Jeju Weekend

We had a 3-day weekend this past weekend for Children's Day.  So a while ago, I booked a trip with a company called 'Enjoy Korea.'  Three of my friends from work booked the same trip, so we all traveled together.  After work on Friday night, we went into Seoul.  They wanted to buy fanny packs (Mo, you want one?  I thought of you the whole time), and then we went to find where we'd get on the bus.  The bus came to get us at around 11:35 and we drove thru the night to get to the ferry at 5am.  The ferry left at 6am.  Needless to say, I did not get much sleep.  So on the island our first stop was a crater that you can hike up.  I did not realize the amount of STAIRS I'd be climbing this weekend... my calves, thighs, and butt are gonna look GREAT!

 So here's the beginning of the hike.

 My first 'picture' stop... which was really a rest stop... which the person I was hiking with, T, realized right away.  She and I became each other's cheerleaders on this hike... the stairs... my God the STAIRS! 

 But the view was also nice.

 Mandi needed a rest!

 At the TOP!  WE MADE IT!

 I liked this rock formation...

 But it needed to be completed.  Not my best heart, but I like the whimsical sometimes.

 On the way back down... sigh... the trees were nice, and the weather was perfect.

 I think these were the haenyeo- the Sea Women of Jeju.  They free dive down to harvest sea creatures to sell at market.  They are amazing.  I read The Isle of Sea Women by Lisa See at the recommendation of my grandmother, and I recommend it to you as well.  The lives these women lead are fraught with danger every day and they still do this.  It's a tradition that is dying out, as the younger generations want to do other things rather than dive and battle with abalones and octopus! 

 We didn't have time for the next performance, as we were on a schedule.

 But look how beautiful it was!

 High on endorphins at this point, FYI.

 I think I like this one better.

 Flowers!

 I had to know what a triple crown was... now you do, too.

This temple was built on the side of the crater.  The lanterns that you're seeing are up for Buddha's b-day which is coming up sometime in May.

So next we went to the lava tube!

It's like wicked daak down there (Finding Nemo reference... I had to).

M and D are ahead of me.

The tunnel never got too low, which was nice.  It was also nice and cool with some drip, drip, drips coming down from the ceiling.

My pic in the dark!

This is the formation at the end of the tunnel.  Much nicer than a big spider.  Apparently this is how the lava came out.

I love this pic - this is us climbing out of the crater... again with the STAIRS!

And we made it to our hotel!  The water in the pool was friggin' COLD!  The BBQ place had good buggogi with rice.  I stayed here while my friends went to the beach - I was tired.  So I made new friends by the pool.  There was a guy from Ottawa, Canada and one of his friends from there as well.  I also met someone from Abilene, TX who told me she was impressed that I knew where Abilene was and told me that I'm an honorary Texan since I lived there for 11 years.  We hung out for quite a while, and the convo started because I mentioned something about my books.  As I mentioned, I did finish The Isle of Sea Women, but I also brought Congo and that one I never even cracked!  The thing about vacations for me is this - I can really only read when sober.  That was not really the plan for this weekend ;)

The next day, we went to the BEACH!  The water was initially kind of cold, but got nicer as the day went on.  The tide also eventually went out, which made it interesting trying to get to the water again!

The boys out in the water.

My toes in the sand.

Hehehe - vacation toes!!

Me looking pretty darn good in my suit, if I do say so myself.

Me in the water - still looking good!  Also, it's really funny when you bring a waterproof camera into the water - people initially freak and then all have the same thought.  'If you bring a non-waterproof camera into the water, you're kinda asking for whatever you get.'  I had fun dipping it and seeing the horrified expressions.  People are fun. 

So then we decided to make discounted seaweed masks.  You've met M before, in the middle is O from Sweden and on the right is B from St. Louis.  They are a hoot and a half.

And this is T from Brooklyn.  She was my cheerleader on the hike.  She's friggin' hilarious.

And A you've also met.

So many people out enjoying the day.

M working on his sunburn.  Seriously, he swears it's going to tan out but the pink of his skin just worries me!!

