September in Samcheok Beach and Jukseoru Pavilion [Day 5]

2. Samcheok Beach (삼척해변)

~Samcheok Beach~

It took about 15 minutes drive from Chuam to Samcheok.

Samcheok Beach has a vast clean white-sand beach that is 1.2 kilometres long and 100 meters wide with shallow water and surrounded by pine trees.

Its beautiful natural environment has also made it a favourite filming location such as April Snow, One Fine Spring Day, and South of the Sun.

To be frank, I was quite disappointed and sad as Mr Nam didn't even stop at the places that I listed down for him. We supposed to stop at Jumunjin Lighthouse and Yeongok Beach the day before, and again we didn't stop at Mangsang Beach, Mangyeongdae and Samcheok Beach for this tour.

I did some research and create K-spots for the places that I wanted to visit, and arrange which spot to visit first using K-tour and I have the addresses for all the places, so we shouldn't have missed them. But, sigh... we didn't even stop for a minute.

Please enjoy the view of Samcheok Beach from my video recording, as I don't have any photo to show (the above photo is still cut from this video)

Samcheok Romantic Road

View of Samcheok Romantic Road 

various sculptures using stone and metal statues.

You can see the harmonious beautiful Samcheok blue-beach, green-mountain, white-sand, brown-rock, clear sky and artistic touch to create romantic atmosphere of this road.

Lady with Violin and Snailfish-water fountain.

  

About 5 minutes drive from Romantic Road, there're few seafood restaurants. Actually I wanted to eat Chodang Sundubu, but this restaurant not serving it.

Snailfish Soup (Gomchi Guk = 곰치국)

13 types of Banchan ^^

  

We ordered local speciality of Samcheok, Gomchi Guk (Snailfish Soup). It has unique and refreshing taste. It’s also good to relieve from hangovers.

Previously, Gomchi Guk was enjoyed only by people living in Gangwon area during winter, but now is considered as a nationwide delicacy throughout four seasons.

Maybe this snailfish is more expensive than those fish for sashimi and soup in Jumunjin. This big bowl of soup only has one fish inside, therefore it's quite tasteless. We still prefer the meal we had in Jumunjin with Sashimi and sweet and tasty soup.

Total we paid 72,000 won (60,000 won for Gomchi Soup and 12,000 won Bibimbap for Mr. Nam).

Fresher with Cass Fresh Beer? ;P

3. Jukseoru Pavilion (죽서루)

Jukseoru (죽서루 = 竹西樓) means "Bamboo West Pavilion"

It's not known when Jukseoru Pavilion was constructed,

but estimated it was existed around 1266, as there was a poem of Jukseoru

written by Geukgi Kim, scholar from the time of King Myeongjong of Goryeo Dynasty.

It is one of the eight major attractions of Gwandong District in middle eastern Korea

collectively known as Gwandong Palgyeong (eight famous sites).

Sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking Osipcheon Stream with nice view of Samcheok city.

9 of the 17 pillars have foundations of natural rocks on the cliff as cornerstones,

 and others stand on bases of stones

five-girder paljak (ancient-style roof) is a hipped and gabled roof

in style and has double eaves.

signboards inside Jukseoru Pavilion.

Upper story of  Jukseoru has 7 'kan' (measurement referring to the space between two columns). There are 26 signboards inscriptions written by famous ancient scholars hanging here, such as:

- 'Jeilgyeongjeong' ('The best riverside pavilion'; 1662) by Heo Mok,

- 'Jukseoru' and 'Gwandong Jeilru' ('The best pavilion in Gwandong'; 1711) by Yi Seong-jo, 

- 'Haeseon Yuhui Jiso' ('The place that marine gods enjoy'; 1837) by Yi Gyu-heon 

Others who have left their marks include King Sukjong (1674-1720), King Jeongjo (1776-1800) and Yulgok YiYi (1536-1584).

The Pillar is not original.
 The floor is 'Umulmaru' (checker-shaped floor) in style.

It's one of the best examples of traditional naturalistic architecture,and the finest tower structure in Gwandong district of Gangwon-do.

