Annyeong Ha Sayur Part 2: Jeju Island

Annyeong bitchess!

Bertemu lagi dalam travelogue Korea part 2. Seperti yang telah di war-warkan di dalam post sebelum ini, on the first day of arrival tu dah gerak pergi Jeju di sebelah petangnya. Kalau tengok peta Korea, Seoul dengan Jeju ni agak jauh antara satu sama lain.

So kena ambil connecting flight. 50 minit naik Korean Air dari Gimpo Airport. Setibanya di Jeju, dah agak gelap,almaklumlah musim-musim winter ni memang cepat matahari tenggelam. Destinasi pertama ialah Yongduam Rock.

Batu berbentuk kepala naga ini terbentuk dari formation lava gunung berapi. Ada lah cerita di sebaliknya,yang tu kau orang pi baca dekat website tourism Korea okeh takde keje nak buat promosi tak berbayar kat sini.

Lepas mensnap beberapa keping gambar dari pelbagai posisi modelling, terus menuju ke restoren berdekatan untuk dinner. Dinner adalah steamboat seafood. Tapi orang Korea ni mana ade steamboat tomyam segalajadah,dia boil air lepastu humban semua seafood dalam tu. Untung surirumah Korea senang nye lah haiii hidup kau bagi laki makan rebus-rebus.

Usai dinner,we checked in at New Crown Hotel. Macam dekat Seoul jugak,this hotel is located right in the middle of the city.

The view from our tingkap:

-Hellooooooo Jeju!

Marsh kata cerita Autumn In My Heart ada shooting dekat Jeju juga,but takdelah tunjuk this developed side of Jeju. Tak sangka ada town yang happening untuk diteroka. Teruja,teruja,teruja! Ok dah diam kau ingat kau Ella nak ulang 'teruja' doploh kali.

The best thing about Korea ni ialah kedai-kedai dia tutup lambat. Sampai tengah malam pun boleh window shopping lagi. Kalau kat Dublin dulu pukul 6 petang kedai dah tutup. (patut la Ireland bankrap)

Suhu di Jeju adalah tidak sejuk,dalam 9-10 degree macamtu. So boleh keluar berjalan pakai seluar tidur jyeah jyeah.

The quest of authentic Korean food bermula setelah beberapa minit berjalan. Padahal baru berapa jam makan dinner. -____-" Sekarang you tell me lah how to lose weight haihh

We went to one of the cafe to have Dobukki. A simple Korean dish yang terdiri dari rice cakes,sayur and spicy gravy. Sedap gila woihh..

Owh and we ordered spicy ramen as well. Sedap gila jugak (apeje yang tak sedap kau ni)

These are considered as snacks for Korean. Dinner dia makan benda lain yang lebih heavy. Snacking cenggini tapi paha kau saiz batang mancis? *depresi*

The next day tu eksplorasi Jeju bermula. Tour dimulai di Ilchulbong Peak. Area bukit yang terbentuk dari formasi lava gunung berapi juga,diwartakan oleh Unesco sebagai salah satu new wonders of the world.

Tempat ni sungguh cun. Boleh mendaki puncak tu kalau nak tapi disebabkan angin kuat + sejuk melampau hasrat mendaki dibatalkan.

-According to Thariq ada this one drama ada scene hero heroin ride basikal ke arah lighthouse tu. Tapi tak ingat lah pulak drama apa.

Then kalau turun ke bawah ke arah pantai tu akan nampak macam ada rumah;

Its actually adalah headquarters penyelam wanita. These women menyelam untuk dapatkan fresh sea products. Some of them ada yang berumur 70 tahun,memang dari dulu tradisi lelaki pergi memancing laut dalam,perempuan menyelam di pesisiran carik kerang,kepah dan sewaktu dengannya. #respect

-Those things were alive. Boleh beli dan makan.

Sebelum balik beli sotong kering tepi jalan. Sotong dalam bahasa Korea bermaksud Bullshit. So kalau muka rasa nak kena tapak,boleh la order 'Pakcik, SOTONG satu'.

On the way nak ke Ichulbong ni sebenarnya ada singgah ladang oren.

Disebabkan Jeju Island ni tanah gunung berapi,so tak berapa subur untuk pertanian. Antara pokok yang mampu hidup subur ialah pokok oren lah. Jeju punya orange antara produk yang fofular di sini.

Perjalanan diteruskan ke Folk Village. Di Korea ni tak banyak tempat yang ada perkampungan tradisional macam di Jeju. Orang kampung di sini dikecualikan tax dan dapat free education as long as they preserve gaya hidup unik mereka.

-the house

-gaya seksi pengangkut air

-nampak tempat dia cangkung tu?situ ada lubang untuk berak. So nanti taik kita tu babi hitam dalam tu makan. Cukup bulan sembelih babi buat kenduri. Kembang tekak aku ni haa

Lepas puas meronda satu kampung we headed to some other tourist attractions in Jeju. Sini memang kawasan pelancong so banyak jugalah muzium-muzium diwujudkan. The first one that we went to was the Trick Art Museum.

