Korea Trip June 2013 Day 3 - Jeju Ice Gallery, Song-Up Folk Village, Songan Sunrise Peak, Glass Castle

With Hong Thai 9 Day All In Korea Deluxe package

Day 3:

Today we got to sleep in a bit as we didn't have to meet up till 8.30am. Breakfast was provided for by the hotel buffet breakfast. Nothing flash, but was adequate.

We then visited the Ice Gallery to sculpt a cup from a block of ice. This was kinda fun. And they served us orange juice in the cup we made.

The Demo

After we made the ice cup, we got to go into the Ice Gallery which was freezing! Even if you wanted to stay in there longer you just wouldn't be able to handle the coldness unless you purposely came there wearing winter clothing (but it was summer). Luckily they did have free blankets to wrap ourselves in. But one layer isn't enough.

Next was the 3D Trick Art Museum where you'll go crazy taking photos. The Trick Art Museum is just above the Ice Gallery. When we first got into the first section of the museum I thought that was it, thinking that it was pretty small, but there were about 3 or 4 other sections inside, so it was quite worth it.

The first section, just after going through the entrance. 

We then headed to Song-Up Folk Village to see how the traditional Jeju families lived and to see a Black Pig. And of course at the end of touring the tiny village and learning about how they lived, there was a little 'presentation' to sell you Jeju honey and Jeju tea and other products. So this will count as the first tourist place you'll shell out your cash in and probably the first place the tour guide gets some commission.

Traditional Jeju homes

Mr Black Pig

a statue depicting the Jeju woman

Lunch of Black Pig BBQ was to follow after this. It wasn't really a bbq as such because they added water into the bbq wok/pan, so it was more like half bbq half stews? It was alright tasting. It may be too spicy for the little ones.

These anchovies were so yummy!

This is a spread for 4 people, but we got to share it just the 3 of us (2 adults and 1 child) :)

Black Pig tastes just like normal Pork :)

After lunch, we went to Songan Sunrise Peak. This is the famous peak/volcano in Jeju. It was a really foggy day so we couldn't really see the top of the peak. Warning: there are lots and lots of stairs to climb! So don't wear high heels or slippery shoes/sandals. I applaud you if you made it to the top, but I and my daughter didn't....it was simply exhausting to climb up all those steps. My hubby did make it to the top, but there wasn't anything there to see because it was foggy. Anyway despite the fog and the tons of tourists there, I thought the scenery was simply beautiful.

The view at the top.

If you wanted to and had ample time you could go on a boat ride down the bottom of the hill.

We then drove an hour to O'Sulloc Green Tea Museum. Not sure what this was all about because all we did was eat and shop all at our own expense. Perhaps we were supposed to go into the 'museum' ourselves but there wasn't enough time. Didn't even get to walk around the tea plantation. But on the upside, the green tea cake is divine!

Next was the Glass Castle. Which really isn't a castle at all.....it was an outdoor glass museum showcasing everything made of glass. A bit dated...and nothing amazing (for us anyway).

After the Glass Castle, it was another long 1 hour drive back to Jeju Oriental Hotel. Who knew Jeju was so big that it took so long to get from one place to another! Dinner was a seafood steamboat at a restaurant a block down from the hotel. Wasn't too bad. But also nothing to shout about. By this time we were all exhausted already and by about 8.30pm dinner was finished and we followed the tour guide on foot to the nearby shopping area called Tap Dong Street. The shops are a plenty but at such late at night it was quite deserted and most of us just was too tired and not in the mood to speed shop. We did one quick round and headed back to the hotel and stopped by a fried chicken shop for some yummy Korean fried chicken. It took a very long time for it to be ready though since the shop was packed. The name of the shop is called Kyochon and is just down the road from the hotel. Across from the hotel is also a big supermarket that is worth checking out if supermarkets are your thing.

Seafood Steamboat and the usual suspect line up of side dishes...and that yellow packet is instant noodles.

And we didn't have to share this with anyone :)

Delicious!