Evidently, Jukseoru Pavilion has served as an inspiration, and continues to inspire visitors today through the stunning view of its surrounding nature.

 

now, please close your eyes and imagine yourself walking through this

nice greenish bamboo path to Jukseoru Pavilion~~~

From entrance, turn to your left... else, you'll need to climb the rock (check the video below) to get to the pavilion.

Related Posts:

~ Hanok Stay at 300 years Seongyojang Hanok House.

~ Traditional Cultural Experience at Seongyojang.

~ Ojukheon House and Museum

~ Chuam - Chotdaebawi Rock  

Buzz Korea Awards 2013?!!

"OMG Eonni! I just realised we both got into the K-spot in Buzz Korea. HAHA"

It's 23:20 pm and that was the FB message I received from Yyann, one of the active bloggers in Buzz Korea. I still didn't fully digest her message, as my mind about to auto shut down though I was still playing Candy Crush and laying on my bed...

The next moment... I almost jumped up to the ceiling because she sent me this link:

Join the 2013 buzz KOREA Awards to vote for the best Contents and visit Korea!

Thanks a lot, Yyann! It's so sweet of you to inform and vote for me. Just realised that I voted on the K-spot page yesterday... no wonder it's not updated on the Event page.

Therefore, I want to post on how to vote it... I just voted for Yann and another 3 contestants this morning... Wow!!! Quite hard for me to decide as all have their own strong points to get my votes :P

 

First of all... thank you so much Buzz Korea for this awesome opportunity to visit Korea just by sharing our travel stories, posting travel destinations in K-spot, or sharing amazing moments through video.

 

Ok, here's how to vote for this contest (Please vote for me too :P)

1. Login to your Account or Sign up for Buzz Korea Membership

 

Buzz Korea - Sign Up Page

 

 

2. Go to the Event Page

    [Join the 2013 buzz KOREA Awards to vote for the best Contents and visit Korea!]

 

Please vote for us, and you might win yourself one of these prizes:

1st Prize: A round-trip ticket to Korea (1 winner)

2nd Prize: MCM Backpack (2 winners)

3rd Prize: Tangerine Flower Body Care Set (10 winners)

 

 

3. Scroll down the Page and Click on

    * <Video of the Year> Candidate Works

       => Click on the image to view their fantastic videos vote the one you like the most.

 

         

Warning... Lots of video about yummy food~!!! 배고파요~~~

 

 

    * <Blog of the Year> Candidate Works

       => Click on the image to read their unforgettable trip in Korea.

       

 

Please use Google Translate if needed. 

 

    * <K-Spot of the Year> Candidate Works

       => Click on the image to check places of interest, restaurant, performances, attractions.

             You can plan your itinerary by selecting these K-spot and create your own K-tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for clicking the Vote Button for my entry ^^

Nickname: VeraLee

"Gangnam Terminal Underground Shopping Center"

 

Please read my previous posting on K-Spot and K-Tour. All K-spots stated the address, and some have additional on necessary information such as direction, photos, link to respective websites. It's very useful and great tool to plan your itinerary in Korea. 

 

 

    * <Buzz of the Year> Candidate Works

       => Click on the image to check the contributions of Buzz Korea members.

 

Please help my friend to vote her entry:
Nickname: Maeri

 

4.  After selected 1 candidate from each category (total 4 candidates), then:

     => Click Read and "I Agree" to the Terms and Conditions

     => Click on "Participate" Button

 

 

Every vote is important as it'll be a great help~^^

 

Thank you for your time and support... 감사합니다... 谢谢... Terima Kasih!

 

I'll be registering some new K-spots soon. Remember to check Buzz Korea for lots of information and news that you might not want to miss out, especially if you want to visit Korea! Ahhh... I'm so much in love with Buzz Korea~!

Minbak stay in Udo Island

Maybe I was a piggie in my previous life, and carried that habit to present life. I need at least 8 - 10 hours sleep including my nap time (oink oink). I always wonder why some people can sleep for merely 3-5 hours per day? Ah... not for me, as my brain will auto shut off even I tried not to close my eyes :P

Therefore, accommodation is one of important thing when I travel... Well, I don't particularly look for high end hotel as it just wasting my money... since I just spent less than half a day in the hotel room.

