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Travel to Korea/Jeju 제주

A summer holiday to the beautiful island - Day 3. (part 2/2)

As I fed myself, I felt like drinking some tea at a cafe, which should have good vibes. I was physically a bit tired because of the freezing mountain climbing on 한라산(Hallasan Mountain) and driving for a long time. So, I wanted to take a break at a cosy coffee shop. After a long time of searching, I decided to go to Mystic 3*(미스틱 3도). It looked pretty in the photos I saw online and was located right near Jeju Loveland(제주러브랜드), which was on my itinerary.

 

 

4. 미스틱 3도 (Mystic 3*)

 

It was a scorching afternoon unlike the chilly morning on the mountain. It was confusing to me that I was shuddering so hard not long ago and sweating in the stiflingly hot weather now. Jeju's weather is very dramatic.

 

I parked the car and got inside the cafe. My worn-out body was refreshed by the cool air inside. The interior of the cafe was pretty, neat, and wide. Most of all, the nature-like interior made me feel I was in a garden.

 

 

I ordered a long black coffee, a Jeju organic green tea latte, and two cookies: a Levain(르뱅) cookie and an organic matcha cookie. Everything tasted good on the whole, especially the Levain cookie, which had chocolate chips and walnuts inside, was quite lovely. I can confidently give it 5 out of 5. The combination of nuts and choco chips was perfect for me.

 

Except that the staff were not kind, but a bit snappy, everything was good. I got refreshed after some zoning out and was ready to get on with the rest of the journey.

 

The cafe, Mystic 3*, is famous for its garden. There is a way through to the garden inside the cafe; you shouldn't miss out on the views in the garden. There is no admission fee, but if you are willing to feed some carrots to ponies in the garden, you can buy some at the counter.

 

 

 

5. 제주러브랜드 (Jeju Loveland)

Jeju Loveland is approximately 5 minutes away on foot from the cafe. You will surely get to take a road, 신비의도로(Mysterious Road), en route. The reason why it's called, Mysterious Road, is because cars running through the road look like they are driving upwards while actually driving downwards. It earned the name, 도깨비도로(Dokebi Road) by people at first because cars parked on the road were moving and it looked like Dokebis(Goblins) were moving them upwards. However, it turned out that it was because of optical illusion.

 

Part of Mysterious Road
The entrance of Jeju Loveland

Jeju Loveland is the only adult theme park in South Korea. Generally, Korean people are quite conservative about this kind of thing but many young people are more open to enjoying adult cultures these days, so it was interesting to visit. I felt uncomfortable and nervous at first though.

 

'Explicit... explicit...', I kept saying while looking around. However, it will not be true of me saying it was only explicit. To some extent, it was fun actually. The artworks in the park were made to caricature the human body and lovemaking.

 

I can't put more photos up on here because I think it's too explicit to upload on my blog. If you are interested to visit, you can put it on your itinerary.

 

Not to mention that anyone under 18 is not allowed to enter.

 

Admission fee

Adult - 12,000 won

Elderly(above 65) - 10,000 won

Challenged - 10,000 won

Location

2894-72, 1100-ro, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea

 

 

6. 애월짬뽕 (Aewol Jjamppong Restaurant)

I got hungry while looking around in the theme park and it was already time for dinner - I dropped by another cafe, Cafe Pascucci, the best among other ones I visited in Jeju, before dinner though. I decided to eat 짬뽕(Jjamppong, Chinese spicy noodles) for dinner because lots of restaurants were closed for some reason when I visited and 짬뽕 is sort of a crowd-pleasing dish.

 

The location of the restaurant was good. I wanted to have dinner near 제주불빛정원(Jeju Garden of Lights), which was my next destination and the restaurant was close to it.

 

The vivid exterior attracted my attention. Although, frankly speaking, it was not pretty in my eyes, the exterior didn't matter to me. The only thing that matters to me is the taste.

 

Whether due to the pandemic or its reputation, there were not many people inside. I took a table hoping that the food would be good. I ordered 애월짬뽕(Aewol Jjamppong) and 불·고추짬뽕(Bul Gochu Jjamppong).

 

애월짬뽕(Aewol Jjamppong)

 

It was good. I'm not saying that it's good enough to go all the way to the restaurant for the 짬뽕 but if you are planning to go to 제주불빛정원(Jeju Garden of Lights), and want to polish off some food nearby, it's worth visiting. I don't want to get your hopes up. It's just not bad.

 

To my taste,불·고추짬뽕(Bul Gochu Jjamppong) - spicy level 2, which was better and more flavourful.

Cost

애월짬뽕(Aewol Jjamppong) - 7,000 won

불·고추짬뽕(Bul Gochu Jjamppong) - 8,000 won

Rating

3.0 / 5.0

Location

15-22, Yusuampyeonghwa 5-gil, Aewol-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea

 

 

7. 제주불빛정원 (Jeju Garden of Lights, Jeju Bulbit Jeongwon)

After having dinner, I headed to Jeju Garden of Lights. It was getting dark enough to see lights and I was ready to relish the symphony of beautiful lights.

 

The entrance of the garden

When I arrived at the garden, glamourous lights and a cute rabbit were welcoming me. (In order to buy tickets, use the automatic ticket booth right next to the entrance.) As I got inside, a cheerful staff member greeted me and offered to take my pictures. You don't have to tip him anything so don't worry.

 

He took my phone and started taking some pictures of me. Among the pictures he took, I liked one I took in front of two glittering swans. (It's personal so I won't upload it here.) If you are to go there with your partner, make sure to take photos in front of the swans. It's quite pretty and romantic.

 

 

There is a studio where you can take pretty pictures with some setups in the garden. There are various types of themed setups - it doesn't cost you anything to use - and you can develop some if you pay for printing.

 

 

Not only for couples, but it's also good for families. Lots of installations can leave your children with some fun and glittering memories. It's worth visiting to complete your day with beautiful lights.

Admission fee

Adult - 12,000 won

Teenager - 10,000 won

Child - 8,000 won

Challenged - 8,000 won

Rating

4.5 / 5.0

Location

2346, Pyeonghwa-ro, Aewol-eup, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, Republic of Korea

 

 

 

To be continued in the next post!

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post and give me some help,

I'd really appreciate it!

 

WORDS BY

Minsu Kim - koreaonthescreen@gmail.com

PHOTOS BY

Minsu Kim - koreaonthescreen@gmail.com

PROOFREAD BY

Gabriela Enriquez

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