Category: South Korea

Jeju, South Korea: Hiking Halla-san (Eorimok Trail)

The drizzle seemed like a constant, albeit intermittent, coming in spurts every few minutes or so. But compared to when we first started our hike up Yeongsil Trail, the hike down Eorimok Trail was much friendlier, so we could afford to stow our raincoats away and take a leisurely stroll, so to speak, largely pretending there weren’t droplets raining on our parade, so to speak. Because isn’t that what we all should do? Keep walking, keep moving, forward, until we reach our destination.
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Jeju, South Korea: Hiking Halla-san (Yeongsil Trail)

So the plan went like this: wake up early, climb Halla-san via the Seongpanak Trail, reach the summit, then go down via the Gwaneumsa Trail. In my head, everything would go like clockwork, and we’d have climbed this esteemed mountain of Jeju and beheld the crater lake, or the Baengnokdam. Alas, it was not meant to be… not when Mother Nature herself decided to cry buckets of tears that day.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: The Manjanggul Lava Tube

After a long time, I just spent the entire day yesterday on a dayhike – a major one, at that – and I’m feeling all sorts of sore and achy, especially in my muscles that haven’t seen some mountain action in what seems like forever. And I loooooove it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But I won’t say no to a visit in a dark cavern or cave somewhere, because that is fun, too. Like this one “cave” that we visited when we were doing a taxi tour of Jeju.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: Maze Land

I’m not claustrophobic, or at least I don’t think I am, but something about the thought of going around in circles and feeling trapped, even in a wide open space, is something that gives me the heebie-jeebies. That’s why you won’t see me entering a haunted house (not even in an amusement park, no) or a maze all by myself. Because I don’t particularly relish the thought of not being able to find my way out. But Maze Land in Jeju made me see the fun side of the concept.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: The Jeju Stone Park

If I am going to be completely honest with you, I never enjoyed going to museums very much when I was younger. For me, they were mostly a fixture or a building housing rare stuff that has some historical or cultural importance, and that my only reason to visit them was because I need the credits at school. I blame that noncommittal attitude towards museums to the fact that, well, there weren’t much fun to be had at the museums around me. They all practically looked the same, so how was I supposed to get excited over a visit to one? But visits to South Korea (and Japan) changed that.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: Saryeoni Forest Path

Imagine having to wake up to a breakfast of just cereals every single day. After a while, it is very likely that you’d forget how rice tastes like. So when, one odd day out of the blue, you are presented with a bowl of steaming rice, you get a spoonful to taste it, then bam! You’re reminded how good it is, and how you really loved it in the past. … Where am I going with this? Well, imagine a person that has gotten used to living in an urban jungle, with tall buildings instead of trees, and concrete instead of dirt to walk on. Then he is transported to a spot where he is surrounded by them tall trees and hard, packed solid earth. That was what I was thinking while walking along the Saryeoni Forest Path.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: A Not So ‘Tuff’ Hike Up Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)

Weeks ago, Mt. Mayon was acting up with minor eruptions, spewing lava and ashes. Predictably, photos of the phenomenon kept popping up mostly on social media feeds. I distinctly remember seeing one particular night shot, and thought, “That. Is. Gorgeous.” It felt wrong at the time, but the truth in those words somehow also made it feel right. Because isn’t that something amazing? That a cataclysmic tragedy could still result into something so strikingly beautiful? Even today, many of the places we visit for appreciation and sightseeing were results of such events in the past. Just like Jeju’s Sunrise Peak, or Seongsan Ilchulbong. Continue reading “Jeju-do, South Korea: A Not So ‘Tuff’ Hike Up Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)” →

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Jeju-do, South Korea: Udo Sanho Beach

If my slightly unreliable memory serves me right, it was between 1995 and 1997 when I first laid eyes and set foot on the sands of Boracay. Back then, I remember it being pristine and clean. It was like one of those deserted island settings we see in movies, with beaches that had that untouched look to them. Fast forward to more than 15 years later, I went back, and it felt like a completely different place, with structures set up on the sand, and a distinct bustling in the air that spelled B-U-S-I-N-E-S-S. So I kinda get why the authorities are now making moves on making sure places like Boracay do not, well, deteriorate. I do hope those moves work.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: Udo’s Hagosudong Beach

Living in a tropical country with some of the most famous beaches in the world, I have become exposed to (though not necessarily subscribe to) the idea that whenever you’re on the beach, you’re supposed to get into the water. High-profile beaches are always accompanied with photos of people in their various states of dress and mostly un-dress as they frolic in the sand and surf. It’s almost a rarity to equate a well-known beach with something more sedate like simply taking a walk and just sinking your feet into the sand. Instead, they’d go, “if you want some quiet ‘muni-muni’ time, go climb a mountain!” Fortunately, that is not the case everywhere.

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Jeju-do, South Korea: A Peek at Udo’s Udobong Peak

Just because you cannot stand at the top does not mean you are unable to appreciate what it looks like, at least from somewhere down there. Ok. That is not me waxing about anything philosophical; this time, I am actually being literal. Just because I did not get the pleasure of standing at the top of Udobong does not mean I thought any less of it. (Although… yeah, it did suck a bit that we weren’t able to do that.)

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Jeju-do, South Korea: Off to Udo, the Cow Island

I’m so thrilled to finally get started on blogging about my previous trip to South Korea, because it means I can revisit those days and recall all the details that made it one of my most memorable trips EVA~AAR. It’s good timing, I suppose, since it’s been a while since I’ve done anything adventurous, and if I can get vicarious satisfaction out of looking at photos and blogging about them… then I’ll take what I can get right now. Let’s begin, shall we?

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The Joys of Traveling (Solo)… & What It Means For Me + Back to South Korea!

As February ends, I take a look back and realize just how hectic the first two months of the year has been, and it seemed to just keep getting worse as the weeks rolled in. These past couple of weeks alone, it was the run-up to our City’s annual flower festival, and the influx of tourists and travelers is something that we’ll definitely never get used to.

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Food-trippin’ in Seoul, South Korea

The downside of having foul and gloomy weather for more than a couple of weeks now is that, instead of going outside enjoying the great outdoors, we stay cooped up inside, with food. Eating, pigging out, then wanting more, and then wishing you could eat something. Alas, you can’t, because it  means going out into all that rain. So, you end up just thinking about it. Like I did, when I remembered some of the food that we enjoyed during our trip to Seoul.

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