Entree Kibbles

Now's continue with my Korea trip lest the memory fades! I hope it would not be another itinerary that took me four months to complete although from the look of it, it just might!

Anyway, today's posting is on one of three famous waterfalls in Jeju; Cheonjieyeon Falls. Do keep in mind that there was another waterfall by the name of Cheonjeyeon Falls (note the letter e instead of i) that i didn't manage to visit.

Parking was free for motorists but you still have to bear a nominal entrance ticket. My sister paid for the tickets using our common funds; hence, i am not exactly very sure on the pricing. According to a guidebook given by a super nice local ahjumma, an adult ticket cost ₩2,000 (less than S$3).

Cross the stone bridge to get to the official main entrance of the waterfall. Be careful of your hyperactive child; the 'fence' wasn't very tall and i doubt you want to jump into the chilly water.

For ~~an adult~~ a middle-aged man, i could not help but slow down my usually quick footsteps so that i can relax momentarily while overlooking the peaceful lake. That moment was crashed when another busload of tourists stormed in!

Another persimmon tree heavily laden with ripe fruits!!! Thankfully, Joyce didn't attempt to grab a few this time; it would be so embarrassing!!

A photo of my younger sister before she got photo bombed.

Still remember the symbolic stone grandfather that i mentioned in my Yongduam Rock post? Anyone ever wonder its resemblance to aliens, especially the protruding eye balls! Well, in another perspective, they could also be wearing shades!

The mystery is that no one really knows when it appears even though it was said they were guardians (of a mystical nature) and often placed at entrance of villages and houses. Another photo taken of the Teo sisters because this larger than life basalt stone statue was one of the originals on the island!

Prefer a statue less daunting? Check out the miniature ones!

I think the heron was eyeing the many plump koi fishes in the lake. This same lake was also the home for the nocturnal Mutae Eel; listed as one of Korea's natural monument.

It helped to have the nice weather accompanying us since the walk wasn't as short as we expected; it was about a kilometer in just to see the waterfall!

We could have also walked across the no-barrier steps to the other side, which was in no way connected to the ticketing office. However, the day was getting darker and we figured it would be more advantageous to catch the sight of Cheonjiyeon first!

That's the waterfall!?!? Well, the sentence came from one of my sisters. I would have said the same if i had not seen the photographs of the falls from some blog!

At the crossroad and was extremely grateful for the signs in Chinese and English! Worse come to worse, i shall follow the crowd; a sensible option to adopt most of the times.

Reaching as we came upon a parade square. The two ladies in front maintained the same distance from us since the start of the walk!

Quite impressive in the above picture right? Coming from Singapore where the tallest waterfall we have is man-made, anything with a drop of two meters would be classified as waterfall.

At 22 meters high, 12 meters wide, Cheonjiyeon Falls were not as gigantic as we thought it would be. In relative terms, the height was actually 8 meters shy of Singapore's man-made waterfall at Jurong Bird Park.

Nothing beat's seeing a natural formation anyway! I don't see any fairies (sadly) though and no one is allowed into the 20-meter deep water. Time to have your picture taken to save down the moment.

Most visitors were taking photographs from the raised platform further from the waterfall!

I didn't quite understand why since there was a much quieter place nearer to the beautiful falls. At this moment when i took the photo, the three of us were the only homosapiens there.

At first glance, i was ecstatic to find tombstones in Korea! It was only upon a closer that i realised these were information plaques!!!! If not for the Chinese characters, i might have stupidly posted a post on Korea's tombstones!

Pigeon with conjunctivitis; poor bird needs immediate treatment in case it spreads to other avian. I am not crazy; i know the red eyes are specific to a pigeon breed.

Walking back with sufficient time to check out the "other" side of the valley!

Bridge with four dol hareubangs; two on each side! There's something you may consider doing while crossing the bridge. Hint in the next paragraph.

Shimmering coins............... which means this is a wishing spot! I was about to wonder where it was given Cheonjiyeon's legendary position as the playground for fairies! By the way, the English translation was horrible! I had a better understanding reading the Chinese translation!

There were three stone animals on the rock; the tortoise symbolises longevity, the mandarin duck relates to love while the carp is said to cleanse the mind and body. Cast a coin and your wishes for the aforementioned blessings might just come true. It was mentioned that the coins cast here would be donated to a welfare organisation to help the unfortunate; a charitable cause instead of increasing the coffers like many such places!

Not sure what the banner was for; seemed like a donation drive for an orphanage.

Another legend; a girl was about to be harmed by a man when a dragon flew out of the water, grabbed the man and vanished into the sky. The girl found a golden pearl shortly after and since then, her family prospered. Frankly, extremely unbelievable in my opinion but you could still rub the apparently fake pearl, make a wish and hope for the best.

Cheonjiyeon Outdoor Performance Hall - to name it as stage / amphitheater would be more suitable.

A lot of huge and colourful spiders in Cheonjiyeon! The spider webs were mainly found in between trees and it would be hard to get yourself in the web unless you purposely want to touch it!

I almost wanted to brush my fingers on this; my very first time seeing a live praying mantis in the wild! Don't you think it look exactly like Mantis in Kung Fu Panda!?!?

Lastly, anyone knows the purpose for the above? It served as a gate in olden Jeju and the placement of the wooden bars signified the time the owners would be away. To read more, click here!

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Location

Central Seogwipo, Jeju Island

Contact Number to Key in GPS

760-6301

Additional Information

Next to the ticketing office was an entire row of dining establishments! This would be the same area where i got my grilled squid and dried fish! Click here for the location!

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip

(Seoul and Jeju Island), click HERE.

With more than a hundred and fifty photographs, my hike up South Korea's tallest mountain via Yeongsil trail would definitely be one of the longest blog post ever even though i am still contemplating at this point if i should break it up into two posts!

Whichever the case, i have to begin somewhere and i guess starting from the car park under the backdrop of a spectacular cliff would be an appropriate step.

Yeongsil Trail, at 5.8 kilometers long, was labelled as the shortest yet the most scenic route for hikers, especially during autumn. By shortest, the guidebook meant a walk of 2.5 hours; one way!

We were not deterred as members of my family were known to be fast walkers and how hard could mountain climbing be?! Such haughty comment from a man whose highest ascent was the 168-meter Bukit Timah hill could only mean trouble in time to come.

It was cold (my estimate was less than 10 degrees celcius) and we had to don our winter jacket shortly after stepping out of our warm and comfortable Hyundai Morning.

By the way, don't you think that my younger sister looked like she was on her way to the market where she can take out the things from the recyclable bag, lay them down on the mat and hawk them to interested parties?!

There were random splashes of autumn colours; guess the period we went wasn't the full fledged autumn season when the entire forest would be decked in brown and red.

A stream along the way.

Steps on the ridge!!! Our eyes immediately looked towards Louise (she was the instigator for this hike) and asked if we had to climb so high up! She replied "don't know, this is my first time also".

With our fingers crossed, we continued our journey. Oh, terms and conditions for all hikers! Well, it didn't seem to deviate from anywhere else; no smoking, no camping/ cooking etc.

See those relaxed, excited, happy faces? Sustainability would be an issue soon.

Map showing our progress! Another few more kilometers to go! This would be chicken feet for those ladies who shopped a lot; for example, both my sisters! Of course, climbing up versus walking on flat surfaces is eons apart.

This was a common feature in a few of my China visits and some of you might even note the resemblance this has with the Tibetan prayer rock piles.

Guess my sister still remembers the trip we made to Yunnan, where such a practice was the norm in Shangri-La. Anyway, no harm adding a stone to the pile just to bless the hike.

The soothing colours of autumn!

Hardship began from here! Bloody steep steps and i could hear the exclamations (peppered with intelligible words; likely vulgarities) from the older generation when they got to this spot!

If not for the nylon rope next to the stairs, i can bet with you that many amateur hikers would likely tumble down and seriously injure themselves.

Our orange saviour! I totally pity those who took their toddlers along; it is a given that they would have to be carried which would further drain the strength to pull yourself up!

With sight of the clear blue sky, i thought this would be the end of our ordeal; at least for a few hours before we descended the mountain.

Turned back and it was an incredibly impressive sight of the East China Sea!

A platform for the tired hikers; a much needed respite for those who just got out of hell! We rested our legs for around ten minutes before deciding time mustn't be wasted this way! We had too much to cover that day!

Weird looking flower; looked like a mix between a poppy plant and an oddly shaped lotus seed capsule.

Folding Screen Rocks (Byeongpung Bawi) - in my opinion, the most iconic structure along the trail after Hallasan crater. Wait, there were people walking on top of the rocks?!??! Guess that's where we are going to. :(

For a better look at the surrounding, you can use the stationary binoculars at no charge. The Folding Screen Rocks are also known as abode of the gods as they were often covered in clouds; not during our visit though.

The trail that just goes up and up and up. At this point, we were around 1,400 meters above sea and had hiked for around an hour. Darn, we had really lousy stamina. Haha.

Since the weather was superbly good with minimal clouds, photographers were out in full force to take the rocks in all its glory! I really respect those photographers who take the trouble to bring along a tripod and have the patience to use it.

A cheery photograph of the two sisters before the truth sinks in.

Truth was; there was still a ton of climbing to do and the initial happiness quickly dissipated with the appearance of more stairs!

Joyce was still fairly optimistic that the end was near. Anyway, the scenery was too good to spoil the photo moment with a grumpy face.

It was coming to 9 am and it's fascinating to find the temperature rising so dramatically within an hour! We were actually sweating and i was glad to have worn a thin tee shirt beneath my winter jacket.

Louise is a vampire, given her dislike for sunlight. Hence, we could not grasp her reason for suggesting a mountain hike in Jeju Island!

Ahjumma in a hurry to sell her wares! Actually, the sun was slowly eating into the shaded areas and she had no choice but to move her ass.

Although tagged as an 'A' grade (difficult) segment, this wasn't as bad as the ones we just came out from. Maybe it was the beautiful scenery that kind of motivated us to trudge along.

1,500 meters above sea level - Hallsan, despite holding the prestigious position as South Korea's tallest mountain, is only a modest 1,950 meters tall.

Dangerous woah; the great length a photographer would go just to get that epic shoot. I am usually not that adventurous, especially when it means challenging my fear for heights!

With the sun glaring at us, it would be a difficult task to take decent photos too! There's actually a lens hood which could help to avoid the glare; i was too lazy to bring it out. My fault.

More steps... and we were not even halfway up! I regretted not eating more at breakfast; the black pork BBQ dinner we had the night before was totally digested!!

