Had an impromptu trip to Seoul and Jeju to end the year and welcome 2014. Booked the tickets one week before the departure date and started planning itinerary. Was kinda rush but still manage to pull through.
Waiting for boarding
Day 1
Took Asiana airlines for the first time, touched down at Incheon International Airport on 28 Dec then breakfast & took the airport limousine to Gimpo international airport which cost about 5000won per pax. From the international airport there's a free shuttle bus to domestic airport that takes about 5-7 mins ride. When we arrived at Incheon we went to the Olleh Counter to rent the Wifi egg so we don't have to use our data roaming. The wifi egg was useful and the best part is it can also be used in the plane!
One hour flight and finally we are at Jeju. Rented a car and back to the hotel - hotel EJ. Its quite a small hotel but cosy and I feel its mich more better than some international hotel. This is so much more korea feel. Found a local eatery nearby to fill our tummy and the food was great, taste so much better than in singapore. Suppose to go according to plan but end up sleeping till the sun went down.
Breakfast at Macs in Incheon Airport
After arriving at Jeju, took the shuttle bus to KT rental office to get our car.
The cozy room
Lunch at a nearby eatery
Super good kimchi soup with brown rice
Walked around the hotel to look for food for dinner. And again it proves that the food is really good and authentic. It was very different from what we get in singapore and the kimchi is extremely nice. When we were out for dinner, it snowed very heavily and everyone was really excited about the snow. Heard some ppl say they seldom see such heavy snow in Jeju. And this concludes the first night.
It was snowing out of the sudden and it become heavier
Gotta hide in a restaurant till the snow stopped
and we gotta compare the korean words one by one to see which is the one we wanted to order
Kimchi Tofu Stew & Ended my day 1 in Jeju
Day 2
Drove over to Paris Baguette that is near the hotel, got a few pieces of bread and off on our road trip. Drove about an hour plus over to Seogwipo 'cause our hotel was near Jeju-si. The navigation in the car is easy to use and search of places is easily found if you have their phone number.
Our first stop was Sanbanggulsa
Cave. It was nestled into Mt. Sanbangsan. The 5m-high rock cave at the cliff on the southwest side of the mountain was originally called Sanbanggul Cave, but it is called a temple now because it possesses a Buddhist statue.
Gotta climb up a long flight of stairs
To reach here
Mt Sanbangsan
Next stop was Jeongbang falls. Jeongbang Waterfall is a famous waterfall on Jeju Island. The waterfall is 23 m high and is very close to the ocean.
Lunch time at this restaurant with no chinese no english words.
Had a hard time ordering and we got this. & it was delicious
After lunch we went to the Teddy Bear museum. It was the original one besides the one in Seoul. Then was Ripley believe it or not which is opposite the Teddy Bear Museum.
World's most expensive teddy bear
Swarovski Teddy Bear
Went over to Seogwipo Market to take a look
and then dinner and ended our day
Day 3
And again, breakfast at Paris Baguette then set off to Manjanguul cave, Maze park and Mini land.
Manjanggul Cave (만장굴) is one of the finest lava tunnels in the world, and is a designated natural monument. A lava tunnel is formed when the lava that was deep in the ground spouts from the peak and flows to the surface.
Then was the Mazeland which was about 5 mins drive from Manjanggul Cave.
There were many cats all around the entrance to the maze land
Our last stop for the day was the Mini Land. It was covered with snow and was really beautiful
I blocked the snow white 'cause I only like the dwarfs but not the snow.
Don't really know what I was trying to do.
Within the Miniland there was a Trick Eye Museum so we decided to give it a try.
Walked into a restaurant with no chinese nor english again. We don't understand them they don't understand us and we just point to whatever we think we know and we got all these.
Super spicy chicken and I can't finish it. 'Cause it was too spicy
Steamed egg
and self made seaweed ball. This is good. We have this throughout the trip even in Seoul
Got a ice candy and ended the day.
Day 4
Checked out of the hotel, return the rental car and took Jeju Air back to Seoul. When you return the rental car you got to pump the petrol back for them and the petrol there is really expensive. It's like S$60 for a quarter of petrol.
Took a cab from Incheon to the hotel - IP Boutique, Itaewon. Had lunch, gym and rested till dinner time. It was 31 Dec New Year's Eve so we had dinner at Ondal, located at Sheraton Walkerhill and countdown to New Year (:
Seaweed self made ball again (:
Kimchi Rice with Pork
#ootd for NYE
Ending Part 1 for my Seoul trip. Shall update Part 2 soon (: