Jeju Island, South Korea

So two days in Seoul has lapsed,  our next destination was the ultimate plan of the trip, that was Jeju Island. It was a bit hotter than the weather in Seoul, nevertheless, the  it was still worth for us to wear gloves and and jacket when we were on the go. Yes, it was sunny day, but the thick outfits, they were not for show.

It was convenient to set our tour to cover most essential parts of the island. Our guesthouse where we stayed has provided an extended service to cater the requirement from tourists like us. They have tour service complete with English tour guide too! The tours are divided into two, that are west course and east course. Each course is held everyday alternately and followed with Sunday as its off day. We were lucky to be able to join both courses throughout our stay.

First we were brought to Trick Art Museum, three dimensional famous painting experience in all the tricks of art. I must say, it is a must-go location when you are in Jeju.

The awesomeness of the trick is apparent when you capture the photo of yourselves in a correct angle.

Giant and the dwarf...

 

Pestering on the ladder...

and many exciting pose that couldn't be missed out from the visit!

Afterwards, we were brought to Seongeup Traditional village where we were drawn to the way of life of the original natives in Jeju Island.

Pig is their main dishes, and in fact black pig is the famous dishes that they serve to the tourist until nowadays. One interesting yet disgusting fact,back then, they used to have the pigs eating the poo of the villagers. What a harmony ecosystem, no?  (Euw? yeaaa..)

 

Next stop was to Sunrise Peak, the UNESCO World Natural Heritage. The scenery was breathtaking, I don't want to say much. When we were up there, the scenery and peaceful atmosphere were just enough to take all stress away from our mind.

 

We were intrigued, and we posed and posed...

The tour continues to cave exploration along Manjang Cave, the longest Lava tube in Asia. Ahaaa.. But definitely the  lava has frozen in the cold cave.

On the following tour, we were brought to the west side of Jeju Island.

This pictures were taken when we were brought to Suwaolbong Trekking, which is also another UNESCO World Geoparks.

Oppss.. this is not part of the tour. This is theJeju city center where our lodging is located.

This is the place where we had had our lunch for the day. It was very beautiful place that we can enjoy the scenery after having our lunch. There were a lot of pictures taken here by other mates, but I refused to join, I was sloppy to join them in the picture. What makes me put this picture in this entry is due to the story behind it.

While the rest of other mates busy with photography, I was thinking that it was the best time to perform the prayer while the bus wasn't moving. (Mind you, having to perform prayer while on the go in the country and to make it harder, island like this never been easy.)  So I hopped on the bus, seeing our tour guide, a lady in 50s was chattering with her co-guide. I asked her the direction of the sunset. She showed me the direction and when she added, "you" while pointing to the rest of my friends outside the bus " most beautiful" . I can't help but burst out of laughing and courteously thanked her.


OK the remark was not strange to be uttered to a young lady, but when it was from a Korean, whoa~!  
 Being me, I'm not interested in dwelling with compliments for long, plus with the skepticism, I keep it to myself .But somehow, occasion like this is worth to make it memorable, no?.. Hihi

 

Back to our West Course tour, we were brought to Spirited Garden, that is the world largest bonsai park, Halim Park( yes sounds like nama pakcik jiran sebelah rumah) .

And to wrap up the tour, our last visit was to Cheonjeyeon Waterfall, one of the famous waterfall in Jeju. It seems like a drawing portrait when we captured ourselves in the picture.

That`s all for the Seoul and Jeju moments 2013..

Bye !~

Winter moments in Seoul

Prologue;

My flight tix to Seoul was saved by the brief group whatsapp, when one of us shouted that the departure was on the next day, but at that point of time, I was still packing my luggage all the way in Paka! Had the conversation not happened the night before, then I might end up having good night sleep in Paka and wake up next morning just to find out that my fellow friends have boarded into the flight. Huwaaaa~ Ok that was the brief story about the  incident prior to the departure when I was on the verge of missing flight, again..

We boarded at 8 o'clock in the morning and the trip took us about 8 hours to reach there. As soon as we touched the Seoul land, we were welcome by its chill air, ahh..the execitement was slowly rising among us.

Our first tour kicked off as soon the night after arrival. It was meant for free and easy, but when Nadh suggested to go to Seoul Tower, we were on our feet immediately. From our stay to the destination, we took public bus followed with the subway.

Everyone of us was on our first time in Seoul, but like it or not, we have to make ourselves comfortable maneuvering the trip, silently prayed that we won't get lost in effort to read the maps and understand the routes of subway.

Operating the facilities that all written in Korean was one thing that we learned in hard way, because nobody seemed to bother to approach us.  Another panicky situation was when we hopped onto the bus that  accepted only coins in the transaction. We just arrived with only big notes of Korean currency available in our purses thus what we did was to ask people around rather than going to the shop nearby. I'm telling you, communicating with Korean people has never been always pleasant and easy. We tried to communicate with the Korean passers-by  to change the notes to coins. Some of the them simply ignored us when we waved them to stop, while some of them were very sweet who were trying to help, but the 'ayam-itik' communication wasn't less than funny to see.

Nevertheless, we finally reached our destination safely ,and we had fun throughout the 'try and error attempts'.

One of us, Indah is hard fan of Hello Kitty. When we learnt that Hello Kitty got its own cafe, all 6 of us were dragged to enjoy the caffeine.

Truthfully, I was amused with the creativity presented in every cup. Awesome and rare!

Oh, another pic from Seoul Tower, notice bench is made bend? Macam-macam..

