Surviving Jeju Island

If you're crazy about Korean culture or have watched many k-dramas/movies, you've most probably heard of Jeju Island;  the go-to short vacation destination that is most loved by the locals!

In March 2015, 3 of my friends and I embarked on a short trip to Jeju and it was a rocky yet amazing adventure! Here are some tips and tricks on surviving Jeju:

A photo posted by Alison Tan🌻 (@alisonaliceally) on May 12, 2015 at 1:09am PDT

1) Get there by a Plane

If you are going to Jeju, you would either by getting there by plane or ferry. 

We decided to take a plane because it is faster (1hr 30m) and a less complicated option. However, we went to the wrong terminal and ended up being late; We reached the airport 10 mins before our flight and have not checked in our luggage. We ran like mad men through the airport and a staff even ran with us to immigration and apologised to everyone individually to help us skip the line. We still had to take a bus from the departure hall to the plane but thankfully made it. However, the plane did not take off until about 30 mins later....But we were so thankful and ended up sleeping through the flight as we were so exhausted from running the whole morning!

So what I have learned is that you need not check in as early as you would during an international flight. From what i observed the locals check in about 1hr before their flight and go to immigration 30mins before. Secondly, Immigration is going to be very crowded as there are only 3 stations for the whole terminal so go slightly earlier than the locals do! 

2) Rent a Car

Jeju's transport system is a far cry from Seoul's. The most popular or rather only convenient mode of transport would be by car/motorbike! Furthermore, Korean cars have amazing GPS systems, therefore finding our way in Jeju was a breeze!

You can rent a car at the airport (more expensive but can be book online before hand and it's safer) or if you exit the airport and walk towards the right side you will see a little building full of local car rental stalls (about 30% cheaper but cannot be booked online).

If you wanna rent a car in Korea, you have to be 21 years of age and have a international car license (Which can be made in Singapore for about $20). This is very important because when we were there they didn't allow us to rent a car because although my friend was going to turn 21 next month they didn't allow us to rent. But we eventually did cause we managed to pursued the salesperson :P 

In Korea they drive on the right instead so another tip would be to drive around the airport carpark for a little practice before heading on to the main roads. Additionally, make sure you have enough fuel as driving from one end of Jeju to another end is about a 3hr drive.

🌿🌿🌿 #byejeju #leafingthelife #seoulnoshitday

A photo posted by Alison Tan🌻 (@alisonaliceally) on May 13, 2015 at 5:33am PDT

3) Try an AirBnB 

Unlike AirBnB's in Seoul, where some owners are not in most of the time due to work, the owners of Airbnb's in Jeju are almost always there and they will be more than happy to answer your travel enquiries! 

We were lucky to have a host that was sooooo nice and friendly and was able to converse in English! He texted us before we came to Korea, kept checking back with us on whether we had safely reached the airport and helped us which directions. He also offered us a room upgrade! Throughout our stay, he always made sure to help us plan our activities of the day and even gave us a timeline so that we would be able to visit as many attractions as possible! He also recommended his favourite restaurants that the locals loved. When we left, he even printed a photo of us as a gift to remember our trip and continued checking up on us after we went to Seoul, making sure we have safely reached our hostel. He was such an amazing host!!

4) Get a Wifi Egg/Hotspot 

Unlike Seoul which has wifi almost everywhere you go, Jeju only has wifi at some small cafes or certain shopping centres. Getting a wifi egg/hotspot would be great because you can use the internet to help with your trip and also stay up to date on social media!

A photo posted by Alison Tan🌻 (@alisonaliceally) on Oct 2, 2015 at 2:55am PDT

5) Stock up at a Convenience store

Jeju does not have much night life as most of the shops and restaurants closed after 930pm. So if you are the type of person that needs food and drinks late night (like myself), stock up on some food and drinks (such as cup ramen/chips/milk/soju) at the local convenience store!

Another tip is to buy bottled water! Although Jeju tap water is safe to drink, the locals do not drink the water. So it's always good to have bottled water around to keep you hydrated!

2015: Its the New Year's!

Hello Internet! Omgosh I haven't blogged since I was in secondary school (a good 4 years to be exact) and here I am back again! Well, I decided to blog again mainly because I kinda miss pending down my thoughts and recording them down as memories! So hi hahaha. 

So 2015 has been good so far i guess? Started my new semester at school and i'm still working at a cafe to earn some extra cash. But what i really want to blog about today is the late christmas/ new year's sleepover party I had with my bffs on new year's eve!

Till we grow old <3 

We have been doing this 'party' or 'reunion' thingy EVERY year since we were in secondary 1! (8 years of christmases spent together hehe). Basically we will celebrate christmas at Abby's place every year, enjoy an awesome dinner, play pictionary and have a gift exchange! 