As you can see, the terrain wasn't as jagged as those on mainland China and Dad, being a veteran of China tours, wasn't impressed with the photos so far.

I beg to differ. The beauty of nature also depends on the atmosphere, the weather and at time, the people surrounding you and although physical appearance plays a part, the fact that it is crafted by nature means there are always differences that seek to make it unique from the rest.

The power of photographers and the prevalent use of technology (shutter speed, aperture, photoshop etc) also mean a piece of rock can take on an appearance vastly different from its original look. Take an example, my sister seemed to be taking a jump off a cliff from the above photograph.

Of course i wouldn't subject her to such danger!

According to the location map, we had not even reached the 1.5 kilometers mark! There were still another 4 more kilometers to go! What?!!?!?!?!?!?!?

Personally, i think hiking is for hiking enthusiasts or locals who have more time to plan; definitely not for travellers who are hard up for time!

Even when greeted with a such scenic view, it didn't really stop us from taking a well-deserved breather. Our objective was simply; clear as far as we could!

I did manage to dig into a bar of chocolates a fellow colleague specially bought in London!

There were a number of colourful information panels installed which would explain the kind of eco-systems, iconic structures, the species of animals / plants etc found along the trail. The above showed the kind of birds you can find in Hallasan.

What i saw were ravens, ravens and more ravens!

The lack of vibrant flowers in the entire landscape was also a surprising phenomenon even though it could be because of the season when we were there. Sparsely distributed were the purplish flowers with spiny petals as shown above.

As it aged, the petals would turn white, dry up and be ready for dispersion by the wind! The plant was easily recognisable with one notable feature; the sharp, spiky leaves!

Panoramic view!

I am bad with trees and have no idea if this tree was dead or alive. There was a bunch of them spread out on a plot of land and i would show them either later in this post or in part 2.

Doesn't this look magical!? A person blowing a mysterious ring of power to counter his / her enemies! Since there is no sign describing the name of the rock, i shall hereby name it "blower"!

A kind of berries, i think.

Note the emergency number in case of any incident / accident. I would have loved to scan the QR code but it would have been a futile attempt since we didn't sign up for any data! Rule of thumb, sign up for data so long it isn't going to cost you a leg or arm.

More climbing to go.....How many times have i shown the pictures of stairs?

A signboard alerting all hikers to take the trail leisurely. Yes, i believe i would need this sentence of encouragement to push me forward.

One wrong step and you can say bye bye to your loved ones. Please don't bring your hyperactive kids unless you are confident in managing their behaviour.

Back view; there were many times we wanted to give up, cut short our hike and proceed to our next destination (which is O Sulloc). Other than proving ourselves, curiousity was another motivating factor.

I didn't realise it then but after sieving through the pictures, i can roughly work out we should be on top of Folding Screen Rocks at this moment.

9.30 am - the path was getting rocky again and i wasn't looking forward to another torturing walk. I did recollect from the location map that once we passed Folding Screen Rocks, the route would be easier.

Heng ah! Really not as bad albeit a bit narrower than the pathways before.

The only labourious effort made was to cut through volcanic stone bed where the summit of Hallasan was ahead of us. Do note that Yeongsil trail would not bring you to the crater summit!

So what lies ahead after we walk out? Do look out for part two! The kids are in my house now and i have dedicated some time to play with them instead. Blogging is a passion but family is more important. :)

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Location

Western Seogwipo,

Jeju Island

Contact Number to Key in GPA

747-9950

For part one, please click here. Since this part is a continuation, i would strongly suggest you check out Part One before reading any further.

After cutting through the rocky stone bed, lo and behold, we came to a clearing that drew us really close to the crater summit of Mount Halla!

Both Joyce and i were obviously in awe of the great view; can't say the same for Louise as she was nowhere to be seen. The ahjumma, as i mentioned previously, was in a rush to get to the location where she can start to hawk her wares.

After close to two hours and we had only accomplished halfway?!?!!?!? That's ridiculous, given we were supposed to be fast walkers!

These grass-like plants that dotted the land belonged to a rare species known as crowberries which grew at an altitude of above 1,400 meters. By the way, i do agree that greeting fellow hikers do make the hike more pleasant, more bearable! :)

A fork road where a decision must be made - should we continue the trail or cut short the trail since we still had many planned destinations to cover for the day?

Poor girl had been waiting for us at the fork, under the scotching hot sun as she wasn't sure which way we would take! She would have to respect the decision of her two elderly siblings (me and Joyce), who were having trouble keeping up with her footsteps.

We didn't want to make a hasty decision and chose to walk up to Witsejogeunoreum; an outcrop that would have provided quite a good view. Yes, more steps to climb although it was physically less demanding than taking the route that appeared to be never-ending.

One thing was sure; we could never get to the summit of Hallasan via Yeongsil Trail unless we were wealthy enough to engage a helicopter for a personal tour.

In comparison to the humongous crater summit, Witsejogeunoreum was in reality really tiny and we were in fact not expecting much except to make use of it as a much needed resting point.

Remember the song "Top of the World" by Carpenters? Its lyrics struck a chord in our hearts as we arrived at Witsejogeunoreum. The view was in one word; stunning!

Even though the sun was relentless in tanning our skin, it was an aura of relaxation as we felt the light breeze brushing against our faces, the melodious chirping of birds (not ravens) and the crisp scent of mother nature (not shit, if i could add).

Time for the ahjumma to lay out her wares after two hours of lugging!

A picture of both sisters; the guy at the back seemed to be taking photos of them! Oh well, i didn't want to make a big fuss since the advanced technology of cameras (zoom, pan-wide functions etc) could mean he was taking a closer view of the surrounding.

More photographs of the crazy duo.

It's not hard to identify the crazier one. This person, by the way, is my elder sister who has always been mistaken as the youngest child in the family! Note her resemblance to Jovyn, the monster brat!

View of Hallasan summit from Witsejogeunoreum.

Plaque showing places of notable interests on Hallasan. It would have been more helpful with an English translation! Even for Witsejogeunoreum, i had no idea what it meant until i noticed the Chinese characters; 威势小岳. 小岳 means small mountain.

10 minutes of rest - agreement was made to descend the mountain! Yipppeeeeee, i was actually famished and could do with some food!!! This experience has resulted in one key decision; i am so not going to climb Kota Kinabalu in my trip to the East Malaysia next April!

It has been quite a while since i last caught sight of a ladybird! To prevent it from being trampled, i picked it up and placed it on the cowberries next to the stairs.

The moon was still in the sky!

Clouds are unpredictable and the initial dragon-like formation was transformed into almost a mystical spread across Witsejogeunoreum; as if it was sourcing for mysterious powers.

Sisters with Witsejogeunoreum in the backdrop. I would put it more accurately as a viewing platform rather than the more formidable-sounding little mountain.

Last picture with Hallasan summit before we made the descent. My younger sister apparently would like to challenge the summit the next time she visits!

Needless to say, it was an exuberant walk down the mountain; the perspective was much more at ease since we had a better gauge of the distance needed to get to the start of the trail.

Even the millions of stairs appeared much less of a hindrance! It's more strenuous to climb up rather than climb down; or so i thought!

We were initially so focused on going up; we neglected to see the beautiful scenery surrounding us! Correction: it was hard to enjoy the view with the sun shining at us!

Timing is important for photography; the same place can take on a different look at sunrise, midday, sunset and at night! At this moment, i can at least see the commencing transition of autumn.

I mentioned in part one that i didn't know the species of these trees and wondered if they were even alive in the first place. The answer was given on the information panel i found on my way down; they were Korean firs! Still looked dead to me.

On top of the Folding Screen Rocks (Byeongpung Bawi) again!

Picture didn't turn out well but i might as well share the "buddha's five hundred disciples" which was with reference to the standing rocks on the mountain.

Three sets of panoramic photographs for your viewing pleasure! With the latter two, you can roughly see the change in landscape as we descended down the stairs.

Ahjumma had diligently packed up after facing bad business at Witsejogeunoreum. She had a much lighter load though as we cleared most of the water she brought up.

If, and that's a big if, i ever want to attempt a mountain again, i am going to get my hands on the hiking sticks!!! Given my age by then, i should be at a suitable age to use them!!!

Joyce with the folding screen rocks behind her! I wanted to get Louise to join her but she had gotten so far ahead, i doubt she wanted to climb up again just to be included in this pic.

Found another ladybird on the floor!

And a grasshopper! Anyone interested in bigger grasshoppers can check out the roof garden at Stephen Riady Centre, University Town, National University of Singapore!

About to get into the thicker foliage where i had complained about the super steep steps in my first post on the trail! It was torturing to get up; would it be as bad to go down?

Last look before i escaped the sun!

Couldn't resist putting this up! Aiyah, i shot so many photographs; it would be a waste (and a disgrace for my D7100) to store them in the hard disk where not many people can access.

Walking down was genuinely more difficult than climbing up!!! The gravitational pull made it really hard to control your footsteps on the uneven surface and abrupt turns! There were a number of times i almost veered out of the track but managed to pull myself back, using the rope, in the nick of time!

For such a huge nature reserve, the spider i saw was rather miniature.

There's a reason why blocks of wooden planks were placed at the start of the difficult section; for those who returned to take a well-deserved rest!

Filming of a documentary (i think) taking place along the stream. The stomach was growling so i had to forsake my nosiness by not waiting around a bit to see what was being filmed.

Joyce was assured of one thing after this hike; her worst enemy in life is not herself, is not the person she hated the most. It is the stairs. Sounds familiar? It came from Kung Fu Panda!

Cardigan of a passerby was so well-coordinated with the yellow colour of the autumn leaves. I think she was quite embarrassed by it though; she left after taking a few photos and it seemed like she had yet to start hiking up.

The elation of finally reaching the start / end was best displayed by Joyce! For friends of hers, you can forget about asking her to climb a mountain again! Unless it doesn't require the use of her legs!

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Location

Western Seogwipo,

Jeju Island

Contact Number to Key in GPA

747-9950

Additional Information

I don't remember seeing any washroom on the trail so please remember to 'release' at the washrooms near the carpark before you embark on your journey.

Ravens were everywhere and they were not scared of humans! Keep your belongings to yourself and do not leave your food open and unattended.

A convenience store, with limited items for sale, was located beside the washrooms for those who didn't prepare enough rations

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip

(Seoul and Jeju Island), click HERE.

<< Day Two

Our intention was to leave Galeum Guesthouse at around 6.30 am so that we can have a more breathtaking hike at Hallasan but it was almost 7.15 am when we took off!

