Korea day 2: "If Jeju is a man...

"..I would marry him," a statement made by RA :p

You know,  most of the people in Jeju  were really curious about us. I think it's the head scarf. People will ask where are we from and even peek at what we were making during lunch and they even peek at my camera screen  as we pose for our pic. That would've been rude but then they didn't give us the weird look thingy. They always seem so excited, speak something we can't fathom and smile and sometimes they gave us thumbs up. Tapi satu ayat la yang memang dalam silibus sekolah because all of them will say it although they don't speak English "Nice to meet you!! See you later!!!" (^^)/

So, we continue our second day in Jeju. After the breathtaking Jusangjeolli, we head for the Cheonjeyeon fall. The name is almost similar with the one in Seogwipo, just the 'i' is replaced by an 'e'. The GPS directed us to the one in Seogwipo so it took us some time to locate this nature marvel. Sekali lagi palpitation~

Pic credit to MR. Nampaknya MR menang contest embak GG :P

We can't see the Cheonjeyeon fall from the entrance because we had to go down a few hundred meters. As we walk down the steps, suddenly the striking blue water view emerge in front of us. I saw it in Google once but the real colour is even bluer than the one I saw! Palpitation.. Our pace became faster and faster and finally voilla!

Another outstanding sight in Jeju and can you imagine the water actually springs out from the cracks on those rocks. Subhanallah. I don't know why it is so blue though but the  pond in this picture is deep and they don't allow people to swim here. Looking at this pic, I remember clearly how cold the water was as I dip my hands in. There was also a special species of trees which can only be found here where all the leaves are pointing upward and the leaves were greener. The rocks where we stood on were very slippery. Some Korean tourists fell into the pond while walking on the rocks! 

HH: Weyh! die jatuh dari batu yang kite pijak tadi kot.. 

Don't wanna get wet although we have all our clothes inside the car huuu

See those water coming out out from those rocks? Isn't it amazing how the water coming out from there can give out so much amount to form 2 other waterfalls; the 2nd waterfall is about 200m away and the 3rd waterfall is about 500m. We only went to the 2nd waterfall

We can't go near the pond at the second waterfall. We just stood on this wooden deck and took some pictures. It is beautiful and I think the special thing about it is the plants thriving at the walls behind the waterfall. Although it look small, we still can feel the water spray. Refreshing~

Next we went to Seonimgyo bridge which was about 50m from the 2nd waterfall

We were running out of time and were considering to cancel visiting the Teddy Bear Museum because we have to drive to the East for an overnight there. But we were also curious of what are there across the bridge because we saw this cute blue train from afar. So we went across, went out of the park and saw a signboard that reads Yeomiji which is actually a botanical garden that was in our list but we cancelled it since we already went to Hallim Park. We know that the Teddy Bear Museum is suppose to be near to Yeomiji. Went to the map board and hooorrraaayy The Teddy Bear Museum was only 2 blocks away. That's 5 minutes walk! Lucky!!!

The museum is a 3 storey building with lots of Teddy Bear exhibits; ranging from histories about the teddy bear itself, prominent world events like the fall of Berlin wall and World War II and also teddy bears that resemble famous people like Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Queen Elizabeth etc. They were really cute! You can just guess what is the event or who the person is by one look!

The Fall of Berlin Wall.. Ok.. German Obsessed Haziah :P

Muka penat~

And right in front of the Teddy Bear Museum is actually Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Went inside out of curiosity and we loved it \(^^)/ So many tricky stuffs and some were gruesome. There was this one mirror where they ask you to roll your tongue in so many ways and we were excited to try it out. And actually the people at the other side were looking at us making funny faces. Ces! 

O kawan2 ku yang pandai buat expression muka~ 

Yup... Ripley's Believe It or Not was our closing of the day. Then we head to the east to Seongsan for an overnight. It was about 1.5 hours drive from Jungmun and it actually didn't feel like it because my friends were making lots of jokes along the way sampai driver abdominal muscle cramp sebab kena tahan gelak (^^) Tiring, yes, but worth every sweat!

The only car left in the parking lot :p

Celebrate birthday sape??

Can you guess which one is who?? :)

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Korea Trip Day 2: We fell for Jeju

We woke up later than we'd agreed to. SJ, RA and MR were already preparing breakfast as I pack all the mess that I made the night before. The special thing about Hiking Inn is that it has a beautiful roof top which was  equipped with a communal kitchen and tables and chairs so we had our breakfast there. The scenery was excellent; we have the Seogwipo harbor in front of us

and on another side you can see an island and the rest of Seogwipo (^^)

I can be picky when it comes to food when travelling but it's all due to my unpredictable bowel activity so I eat very little throughout the trip. I just didn't want to be a drag. Halal food is so difficult to find in Jeju so we actually brought a lot of canned and prepacked food and instant noodles from Malaysia. But the breakfast we had on the roof top was the best! We had Macaroni and cheese (^^) and Mi Ruski yang dirindui