The next day was heading to  Naami Island and Skiing! It took 45 1 and half hour to reach the jetty. It was not an island by the beach and whatnot, at least that was the island that I was expecting. It was untrue, but the scenery in the island has taken my breath away. The air of excitement rised another knots.

The beautiful island was one thing, and the opportunity to have fun in the snow was another reason for a perfect choice to be in Naami Island this trip.

 

It was approaching lunch, we were brought to enjoy our first Korean lunch. Upon seeing so many plates filled with little dishes before us, we looked at each other wondering the same thing " is this enough for a lunch? " But beggar can't be chooser,no?

The next destination was to go for skiing!

Apparently it wasn't as easy as it looks to get the ski board moving. It took loads of hard work that we felt shameful to the kids who were skiing effortlessly around us. Nevertheless, it was such a fantastic experience .Ha ha ha.

Our stay in Seoul was not for long. So we have another night left in Seoul before leaving to Jeju Island. We went to Myeongdong market afterwards to do some shopping. It was freeeezing cold in night time, but we have no choice, the shopping needs to be done, or we gonna missed it.

On the next day, our last day in Seoul, we went to Insadong to do last minute shopping, mainly the souvenirs to family and friends.

We went out quite early in the morning, seeing that our chartered van will pick us up before noon. There were not many local seen around at this time, and the atmosphere was very peaceful in chill wheather. I fell in love with Seoul instantly...  :)

YEHA Guesthouse,Jeju Island

23-27 February 2013

As soon as I grabbed the super cheap Jeju Air ticket from Seoul to Jeju, next item to confirm was the lodging. There was not really many options that we have, but it turned out that the limited option was among the best backpacker lodging  that we have ever experienced!

Touched down the Jeju land, the weather was warmer than Seoul. Thus it lifted the burden from wearing heavy and thick clothes for next few days in South Korea. Phewwssh~

Our first destination was Yeha Guest House, City Hall. What made it challenging was the communication with the cab driver. Soooo like itik and ayam talked about same thing but different languages. As a result, we were brought to Yeha Guest House, Terminal only to find out that we have arrived at the wrong branch of Yeha Guest house.*excitement turned off*.

Both Yeha were fine, though. The one at Terminal is a bit isolated from the hectic city, unlike City Hall branch. If you opted for peaceful and serene environment as soon as you popped out from the premise, Terminal branch is the best choice.

Nevertheless,having Yeha City Hall as our lodging was handy and met our purpose for convenient mobility and transportation that was available at anytime outside the premise.

The best part of the facilities here was high speed wifi, that during our resting time,everyone of us will spend hours staring at our smartphones with little sounds cracked in between. 'Bertafakur' katanye. Everytime! haha. The room was super comfy as compared to what we paid, super satisfactory. Hygiene was kept at its best, and they have the 'happy hour' that we can enjoy free light drinks from 7pm till night time in their community hall. Oh before I forget, free breakfast of eggs, breads are available too! And also the cooking facilities available for muslim use too. Sungguh bagus and respectful.

                                                                Breakfast in community hall

The interior deco is so fanciful, that meniarap on the floor wasn't that disgusting. Macam-macam..Hihiih..

Backpackers Inside Hostel, Seoul

20-22 February 2013


The next destination this year was to Seoul, South Korea. My friends and I agreed to give me full authority to choose the chart the plan for this trip.

We stayed in Seoul only for two nights, just a short stay to enjoy the activity in the winter time and its freezing cold nights.

A few months before the departure, I spent one whole night just to find the most affordable, cheapest, and most comfortable accomodation possible to five of us.

And I came across this Backpacker Inside Hostel and, gotcha!

 

 

We were greeted by a hunky Korean man named Ming (as what I recalled, I hope it`s right) and I think he was cool, introduced to us the facilities provided inside our room. And the reception area is even cooler! So much like a bachelor pad rather than a typical guest house. 
 

 

Best of all, our room was upgraded to a room ensuite the bathroom, unlike one that I have booked earlier. Thus, it saved our worry from having to share the same bathroom with strangers.

 

The hostel practises the concept of bed and breakfast. Thus, we saved penny for our breakfast. The simple breakfast of fried eggs and hot coffee were enough to kick start our day in freezing Seoul city.

 

 

 

Yes, it was a bit cramp, what with 5 of us plus our BIG luggages,and they were more than 5, y' know! Somehow girls and big luggages are synonim, and when they were with us during this trip, sometimes it caused  headache, considering a lot of travelling in Seoul was more convenient via subway, but sadly, frugal Juli has to sacrifice. Hu hu

 

If you can see the luggages in this pic, this is just PART of them all

Nonetheless, tolerant has to be at its best when you want to travel with a big smile pasted on your mouth throughout the trip.

My cosmetics got its 'home'!

I consider myself as a minimalist in possessing personal stuff. That`s why travelling light is not an issue for me, so long all my super-essential things are not missing from my backpack, my travelling is as perfect!

Shopping for makeup and stuff is one of my favourite item too. Again, I am a minimalist in collecting my own cosmetics. So, my cosmetic is also at minimum quantity, according to my judgement. :) Not that I`m a big fan of fashionistas whatsover, but, girls and makeup, hardly separable, I guess.

 

So when I learnt the existance of this makeup organizer, I was thrilled! Then I bought myself 2 in 1 piece acrylic  makeup organizer from this ebay seller here.

 

 

Everytime I was in my room, I can't help from staring the well displayed cosmetics of my own. Classy organizer..Kui  kui kui.

Plus , it has a few drawers to store eye shadows, compact powder and etc.

And to make it neater, it comes together with liner as well!