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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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On the road again; cloudless blue sky, a sunny day and three sleepy individuals.
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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!
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Thirty minutes later, we were goofing around at Jeju Trick Art Museum! Click here for the many pictures taken; it was quite fun actually.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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With this accident, it's also time to say good bye to our silver Hyundai Morning.
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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.
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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.
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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,
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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!
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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.
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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.