So after this day of fun in the sun, Soju and beer, I went home and passed out.  Seriously, no clue what time it was when I went for a 'nap' but it was 2:30 am before I woke up.  This is why I don't nap, remember?  Anyway, I missed out on Monkey Beach, which was a little sad but honestly I'm not too torn up about it.  The next day we checked out of the hotel and headed to the waterfalls.  We had planned on doing a couple other things, but we weren't able to because the ferry decided to leave early due to rough seas.  So to the waterfalls we went - I thought this was interesting.

The first waterfall only has water when it's raining, but the pool itself was beautiful.  They really don't want you to swim, tho.

Me really not feeling the stairs... again... more stairs.

Pretty - reminded me a bit of home (both WY and TX).

Watch out for your head, indeed!

So pretty.

Just another angle.

The fountain of five blessings.  Each part represents a different blessing - you choose which one you want and try to throw a coin into the money bag at the top.  If you get your coin in the bag, you'll get that blessing.  I didn't bring my coins... oops.

Observation point.

Another view of the falls.

PALM TREES!  They remind me of FL, and made me happy.  The weather was friggin' perfect.

Back on the ferry, getting ready to say goodbye.

Such a good time, but ready to get home and get some sleepies.  I like this cuz I can tell that I'm tired, but I still feel like I look pretty good ;)

We all hung out on the top until we got underway - the wind was brutal and cold.  So some of us still did hang out on top because it was easier.  Even though the wind was cold, the sun was warm so I'm pretty sure I ended up slightly more burned after the ferry ride. 

Disappointed we didn't get to go on the Queen Mary.

Bye bye Jeju.

Love the caution signs.

And the other islands!  There was a lot of stuff on the boat.  They had a bakery, 7-11, restaurant, beer garden, massage chair room, karaoke room (that was closed, but it did exist), a good place up on the deck with chairs and stuff (though a bit cold for T and I).  We generally were enjoying the beer and snacks from the 7-11... until they basically ran out of everything. 

The people I ended up having so much fun with.  D, D, and N - TX, Canada, TX.  Hehe.  The people can really make the trip and boy, these did!  I may have just met D from Canada a couple days ago, but I already consider him to be a friggin' treasure!  We've mentioned that we must hang out more, so we'll be making that happen in the coming months. 

M decided to get in on the pic as well.  We finally had found a place to hang out... funny enough, it was in the beer garden!  ;)

A, O, and B.  Good times are obviously being had by all.

B and I - you can kinda tell I got a bit pink.

So it was a great weekend.  I got to meet fun people, hang out on the beach, get a tan, enjoy some beverages, have some food, have good convos, read... basically I got an entire weekend of all the things that I really enjoy in life.  We got back to Dongtan at about 12:30 last night.  I basically came in, unpacked, showered, and headed to bed.  I'm afraid I didn't sleep all that well last night, though.  I think it had something to do with just how long we were on the ferry and bus for last night.  It was literally 6 hours on the ferry, then what... another 6 or so on the bus, then a 13 min taxi ride and a bit of a walk for me to get home.  My legs are sore as hell... even my gluteus maximus, which I did not expect.  It's weird when your entire legs complain. 

Oh, I also found a hole in my shoe.  So this weekend after I get paid (woot) I'm going to Seoul to get some shopping done.  Then I'm going to get some more stuff around Dongtan (a mattress topper, a comfy pillow, curtains, toaster oven, to name a few).  I think by the end of this weekend, I will feel 100% settled into my apartment, a bit more comfortable with figuring out how to get around Korea, and happy to know that my new friends think I'm hot.  LMAO... seriously, I feel so validated after this weekend - something about a gay guy telling me that I'm hot just made my friggin' MONTH! 

I did have some thoughts that I wanted to share with you all about what I'm learning in working at my job and a few things I've realized about myself.  However, I think this is a long enough post at the moment, right?  It was a great 72 hours.  Now back to reality.  It's gonna take a lot of coffee to get thru today.