The 45-minute drive to the entrance of Mount Halla's Yeongsil trail was mainly represented by the photo above; flanked on both sides by trees and trees and boring trees and hardly any cars.

Those who have been following the progress of my Korean trip on this blog would have noted the postings in the past two days which were for the hike i made up to Hallasan. You may read the first part HERE.

Second Part was more rewarding; with the sun shining away from our faces (and camera), i was able to check out the scenery in greater detail! Louise was too focused on trekking back to notice any of them; the poor gal needed to pee!!

Within ten minutes after driving off from the carpark, we spotted this off-road area that appeared to have a splendid view although it could not be compared to what you can see from (almost) the top of Hallasan.

Best green tea latte ever in my whole life! This was a declaration i have placed no less than three times in this blog; okay, i think this is the fourth time. Location: Cafe @ O'Sulloc Tea Museum!

Drove ten minutes to the nearby Glass Castle - Glass Art Museum. Decided to give it a miss since we were still recovering from the Hallasan hike and the ticket price was more than S$10 per person! My family was cheapo in that sense.

Decided to check out E-Mart as suggested by Joyce since her friend had requested her help to get a special type of pocky sticks! There were said to be a number in Jeju but the nearest to us would be branch next to Jeju World Cup Stadium!

I love to visit supermarkets when i am overseas! It was fun comparing prices of a similar item that can be found in Singapore! S$4 for a bunch of Dole bananas; cheap?

Live abalones!! Anyone is kind enough to share the pricing; i am not too sure whether it is ₩7,590 or ₩4,980 per 100 grams.

Frozen durian at ₩9,980 for 450 grams! The species wasn't mentioned although i would not see the point of buying it (despite the novelty) when i can eat it for real back in Singapore!!

Must buy in Korea - banana milk at around S$5 for 8 bottles! Superbly milky with a strong banana flavour, this was my breakfast drink for the next few days as the two ladies were complaining it was way too fattening!

Besides a packet of spicy char broiled chicken, i got my hands on grilled squid and octopus! Their aroma was too enticing and i grabbed a pack before checking out at the counter!

Got other groceries as well and opted to put them in the guesthouse before driving to the seaside that can be seen from the common lounge at level two of Galeum!

Not bad although i can definitely sense the fatigue from the three of us, especially under the hot sun! However, the day was still young and it would be a waste to spend it by sleeping!

At 4 pm, the sun was already pushing nearer to the Western horizon; for those who are unaware, Korea is 2 hours before Singapore.

Under the shadow of the majestic Hallasan (with its iconic crater summit), we made our way to our next destination; a natural spot made famous by a Korean period drama.

Oedolgae Rock! Click here for the separate posting on the rock.

Took a dump at the nearby washroom; result of too many grilled squid and way too many bottles of banana milk! I think i downed three bottles in the past two hours and i conveniently forgot i have a mild intolerance for lactose.

Last stop on our itinerary that day; the not very tall Cheonjiyeon Falls! For more pictures, please check out the weblink here. Both Oedolgae Rock and Cheonjiyeon Falls were within 10 minutes of drive from Galeum Guesthouse.

I mentioned a row of commercial shops right outside Cheonjiyeon Falls and in addition to Dunkin Donuts and Korean restaurants, there was also a Paris Baguette Cafe!

Prices seemed comparable to BreadTalk pricing even though i could not find any of their famous milk pudding. Whatever the case was, Louise was pleased to have bread for dinner! For Joyce and i, we had a filling late lunch packed from Emart food counters.

The beautiful spectrum of sunset! I bet i could have shot a better picture (with the sun) if i was at the seaside we visited in the late afternoon!

Just a minute drive from Cheonjiyeon Falls was Saeyeon-Gyo (Gyo means bridge in Korean and sounds exactly like bridge in Hokkien too)!

At a length of 169 meters reaching a height of 45 meters, this pedestrian bridge was open in 2009 and was Korea's first cable stayed bridge (whatever that means).

Be careful if you attempt to walk down the spiral stairs to the walkway underneath the bridge. Frankly, it does seem quite nonsensical and a waste of money to have a walkway and then to build a bridge on top.

Upon night fall, the bridge would be illuminated by changing colour lights that provided a noticeable attraction for those standing afar. It was precisely this illumination that attracted me to the bridge.

A last look of the tourism port at Seogwipo; time for us to finally rest our feet and prepare for an early wakeup call the next day to catch the sunrise from the sunrise peak!

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For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip

(Seoul and Jeju Island), click HERE.

It definitely wasn't my first time to San Low Seafood Restaurant and friends who know me well are aware i don't normally give a second review unless there's something new on the menu or i must be really impressed!

All photographs in this post were taken in my most recent trip and i must say i finally got to understand what the Great Kon meant when he was gushing to us about the good, old taste of the signature San Low bee hoon.

Steamed Sotong

(白蒸苏东)

Gonna share with you on the above first - steaming is the best way to determine the freshness of seafood and this 400-gram baby sure didn't disappoint.

The meat didn't stick to my teeth (which was often the case when it comes to squid), was tender yet came with a QQ texture and had a flavour that was deliciously fresh! Maximum pleasure to be derived when you had it with the chilli!

Prawns Sauce Chicken

(虾酱雞)

While the common Singapore's version was more wings and drumlets, the one in San Low was chopped up chicken. Taste was a notch better than average although i would still prefer Singapore's juicer and way oilier version!

Cotton Rose Fried Egg

(芙蓉蛋)

Why is this called Cotton Rose?!?!?! Anyway, this was better than the first time i had it even though there was still a lack of wok-hei. However, the mushier insides coupled with more squid meat and char siew appealed to me better.

San Low Fried Mee Hun

(三楼干炒米粉)

One look and i know this would be different from the three times i have had the mee hun; darker, wetter and the irresistible aroma that surrounded the plate. This is by far the tastiest i ever had with an intensive flavour helped by a rich infusion of wok-hei!

It was so good; i am salivating while thinking about it now.

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Location

Jalan Biru off Jalan Merah,

Taman Pelangi 80400, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Opening Hours

4.30pm to 1.00am; not true as i was there once at 4.30pm and they were not open for business. My recommendation is to go at around 5.15-5.30pm.

Contact Number

07-3323869 / 07-3343623

Price

Steamed Sotong - RM5.50 per 100 gram

Prawns Sauce Chicken (M) - RM16.00

Cotton Rose Fried Egg (S) - RM7.00

San Low Fried Mee Hun (M) - RM9.60

[Subject to Government Tax]

Additional Information

Parents with young children can make use of the playground so that they can eat in peace! The two persons that came to mind were obviously the hyperactive Jerald and Jovyn!

For my first review of San Low, click here.

In Singapore, we have the trick eye museum and alive museum; both of which charged an admission of S$25 an adult! Stingy me was unwilling to pay such exorbitant pricing!

Hence, i jumped at the opportunity to visit the Trick Art Museum in Jeju where an adult ticket was less than S$10! By the way, this main building housed a cafe, the ticketing counter and a souvenir shop.

The real action would take place only when you walked to another building at the back and through this unassuming glass door. Although i was expecting something grander, i am not in a position to complain when i paid only ₩8,000 a ticket.

First impression; very art gallery feel and hardly surprising as this was the "masterpiece artwork parody zone"! I may not be a classical arts connoisseur but i still know masterpieces like Mona Lisa!

Except this Mona Lisa was supposedly smoking a cigar. Joyce, being an anti-smoker, was of course in utter disgust at Mona's unbecoming behaviour!

The Creation of Adam by renowned artist Michelangelo had also been altered to cater to the enjoyment of visitors. Now, for the untrained eyes, it can be hard to look at the image and decide where to stand, what to do in order to bring out the 3D effect.

Simple - look out for the small write up at the side of each painting. It would give you a good example of the things you need to do even though you are free to explore your own creativity!

My family is a shy lot (yes, it does include me) and we do things the conventional way unless the situation dictates us otherwise. Shall share more soon.

Sister to the rescue! Pity the shoe was glued to the wall and she could not peel it off to return it to the poor gal in the picture who would permanently lose her pretty bootie.

Under the hot Jeju sun, the flowing milk was a godsend and Louise had to have a taste of it!

Dancing with the ballerina; come to think about it, the three of us have never been involved in performing arts. Our parents were practical; study hard for a better living. In addition, my family would not have the financial means to send us for piano lessons, dancing classes etc.

When Joyce is pissed, never ever stand near her.

Horsing around... eh, with Napoleon's horse! Some of the paintings didn't have any explanation or "sample picture" and we had to use our creativity; possible so long we were the only group there.

This reminded her so much of Jovyn's bubble butt that she could not resist giving it a grab. The picture turned out weird though; she does seem as if she was about to touch the asshole.

Egypt adventure zone was way more fun as the setup was massive and unlike paintings, resulted in a more realistic picture. With all the spaces that the Mummy ride in USS has, maybe they should incorporate some of these so that those in the queue can have something to do!

Imagine having to cross over a plank of wood in fright despite an easier way to just walk around the perimeter. For the photographer, it was much more funny seeing the two sisters trying to act their parts,

Especially when seen from their angle, it was mainly an image of distortions. Even for me, i had to take it at a specific, designated position so that the picture would turn out the way it should be.

I showed this picture to Jerald and he asked why is yiyi (short form for auntie) going to the basement! Haha. Guess the parents would be faced with a lot of amusing moments when they bring along their kids.

But i can tell you; your kids would surely be bored! As i mentioned before, they wouldn't understand the meaning of their actions until they see them on the camera's screen! Oh ya, before i forgot, please bring along a digital camera to capture these images!

Only the stone that Louise was stepping on was real! It's actually quite exhausting for her to act this out as she didn't have anything grab onto!

Look like a normal picture?

Unlike most paintings that seek to give you the 3D effect, this was built in three dimensional format to give you a two dimensional, also known as normal, feel.

Animal zone - for anyone who loves to visit the zoos yet laments that it would not be very possible to take pictures of animals (specifically those dangerous ones) right beside them. Do let me know if you have heard of any tourist who has succeeded in their attempts to peek into a lion's mouth.

Or held on to an eagle's talons!

One of the few things Louise wanted to do while in Jeju was to participate in horse-riding. We didn't have time and as compensation, this demure horse would replace the real one.

Joyce taming the tiger.

Me in my true form; monkeying around with my fellow mate. Both sisters were laughing their heads off while they took this picture. So funny meh!?

An attempt to act like a caged animal that had massive strength to pull open the strong, steel bars. Failed in my opinion and seeing that no one was next to us, i did a demo.

