Seongsan Ilchubong

Along the northeastern part of Jeju Island, we can hike up this volcanic crater. It only takes about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get to the top. At the peak I took some amazing pictures and video of Jeju City. There is a great view of the crater at the top, but a picture doesn't really do justice on showing this natural wonder.

Hallam Park

This place is a botanical gardens that is located in Jeju Island. In addition to a large variety of trees, there is also a bonsai sculptural garden, a zoo, and a cave. The cave is one of the natural monuments in Korea, Ssaanyong Cave (this is the actual spelling when translated in English).

The entrance to Hallam Park.

 Considering the lack of lighting in this cave, I was able to get a decent shot.

This sculpture is obviously not part of the cave, but looks pretty cool for sure.

Here's a short video of us walking inside the cave.

Walking through the bonsai and sculptural garden

Some animal plant sculptures - The dinosaur ones looked the best.

Views of Namhae

Here are some pictures of the beautiful landscape at the second area we stayed at Namhae Island. I made sure to take most of my pictures during the sunny days.

During the low tide, we can walk almost all the way to the boating dock.

  

The tide can dramatically change on the same day hours. Here is a picture of the same area during the high tide.

 This was one of my favorite photos of my Namhae trip.

 Here is a view of the second boat dock. Notice how the path on the left does not connect to rest of the dock.

I was surprise that many people did not recommend Namhae Island as a nice vacation destination. Not that I was complaining since we were able to relax without having to fight through crowds of people!

Namhae Island Activities

 During the low tide, we can catch fish using our hands and a net.

 This was the first time I ever experienced kayaking.

 We went kayaking for about three hours. I was a little tired after that, but I had a wonderful time and the scenery was amazing.

This was probably the best group of people that I've ever traveled with. It was great that I ended up exchanging contact info with many of them after our trip.

Night Festivities at the Village

 

Here is another video of everyone lighting up their paper lanterns. Each group (of four) wrote their wish on their paper lanterns. After that we would light it up so it would start floating towards the sky like a hot air balloon. We were one of the last groups to get our lantern to float up.

 

Here is the video showing our paper lantern finally making it up to the sky.

Some of the villagers wanted to treat us to some traditional drumming and dance.

Ox Pull

Darangee village

The visit to Darangee Village was a part of my trip to Namhae. We had the chance to see how living was like in the rural areas of Korea.

Although it was foggy when we arrived at this village, the views were still beautiful.

 Notice how the hills are cultivated like stairs. This made the landscape more suitable for farming. It also makes the scenery more unique and appealing.

 This was our first meal at village. All of the food was freshly harvested, making our meal even more delicious.

 Almost all of the roof was ornamented with murals or bright color schemes. It definitely gave the village more character.

 Most of the village roads and intersections were narrow, so it was not very ideal for cars. The village is also situated on the hillside, making it even more difficult for people to drive here. It was quite entertaining seeing some of the drivers attempt to maneuver through here, only to get stuck trying to avoid hitting the walls or other buildings.   

 Another nice view from a hill I was walking down.

It's been a long time since I've seen a rice field in person.

Summer Camp

Here are some photos of the activities we did during summer camp. The camp lasted for two weeks and most of the students seemed to enjoy it. Each day had a mini theme, which included aspects such as drawing, outdoor activities, movie sessions, and games.

 This girl is one of the better English students and she does awesome drawings. Notice how she censors her name with hearts when this picture was taken.

This was a sandwich making contest. We had all of the students and teachers taste each of the groups' sandwiches and voted on the best one.
Doesn't this sandwich look delicious? I had the chance to sample this sandwich and it was very good. One of the ingredients was a shrimp spread and it was awesome!

 During the fashion activity, students created their "future" trends. This one was about half way done, but was starting to look nicely detailed.

 A group picture of one of our camp groups. Notice some of the students are having a bit of fun with one of our teachers during the photo session.

During this activity, the students had 90 seconds to complete their "mission" on the cards that they picked.

 Here is a sheet showing many of the mission activities.
 

He's too embarrassed to show his face next to her 90 second drawing and description!

Here is a group that nearly finished their poster.... I wonder how these guys managed to find a picture of Hefner and The Playmates from a pile of old magazines and newspapers? When I asked if any of them knew who they were, one of them said, "He is a playboy!". I just laughed and refrained from providing any other info. Many Korean students are taught that a "pimp" is called a "playboy". I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they don't know who they really are....

The students enjoyed playing dodge ball, especially since I added a rule that changed the game quite a bit. They were allowed to re-enter the game if they correctly answered one of my questions. It was kind of funny seeing all of the students rush towards me to try to get back in the game.

Wally World in Korea!

It looks like Wal-Mart is beginning its world take over with this opening in Daegu.... Damn you smiley face and roll back prices!

샤브샤브 - Excellent Food

After school, some of us had Shabu Shabu (샤브샤브) for dinner. It's a meal where we have a hot pot with temp control right at our table. One side of the pot is a spicy broth and the other side is a savory broth. We simply throw the ingredients into the pot and let it boil in the broth. The wide variety of foods we could use is what made this meal so phenomenal.

 First we threw in basil & mint leaves, onions, seaweed, and shallots for more flavor.

 Along with thinly sliced beef, there are a few dumplings, mushroom shoots, and some tasty flour batter with various spices. We also ordered a seafood plate which had several choices: shrimp, clams, baby octopus, shellfish, squid, and oyster. - Mmmm!

 Here we are beginning to throw in more ingredients for cooking. Whoever thought of a catchy name like Shabu Shabu for a dish is a genius!

Some of the food is ready to eat in as little as a minute. As you can see, we also put in some tofu along with Udon noodles (which equals amazing). This meal looks delicious right? I'm definitely coming again for more!