairs to the crater is a no joke. Many people were seen stopping halfway at the staircases to catch their breath, with Mic being one of them. As for me, when walking upslope at any place, I prefer to continue all the way up without resting as long as my legs can still carry me. Stopping might make me give up halfway because I tend to feel more tired after resting 😅. We saw a lot of children and elderlies climbed up the crater so we thought it should not be that tough. But you still need some stamina to get to the crater. Just hang on and move on!

We reached the crater! Amazing view!

We luv the view at the crater! The wind were strong up there and benches are built at the crater for people to rest and enjoy the view. We left the crater once Mic had satisfied with his multiple panorama shots. Going down and up the crater are 2 different paths. Along the way down the crater, you can enjoy the unblock view of the town.

View from the crater
This is the path to go down. There is a separate path to go up the crater.

I had to forgo my Isaac Toast because we were rushing to Mazeland which closes at 5.30pm, last admission is 1 hour before closing. Hopefully the next time we come, we will be able to watch sunrise from here.

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MAZELAND

GPS 784 3838

Add: 2134-47, Bijarim-ro, Gujwa-eup, Jeju-si

Operating Hours: November-January 09:00-17:30 (Last admission one hour before closing)

Admission: Adults 9,000 won

Carpark: Free

Travel time: 40 minutes from Seongsan Ilchulbong
Website: http://www.mazeland.co.kr (in Korean only)

(source: google map)

There are 2 maze parks in Jeju, namely Gimnyeong Maze Park and Mazeland and we went to the latter. I chose this because this was the filming site for our fav Running Man show and I read that this maze has therapeutic effect.

We reached Mazeland exactly at 4.30pm which was the last admission timing. I dropped Mic right in front of the ticketing booth and luckily he managed to get us the admission tickets. I seriously do not want to miss this because we had skipped a lot of places and most parks closed around 4.30pm to 6pm in winter so there will be no other places to go if we were to miss Mazeland.

Mazeland began its actual construction in 2006 and opened to public in Apr 2011. It is built based on 3 things that are abundant in Jeju: rocks, wind & women, hence the 3 mazes' designs correspond to these 3 principles. The stones maze which is shaped like a dolhareubang is said to emit high levels of far-infrared radiation that can heal, soothe and detox the body and mind. Women maze is built in a shape of hanyeo and the wind maze is designed in a circular shape which represent the way the wind blows.

Map at the entrance

Map given upon ticket purchase

We started off individually at the whinestones maze which was seriously the hardest. I tried not to refer to the map but in the end I did and it still did not lead me to the exit. I was at the head of the dolhareubang, if you see the map, I was exactly that the place where the Whinstone Maze word was printed on. I could not figure out my way and luckily I was not the only one. There were many people who were trapped there. A father who brought his wife and 3 kids there had to climb up the 1.8m high stonewall and looked for the way out. He stood up there and instructed his kids to the way out and I followed behind the kids. Hehe.. I wasted a lot of time there while Mic had already reached the exit and laughing at me from the observation deck.

Observation deck before the entry to the stone maze

View from observation deck in the middle of the maze

The woman maze

As the sky started to turn dark and approaching the closing time, there were multiple announcements in Korean over the loudspeaker which I guessed was to ask us to exit the maze. We walked quickly inside the wind and woman maze because they were closing and luckily these 2 mazes are easier to walk. I hope we had more time to walk leisurely there as the air felt so fresh and cool.

We left Mazeland exactly at 5.30pm and set off to Jeju City where we spent our second night in Jeju. It was massive jam when we reached the city which I anticipated after reading some comments about that.

(source: google map)

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OCEAN SUITES JEJU HOTEL

GPS 720 6000

Add: 1260, Samdo2-dong, Downtown Jeju, Jeju Island, South Korea

Carpark: Free

Travel time: 1 hour from Mazeland (due to the jam)

Cost: 73,737 won / night ($96)

I stayed here on my first trip to Jeju. I purposely chose here again because of their seaview rooms and it was a walking distance to the places we wanted to go (Black Pork street, Jungang underground shopping, Emart). It's also near to Jeju Auto House where we had to return our car the next morning.

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HWARO HYANG

GPS 724 4050

Add: 1399-2, Gwandeong-ro 15(sibo)-gil, Geonip-dong, Jeju-do

Operating Hours: could not find.. sorry~

Carpark: Roadside parking or nearby parking space

Travel time: walking distance from hotel

Total cost: 47,000 won

Gwandeong-ro 15-gil is also known as black pork street in Jeju. You can find a lot of black pork BBQ restaurants here. The one Mic chose to go for our dinner was Hwaro Hyang because I told him I'm not keen to try the Michelin star Dombedon after reading reviews on this place.

We luv Hwaro Hyang because of the warm welcome even before we stepped in the restaurant. You can choose to sit the Korean way (on the floor) or Western way (on the chair) which we chose the latter and provided that it's not crowded. They speak very very little English but I do appreciate the owner (I think) who used sign language to demo to us how to eat Korean BBQ the ssam style. I knew the way to eat korean BBQ because I did some homework prior to this trip but it's their kind gesture that counts. The only downside is, no extraction chute in this restaurant. So, please request for a plastic bag for your jacket if you need to.

Their service was fast as they served us additional banchan very promptly and even asked us if we want additional banchan when they saw we had finished ours. At one point, they served us additional banchan when we didn't even request for them but we asked them to keep it because we were too full.

Look at how they grilled the kimchi and marinated bean sprout on the pan

I could not remember the exact type of meat we ordered but am sure we ordered both black pork and normal pork. Mic always complained that black pork is more expensive but it tastes the same to him, so he always ordered both types of pork. Honestly I could not differentiate the taste between the two as both taste as tasty to me 😋.

Besides the normal lettuce (that is used as a wrap for the meat), they also served us perilla leaves for the same purpose. It smelled like a mint leaf to me which I didn't like so both of us didn't try the perilla leaves.

Besides the cabbage salad and seaweed, the rest are to be eaten together with the BBQ pork

Side dish - steamed egg

Side dish - Crab stew with 1 whole mini crab in it

Ready to eat!

Our total bill costs 47,000 won for 3 types of meat (2 pieces per type) and 1 bowl of white rice which we think is really affordable. Definitely in my re-visit list if I go Jeju again.

While walking to Emart, we passed by this shopping street which is nearby black pork street (refer to the map) and we were stucked there doing some shopping again. Am not sure if this place has a specific name but it is nearby Jungang Underground shopping centre.

Xmas deco at the centre of the shopping street

We walked to Emart before it closed at 11pm but we left empty handed because we do not want to carry too many things to Busan. Furthermore Air Busan only restricts 15kg checked in baggage. We decided to do our "marketing" in Seoul instead before we fly back to SIN.

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