mstravelicious: January 2016

Last stop in 2015: Seoul

Asia 8:14 PM

The last leg of my Asia trip in 2015 was in Seoul, South Korea. While I fell ill in this last stop, I was still able to go to the following 5+ places and not take a toll on my health despite the hustling and bustling of the city streets. Let me share with you some of the places I went as well as provide some more insight of other touristy things to do in Seoul.

1. Myungdong
My favourite spot in Seoul was probably Myeongdong, as it’s like a shopping haven. Here, they have all kinds of shops from beauty products, clothing, accessories, and more.

I did a lot of damage to my wallet here, but I believe it’s money well spent. My favourite finds here aside from beauty products (which I will talk about in another post) would be the fancy socks they sell on the streets, these amazing phone case I got which cost a fortune on amazon and ebay, and the vast amount of selection of quality clothing and accessories.

2. Dondaemun

Dongdaemun Market is one of large commercial district comprising traditional markets and shopping centre in Seoul! It has lots more to offer than MyungDong. Unfortunately, for me when I got there most of the stuff were closed. But it wasn’t as bad, there’s another mall right beside it and it opens till super late! So while I spent my time at the mall, I also saw some nice night view in Dongdaemun.

This is the actual Dongdaemun at night. It’s nice to see some traditional architecture in a modern world, don’t you think?

I had to take a picture of this view as I walked over the bridge towards the Dongdaemun Market as this view reminded me a lot like Gion. Thoughts?

3. Insadong

Insadong is known for Korean traditional culture and crafts right in the streets of Seoul. Stores at Insadong specialize in a wide variety of goods that can only be purchased or appreciated in Korea. For example: hanbok (traditional Korean clothing), hanji (traditional Korean paper), traditional tea pottery and folk crafts.

As soon as I walked out the subway station, I immediately saw this wall art. Impressive for a subway exit, right?

While I didn’t shop much at Insadong, I was able to eat a hearty lunch at this very traditional looking restaurants with some neat decor. Sneak peak again... see more in the next post.

4. N. Seoul Tower

From where I was staying, I was able to see this tower outside my window every day and night. I didn’t actually go up to the tower since the ride on the tram to get there was a 1 hour wait, but I did take some good shot at the foot of the hill.

Mind you, since the N. Seoul Tower is on a hill, you can actually see it anywhere on the streets. And of course, night views are always the best.

And here’s a view from the bottom of the hill / mountain where N. Seoul Tower is located.

5. Ewha Women University

According to my research Ewha Women’s University was a relatively popular tourist attraction with stores similar to those like Myungdong. But when I got there, the roads were pretty quiet, and no tourists were found. Even the tourist booths found in this area has been closed due to the decreased number of tourist. However, I was able to find a neat store that sold some very decent and inexpensive accessories and other goods. Don’t believe me? I got these for ₩9,000!

There are other food places along this street, but I will leave that for my next post. Here’s a tiny spoiler:

But let’s not end there, shall we? At the end of the road lies the Ewha Women University, and it was when I finally call it a day. The school looked really nice. And in this area, I felt very safe as it’s populate by ladies, and it’s nice to be surround by lady strangers than man strangers right?

Other attractions I've visited

So before I left Seoul for my flight back home, I did stop by a couple places. First was the Post office at Myungdong. It’s a spectacular structure during the day or at night. Obviously, I wasn’t only there just because I want to see the structure, I was on a mission to send out some post cards.

I also went to Seoul station for my last minute shopping before I head to Icheon International Airport. All was good in Seoul… I just wished I wasn’t sick and had more time to do other stuff. Below is a list of places I would love to visit next time, feel free to take a look if you get a chance to go there yourself.

Attractions I would love to visit in the future

Listed below are some of the places I would like to go in Seoul but didn’t get to because if fell ill. Next time, maybe.

Dongdaemun Market
Hongdae Market
Petite France
Nami Island
Noryangjin Fish Market
Gangnam Beauty Belt
Seoul Global Cultural Centre – to try on a hanbok

Until next time, Seoul!

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5 Must-try Food in Jeju

Asia 12:23 PM

How could I wrap up on my trip Jeju without mentioning the food?

While my list is not even close to being comprehensive, I’ve listed 5 items which I felt was the must-try food when travelling Jeju, ranging from meat, seafood and desserts. If you do go there, do try it out yourselves. It will definitely get you drooling as it did to me.

1. Jeju Black Pork BBQ

Korea is famous for BBQ especially for Pork Belly. However, Jeju Island offers something even better – Black Pork BBQ.

Let me be honest, I am not a big fan of pork as pork generally have a porky taste that I dislike. But the black pork in Jeju brought my understanding and knowledge of pork to a whole new level.

Under the recommendation of my host, we went to this restaurant, 늘봄흑돼지 (Neul Bom), located at 늘봄흑돼지 한라대학로 12, 제주시, 제주특별자치도, KR (2343-3 Nohyeong-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea); telephone: 774 9001. For more information, here’s the website.