Yes, that's exactly how you should do it! An angry animal who had been cooped up in the enclosure for far too long must have that exasperated expression!

Struggle to get out of the hippo's mouth! Do you know that hippopotamus contributes to more fatality than crocodiles in Africa?!

Nothing 3D about it; if i remember correctly, we were supposed to guess how many pandas there were in painting. I counted six!

How many animals can you get from the above?

The two paintings before the above bored me! I would prefer to show my inhuman strength by leveraging on illusions! Fancy carrying a whale?

Louise holding on to a lamp to light the path for the two owls.

Dinosaur zone was quite enjoyable too although we were, by that time, facing a great sense of lethargy. It was tiring trying to get into position and we had been travelling on the roads since 5.30 am.

The premise wasn't huge and there wasn't much of a crowd when we were there; which was extremely desirable for photo taking. Imagine having to jostle with the crowd and have photo-bombs in most pictures.

Don't we all love to have wings? Besides being able to fly, we would no longer have to depend on public transportation! In addition, don't have to spend on air tickets!

Room of super gravity - i got giddy after stepping in!

This was in another room!! Joyce, being the shortest in the family and i, being the tallest (surprise, surprise but that's the truth), having a swap in height!

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who was the other person!?!?!?!?

Wah!! How did she do that!? This picture was rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise in order to have this effect. Joyce was in fact lying on the floor.

Imagine the horror on Jovyn and Jerald's faces when i asked what happen to Louise's legs!! Hahahaha. Kids are so adorable when they are young and ignorant!

I am too; i honestly thought someone has dropped their wallet!

There was an outdoor section known as outdoor sculpture park which was a bloody waste of time in my opinion. It didn't help that it was extremely sunny that day!

They were not extremely lifelike and i thought you could have a better time in Singapore's Haw Par Villa which was far more interesting with its portrayal of Chinese legends and myths.

Maybe it would be better under a cooler temperature and time wasn't an issue.

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Location

2381, Sungyeop-ri, Pyosun-myeon, Seoguipo-si,

Jeju Special Self Governing Province, Korea

Opening Hours

9am till 7pm (last entry at 6pm)

Contact Number to Input in GPS

787-8774

Ticket Pricing

Adult - ₩8,000

Youth - ₩7,000

Child - ₩6,000

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip,

(Jeju and Seoul), please click HERE.

One key attraction in River Safari, other than the world famous Giant Pandas, was its mini showcase of the six major rivers in the world! Note the word "mini" since it would be impossible to emulate the entire river ecosystems in tiny Singapore!

1. Mississippi River

World's fourth longest river that cuts through ten American states, i still find it a challenge to pronounce its name given the many s!

The one animal that came to mind when a person mentions river and fauna - the north American beavers which were prized for their fur and noted for their ability to build dams!

As you can see from the above photograph, there was no one except for my dad, Alex and myself. I can so imagine the safari's first day of operation when thousands of people squeezed through this walkway.

Role of a zoo is primarily on education and as a member of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), this objective has never faltered. The problem is; with the prevalence of technology and the explosion of information, how many people would attempt to read the text and even remember it.

More aquariums?!?!? This was slowly turning out to be a scaled down version of the S.E.A Aquarium! At this point, i started hearing someone calling out to us from what seemed to be a portable speaker.

As it was feeding time for the Alligator Snapping Turtles, there was a presenter on site to give an explanation! Woah, we were so lucky especially when there was no one beside us! Did seem like we were having an exclusive, private tour!

Here's the scary looking snapping turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtle in the world. All of them had their backs to me because they were too busy grabbing food from the tongs!

The feeder! I can see that the jaws of these turtles were extremely fast in tearing the meat away from the tong and the power was said to be so strong; it can snap off your finger!

Within the same tank were a group of fishes with a docile and somewhat stupid / blank expression.

Known as Alligator Gars, these can grow up to three meters long and feature sharp teeth just like its namesake. I wonder what will happen when these gars in the tank reach their full grown potential.

Since the keepers cannot let us hold the real alligator snapping turtle, guess it would pacify some to have a fake one around for photo taking.

Coming to another aquarium, which initially was thought to be just a tank filled with yellow fishes. Vibrant yet hardly interesting. Or so i thought.

Take a closer look and say hello to the Mississippi Paddlefish!

One unique feature about this fish was obviously its expandable jaw! For a cavity that big, it was surprising to note that it preys on the very small brine shrimps and water fleas, just like whales!

I was very impressed by this species as i have never quite seen anything quite like that! More pictures for your viewing pleasure!

When the presenter concluded this section, her colleague brought out an adorable prairie dog! Contrary to its name, it is an enormous rodent and was kept as a pet in some countries, including Malaysia.

2. Congo River

Deepest river in the world, boasting a depth of 220 meters!

Said to have some of the world' most colourful fishes with over 800 species, i was more reminded of its similarity to S.E.A Aquarium and hence, wasn't fascinated with what i see.

I had eyes only for the African Dwarf Crocodile! With an inherent genetic to stop growing beyond 1.6 meter, this is one crocodile i would not run away from if i see it in the wild!

Saved by its own skin! Read further in the above pic.

3. River Nile

Longest river in the world that flows for over 6,600 kilometers!

There's our presenter who was a friendly, enthusiastic lady who bravely took our questions and given our lack of responses, still managed to keep her smile throughout! Kudos!

First thought - that's a piranha! Well, somewhat correct since this is the Giant Goliath Tiger Fish, which was also known as the piranha of Africa! Known to attack humans and a sub-species can even leap out of the water to catch its prey!

African Arowanas - paled in comparison to the prized Arowanas of Southeast Asia, they also lacked the whiskers that exuded an expression of superiority.

Giant Puffer Fish! This was supposed to be at Congo River but for reasons unknown to me, it was moved to this tank at River Nile instead.

Burmese python for us to touch! My fear of snake dissipated if i have other persons with me and the reptile was handled safely by the handler.

4. Ganges River

The holiest river in the religion of Hinduism!

Indian Gharial - easily identified by its snout, there are less than 200 left in the wild with its status elevating to critically endangered in a span of just a few decades!

A predator can easily chew through a soft shelled turtle so what is the point of having a shell!?!? Due to its ability to feed on organic waste, thousands of them were bred and released into Ganges River to clean up the polluted water.

One tank was undergoing routine cleaning!

More animals that were brought out for us to touch; the Indian Star Tortoise and the Bearded Dragon which were both rescued! Do you know the dragon wasn't as fierce as it appeared to be and was in fact known as a very calm.

Last look of Ganges River section.

5. Mekong River

The one nearest to us which was listed as the tenth longest river in the world. This claim seemed to have been debunked as the Wikipedia page indicated it as number 12 and not 10.

Whatever the case, the river with its origins from China was known as the "mother of all rivers" and provided food and livelihood for over 60 million people!

Could not see any crab eating macaques from this enclosure!

Nevertheless, a picture of dad so that you can roughly gauge the dimension of the enclosure. I wasn't too disappointed not to see the macaques since we had plenty of them (crab eating macaques are also called long-tailed macaques) along devil's bend near Casuarina Road.

This was one unforgettable aquarium!

It was huge and housed Mekong Giant Catfishes, Giant Siamese Carps and Giant Freshwater Stingrays! I remember watching a documentary once on these giants and a giant freshwater ray can grow up to 8 meters across!

What we had in River Safari was likely a baby.

A few interesting facts; the siamese carp was the largest of its kind and the scales were used for shuttlecocks! Which part i am not sure. The catfish doesn't have any teeth and feeds on plants!

Storks and egrets in this enclosure with a rice-field setting common in Thailand.

I am uncertain if this red-eyed snakehead was fully grown as it was only about the size of my index finger! It might be a fish but it can live out of water for a few days and move on land using their fins!

Lives almost its whole life in water, this snake was said to have a leathery texture. From the look of it, it doesn't seem to deviate much from a normal python!

6. Yangtze River

World's third longest river, it is also Asia's longest at 6,300 kilometers and home to the world's largest hydro-electric power station!

The first thing that loomed in front of you as you entered would be the wall painting of a mountain in China. Quite good even though i personally find it quite amusing; might be better to have boulders replacing the extremely fake looking mountain.

I absolutely love to keep the super duper cute Yangtze Alligator, also known as Chinese Alligators as pets! The ones in the enclosure were quite young i presume since a full grown one can grow up to two meters!

Critically endangered with fewer than 150 in the wild; their meat was said to be a cure for cancer! Wonder if there is any medicinal benefit to eating panda since its number has also dropped significantly over the years.

The girls were figuring out the location of a rare amphibian which was classified as one of China's natural treasures; the Chinese Giant Salamander!

My colleagues who went an hour before me could not find it too and i am not surprised as it blended really well with the surrounding!

Can you see it now? Its Chinese name is translated as Wa Wa fish as it was said to vocalise like a crying child! I have yet to hear it for myself.

Sturgeons - existing for almost 200 million years, this living fossil can live for more than a hundred years and was famous for its eggs (known as black pearls) which are sold as expensive caviar.

Last segment of Rivers of the World - Giant Panda Forest of Kai Kai and Jia Jia. Check here for more information and photographs!

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Location

Within River Safari.

[Admission ticket to River Safari applies]

To put it simply, let's just called this a cave rather than the official term of lava tube! At least that's how i look at it when my sister was researching on the places of attraction in Jeju.

There was a high chance we were about to give the Manjanggul Lava Tube a miss but we were eventually persuaded by its claim as the largest in the world and was supposedly in mint condition despite its age! There was a third reason; being underground means we would be shielded from the sun!

It's actually funny for us to visit since all three of us hated geography and opted for history in our upper secondary! With its informative and technical details, i am sure if we could not comprehend half of what was written.

From Sunrise Peak (which i would cover soon in this blog), it was a 40-minute drive and i am not going to waste it by making a u-turn! Anyway, the admission ticket for adult was very affordable at only ₩2,000 (less than S$3).

A notice for all visitors; the point that people would pay attention to was the lack of toilet facility and you could see most people scrambling to the rest rooms next to the ticketing counter after reading the notice.

Time to enter!

The entire length of this lava tube stretched for 8,928 meters! Do be assured that only a kilometer is open to the general public and the total distance one can cover is less than a 2.4-kilometer run. Attached map for your reference.

I didn't expect the light to be so dim even though the notice had already warned us about it. As a blogger, i don't take too kindly to low lighting as more often than not, my amateur photography skill would render most photographs unusable.

No choice but to play around with the settings (exposure, shutter speed, ISO etc) in order to take some decent pictures! As expected, many turned out more blurred than the above.