Kesian kan.. Bekas pon recycle Maggi Cup (^^)

So the itinerary that day was all about wonders of nature on Jeju starting from the closest attraction, Cheonjiyeon waterfall. The night before, we walked there but that morning we drove there. We also met a group of Singaporean who are leaving for Seoul at the lobby before we start our island exploration \(^^)/

Motif gambar sbenarnya mo tunjuk betapa spacious nya boot.. 2nd motif: Saya kurus (^^)v

So we drove down about 400m and parked our car. There were so many buses already and so many tourists of course. So we walked our way to the waterfall on the beautiful landscaped trail. There was this bridge...

And below it was a flowing stream with those tiny rocks forming beautiful small rapids

Pic credit to MR

Then comes this shady walkway.. It was calming walking under those shady trees. It's good that this place have different path for those entering and leaving

Credit to MR again :)

And finally the mesmerizing Cheonjiyeon Waterfall (^^)

 Cheonjiyeon meaning: a waterfall connecting the sky (Ch'eon) and land (ji)

As I stood there, I could relate the name to its presentation. The cascade of water falling down the cliff really looks as if it is water falling from the sky. As if there is nothing up there though the source of water is actually from a spring. I've never seen a spring that can discharge this much volume of water so I was amazed! MashaAllah~

The night before, we saw a duck and 3 ducklings swimming towards the waterfall and that morning we saw some ducks again. They seem to complement the whole scene; the lushes greenery plus ducks! PERFECTO!

And then as we were about to leave, suddenly a Korean guy came to us saying that his students want to take picture with us. We were, of course, EXCITED! Dan selepas itu bermulalah sesi ayam bercakap dengan itik.. From what we manage to understand, they are not from Seoul and the province that they mentioned, I think, should be in the Southern part of South Korea. They were very friendly and they tried really hard to make a conversation :)

Then after Cheonjiyeon waterfall we head westward to Jusangjeolli cliff in Jungmun. And as usual, on the way, we met with random island beauty, parked our car and took lots of pictures

Random #1: Seriously tatau ape name tempat ni

Random #2: This is already near to Jusangjeolli

This should be my favorite random place. To our left was a jetty for a speed boat service that enables you to go near the Jusangjeolli cliff but it is quite pricey for a 15 minutes boat ride

Random #3: Very beautiful background.. Tapi apakan daya tripod pon macam tuannya jugak.. Sedang2 rendah.. :p

Then finally we reach Jusangjeolli cliff.. The signboards were quite confusing and Jungmun is actually a huge area containing various attractions. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it and I literally had palpitation as Jusangjeolli come into view..

GG: Ya Rabbi.. Tempat ni.. Masha Allah lawa nye~ Nak pengsan~

Jeosangjeolli cliffs are actually rock pillars that were formed million years ago when the lava from Halla san eruption flow towards Jungmun. What makes it unique to me is the precise hexagonal shape and actually the height of the cliffs tells the speed of the lava flow and the duration taken for the rocks to cool off. This is magnificent.. The beauty is more than a picture could describe. You need to be there, look at how beautiful the rocks are, the water was a brilliant electric blue and the sounds of wave in the breeze makes it so perfect.. Sampai palpitation~

See those hexagonal shape rocks :)

And again, an old Korean fella asked to take a picture with me and MR (dah mule rase macam artis pulak). And we had our lunch in Jusangjeolli. Maccaroni and cheese again (^^)

I still have a lot to tell but then this post is too long already.. To be continued

Tidur dulu.. Mengantok~

Macam mana la nda gelap balik dari Korea.. Pi sunbathing bha pulak :P

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Korea trip Day 1: Seoul to Jeju (^^)

I just can't believe our trip is over and done (^^) Surprisingly, it felt longer than other previous trips. Perhaps because we'd covered many attractions this time. The long wait was worth while. We had ample time to study thoroughly and plan the whole journey and Alhamdulillah, everything went well.. So here's our story.. (^^)

As usual, our trip always started with some drama. HH's leave was not yet approved less than 2 weeks before the trip and she can't find her passport a few days before the trip. Knowing her, I know everything will be okay in the end so I didn't freak out much hehe

I was so happy to finally meet SJ and RA after our trip to Singapore in October. The last time I met MR was during one of our friend's engagement but we chat a lot in fb, planning our trips. And in the airport, we met our juniors whose flight were bound to Kerabi. We chat like we're never apart. We haven't met for almost 2 years.

It was already their time for boarding but they ran back to us to snap some pics together. Sangat terharu~

Our flight to Incheon was at 2.25 pm and was scheduled to land at 9.45 pm. Nothing much in Incheon airport at midnight. Most of the shops were closed when we arrived so we just sit on the bench to revise our itinerary. There are prayer rooms but they're actually inside the departure hall so we spent the night on the benches on 3rd floor. Very comfortable! The toilet was nearby and the floor is the laminated type so it's very clean to perform prayers on.

