Jeju Island Day 3

It was day 3 of our trip which meant it was time for Andrew and me to leave the Island Guesthouse and travel to another part of the island, Seogwipo.  In Seogwipo, we'd be staying at the Tae Gong Gak Inn.  This inn and guesthouse was recommended to me by a fellow HWS student, Amy, who had stayed there last spring while she was studying abroad in Seoul, also at Yonsei University.

We woke up, had breakfast and then headed out.  We went to go tour a historical, but still functioning, Buddhist temple that was only a few miles from the Island Guesthouse.  Ilene suggested it to us because she said it was really beautiful and had a great view of Insong-ri.  It was really cool to see a temple that had many ancient features but was still currently being used by the Buddhists in the area.  We walked around the temple and even hiked up part of the mountain that it was carved into, Mt. Sanbang, where there was a "fountain of youth".  Andrew took a drink from it, but I wasn't risking a parasite or some other fluke illness!

Andrew and me at the Mt. Sanbang Buddhist temple

We returned to the guesthouse shortly after and packed up our stuff.  It was sad saying goodbye to Ilene, she was such a big help and we liked spending time with her so much.  Naturally, she wrote out detailed instructions for us how to get to Seogwipo by bus and after we hugged and snapped some pictures we left.  The bus ride to Seogwipo was really easy.  We transferred once and while we were waiting for our next bus we ran into to an E-mart for a healthy lunch consisting of chocolate donuts and sliced pineapple!  We found Tae Gong Gak without any problems and checked into our room right away.  Sylvia and Peter, the owners, were so sweet and they were so excited to meet us!  It felt like they had been waiting for us to arrive all day.  Our room was beautiful, for the price of a hostel, it was incredibly clean and roomy and the best part was that we had an excellent view of Seogwipo Harbor.

The goal was to head back out immediately because there was so much more to see, but Andrew fell asleep after just "trying out the bed" and I couldn't help but want a nap either.  We did go out soon afterwards though and Peter and Sylvia showed us exactly where everything was.  Seogwipo is known for the two most famous waterfalls of Jeju, Cheonjiyeon and Jongbang.  With detailed directions from Sylvia and Peter (they actually showed us pictures on a computer monitor of how to get there!) we easily found our way to the first one, Jongbang.  The Jongbang waterfall is said to be the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean.  We bought our tickets and hiked down a small path, and then all of a sudden there it was right there in front of us; it was absolutely breathtaking!  We were so close to it, and there were tons of other people around, most likely from all different parts of the world, admiring the falls and posing for pictures.  We took plenty of pictures but then left right away because Peter recommended we check out the Saeyeon Bridge before sunset.

Having another "Am I really here?" moment at Jongbang waterfall. 

We walked over to Seogwipo Harbor and we hustled in order to make the sunset.  We made it though and it was fantastic.  We walked across the Saeyeon Bridge as the sun was setting and we had a terrific view.  The Saeyon Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that connects Seogwipo Harbor to Saesom Island.  Saesom Island, meaning "bird island", is a beautiful little island that has a small nature path, as well as a path through the lava rock formations, which allow you to get a bit farther out into the ocean.  While walking Saesom, we met a cool guy from Sweden whose name I unfortunately can't remember.  It was fun to talk to him for a bit and share stories; he's just traveling around the world while he's "still young" he says.  He offered to take a picture of Andrew and me, and we returned the favor. 

Andrew and me on Saesom Island, compliments of the cool Swedish guy.

The beautiful Sayeon Bridge just as the sun was setting; to the right is Seogwipo Harbor.

After we left Saesom it was dark and Sylvia and Peter told us that was the perfect time to see the Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.  It was only a short walk away from the heart of Seogwipo harbor and we even made friends on the way!  We met a couple, probably a few years older than Andrew and me, who were also looking for the waterfalls.  The girl is from Canada and she's been teaching English in Seoul for almost 2 years.  She was traveling with a guy who is studying in Seoul but he's only been here for a few months.  Andrew and I believe they are an item, but the verdict's still out.  We pointed them in the right direction of the waterfalls and then kept bumping into them, turns out they were staying at our inn so we even had breakfast with them the next morning!  They even offered to give us a ride to the airport since they had rented a car, which was extremely nice of them, but our flights were at two different times.  Note, I respectfully declined the offer since the second they mentioned "rental car" Andrew couldn't stop fuming.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall was located in a beautiful manmade park that was all lit up.  The sight of the falls with the lights on it was just gorgeous.  I noticed that at every waterfall we'd been to there were two sets of people, those that just stared in awe, and those that were busy taking pictures, snapping a hundred shots a minute.  I believe Andrew and I belonged to the first group, but then transitioned into the second.  For the first few minutes we couldn't help but just stare and marvel in the falls' beauty, it was such an amazing sight and it felt so good to finally be seeing all the cool things that we had been planning for and reading about for so long.  

Admiring the amazing scenery, Cheonjiyeon Waterfall.

We were starving at this point so we were happy when Sylvia recommended a delicious multi-course Korean restaurant nearby.  In fact, a couple of Sylvia's friends happened to be at the inn visiting Sylvia and they offered to show Andrew and me right where the restaurant was!  It was quite a hoot getting a personal tour from these two ladies; they were both really sweet but spoke very little English.  They did show us around the area a bit on the way to dinner and we got a very nice tour in Korean!  At one point one of the ladies even picked a purple flower from a garden on the side of the street and put it in my ear, so tropical island like!