The cave was better illuminated deeper in with an obvious fall in the temperature. In this picture, you can also see the lava flow lines by the sides which would give geographers an estimate on how many times lava has flown through this tube. So how did a lava tube form?

I am going to spare you my half-past-six interpretation and shall henceforth, encourage you to read more about its formation and characteristics on Wikipedia.

From personal experience, what i can offer is advice; for example, you need a pair of good, covered shoes as the floor was uneven and for most part of my trek, wet! Ladies, leave those heels in the hotel!

Bring a jacket too as the temperature can go as low as 110 degrees celcius. Alternatively, you can walk faster to work out some sweat! Other than that, do marvel at the artwork of mother nature which was dated about 100,000 to 300,000 years ago.

Pieces of educational information (in Chinese, Japanese, English and Korean) were scattered throughout the trek and you may wish to take some time to read about them. For me, i still have difficulties differentiating stalagmites and stalactites!

Power was pulled in from outside and you can see the covered lines on both sides. I can so imagine a power outage and the following panic if water manages to get in!

250 meters to go! And where the heck were my two sisters?!??! Oh bloody, they must have abandoned me while i was fidgeting with my camera settings! Never mind, i am a big boy and can take care of myself!

Walk, walk, walk; i was actually taking photographs every few steps as i couldn't be sure if they would turn out alright on the big screen,

Don't know what this is; if it wasn't barricaded, many visitors would have assumed it was a rest stop! Oh wait, just read that it is known as lava shelf.

Rockfalls which could have occurred during or after the formation of the lava tube. I think i am not making sense here; basically, these rocks were not formed from lava but from the natural terrain.

At some moments during my "nature expedition", i am alone. It can be quite unnerving especially when you have watched movies like "The Descent. ". Go catch it if you haven't; bet an amateur would swear off cave exploration after that.

Stone Turtle (or Turtle Rock) - official term is lava raft. Sorry, i see no resemblance to turtle although this rock was said to be a symbol of Manjanggul Lava Tube (by the way, .

Don't bother stealing anything from the lava tube; in addition to the installation of surveillance cameras, the rocks were all too huge for you to keep in your pocket / backpack!

See!!

Coming to the biggest chamber; not sure if it is the same chamber said to be 23 meters wide. Maybe for your information too, at its tallest, the tube was about 30 meters high.

The only place with sufficient lighting! By the way, i bumped into both sisters who were already on their way exiting the tube! Aiyah, relax lah; have to wait for the driver (me) anyway.

Finally, a resting stop! I could hardly rest since as i am aware both sisters would be waiting for me at the entrance! Darn, want to relax in the midst of nature also cannot.

This honestly looked like a gooey pile of lava covered shit!

Nope, we had yet to reach the end of the kilometer trek; you are required to walk into darkness once again as the structure at the end has a number one spot in the global ranking.

Strange that this passage wasn't lit like the rest since the flooring next to the raised platform was said to be that of ropy lava! Not that it absolutely mattered to me as the structure right ahead was more appealing.

World's tallest lava column at 7.6 meters high!

From the accent, these two ladies were obviously Singaporeans! I almost wanted to offer my service to take photos for the both of them but the atmosphere was a bit awkward since there were only three of us. You know the global warning; ladies, don't talk to any stranger, especially male, when you are overseas.

One kilometer back to the main entrance!

Be careful of your head; remember, we are the intruders here and if checking out the great nature isn't your cup of tea, don't bother visiting and make a hell complaining.

Three entrances existed in Manjanggul Lava Tube with the first one at the nearby Maze Park. We entered from the second entrance; said to be the safest.

Streams of sunlight brought focus to the passage next to the staircase at Entrance 2 which i believe would lead to Entrance 1. Afterthought from a tourist with no geography background (me) - compared to caves in China, Manjanggul Lava Tube might be a tad boring.

Notice these principles for visitation to the natural cave only when i was about to leave - point number 5, i am not allowed to take any photos?!?!?!

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Contact Number for GPS

783-4818

Map

As above

Additional Information

There is a museum near the car park where you can learn more about the discovery of Manjanggul Lava Tube in 1946; the name was taken from the Jeju dialect for "10,000 year-old cave". Turns out it was way older than 10,000.

42 species and i didn't see any of them!

Manjanggul Lava Tube is actually part of a bigger system known as the Geomunoreum Lava Tube System and stretched for over 13 kilometers! On the second picture, you may read further of the other caves in the system.

Lastly, for those who have had a hard time taking pictures of the tallest lava column due to the low light, you can have a second chance using the above replica. In my opinion, however, it was a more accurate representation for a pile of nicely formed shit with urine that continuously sprayed at it!

I am thankful i didn't take geography; would likely flunk it.

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip,

(Jeju and Seoul), please click HERE

Okay, this is not really a full blog post as i have broken it further by having six separate entries but this would be the post to read if you want to know in general what River Safari comprises, with the exception of the Amazon River Quest which was closed on the day of my visit.

With almost zilch visitors at the entrance as versus to the long queue at Singapore Zoo next door, i was taken aback; this attraction is the newest in Singapore and had its grand opening recently on April 2014! It should have been more crowded!

Nothing beats the shock when i saw the above notice though; the bloody Amazon River Quest, one of a few key highlights in the safari, was closed! I took leave to see 100%, not 85% of the animals! $%^##%^ Don't want to make the same mistake as i did? Check here before you plan a visit.

Oh well, my two tickets were complimentary from my company and i guess i shouldn't complain too much. Anyway, thanks to NUS for taking such good care of its employees! Next time, can we have Adventure Cove pleaseeeeeeeeee?

I didn't know it then but this is the panorama for the entire River Safari! Built at a cost of S$160 million, i am expecting something way larger in scale.

Direction is one way; you enter from the left and eventually exit from the right, somewhat similar to the concept of Universal Studios Singapore where Hollywood zone was the meeting point.

This way of presentation via projections is really a letdown; yes, you are banking on technology. However, with the prevalence of videos especially from YouTube, i am likely to give this a miss when the first two seconds fail to attract my attention. Furthermore, i would not be so lucky to catch the beginning of the video.

Might as well get the journey going by experiencing REAL, LIVE animals!

Rivers of the World would bring along a journey through six major rivers; namely the Mississippi, Congo, Nile, Ganges, Mekong and lastly, Yangtze! To read more in detail about this section (which featured quite a comprehensive list of exotic creatures), click HERE.

Numbering less than 1,600 in the wild, it's amazing that the cute and cuddly Giant Panda is the most recognizable animal in the whole world! And they are now in Singapore! Yawnz... not as if we are the only country to have them. Nevertheless, Kai Kai and Jia Jia continue to be crowd drawers in their air-conditioned enclosure! Click HERE for more pictures!

A nice surprise was waiting for us once we exited the Giant Panda Forest; the appearance of INUKA, our very own local-born polar bear! Check out http://cavinteo.blogspot.sg/2014/10/close-encounter-with-inuka-polar-bear.html

Lunch at Mama Panda Kitchen where i spent close to S$60 for fast food that i generally didn't enjoy. My review can be found here.

Extra photo moments with two fake pandas. Those who wish to stand right next to a breathing panda can do so if they ever visit Sichuan, China. Just be prepared to pay around S$100 a person.

Halfway through - walk across the long bridge to get to the other side of the river.

This would give you a good view of the safari which appeared relatively in sync with nature; trees continue to grow undeterred by the non-invasive surroundings even though i thought the design was rather boring.

Not that it matters since i would have gone to a theme park if i want something gigantic, extravagant and glittering! This is a zoo for goodness sake!

Dad again! If the weather wasn't too hot, you may consider staying longer on the bridge to spot wildlife like the eagles! I didn't have the patience as it was stuffy and hot that day!

Your admission ticket would not allow you entry to two of the boat rides in River Safari! Actually, i can more or less understand the rationale; the boat rides will not be able to withstand the physical strain of having all the visitors! The longer waiting times would also result in utter frustration!

I don't mind paying S$5 a person to see the remaining 15% of the animals in River Safari. Why did it have to close on the day i visit!?! Never mind, i shall wait for my birthday! There is a birthday special where the birthday boy / girl can gain entry for free! Limited to Singaporeans and permanent residents only.

Was persuaded by Alex to take the River Safari Cruise which almost resulted in me napping halfway through. Unless i can jump into the inviting reservoir water, this is one ride i would never take again!

As you can see, the path is well-sheltered from the weather elements; so long it is not the torrential rain we are facing pretty frequently this month! Most areas are also wheelchair accessible. For more details on disabled friendly services, click here.

Live exhibit of Jaguarundi along the passage - could not even see the shadow of this small wild cat!

Chanced upon a snail though.

Squirrel Monkey Forest - this is a must-visit. There were so many of these playful squirrel monkeys and they were friendly as hell! Just don't let the zoo keeper see or be prepared for a scolding! Well, what do they expect us to do?! Throw the cute monkeys off our back and risk hurting them!? For bloody sake, this is a zoo!!!

Amazon Flooded Forest - holding both world records for the largest volume and viewing panel for a freshwater aquarium, this is the place where you can get to see slow and steady manatees!

Last view before we entered the souvenir shop. Didn't buy anything as i have reached the age where such things are a total waste of money! Guess i can never be a romantic guy.

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Location

80 Mandai Lake Road,

Singapore 729826

Website

http://www.riversafari.com.sg/

Map

As above.

Blog after blog, i was constantly bombarded by fantastic reviews of abalone porridge on Jeju Island and this came fiercely on the heels of Kon's recommendation! Hence, it was a no brainer that i had to try it on my recent trip!

The issue was more on the question "where?". From some of the blogs, i gathered that a significant of them had picked the above Korean restaurant right next to Cheonjiyeon Falls and i guess that would be the best bet for us!

As you can see, it was simply decorated with the stacked up pumpkins at the back being the most attractive decoration in the eatery. It might seem empty at this moment but at about 6pm, the place was half-filled with locals!

Opted for the section without chairs as we wanted to experience the traditional Korean way of dining! Furthermore, we needed to stretch our legs after all the walking for the past two days.

Abalone Porridge

I have always lamented that over the real abalone (from a can that we often see in Singapore), i would prefer mock abalone for its more addictive flavour. Wait till your tongue gets the taste of fresh abalones!

It was most refreshing and although the texture was more along the line of abalone mushroom, the taste had that obvious ocean essence helped with a dash of sesame oil. However, if i have to choose between abalone porridge and the pricey lobster porridge, i am afraid i would still gladly pay for the latter.

