Musings of MissyNandar: Mr & Missy in Korea Day 11 (26 May 2013)

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Mr & Missy in Korea Day 11 (26 May 2013)

Today was the coldest day in Jeju during our short stay. It was cloudy the whole day with strong gust of wind! There were times we were worried that our Mini would be blown away by the wind. Cloudy weather matched our mood as we were a bit sad that it was already our last day of sightseeing in Jeju T.T

After 2 full days of driving, I wanted Mister to rest well so we left our hotel at 9am and reached our first stop of the day - Cheonjeyeon Waterfalls around 1030am. There are actually 3 falls altogether and one of them only flows after a heavy rainfall.

After we bought the entrance tickets, we did not cross the arch bridge yet (it was next to the car park / ticket counter). Instead, we walked down the wooden steps to the below waterfall. After about 15 min (we were walking quite slowly and stopping occasionally to take photos), we were greeted with this beautiful view. Sure, it was no where near the size of Jeongbang Waterfall but the azure / turquoise color of the water added a nice twist to the view.

Our first of the 3 waterfalls at Cheonjeyeon

Then, we came back to the area near car park to cross an iron-built arch-bridge Seonim-gyo. It is 128m long and 78m high, decorated with 7 nymphs on each side of the bridge. Legend has it that 7 nymphs who served the Emperor of Heaven used to slide down moonbeams to bathe here every night.

It was actually a bit hard to walk on the curved surface of the arch-bridge.

On the other side of the bridge, there was a fountain of 5 blessings - longevity (tortoise), wealth (boar), honor (dragon), love (mandarin duck) and sons (carp).

Spotted our second of the 3 waterfalls at Cheonjeyeon in the background!

Our second of the 3 waterfalls at Cheonjeyeon - we reached after about 10 min walk from the fountain of 5 blessings

Our third of the 3 waterfalls at Cheonjeyeon - we reached here after about 8 min walk from the 2nd fall. This is the waterfall which has water flowing only after a heavy rain.

I can't get enough of the color of water in Cheonjeyeon. It just looks so refreshing!

With that thought in mind, we headed to our next destination Jusangjeolli Cliff. As we spent more time than expected at Cheonjeyeon, we only reached the cliffs around noon. Prepare to walk quite abit at Cheonjeyeon!

Jusangjeolli Cliff - a dramatic 2km stretch of coastline, known of hexagonal rock columns that look as if they were stamped out with a cookie cutter. These pillar-shaped joints were the result of high-temperature basaltic lava cooling and shrinking in volume. When viewed from the top, four-to six-sided polygonal columns of rock can be observed.

The wind was just so strong!

With Jeju Island's Dol Hareubang / stone grandfather statues 돌 하르방

It has a character of a guardian deity, protecting against evil and diseases.

After spending about 30 min at the Jusangjeolli Cliff area, we headed to nearby Jungmun beach. The beach is surprisingly not spoilt, considering that it was located right smack in the middle of tourist town, with luxury resorts and tourist attractions.

Jungmun Beach & Resort Complex in the background

(By the way Mister, where is your hand? hmm)

Car park is on the cliff, not next to Jungmun Beach. To get to the beach, you have to walk down the slope.

I love love love the color of water in Jeju!

As we drove into the Jungmun Resort Complex, we saw arch-bridge Seonim-gyo again! It's red and white colors look amazing against the greenery so we pulled over for some impromptu photos :D

We reached Teddy Bear Museum around 1:30pm. It was located inside the Jungmun Resort Complex. Entrance fees was 8,000 Won per pax but if you love bears, I guess its worth it! They all look so cute!

Mister Basketball Fan

Would you like to purchase some groceries?

Famed Swarovski Bear - he even has a name!

I'm sure he needs no introduction, yeah?
Whats up PSY!

Outdoor area of Teddy Bear Museum

Our late and sinful Lotteria lunch at 2:30pm

Did you think we could leave Teddy Bear Museum without any cute bears to take home with us? Hahaha not us! If I remember correctly, this pair set us back for about 45,000 Won.

Mister was feeling a bit sleepy after lunch and he needed to visit a green mermaid for a little perk-me-up. Just his luck that there was a Starbucks right across the street from Teddy Bear Museum!

After a coffee date with our bear couple, we headed next to the Shilla Hotel inside Jungmun Resort. Another view of Jungmun Beach that we just visited. oh wow I like it!

A bench in the garden of Shilla Hotel which appeared in the Korean drama Swiri.

We left the resort about 4:15pm and took our newly acquired bears for a 30-min spin in Mini towards the Yongmeori Coast.

There is a car park at the base of Sanbangsan Temple with a huge golden Buddha Image. We had to leave our car there and walk downhill towards the Yongmeori Coast, an ocean-side promenade of soaring cliffs.

It was hard to walk against the constant strong wind and after about 10 min of slow walk, we reached a replica of the Sperwer, a Dutch merchant ship. But it was under renovation, as you can see in the top right hand corner of the photo above.

Sperwer was wrecked here long ago in August 1653. A sailor on board, Hendrick Hamel (1630-1692) survived the shipwreck but was forced to stay in Korea for 13 years before managing to escape in a boat to Japan. He wrote the first book on Korea by a Westerner.

Beautiful Nature yeah?

This monument was erected in memory of Sperwer shipwreck and Hendrick Hamel.

When we reached the ticket counter, we were told that the area is closed due to bad weather conditions! WHAT? I was looking forward to seeing beautiful ocean-side promenade and we walked downhills for 15 min in cold wind just to be told that we could not go :( We had no choice but to spend another 15 min to walk back to the car park.

View of Sanbangsan with its golden Buddha Image

Spot the tourist!

Initially, we were thinking of going to Mt. Songaksan but we decided against it. If the winds were so strong on the sea level, it would be worse on the mountain. We do not know if the weather would turn worse. What if something happens to our ride on the mountain road during the bad weather? (Maybe I watched too many Korean dramas.) So we just chose to go back to Jeju City along the scenic coastal road.

Somewhere along the coastal road on the west side of Jeju Island

We ended up in Chocolate Museum after a 40-min drive, around 6:20pm. I didn't think it was that far from Yongmeori but the wind was probably in the opposite direction against us.

After another half an hour drive, we found ourselves at Hyeopjae Beach - last sightseeing of the day.

At Hyeopjae Beach, the beautiful white color of the sand is due to the large amount of crushed seashells that have been mixed with the sand.

We reluctantly left the beach around 7pm and headed back to Jeju City. After picking up Mister's friend and discussing what to eat for dinner, we ended up in this cozy Korean family restaurant around 8+ pm.

Just look at all the free side dishes they gave us!!!