HK Jeju I Guesthouse

From Jeju airport, it took merely 10mins cab ride (KRW 4,000) and reach my 4D3N stay for Jeju. Frankly I booked my room with HK Jeju I under agoda the night before arriving Jeju. Manage to get a single room at SGD$28 per night. 🙂 Miss Tashya Kim greet me at the reception. As my room will only be available at 2pm, I left my luggage with them at their storage room. I ask Miss Kim about where to eat and my hiking ambition for Mount Hallasan. She is a very nice and friendly lady who answer all my enquiries. I love all the information posted on the walls around the reception. It makes touring around Jeju so much easier.

 

Basalt dolhareubang or Stone Grandfather, one of the symbols of Jeju Island, is also becoming internationally recognized / HK Jeju I and the streets of restaurants along the road.

   

Great posters and information in HK Jeju I about eating and touring in Jeju

Miss Kim recommend me Pork Noodle Soup at a restaurant just along the road beside the hostel. So headed there for my lunch. The temperature was freezing cold, a hot soup meal fit the weather perfectly. Just 150meter walk, I arrive at the restaurant. Upon entering, I saw frames of signatures with positive compliment of the food on the wall. Wow, it must be good.

So made my order and a bowl of pork noodle soup came along with 2 side dishes, cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi. I love the radish kimchi, perfectly suit my taste bud. The soup of the bowl noodle is superb. I actually bottom up the whole bowl of noodles and soup. It is that good.

  

Best Pork Noodle!!! Location: Turn left exiting Jeju HK I. Walk 150m and look for noodle picture and Yellow signboard. There is a water wheel at the storefront

After the meal, I returned to the hostel and check-in to my room. First impression of the room is the size which is surprisingly big with a 2 single beds and a large bathroom. However there is a stale smell upon entering. With the rate of SGD$28 per night, I am alright with the room. There are some things which did irritate me at the beginning. My room is located on the 2nd floor, facing the road. So the noise level is not for light sleeper which lucky I’m not. Another thing is the sound speaker located at the hostel front door, I can hear Christmas carols clearly even when I shut the windows and they do play the songs till late night. And whenever I leave the room, I will leave the window open for ventilation. But as their heating flooring is centralised. So whenever I reach back to the room, I’m will still feel freaking cold for a long time as it takes a long time to warm up my room. In additional, based on the condition look of the AC in the room, it probably be worst in summer.

Well, I manage to ignore all the issues and go through my stay. The best thing about the stay is the staff there. Very informative and  friendly. Thanks them lots for the helpful suggestions and clear instructions of touring around Jeju. Location is also one of the good thing about HK Jeju I. Walking distance to Black pork street, Dongmun Market, Tourism information booth, Emart shopping mall,  Jeju Seaside Art Centre. As for the Jeju Bus Terminal, I only took once to get to Seongpanak trail for Mount Hallasan hike. So to get to Seogwipo, take a bus to airport and transfer onto the Airport Limousine. It’s much faster and more straightforward.

  

Pictures of my single room

 

Dunkin and Donuts right across the street

Day 5 : Domestic Flight to Jeju

Woke up at around 7.30am for breakfast and checkout out the hostel around 9am. Wanna express my thanks to Miss Boa Kim and her staff for helping me with the luggage, bank transfer, breakfast, etc. The stay was really wonderful, peaceful, clean and very delightful. One of the reason why I chosen Boa guesthouse in Hongdae for my first 4 days in Seoul is also because they are nearer and much convenient to go to Gimpo domestic airport. It only takes 15-20mins ride by Arex train line from Hongik Univ. to Gimpo Domestic Airport.

Anyway, will be touring Jeju for 4D3N. I’ve booked my flight earlier online to Jeju with Eastar Jet. Tickets were so much cheaper than Jeju Air. Manage to grab a good deal for return tickets at KRW 67,200 (SGD$ 78).

Arrive at the airport, check in at the Easterjet counter was a breeze. Well, still have an hour before my flight so relax at the airport watching Korean drama while waiting. Gate through immigration open 45mins before flight.  I proceed to the immigration. Surprising, water bottle or drinks are allow through the security checks of the domestic airport. Should I have knew earlier, I would not have gulp down almost 1 litre of water before getting to the gate. Imagine how many times I have to hit the loo before getting on the plane. hahaha…

The flight is on time and it took 1 hour 05mins to arrive Jeju International Airport.

