22 Dec Winding down.

22 Dec effectively is the last day of the trip. For an island that is almost the same shape as Singapore but 30% bigger, we would have covered more of Jeju than Singapore, to be honest.

To my future self, at this point of writing, I have exhausted all the things I wanted to do in Jeju. Of course Jeju should be seen in summer and autumn in all its grandeur so here is hoping for another few trips while our legs can carry us. 

As usual, the winding down process is a meticulous comb of  the Jeju 5-day market and this being the 22nd of the month happens to be one of the 5 days it is opened. We hope to leave no stones unturned by going through the last local market for treasures.

Perhaps I would throw in a short outing to the arboretum or coastal drive before heading back for the last fancy meal at Nonjinmul Seafood. It all depends on how much cash is left. 

So here's the last outing in Jeju:

A trip to the arboretum or a last coastal drive?

Last day in Jeju, we thought we would visit Jeju 5 day folk market, just 1.5km down the road. It turns out that it was not a mere 1.5km when there was snow, hail, wind and the cold involved. At this point of blogging in the warmth of Hi Residences, I reflected on how foolish it was to disregard the cold because of our 'fitness'. Our glorious achievement of completing 10/42 km marathon is nothing compared to sub-zero freezing walk.

Checking the phone map was a challenge in the cold but we finally made it to our destination! The market is fully covered and despite the cold, it felt good to be in a sheltered area. The market is massive, all fully operational and full of vibes. In the frigid cold, I salute all the ajumas and ajussis for their persistence to keep their business going.

Pat finally got to eat his pajeon when we 'shopped' for a market store. Those ajummas were aggressive and urged us to get into their restaurant. We made our way into the shop. Good idea, because it filled up 10 minutes after we arrived.

I had the best guk in my life here. I  never knew that pork bits and fine seaweed makes a hearty meal. Whoever looks down on seaweed soup has not come to Jeju yet.

We made our way back, fighting with wind, hail, snow. Lotte Duty Free was on survival mode and not much to be had, except for their toasty washroom. We went across the road to PB for our coffee/tea fix. I had sweet potato garlic pastry for the last time in Jeju.

We went back to pack our bags. Or rather, Pat did. It has begun to snow heavily. We headed out after for dinner. As it was the last day, I decided to visit the clothing store one more time. At TopTen I spotted a nice grey sweater for a huge discount  (19900 ￦ ). It became my third clothing purchase for this trip.

We went to a korean food place 2 streets down the road, but there was no samyetang to be had. On the pretext that I only wanted that, we escaped the eating place from a coughing customer in the restaurant. Next door, there was also no samyetang though it was listed on the menu. Instead, we had dumplings, pajeon and jajjiangmyeon (24000 ￦ ) . It was an authentic moms and pops type of shop with so-so cooking. On a cold night like this, we were their handful of customers. 

We stopped by 7-11 to buy cup noodles for breakfast on check out day. We prayed that our check out and last drive to Jeju airport will be a smooth, uneventful one.