Jeju Island

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Jeju Island for a few days.  I left on Friday after work from Gimpo airport.  I took a bus to Gangnam and then took the express train (line 9, brown) straight to the airport.  It was so easy I almost felt guilty.  

When I arrived at the airport in Jeju, Helen, my co-teacher, and her family picked me up.  They graciously allowed me to stay with them for the duration of my trip.  They had recently moved into a larger space next door but paid a little extra so that Helen and I could have a comfortable place to stay while we were on vacation.  

The family's apartment on left and where Helen and I stayed on the right. 

On Saturday we all went to Udu Island.  To go to Udo we drove from the apartment for about an hour, then we drove onto the ferry in our car.  The ferry ride was really short.  They could have made a bridge that distance if they really wanted to.  Then we went all around the small island of Udo. 

First we took a small hike to see a spectacular view of the island. 

<--- Udo Island

 After lunch (which was delicious!) we spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.  And by beach I actually mean a shaded little hangout area.  I went into the water for a little bit but it was cloudy, muddy, and filled with seaweed. It was pretty gross.  Instead, I just stared out at the sea.  Ok, ok, I admit: I just slept a lot.  

By sunset we were back on Jeju and went on another small walk to an area that a famous drama was filmed.  (By now I am convinced that every square inch of Korea has been used for a drama location).  It was really pretty in general but the most amazing part was seeing the ocean sparkle with light from the moon.  Sadly, it doesn't quite capture on film. 

 

On Sunday we went to Helen's sister's workplace because it's on the foot of Halla Mountain, a volcano almost 2,000 meters high, making it the tallest mountain in South Korea.  I geeked out over the eco roof they had.  

 <--- green rooftop! 

Hello volcano. 

Deer living on the business compound. 

We went to a park/beach with some crystal blue turquoise water.

Sarah and Helen

Following that we went to the Manjanggul caves which are some of the longest lava tubes in the world and the Kimnyoung Maze Park which was entertaining.  It's like those corn mazes only made of bushes instead of corn.  There was once a famous LG commercial filmed here. 

Monday was another beach day.  But first we stopped at got some famous Jeju bread. 

Red bean buns

The two ladies who make them

Staring out at the beautiful blue

Sunset in Jeju-do

It was a good vacation and Jeju surpassed my expectations.  Everyone says it's great and like the Hawaii of Korea and I honestly didn't believe them.  Asah!  It was!  The only downside to the trip was that I was sick with a nasty cough the entire time (and I still am sick today as I write this).  

Only 10 days left here in Korea!  Pretty hard to believe, huh!?

Weekend in Busan

Last weekend (June 5-6) Jennifer, Matt, and I went to Busan.  Busan is the second largest city in Korea with a population of 3.6 million.  It's the largest port city in Korea and the 5th largest port in the world.  It takes about 3.5 hours by KTX (fast/bullet) train from Seoul to Busan.  Having been up all night long clubbing in Seoul, we took a 7:15am train out from Seoul station and arrived at Busan station at about 10:30am or so.  From there we took the subway for about 45 minutes to the beach, Haeundae.  

It was awesome!  The weather was hot and sunny and we had a wonderful time sleeping (we did a lot of that!), reading, and chatting on the beach.  

On a side note: Jenn and I did an unofficial survey and found that the percentage of foreigners is about 30-40% at the beach.  Although it's not incredibly shocking since Koreans are notorious to hating the sun and getting suntans, we were still surprised.  On any given day, I find that the percentage of foreigners is closer to 5%.  

The beach was very busy! 

 

Some families cracked me up with their beach set-ups.  The family above was huddled under two umbrellas.  I didn't see or hear them talking to each other at all; rather they sat in silence observing the chaos around them. Oh, and me too even though I tried to discretely take their photo.  hah. 

This family [at right] had a picnic table with them and the two ladies are drinking Max beer from a can.  Notice also that the person to the left of the picnic table is hiding under a black umbrella in a hoodie.  Did I mention how hot it was?? 

The weekend we went was coincidentally also the Haeundae Sand Festival.  There were some really amazing ones out there.  I liked this one. 

A now, a word about sandwiches.  An ode, if you will.  I love sandwiches.  Love them.  I could eat them every day.  But sadly, not here in Korea.  I don't like their sandwiches.  They are usually ham (my least favorite deli meat), with a slice of processed orange cheese, and some mayonnaise concoction that I have yet to figure out what exactly it is.  The sandwiches here are thin and gross.  I thought I might never find a good sandwich (and no, I don't count the Quiznos and Subway chains as the sandwich I desire.  Yes, they do have those here) but then we found Breeze Burn's and oh. my. god.  

There was no wait to sit down (since we opted to sit indoors instead of on the patio) but the wait for food was ridiculous.  I think it took about an hour for our 2 sandwiches.  I don't remember how much the price was, but my guess is somewhere around w9,000.  Was it worth the wait?  YES.  Best sandwich I have had in a year.  I got the chicken club which came with a chicken breast, egg, tomato, bacon, and lettuce.  Yumtastic.