20 Dec Back to Jeju City

It would be bye to Seigwipo and hello Jeju-si again. This time I booked to stay at Hi Residences, a self catering apartment in the newer side of Jeju-si. It will be a hop-on-off tour of sorts, along the coast. Can't say we would not have covered Jeju-do by the end of the trip. I gave the lava caves a miss because the coast and hills have much to offer.

The grand escape would be : Yeongmeori Coast, Sulwolbng Peak, Sinchang windmill for a pit stop, lunch at Seom fish then retrace to  Red White Horse lighthouse (gimmicky, I know) before we check in to Hi.

Late evening, we will have bingsu, raid Shilla duty free and experience the local chicken beer dinner at BHC. If only I have 2 stomachs.

What actually happened :

We set off from Bridge Residence Hotel Seogwipo before the chambermaids came. With a full load, we covered up our exposed boot with a reel of black bubble pack (5000 ￦ from Emart), the same way we did on our check out from Regent Marine the Blue Jeju. The mini car may be beat up but it was still best to keep prying eyes away from our load.

We headed to Suwolbong, 55 min to the south west of Jeju. We parked in front of the weather station. The ride on the highway was smooth and monotonous, 70% the same way as we took to Innisfree the day earlier. 

We tried the Olle trail. Not good. It leads to Sinpo port but we were more interested in seeing what was under our feet; the sandstone cliff under the Met. We hopped back to our trusty car and headed down the coast to Chagwigo port, 10 minutes away. We parked in front of the Marine Office. 

The Olle 12 hugs the coast of Suwolbong and Gosan (our parking area) so we dawdled towards the direction of  Suwolbong again, southwards. It was a crisp, clear and warm day, not even a breeze so we were almost dried out from the heat in our thermals and sweater.

It was a delightful coastal walk, sandstone cliff on our left and columnar rocks on our right. That is, if I ignore the rubbish left on the rocks and everywhere.

Our leisurely walk came to a halt when the boardwalk turned to dirt track. We retraced back to the car hoping to lunch in Gosan. Lo and behold, a big group of sea women or Haenyeo were harvesting from the sea. It was fascinating and I took zillions of photos which I know would be meaningless because they were so out of focus. I commited what I saw to memory; this is by far the most amazing thing I have witnessed. There, the women are working for real, not a song and dance performance.

Onward march to lunch.

Oddly enough, the town seems to be in a siesta. No restaurants were opened bar one. This run down 'cafe' sells cooked ramen, out of real instant ramen packs, with prawn and octopus thrown in for good measure. Our meal set consisted of ramen and 2 rice balls each (24000 ￦ ). We extended our friendship by asking for photos with haemoni/grandma, which she cheerfully obliged.

Off we go. We had spent quite a bit of time in Suwolbong/Gosan area and we are running late. 

We hugged the coast as much as we could and drove from the start of Sinchang windmill coastal road until the end. In the middle where it was abuzzed with spinning windmills, holiday makers and a dreamy snowcap Hallasan on our right, we stopped by a cafe for tea. Our peanut latter, coffee and cake costs almost as much as lunch (22900 ￦ ). It was horrifying. Still, it afforded us time to sit and relax, soak in the scenery and stretch our legs. It was a great feeling.

We received message from Hi Residence Jeju regarding our contatless hotel check in and I got excited. 

Our last stop was White and Red Horse Lighthouse, near the airport. We stopped here and there for the photos. At Liho waterbreaker, the sun was already very low at 4pm.   We could only see the Red Horse through squinty eyes. We fooled around with fun shots and scooted to Hi Residences before sunset.

Hi Residences is located in the newer part of Jeju-si. The nearby roads are packed with malls and hotels on both sides in grid manner, unlike the old section of the city. Just beside the hotel is a pedestrian only food street which was so convenient! At SGD202 for 3 nights (Expedia, about SGD70 per night) and 4 km away from the airport, it is a steal. 

The security at Hi taught us how to park the car in the lift system. It was nifty! We zoomed to our room on the high floor, armed with the door code that was hot off the email. 

The hotel room was small, but everything was self contained with everything the clean freak in me needed (wipes, paper mops, cleaning stuff) . The entire wall at the end of the room was a big window that looks out towards Hallasan, had it not been for a hotel that blocked the perfect view.

 

We made haste to go down for a walk on the pedestrian only walk beside the hotel. This walkway is what I would call a happy place, awash with lights from shops selling clothings, shoes, makeup, food and whatnots. I could walk up and down for many nights there!

We made a loop to BHS, but not before we stocked up on buns from Paris Baguette. These were for lunch in Hallasan when we make our 2nd and final hike on Eorimok.

We had the yummiest fried saucy chicken in BHC Chicken nearby. Finger licking good! The meat falls off the bone, the crust crispy and light yet saucy (245000 ￦ ). We ordered just 1 dish with a beer. It was an excellent meal !

Weather report looked optimistic. We have decided to hike Eorimok, God willing, should the trails remain open. We packed everything just in case the window of opportunity opens. Keeping our fingers crossed and hope it would be a good conclusion to our Jeju trip.