Grilled Mackerel

Fish seldom impresses me but this grilled mackerel was so delicious; we almost wanted to order a second one! It was grilled to a crisp yet the meat remained juicy and damn flavourful.

Abalone Seafood Bowl

The one dish that stopped us from having a second mackerel! We selected the smallest and still found it hard to clean up every single morsel from the pot!

Besides real abalones with their shells still attached, we counted clams, prawns and even a crab hidden in the boiling red broth! That's quite generous for ₩30,000!

I have never been much of an abalone lover but these were so good, i think i can never look at abalones the same way as i did before. In addition, are you aware that abalones are also known as “ginseng” of the sea?! Nutritional okay!

Don't miss the spicy soup too! The richness of the sea was a guaranteed inhalation in every sip; not surprising with so much ingredients! Absolutely yummy!

Want to guess how many abalones there were in the pot? A total of nine pieces and for only about S$35! Given the price of abalones in Singapore, i am sure we are getting a better deal in Jeju!

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The operators were really nice despite the communication barrier! Upon knowing we were tourists, they immediately passed us a brochure and a guidebook (in English) that were way more informative than what we had so far!

Location

678 Seohong-dong, Seogwipo-si,

Jeju-do, South Korea

[next to Cheonjiyeon Falls]

Contact Number to Key in GPS

733-1966

Pricing

Abalone Porridge - ₩12,000

Grilled Mackerel - ₩15,000

Abalone Seafood Bowl - ₩30,000

Menu

As above

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip,

(Jeju and Seoul), please click HERE.

Having heard so much about the rainbow cake at The Bakery Chef, i thought i had to give the pretty thing (the cake that is) another chance to redeem itself and hence, managed to get my mom to accompany me one Sunday morning after her temple-hopping.

If you are particular about the decor of a cafe / restaurant, you may find the above photographs useful. As i mentioned before, such thoughtful and likely expensive installations are often lost on me; i am more concerned with the service with a higher priority given to food.

But, it is still a bonus to encounter an ambiance that appeared more homely with items that evoked memories from the childhood or my teenage years.

Whatever the case, this is not a big dining establishment with an indoor seating capacity for about twenty persons. The outdoor section facing the road can accommodate around eight persons.

First up - lattes for the both of us with beautiful coffee art! My rose latte had a baby sucking onto a pacifier! So cute right?!? Taste wise, no comments since i prefer my teh ni anytime!

Carrot Cake

Our last meal was two hours ago; i had a bowl of minced meat fishball noodles with a glass of kopi and if you think this would take little effort to be cleaned up; you are so wrong!

It was huge okay!!! I must have had a bout of overconfidence when i requested for a slice. It was eventually too much for both of us!

Personally, this was rich of ingredients (nuts, carrot shreds etc) and incredibly filling for the tummies (strongly recommended to share among a few friends)! Point scoring so far; however, the texture was too dense for my liking with an overwhelming cinnamon taste that kind of reduced the satisfaction.

Rainbow Cake

Named as Rainbow Slice, this was smaller than the ones i had so far although i preferred this petite version simply because it means lesser intake of food which translates into a more important reduction of calories!

In stark contrast with the carrot cake, this was surprisingly less sweet and featured the softest rainbow layers i had so far! The cold cream stacked in between and on top was light and fluffy; a definitive enticement on the hot Sunday morning! Be careful with the gold and silver ball sprinklers - i believe they have the ability to break your teeth!

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Sadly, i still couldn't see the big deal about rainbow cakes. This was good alright but it didn't generate a good enough reason over the many nice and delicious cakes out there for me to check it out again.

Location

Block 161, Bukit Merah Central,

#01-3711 (next to Bukit Merah Library)

Map

As above.

Opening Hours

Tuesdays to Thursdays - 10am to 7pm

Fridays to Mondays - 10am to 9pm

Website

https://www.facebook.com/thebakerychef

Price

Vanilla Latte (Hot) - S$5.00

Rose Latte (Hot) - S$5.00

Carrot Cake - S$10.90

Rainbow Slice - S$5.80

[No GST, No Service Charge]

Additional Information

Water can be self serviced at no additional charge. The gentleman was really kind to serve us cups of water even before we made any order!

Green tea lovers can go for the matcha slice while sour queens (and kings) can opt for the calamansi one; both of which could not match the physical appearance of the rainbow slice though. By the way, there was option for chocolate rainbow slice too!

If i ever come to the bakery chef again, i would either go for the waffle or the dessert platter (which serves 3 cakes from the counter, 1 cupcake, 2 macaroons and 1 glass dessert for only S$22.90)!

Check out their booth at Orchard Central! I don't know what it has for offer; guess rainbow slices would be one of them! You can call 6273-9211 for more info.

With ice cream cafes sprouting out like mushrooms in old estates, i was wondering when it would be Yishun's turn to have one to call our own. Guess i didn't have to wait anymore with the opening of Holy Cow Creamery!

Darn i do love this name! It portrays an element of surprise, evokes curiosity for cats like myself and by one look, you would know there is an obvious relation with the animal that provides the main ingredient.

Crowd at 6pm before it started tapering off. There are now many people like me who prefers to have dessert before the main course!

Counter seats facing the main passage are getting real popular nowadays among cafes. Over here, people watching shall include a more local touch; aunties in gaudy wear dragging their shopping trolleys and men in singlets (wearing slippers and likely picking his nose).

Offering unique flavours are also the new norm for ice cafe cafes to stand out in this highly competitive industry; the pungent mao shan wang is almost a guaranteed flavour everywhere and besides the aforementioned, Holy Cow also serves Thai milk tea, mr potato head (chocolate coated potato chips with salted caramel), Rudolph (cinnamon ice cream with finger bread cookie bits) and the Teochew traditional dessert; or-nee!

Both Alex and i were so unoriginal; we opted for the very safe French Vanilla and Honeycomb as waffle shall be the main focus. I will definitely try out the or nee next time!

After paying S$9.00 for a serving of waffle + two scoops of classic flavour ice creams, it's time to anticipate the delectable aroma while twirling the cup impatiently.

Ten minutes later; this was placed on our table!

Let's talk about the ice cream first.

French vanilla seldom fails and this was the same case in Holy Cow; vanilla pod seeds dotted the surface and the well liked essence was noticeable from the first bite. Honeycomb was extremely smooth with just a tinge of honey; i didn't get the crunch of honeycomb and would have mistaken it as plain old vanilla if not for the subtle honey taste. The lovely things about both ice creams were their smoothness with an optimal, hard-to-attain, ratio of creaminess!

Waffle was surprisingly on the saltier side even though there was still that distinct buttery flavour. Having said that, the saltiness gel greatly with the sweetness of the ice cream. It could, however, benefit from a longer time in the machine; a crisp surface is always a nice welcome.

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Location

Block 292, Yishun Street 22, #01-291

[Opposite Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea]

Map

As above

Opening Hours

Tuesdays to Thursdays - 11am to 10pm

Fridays to Saturdays - 11am to 12 midnight

Sundays - 11am to 10pm

Mondays - Closed

Website

https://www.facebook.com/HolyCowCreamery.SG

Menu

As above.

Additional Information

Weekend brunch is available! I am not sure about you but for that pricing, i think i would be better off having my meals at the nearby coffee shop.

Outdoor seating for those who loves the heat and humidity!

Note: I didn't catch the woman diver performance as we were too early! For those who plan to see the haenyo in action; do keep in mind that it would take place at 1.30 pm and 3.00 pm!

We did, however, manage to explore the area by walking down the long flight of stairs. It was a breeze of course until we had to make our way back.

Sunrise peak, the natural structure that symbolises Jeju Island more than any other in my honest opinion, would be covered in detail in a separate post!

Cliff with a face!

Have you ever seen a black sand beach?! Long accustomed to white (at times, brown), sandy beaches, i would have thought the beach was polluted by petrol if i have not read about it beforehand.

As we strolled towards the stairs, the island right opposite attracted our attention due to its similarity to an animal! Would you be able to make a good guess? A cow and that's the reason why it was named as Udo, which means Cow Island in Korean.

Making our way down; with me wondering if soil erosion is going to destroy this quaint, little cove that has the only haenyo performance in Korea.

Should this be in Singapore, i can bet you would see 4D numbers replacing Korean characters.

I am so not going to bore you with scientific information on how this comes about. I took a picture of the text so that i could share with all of you but i couldn't understand!!! Something about tephra (volcanic ashes) being affected by pyroclastic surge that gave us the different shapes in bedding.

Basking in the early morning sun would be much easier than deciphering the English text!

For those who are unaware, haenyo refers to the woman divers in Jeju Island who can dive to a depth of 15-20 meters in the cold seawater for valuable seafood like abalones, conchs etc.

From a peak of 30,000 back in the 50s, there were less than 6,000 of them registered in 2003 with a high percentage who were then over 50 years old! In the next few decades, this century-old occupation would likely die off.

It was a pity we didn't get to watch the ticketed performance although friends have informed me it was all staged for the benefit of tourists and i would be better off spending my time elsewhere.

Well, that could be true but just the thought of submerging myself in the freezing cold water was sufficient enough for me to really respect their occupation! Bloody hell, i could hardly sustain a dive of 3 meters with my lousy lungs!

Don't we all wish to have a house by the seaside where we can listen to the waves making a rhythm every night, feel the breeze licking our faces and catch the glowing sunrise every morning? Okay, maybe it's just me.

This building, sadly, wasn't a house.

Even though having a haenyo museum would be more suitable given the performance, a restaurant would be a better choice to sell off the seafood that the haenyo caught from the sea!

Many chose to enter not because of the food; I admit 8.30 am might be too early for anyone to have a sumptuous seafood meal anyway. Most people enter because it has a washroom!

Glass tanks full of seafood!!!

Likely for sale even though fresh seafood should not be displayed in the open like the above. We should be eating them live to thoroughly appreciate the freshness!

Notice the rock? Doesn't it look like a scaled down version of Yongduam rock?

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Location

Next to Sunrise Peak, a key attraction in Jeju Island everyone will visit.

Contact Number to Key in GPS

783-1135

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip,
(Jeju and Seoul), please click HERE.

Upon reaching Jeju's iconic sunrise peak, my attention was immediately drawn to this temple nestled right in front of the crater mountain! Compared to its popular bigger brother, all was quiet at the temple known as Dong Am Sa.

Its neglect didn't seem justifiable for such a fantastic location and i guess it would not take much time to just take a look around before we drove off.