Most of the online hotel booking website have promotion rate for some of selected hotels. Which you just need to top up about $10 to $20 to get a better hotel (why not?). Normally, I'll look for the review whether they have clean room and bathroom and accessibility by public transport.

We stayed in this cozy White Castle Minbak (민박 = Bread & Breakfast) for 1 night in Udo Island (Udo Maritime Park).

Room no 202

Minbak room rate.

panoramic view from our balcony...

White Castle from front view



Room Features:

very spacious room with 2 queen sized bed, PC with free Wifi, fridge, wide-screen LCD TV, air conditioning, shower, hair dryer, kitchenette, heater stove and balcony facing SeobinBaeksa Beach (서빈백사).

Are you joking... with all this features, this is called minbak?!! No No No... this is a castle for me!

  

 Halmeoni with little puppy ^^

We should had our dinner first if we knew that sunset was around 7:30pm... By the time we watched beautiful sunset, we found that the island was so peaceful and calm. The problem was all nearby restaurants closed already! How?!! Luckily there's convenience store nearby minbak and we bought Ramen and sausages.

 convenience store...

The owner should be this Halmeoni. She's very nice... when we asked whether where we can get hot water for our Ramen. She did tell us that water dispenser was near the stairs, but she asked us to come in to her house (as it's getting cold outside), then she boiled water for us.

Although we had communication barrier with my limited Korean language, I do understand some of the things she said, though it's really hard for me to answer her. But, funny that we chatted like we have no problem understand each others ^^

simplest food we had, but it's the tastiest Ramen we ever had...
while watching Dr Jin in our room

할머니, 잘지내요? I miss her much... and that's one of the reasons that I want to revisit Udo Island.

Related Post:
~ How to go to Udo Island from Jeju?
~ Just Jeju (Yakcheonsa, Cheonjeyeon,  Jeongbang, Braised Hair Tail Fish)
~ Just Jeju (Hallim Park, Hyeopjae Beach, Biyangdo Island, Black Pork BBQ)
~ Just Jeju (Yeongduam Rock,  Geumneung Beach, Hyeopjae Beach)
~ Just Jeju (O'Sulloc Green Tea Museum, Jusangjeolli Cliffs)
~ Just Jeju (Oedolgae Rock, LoveLand, E-Mart Jeju)

(Love) Motel in Korea

WA Motel, Busan

This is my first time in my life staying in (love) motel!!!

As I mentioned earlier, the tour that we booked earlier was cancelled. So I have to search for accommodations in Korea.

You can book through Agoda, and they have special discount for DBS/POSB credit Card.

At first I wonder why it's so cheap for 3 stars rated hotel.. then I read the reviews and got some idea about this hotel. Though it's labelled as "Love Motel" but the reviews quite good. I don't think you can find such a nice hotel in Singapore with that price. A small boutique hotel might cost double of this love motel which only cost SGD 70.00/ night

Tadaaa...

WOW!!! compared to the hotel we stayed in Jeju, this motel is even better!

Walking distance from metro station (about 5- 10 minutes walk) and nearby famous Haeundae Beach. There are few similar motels around that area too.

I guess these are some common things of love motels (accuracy not more than 50% :P). Please correct me if any of the information here is wrong...

1.  Enter through parking lot, which have something like "curtain" hanging from top and left about

     1/3 not covered for privacy for those drive-in customers?

2. The receptionist desk also have partition screen covered and only have a small hole for payment

    and get the key.

    Sorry that I didn't aware of it, I just bend my head, look and talk to the receptionist... LOL

    (top left of the photo).

3. Nicely design room with different themes and modern facilities included in the room such as:

    2 PCs with Wi-Fi connected to wide screen TV, microwave, water dispenser and can drinks in

    mini fridge, snacks, toiletries.

Wa Motel interior

   
The room so spacious. Bathroom with Jacuzzi bath tub and shower head. I found something quite interesting... All hotel or motel that we stayed provide lotion, after shaved and toner for men (but not for female). Anyone can tell me why is it so? I really wonder why? Is it because female customers normally carry their own? or they just want to promote the cosmetics products to male customers?

