Sunday 8 May 2016

Korea | March 2016 | Day 2 | Jeju

We arrived in Jeju just past noon and went straight to the car rental booth at the airport to find out where we can wait for the shuttle bus to bring us to the car rental venue. Before departing for Korea, my mum and I have already applied for our International Driving Permit and rented the car online. We got a KIA Morning (seriously tiny) from AJ and it was pretty cheap - around S$100 for 2 days (half day, one full day and another half a day) excluding petrol (which wasn't too ex either). It can go at a decently fast speed on normal roads but going upslope is just embarrassing haha (thankfully that didn't happen to us often). We got an English speaking GPS along with the car (no extra charges). The GPS in Jeju runs by the phone number/full location of the venue and since I didn't know the house number of the accommodation we booked, I got them to help to save the address of the airbnb house we booked (because I can't read/write Korean at all) while they were giving a briefing on how to use the GPS. After all that's done, we headed straight for EcoLand. It's probably one of my favourite place in Jeju/Korea apart from Hallasan (more on that soon!). I'm glad it wasn't proper Spring yet when we arrived and most of the trees were pretty much still bare (I love Autumn/Winter way more than Spring/Summer). And somehow, my mum and I were unintentionally matching in navy. Love it when this happens!
COS lightweight wool coat (32) | River Island Boys checkered shirt (13 y/o)
Mango grey ribbed tee (xxs) | ASOS Petite Ridley jeans (UK2) | Zara Girls boots
H&M wool jumper | Zara shirt | Mango Girls jeggings | Aldo boots
It was so fucking cold, I swear I couldn't feel my fingers at one point. We took the train to go around EcoLand and I loved it. Left around sunset and drove to our airbnb accommodation. It wasn't too far away from Ecoland - yes, that's why I chose to visit Ecoland the moment we picked up the car. And yes, I'm a huge travel planner. I like to know what the city/place I'm going to visit has and then decided which ones I'm most interested and would actually want to visit, and then plan the route, taking into consideration the travel time between each location, the opening hours, when is a better day/time to visit, how to get to each destination etc. As I'm preparing this post, I am preparing the travel schedule for my trip to UK/Europe in July with Ian and I'm kind of freaking out because we are quite late in planning and a lot of flights are already full (been sooooo busy with work, I've been leaving the office after 9.30PM for 4 out of 5 days a week for at least a month now).
This road below is the reason I booked the particular airbnb house. 
Peach jelly: best thing ever

HOW AMAZING IS THIS PLACE??!!

Firstly, the driveway into the estate is amazing. It's so secluded it's a must to rent a car if not forget about staying there. That's how I managed to convince my mum to drive in Jeju. My mum was pretty apprehensive about driving around Jeju ourselves because the driver seat is on the left, unlike in SG. But this house is so amazing I had to stay there. So we got the car (yaye!). I was totally fine with driving on the left - it wasn't a great deal to me at all because I'm used to alternating between mirroring sides for many things (used to teach dance steps in the mirrored direction so it's easier for students to learn it etc.) When I drove into the super long driveway lined with trees, I was soooo happy. It was crazily gorgeous, and the house is as secluded as my house in Sg LOL. The house has a pretty cosy yard with tables and chairs out in the open - the decor is really lovely. It turned dark after but we didn't want to drive out to look for food and we couldn't speak to the owner either because she's a grandma-ish age and only speaks Korean (she stays in the block across the yard from ours). And lucky for us, we found a box of snacks / food in the room (kind of like a mini bar) with the price list of how much each item costs. So yeah - first night in Jeju - dinner was cup noodles haha. The daughter of the home owner came by later that night and presented us with a plate of Hallabong oranges, which were SO DARN GOOD. She also kindly rejected our payment for the cup noodles (she speaks English) and we had a short chat after. I've also gotta say - the toilet is pretty nice. Washrooms play a great part when it comes to deciding whether I like an accommodation or not, and this one is just awesome.

I'm very much a mummy's girl and I apart from work, I spend a ton of time with my mum. I've been drafting this post since 7 May - my mum's birthday (it's past midnight now, so it's Mothers' Day here in SG(8 May)) and I'm always thankful for my mum. She's always there for me and will always have my back. I believe in showing love for the ones I love and cherish not just on special occasions but really, any time is a good time to show appreciation and spend quality time together. SG can appear 'boring' because it's small but there are actually tons of activities going on, from the arts to food related workshops. So really, get out there and experience new things together!

Read about my first day in Seoul here or follow the tag 'Korea 2016' for more!

xo
clara

1 comment:

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