Day 5 - Jeju: Yeha West Course Tour

As this was our first time in Jeju and we were afraid that it might be hard to get around on public transport, we decided to join Yeha Tour for fuss-free travel. I think it might be cheaper to just rent a cab for the day, especially if there's more than 2 people in your group. But the tour was pretty good and informative and covered all the places we wanted to see.

First stop of the tour was Hallim Park.

The guide immediately brought us to the lava tube which was the most interesting part of the park. Apparently Hallim Park is THE place to visit if you have limited time in Jeju and want to see a bit of everything.

Very pretty white peacock! It kept following the female around and flaring out its feathers to get its attention.

 

Next up was O'Sulloc Tea Museum, as a green tea lover, I was very excited to visit this place.

The cafe.

Enjoying green tea products in the middle of a field of green tea lol.

Next we had lunch and then proceeded to Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls.

Enjoying a dessert by the falls.

In the souvenir shop.

Saeseom (Sod Island)

Perilous climb to the top... Almost fell here numerous times! :S

Many people were like fuck the barricades and just ventured out and sat on the edges of the rocks.

Some women picking something down by the rocks.

Yakcheonsa Temple.

I like this pic!

Lotus lamps.

Last stop: Jusangjeolli. According to the guide, in the past, many people in Jeju were very miserable and many people came here to commit suicide. At night, it is said that the ghosts of those people are said to haunt this place.

Here, the tour ended and we requested to be dropped off at the Teddy Bear Museum.

Disney themed.

Tiny teddy bears.

Aww Princess Diana bear.

I thought this was one of the cutest bears.

Outdoor section of the museum.

These polar bears look quite realistic in this pic!

The bears were adorable but I thought the admission fee was a little steep considering the museum was pretty small. After touring the museum, we walked to Lotte Hotel Jeju which was just behind.

They have a Hello Kitty themed room, I'm not a HK fan but that looks adorable!

My mum's favourite: Slot machines! She got lucky and won some money \o/

Stroll around the gardens of the hotel.

Outdoor buffet dinner

Best part of the buffet!

I loved the ice cream, fro yo with green tea!

At 8.30, guests were treated to a lights and pyrotechnic show that was pretty impressive, I think kids will really like this.

Night stroll to digest food before heading back to the guesthouse.

Look what followed me home :)

Day 4 - Jeju: Dragon Head Rock & Dongmun Market

After doing a little speed shopping in Myeongdong we took the subway to Gimpo Airport for our flight to Jeju!

Snack while waiting to get on the plane. I love banana milk!

Taking a bus to the plane.

Boarding... My first time boarding from a stair car!

 

Hi Jeju!

Alas, there was a light rain when we arrived. We took a cab to our accommodation for Jeju, Yeha Guesthouse. The cab fare was only about ₩3.500. After checking in, we asked the front desk for some recommendations on places to visit. The staff were really helpful and even wrote down the names of the attractions in Korean on a piece of paper for us to show to the driver and called a cab for us!

Trying to take a pic in the rain, my umbrella just wouldn't get out of the shot.

There was a make shift shop on the rocks at the bottom with over turned cartons for tables, there the famed Jeju women divers sold fresh caught seafood. We bought an abalone for ₩10,000.

Later, we proceeded to Dongmun traditional market. There were loads of fresh seafood, meats and fruits, mostly tangerines.

After wandering around the market for a while, we found a row of shops selling cooked food. They seemed to all be selling the same thing, ramyeon, tteokbokki, gimbap and pork (I don't know what that was but there were steaming pigs' heads, yes, plural, just sitting there on top of unidentifiable parts) We decided to eat at the one which seemed to have the most customers.

Gimbap and fried mandu.

Ramyeon.

Day 3 - Lotte World

On the third day, we spent the whole day in Lotte World. It took about 20 minutes to reach Jamsil Station from Myeongdong. There was a pretty long queue to get the tickets even though we were there on a Wednesday. About 90% of the visitors there were Korean and most of them were young couples. My mum felt like the oldest person there that day. For some reason, I was charged ₩24,000 for the tickets. On the board it was stated that one-day passports cost ₩38,000 each. But the person at the counter did not speak English and I'm not one to argue with a good thing so I happily charged towards the entrance with ticket in hand.

Pictures were taken around sunset, when we were about to leave the park.

On board the Geneva Cruise Line.

One of my fave rides: Gyro Drop! I used to be a major wimp but I fell in love with this type of rides after trying Disneyland's Tower Of Terror.

Indoor theme park and ice skating rink.

Upon entering, I was a little underwhelmed, the place seemed a bit small and facilities looked kinda old. I had imagined it to be brighter and more cheery looking. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this place, especially if you only have a limited amount of time to spend in Seoul.

