Hakuna Matata

[picture to be added at a later date...]
Saturday morning, Jeju Island. We’re up at 6:30 am because we haven’t figured out how to use the control panel by the bed (in the phone) to turn the lights on and off – the panel also controls the A/C which, like at home, is a necessity. So I “blast” the lights on (according to Aidan, who desperately tries to crawl 3 feet into his bed to escape waking up) and do the morning routine to get ready for breakfast.

Our tour organizer, and Grandmaster of all Tae Ryong studios, was not able to make the first part of our trip. His wife, however, was able to come. She is a most gracious and lovely woman – and acted as host and culture interpreter. She has lived so long in the US (by her own admission) that some of the things we encountered were even foreign to her. But all in all, she was such a great help to our group and added the (desperately) needed class we were sometimes, ahem, lacking. Aidan and I had the pleasure of sitting with her during breakfast and she mentioned that she had been looking forward to *this* breakfast at *this* hotel for a long time now. And she was right: the breakfast buffet was stunning. The first of many breakfast buffets that would enjoy “amazing” status: Asian, Western European and American breakfast items in huge and beautiful displays. Dim Sum, dumplings, Japanese squash, kimchi, seaweed soup, rice, rolls, fresh bread, tropical fruit, cheese plate, danish, eggs made to order, beans, sausages, bacon, yogurt and cereal – muesli *and* cocoa puffs. Just to name some of the items. We filled up on food and got ourselves ready for a day of sightseeing.

Our first stop was the waterfalls – a close bus ride. We get off the bus to a muggy, humid overcast day – but no downpour! There are 3 waterfalls along the river and a tall, arched bridge that leads to a temple and statue fountain – which we threw pennies into. Mine made it in the top spot…Aidan’s didn’t. I wished for no rain downpour for the day – and thankfully, the fountain granted my wish. Aidan had purchased a camera with some birthday money before our trip. One of it’s features is the ability to snap panoramic views. He became quite the photographer and used this function to take some great shots. Following one of the other people on the trip, Aidan also climbed over a roped-off area to strike a zen-pose on a moss covered boulder with cascading waterfall in the background. It would not be the first time that he would scamper off to perilous places on this tour. The third waterfall consisted of many stairs down (and then UP) to view it – and it really wasn’t all that spectacular. But the march down and back was just enough to get soaking wet- with sweat. (And not the fun Debbie Allen kind)

The next bus stop was black columned cliffs formed by rushing lava 25,000 years ago. This was a popular tourist place with masses of people crowding to get good pictures at the railings. It was also the site of many food vendors anxious to pawn their delicacies off on the tourists. No strangers to tourist attractions, I wasn’t surprised at all to find all of these vendors lining the entrance. What did surprise me was the food they were selling: roasted silkworms and squid jerky; fresh sea cucumber and abalone – skewered sliced fresh pineapple, and of course the ubiquitous Jeju oranges. One of the members of our group is an especially daring eater. He purchased the Dixie cup full of roasted silkworms and proceeded to share and coax everyone into trying one. Aidan and I were game. They tasted like kidney beans with a crunchy shell – like softshell crab. The flavor was smoky, but the aftertaste was funky. The Pepsi I bought to wash out the flavor was the best 1000Wan I spent the whole trip. The cliff view was indeed spectacular and beautiful – but the highlight of this stop was the silkworms - grubs...yummy.

Off to lunch – another buffet with a huge selection of food. There is an amazing arrangement of sushi (the first of many to come in restaurants) which we were told by our guide that Koreans on Jeju *don’t* eat in the summertime (freshness factor and all…) Also on the buffet table: “Live Spaghetti” - the first of many translated signs that made me do a double take. Live spaghetti turns out not to be some living creature, but spaghetti made fresh to order at the buffet station – a bit of a letdown, actually. After my silkworm adventure, I thought I’d be game for sea snails. Turns out I wasn’t – I couldn’t get past the texture. I also pass on the abalone porridge. Random restaurant sighting: Guiness on tap. I’m told it was good too. We pass on the tea that smells like seaweed and the coffee that looks like weak tea. Aidan sits with me and some other moms at lunch when he is unkindly kicked out of the teenagers table. Luckily he meets up with some other kids later in the day who are more his age, attitude, and abilities.

Next stop: World Peace Museum. In 2005, Jeju Island was designated a Peace something or other and many summits are held on the island. A large building with a museum was built to commemorate the event. There were 2 levels of museum – the bottom most containing a wax museum of Important Korean Personalities and those dignitaries present at the summit – including Clinton waving from the door of Air Force One. The room also contained statues of those important world peace figures: Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Mandela and as the final entry: Jackie Chan - (of course!). Aidan offered to push Mrs. Rogers (in a wheelchair due to a broken ankle sustained from a flip during black belt testing practice) and proceeded to read every sign of the museum to her as he pushed her slowly through. [NB - he was the only teenager and one of only a few handful of men to offer to push her throughout the whole week.] We made it back to the bus and head to our last sight: The Green Tea plantation and museum. It was more gift shop than museum, but we did get to walk through a display of about 1000 old tea cups. Something else that the museum displayed? It’s bathrooms. The front of the building was floor to ceiling glass panes. Unfortunately, the front of the building contained the bathrooms. Lovely bathrooms with skylights and amazing natural light. So amazing that from the outside, you could see in. Not so much a problem with the ladies room, as we all have stalls in our bathrooms. Not so good if you are a guy. The urinals, while faced away from the window, still were out in full view. We all had a bit of a chuckle at this as we walked away back toward the buses, green tea ice cream and gift shop purchases in hand.

Free time! The only free time we had at this amazing 5 star beach resort - a short 1 ½ hours. I changed into my suit and headed down to the beach – down another million stairs. Korea is full of stairs. Stairs and Rain. The sand on the beach is darker and softer than I expect it to be. But the water is just as cold as home only much clearer. You can actually see through it. I met Aidan on his way down to the beach. Our free time was almost up – so I went for a quick dip in the lukewarm pool (forgoing the 106 degree spa) and then got ready for dinner. While in the pool, many of us remarked that we would like just one more day on Jeju to spend enjoying the resort. On our way to dinner – we stop at the the Jeju World Cup Stadium which is remarkably open to the public (can you imagine the Colosseum being open all the time for just anyone to walk in and take a picture of? You can't even get into Notre Dame stadium without having to bribe someone.) Korea was host to the World Cup in 2002 and built an amazing stadium on Jeju Island (it was half sunk into the ground to combat the island winds.)

Off to dinner – and this time at dinner, everyone is awake and feeling good. The BBQ was delicious – if not *warm* - indoor grilling is less comfortable during the summer time. Cold beer helps combat this, however.

World Cup madness takes over the hotel lobby: dozens of big screen TVs are set up. Our group passes the time until the game starts – some in the pool (Aidan) some trying Soju for the first time (me.) The light rain that has followed us all day stays mostly away while we are outside, pool side, “relaxing:” albeit fraternity rec. room style. At the start of the game, we had moved inside to watch South Korea hopefully advance. The game started at 11:30 pm and I made it for about 30 minutes before advancing to bed became more of an interest than soccer.