So this year we decided to have a pot luck since we are 'grown up' now and have passable cooking abilities....HAHA. I decided to make pasta since they liked it last year but i kinda turned into.....well lets just say it tasted like i boiled the noodles in the ocean.......Ting and Jaz bought desserts and a roasted chicken instead! (I should have too :P) Abby's mum and her made fish cakes? sausages, pork chops and egg plant salad! 

 We tried doing those 'candid' pictures hahahaha u be the judge 

OH and ever since we turned 18, Abby's mum (Auntie CW) will add a lil bit of alcohol to our drinks every year. Due to the alcohol (probably the amount of 1/2 a shot glass in a cup?) we started to get talkative and for Abby: Sleepy hahaha. Fact: She is the the 3/4th best drinker amongst us and she's tied with Ting ;) (An inside story of a VERY epic day that cannot be shared online).

'Alcohol makes my eyebrows on POINT!'

ANYWAY! We were talking about secondary school and our clique and all its drama. We were talking about the waacky adventures and memories  and Ting said: "yeah la jazreel is the lao da what cannot offend her!" And i totally LOL-ed. HAHAHA which is so true its like an unspoken thing during secondary sch! Jazreel was like our 'leader' then the 2nd in command was sofya and abby, followed by ting and then me the neutral girl!  We were so young and naive and we have grown up! (but still young at heart)

After dinner we hanged out in Abby's bedroom to talk and gossip! And then we had fun with slow motion HAHAHA

JAZ IS DA BEST HAHAHA

And soon it was 1 jan 2015!!!!! Celebrated with sparkling juice!

And after which we watched the countdown party on channel 5 which me and ting went CRAZY because of BIG BANG!!!! We thought they were just gonna sing like 2 songs but they ended up singing at least 7 songs for over an hour!!!!!! But Big Bang sung songs mainly from their 1st few albums so we weren't that crazy at first. Then when it was commercial break we were talking about their new song Bad Boy. I started to teach ting some dance steps and we jokingly said that if they sung  bad boy we were just faint! and as soon as we said that ......THEY STARTED PERFORMING BAD BOY!!!!!!!@#$%^&*&^%$#@!@#$%^&*^%$#!@ Good times... Good times...hahaha

'Hands up high high and low~ '

MOVING ON

So we also decided to have secret santa this year! and have a budget of $20! 

and my santa is (drum roll pls)

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OUR LAO DA JAZREEL YEO KAI JUN! HAHAHA (ok i'll stop will the lao da joke :P)

I look damn cui cause i was playing kinect in my pajamas hahaha

She got me a really sweet arm candy that has my name and a mickey charm to remind me of my disney days! THANK YOU BABE <3 hehe i know it was last minute as u just came back from your mission trip so thank you! :) 

and next i was secret santa for miss ah xuan! Shopping for her was relatively easy i guess u know why? BECAUSE SHE WROTE A WISH LIST! U may think like 'Oh a wish list! Just get her whatever she write uh!' erm let me tell u what she wrote :

'sneakers, bags, smth practical or meaningful HAHA.'

I thought hmm ok now i just need to find something meaningful uh cause I can't ask for her shoe size plus her taste in bags and clothes I can't really pinpoint that well!  Luckily she asked me out for a shopping trip tgt! But everything she browsed on that shopping trip was SPORTS SHOES AND PRICY ITEMS HAHAHAHAHAAHA Damn funny i wanted to laugh and cry on the inside HAHAHAHA Plus all the things she wanted she bought on that day! I tried to hint hint abit so she wont buy it but she loved it so much that she got them! LOL Well in the end i got her a denim blue top because she keep saying she wanted those smart casual shirts to wear with shorts! plus I bought a Muji notebook and designed it with stamps! :) Hope you liked it babe! :D 

Chio bu with her presents haha

We also each gave Abby's mum a gift! Hope you liked them Auntie CW :)

 And what is Christmas without our 'photoshoot' infront of the tree! Credits to our photographer Auntie CW hahaha:) 

<3

We were pretty tired after so we went to bed HAHAHA esp jaz who was sleeping when me/ting and abby were dancing around!

Before we left the next day, Auntie CW prepared for us chicken porridge using last night's left over chicken! and it was soooooo good! like crazy good. She added a raw egg in it and at first i didnt dare to mix it in because i have not tried it before but OMG when i did, it was amazing HAHA 

Abby has a professional chef as a mom HAHAHA

And yup~! that sums up the new years with my bffs! :) Loving how even though we are so different and we are each on different paths but when we meet up and hang out its like nothing's changed and we are just like the same old secondary school girls just without the uniforms! 

Okay till next time! (btw i took 2 hours to write this post LOL i forgot how long it took to blog)

BYE.