Some rides that I loved were Gyro Drop (no queue at all! I guess not many people dare to try this ride? But you get to enjoy a great view of the park while waiting for the inevitable drop from the top), Gyro Swing (had to queue about 15 minutes each time but it was definitely one of the best rides!) and Atlantic Adventure (cool ride but there was a super long queue for this, about 30 minutes).

The worst ride was undoubtedly The French Revolution. It looked super fun when we saw it racing around the park and there was a super long queue for it so we thought that it had to be good. But it was absolutely terrible and I couldn't wait for it to be over once it had began. The harness was right at the side of my face and my ears bumped against it painfully throughout the ride and my earring fell out, luckily I didn't lose it. They really should have a warning against wearing earrings on this ride. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way, many people were rubbing their ears after getting off the ride.

Dumplings at a small Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Birthday Dinner @ L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

I've been dying to eat at Joël Robuchon's ever since I heard that it was opening at RWS. I wanted to try out the restaurant when I was in Tokyo but didn't manage to as it was a bit out of the way for me. Finally decided to use my birthday as an excuse to splurge on a meal at the restaurant and it was worth every penny!

Once we were seated at the counter, we ordered a mocktail each. I think this was something like a mojito, but with mango juice instead of rum.

Bread basket. I didn't try much of it though, cos I was going to have the Discovery Menu and didn't want to be too full!

A photo while waiting for the food to arrive... you can see the chefs are hard at work behind us. I loved that we could watch the chefs preparing the dishes, IMO L'Atelier is preferable to the fine dining option.

First up: L'Amuse-Bouche - Foie gras custard with red wine and parmesan foam. Very rich and flavorful, an excellent first dish! And they served this to both my mum & sis even though I was the only one who ordered the discovery menu, which was super nice of them :D

L'Hamachi - Yellowtail fish tartare with tomato coulis. I've never had fish tartare, except the raw fish you find on sushi, and this was so good! The fish was super fresh and it went along very well with the tomato coulis. And the thin thing is actually a piece of toast! I can't believe they could slice it so thinly!

La Langoustine - Langoustine a la plancha with vegetables & lemongrass oil. This was also great, very fresh and cooked to perfection.

Le Foie Gras - Seared duck foie gras, candied apricot & fresh almonds. My favourite thing to order in a French restaurant. This one was perfect. My mouth is watering just looking at this.

Le Navet - Daikon veloute flavoured with citrus oil. This was very thick and creamy but apparently no cream was used to make it! I liked this one, I think it would make for great comfort food.

Le Barbue - Brill with herbs & spring sprouts. Someone commented that this tastes like a Chinese dish and I agree! Although it was good, it seemed a bit out of place with the other dishes.

Le Boeuf - French-style hanger steak with fried shallots. This was the main course. You could either choose this or La Caille. I picked this since my mum ordered La Caille from the a la carte menu. It was cooked just right. One of my favourite dishes of the evening.

My mum's order: La Caille - Foie gras-filled free-range quail with Robuchon's famous mashed potatoes. We each had a serving of the mashed potato, it's really worthy of the rave reviews it gets.

My sis' order: Le Cochon De Lait - Milk fed suckling pig. Sis' review: Ya it's very nice, it's like the fat you know like not oily and the crispy skin is like crispy and it's like the cabbage underneath and it's like also very nice. /quote

Back to my discovery menu, we're on to desserts! Le Multivitamine - Red berries spiced coulis, Victoria pineapple sorbet. This was a bit sour to me. But the milk chocolate helped balance it out a bit.

I was halfway through my Le Multivitamine when suddenly half of the restaurant staff suddenly burst into song. I thought it was some mid meal entertainment or something lol but then I realized they were singing Happy Birthday in French and they were walking towards me! I was really surprised and touched! The manager took this photo for us. The staff were really so sweet!

Birthday tarts!!! Omg this made me so happy! I loved them, I wish I could take that miniature Eiffel Tower home.

My sis ordered a souffle. Since it would take about 15 minutes before it could be served, she was given a coconut sorbet to enjoy while waiting. It was very good!

Le Cube - Roasted hazelnut Dacquoise, creamy Caribbean chocolate.

Le Souffle - Yuzu souffle served with raspberry sorbet. I loved the souffle, it was light and fluffy and a great way to end dinner!

Just when we thought the night couldn't get any better, we were actually invited to go into the kitchen to take a look! Wow I was in disbelief tbh. I never thought I would actually get invited although I admit I did so wanted to be. So now I can say, I have been into Joël Robuchon's kitchen and it was awesome!

My mum is not in this pic cos she suddenly had to go to the bathroom at that time lol.

I had the most wonderful and memorable birthday ever here, and it was all thanks to the chefs for making the delicious food, the servers for being so patient with us, seeing as it was the first time we were dining there, and the managers for being so thoughtful and generous!