Trip Jeju-Seoul Day 2 (part 2): ICC Jeju - Seopjikoji - Seongsan Ilchulbong - Manjanggul Cave - Gimnyeong Maze Park - Hamdeok Beach

From Seopjikoji, we headed to our next destination i.e. Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. Registered and recognized as one of the UNESCO World Heritage, here's a sneak peak of its description taken from the Visit Korea website:

Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak rose from under the sea in a volcanic eruption over 100,000 years ago. Located on the eastern end of Jejudo Island, there is a huge crater at the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. The crater is about 600m in diameter and 90m high. With the 99 sharp rocks surrounding the crater, it looks like a gigantic crown. While the southeast and north sides are cliffs, the northwest side is a verdant grassy hill that is connected to the Seongsan Village. The ridge provides an ideal spot for walks and for horse riding as well.
The sunrise from the crater is magnificent. Also the Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak surrounded by bright yellow colored rapeseed flowers in the spring is truly a sight to behold.

It was around 12.30noon when we arrived at its car park area. Matahari sangatla terik, hence we decided to just have our lunch onboard the car. Best jugak picnic dlm keta, pekena nasi lemak telur rebus bersama rendang ayam dan bilis goreng...perghh heaven! Ammar was still sleeping after we finished our meal. After a short discussion, nek umi and the kids had consensus to just stay inside the car rather than climbing the Seongsan under the hot sun! So me, hubby and mak ude proceeded to its entrance, taking obligatory pictures at its UNESCO's mark, etc. Then mak ude decided not to proceed further and joined the kids inside the car, so there u go only me and hubby menguatkan semangat menjejaki Seongsan! akakaka

The first few minutes under the scorching hot sun, we took selfie pics together sepanjang menaiki tangga Seongsan tuh. Ohh for those with small kids, pls do not bring a stroller yer. The pathway is rocky and unflat, for sure stroller is a bad decision to proceed. We went up and up until halfway through the peak, and later found a descending trail and signage to another side of the route. So lepas diskas, both of us sebulat suara decided to descend and walked faster to catch up the Jeju woman diver performance scheduled at 1.30pm. You need to descend further towards the sea cliffs to watch the show...jenuh turun tangga, tapi bab turun ok lagi bab nak balik nanti...OMG macam nk pengsan kena panjat tangga2 tu balik mmg nanges!!!

The Jeju woman diver show began as scheduled. The show started with opening remarks and song from one of the diver (who probably tells a story about life as women diver,  how difficult it was for them mencari rezeki for their family, etc). The tone of the song was quite interesting and very entertaining but at the same time i bet some of us were quite touched by her story...sedey jugakla huhu. Imagine they are average at 60s, memang dah tua baya nenek2 kita...masih sibuk turun ke laut mencari hasil laut...tak ke sedih? :( The song lasted for 10-15min before all of them started to wear their swimming equipment and dived into the sea bersama pelampung putih yg sangat tradisional tuh. Bubye Jeju woman diver...i hope u guys stay strong and persevere! We waited until they went far from the seaside, and then put all our effort to climb up the stairs and headed back to join the rest that had waited inside the car. Memang rasa nak nanges uols panjat tangga tuh...rasa macam nak heret2 kaki pun ada! Again kalau kat Mesia, konfem takkan mengader nak turun panjat naik beratus-ratus anak tangga di tengah panas buta! Mujur tengah fefeeling vacation kan terpaksa gagahkan diri lah jugak :p

we cheated yes!! tak berjaya menakluki Seongsan peak...takpelah gunung kinabalu pon mmg tak sampai lagi..apetah lagi puncak Seongsan kuikui

Our fourth destination of the day is Manjanggul Cave, also recognized as one of UNESCO World Heritage and became the National Monument No. 98. Here goes some description taken from the Visit Korea website:

