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Start
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Oedo
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Sinsheondae
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POW Camp
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Finish
'Sinseondae' where Taoist Hermit Takes a Rest 신선대
By now, I am sure you already know how the natural on Geojedo is beautiful. Among tourist attractions with unique beautiful views of the southern sea, I think the best one is the one I'm going to show you right now, Sinseondae. The way into Sinseondae begins at three-forked crossroad to the Hill of Wind and you should head to Haegeumgang Theme Museum.
The prominent rock towards the ocean is Sinseondae. You can easily find ones with similar names but the view here is extraordinary. On the rock, there's an observatory and the view from there is like a painting. It's been used in various dramas and CF ads as well.
The excess road was impressive since it was made of woods and thin arch-stones not to damage the nature. As I was getting closer to Sinseondae, I felt that I could hear the song of the ocean.
On the wide and slanted rock, everyone looked stunned to see the sea. I lived on the coast for a long time but I've never seen this special.
It was pity that the weather was a bit blue but it was still beautiful. Those small islands over there are Daemaemuldo and Songdo, and there, I could see Byeongmaedo as well. Those islands look like they're running from the inland or running to the land to catch it, anyway nature is always mysterious, isn't it?
Nature is always beautiful. The sea covered with sand, Mongdol Beach covered with round pebbles, and the beach with strange rock cliff, everything looks beautiful.
The land is formed throughout hundreds of million years, and it's been wearing away by the wind and waves. Given the long history of earth, we are setting our feet on it at this miraculous moment. It was a very fortunate and thankful moment.
The rock protruding from the cliff next to Sinseondae looked quite unique. It looks like stair where the taoist hermit came out of water and step on it. It seems like a good place to fish anyway…(FYI, fishing is forbidden here.) ^^*
The ocean color seems like the Southern sea, isn't it? Eastern sea is blue, Southern sea is green, and Western sea is grey, so you would know which one is which by its color, right?
How did these rocks cut out like sliced tofu?
Among the rocks with no soil, the flowers bloom and live. It was admirable and pretty so I had to look at it for a while.
In old times, women must've been prayed here for their husbands and sons to come back home safe from fishing. Do you think old people could predict the future? We who were drinking canned coffee while taking pictures are the taoist hermits.
As one of '1001 Places To Go in Korea before Die' published by Maronie Books, I think we did a right thing to come here. We left our footprint and left.
Mongdol Beach is next to Sinseondae. It would be nice to swim and play there in summer. The buildings above the hill are all accommodations. In autumn, it's been a long time since I had this strong sunlight that made me sad that the summer is gone already. I didn't even swim this year…next time, I'll come here just to swim with no camera.
Address : 21-20, San, Galgot-ri, Nambu-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do (경상남도 거제시 남부면 갈곶리 산21-20)
Telephone : 055-639-3000
Bus : Numbers 55, 400, 410, 420
The Oldest Naengmyeon Restaurant on Geoje Island, Halmae Hamheung Naengmyeon 할매함흥냉면
Geoje has so many famous tourist attractions that they have been aired. Being aired on TV doesn't mean they are all good but the taste is somehow objectively confirmed. However, it's bad that you have finished your meal in the crowd in hurry. Plus, the fame often dissatisfies your expectations but today I'm going to show you the real famous Naengmyeon restaurant among the citizens for 40 years on Geoje Island, Halmae Hamheung Naengmyeon.
Halmae Hamheung Naengmyeon is located in Jangseungpo, Geoje-do. An old lady who opened the restaurant fled from North Korea and settled down in Jangseungpo, Geoje-do, during the Korean War, and she started to sell North Korean-style naengmyeon and passed down the business for 3 generations. Moreover, it's famous for its simple yet deep and clean taste since she doesn't use any artificial flavor enhancers. As the oldest Naengmyeon restaurant in Geoje, the building is enemy's house built under the rule of Japanese imperialism.
Inside the restaurant, it is old and small. There are steep stairs in one side of narrow pathway.
As I went up to the second floor, there was a room with a tatami floor just like a Japanese building. It's a rare building these days so I had to look at it for a while.
