Well, seeing as though my blog entries have been dormant for the past 3 months, I figure it is about time to put some words to the pictures that I have been uploading to this site of late.  First things first, my trip to Jeju Island south of the mainland of South Korea. 

 

Jeju Island is known as the honeymoon destination for couples getting married in South Korea.  However during my trip, I didn't notice as many honeymooners as I had expected.  Maybe it is just a myth?!  I guess I should try going back during a different time of the year as opposed to the end of July??  Anyways, I took the 90 minute flight from Osaka, Japan to Jeju Island on a Friday night.  When I got to the airport, my friend from Ohio University, Michelle, was waiting for me at the airport as she caught an earlier flight from Seoul, South Korea to Jeju Island.  Since I got to the airport around 11 p.m., all the buses stopped their service for the day to the various hotels on the island.  Leaving us with no choice, Michelle and I took an hour long cab ride from the northern point of the island (where the airport is located) to the southern most point of the island (where our hotel was located).  Not bad to be in a car for only one hour and go from one extreme point of the island to the other.  Arriving at our hotel just after midnight (by the way, the taxi ride only cost us $30!), we went straight to bed to prepare ourselves for sightseeing the following day. 

 

Awaking the next morning to gorgeous skies and bright sunshine, Michelle and I headed out to visit the various viewing points in the city that we were staying in.  We stopped by an art museum, two waterfalls, and a botanical garden before getting a foot massage in preparation for a great seafood dinner that awaited us at a restaurant recommended by a 5 star hotel conceirge (we didn't stay at the 5 star hotel however).  After dinner we headed back to our hotel to prepare for our day trip to an even smaller island located to the northeast.  On the second morning, once again I was met with fabulous weather although it was a little hot.  After breakfast (Korean style), we headed to the bus terminal to take an hour long bus ride to the port where we needed to board a ferry for the journey to the other island.  Just to put things in perspective, the bus ride only cost $2.50 and the ferry ride was $4.  Upon arriving at the island, we headed straight to the beach to get some R&R before taking in some of the other sites on this small island.  The beach was a little disappointing as the sand was made up of broken seashells (though the color was white) and the rocky shoreline didn't do much for me in terms of enticing me to enter.  After a short break on the beach, we took in the various sites of the small island (basically you can travel from one side to the other in 15 minutes!). 

 

Upon returning back to our hotel, Michelle and I had a famous pork dinner (Korean style BBQ) with all the fixings before finishing up some last minute souvenir shopping.  The thing that really impressed me the most of my trip to Jeju Island was the hospitality.  I mean for example, the hotel conceirge would recommend to us area restaurants and then upon doing so, would call the restaurant to make a reservation and the next thing I know, the restaurant employee would be right at our doorstep in a car to pick us up (free of charge remind you) and take us directly to the restaurant.  Of course after we would finish eating, the employee would drive us back to the hotel or to another location in proximity as part of the service.  In one case, the employee even went shopping with us to a shopping mall so that I could buy some of my souvenirs.  The employee even brought her 2 year son along for the ride!  Quite amazing and sincere to say the least.    

 

The next morning (Monday), we headed off to the airport at 5 a.m. to catch our flights back to Seoul and Osaka respectively at 7 a.m.  Even though my trip to Jeju Island was basically 3 nights and 2 full days, I enjoyed my time there.  I could have stayed an extra day or two to see some more of the sights but with the island being so close to Osaka, I am sure that I will have future opportunities to visit the island again.