Holiday Journal

• Start
•  
• Yurinae
•  
• Yeomiji
•  
• Mount Sanbang
•  
• HwangGeumRyung Burger
•  
• Seongsan Sunrise Peak
•  
• Finish

Beautiful Jeju of southern mood

“Let's leave,just the two of us… leaving everything behind~in the blue night on Jeju Island, under those stars~"

This time I went to the southernmost and biggest island of Korea where it has exotic atmosphere unlike other regions on land.

Just like the lyrics 'blue night on Jeju Island', free and relaxed trip for rest, not for busy and exhausting sightseeing.

Thankfully, after I got on the plane in the late afternoon without worries in mind, just when I was about to enjoy the sunset, 50 minutes already passed and the plane had already crossed the sea and saw Jeju Airport under my feet.

We were worried that we might not be able to see sunny Jeju because of late departure time and bad weather but thankfully, we had a vague view of Halla Mountain from a distance when we got there.

But we are in Jeju Island, which is also called Samdado(three things that are easily found in Jeju) because you could easily find rocks, winds and women. As soon as we got off the plane, blustery winds welcomed us. “Oh, man…now I'm worried about tomorrow."

I had to hurry to meet someone at the airport, had a conversation about places I should visit and took a rest at a hotel near the airport.

Yurinae 유리네

After a nice deep sleep forgetting the fact that we were in Jeju and on the next day, we decided to eat something at Yurinae near the airport which was a must-go restaurant according to my friend who lives in Jeju.

Yurinae restaurant was on the side of a big road from the exit of Airport so it's very accessible for those who just got off the plane or who are waiting for the flight.

Plus, it was selected as one of 100 Korean food restaurants by Ministry of Culture and Tourism where the President and famous people always drop by when they come to Jeju.

As we entered the restaurant between being asleep and awake, we realized we were in Jeju again.

At the entrance, there were Dol hareubang(stone grandpa), trademark of Jeju Island welcoming us like an employee of the restaurant.

Hahaha…nobody asked us but everybody knows that the legend has it that you would have a son after rubbing the nose of Dol hareubang(stone grandpa) so everybody took a turn to touch its face and entered the restaurant with a smirk on our faces.

It was between the morning and lunch time so the restaurant had empty seats but we had to hurry because people were going to barge in any time soon.

As I sat there, the autographs of the president and people we see on TV or news caught my eyes. The autographs themselves looked like a good interior design…

Yurinae sells most of Jeju local dishes but my friend told me not to order something just because its name sounds good.

Especially, meals sound quite similar to those on land but they might be completely different so you would have to ask the employee first if you want to buy something.

After we checked the menu, we ordered the most famous and representative ones, Dosaegimomguk and Bomalseonggaemiyeok(top shell, sea urchin, seaweed) for each.

After a while, the common dishes were put on the table and the taste was not so different from what I used to eat. Did I expect too much?

But the green vegetables did not taste like spinach but my friend from Jeju said it is. I kept saying I didn't think so then I was told that taste might be different because people on Jeju Island use soybean paste instead of soy sauce or salt.

While we were debating on spinach, Dosaegimomguk was served.

It's made of Dosaegi, which is a word for pig used on Jeju Island, boiled until it gets limp then boiled together with gulfweed.

It was quite thick to call it soup or jjigae but it tasted like Gamja-tang(pork back-bone stew) boiled a long time.

However, it tasted not so bad if you put a bowl of rice, scoop it and put a piece of kimchi on it, plus I felt it would make my stomach calm like porridge because it is kinda thick.

Next one was Bomajseonggaemiyeokguk. Bomal is a Jeju dialect for gastropods and this food was well-known in Seogwipo area, south area of Jeju Island.

This is easily available but the taste and nutrition is as good as meat and there is even a saying “Bomal is meat" which became one of famous foods on Jeju Island.

If you boil it in sea mustard soup and put yellow inside of sea urchin, the soup tastes like ocean and so deep unlike sea mustard soup that I usually had.

The only thing I didn't like was that the dishes were generally a little salty for me because I tend to eat bland dishes but it has many advantages like they serve dishes enough to give you a chance to simple yet special dishes from Jeju, you could try local dishes from different regions in one place and the restaurant is close to the airport, so I suggest you to try once.

Address : 427-1, Yeon-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do (제주특별자치도 제주시 연동 427-1)

Telephone : 064-748-0890
Opening hours : 09:00~20:30 (Closed on national holidays)

Jeju Jet 제주제트

While we stayed in Jeju, we heard that the weather would get worse on the seashore on the news.

So as soon as the ship was full, it moved to the neighbouring area of Jungmun Resort Complex which is located in the south of Jeju before the waves got bigger.

The reason we moved from the North of Jeju to the beach in Jungmun was because we wanted to try the Jet Boat which runs, almost flies, on the ocean.

There are a few places to try Jet Boat but that day, Jeju Jet was the only shop that opened as well as the most famous one, and I even had to beg to someone I know from Jeju to ask the owner to extend the opening hours just a little for us.

The Jet Boat needs at least 8 people to start and the pregnant or those who have difficulties in moving cannot get on the boat since it might give you a shock on your back depending on the different waves every day.

After we bought the tickets we went 20m down to boarding area and the first thing I saw was the ocean full of volcanic stones, black basalts. different waves every day.

I whispered “wow, of course we're on Jeju Island" and wore a raining coat and life jacket at boarding area next to basalt beach.

At first, I was thinking “do I HAVE TO wear this life jacket?" but I remembered the last time I had tried it so I tightened my raining coat and got on the boat.

It's not allowed to take a camera on the boat so I am using the pictures that I downloaded from the website. However, they take a picture of you before the boat starts to move so you could buy them at the ticket office at a reasonable price.

Jeju Jet takes 20 minutes and it makes a round-trip between Jungmun Daepo port and Jusangseolli.

The boat moves like S letter on the way and when the driver lifts his thumb up it means that the boat is going to turn 180 degrees around.

So when his thumb goes up, every passenger shouts and gets excited like on a ride in an amusement park.

Each Jet Boat has 4 rows and if I tell you a secret, the person who sits on the edge and the back would have more fun and get soaked than other seats. So I sat on the right seat of the last row, when I returned my face was numb from waves and seawater.

Jet Boat service is available for all seasons and if you buy the ticket online, you could get 30-40% discount.

It's a short time but I believe this could be another way of making memories on Jeju Island because it's not like you could enjoy this extreme leports everywhere.

Address : 2181-6, Daepo-dong, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do (제주특별자치도 서귀포시 대포동 2181-6)
Telephone : 064-739-3939
Opening Hour : 07:00~17:00 (Arrive at 17)
Website : http://www.jejujet.co.kr/