Upon sitting down in our seats, the servers started putting down a vast amount of side dishes on our tables, filling the entire table, except for the grill. My favourite was the spicy cold crabs. I think it was raw too, my favourite.

And here’s the main course: the Jeju black pork at all it’s stages (raw, cooking, cooked, and ready to be consumed). I can only imagine how good it taste right now.

It was delicious, I would go back just for it. (Says the person who doesn’t like eating pork).

2. Fresh Raw Seafood

From my last two posts, I’ve vaguely introduce you to the Haenyeos (해녀, 海女, female divers). Haenyeos are female divers who goes into the sea without any breathing equipment to catch seafood like clams, octopus, spoon worms, seaweed, etc. They are able to dive up to 20m below sea leavel for anywhere between 30 secs to 2 minutes each time. The ages of Haenyeos ranges from as young as 18 to 80. Currently, there are around 20,000 Haenyeos and mainly concentrated in Jeju. However, it is expected that Haenyeos will be disappear in 20 years as the younger generation are less likely to pick up these skills due to the harsh conditions of this occupation.

Mentioned in my previous post, this was a nice find near the Jeongbang Waterfalls. Yes, the lady cutting up the seafood is a Haenyeo!

Here's a sneak peak of how she prepared our delicious dish of fresh seafood!

I want some right now – craving for fresh seafood (Octopus, sea cucumber, sea snail, abalone, conch, etc.). If only…

3. Mackerel and Horse Mackerel

Under the recommendation of the host where I was staying in Jeju, she recommended us this restaurant, 덤장 (Deomjang) that was famous for raw and grilled Mackerel, among many other seafood. So I decided to try it out, as my love for mackerel is. I was not disappointed.

There’s two locations in Jeju, but the one I went to is at Seogwipo-si. The exact address is 덤장 예래동 2119, 서귀포시, 제주특별자치도, KR (2119 Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea); telephone: 738 2550. For more information, click here.

As soon as we sat down, the servers again piled up our table with many many Korean appetizers. My favourite was the kimchi cucumbers and the soya sauce marinated raw crabs. Why can’t the serve this in all Korean restaurants here?

Next up is the mix of mackerel sashimi. There is the original and the horse mackerel. This was my first time eating horse mackerel, it’s fish (not horse), but the texture is a more tough and has a more fishy taste. The colour of the horse mackerel is also darker compared to the normal mackerel.

Obviously, raw fish isn’t enough to feed my hungry tummy. I also ordered other foods to enjoy on a hot day. From the top left to the bottom right: (1) spicy seafood stew, (2) cuttlefish cold buckwheat noodles, (3) grilled mackerel, and (4) sea urchin seaweed soup.

4. Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon

Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon is one of the must goes if you are in Jeju Island. Here, you will enjoy the infamous sea urchin noodles, abalone congee and sashimi noodles. This restaurant is really popular in Jeju Island, so my suggestion is to go during off-hours (I went here when it as around 2PM. It was considered off-hours, but there were still a lot of people.)

The location of this restaurant is: 1506 Dongbok-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju, Jeju-do, South Korea; telephone: 783 5438

And now a sneak peak of all the delicious foods this restaurant has to offer!

First, Abalone Porridge (jeonbok-ju), 10,000 won per bowl. As with every meal in Korea, the servers will bring sever side dishes, and in particular with this one, you can refill what you like by yourself!

Next is the sea urchin noodles (seongge-guksu), 8,000 won per powl. while the sea urchin is fresh, it is cooked. So the texture might be a little different from the raw ones you eat in Japan.

Finally, my favourite dish was the sashimi noodles (hwoe-guksu), which is supposed to be a single serving, but it was a large serving. The dish has a combination of sashimi tossed with cold noodles with a mixture of a sweet and spicy Korean sauce. It was very refreshing and delicious.

Aside from the food, the restaurant also has a really nice view of the Pacific Ocean. Definitely worth the trip if you ask me!

5. Osulloc Green Tea Desserts

Built by AmorePacific, Osulloc Tea Museum is more than a museum. If you are familiar with Korean cosmetics like Innisfree or Laneige, this place is a must.

Inside this place, there is a shop that features a various different products made in Jeju Island. There is also a cafe, which serves various kinds of delicious drinks and desserts. Displayed below is matcha ice cream in matcha latte, matcha latte with red bean and genmaicha ice cream.

And if you want you could also walk outside onto the tea farm between the rows and rows of bushes.

Jeju, I will come back for more. I promise. The vast amount of delicious food on this island is worth the trip even if it’s on the other side of the world.

