Day Two Itinerary: Seoul to Jeju Island [7-Day, 8-Night South Korea Trip 2014]

<< Day One 

Breakfast wasn't provided in our hotel voucher and after trying out some of the equipment in the hotel's gym, it's time to hit the street in seek of a meal to pacify the hungry tummy!

There were a number of cafes but i am more interested in getting something more substantial and maybe more traditional fare rather than sandwiches and Western style breakfast.

Strangely, the fruits attracted more of our attention; actually more for my younger sister who was checking out the prices of bananas. From rough calculation, i got the feeling fruits in Singapore are cheaper although i could not really comment on other factors like freshness, the lack of pesticides etc.

Sungnyemun Gate (숭례문; 崇禮門) - built a long time ago in 1398, some of you would have remembered reading about the case of an arson attack in Seoul where the entire roof of an ancient monument was burnt. Same gate, which was fully restored just last year.

I don't know what this is for. There was an ink stamp with a picture of Sungnyemun Gate and could have been used for competition (fill up the book of attractions and get a prize etc) or educational materials.

Cross the underpass next to the gate and you would have arrived at Namdaemun Market; said to be "Korea's largest traditional market with over 10,000 stores"! For details, click here!

A full meal has yet to materialise and after deliberating for a few minutes, we re-traced out footsteps to the above Korean restaurant for brunch instead. Luck was on our side; it was really popular with the locals! To take a look at what we have, check out my review here.

Taking the Airport Railroad Express (AREX) again; this time to Gimpo International Aiport for our flight to Jeju Island! I was darn excited as i have yet to "conquer" a wonder of the world!

From the railroad express station, it was a long, mindless walk to the airport. I didn't time even though it did seem like it would take forever for us to reach.

Finally! Serving mainly domestic destination and limited international routes to China, Japan and Taiwan, our departure would be via the domestic terminal. 

Fans of Korean period drama would be aware what the above is; a sain-gyo palanquin which is similar to the Chinese sedan chairs. The person inside would have to seat cross-legged and i think that's not very functional; i would get terrible leg cramps if i sit like that for even a short period of time! 

That's a big bunch of Korean flags! 

Everything was in Hangul once again and i am thankful we still have a copy of our flight number. There wasn't anything much to do in the domestic terminal and i made use of the time to take a dump in the toilet. 

Our airplane to Jeju; via Jeju Air of course! It just sounds right to take this airline. I am kidding of course; reviews generally point to Jeju Air / Eastar Jet as they have an English language portal and i went with Jeju simply because the tickets for the timing i wanted were cheaper. 

Getting ready to take off! For those who are interested to know, i paid ₩135,000 (roughly S$160) per person for a two-way trip from Seoul to Jeju. 

Like most, if not all low cost airlines (Jeju Air is one of them), there wasn't any in-flight entertainment system although it is never an issue for me when it is daytime as i could look out and marvel at the view right beneath.

35 minutes into the journey - guess we were getting closer to Jeju as there were only pockets of islands which mean we were getting away from the peninsular. 

Huge body of cottony clouds floating above Jeju; not a good sign as it could mean rain in the next few days! I like the rain but not when i am travelling! 

Modern windmills on the island! I ever mentioned before that Jeju has three abundances and one of which is the wind; hence, it only natural to harvest the wind for cheap, eco-friendly power! 

A mere delay of three minutes from the official arrival time and we had landed on the tarmac of Jeju International Aiport; second busiest airport in Korea by the way. 

The first thing we did upon arrival was to register with KT Kumho, the car rental agency we engaged in Jeju and took the shuttle to their professional centre where we collected our Hyundai Morning! For information on renting a car in Jeju, visit here!

Let's begin with a visit to the touristy yet pretty impressive Yongduam Rock! 

I personally found Jeju Island to be very tourist friendly and could have been because of its award as one of the new seven wonders of nature and its proximity to an increasingly affluent China. 

Parked the car somewhere near Dongmun Market Place as i missed the correct turn to Black Pork Street (黑猪肉一条街)! %^#$%#$%@$%. I followed the map diligently yet we got the feeling we were lost! 

A minute later - we found the street! Yipeee! Time for a pork-full dinner and our choice was Hwaro Hyang Restaurant. Frankly, i could not discern the differences from normal pork. For my review (and more photos), click here. 

Even though black pork is a local delicacy, the street wasn't as crowded as i expected. Maybe because it was a Thursday and like anywhere else, the crowd sometimes descend only on weekends. 

There were close to ten restaurants serving black pork but none was as popular as Hwaro-Hyang so i guess we did the right thing by going with the Great Kon's recommendation! haha.

Walk further down the street and you would come to a road where there was a amusement park right across! If not for the lack of time, we would have paid it a visit!

Funny we still have time for Dongmun Market Place! Correction, it's a short cut to the place where i parked the car! For more pictures of the traditional market, click here. 

After paying an exorbitant parking fee of ₩3,500 for two hours, we made our way through the dark mountain road to the Southern part of Jeju where we eventually made it to Galeum Guesthouse at Seogwipo. Click here for the review. 

Day Three >>

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For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip

(Seoul and Jeju Island), click HERE