Basically muzium ni takde ape pun,cuma dia ada murals yang kalau kita bergambar dengannya boleh buat efek ala-ala 3 dimension gitewhhh.

Contoh:

-terpaksa berbaring untuk snap gambar ini

Muzium seterusnya yang dilawati ialah Muzium Ripley's Believe it Or Not. Memang fun ok semua muzium dekat sini,langsung tak ilmiah (bimbotic gila ayat). Sesuai dengan kehendak diri yang tak minat sejarah.

There were a lot of unique stuff inside the museum. Kira tak bosan la duduk berejam dalam tu.

-a car covered with gold coins

The last museum that we went to was a Teddy Bear museum. Yes,they built a museum for teddy bears. How.....educational. T_T

-Korean retis with their teddy bears on display

At first i was like what's the point of all this?? Muzium anak patung?? But after a while guess who got overexcited upon seeing huge cuddly teddy bears?

Setelah puas membuang masa di muzium-muzium tak berapa educational ini, we had dinner. Macam biasa mesti ada kimchi dan segala side dishes lain. Tapi lauk utama ialah mackerel bakar dan telur.

Begitulah berakhirnya satu hari touring Pulau Jeju. Tetapi malam masih muda. We decided to went out for coffee and try makan toast yang nampak macam sedap dalam drama-drama KBS.

-my verdict: memang sedap. Roti dia tebal tapi crispy,not too sweet. Just perfect.

Demikianlah ceritanya 2 malam di Jeju Island. Keesokan harinya naik flight balik Seoul dan teruskan perjalanan ke Yong Pyong Ski Resort untuk aktiviti riadah bersalji. Jumpa lagi di episod mendatang dengan skil editing gambar yang lebih sampah. Bye.

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Annyeong Ha Sayur : Seoul

So i guess its no secret anymore that i went to Korea for my Chinese New Year break. Me,Korea? Gasp. Walaupun KPop tidak sebati di jiwaku, i went there with two hardcore anything-Korean-related fan,Marsh and Thariq. Thariq dah tengok every Korean show on earth (talk shows and game shows included), Marsh on the other hand is a true Korean drama fanatic,so much that she now have this unrealistic idea of a perfect romantic man. Great,we were all set to conquer Korea.

Objektif trip:experience everything Korea. (bahan research sebelum pergi:drama korea,shallow..i know)

Pergi ikut Non muslim tour sebab tour muslim tak fardhu kifayah semua buat time date yang kitorang tak free. So bantai je lah ikut non muslim tour,akibatnya kalau makan di restauran yang takde seafood terpaksa telan sayur-sayuran tatkala meja sebelah enak memanggang babi.

For this first part of the Korean trip saga, i would like to focus on Seoul.

Touch down di Incheon airport seawal 6.30 pagi. Perjalanan yang penuh barokah dimulai dengan melawat kilang wine. T_T

-we were given grape juice while everyone else drank red wine.

Lepastu we headed to Myeongdong area. Tempat orang bershopping. Di sinilah first encounter dengan golongan muda urban korea. Them koreans were oh so stylo, and there i was wearing my outdated autumn/winter 2008 River Island winter coat. Most of the ladies are gorgeous too tapi tak tau lah original ke tidak since iklan plastic surgery terpampang besar-besar dekat belakang bas.

Its a norm to get some work done to your face in Korea. So takpayah alasan bangang coverline wudhu' kekalkan keremajaan saya.

Wajah bahagia 2 hardcore fan korea:

Wajah tak berapa excited anti korea:

There were a lot of makciks selling this jajan made out of gula dan serbuk penaik. Sebab Marsh kata dia pernah nampak orang dalam drama Korea makan,we gave it a try.

-The taste was awfully sweet. With a hint of gula hangus

Petang first day tu we flew to Jeju Island-which will be covered in the upcoming post. The last 2 days of the trip we balik ke Seoul. Check in di Grand Ambassador Hotel, a very posh hotel located in te heart of Seoul city centre.

-Complete with our own coffee maker and an automatic toilet.

Kejakunan tidak terhenti di situ. Order Korean traditional pillow dari pillow menu. Padahal bukan guna pun,saja buat kepit celah kaki.

Antara aktiviti di Seoul ialah belajar membuat kimchi. Kimchi ialah pickled veggies yang wajib ada atas meja makan orang Korea setiap kali makan. Korea tanpa kimchi ibarat Elfira Loy tanpa kening.

Di tempat membuat kimchi tu juga, we had chance to try on Korean traditional costumes. I, obviously took this photo-op very seriously. You can tell...

Hari second last sebelum balik tu,pergi tengok Nanta show. Its a musical show tapi takde dialog pun. Just orang main percussions but with jalan cerita la. Entertaining jugak,its listed as one of the Top 10 attraction in Seoul.

Actually we arrived quite early at the show. Ada sejam lebih sebelum start. Ingatkan nak jalan-jalan keliling bandar sekali baru 2 tapak keluar bangunan angin winter -10 degree menerpa ke muka. Terus masuk cafe order strawberry waffle.

