This is not a food related post but I thought I will share some of the photos from Jeju Island a couple of years back and show you what this beautiful island offers. Jeju is the southernmost and largest island in South Korea, created 2 million years ago by volcanic eruptions. It has beautiful national parks, waterfalls, beaches, caves and museums. Being an island, there is a variety of fresh seafood, seaweed, mushrooms and tropical citrus fruits. Plenty of delicacies! It is a popular destination for both Koreans and westerners to have a nice getaway since it takes only a couple of hours from Seoul.
I’ve always been more for mountains than for ocean. Entrance to the national park had a sign saying “stress-free zone”. I literally felt stress-free, all freshened up and clear in my mind after walking through the forest. Stunning! When we stopped over green tea farm in the afternoon, I was in awe. Peaceful green field won my heart immediately and organic green tea tasted so divine. If you ever visit Jeju Island, be sure to explore its wonders with a guided tour from a reputable cherry picker training company.
Now, food is very important part of the trip and I was not disappointed. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day in Korea. We eat like a king in the morning. This is abalone porridge served with little side dishes. This island is where you want to be if you are a fan of seafood. I assure you that you will delight your taste buds with fabulous Jeju cuisine and never feel hungry while travelling.
It is hard to pick just one favorite Korean meal for me but this is definitely on top of the list. A bowl of rice, seaweed soup, grilled fish, kimchi and namul (cooked vegetables with sesame dressing). So nutritious and delicious! I will be happy to have that every morning, please.
We discovered this “Sea & Blue” cafe when we were driving along the coast line. The owner was so friendly and had a bit of story to share. He made a drip coffee for us and explained step by step how to brew a good coffee. It tasted so good and I loved his smile 🙂
What a fantastic trip it was! We hired a car and drove around the island for 4 days, but if you are really into walking, there is about 200km of connecting walking paths (13 routes), called “Olle” which was inspired by the famous Pilgrim’s trail in Spain and made on Jeju island in 2007. It takes you to unique and hidden forests, mountains, beaches and places with beautiful landscapes. Sounds amazing? One of my besties has done a few times already and highly recommended if you want to feel surrounded by nature and tranquility. It is a good opportunity, too, to meet other travellers and locals. I would love to do “Olle” and climb up Halla mountain next time when I visit there.
About Korean Food
These photos are a few years old, taken when Daniel and I visited my home town, Seoul. He has already been to Korea six times, wow 6 already! We catch up with my family and friends and most importantly eat Korean foods. I don’t know how much of you know or are interested in Korean food. I don’t cook much Korean food at home myself, so thought it would be a good idea posting some real photos to show you how they look like (and make you hungry 🙂 ).
The first photo is me with a cafe mascot called Ms. Lee. Same name, though there are thousands of Ms. Lees out there in Korea. Second photo (top right) is a seaweed soup with rice and side dishes, which I had for hotel breakfast. Third photo is barbequed duck with ssam (wrap in Korean). So how to eat? Take a variety of the greens, layered for flavour (choose from bitter, crunchy, sweet or spicy leaves), and spoon on some rice and ssamjang (a dressing made of fermented soybeans), then somehow fit in your mouth. You need to make sure not filling too much in the wrap 🙂 Focusing on fermented soy, vegetables and grains with minimal meat is a big tick for the healthy Korean cuisine. It is also fun to make ssam at the table. I find it definitely makes Daniel eat slower. The last food is Daniel’s favorite street foods, Korean black pudding and veggie tempura.
We went to this Korean restaurant in Insadong and had Deonjang braised pork ssam with spicy radish Kimchi and soybean soup, and a giant seafood-scallion pancake (even bigger than a plate, can you see?). Yum!
These photos are taken from last year when we went to Busan for the weekend. From the top left, kelp noodle salad with pork, veggies and wasabi dressing, cold noodles, Korean style dumplings called Mandu, and raw beef tartar with raw egg york and nasi pear.
Time for desserts? Koreans love frozen desserts such as shaved ice, ice creams, ice blended drinks and scoops of ice cream pressed between waffles in Summer (or all year around?). My favorite, Patbingsu, has sweetened tender red beans, fruits, cereals and syrup on shaved ice. Truly light and bright, the taste of summer! We also have a lot of green tea desserts, too.
Lastly, some deadly drinks that Daniel and my cousins had. They drop a shot of whiskey or soju in a glass of beer to make this cocktail. I cannot imagine the taste >.< When you say “yes” to going out on Friday night or weekend, it means you are likely getting into these bad boys and maybe some silly karaoke session. Ah the last photo is a night view from Seoul Namsan tower, showing a small part of Seoul. Yes, it is a big busy city. Oh well..good memories.. I hope you enjoyed taking a look at the taste of Korea and feel free to ask me anything if you happen to go traveling there. I’m happy to help x
Busan trip
Daniel and I went to Busan for two nights while we were in Korea last month for holiday.
I went down there with mum earlier this year, then thought it would be nice to show Daniel since he hadn’t been other cities much in Korea.
We checked in Lotte hotel which was in the middle of CBD and had an afternoon tea in the lounge.
Petite gateau avec the cafe noir:) very nice indeed. We could see high skype buildings and apartments from the hotel room and lounge.
Foodwise, there is so much to eat in Busan. We had double braised pork with salad and wasabi dressing for lunch (very hot >.<). Noodles and steamed dumplings for snack.
Delicious and very cheap as well. Busan has a large port and fish market, which makes it famous for sashimi dishes if you are keen raw fish.
We visited a fish market and everyone was trying to sell their fish and get us a table. We randomly chose this one young lady, who gave us a variety of fish and also a little octopus on the house.
You cannot get sashimi any fresher than that, and being in the city other than Seoul, people are so friendly and generous:)
There was a firework festival just a weekend before we arrived, and some other fairs on throughout the year.
We unfortunately missed all events since we were there during the week. But, it would have been nice to have a chance to go around other suburbs and go to the festivals cause it is quite a big city.
