And so after exploring Seoul, we continued on to Jeju Isle. It's the southernmost island in South Korea. Just for info....Jeju is pronounced "Che Ju" and not "Je Ju"....same as the actress in Winter Sonata, the all famous Korean Soap Drama. We spent 2 days there but i'll just sum things up.
About Jeju itself,
It's a place of breathetaking, sculptured from god's hand himself, beautiful nature picturesque. I cannot believe that something so beautiful actually existed.... serene waterfalls whose water poured straight into the sea....spectacular rock formations shaped to perfection by milleniums of years of Earth's boundless patience...beaches with sands so white that I actually felt guilty leaving my footprints on it. My exagerated words may sound as exagerated as it is but believe me...english have not created words to exagerate it any further nor describe the beauty I stole a glance at (or maybe I'm just not meant to be a poet). I'll show some pics but with my infant skills of photograpy i can't guarantee i captured the beauty i spoke....
.....so? how was that? beautiful eh?
Don't you just wish you were there? Witnessing the serenity with your own eyes....
Okay, quit day dreaming, back to reality...and wipe that drool away from your chin. Anyway, remember I mentioned earlier that we had them Korea Fellas plan the trip to us?? Well, we ended up not following the plan. Just like Langkawi, we were approached by "car rental" agents....they were saying something to us we can't comprehend but i bet my butt they were saying "Kereta...kereta murah...sewa kereta ..."
Since public buses are of none existence on the island, and all taxi drivers carry shiny sharp knives to cut unsuspecting tourist's throats.....we hired one. He took a look at our plans and shook his head almost immediately. Says we waste time crossing here and there and he made a new plan for us...he's been driving there for god knows how long....so we trusted him. In the end, we found out that we hired the right guy ......and very very funny.
He speaks very little english and none Japanese, but he tried his best using the universal body language. He had us looking forward to his explanation of things....not to mention red light entertainment. uhh, red light here means traffic light kind of red light....not us prostituting ourselves. Anyway, whenever we reached a red light, he would turn to us and say...not exactly say but...move? hmm...say something about the local places or perform tricks meant for small kids. The tricks were lame but from the way he does it.....damn, i had to laugh my lungs out . Here's his pic....
he uhh....stuck a stalk of grass on his upper lips and said "Charlie Chaplin"...
Hmm...what else. Okay, i'll skip stories bout historical sites...
Oh...this a good one.
He took us to a road....a mystery road. He drove to quite a remote area...
went down a slope....
stopped at the bottom of the slope...
turn off the engine...
smiled cheekily at us...
released the brakes...
and the car....moved....
UP the slope!!!
My brains were busted on the spot. This is like...Damn...how can it happen?? He also demonstrated pouring water and the water flowed....UPwards. We thought it was some kind of optical illusion when he brought a...umm...you know that big ruler thing with a water area in the middle? to show if the ground is level or not? well, that thing...and it pointed that the water IS flowing up the slope....What? Is Gravity on vacation too? Hmm....wonder what would Newton say....
C-R-A-Z-Y
Anyway, we then headed away to eat black pig. it's pork from black coloured pigs. Not the usual pink ones we eat everyday. It taste some what different than usual...maybe it's because they told me it's different and then my brains got cheated and argued with my tounge. Looks like this though....
taste good yo...
It really did taste good. But right after eating, Mr. Car Rental had to take us to some place....a place beyond all imagination...a black pig sty. For some reasons i couldn't fathom, he had to take us there no matter what, just t0o proof that we really did eat black pigs.
That wasn't so bad but...he started telling stories......
This is the one story that's not funny at all...not one tiny, puny bit.
He told us that we ate them. But do we know what they eat?? He gestured to his ass and said "shit"...points to the pig and said "eat". Not just that, he had to go up there, squat and pretend he's shitting....along with "ugghhhhh" sound we all make when we go shit. Points to that pig eating shit again, then points back to us eating just now.....and know what?? My friends were laughing!! They can actually laugh!!
As for me, I just had to leave that place AT ONCE! Waves after waves of nausea crashed again my fragile stomache walls unmercifully. Frantically rummage through my pockets...dropping keys and stuff....and to my HUUUUGGGE relieve still had one last piece of chewing gum. I tried the "self-hypnotizing" thing...thought of the mountains beyond. It worked...i didn't feel like throwing out my lunch. But just then i heard the pig squeal.....nice....very nice..."thank you" very much Mr. Car Rental.
Sigh...Oh, one last bit. We stayed at a place called Jim Jil Bang. In korea, it wasn't Jack and Jil who went up the hill after all...was Jim. Anyway, it's cheap lodging and most people there are youngsters. The resting place is where guys and girls get together and everyone sleep on the floor in one big hall....just like orgies but with clothes on. Bathrooms are just like Ofuro....a big bathing place where everyone shamelessly bathe in front of each other. Seperate ones for guys and girls of course.....but...
There's 2 floors of resting place. Once i was on my up to another resting place, where I accidently almost entered the girls Ofuro.....almost, when one of my senior step out of it and asked me where I'm trying to go. Phew!....She had just unknowingly saved me from a huge embarassment. But then again, I was at one step before the gates of heaven itself....where angels are. Of course i felt relieved that i didn't make a fool of myself but Damn.....could've been my day. uh....*ehem...girls, forgive me for my libido. All guys thinks exactly the way I did. Just that they don't put it up on blogs. I have skin as thick as Great Wall of China.
Anyway, we next headed for Busan next.....but that's for part 5. Promise I'll write faster....