The area that the restaurant was located in is called "Lee Jung Seop Street".  The surrounding streets were lined with the interesting artwork of Lee Jung Seop, a famous old Korean artist.  The restaurant was really great; our server was so friendly and he even knew the two ladies that had shown us to the restaurant, so when we got there it felt like one big party!  We ordered the multi-course meal (in Korea they refer to that as a "set") for two and it began with a delicious pumpkin rice porridge, and included beef tartare, a scallion pancake, Korean noodles, kiwi salad, stuffed shrimp, spring rolls, fish, and two beef patties.  The food was absolutely delicious, by far the best Korean food that I've had yet.  Perhaps the funniest part of the evening was that every time our waiter approached our table with another course, he would yell "Yooohooo" in a very high-pitched voice.  It was hysterical, if only every waiter did that!

In the spirit of capturing every detail of Jeju, Andrew and I were taking pictures of each course we got and at one point our waiter saw this, took the camera, and began photographing the food for us!  It was so funny and we both couldn't stop laughing afterwards.  But the pictures did come out great and just looking at them makes me crave that Jeju food.  Our last course was a yummy citrus dessert drink, and then we headed back to the inn, quite exhausted but extremely satisfied.

Just arrived at the restaurant with the help of Sylvia's two wonderful friends.  Notice the flower that they attached to my ear.

Our awesome waiter helping to peel the skin off the delicious Jeju fish.  Yooohoooo!

E-mart

Today I needed to do a little grocery shopping and since we always go to Grand Mart I thought I'd try something new. E-mart is the biggest retailer in South Korea and it is known around here as a "mega-store". It's kind of like a Walmart Supercenter, in that it carries everything from clothes to electronics to groceries. I went to the one in Yongsan, and in my opinion, it's much nicer than Walmart. Everywhere you turn there is an E-mart employee ready to help you, and if they don't speak English then they go and find someone who does. Also, they were giving away many free samples which made shopping on an empty stomach much more enjoyable.

My friends and I have been cooking a lot more because we've quickly realized that eating out for multiple meals a day is not only unhealthy, but also a big waste of money. We haven't been that adventurous with our cooking yet, but we're working on it. The types of things we've been making are basically sandwiches for lunch, scrambled eggs and egg sandwiches for breakfast, and usually fried rice with some meat or vegetables in it for dinner. We've also made some different types of stir-frys and we're going to try pasta this week. We'd like to make more but the kitchen in our dorm does not have any ovens, just stovetops. We were told that Koreans don't use ovens that often to prepare meals and that's why we don't have any. So we've been getting creative with the microwave and stove! If you know any simple recipes that we could throw together, let me know!

E-mart is much bigger than Grand Mart, which I think I've mentioned is our local grocery/department store in Sinchon. E-mart had a much bigger variety of everything, including a huge bakery, a fish market, and a large produce section. Apples, cereal, and cheese were on my list, and I didn't deviate from my list because E-mart was a bit of a hike from Sinchon and I didn't want to have to carry many bags. I also got some dish soap because with all of the residents of SK Global House sharing one big kitchen, the pots and pans have been getting a little grody. All of the items I got were a little bit cheaper than at Grand Mart, but not by much. Produce is incredibly expensive here because all the rain during the monsoon season has been bad for the crops. I bought a bag of 7 small to medium-sized apples and it cost me 6,900 won, which is about $6. I even saw a watermelon on sale for 35,000 won, which is over 30 bucks! The cheese and cereal are both considered "Western" items so they too were expensive. The pack of cheese I bought (individual slices just like American cheese, but they don't call it that here!) was 4,980 won, which is about $4.50. Lastly, the cereal almost killed me. Most Koreans really don't eat cereal here, or any "breakfast item" for that matter, so how anyone can wake up and have a big bowl of ramen and squid soup is beyond me! So, after unsuccessfully trying to make my beloved Cinnamon Toast Crunch last more than a week, I needed to buy some cereal. I bought a mid-priced box of Post cranberry and granola flakes which cost 6,950 won, which is a little over 6 bucks.

So it wasn't the cheapest grocery store trip, but all necessary items for an American college student living in Seoul! It was fun checking out a different grocery store and a different part of the city, but I always forget that once I leave Sinchon, I'm no longer surrounded by as many international students and therefore people definitely look at me more. As I mentioned in my last post, it really doesn't bother me as much as it did before. Also it's occurred to me that when I pass newborns and little babies in the stores and on the subway, I could possibly be one of the first Caucasians that they've ever seen. I know that's a strange thought, but being a foreigner (and an obvious one at that) in such a big city, these are the types of things that go through my mind.

Another cool thing about going to E-mart was that the subway line to get there, line 1, uses a Korail train, or a "KTX". The KTX is a newer model train that travels at a much higher speed than the conventional trains. I tried to read about it at the subway station while waiting for the train, but much of the sign was in Korean. An interesting fact about the KTX is that the train is designed to look like a shark. I was not at the top of the platform, so I couldn't actually see it, but here's a picture I found that resembles the picture on the KTX info board I was reading from: