We separated from my brother's family on Sunday morning. They were heading home and we were going to Jeju. A taxi was arranged to pick us up at 6am. I had contemplated to save money by taking a taxi to Seoul station and then the airport train to Gimpo Airport. After much thought, it is better to spend money to save hassle and possible heartache. Imagine missing the flight.....
It was less than an hour's ride and we arrived safely and on time at the Gimpo Airport. The doughnuts were calling out to the kids.
There was ample time and we had time to take bfast. The flight went without a hitch.
It was a 1 hourish flight and just nice for a cat nap to make up for what we had lost.
Hello Jeju!
The most pleasant surprise must be to find Jeju at a super comfortable 16 degrees. It was a fantastic break from the freezing Seoul. It was like aircon temperature and we could even run around in our light jacket.
As it was a domestic flight, there was no need to clear the immigration. The 1st stop was to collect the rental car. We had to take a shuttle bus to the rental place.
We had decided to do a self-drive in Jeju unless the weather conditions are bad, which will add on to the difficulty of being the left hand drive. The alternative would be to book a driver and it would easily cost 150k won for 8 hours; that is already more expensive than the 3-day car rental of about 130k won.
To drive in Korea, we need to get an IDP and we got ours a week before.
We rented our car from Lotte, which is one of the more reputable car companies in Jeju. The rental was so cheap probably bcos I opted for the smallest and cheapest car - Hyundai Morning.
It was small, in fact it was tiny. Daddy Lim called it the Mickey Mouse car and complained that it never reaches 80km/hr. Hohoho.
Its boot can barely fit our big luggage and the smaller one had to share the back seat with the kids. All other backpack and barangs had to be squeezed in whatever space that we could find. I am not complaining; I am saving $$. Hoho.
We planned for 4 activities for the day. The 1st was to go pick some oranges. In Jeju, the GPS works by keying in the venue's telephone number. Fortunately, the places that we planned were all touristy and the telephone numbers were easily found on the internet.
The orange picking was at the Baengnokdam Farm (723-3210). It was difficult to find information on such farms and this is one of the few that I managed to find. It cost us 5k won each and we were each given a basket. We can eat all that we want while plucking and keep whatever that we can keep in the basket.
I was excited, our last orange picking experience was during our 1st package tour trip to Korea and it was great. The oranges were tangy and sweet, just the way I like it. The weather was also much colder and the oranges were like straight from the fridge.
We were led to the farm and told that the uglier the oranges were, the nicer they were. So, the picking started.
In the end, we only picked and brought home 11 oranges, which was barely a basketful. The experience didn't meet up to my expectations; the oranges were definitely less flavorful and sweet as I expected. Nevertheless, it was an experience.
Next stop, the Manjanggul Lava Cave (783-4818). On the way to the cave, we decided to stop for lunch at one of those traditional Korean eating places. It was another experience bcos the menu was solely in Korean. After some attempts with Google translate, we ended up with some spicy Korean beef stew that we guessed were some hangover soups even though none of us needed to nurse any hangovers. Lol.
There was a generous amount of vegetable and bean sprouts and only a couple of slices of beef. We had to supplement the lunch with snacks from the convenience store opposite, where we had fried chicken and triangle rice. Yum.
I also found this really nice Starbucks Latte. They also carried Tiger Sugar wor, without the bubbles though. It still taste like chendol to me. Haha.
We made it to the... entrance of the cave. Haha. Upon arrival, we realise that we wouldn't have enough time for the remaining 2 events and decided to forsake the cave. We at least took pictures. Hehe.
Lil Shauna was fashioning my new Adidas jacket. So nice!
The Jeju Gimnyeong Maze Land (782-9266) is 5-min's drive from the cave.
The Jeju Gimnyeong Maze Land (782-9266) is 5-min's drive from the cave.
This definitely called for a parent and Child competition to see who is able to ring the bell 1st.
The maze is made up of tall leaves wall.
We still won against the kids despite giving them a little head start.
The kids did complete the maze course too.
The maze park is also home to plenty of stray cats.
One of them decided to take a warm winter nap on Lil Shauna's lap.
Daddy Lim was happily taking selfie (again??!!) with the cats. Luckily I stopped him in time or he would have gone on a hunt to take selfie with all the strays in the park. Zzz.
The last stop of the day was the Jeju Bike Rail Park (783-0033). We were rushing to ensure that we get to the park by 4pm as it closes by 5pm. I had booked tickets via Klook at about S$11 per pax and willingly pay bcos it was a much rave about attraction in Jeju.
Each car comfortably seats 4 and the cars are well protected from the weather elements. I had thought that we needed to pedal hard to burn some calories only to realise that it was very much e-powered. Chey.
The bike rail park also comes with its little animal farm.
The kids were probably more excited about playing with the park's friendly 旺财 than the bike. Lol.
It was still early but we decided to head for the hotel, which is located at the East of Jeju. Our attractions were planned such that we traveled from the center of Jeju to the East and it didn't make sense to backtrack.
We had 2 nights stay at the Best Seongsan hotel (784-0559). Given that we were in a hostel before that, the hotel was a luxury. We had 2 big soft and fluffy beds!
We took a little rest before venturing out for dinner - BBQ black pork. The hotel staff recommended the restaurant and it was really valued for money. We spent about S$100 but had big thick black pork. Though they were probably not the best cuts, we were tremendously satisfied.
There was a lot of pork... But we also ate all of them. Hohoho. And top it off with a sweet coffee.
We rolled back to the hotel for an early hike bcos we needed to wake up early to hike Hallasan the next morning. Yay!
Mummy Lim
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