Tuesday, October 07, 2025

Day 2 - Jeju North West

love is sweeping the country
waves are hugging the shore
Love is Sweeping the Country - Ella Fitzgerald

Day 2 was spent on my own. The plan was maybe to start at around 9 AM something but I was so so tired from the day before that I had difficulty getting up. I was thinking, it's alright right to get up late, I was on vacation after all, but then a part of me also thought you wouldn't want to waste the day. I ended up setting off at around 10 AM. First order of business was getting the travel card. I forgot that my hotel has 711 that I went to another one, thinking it's on the way to the bus stop I needed to take anyway. Got the card, went to the bus stop, and it took me a few minutes to realize that nope this wasn't the correct bus stop. By the way, I was stunned when I was googling the maps on directions that Google Maps couldn't give walking direction. Then I found out that South Korea does have some restriction on this and so the data Google Maps have in South Korea is limited - I didn't know this was actually an option. So I had to install Naver Map. The thing about Naver Map is that when researching I would prefer doing it on the computer and I found using Naver Map in a browser is not so good, maybe there's a trick that I didn't find. Anyways, after realizing my mistake off I went to the correct bus stop. At least Naver is able to point you to the bus stop and bus to take.

For that day, I would mostly just need to take bus 202, except for my first stop where Naver recommended a faster way and less walking by changing bus. I was planning on listening to Ella for these long bus rides, thinking I could just sit on the bus and while the time away. I was so wrong, bus 202 came and it was filled with people, tourists and locals alike. By locals there were a lot of halmeoni and some harabeoji. Maybe if I have set off earlier, I would see more younger people going about their day. It's really something to see these Koreans grandmas and grandpas going about their business, they might be slower, but they still look pretty sturdy. The thing about the bus, I would say the frequency is not so good. I got off at the recommended bus stop and waited for some time for the next one. I wasn't that proficient yet in using Naver that I didn't notice that it actually told me the predicted time for the next bus. I could have used the waiting time visiting the nearby Daiso with aircon, but instead I waited in the bus stop with the hot sun. When the bus arrived, at least this one was quiet with not many people and the ride gave me a really nice view of the sea.

First stop was Gueom Stone Salt Flats, but I had to deal with something first when I got off the bus. I found out that my day tour for the next day was cancelled because I was the only one booking it :( sigh the sad thing about travelling alone, these things had happened to me more times than I would have like it. I sat down awhile and set about to book a replacement tour for the next day. After that was settled, I set about to explore salt ponds. Kinda disappointed that it's not very big and I'm not sure it's even functional. The disappointment came from such an effort to get there. Really nothing much to see here but there was the blue sky, sea, windmills in the distance.

My next stop was Hyeopjae Beach and stupid me waited at the wrong bus stop. I should have waited at the bus stop across the street. When I saw the bus I supposed to take coming, I was like wait what?!?! I actually hussled to get to the bus stop across the street and the bus was kinda still there a bit off from the bus stop, but somehow I didn't feel like waving at the driver to let me in. I really didn't feel like dealing with the communication barrier and it's my mistake afterall. I was so unprepared for this trip, like worse performance ever, ever since I don't consider myself a rookie at this anymore and . Looking at the weeks I had before this trip, well there's just quite a lot I had to deal with, even in the last few days leading to the trip - I could only thank God I came out of it still standing. So anyways, as mentioned the bus frequency is not good, so I had to take the long walk away from the seaside to a road where I could get back to bus 202. This time around I noticed when it's going to arrive, so it's another hussle to get to that bus stop. I made it and managed to find Hyeopjae Beach. It wasn't very big and there's quite a number of people enjoying the day.

