Jeju Trip (Day 1)

I have a college buddy, Jeff, who decided to take a break from his lucrative yet workaholic life in the realestate world to teach English on Jeju Island. I arranged to take my first trip to Jeju and to meet him during my stay. For some reason Jeff never responded to my last few emails, so I wasn't sure if I'd see him in Jeju.

The night before the trip I went to bed later than I wanted so I only got 3 hours of sleep before heading to the airport. It's a 1 hour flight from Seoul. I arrived in Jeju around 9:30am, sleepy and looking for some strong coffee. I took a bus to the center of Jeju City and began walking around in search of coffee. It was sprinkling rain a little. I found my coffee and then headed toward Jungmun Beach (중문 해수욕장). Jungmun Beach is a popular tourist beach with waves big enough for surfing.

By the time I got the the area, it started raining heavily. Even with an umbrella, my pants below my knees and socks were soaked with rain water. Fortunately I picked up a brochure from the airport for a Gecko's Pub that was recently built in the area. I hopped into a cab and made my way there.


Once inside the bar I changed my socks but decided to leave my pants on to air dry. I ordered a beer and entertained myself with free pool as the rain continued to pour.


The bar was virtually empty at 2pm. I drank for about an hour when Jeff called. He and some coworkers drove out to meet me. We ordered some food and some more drinks. By 6pm or so we headed back to Jeff's two bedroom beach house.


This is a picture of the kitchen.


This is a picture of the dining room side of the main room.


This is a picture of the living room side of the main room.


The back porch is huge and has a space on the end for a hot tub which should be installed before too long. It's a perfect place for a barbeque.


After returning from having lunch and drinks together, we watched a little tv and relaxed before heading to Jeju City for some evening entertainment. We started with Chuncheon Talkgalbi (춘천딹갈비) for dinner and then made our way to two bars where westerners like to hang out.

It turned out to be a late night. I excused myself from the drinking at around 3am so I could get some sleep at a nearby motel. Unfortunately for me, I woke up the next morning with a hangover and was completely unfit for climbing Hala Mountain (한라산), the huge volcano in the center of the island. Climbing it was one of my main goals for going to Jeju. So I was disappointed. In retrospect, it was nice to see an old college buddy and catch up. Hala Mountain isn't going anywhere.