The main menu of Halmae Hamheung Naengmyeon is Hamheung-style Bibim Naengmyeon(spicy buckwheat noodles) and Pyeongyang-style Mul Naengmyeon(cold buckwheat noodles). Hamheunng-style Naengmyeon is spicy buckwheat noodles with thin and chewy noodles and spicy sauce and Pyeongyang-style Naengmyeon is with thick noodles made of wheat in cool broth.
After we ordered Hamheung-style Bibim Naengmyeon and Pyeongyang-style Mul Naengmyeon, a kettle of strong meat broth was served. It was hot broth with beef, cinnamon, licorice and pepper, and I couldn't stop eating even if it was a hot weather. I have a habit that I guess the taste of Naengmyeon by the taste of broth and this tasty broth convinced me that Naengmyeon would taste good as well.
After a while, the food was served. Guessing from few customers, it took a while to make it. I looked at Hamheung-style Bibim Naengmyeon first and the color of chili powder looked delicious and nice even for me who's not interested in cooking at all.
If you think the sauce is too spicy or strong, you can pour the broth that's served together with the noodles.
The proportion of sweet potato starch to buckwheat flour of Hamheung-style Bibim Naengmyeon is 9 to 1 so you can taste the aromatic taste of buckwheat, especially the sauce was spicy, sweet and sour but it was not so strong like any other Naengmyeon restaurants. Probably because they don't use any artificial flavor enhancers, only 10 ingredients including peppers, ginger, garlic and welsh onions were used. Plus the first taste was more aromatic and I was heard that they use fresh sesame oil that is made daily.
The tops were regular radish kimchi, boiled egg and Gaori Hoemuchim(spicy raw stingray salad). Gaori Hoemuchim was chewy like dried fish and unique taste of stingray that goes well with Naengmyeon.
Next, I tried Pyeongyang-style Mul Naengmyeon that you can see small white grains floating in the broth and it is small oil mass that is not extracted through the net. Naengmyeon broth that is sold only in certain seasons in regular restaurants was cooked with artificial seasoning, sugar and vinegar, no meat at all, so although I didn't like the oil masses, I was glad and thankful it was at least boiled with meat for a long time.
I tasted the soup first and I guess you would hate it or love it. Some of you must be used to artificial seasoning while the others would love the original taste of ingredients. The soup was not strong, plain broth but with a little bit of sour taste. So there's vinegar and mustard prepared on the table so if you're used to strong taste, you should use it as you please.
I added some vinegar and I couldn't stop eating this deep non-strong tasted soup. I've read an article on the internet that the food specialists who've been to this restaurant praised this restaurant that the soup is original Pyeongyang-style Naemyeon soup, which is boiled with beef mixed with cold water-based radish kimchi.
The noodles were much softer than Hamheung-style Naengmyeon but the soup is cold so they were not too soft, just chewy enough.
Pyeonyuk(slices of boiled meat) is a part of centre heel of shank with proper portion of fat so it's not hard, rather soft and tasty. It was more delicious to eat chewy noodles wrapped with soft pieces of meat.
On our way out after a nice meal, there was natural dessert ready for us. ^^* They prepared sweet pieces of licorice root and cinnamon barks for bad breath.
Originally, Naengmyeon was available only in winter because it has to be cold when it was popular in North Korea but it became a special food for summer. So they said they don't sell Naengmyeon in winter these days. It's available only from March to October so don't try to look for this in winter.
Plain food cooked with natural ingredients that Geoje resident suggests!! You can't eat Halmae Hamheung Naengmyeon in winter so hurry!
Address : 283-11, Jangseungpo-dong, Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do (경상남도 거제시 장승포동 283-11)
Telephone : 055-681-2226
Operating Hours and Holidays : 10:00 - 21:00, Open in March-October
Hanulae(Sky Love) Pension with Beautiful Yard on Myeongsa Beach 하늘애펜션
There have been increasingly more pensions and hotels on Geoje Island as the number of tourists has been increasing due to easy access after Daejeon-Tongyeong expressway was built that is directly connected to the capital city and Geogadaegyo Bridge that is connected to Gadeok Island, Busan. Of course big resorts with fancy facilities and glamorous looks are okay but on Geoje Island, I chose to stay at a pension that I could rest in nature. The pension I stayed is Sky Love(Haneulae) Pension, a friendly and quiet pension in nature with beautiful Myeongsa Beach in front and Gara Mountain on the back.