Cafe dekat sini hi tech ok. Bila kita order dia bagi this funny looking gadget. So bawak pergi dekat meja. Bila order dah siap dia berkelip and vibrate. Ooooooohhhh jakun seketika.

Balik dari Nanta show we had dinner at one of the chinese restaurants. Since its Chinese New Year's eve,semua orang makan satu meja bulat. Those chinese in our tour group were so considerate, sanggup go pork free for their makan besar. :')

Lepas makan we went to Dongdaemun,tempat shopping juga. Di sini skill tawar menawar amatlah diperlukan. One thing about Korean,they get angry easily when you bargain too much. Tapi mampuslah pergi sekali je, takde kejer aku nak bayar kau 3 kali ganda harga modal.Hati mesti mau kering la bila bargain,baru melayu sejati.

The stuff they are selling here ranging from souvenirs to stylo clothing. Its considered cheap kalau pandai bargain. Ada jugak orang jual dekat luar bangunan,dekat kaki lima tu. Tapi yang tu lagi mahal compared dengan yang dekat dalam.

Hari esoknya dipenuhi dengan melawat tourists trap. Sesiapa yang pernah ikut tour mesti familiar dengan satu hari di mana tour guide bawak ke tempat-tempat khas untuk kita menghabiskan duit. Biasanya tempat begini memang tak boleh ambik gambar dan menjual barang-barang super mahal. We went to a place selling Korean ginseng. A couple from our group bought 5000ringgit worth of ginseng. Gila tak berbaloi,ive tried some of the ginseng. Rasa macam kunyah tanah kubur.

Other places that we went to ialah seaweed production centre and duty free cosmetic store. Konon duty free padahal harga lebih kurang je dengan Malaysia. Konon sebab Korean kulit lawa boleh kelentong kita nak beli produk dia. Dah lah satu kedai terpampang penuh gambar Kim Hyun Joong,kau habis 80000 ringgit beli krim muka pun tak dapek muka macam tu hoi.

The only significant tourist attraction yang dilawati ialah Gyeongbok Palace. Istana lama di tengah bandar Seoul. A lot of history behind this palace but the weather was too cold that day(-13 or something), hence my lack of attention to whatever the tour guide was saying.

-sempena Chinese New Year they have this performance on the main square

The best part of this trip was we were free to do whatever during the night. Group touring cuma sebelah siang so after dinner terpulang nak berjimba ke nak tidur. Justeru on the last night we went to their public sauna/bath house or as they call it Jimjilbang.

Marsh said she knew this kind of place exists from all the Korean drama she has watched. Menurut beliau romantik gila bila hero heroin dating dekat sini. Determine to bask in the romantic atmosphere of the sauna,we went to one of the sauna in Dongdaemun by cab (5 minutes from the hotel).

Lepas bayar 10000won we were given baju and seluar untuk salin. Masuk je men's changing room i was shocked.

There were a lot of men,most of them in their mid 40's, walking around BUTT NAKED with their shuttlecock swinging left to right. So wrong on so many level. Sambil bogel tu boleh pulak sembang-sembang dengan kawan.Ada yang tengok tv bersila dengan shuttlecock terjuntai. Ngeri. Oh Em Ji,clearly those Korean dramas left out this horrifying part.

-the ugly outfit that they provides

Kalau nak mandi bath tub dia memang kena berbogel,something im not comfortable doing in public thankyouverymuch. So we headed to the common area downstairs. At this point i was re-evaluating my friendship with Marsh since she was the one suggesting us to go to this place. Romantic my ass.

Turun bawah jumpa Marsh rupa-rupanya she encountered the same thing in the women's room. Most of the aunties were naked as well. Deswai i said,korean drama semua tipu pfft.

Dekat common area ni banyak kemudahan disediakan antaranya cafe,TV, internet,reading corner,massage service and steam room. Luckily nobody was naked here. Phewww. You are free to do whatever you want here. If we Malaysians lepak mamak,them Koreans lepak tempat begini.

Pelik ok baring-baring tengah alam dengan strangers sambil tengok TV. Apakah?

While waiting for our massage session, we put on our facemasks, baring and just blend in with the locals.

Habis massage terus bergegas tukar baju dan tinggalkan tempat aneh ini. One word to describe this whole sauna/public bathhouse experience: traumatizing.

Keluar bangunan terus mencari makanan,lapar akibat penderaan emosi dan rohani sebentar tadi. Jadi ke kedai berdekatan untuk makan seafood pancake dan bibimbap.

-the pancake is literally lempeng,but with added sotong and kucai in it

-Marsh mengacau bibimbap-a mixture of rice,seaweed,egg,special sauce and some other stuff. Those of you who watched Full House mesti tau ini mendalah yang Rain makan tu.

We went back the next day with Korean Air. Tapi sebelum balik sempat makan bibimbap sotong dekat airport. The best bibimbap we've tasted sepanjang trip ke Korea ini.

Rupa paras sebelum dikacau;

Sekian sahaja travelogue Korea part 1. Jumpa lagi di post akan datang,kalau larat nak update lagi laaaa.

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