Our flight to Jeju from Gimpo airport was 6.25am that morning. We didn't go straight to Gimpo because the airport is closed from 1 am to 5 am. We'd wanted to take the late night bus at 3.50 am but we missed it and took a cab instead. But, to think of it, if we'd taken the bus, we might have arrive too early and have to wait outside the airport longer because when we arrived at Gimpo in our fancy cab, the airport was still so dark and locked. The cab was fancy! It was a family cab that has this van-like feature and the interior was like a karaoke room! Well, my first embarrassing moment was I went straight to the left side to open the door but there was no door!!!!!!! (-_-") The cab ride cost us 61800 won 

Waiting for the airport to open

Gimpo is a small airport but there are international flights to Japan. We board the Eastarjet to Jeju; paid RM 283 for a 2-way ticket. We were suppose to arrive around 7.40 am but due to thick clouds, the plane failed to land. It was sooooo thick!!!!! We were descending and descending and suddenly we can feel the flight ascend. The pilot did a second attempt to land but he couldn't make it and finally the seat belt sign was switched off and the pilot announced that we are going to land in Cheongju while waiting for the clouds to clear.

 It was a very terrifying moment, I would say. The flight was not bumpy, but the sudden thrust when the flight start to ascend was scary because I think we'd descended quite a distance already. Plus, there were so many announcements and only a few were translated!

GG: Ni mesti announcement yang x de dalam buku nih.. (-_-")

 The cloud was still thick when we left Cheongju but that time it seems that the pilot was determined to land the plane. Alhamdulillah.. we arrived safely on the beautiful island of Jeju

When we arrived, we shopped for some snacks. We have a list of halal food with us. Went to the car rental counter and the best deal was offered by Korean First. There was this 60% off promotion so we paid 175000 won for our spacious and luxurious looking sedan. I misunderstood some details though. I thought we got a full tank petrol with that price but actually they measured how much we'd used during return and charged us on the fuel usage. But if you fill it back to the amount when you first got the car, there will be no charge. I don't know whether paying the company is cheaper or not compare to if you fill the gas at the petrol station before returning the car.

I was the driver for the whole trip in Jeju. It was hard at first to get use to driving on the left side. I always forgot that we were suppose to be on the right side of the road and my friends would start screaming "GG!!! SEBELAH KANAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" every time I drove on the wrong side and there was a car in front. Sangat funny haha

I don't even remember what's the name of this place because this stop was soooo random! hee

One thing about Jeju, every inch of it is beautiful. This was our first encounter of its beauty. I was still adapting to driving on the left side on the right side of the road when my friends screamed "Cantiknye!!! GG parking!!!!" Luckily, I'm not the panic type. Make a quick signal to the right and steer the car into a parking. And luckily the cars are slow in jeju so they always have the time to brake when a car suddenly change course hehe

Our first destination was Hallim Park. Entrance fee 9000 won. Distance: About 60km from the airport

Mind you, the speed limit in jeju can be as slow as 60 km/hr and the GPS will be so annoyingly noisy when you exceed the speed limit. So what's in Hallim park, lots and lots and lots of plants, flowers and they even have lava tubes!

My favourite plant would be this giant cactus. I'm not a fan of flowers. I always said to my mom that her flower would die~ But in Hallim park, I was quite into flowers hehe Weird.. Maybe because they're more colourful than the ones we have in Malaysia hehe

Our next destination was the Glass Castle. We didn't expect it to be so beautiful but this place is AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Everything was made of glass and and the vibrant colour should be the plus point. Everything shone under the sun. We were awed by the creativity and how everything was shaped into details. We spent a good two hours taking pictures in every corner of the park

Our last destination that day was the Miniature Park. It looks exciting on the outside but so so in the inside. Most of the things there look seasoned and need new painting but we enjoyed it anyway

After an hour, we head to Seogwipo to check-in in our hotel, The Hiking Inn. The GPS in our car was very helpful. We were never lost and we easily found our hotel. The only challenge was there was this big T junction with no traffic light before the hotel. I don't know which side should go first!!!!! So confusing!!!

That night, we took a walk at the Cheonjiyeon waterfall. We were excited because we know the surrounding will be superb if there is daylight.  I was the most exhausted among us. I was physically and mentally exhausted. When we were in 7-E, when I wanted to buy a Starbucks coffee, I can't even recall whether our room has a fridge or not. I was so tired that I shove all of my stuff on the bed to the floor and lay down flat. Heard MR entered the room,

MR: Eyh, awalnye tidur..

HH: Gg dah x larat sangat..

Zzzzzzz~ That's all I remember :P

To be continued....

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