Trip Jeju-Seoul Day 1: Incheon - Gimpo - KT Kumho - Yongduam Rock - Cheonjeyeon Falls - Jeju Yilin Pension

Incheon airport from my personal observation was not as big as KLIA2.  It was not hectic, passing through the immigration was a breeze in which the officer did not check our luggage at all. Free wifi is available at the airport, hence communications makes easy amongst us. 

We proceeded to the exit gate, look out for a proper spot for us to sit and have our breakfast. As for our family, the McD burger and nuggets came to the rescue :)) After settled with brekkie, the mommies went to 7E to purchase the T-Money (TM) card. TM is similar with our version of Touch n Go, where people use it to board the subway. Apart from that, we can use the TM to board the bus, taxi, as well as to purchase items at majority of the convenience store in Seoul…so easy n convenient!  The card deposit is 2500 won, I topped up 25000 won for my card and hubby, while for idlan is only 10000 won. Kids’ fare is almost half the adult, thanks again to the Korean government for the discounted fare to children!

Next, we searched for the AREX signage to board the AREX to Gimpo Airport [journey 33min, commuter train every 12 min, 3550 won), or Express train (journey 28min, train every 30min]. Another alternative to go to Gimpo is by taking the limousine bus (7000 won per adult). We, being a budget traveler in big group of course will choose the cheapest yet convenient way to reach to a particular place hehe. Boarding the AREX is very convenient, ala2 ERL in Malaysia…not crowded at all, no traffic jam, and should be able to reach Gimpo faster than the limo bus. Another plus point huh? haha

So then we reached the Gimpo airport, proceeded to Eastarjet counter (white-red in color) to check in and get our boarding pass.  The staffs are all ok, they can speak English quite well. We were given 15kg free check in luggage which is similar to other domestic airlines to Jeju like Jeju Air, T’ways, Korean Air, Aseana Airlines, etc. We have about 1hr+ before our departure to Jeju at 13:00, so we decided to just lepak and mingled around the airport. There is Lotte Mall opposite Gimpo and accessible from the underground pathway, but was just too lazy to walk there due to the time constraint. We spotted Lotteria (which became Semah n family’s next best friend throughout their journey in Seoul hehe) which is famous for its shrimp burger amongst the Muslim traveler, but after some thought we decided to purchase coffee n buns from Angel In Us Coffee. Their cinnamon roll was really tasty n yumssss. So that was what we had for our first day in Seoul.

There was a duty free shop after the boarding gate, which the items were quite cheap!! Elizabeth Arden Green Tea 100ml is 37usd, kippling sling bag 105.7usd, Coach is so-so not many choices available. I was contemplating whether to buy or not to buy the sling bag, but considering this is just my first day in Seoul takkan nak shopping dah kan? haha with a heavy heart I put down the bag and rushed to join my family as they have been calling the passengers for our aircraft :p

Experience of flying with Eastarjet was very cool. The room leg is spacious and way bigger than AA, they served orange juice inside the flight (no meal yerr), and ohh my their stewards are really good-looking (this has been confirmed and mutually agreed by most of my travelmates haha. My sil commented, their crew entry criteria must have been very stringent hihi). Our flight arrived at Jeju International Airport around 14:05. We headed straight to KT Kumho counter, handover our car booking confirmation slip, and the counter staff directed us to board their free shuttle bus to go to KT office to pick up our car.

The journey to KT Kumho office took only about 5 minutes from the Jeju airport. We paid our car rental via credit card as cash is not acceptable. Agak jakun since for the first time in life I was asked to sign on the cc reader/machine which I’ve never seen in Malaysia or anywhere before hehe. The car fuel has been reloaded full, so we can straight away use the car and were ask to refuel ‘full’ upon returning the car later. After settling with the payment and signing the rental agreement, the KT staff accompanied us to check our car, give advice on how to use the English GPS and wifi egg. We asked the staff to help us to key in our first destination i.e. Yongduam Rock. At times the GPS can search the place by its name, at some other times we need to instead input the telephone number…kesimpulannya kena always try and error when you want to locate a particular place huhu