Sky Love Pension is near Myeongsa Beach that is a little bit away from crowded and famous tourist attraction on Geoje Island. So you can enjoy crowded place during the day, and in the evening, you can enjoy a quiet time with your family while you catch manila clams on the beach.
It was a national holiday when the pension had so many guests besides us, it was still clean with no trash on the green yard so I loved the first impression.
And the trend of today's trip! The heart of trip you can't miss! Barbecue grill was prepared for our family that you can even enjoy in cold winter. So I'll come back in the evening~!
This is a Roseberry Room in A Building. This is one-room style family room which had a wide open view.
Women put hygiene of toilet as a priority. The facilities were all clean, had amenities so all you need to take is your own toothbrush.
The kitchen also had a microwave, rice pot and electric kettle so you won't have any problem with cooking.
Kitchen appliances are prepared for 4 people. But the impressive thing is that they prepared all seasonings as well. In fact, all the restaurants on Geoje Island, especially famous tourist attractions, charge the customers at high prices. Thankfully, Sky Love Pension has everything so that you can cook yourself.
One room-style is supposed to have a bedroom, living room and kitchen in one place but the partitions were installed to separate the space so I could sleep on bed not disturbed by my wife while she was watching TV until late.
Next to the bed, there's a living room that is big as a room. It has only necessary products like TV, air conditioner and electric fan. There's only one room but big enough for 10 people to sit down and have beer. The wireless router is also installed to provide free wifi service.
One more thing to mention is the location of air conditioner. Most hotels, motels or resorts place air conditions facing the bed. So we couldn't get sleep at night because it gets too cold with the conditioner on. It's too hot to turn it off but too cold to turn it on… But this one was facing the living room so we could get a nice sleep with the conditioner on. Even a small item like that, it takes a lot of thinking before installing it. ^^*
The dressing table was opposite the TV. My wife said this is pretty and comfortable and liked it especially because it hurts her back to put on make-up on the floor. The dressing table also looks classy and nice.
Outside the living room, there's a wide terrace. The buildings are not attached to each other and the green grass put our eyes and mind ease. I could see Myeongsa Beach behind the front houses.
This pension has two buildings and this is A Building we stayed at. It didn't look fancy but beautifully decorated yard was neat that made us feel pleasant. Plus the owner's father-in-law was so nice that made me feel like I'm at my father's house in the country. Well, I was comfortable in the pension, that's all.
I was taking a look around the pension and it had a bigger room like this. I asked what this is for and he said it's a room for groups or companies. I never saw pensions have this big room.
There's also a kitchen with a table,
and a small room was included as well. This is likely to be for women.
Outdoor terrace has a resting place which would be convenient for groups. Whenever I see this, I get strong desire to work in a company again.
There are big and small ornaments and a waterwheel that the owner's father-in-law made and I must say he's got some skills. The yard was a good place to take pictures as well. When I stay in a pension close to famous tourist attractions, I sometimes wonder if I stayed in Seoul or Geoje Island because there are too many shops, people and cars. But I could definitely enjoy the clean and comfortable place near the beautiful, calm and quiet Myeongsa Beach.
People have a barbecue party at night with family eating sausages and vegetables on a skewer. The meat grilled with charcoal and beer tasted so good. You think there's better food on a trip than this?
Plus, Myeongsa Beach is a good place for kids to play in water, actually one of a few sandy beaches in Geoje, so I suggest you to go there. Plus, you can catch manila clams on the beach such that it is the best place to play with kids. I'll show you how to catch clams when I introduce another beach on Geoje. ^^*
Address : 322, Jeogu-ri, Nambu-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do (경상남도 거제시 남부면 저구리 322)
Telephone : 055-635-5464
