“Cityscape” is a very broad term, and most of the time it not only refers to a certain place, but also a place that we have experienced, are familiar with, and have deep memories of. The beauty of the cityscape may be obvious to everyone, or it may be a secret that only we know. The memories are so strong that they are ready to come out, and the authors are calm, sincere and tell us about them. Through the series of “City Walking Guides”, we hope to bring you a glimpse of each interesting and extraordinary cityscape.
Hotels, Accommodation & Travel
After arriving at Jeju airport, it was just a very simple immigration process to get out of the station, and this time we chose a hotel called Gloucester Hotel Jeju, which is very close to the airport. Since we hadn’t quite finished activating our local phone cards when we landed (it’s not easy to take a taxi or listen to phone calls online), we picked up our luggage and got a Korean T-money transportation card (for public transportation and some cabs) on the third floor of the airport. From Gate 5, there is a bus stop on the right hand side of the airport, take the No. 600 to the Sun Hotel stop (just one stop), and walk straight ahead for less than 500 meters to the hotel we booked, Gloucester.
It should be noted that hotels in Jeju Island generally only check in after 3:00 p.m., and on the last day, you are required to check out before 11:00 a.m. There are no disposable toiletries provided, so you need to prepare them in advance. In addition, there is no USB port or uninterruptible power supply jack in the room, be sure to prepare more chargers and socket converters.
In the room and the hotel corridor can see the sea and even the airport landscape, high-level experience in the field of vision is very good, the bathroom is equipped with a bathtub, heating is also relatively adequate, the five days down the experience of living in the middle of the road, that is, the hotel’s Internet speed in the state of multi-device elasticity.
The location of the hotel is the busier downtown area, with a wide variety of stores from restaurants to all kinds of stores, and there is a self-operated convenience store on the second floor of the hotel, while across the street is a CU convenience store. Convenience stores in Jeju or Korea seem to be a very important part of daily life, and most of them (711/CU/GS25 are the three most common). Breakfast and snacks on these travel days were all taken care of at the CU across the street from the hotel. In addition to the regular bottled drinks, you can also buy coffee in a bag, and with the different sizes of ice cups available in the fridge below, I personally found it very convenient; the breakfasts were, to put it bluntly, a collection of “convenience foods”, but there’s no denying that they tasted pretty good, from crab sticks to skewers of meat, puffed rice and rice cakes, to instant noodles in a wide variety of flavors. From crab sticks to meat skewers, kimchi, rice cakes, and various flavors of instant noodles, now that I think about it, in Jeju, which I consider to be a food desert, convenience store food can be ranked among the top three in terms of deliciousness.
The next few days of travel is basically rely on taxi, taxi software used is Kakao T, hit the car equipment are new and old, the new support T money transportation card or VISA credit card, most of the old use cash payment/VISA, does not support T-money. but with a Korean phone card in advance in the app to bind the bank card can be all through the online payment, before the taxi. Before you take a taxi, you need to select “pay the driver directly” or “pay online” through the app.
To get to the beaches along Jeju’s east and west routes, it’s more affordable to take public transportation. The information app I used was KaKaoMap, which allows me to check the routes and status of each bus, and I also used my T-money transit card to pay for it, while I was able to top it up at a convenience store, which was very convenient.
The vast majority of daily communication is in English, but it’s clear that the level of English here on Jeju is weak, and with the exception of hotels, convenience stores, and brand stores, most local residents and staff struggle with basic English conversations, and need to rely on translation apps such as Papago to converse when necessary.
Blue Coastline: Yaewol-eup, Woljeong-ri, Hamdeok
It’s true that I haven’t seen an azure sea in years, and the days of my trip were mostly sunny, the air in the island city was very clear, and standing on the beach and being able to see the towns and distant landscapes along the coastline of other places soothed both my mood and my photos.
Jeju’s coastal landscape is mainly divided into the eastern and western routes, the eastern route includes Hamdeok, Woljeongri, Nakdo, Shibadikokchee and other sightseeing places; Yaewol-eup, Hanlim Park, and Jaejae Beach are in the western route, and I am not personally interested in the landscapes and destinations in the direction of Seogwipo City in the southern route, so I didn’t make any relevant plans for this trip.
The first day of the trip was basically spent at the beach on the western route, and I took a taxi to Yaegwol-eup, where I got off the coastal highway, which is perfect for taking photos, as there are not many tourists during the off-season, and the clean and undisturbed images can be easily captured in the viewfinder, which is especially suitable for the travel portrait photos.