GPS Coordinates to amazing restaurants in Jeju Island

Below are the telephone numbers of the restaurants I’ve visited in Jeju Island:

늘봄흑돼지 (Neul Bom): 774 9001
Fresh seafood by Jeongbang Waterfall (Jeongbang Waterfall): 733 1530
덤장 (Deomjang): 738 2550
Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon: 783 5438
Osulloc Tea Museum: 794 5312

Hope you enjoy reading about my posts in Jeju! Thanks for reading!

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The Jeju Adventure Continues

Asia 11:50 AM

The second and last day at Jeju, I made my way to visit more attractions on the north east side of the island in Jochoneup and Gujwaeup. And it was a fascinating one. On my second day in Jeju, I saw a glimpse of the whole world, went underground and along the coast. Join me, as I share with you this amazing Jeju adventure.

Jeju Miniland

What is a better way to see everything, every attraction of every country around the world, the miniature version of course. I had a great time at Jeju Miniland where I saw miniature size of so many attractions around the world. Some are still on my bucket list, are they on your bucket list too?

These aren’t the only attractions at Miniland, but you must go there yourself to find out! You can also find more information here.

Sangumburi
Deviating from the plan while driving to the next location, I found myself standing at one of the volcanic craters at Sangumburi just perhaps 5 minute drive from Jeju Miniland. And wow, was it a surprise.

Sangumburi is a crater of an extinct volcano. And unlike Hallasan, this one exploded quickly, but did not spew much lava nor did it form much of a surrounding cone, making it unique in the country. If you look at the crater from the top, it looks somewhat like a circular stadium. There is a variety of plants covering this crater of about 650m wide, 100m deep and 2,070m in circumference. And you definitely need to be there yourself to see this phenomenon, or for now you can check out this website.

The crater itself, as you can tell looks a bit more lush compare to the dried flat land on an autumn’s day, but the view is still amazing, and you can see people hiking, picnicking and so much more!

Mazeland!
Getting back on track as i drive northeast towards my next destination, the amazing Mazeland! How I heard about this place was not through research, but through watching my favourite variety show, Running Man. It is by far the funniest and the most creative variety I ever watched. Now back to the Mazeland. There are a total of 3 mazes when I was there, but I did see signs of a 4th one, still a work in progress. The mazes combined creates some unique images that symbolizes Jeju.

If you can’t see the map in the image above, don’t worry, there’s a better one inside the attraction.

Maze 1 and Maze 2 was a relatively easy one. The difficult one was Maze 3, the one on the far left in the image. I got lost so many times, but going to the eyes of the maze helped. Finding the eyes though had its own challenges. Below are just a couple of pictures of the maze before I got lost.

And if you are not much of a maze fan, there’s an observatory where you can enjoy the beautiful man-made scenery.

Manjanggul Cave

By the afternoon, it became quite hot and humid in Jeju. But that’s alright, because there are attractions / hikes that will keep you cool, and did I mention, it’s underground! The path to the underground starts off with a steep staircase into the darkness. And by steep, I meant very steep…

Then you will enter the mouth of the darkness with more stairs.

It’s not all that dark though, there are led lights throughout the cave which will light the way. Mind you, this is a 1 km hike to the end of the cave and another 1km back to the mouth of the cave.

At the end of the cave, you will see this fabulous wonder!

Heading back out the cave, better bring those shades out, because it will be a tough time to adjust after being in darkness for so long!

Jeju Haenyeo Museum

I had to visit this museum to learn more about the famous Haenyeo that made this island what it is today. It was very educational, and made me realize how important the Haenyeos were in Jeju. Haenyeo refers to female divers who dive into the ocean water to gather various shellfish, seaweed, etc., without using any underwater diving equipment. When diving underwater, a haenyeo carries only a pair of goggles, a round ball-like tube to keep her balance, and a basket to put her collections in. Such women involved in the fishing industry are known to be scattered all around Jeju-do, Korea, Japan, and even Russia.

According to what I learned from the museum, Haenyeos were the ones who drive the economy of Jeju, regardless of the harsh weather on the island. If you like a trip that’s educational, going to the Haenyeo Museum is a good idea. Plus, you get a nice view of the coast.

For more information, click here.

GPS Coordinates to Jeju attractions in the northeast side of Jeju Island

Again, before I close, here are some important information for all of you if you do decided to go to Jeju and see this place for yourself. Below are some coordinates of the attractions in the northeast side of Jeju Island, I didn’t go to all of them, but here are some suggestions:

Jeju Miniland: 782 7720
Sangumburi: 783 9900
Maze Land: 784 3838
Manjanggul Lava Cave: 710 7903
Jeju Haenyeo Museum: 782 9898

That's the end of my trip, but do stay tuned for my food post of Jeju coming soon!

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Last stop in 2015: Seoul

5 Must-try Food in Jeju

1. Jeju Black Pork BBQ

2. Fresh Raw Seafood

3. Mackerel and Horse Mackerel

4. Dongbok-ri Haenyeo-chon

5. Osulloc Green Tea Desserts

The Jeju Adventure Continues

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