Jejudo Trip (Day 2)

We woke up and got ready to enjoy two free continental buffet breakfasts at the hotel. Because of her age, Ashley was also free so we only had to pay for Ben’s breakfast. Wow, were we surprised when we found out it would be 16,000 won for just him! We kept telling ourselves that it was pretty cheap if we thought of it as the price for all four of us to eat, since we really didn’t expect the two complimentary meals. The buffet was a combo of Korean and Western food. This was the first time I’ve seen soup and salad for breakfast. So on this day, I started my trend of eating a nice big salad (can’t even go off a diet while on vacation) followed by some delicious waffles (okay, so I strayed a little here). We left the hotel around 9 and drove toward the east side of the island (the opposite direction from how we came in from the airport). James was on a quest to see some locations where scenes from Korean TV shows and movies were filmed. We drove down streets that were surrounded by palm trees near the ocean and saw the beautiful, blue water. We stopped while I took some pictures and drank in the fresh ocean smell. It felt like I was back in the States heading for Myrtle Beach.

The "All In" House where the television show was filmed

Sunrise Peak, an extinct volcano on the east side of the island

After about an hour of driving, we stopped at the location where they filmed the television show “All In”. We walked up the side of a hill next to the ocean that was surround by lava rocks at the base. The kids and I took our time while James went inside the chapel where the movie was filmed to take pictures (I didn’t think the kids would enjoy that portion). While we were waiting, the kids were stopped by several ajummas (Korean older ladies) to have their daily head rubs and touchings. We also had several people trying to practice their English. The view was wonderful and we could see Sunrise peak from where we were. We finished up and then headed to the next stop: Manjang Lava Tube. It was lunch time when we arrived, so we first went to a small diner at the entrance and got a bite to eat. One of the island’s trademark dishes is black pig, so James and I ordered the spicy pork, along with steamed mandu (dumplings) and rice. The kids were a little hesistant about trying the rice since it had red beans cooked in with it, giving the rice a purplish shade. The kids agreed to try it and we were all surprised when they liked it. Manjang Lava Tube is a large cave that was created when…you guessed it…lava shot out of it. We walked a kilometer to the end, where there was a lava column that ended our nice walk, forcing us to turn around and walk back. Both kids were wearing tank tops since it had been so warm during the day. The underground cavern was quite chilly and I was able to persuade Ben to put a t-shirt on, but Ashley refused, saying that she was not cold. As the Korean tourists passed by us in the cave, James would inform me that many of them were saying how she must be cold. Each time, I would feel guilty and try to persuade her again, but it never did work. After our spelunking adventure, we went into a gift shop for free samples of the famous Jeju chocolate. There were 5 different flavors: pineapple, raspberry, green tea, cactus and the best-selling orange. We ended buying a box of chocolates, a lava rock for Ben and some traditional Jeju figurines for Ashley.

Ben posing next to a scooter with training wheels...I think we'll stick with the rental car!

It had started raining right when we came out of the cave, but the rain started to ease up after we finished our shopping, so we decided to head to the Stone Grandfather Park to look at the statues. I think that we were the only ones there. We walked around the park, standing in front of most of the statues, emulating their poses for great photo ops.

Ashley posing next to a phone booth patterned after the traditional Stone Grandfather statue.

The kids pose in front of a statue that is not quite as traditional, but still impressive.

...and here's the kids having a little fun.

This is definitely not a traditional Jeju statue...but who could resist a photo next to that?

Since the kids were being so cooperative, we proceeded to the next destination on our list, Sangumburi Crater. As soon as we approached the ticket booth, a bus full of teenagers pulled up and they all ran over to us. You would think that our family was part of the attraction. They stood and posed with our family and took pictures with us. They touched the kids, rubbed their heads, pinched their cheeks and tried to speak with them. Ashley was trying to get away from them by climbing up my back while I was holding her. Ben stayed close by and then, when there was a small break in the action, he ran and hid as his only form of self-defense. Since Ashley was being terribly shy, they focused most of their attention on Ben. We then discovered that they were being chaperoned by their English teacher, who was forced by the students to come over and say “hi” (they wanted to see her talk with native English speakers). They all giggled like little girls when she was talking…which I guess makes sense. It was kind of cute that she was so nervous talking with us. They started walking up the hill, calling back to the kids by their names and they slowly moved away from us, but not before Ben got proposed to. When they walked away from us, Ben climbed up onto a large rock and was sitting still looking deep in thought. We asked him what he was doing, but he just kept up his thoughtful pose. That’s when we figured out he was waiting for the girls to come back down so he could look cool hanging out on the rock. We finally coaxed him down and finished the walk and because it actually wrapped all the way around, we ended up back at the beginning where we met the school group again. The kids loosened up a little, posed with them for photos and made everyone’s day. We even ended up getting some candy from some of them (I know, don’t take candy from strangers…). The crater was completely covered in fog the whole time we were there, but I don’t think that Benjamin thought this stop was a waste of time!After that, we headed to our final destination of the day: MiniMini land. This was a small theme park made up of miniature replicas of famous buildings from all over the world (like the White House, Great Wall of China, Eiffel tower, and many more). By this time, we were all getting pretty hungry, so we decided to head back to our favorite place to eat (yes, Emart) to have dinner once again. We all ordered Korean food this time. I stuck with the hot beef bowl, James ordered Udon and bibimbop, while Ben and Ashley shared the Katsu-don. It was a big hit! Afterwards I tried on a couple of shirts from the store and discovered that I am a Korean size 100 for shirts. That sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? I am not really sure what they base their measurements on, but I don’t think they are used to the upper body build of Americans. We then walked to a convenience store called GS25 to buy ice cream. After my unfortunate experience with Korean shirt sizes, I decided to pass. The kids picked out their favorite and we sat outside again on the benches, ate our ice cream and talked about our eventful day we had. After all of this, we actually got back to the hotel a little earlier than the night before. Another great day!

This is Benjamin's thoughtful pose as he awaits the return of the girls on their class trip.