The black reef by the sea is very beautiful, in China I have tried to find a similar shooting place, very suitable for doing some brand visual campaign implementation, these days in Jeju Island travel, found that a random shore are such a landscape, black foreground with dark blue seawater background, shooting to the third day even a little tired. The small island by the sea is very suitable for walking, and we also saw many young couples, old people walking, and young people playing with their pets. There are also a lot of small stores in the line of Yaewol-eup where people can stop by, including souvenir stalls, restaurants, cafes, and dessert stores, and so on.
For lunch, we chose Noraba Seafood Noodle Shop, which we had been looking for since we were doing our research. The overall design of the store is very “fishing village”, with a few wooden tables set up in the courtyard and an open-air environment facing the sea. The food was quite delicious, especially when I saw a man, not sure if he was the manager or a staff member, returning from the sea in a scuba suit, and it was hard not to think that the ingredients were freshly caught in the morning. But I’m not sure if it’s the time of year, but the ingredients themselves aren’t quite as fatty, and the mussels and crabs are nowhere near as meaty as they are back home.
There is also a famous coffee shop nearby, BOMNAL CAFE, which fulfills almost all fantasies of a seaside coffee shop, and I almost rested here for two hours on the first day of the trip before leaving.
BOMNAL CAFE need to order at the door of the small window to enter, has a number of different styles of space, the largest indoor floor-to-ceiling windows next to the sea, the afternoon sunshine sprinkled on the coffee table, very cozy and lazy. But the drinks are slightly stepping on the mine, ordering the recommended ice cream and as a feature of the orange milk tea taste sweet, hazelnut coffee is moderate, I think in the milk tea taste and flavor of the richness of the country is still far ahead.
The outdoor space may be the realistic embodiment of the ‘sense of atmosphere’, with the entire ocean in front of you and the sound of the reef being pounded by the waves right in front of your ears, and you can imagine that on a sunny evening, when the entire world turns from gold to blues, the small warm-colored lamps will be lit up on the stone fences of the barricades, making this a very romantic place to go on a date.
We wandered around a lot more before dusk fell, and there were a few hipster stores and music studios dotted around the area as well, with all kinds of cute design details lining the streets: billboards, posters, and window displays.
And the next two days we basically spent in the area around the two landmarks of Woljeong-ri and Hamdeok on Jeju’s eastern route, which is a bit similar to the western route in terms of nature in terms of landscapes, but seems to be a bit wilder, with the ability to see very urbane beachside rows, wild colonies of seabirds close to the reefs, and people coming in to fish.
Instead of “activities”, in fact, basically is walking along the beach, stroll around a variety of stores with characteristics, Hamdeok of course, there are also good-looking seaside restaurants, but in the first two nights we stepped on all sorts of mines in the urban area, pork spine soup is sloppy, even the very famous black pork barbecue restaurant “dolphin” feel less than the average value of the meal in the country, so the daytime meals to a variety of desserts or drinks instead of the probability of overturning the car would be The probability of getting into trouble will be much smaller.
I have a deeper impression of this store Mango Ray, a store specializing in selling mango desserts, just off the coastal highway, the door of the small seat is facing the sea, the entire space is a very tropical atmosphere of the design, mango ice cups are really delicious, but the price is slightly higher compared to the domestic.
London Bagel Museum is a very standard net red store, opened to Shanghai to go to a bagel brand, the overall design style of the space rather than the British countryside, rather like the feeling of localization of the American style, even in the off-season is also a long queue, but small peripheral materials such as tote bags and so on to do really cute. Next to it is the equally famous “puppy coffee” (Cafe Layered), white tone of the old stuff miscellaneous style, shelves and counters behind the blue sea, in the sense of the atmosphere is really outstanding, but no way to drink us again overturned, apple cinnamon tea and another with mint flavor of the taste of the drink is really difficult to say, in short, more suitable for sightseeing card, the environment as a selling point to feel! The ambience is a selling point to get a feel for the place.
Woltingeri is the end of the journey to the beach, we waited for dusk and evening here, because it is the off-season, many small stores on the beach are in a state of closure. However, the beach was still crowded with people, the huge wind turbines were hidden in the residential buildings, and the world had a slow serenity, which in turn was suitable for taking photos with a sense of storytelling.