I was right; the temple compound was really quite small and besides the uncle right in front of us, we didn't see anyone else! Maybe the day was too early for devotees to pay it a visit.

Beautiful architecture; this reminded me of the "spot the difference" app in my phone which was a pain the ass when it came to spotting the differences for the category under "Korean Temples"!

A statue of the laughing buddha.

Strangely, the characters were in Chinese and i can recognise 90% of them. A pity the temple appeared to be close and i didn't venture further.

Love this photo as the sun was in fact right behind the bodhisattva, creating a somewhat mystical halo around the statue! Korea is quite notable for their temple stay and i think it would be a great idea for Dong Am Sa to explore the option; its location alone would be a big draw.

For the summary of my inaugural South Korea trip,

(Jeju and Seoul), please click HERE.

Ms SaNeVa is a huge collector of Starbucks Card; a loyalty membership card that comes in many designs with some unique to specific regions / countries.

In my recent trip to Korea, she requested my help to get the Jeju card which, as the name suggests, is unavailable anywhere else! I had a hard time finding Starbucks but finally found one right outside Sunrise Peak!

Here's the Jeju specific Starbucks card! Compared to Angel in Us and Paris Baguette, there are only about five stores in Jeju Island; one of which was supposedly in Jeju International Airport (i must have been blind because i didn't see it at all).

For those interested in the location of the store near Sunrise Peak, kindly refer to the appended map above. Relax at the cafe after you are done with the crater mountain.

For my actual Seoul - Jeju Island itinerary,

click HERE.

I think it's kind of incredible (and crazy) to arrange for another hike a day after the exhausting trek up Hallasan! That's my family; when overseas, we tried to make full use of our time!

Our intention was to catch the sunrise at where-else-but-sunrise-peak but we were never early risers and the blazing ball of fire was already up in the sky when our rented car entered the spacious car park.

The view that greeted us took our morning breath away (not the smell though) and i was momentarily silenced by the magnificent splendor of Korean National Monument No 420! Thank god there wasn't a car behind us.

Right in front of Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak was the Dong Am Sa temple i mentioned a few days ago in this blog. For slightly more information, click here.

As expected, a statue of dolhareubang (grandpa rock). I am not going to regurgitate what i have written before. To read more on its unverified origins, check out the wikipedia page here.

Admission tickets were charged at ₩2,000 an adult (or ₩1,000 a child) before you can embark on the long, winding route up the peak. Given the lack of a gate and limited manpower, i bet you can walk in without paying a single cent although i wonder if it is worth the effort just to save less than S$3.

Some visitors were still marvelling at the mystical glow from the rising sun; likely expecting gold to fall from the rays. I am kidding of course. If there is indeed such a phenomenon, i would be there.

View of Seongsan, East Jeju - for an amateur photographer, the most i could do was to make use of the natural light shining on the village to take this photograph!

The road that never seemed to end. It's hard not to think of Hallasan at that moment and you can definitely see from Joyce's expression that she was resigned to the fate of re-experiencing the exhaustion from climbing stairs after stairs.

Only the ahjumma, with her symbolic tote bag, continued undeterred in her crusade to reach the peak. Compared to the freezing start at Hallasan, it was thankfully not as chilly at Sunrise Peak.

Ascending trail - to prevent a bottleneck especially during peak seasons, it made better sense to have a one-directional trail for visitors.

Not everyone adhered to it even though i chose to believe they decided to give up halfway through the walk and it would be much easier for them to return to base using the same trail.

Reached a rest station for older folks (like myself) to take a breather.

It's also time for breakfast! Given the rush to get out of Galeum Guest House to catch the sunrise, we had to postpone the most important meal of the day until then! Simple meal though; two bottles of yummy banana milk and two slices of egg-battered toasts!

Stairs - Joyce's (and Po's) worst nemesis!

Came upon a commercial entity which had yet to open for business that day. For those who are dehydrated, please purchase your water from this shop! For those who are too early, prepare a bottle yourself! Worst case scenario - hydrate yourself from the morning dew on the leaves!

Deung Gyeong Dol (Lamp Rock) where villagers of Seongsan would bow four times to. There were a few legends relating to this rock but what intrigued me more was a plaque warning visitors of a "legendary spirit that dwells in the rock".

Not much information exists of this legendary spirit and i took pleasure in checking out this cavity nearby which turned out to be just a hollow hole big enough for a kid to do his / her business there.

The unique rocks found during the hike was said to be a result of piled up volcanic ashes that were eventually eroded over a long period of time. Not that it matters but is that a chicken i see in the middle?

Looks like a gigantic stone-age hammer to me. Jeju Island is known as the Island of the Gods and for all we know, there could be a legend of a god who has this as his / her weapon. The deity could likely be Thor.

Elevated view of Seongsan; as with any such climbs, please hold on to your kids, specifically hyperactive ones who have the tendency to fall off the fence in split seconds.

Mount Halla at a distance away! According to guidebooks, you can see Mount Halla at any corner of Jeju Island as it is situated right in the middle!

Windmills to harness the wind for power! Anyone remembers that i mentioned Jeju has three abundances; one of which is wind!

Imagine - this is a humongous dog staring at a humongous biscuit.

Photos of both sisters in the beautiful backdrop!

A panorama shot for my Facebook cover photo. The landscape is quite interesting as it used to be a much larger due to the volcanic eruption 5,000 years ago that resulted in the formation of Sunrise Peak (a tuff cone). Wave erosion has contributed to the development of the current appearance.

The final few steps to reach the peak!

Joyce had to act this out as she had suffered greatly in the hands of Louise who was the master planner of the itinerary. I am okay; tired, sleepy yet the monkey in me could never stop fidgeting even when i am overseas!

Scenery that met us. At a peak of 180 meters (taller than bukit timah hill by the way) and a crater size that spanned 600 meters across, i was expecting more than just this despite a warning from the Great Kon.

It didn't help to have the sun directing its glare at us; making photo taking an extreme challenge for my amateurish photography skills.

Whatever the case, we didn't spend 40 minutes of our time with nothing to bring back! Just in case the photos didn't turn out well, it's best to take a gazillion of them! At least one would turn out well!

Like this one.

Even though it might not look much, the flora consisted of rare plant species; one of which cannot be found anywhere else in Korea except in the crater of Sunrise Peak!

I would love to climb down for a more intimate session with the plants; if not for the barrier (was captured in the photograph) disallowing us from doing so.

View from the peak with the ever popular sleeping giant; Mount Halla.

You could continue to suntan at the spectators seating which was undergoing minor renovation (for likely accommodation of more seats). For us, it's time to "down a mountain"!

This reminded me so much of the stunning 99-turn road at Tian Men Shan except that was built for motor vehicles while this one was for humans!

Both were extremely pleased to be on our way down!

Some unique rocks which didn't quite evoke my imagination on what they could be. Use your imagination and for all you know, voila, a legend is borne!

Down the stairs versus up the stairs - which would you prefer? I realise it boils down to age; when i was younger, going down proved to be an adrenaline charged activity so exciting, i could do it umpteenth times. Now that i am older, that same activity would be considered too high a risk for me to break my ageing, brittle bone.

A stone eagle!

Joyce again. If i am not mistaken, she was pointing to the view which appeared too unreal to be true even though we were standing right in front of it!

Littering at nature reserves, national heritage spots etc is a common issue. I don't understand how come humans can be so lazy; it would not take much effort to hold on to their empty, light plastic bottles and dump them appropriately in a bin!

Coming to an end after climbing down for around 18 minutes.

Joyce's light footed exhilaration of knowing we would not be climbing another mountain again in Korea! After this trip, i think she has written off any mountain climbing for future overseas trips!

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak has more than just the climb to the peak!

Overlooking the cliff on our way to the House of Haenyeo.

Checking out the House of Haenyeo where you can see the woman divers performing their incredible feat in diving deep into the sea to haul back seafood! Two timings were available in the afternoon; we missed it as we were too early!

No entry to the turf?!?!?! A great pity as it would be a nice place for a family to have picnic! Maybe that's the reason for not allowing people on the turf; maintenance would likely be hefty!

Direction pointed to boating right ahead!

Not sure what boating means since it was basically an observation deck for Cow Island (Udo); second largest island in Jeju province with a population of only about 370.

Finally back to the main entrance!

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Location

Seongsan, Eastern Jeju

Contact Number to Key in GPS

783-0959

Operating Hours

Till 8 or 9pm (depending on seasons). Hence, i believe you can catch the sunset here too, which i might consider, if i ever return to Jeju-do!

Map

As above.

Additional Information

There were loads of shops right outside of Sunrise Peak; i found many restaurants and there was even a good sized Nature Republic! For those who intend to get the Jeju Starbucks card, there is a Starbucks along this road! Click here for the details.

For the summary of my South Korea trip

(Seoul and Jeju Island), click HERE.

<< Day Three

I was awoken by the phone alarm and dragged myself out of bed. Time: 4.00am - sleep was something i am frequently deprived of when i am overseas, unless i am on a free and easy beach vacation!

Why woke up so early then? Because our younger sister had plans to check out the sunrise at Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone; one of three sites in Jeju granted the UNESCO World Heritage status!

As the ride from Galeum Guesthouse to Seongsan Ilchulbong would take us about an hour, we were still late and eventually had to catch the sunrise from the heated comfort of our rented car!

For more details (and more photographs) on the impressive Seongsan Ilchulbong (also known as Sunrise Peak) and the spectacular view at the summit, check out my posting HERE.

Sunrise peak from another location - we were searching for Seopjikoji; an area made famous by a Korean drama "All-In". Couldn't find it using GPS and decided to write it off our itinerary. According to another guidebook i was given, the correct number could be either 782-0080 or 782-7800.

Horses by the side - Louise was so looking forward to riding the horses in Jeju which has a long history of breeding horses and even has a professional horse museum!

Another view of Seongsan Ilchulbong; i remember an episode in Running Man where the camera drone panned to the top of Sunrise Peak and i was literally mesmerised by its beauty! That episode kind of encouraged me to make this trip with my siblings! Running Man FTW!

I had to stop the car as i spotted an item of personal interest - a tomb! The characters were in Chinese and although it had two names, the words at the bottom indicated a memorial plaque rather than tomb.

Nice right?! Wouldn't many of us love to live in that quaint little house on the side and be greeted by the morning sun and the aroma of fresh vegetables every day?! I would love to!

Modern windmill up close! There were a lot more vegetable plantations in this part of Jeju (which is the Eastern side). At the centralised Seogwipo, we had a higher hit rate of spotting tangerine orchards.

