Since we didn’t sign up for the school field trip, we had to visit Jeonju on our own.
Woke up early to rush to the bus terminal. Taking the metro at 8am is a nightmare. The crowd was.. @#($*&#$(&* a lot worse than what i’ve seen in SG.. i would find being on the train is really a challenge. It is so packed that you won’t fall when the train stops because everyone is so squeezed together =/ After this experience, I’ve never taken the train at this timing ever again.
I think it was nambu bus terminal. one stop away from express bus terminal.
The journey there was about 3 hours with 1 rest stop i think. These photos always remind me of some drama scene when someone boards the bus.. The buses are really on time! There’s seat numbers but if the bus is not filled, you are free to roam around to any other seat.
This was the bus terminal in Jeonju.
Alright, there was a big confusion because we thought that express bus terminal meant buses between states and cities whereas inter-city bus terminal is something like bedok interchange.. but we were wrong. Express bus terminal simply meant buses which travel longer distances, while inter-city bus terminal are for buses that travel to cities which are 30 mins to 1 hours away.
So we walked like crazy, hoping to find the bus terminal which will have buses within jeonju but we didn’t manage to find it and after wasting so much time, we found the tourism office but they were on lunch break. We followed some instructions in korean to a bus stop like maybe 15 mins walk away. APPARENTLY, at the bus stop there was some guide to the tour destinations.. We followed and we arrived to the main touristy area of Jeonju.
This was a city gate which they preserved.
A famous cathedral.. We didn’t go in though.
Since it was a really hot day..
Jeonju was a place whereby there’s a lot of traditional houses~ And I realise I can’t update much about the places I visited because I lent all my maps and lonely planet to my friends who are currently in Korea for exchange. LOL.
So.. there’s only photos..
This was a government office or administration building or something along that line..
Road of God..
Yes! There are english descriptions!!
If you find this place familiar, you’re really sharp to realise that this is the filming location for drama “Moonlight Drawn by Clouds”.
For more information about the locations, you can refer to my other blog entry.
This was the village or something~
It was quite empty for a Friday~ But the people there were mainly koreans.. Probably from other parts of korea visiting the place.. The sun was really really really bad that day.. This drink was on offer.. LOL.
So after exploring the place, we seek for shelter at family mart.
Well, actually all you have to do is visit the tourist information and ask them everything/anything. There will be an english map available most of the time.. and you can just plan your travel route after that..
After taking the break, we went to several ‘experience centres’ whereby we tried some of their traditional games and saw some exhibitions~
The awesome part about these places is that there’s aircon.. in the heat that day.. omg aircon is the best thing u ever hope for.
After that, we decided to climb up the hill to this place whereby some king celebrated some victory of something.. ahh it was called omokdae.
View from the top, really pretty!
I really like this shot.
Hanok houses reminds me of personal taste which reminds me of lee min ho. HA.
After that we walked down, and had lunch at this place.. APPARENTLY, JEONJU IS THE ORIGIN FOR BIBIMBAK AND as much as i don’t appreciate vegetables, i decide to give it a try and i’m so thankful we only ordered one bowl. it was freaking 10,000W BUT it came with a spread of side dishes.
Conclusion: I disliked it so much that I never ate bibimbak ever again in my whole entire stay of korea. then again, other people enjoyed it. personal taste I guess. but the side dishes were nice. especially the tanghyun. omg. heh. i was eating the side dishes. but the shopkeeper was kind of “gossiping” about us only sharing 1 bowl.. but then again, i don’t really care.
The sights along the way is very pretty~
With the help from the tourist information centre, they recommended us to go to this school which was apparently the filming location for Sung Kyung Kwan Scandal (which I did not watch)
We were really confused because there were Hanok Houses which we thought was the place, but apparently it wasn’t. It’s nicely restored though.
It was probably a Hanok Homestay Village which we intruded. LOL.
Then we finally found the school we were supposed to find.. (can someone please re-confirm with me that this was the actual filming place for SKK Scandal?) But this place was not that well-restored compared to the hanok houses.
My friend remembered that there was a big tree in the show.. so I started snapping photos of all the trees.
Well, this place had no english description if I didn’t remember wrong.. so basically it was just snapping photos, enjoying the beauty and that’s it!
You can consider staying in the Hanok Houses for the experience~ Other than the fact that the whole place is quite isolated from everything.. I think it would be a good chance.. We weren’t willing to pay though.
Nice cafe~
After that, we were walking out to the main road, in hope of finding the correct bus which would lead us to the next destination, lotus pond with swan boat! But eventually, I managed to convince my friend to cab because we were unsure of which bus stop to stop and how to walk.. We were quite suay because it was the evening traffic and the whole cab ride was quite slow~~ But then again, we manage to sleep a little in the cab.
This place is really grand!
Yes we took the swan boat! it was 10,000W for an hour.. There was the row-boat but we realise that we would be really tired =/ Okay I always wanted to know how it feels like in the boat. I remember taking it before when I was much younger.. but it’s really nice! Could catch a little of the sun set.
Well, after that we started walking aimlessly until we found civilization! We were still quite full from that awful lunch =/ so we walked around the area and I bought a top for 5,000W!
At this point in time we haven’t confirmed our accommodation for the night~
So as we were walking along the main road, I realise that I saw the buses which would bring us to makkoli town. We had to ask for help in the bus as to which stop we had to stop but it’s kind of weird because we were getting weird stares from people when we (2 girls) want to visit makkoli town.
So eventually, this ajuma decided to show us the directions there! and she was saying something like, after you are (drunk) you can call to the jijimbang (spa/sleeping place) blah blah blah..
And so.. we finally found makkoli town. It was a little disappointing as what I expect was like traditional buildings or some sort around that line but all we saw were normal small restaurants.. with only makkoli or soju on the menu.
We went into a random one which has quite a lot of publicity from TV shows, and we ordered the cheapest serving of makkoli for 17,000W.
So that 17,000W included the whole spread of side dishes.
There were a lot of things I refused to try.
Anyway I was cheated again. I thought that it would come in the form of dongdongju in some traditional thing.. that they brew the wine themselves or something along that line.. but.. all they did was to open up the bottled makkoli and pour them into this kettle.
And I guess 2 girls drinking makkoli is a dangerous sight. The shop keeper was saying something like.. I’ll give you girls something light.
Anyway, we were practically downing makkoli for the sake of finishing it. Well, I still like makkoli and I was still sober and I refused to use their toilet. LOL. Had to admit the head was heavy.. I was doing the same trick again. Always alternating alcohol with water in order to minimise the effect..
We spend about an hour there~~ and then went out, grabbed a taxi and chiong to the hotel that the tourist centre recommended. Hanok Motel. If i’m not wrong.
My friend was quite high, talking to the taxi driver while I was forcing myself to be awake and get a grip of myself. Well, I was okay.
It was 40,000W but the person gave us a 10% discount and I think my friend didn’t really know what she was talking to the person at the counter and we kind of stumbled our way up the stairs. We were in level 3 if i’m not wrong.
Alright, I admit that I was fumbling in the toilet while I bathe.. The only memory lapse I had that night was I couldn’t remember when or how I turn off the TV. My friend was the first one to fall into bed. zomg.
It’s a pity that we did not get a chance to visit Taeyeon’s Shrine at Seodo Plaza. The spectacles shop that her dad owns. Oh wells =(
*sleep*