Our family will spend our next 2 days in Jeju with the rented silver-color Kia Carnival, thanks to Korea for its left-hand drive, hubby got unnecessary stress to adjust his brain to maneuver the car and get himself adapted with the road rules. Nak tekan signal tapi wiper yg bergerak, nk pusing roundabout terbalik jadinya, kereta kalau slow kena duduk belah kanan…peningggggggg kesian en hubby dan pemandu2 yg lain haha. And so after few minutes of driving, dangggggg hubby hit a static van/lorry parked on the right alley of a small road to Yongduam. Habis side mirror dented sket and calar but lucky tak tercabut hehe. Mak Ude as the co-pilot macam tergamam dan tak sempat nak kasik warning. Sian hubby ku stress! The egg wifi was so useful that it prevents us from losing contact with another 2 families (i.e. Aini dan Semah).  Minutes after the incident, Aini roger and said their car also just had an accident (langgar bas sekolah lagik tu haha). Memang hampas giler bila kena drive belah kiri nih!

We reached Yongduam Rock (also known as Dragon Head rock) which is supposed not to be far from the airport, syukur berjaya sampai dgn selamat despite the incident that happened to us and Aini. The rock is unique and bentuk memang macam kepala naga. We were too tired to go down closer to the rock, setakat amik pic from afar jadiklah.

Next destination was Cheonjeyeon Falls located in Seogwipo, the Southern part of Jeju Island. Jeju was famous with lots of waterfalls, but according to forumer and Korean Tourism website, this waterfall is the nicest amongst all, hence why we picked this and not others. There were 3 different waterfalls altogether, which visitors are required to climb loadssss of stairs for each section. We conquered two out of three, which is already a success..penat macam nak pengsan memanjat!! Lutut menggigil macam panjat Kinabalu okeyy (yes I may sound too exaggerating but that’s the layman description on how tiring it was) , macam tak jejak pon ada hihi. But nak amik gambar punyer pasal gagahkan diri jugaklah :p Lesson learnt for those who is not fit or ada sakit kaki, silalah cuba pegi waterfall lain yg tak berapa tinggi hihi. The hard n pain of climbing was all worth it..the water is crystal clear n turquoise in color , the rock and its surrounding establishment masya Allah was indescribable n stunning! speechless ok sangat cantik ciptaan Illahi.

The waterfall closed at 18:30, so we made our way out around that time and proceed to our first pit stop for the night i.e. Jeju Yilin Pension. Nak kejar jamak takhir sama so memang rushing cari hotel kami petang tuh. The hotel is located quite close from the waterfall, so we managed to arrive before 19:00, checked in and terus solat jamak Asar & Zuhur.

last pic @ the waterfall

 The comfy 2BR @ Yilin pension. A large hall with totos n blankets adjoining with  kitchen and living hall. 

complete kitchen n utensil! Watch out for the modern stove, we initially didnt know how to put it off :p Jakun sket di situ hihi

 separated bedroom with toilet inside

 toilet in the bedroom

 2nd toilet next to the kitchen

 ignore the mess, dressing table inside the bedroom

frozen rendang from malaysia, eaten with ikan bilis goreng & japanese cucumber..mmg heaven oiiii

Dinner for that night was nasi putih + frozen rendang hasil air tangan nek umi…memang marvelous! Hubby checked out for the nearby groceries store and bought 10 eggs, mister potato & a large orange carbonated drink.

Cost update:

T Money Adults 25k x 2 = 50k, Idlan 10k
T Money deposit 2.5k x 3 = 7.5k
Eastarjet return tix: adult 83k, child 79k (incl tax), total 403k
cinnamon roll 1.8k
hazelnut cafe mocha 5.7k
Kia Carnival 295.4k = converted maybank exc rate RM954.77
parking Yonduam rock 800w
Cheonjeyeon falls (group tix) adult 2050w kids 850w, total 5.8k
Jeju Yilin Pension 140k = 1 night 
Egg 10pcs - 3k
mister potato & mirinda orange - 6k