So by this time, I was getting hungry and I was like okay let's have lunch here. I went to walk to a shop serving seafood ramen that I have googled but dang it was closed that day - could anything go my way today :( I ended up walking to the other end of the beach, found a shop which looked like it's open and also had seafood ramen. Tried to push and pull the door but it didn't open, gosh :( Defeated, I went to walk around the beach area a bit, was still hungry, so I went back to the same shop, saw there's people inside, but I still couldn't open the door and then I thought maybe the door slides? Indeed it did, oh my God!!! What the ... anyways I was in, let's move on. I ordered the seafood ramen and when I wanted to pay, I did something extremely obnoxious. I didn't realize I was only holding 5000 KRW which wasn't enough and the auntie staff couldn't speak english and I couldn't understand what the problem was. The shop wasn't full of people and I just said out loud, sorry anyone here speak English? A lady eating with her husband and young son came to my aid and then I realized what's wrong - total embarrassment!!! I sorted it out and paid the amount and thanked the lady. Then I used the shop's toilet. Side note: I love how it's not difficult to find toilets in Jeju and most importantly none of this stupid business of having to pay for it. Back to the seafood ramen. It's Korean instant noodle with seafood in it. First order of business was removing all the spring onions. I also didn't eat the side dish of kimchi and another vegetable thing. I wouldn't say Korean instant noodle is my first choice for any instant noodle being that I'm an Indonesian who grew up with Indonesian instant noodles but even I have to admit that perhaps it's the right choice for this. There's a variety of seafood: prawns, mussels, octopus leg (I love octopus!!!), and a small abalone. Since I love seafood and was hungry, I say it's really good. I made eye contact with the lady who helped me as she was leaving wanting to say thank you again and she gave me 2 small packs of Haribo gummy. I couldn't quite make out fully what she was saying as she was leaving but that act of kindness was really like the universe and God telling me, we're here girl for you. That day so far hadn't been going my way because at that time my bag also had its zipper stuck and I couldn't fix it, so this was really like a reminder, a sign from the Heavens that we're right here with you, you're not alone.

After lunch, I made my way to Hallim Park - it's walkable. Got the ticket and I didn't know what to expect here. I looked at the map and it looked overwhelming because truthfully I was already kinda tired. A good thing I notice about the places I visited in Jeju is that they often have arrows directing you of the recommended route to take - I wonder if it's like this all over Korea. So I followed that and it was great, I covered everything. It's a park with many plants like palm trees and flower gardens. They also have a few greenhouses which houses some cactus, tropical plants, a stone and bonsai garden section, also an exhibit of stone art, a menagerie of some birds and reptiles, a pond with water lilies and waterfall, two different caves (Hyeopjae and Ssangryong caves) which were really cool to walk in, and a little recreation of a folk village called Jaeam Folk Village. It's pretty big. Perhaps not the most mind-blowing thing there is in Jeju, but I like it quite a lot. Maybe it helped that there were not many people. I like it when I had moments of quiet on my own. It's quaint and I would say a good place to stroll around in.

After the park I made my way to Geumneung Beach, again by walking. I remember taking a little path with trees all around and at the end of that path was this nice beach. I've been looking at all these nice clean beaches in Jeju and I wonder why South Koreans would travel elsewhere like to Bali when they have these nice places in their own country - the same argument could be made to me, why am I all over the place when there are great things in Indonesia. Anyways, it's late afternoon and there were families around. I saw people collecting things and I wondered what they were collecting and I noticed right under my own feet that there were tiny snails and they're alive. I wondered if these were what they were collecting. It made me feel bad that by me walking, I might crush them. It felt so fun and I guess what I realized was that it's a memory-making moment and I felt happy that these kids and their families have them and perhaps a little sad that I don't get to have them.

After that, it's back to bus 202. My next stop was Gwakji Beach. When I arrived I saw a free public bath, separated between male and female. I looked at it and there's no one there and it didn't make sense to me. I just googled it, apparently during high tide it will be filled with water and it look fun and relaxing. It was low tide when I was there, so no water. This beach was more quiet, most probably because of the late afternoon and people were leaving for the day.