Manjanggul Cave (만장굴) is one of the finest lava tunnels in the world, and is a designated natural monument. A lava tunnel is formed when the lava that was deep in the ground spouts from the peak and flows to the surface. Manjanggul Cave has a variety of interesting structures inside including 70cm lava stalagmites and the lava tube tunnels.
Only 1km of the 13,422m Manjanggul Cave is open to the tourists. The inside of the tunnel sustains at a temperature of 11~21℃, creating a comfortable atmosphere. There are rare animals such as bats living in the tunnel, which makes this tunnel valuable for researchers as well. The stone pillars and stalactites are widely spread and the tunnels shows off the cave’s topographical features. The Stone Turtle is especially eye-catching because it is shaped like Jeju-do Island.

 nak masuk cave kena turun tangga. Kat jeju ni mmg koje nya asyik turun naik tangga..semput okehhh

 its entrance! gelappp 

  ok dlm cave mmg tak byk gambar...sbb kami amateur lagi gambar yg diambil sumer jadi gelap haishhhh...kena cilok gambar fara la nampak gayanya kalo nk wat pb hehe

 senyum terpaksa...sebenarnya mmg dah penat sgt...especially mereka2 yg tadi panjat Seongsan :p

Our review - the cave was so damn cold that the kids shivered and couldnt stand the temperature (so did i huhu). The pathway inside the cave is very rocky and tough, it was very dark that we need to walk assisted with torchlight (guna hp jer hehe). Stroller is strongly not advisable, so as visitors with small babies. Ammar and Firas didn't like the murky environment, and kept on insisting to revert to entrance. In conclusion, we didn't cover the whole 1km and decided to return halfway :) Nonetheless, it was our first natural cave experience and we glad we entered it...prinsip saya..janji sampai dan jejak!

We later proceeded to Gimnyeong Maze Park together with Semah's family. To make it more interesting our family decided to split. Kids paired with their paksu, while me, hubby, nek umi and mak ude went on a separate way...konon bertarung sape berjaya carik jalan keluar dulu. Alih2, team kami duk pusing2 dlm tu sampai 3x..mmg sangat hampeh. Map was given, but it was not helpful (ke kami yg tak reti baca map haha). The kids with their paksu rang the bell tanda kemenangan...pastu sibuk jerit2 ajar kami masuk situ la..sini lah..but still we failed. Dah combine dgn family semah pon tetap gagal? haha mmg sangat pathetic! Finally we gave up and cheated ...masuk kot entrance...dan hubby dgn poyo pergi la ring the bell kikiki...sian kami! Anyway, the maze park was quite interesting (and challenging for us!) as compared to the cave...kids memang happy dapat lari2 menyorokkan diri...fun la walaupun panas tapi mujur pokok2 dia merimbun so kurang sket exposure to the sun.

ika yg setia bersama mak ude nya :)

ohh maze park...how i hate u!

bell tanda kemenangan. jiwa terseksa tgk bell ni sebab tak berjaya haha

lakonan semata-mata!!!

muka2 frust sebab sesat barat :p

 simple yet entertaining games for the kids at the maze entrance

Before checked in to our 2nd hotel in Jeju, we stopped by at Hamdeok Beach which is already otw to Jeju Feel House. I just stayed inside the car since Ammar was already asleep. Upon arrival at Jeju Feel House, the owner somehow couldn't find my reservation and i was like arghhhh. Situation got worsen since i've paid for the booking and reservation was made via Agoda. The person couldn't speak and understand English well, hence it added up to the stress. Ammar woke up from his sleep, stood next to me and cried as if he wanted something, while his mama was in the middle of argument, trying her level best to explain. Sgtla tension time tuh, until finally that person called another person (probably her husband i dont even bother to know) for rescue. They managed to sort out one of our room finally, and so we brought all our luggages to my mom's room while waiting them to get ready for another one room. Oh before that, Ammar created an incident! Kencing dlm seluar masa tengah nangis2 tadi tuh...adusss rupanya dia nk cakap nk kencing kott time mama tgh gaduh2 ngan owner tuh...haishh habis basah jeans dan kasut dia!