After driving for forty minutes, we arrived at the entrance of Manjanggul Lava Tube, part of Jeju lava tube system which is another UNESCO world heritage site in Jeju. Click HERE for my detailed posting.

On the road again; cloudless blue sky, a sunny day and three sleepy individuals.

Given the sleepy state and that it was mainly driving from one point to another, i knew for a fact i had to stop at times to give my eyes a rest from the roads. However, i would only stop at spots that were more interesting; like a horse range!

Thirty minutes later, we were goofing around at Jeju Trick Art Museum! Click here for the many pictures taken; it was quite fun actually.

Check out the coupon tree which offered many discount coupons to tourist attractions in Jeju! We should have something similar in Singapore with one slight adjustment.

To have them in English too so that international visitors can benefit from their utilization! $#%#%@%@ not that it mattered to us then since we would be leaving Jeju for Seoul the next day.

Is that a banner for Korea's insanely popular running man variety show!? Pity i don't read Korean and hence, couldn't grasp the purpose of this!

Our intention on day four was to cover the eastern side of Jeju and this was one of the rare occasions we chanced upon a Jeju tangerine orchards. As mentioned previously, there were a lot more vegetable plantations at this part of the island even though we were, at this point, on the way back to Seogwipo to check out Jeongbang Falls.

The glaring sun, the never-ending driving, a sleep-deprived state; conducive factors for a car accident which really happened on my inaugural Korea trip! To read more, click here.

As far as blood was concerned, Louise was the worst hit with the iron rich liquid flowing down her neck, staining her silver necklace and dirtying her shoes.

With this accident, it's also time to say good bye to our silver Hyundai Morning.

In exchange for a bright red car! As i had purchased full insurance coverage beforehand, the car rental company sent this to the hospital at no extra cost (save for payment for a new insurance coverage). For rental of cars in Jeju, check out my post here.

Despite the injuries (which were thankfully not serious), we continued our journey by indulging in abalone porridge, grilled mackerel and abalone stew! For more mouth-watering photos and my review, click this link.

It was also meant to be a celebration to have escaped with light injuries. As the Chinese saying goes, 大难不死必有后福 mah (for English translation, click here)! Hence, it was a short chill out time at Angel in Us, a popular cafe with many branches in Korea,

We didn't manage to visit Jeongbang Falls since it was already quite late. Instead of going back to the guesthouse to rest, we were once again back at this place. E-mart where Joyce can do some grocery shopping and buy some souvenirs for her friends!

The one thing i love from supermarkets in Korea was the existence of the above service. Cardboard boxes and tapes were provided for you to pack your shopping items; so eco friendly! Given the expensive retail space in Singapore, such a service would not likely be commonly seen. I could only think of IKEA so far.

9 pm - time to take my medication and sleep!

Tomorrow shall be a better day!

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For the summary of my South Korea trip (including Seoul and Jeju Island) and links to the respective day, click HERE.

The crowded bustle a few doors away from the noticeably quieter Woodshed Cafe was unavoidable and even though i had made a mental note to check it out, it was only about five months later that i finally stepped into Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Soup Eating House!

With my dearest mom of course! Frankly, i am aware i am a mummy's boy but for those children out there, please do try your best to accompany your parents; life is unpredictable and you do not want to regret not spending sufficient time with them.

I am quoting from a short yet touching post that a cousin posted on Facebook - "Love your parents - we are so busy growing up that we often forget they too are growing old".

Bak Kut Teh (BKT) - the Teh actually refers to "tea" which was drank alongside the pork rib soup. Amazingly, this is the first time i am having bak kut teh the classic, authentic way! In the past, i have always had BKT with soft drink, lime juice or even coffee!

To portray its traditional roots, a black and white photo shall henceforth be posted as above.

In my honest opinion, other than it being a tradition, the only other reason i could think of having tea with bak kut teh is its ability to absorb the oil and fats that came with the soup. Being health conscious (with me getting older), i guess having tea would be the way to go in future bak kut teh indulgence!

Signature Spare Ribs Soup

Singapore's version of bak kut teh differs from the Malaysian style with a much more peppery broth and this would not disappoint fans of Singapore-style bak kut teh. It was so spicy; you have to drink it slowly so as not to choke on the peppercorns!

The pork ribs had a pretty tough bite although they were in bigger, thicker pieces! However, ask me to choose and i would still vote for Ya Hua for its less overpowering (on pepper) yet more flavourful broth.

Fried You Tiao

Not crispy enough! Even though it might add on to the turnaround time, picky diners like me would benefit from you tiao being toasted in a simple toaster (like those used in rojak stalls)! I can so imagine the shiok-ness once i pop a crunchier youtiao with soup-soaked insides !

Preserved Vegetables

Comparable to the epic ones i had in Founder's Bak Kut Teh back in 2009, these preserved vegetables came in larger pieces (versus the wrinkly ones found in some places); had a nice crunch with that irresistible sweet-salty taste. A must to have them with rice soaked in bak kut teh!

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Location

208 Rangoon Road

[Near Farrer Park MRT Station]

Map

As above

Opening Hours

Tuesdays to Sundays - 7am to 10pm

Mondays - Closed

Website

http://www.ngahsio.com/

Menu

As above

Prices

Signature Spare Ribs Soup - S$8.50

Fried You Tiao - S$2.00

Preserved Vegetables - $2.50

Rice - S$0.50 a bowl

Shui Xian (Tea for 2 persons) - S$2.00

[Subject to GST]

Additional Information

Cash payment only! For tourists, you can purchase the spice packs to bring back home as souvenirs for your friends. This is similar to the Huxuzhang luroufan in Taiwan.

Use the hot water kettle placed at strategic locations to refill the teapot to brew your tea! Be careful though as it is constantly boiling!

Dongdaemun in Seoul was renowned in Korea for its position as a humongous shopping district with thousands of stores that remained open till the wee hours! Now, we are talking about 5 am or so; some even operate 24 hours!

Hence, don't be misled by the historical gate in front of you and think that everything in this area is just boring history you could easily read from the internet.

The three of us actually walked from Kwangjang Market and almost got lost even though it was just a simple straight road ahead of us! Nevertheless, we can't be blamed as we could not help noticing that the crowd was getting thinner as we trudged along.

Condition improved after we arrived at dongdaemun (the gate you see in the first photo); turn right and you will not miss the gaudy signboard of Pyounghwa Clothing Market!

Louise had a list of shopping complexes to conquer that day and the first one we stepped in was Doota Fashion Mall; items inside were of a higher end and this would translate into higher prices.

Both sisters, upon seeing that i was bored, dumped me at this cafe known as Gaongill so that they could check out ladies wear and accessories! You know how long i was abandoned there? An hour!!!!

As we didn't have mobile /data connection, all i could do was to get a delicious cup of sweet potato latte and play candy crush. Can you imagine that!? I am literally wasting my time! :(

Out on the street again (like finally). There were indeed a lot of dessert cafes in Korea but i didn't quite have the stomach / time to relax in a cafe.

Some stage performance i think; unlike one of my friends, i didn't chance upon any popular K-pop groups like Girls Generation, Big Bang etc. Put it this way, put them in front of me and i might not be able to identify them too! Except for Yoona or Suzy from Miss A.

Said to be a must-have, i was prepared to endure the chill from the soft ice cream which was in addition to the windy weather in Seoul that day. Unfortunately, the machine had broken down. Yippppppeeeeee, less fats for all of us!

Entered Hello apM; personally, the first thought that came to mind was its similarity to Platinum Mall in Bangkok. The major difference, however, was that most, if not all, clothing were for the incoming winter!

Nothing really suitable for the horrendously humid and hot climate we have back home. Louise did spot a cap that she was rather keen in; after bargaining, it still cost over S$30 which we found to be exorbitant! She eventually got one of an almost same style in Zhuhai (China) for only S$5.

To be honest, i don't find products sold in Korea to be economically priced although they were often compensated by a higher quality. This is my view which could be slanted given i didn't have time to visit section 2 of dongdaemun; said to be filled with wholesale outlets!

At this time, my tummy was searching for something hot to warm it and this came to my attention as i noticed quite a constant flow of customers while waiting for both sisters to check through a promo arena for children's clothes.

My aim was on the sausage wrapped with a layer of fish cake. Other options include having the rice cake replacing the hot dog. Being a meat eater, it's obvious i would go with the sausage.

At 3,000 won, it was really juicy and delightful to have in the windy weather! You may also choose from a variety of sauces like tomato, BBQ, mustard and a delicious spicy version.

Shopping carts on the spacious walkway.

In my entire dongdaemun visit, these adorable piggy banks appealed most to me! A pity they were really heavy and prices were in the range of almost S$50.

Surprisingly, we had much better shopping at Lotte Fitin! Do keep in mind that most purchases in official shopping complexes like Lotte and Doota are tax free

Last look of section 1 of dongdaemun before we took the train back to Hotel Manu. Would i be back? Maybe i would, to give dongdaemun a second chance by covering section 2.

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For the summary of my South Korea trip (including Seoul and Jeju Island) and links to the respective day, click HERE.

Hong Lim Food Centre is no stranger to me but i never did venture to the first floor as there were so much more to eat on the second level where snaking queues formed in front of many hawker stalls during lunch!

Hence, when Joyce and her colleagues suggested having a "very nice" kaya toast for dessert after lunch, i grabbed the opportunity since the shop, 正明茶室, is located on the seldom-visited ground level.

At S$1.40 for two slices of bread that were further split into thinner slices, these brought back fond memories of Nam Heng kaya toast along Simon Road which is, sadly, no longer in operation.

The boss was so funny! Upon seeing me whipping out my Nikon-san (the simple yet affectionate name i gave to my DSLR), he insisted on placing the half boiled eggs to "complete the picture"! In case you are wondering if they are complementary, he took back the eggs right after i was done! haha.

With such a thick chunk of butter right smacked in the middle of two thinly-sliced toasts, it was obvious the end result would taste extremely buttery; a criterion often well-received by fans of kaya toast. Strangely, i could not quite make out the kaya and assume initially it could be just butter sprinkled with sugar on toast.

Of course not; even though the aromatic custard kaya spread wasn't as generous as Nam Heng, it was still a near match and to be totally honest, i am already craving them for tomorrow's breakfast!

Praying that the stall is open for business.

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Location

531A, Upper Cross Street,

#01-46, Hong Lim Food Centre

Price

S$1.40 - Two Slices of Kaya Toast

Other Stalls within the Food Centre

Lee Kheong Roasted Delicacy - Roast Duck and Char Siew

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee

Ji Ji Wanton Mee