Seongsan Illchubong & Seopjikoji

30th Dec 2018

After arriving in Jeju and driving to Seongsan yesterday, today is the first day that we kick off our Jeju sight seeing. We stayed in Breeze Bay hotel overlooking the ocean and very close to Seongsan Illchubong. I am not a hiker but managed to hike up several hills today. 

Others: You call these hills? Lame...
Me: No, I call these mountains 

We had some hiccups on day 1, fumbling on the GPS. I couldn't find pretty much the attractions even as popular as Illchubong. We saw the mountain but was driving in circles and in the end followed our instinct by following the crowd to reach the Illchubong car park. It was very windy and cold here and the skies were dark holding up rain clouds. It was also new year's eve so there were tents setup with hot K-pop music playing. 

We had a quick breakfast in Dunkin Donuts. Since it was cold, some of us decided to stay warm in Dunkin Donuts and I was the representative to hike up Illchubong. I got my gears checked, wearing layers of clothing, gloves, scarf, hat like going into a winter war. Sorry, I am from the equator so all this chilly weather was new to my physique on the first day

View from the top

It was sooo cold and windy up here. I can't feel my face anymore. But for the sake of "Since I am already here...", I kept walking and doing quick snaps. My pictures couldn't make justice to this place. Being there to feel the sea breeze, the sound of the distant waves and the towering hill was really amazing despite the cold. 

I wasn't sure if the Jeju women divers are diving in winter. See the red roof at the far distance where the divers will be at. I wasn't planning to take a leap of faith to make the descend nor going to attempt the raw catch if there are any. Anyway, people are waiting for me to be back and at this point, I was pretty frozen. 

The beautiful formation of Seongsan Illchubong. Pictures were very dark with the sun hiding behind rain clouds. 

When I reached back at ground level and entered the warmth of Dunkin Donuts, I had a blood rush moment in my hands. They were pounding and somewhat painful. 

We had McD for lunch and suddenly, there was a new year procession. The roads were closed for the procession so we hung out in McD. It had front row view of the procession! 

There were several shops nearby and new year sales. I hopped over to Nature's Republic for their mask sheets and over to Paris Baguette to pack some buns for snacks. 

This outlet had the most extensive menu and BT21 goodies I've seen so far in Paris Baguette's outlets I've visited in Jeju. So cute together with my trustee Banana milk for snacking later. 

Finally, the procession ended and we made our way out. We stumbled upon this beach while getting lost (again). 

I wanted to go to Seopjikoji but we were driving in circles again with the lame GPS. I tried using Naver and all to no avail. We did found several attractions like the Jeju aquarium and this pyramid thing which weren't in our itinerary. 

We followed the Google map I printed and with some vague sense of direction, we ended up in a car park full of tour buses. 

I was wondering, is this Seopjikoji? Well, the only way to tell is to gather my gears again and follow the tourists up. By the way, did I mention that since it was winter, many places waived their entrance fees. So far, we paid nothing for all these places. Nice!

After walking up the hill a bit.....OK, this place is indeed Seopjikoji! Yaaay!

The light tower. There should be some romantic K drama shot at this location. 

Seongsan Illchubong where I was at just now. 

I was so surprised to see the yellow Canola flower blooming in this season. I thought I wouldn't be able to see them in this trip. So ecstatic to see them and look at the beautiful pop of colours they added to the view. BEAUTIFUL!

This ginger bread house can be seen midway up the hill. It was deserted and reminded me of the witch's candy house from Hansel & Gretel.

So what's the lesson learned today? - When you go travel, just get out and explore even though you are in the state of being lost. You'll never know what surprises is installed for you!

Happy frozen face...