Graffiti along the fences to the subway elevator

  

Gimpo Domestic Airport waiting to board my 1105 flight to Jeju

Day 4 – Night Street of Hongdae

I arrive back at Boa Guesthouse requesting for private room again. Was assign to a twin room once again for the price of a single. 😀

So time to fill up my tummy, decided to explore the night streets of Hongdae. Initially I was thinking to search for Haha’s restaurant Pal Ja Mak Chang (팔자막창). Attempting to follow fellow bloggers information, I got lost ….expectedly. hehe! :p  Anyway, I did came along a street of restaurants with varieties of food. Can see stars like Kang Ho dong and so and so pictures outside the shops. One thing that concern me in Korea when eating alone is the portion. I do not like to waste food so it stress me out when I over-capacitated my stomach. LOL…

Links of fellow bloggers for Haha’s and LeeSsang’s Gary Restuarants:

Febulous Seoul 2012: HAHA’s Pal Ja Mak Chang (팔자막창)

LeeSsang’s and Ha-Ha’s Restaurant!

Anyway, time was running late as I need to get back to my hostel and prep my luggage for flight to Jeju tomorrow morning. Decided to settle and patronize the Korean street food stall for my first time. When watching korean drama or running man, the food on the street stalls looks so savory and yummy. I went into one of the pushcart tent and use my international signals to order Eomuk Guk (Fish cake soup), Mandu (Fried Dumpling), Soondae (Korean blood sausages) and Ddeokbokki (Spicy Rice Cake). Everything cost me ard KRW 7,000 (SGD$8). The portion once again is overwhelmed. But everything just look so tempting and delicious, I wanted so much to try everything if I can. My favourite in ranking is Mandu, Eomuk Guk, Ddeokbokki and lastly Soondae. Surprisingly the  Ddeokbokki I had is not spicy. 🙂 Unable to finish the food, I packet back to the hostel for my late night supper and breakfast tomorrow. It was a good feast……. Burppp ~ ^o^

 

Store selling winter dog clothing located at exit 9 of Hongik Univ. subway station / A happening election campaign

 

Irresistible temptations……

 

Soondae (Korean sausage consisting of pigs blood, barley and glass noodles stuffed into a casing of small intestine)

Hiking after Templestay

I was actually looking forward to my first hike in Korea under the templestay program. But it was cancelled as coordinator mentioned the ground were icy and slippery. However, me and 3 other foreigner templestay mates (Kelvin, Stephanie and Emily) decided to attempt a hike to the “peak”. Packing our belongings and got it temporary kept in the office. We enquire with Miss Yeosilan about the details of hike in the mountains. With the basic information, we just went ahead.

It was around 1.30pm when we started the hike. The trail is rather scary for me as my imagination goes wild. Some of the path are narrow and right at the edge of endless slope. About 30mins through the hike, we are at no peak. We stop by a frozen mini “waterfall” for a break. We chatted and seeing all the pro-hikers walking pass us, we had a good laugh at ourselves not properly equip for the hike. Some part of the rocks and ground is indeed slippery and dangerous. Well, we did get a good view on top and temple roof. After a while, we make our descend and went back to the temple office for our stuff. We bid Miss Yeosilan farewell and make our way to the bus stop.

 

Bukhansa trail map / Mini frozen “waterfall”

 

The rocky and narrow path / Hikers enjoying the snacking break at the edge of a mountain rock

 

Views of temple roof and the real peak.

  

Descending through Mokjungool Cave just below Geumsunsa temple

Along the way, remember the awesome english-speaking ahjussi I mentioned at the eatery. Surprisingly, he was standing outside the store and saw us. He is so kind to invite us inside the eatery and treat us tea and Makkoli (Korean Rice Wine). The tea is the best beverage I had since I arrive in Korea. It’s a combination taste of lemon and citrus. It perfectly warms my heart in such cold winter temperatures. Another first time for me is drinking Makkoli, the taste turn out to be pleasant and gives a light sweetness. It’s taste lighter than Japanese Sake. Works well during winter day.