DAY 1 - 2
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6
DAY 7 - 9

Korea Trip June 2013 Day 1 and 2 - with Hong Thai 9 Day All In Korea Deluxe package

With Hong Thai 9 Day All In Korea Deluxe package

For the June school holidays we decided to go to Korea with Hong Thai's 9 Day All In Korea Deluxe Package. You can see the itinerary here. If you're reading this then it probably means you're trying to research your Korea trip and are probably trying to figure out which tour company in Singapore to go with. There's really not a lot of info out there and there's not many blogs stating which company they took their tour package with, this is what I found when I was trying to research my own trip. So I've put together this post, hopefully not so long winded so that you can get the general idea of what the package includes, etc.

The trip does not follow the order of the itinerary as given, so do be prepared for this. The tour guide seems to have a lot of flexibility on using his own judgement on which places to visit and when. 

Day 1:

We took the overnight flight on Korea Air and the night you depart is counted as the first day of your tour already. The flight was full of turbulence and with only a 6 hour flight to Korea from Singapore, there wasn't much chance to have a good night sleep. A choice of supper was served on board and we chose the Bibimbap which was quite nice. The rice was a packaged rice, which you open and mix into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. The Gojuchang sauce came in this cute mini tube. And there was ice cream served after.

Day 2:

So after arriving at something like 6am, we were all tired and starving. There was no other food served on the flight :( Once we arrived we bought pastries and bread from the Paris Baguette Cafe at the arrival Hall.

Our flight to Jeju Island was scheduled for 12.30pm so we had a few hours to kill. Our guide was a Korean guy called Mikey who spoke fluent Mandarin (and Cantonese). And there was also another younger guy who was the 'camera' man, he and his DSLR camera followed us around and took our photos which he later developed and 'kindly' asked us to buy at the end of the trip. Price of each photo was about $5 a piece. And be prepared for this by putting aside some money before the trip. The photos are good quality and are quite worth it. They put decorative borders like souvenir photos which usually would cost you the same price or more if you got it a tourist place or theme park.

So after we had something to eat, they took us to Kimchi School. It was kinda fun I guess if you haven't made kimchi before. We basically just put the pre-mixed chilli onto the layers of cabbage and wrapped it up. We don't get to take it home, whatever we the tourists made is supposedly donated to an old folks home or something. The purpose of this 'course' I guess is for them to sell you their packaged kimchi. After we finished we went downstairs to put on some traditional Korean outfits and go crazy with the photos. Was a shame we couldn't choose the outfits ourselves (I didn't like what I got to wear). But it was fun I guess and it's something you should do when you're in Korea.

The tasting plate 

We then went to this fresh food market. No one bought anything there, but it was interesting to see all the different fruits you can't find in Singapore.

After the market we made our way to the next airport for our domestic 45 min flight to Jeju Island. Nothing much to report here. Flight was ok, use it to catch up on your sleep.

Upon arrival we were taken to our first tour included Lunch of Ginseng Chicken Soup. It was super bland for me but that's me, I like lots of salt and flavour. Lucky they had soy sauce on the table. I was impressed that they served us a whole chicken - each! This meal most kids should be able to eat (or at least eat part of it).

We then visited the Teddy Bear Tesseum (Museum). The kids would enjoy this. The adults would probably find it a little tacky and maybe even boring....but at least we got a free mini teddy bear at the end :) We were given more than enough time to look around.

Teddy Bear Tesseum

After that we went to the Mysterious Road. I thought Jeju was a small island, but actually the distances to some of the attractions were long, some taking like 45 minutes to an hour to get to.

After this we went to Dragonhead Rock. Nice view, lots of tourists....

Dinner was included. It was Hanjeongsik - Traditional Korean Dinner Set. It was very disappointing....the main dish of Saba fish was rock hard and stone cold because it had been sitting on the table for goodness knows how long. The sliced boiled pork was also touch and tasteless, lucky there was a dipping sauce. The fish was inedible which was really disappointing ..... Lucky there was lots of side dishes. For kids, this meal may or may not be easy to take depending on how picky your kid. Mine only ate her rice with the egg and that's it :(

We ended the day at around 7.30pm and checked into our hotel called Jeju Oriental Hotel. Hotel was nice with a nice ocean view, but it only had 1 elevator per side, so going up takes forever as the elevator is pretty small. The hotel room itself is not bad. Be prepared, there's no shampoo, so bring your own.

DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6 
DAY 7 - 9