Exploring the City
After the last two days of the trip, we decided to explore the city after getting tired of the repetitive coastline views. The main activities were exploring and shopping, and Olive Young was the beauty store that my girlfriend went to almost every day, even on the last day of the trip when she needed to urgently use up all her cash.
Seven Star Street is a very standard commercial street, a variety of brand stores are so, the end of the year is approaching, a lot of sports stores are also discounted, fellow friends are camping enthusiasts, South Korea’s outdoor industry is very sound, we can see a lot of camping cars on the road, the urban areas related to the lifestyle and brand stores are also very rich, plus end of the year discounts and tax deductions, compared with the domestic price is really more advantageous.
Dongmun Market is located near the Seven Star Street, also took a look, positioning is more like a combination of local residents of the food market and food street for tourists, because it looks too much like the integration of standardized production lines, we just try to eat rice cakes and fish cakes hurriedly left, the taste can only be said to meet the imagination, talk about how delicious.
Jeju Island’s various types of small stores in the aesthetics of life is really very important, in a variety of streets or alleys may be hidden in a fun store, so our journey is not specific according to the specific route, walk and see, did not plan the trip will be more relaxed, and occasionally will see the surprise.
KOLON SPORT (SOTSOT REBIRTH13) is a representative of surprises, just across the street from the Arario Museum, the whole space is designed around “sustainability”, the products, installations in the window, and even the artwork on display on the third floor are all made from various types of marine debris, so you can see a variety of foams, props for fishermen, and more artisanal temperament. Outdoor apparel and storage accessories, the space in the hallway also shares many brands’ actions and paths towards environmental protection, the whole experience is more like an art museum:
A Korean couple opened a French restaurant is also in the neighborhood, the name is Elephant hip, only less than three hours of business every day, or the consumption of food ingredients on the early closing, the overall atmosphere is really good, very lazy and romantic, food due to my mountain pig can not eat fine chaff, or think that the pre-dinner bread and grilled shrimp is the most delicious (and even asked for two more pre-dinner bread), iced coffee is also good, in the warmth of the winter! Iced coffee is also good. Drinking iced coffee indoors in the warmth of winter is one of my favorite ways to relax.
Alario Museum behind the beach there is a mini-block, there are a lot of stores worth a visit here, this is also my first time to see the FREITAG offline store, this is a Swiss environmental protection bag brand, looks like signs of wear and tear is exactly the core point of the brand’s premiums, each bag is a one-of-a-kind orphaned, the raw material is recycled truck fabrics, in the country there are a group of avid Enthusiasts, this time the peer friend was also amenable, picked a own blue-gray satchel as a gift.
Aesop’s Jeju store is also nearby, and they patiently let us try different flavors of hand cream, packaged a mulled wine kit for us after picking out our favorite gift, and even patiently helped us sort out the process of tax return.
D%Department, a lifestyle brand from Japan, also has a large space nearby, featuring not only local housewares but also peripherals designed for Jeju’s local community. One thing worth mentioning is that the huge “D” letter on the exterior wall was perfect for a backdrop for an OOTD (Outfit of the Day) shoot; I can’t really remember the names of the hipster stores in the neighborhood, and they’re not really my own style, but I did get a favorite coat at a vintage store.
KPOP as a cultural symbol of South Korea, Jeju Island urban area can also feel the amazing influence of Korean groups everywhere, the city’s album stores also by the way to browse through, such as Art Box, All That Kpop, Halla streaming, which Halla’s grandfather and the grandmother of the album store next to the Dongmun Market is a husband and wife, they are running their own store, for the fans of celebrities who come to Jeju Island are very enthusiastic, will offer to translate, and will be very warm, and will offer to translate. They are very enthusiastic about their fans who come to Jeju, and will use translation software to communicate with you.
The store sells a wide range of albums, including most of the active groups and OSTs of popular dramas. However, compared to the market price of other stores, Art Box’s albums are a bit more expensive. While the husband and wife stores have the traditional display of an old-fashioned video store, Art Box is more like a cultural and creative collection store, with only two or three rows of album cabinets. If you want to feel the atmosphere of a stargazer, you may want to visit ALL THAT KPOP on Healthy Road, which is also a very hot spot for a four-court life downstairs.
Street photography can also be captured occasionally during the shopping process, and once again, you will feel the air of the island city is clear, the vehicles are always clean, and the texture of light and shadow is also pleasing to the mind and body.