Having a short chat with the ahjussi, he mentioned he used to worked 15 years in construction around asia such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia which tells why he’s english is quite good. Showing my appreciation for his hospitality, I gifted him my lotus lantern. I really feel touched by his invitation gesture. Couldn’t thank him enough.

So once again, we bid farewell and hit the roads. Took the same bus 7212 back to town at Gyeongbukgung station and had tea time with Stephanie and Emily.  We say our goodbyes at the subway and I got back at the hostel around 5pm.

 

Makkoli, Lemon Citrus Tea and side dishes at the eatery. / Thin ice forming along the water

Day 4 – Geumsunsa Templestay Part II

Surprisingly, I was able to wake up at around 4.30am by the sound of the monk knocking on the wooden object outside our room. It was indeed one of the better nights I had, a peaceful sleep without dreams. So everyone slowly wakes up and wash up for the day.

Along with the bell striking to start the day and follow by the morning chanting service and mediation. I was looking forward to the  Balwoo Gongyang (Formal Monastic Meal). It is a great cultural experience. Every action and movement from arranging the utensils to serving the food are done uniformly and in silence. One important lesson learned is not to waste food. During the meal time, we were asked to take only what we can finish. And at the end of our meal, water was poured into our bowl for cleaning. The monk then tell us to pour the water remains into a collecting bucket. It is said that if the collecting bucket water is found dirty with wasted food, everyone will have to share the collecting water and drink it. Well, not everyone in our group was understanding the rules so our collecting bucket was shunned by the monk. Luckily, he gave a chance and we do not need to drink the water. I simply cannot imagine and make myself to swallow the collecting water if I were told to.

The Balwoo Gongyang utensils at the dining hall

After our meal, we went on to do some volunteering work such as sweeping the yard, cleaning the room, washing the meal utensils. Then it was conversation over tea with the monk. There was only 4 foreigners including me for this program. Four of us had a private tea time with our monk , Mr. Hai-Chan along with Miss Yeosilan being our translator. We got more tea then we ask. I am very grateful for Mr. Hai-Chan hospitality and generosity showing us the art of tea from different countries.

  

Sunrise at Geumsunsa Temple / Chinese wording on the door means “Gate of freedom” / Stairways to the monks’ quarters and other Buddha Hall

    

A similar stone-craved sculpture seen at Gyeongbukgung palace found at the temple. / The exterior detailing and painting on the temple structures.

Our last program of the templestay was to learn how to make make lotus lantern. Hiking was cancelled as the mountain grounds are icy and slippery. Lotus lantern making is a simple and fun craft work. Really enjoyable.

Finally, we had our closing ceremony with photo-taking section together with everyone, the monk and our handmade lotus lantern. I was surprised when they presented to us each with a DVD of the 108 bows prostrations and postcards of the temple. Really, to experience cultural Korea, templestay is really thumbs up!

 

My handmade lotus lantern and items received at the end of the program.

Some information and suggestions to share on Geumsunsa Templestay:

Website : http://geumsunsa.org/

• Although they have cable carrier for luggage, try not to bring your hugh trolley bag for the 2D1N program.  
• Pack light for winter, reconsider the need for shower accessories like shampoo, body gel. Literally there may be 15-20 participants, queueing for the shower can be tough especially with the  limited sleeping time.
• Extra socks and water bottle is a must to bring.
• Phototaking during the program is taken care of. Do enjoy and participate whole heartedly in every activity. You can still take pictures during break and free time.

Lastly very very important note: There is another templestay called GeumsAnsa spelled with an “a” and located 4 hours drive from Seoul. Please DO NOT mixed up as it is totally different from GeumsUnsa which is located just 20mins away from Gyeongbukgung station.  

How to get to Geumsunsa(금선사): ~ (Extracted from website)
1. Take a subway, the orange line – line No. 3, and get off at Kyungbokgung(경복궁) station. 
2. Go out the exit No. 3 and walk straight forward about 70m to the bus stop. 
3. You’ll have to transfer to the bus, the green color – No. 7212 at the bus stop. 
4. Get off at the bus stop, Yibukodochung(이북오도청). It just takes about 20 minutes to get to there by bus without traffic jam. 
5. Pls, follow 금선사(Geumsunsa) signposts, it’s about 20 minutes walk to the north. Actually, first 10 minutes walk on the road, later 10 minutes walk in the mountain.