Korea Day 5 (Part One)

Feel the "magic" of the place...

Dun be fooled by the clear skies n the warm-looking sunlight thou... the temperature is damn cold here... juz take a look at the pond n u'll know... it's frozen rock-solid...

Look at the backdrop... set in the mountains... the view is superb...

The carvemanship is excellent...

The main altar... Magnificent sculptures...

The place is realli scenic... and the air... smells pure n refreshing... due to the fact tat it's in the mountains... trust me... after breathing the air here, u will realize the true meaning of "clean air"... being a city-dweller, it feels amazing to be in a place free of noise n air pollution...

Day Five... First program of the day was visiting a temple in the mountain... Initially, I wasn't realli excited abt the place coz I tot it would be boring... but the moment I alighted from the bus, the feeling was... how to describe... maybe magical? Ok... maybe I sound abit exaggerated here... but my point is tat the place has a very special atmosphere...

I hate backaches... and I have one...

My parents got into one of their regular "silly" arguments tis morning... I consider many of their arguments "silly" becoz well... they always get so heated up over something beri trivial or in some cases, totally meaningless... I wun dwell too much on tis family issue since 家丑不可外扬... and it isn't too nice to tok bad of my parents...

Anyway, my dad ended up buying a can of paint and wanted to paint the house... dun ask why... and my mum refused to help him... dun ask why oso... so poor me, being the innocent party here, I had to help him paint loh... I mean... I cun possibly see him do it himself and dun help rite? Painting is quite a physically demanding job loh (and I dun mean painting on paper)... and he isn't realli young anymore... and painting the ceiling is too strenous on his back liao... so I do loh... completed the living room and kitchen ceiling today... end up I kana backache instead... sianz...

Wat's the big deal abt a little backache? U may tink... well u are WRONG... it's a BIG DEAL to me... like I always say "腰对男人来说是很重要的"... reason? well... *cough*... u know lah, dun 假假... if u realli dun know, well... u'll find out when u grow up... haha...

Tired... all worn out... time to go sleep...

Korea Day Four (Part 2)

Nice refreshing end to the day... I realli enjoyed the spa... I'll go again when I visit Korea next time... See you again, Mr Squirrel...

Spa Valley !!! Yoohoo !

It's sort of a "theme park" of spas... consisting of many man-made pools n baths of diff water types, treatments n temperatures... great place ! Sorry ah... no cameras allowed inside so no photos of wat it looks like within... anyway I dun tink u'll want to see pics of more than a hundred naked men taking a bath together... haha...

*skip*

After rushing thru so many places, it's time to say goodbye to Jeju... We took a afternoon domestic flight to Daegu... it was evening by the time we reached Daegu, followed straight by dinner... dinner was nothing great so I'll juz fast-forward abit...

The place sells good souvenirs thou... this is a blacksmith selling unique iron tools and souvenirs like windchimes... there's a "small" problem however... iron rusts... u have to oil them constantly to prevent rusting... so u either get something beri oily or beri rusty...

Well... nothing much to see here... or maybe I am juz not a "cultured" person... the place is full of houses built from straw, stones and horse dung... yup I repeat... HORSE DUNG...

Our next stop... if u cun read Chinese, it says Jeju Cultural Village...

Lunch for the day was BLACK BOAR'S MEAT... I tried it before in Japan but the Korean one was beta... coz they made it Korean bbq style... and the meat was fattier... yummy... oh and look, Mr Kimchi strikes again...

It was a bumpy ride... the course was full of rocks... took a while to get used to handling the vehicle... then juz as the fun was beginning, it ended... SO SHORT ! I'll definitely go ride a ATV again some other time some other place...

Up next... ATV ride... ATV stands for All Terrain Vehicle... reminded me of the old biking days...

A short visit to a tangerine farm where we got to pick our own tangerines... they were realli sweet and juicy...

Korea Day Four (Part 1)

Great view... couples should try doing the "titanic" pose here... haha...

There's a lighthouse to the extreme right...

See our tour bus in the middle? Camera max zoom liao...

Looking down at Jeju Island... it feels great to be on top of the world...

Supposedly a nice place to watch the sunrise... but then u haf to start climbing real early to reach the top before the sun rises...

The place is actually a dead volcano... u are looking at the crater here... my camera cun take in the whole view...

After struggling for about half an hour, we finally made it to the top !

A long and tedious climb... *pant*

And off we go !

Everyone rushing to the toilet before starting...

Day four began early... Woke up around 6, I tink... after breakfast, haf to go MOUNTAIN CLIMBING ! The place is called 成山日出峰... duno the english name...

Korea Day 3 (Part Two) - Jeju Island

Dinnertime ! Damn... I'm feeling hungry...

The side dishes (see a familiar face?)

Dinner - Ginseng Chicken ! It's one WHOLE chicken per person... but no worries, even the gals managed to finish everything... shows juz how delicious it is...

Does it look like a dragon to u?

Flight of stairs leading down to the coastline...

Dragon Rock - By the sea, the ocean winds are freezing-cold here...

The guardian gods of Jeju Island... u'll see alot of such statues on the island...

The locals built many figurines and weird-looking structures around the place to make it look more "mysterious"...

Looks like a normal road... but when our bus driver switched off the engine of our tour coach, it cheong-ed quite fast "uphill" - cool !

Mysterious Road - A stretch of road which "defies" the law of gravity, water flows uphill, balls roll upwards, going down is more tedious than going up etc...

Clear skies, cool winds... the climate here is so different, feels like autumn... Nice...

Took a domestic flight... and off we go to Jeju Island... Arrived at Jeju International Airport...

Korea Day 3 (Part One) - It's Snowing !

Gosh... I miss Korea...

Air of serenity...

So romantic...


Day 3 begins... After breakfast, as we were leaving the hotel, we were greeted with a pleasant surprise... Falling Snow !!!

Contrary to wat many ppl may tink, it's actually quite hard to see falling snow even in cold countries... other than low temperature, there haf to be enuff moisture in the atmosphere... anyway, no point going too deep into the science here... enjoy the photos, use ur imagination, feel the mood...

Note: Click on the pics for larger image if not clear enuff

Wishing Aaron A Speedy Recovery

This post is dedicated to our dear friend, Aaron, who broke his leg in an unfortunate accident during skiing...

Good news is that his operation went smoothly and he's on the way to recovery...

Aaron-san, ganbatte ne ! Hope u recover soon...

Korea - 2nd Day (Skiing Day)

Supper - no night programmes on the itinery for tour package so we roam around on our own... found this cafe selling tea-themed desserts... most of the cakes were yummy... Unique - they even give away free gifts in the form of beauty products... see the silver box? it's a bottle of some skincare thingy...


The side dishes... Take note of the kimchi - it will keep appearing in other pictures

Dinner - mushroom hotpot

Map of what the whole area looks like...

Vivaldi Park Ski Resort - it's different from a hotel, but we feel it's a nice place... sort of a all-in-one holiday destination... the whole place is divided into two main parts, the skiing ground is open in winter while in summer, the other part which is a water theme park opens for business... shopping mall, bowling alley, pubs and so much more...

Skiing season !

View on top the snowy mountain