Here are comparison of Wa Motel with 3 star (consider quite big) hotel which I stayed in Jeju.

* Wa Motel is spacious with modern luxury settings. Hotel in Jeju just a simple room with outdated
   furniture.

* Clean room and bathroom... they even wrapped the toilet bowl with a paper stating... it's clean for
   your hygiene use. So scary when a saw a ton of hairs on the toilet bowl in the hotel in Jeju....

* Free toiletries: toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower cap, and something unusual also included inside
   the pouch (guess what was it?!). You need to pay for toothbrush and toothpaste with the stated price
   if you want to use them for hotel in Jeju.

* I didn't know that can drinks and snacks are free of charge too... normally most hotel will charge if
   you consumed... You only need to leave the key and they didn't check your room.

Wa motel served  sandwiches and orange juices for breakfast. They even asked what time we prefer the breakfast to be delivered to our room. Really good service!

We stayed on another love motel in Seoul too... I forgot the hotel name, we supposed to stayed with my Korean family... but we didn't want to disturb them as they have kids that need to go to school and it's not so nice that we came back late.

We just walked-in to one of the love motel... and luckily the receptionist understand a bit of English. He tried to explained to us that the hotel charged hourly rate.

Sigh, we should just pay few hours rate instead of 2 nights stay... as we didn't understand until we had made the payment and he said that we need to check out tomorrow and check in again for the same room. Haaiiizzz... should request to change to another room for different atmosphere :P

We stayed in the above room, which have pink rosy wall paper and a big round mirror on the ceiling. It's quite hi-tech, that the air-con remote is not using the original remote control... We thought that air-con was spoilt and called the receptionist to fix for us. Actually, it's centralised all in one remote for lights, curtains and aircon...

Aigoo, so embarrassing... the guy smiled after he explained how to operate them. I had to nod my head with an awkward smile and said: "네,알겠습니다... 감사합니다~ (Yes, I got it now... Thank you). Maybe he was thinking OMG, where the earth are these customers from? why so stupid?

Very good customer service. They draw us a map for us to wait for airport bus...  They even asked what time to serve the breakfast for us (sandwich with orange juice).

Personally, I think love motel is worth the price (around SGD70- $80). But might not suitable if you travel with children or female single traveller.

You can check these site for more types of accommodation (Budget, Hanok, Apartment, and luxury hotel) in Korea:
1. Visit Korea
2. BnBHero

Please check my latest post on another love motel in Haeundae area here.

Upss... this is a long page, I think will write on Minbak (Bed & Breakfast) next round ^^

K-Spot and K-Tour

Blogging is not as easy as what I thought~~~ :P

Where should I start first... should I post every single places I visited in Korea by time sequences or just randomly selected some of the spots?

I guess post them randomly should be ok. It doesn't matter anyway, as you don't need to follow my itinerary from A to Z, rite?

Will be posting some of the places that I might be visiting this coming September. 아~~~ 기분이 좋다 (feel happy just thinking of it :P)

By the way, you can go to buzz Korea for travel information. You can also plan your trip using K-spot, which you can filter on category (Fun Tour, Gourmet Tour, Style Tour or Other), City / Province, and District.

You can save spots that you like and create your own K-tour from K-spots that you save earlier and share it with others too ^^

Here are some of  K-spots and K-tours that I created last year...

I'd saved so many spots that shared by others... I think it's more interesting to plan your own itinerary as you can go to the places you love to visit. That's why I said my previous trip was blessing in disguise as the travel agency cancelled my tour. And I'm so excited to plan my next trip, but kinda headache too as too many places I wanna go!!!

K-Spot - places that I visited in Korea 

with short introduction, address, direction and link/website (if available)

Create your own K-tour:

=> Pick few K-spots of the places you want to visit

=> Select those K-spots and click Preview to see K-spots on the map

=> Arrange the sequence of the places accordingly by using the arrow on the K-Spot

=> Save K-Spots and Create K-Tour

Ok, I need to add a lot of K-spots as some of the places I want to go still not listed there.

Do you have any suggestions on where to visit for family with young kids?

Have a wonderful day~!