I took a few pictures and proceeded with my plan of taking the trail that would take me to Aewol. The sun was going lower and lower as I walked and I would say it might be better to do this the reverse way as compared to what I was doing because when I reached Aewol it was filled with people because this is the area where there are many cafes and restaurants. So while I like the trail where there's not many people, I didn't like it when I reached Aewol and it's crowded. Watching the sunset in the quiet Gwakji beach would have been so much better. Talking about the quiet trail, when I started I had to walk behind a young couple and that felt quite weird and maybe they felt it too; it got better when I overtook them :D I saw quite a lot of young couples that day, many of them are Koreans and I know the country is struggling with birthrate, so it's good right that these people are dating, at least. Then somehow for the first time ever maybe, a weird thought came to my brain that maybe I don't want that - mind you I am lonely often and I do get lonely travelling alone, but somehow seeing these couples, what I was seeing was the hassle of compromise and being alone I don't have to. It's a bit perhaps of what my cousin has been saying these past years; do I finally reach her conclusion as well? Do I really want someone? It's scary picturing oneself alone forever but my cousin is right, at this age adaptation is hard. However, when you see a couple like below, older and still together, you can't deny you wish someone is there too for you.

In Aewol, I didn't stay long, I didn't even wait until the sun totally disappeared from the horizon because I needed to catch the bus. It's around 40 minutes plus ride back to my hotel. Also the reason why I didn't stay in Gwakji beach was because the bus ride then would be much longer, although perhaps it might be better because the bus might be emptier. Anyways, I checked Naver and quickly made my way to the bus stop which was some walk away; kinda sad I didn't fully see the sunset but I didn't want to miss the bus. The bus stop was crowded with people. The bus itself was late :( As I was waiting there were more and more people coming and I was getting agitated, there's no way everyone could get on the bus. When the bus came, I used my skill that's been honed here in Singapore of squeezing myself so that I could get into the bus and I made it. I didn't know when the next bus gonna come, best case scenario in 20 mins, but I didn't want to wait that long. I didn't want to get back too late and that's also the reason why I didn't explore Aewol and perhaps eat there. I had to stand, but after some time I did get to sit. The bus was full pretty much throughout. I wonder if this bus situation pisses the locals. If they're relying on the bus to get around, there are many moments it seems where it's just not possible with the many tourists and then they end up having to wait long. I hope the government there would get more buses going.

It was dark when I arrived back in my hotel area. I needed to find dinner. It's been a long day and I thought maybe I could do fried chicken. The thing in Korea is, apparently they sell the fried chicken as a whole chicken. How on earth I was going to finish that? I found out there's Mom's Touch which seems to sell small portion. Had some difficulty finding my way around, but then I was in the right direction towards it. It was quite a walk and it was closed, aarrgghh :( BHC chicken was nearby, but the queue was long so no way I was going to do that. I thought to myself, Burger King? Okay, so I set to walk to Burger King. It's another long walk and I was getting really tired and it's dark. On the way to Burger King, I saw an udon place and I was like thank be to God!!! I quickly went inside and it was so much better than expected. You choose your udon bowl, I chose mine with mushroom and was able to communicate that I didn't want the spring onion, and after that they had many selection of tempura. I was like this is so great. I was hungry and wanted many things, but I had the brain to realize you're not gonna be able to finish them all so I settled on fried squid, fried omelette (it was weird), and fried sweet potatoes. I was so thankful eating that and that was the end of my long day. See pictures here. Last two thoughts, from the long walk walking to find food. I saw a store called WeVape and was like ha! there's no way that's gonna fly in Singapore :D Then I really like how at crossings they indicate which side you should take though I guess many people didn't realize it and ignore it. It's helpful when the crossings are crowded, so you don't become a hindrance for people walking in the opposite direction of you. It seems Koreans like things to be indicated, which way to go. I like that too.

:) eKa @ 6:48:00 PM •