Ok Korea

Dongdaemon Market is the largest shopping center in South Korea, its massive! and they have everything... litterally! it's open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30am to 5:00am, that's some late shopping! The market has indoor shopping, and a lot of outdoor shopping, too much to be contained under one roof! I visited a fortune teller on the street just for fun, she said I would find the girl of my dreams very soon! I don't really believe in the stuff, but one can always hope! For lunch I stopped by at a Korean BBQ store and ordered some bulgogi, which is traditional Korean beef BBQ with a side of Kimchi soup, so good!

The market has 26 shopping malls, outdoor areas, and has 30 000 specialty shops along with 50 000 manufacturers, needless to say I could check out all the stores during my trip, there's just too many! Now I'm afraid it's time to head on home, I headed to the airport and said goodbye to beautiful South Korea, hopefully I will be back again soon! As I was waiting to board my flight I noticed a familiar face sitting across from me, I rubbed my eyes in disbelief... it was the flight attendant from when I first came! She somehow remembered me as well and gave me an inviting smile, I blushed immediately, oops! Perhaps the fortune teller was right after all? only one to find out, I approached her and asked how she was doing and we immediately clicked, I think I found my true love because it turns out she feels the same about me as I do about her! I think I'll move to Korea... AWESOME TRIP!

This morning I had a fierce hangover, I didn't drink enough water the night before and thanks to all the Soju I was dehydrated like a llama in a desert. I went down to a local restaurant and ordered a jug of hanra bong juice, hanra bong is a fruit which is primarily found on Jeju island, its like an orange but its much sweeter in taste. The fruit is seedless which makes it easy to turn into juice, mmm hangover be gone! hydration is my salvation! The island is full of Dol Hareubang, which are statues of human figures with big noses, it is believed that rubbing the noses of these statues brings women fertility, protection from demons, and blessing from their Gods. Many souvenir stands throughtout the island sell these statues as key chains and other types of souvenirs, they also change the faces to make them cuter.

Jeju island is also known for its strong winds, I was walking down the street and saw a chicken flying in front of me, I thought I was dreaming, but then I realized the winds had picked it up, I reckon that guy watched the movie "Chicken Run." Due to all the wind the majority of the houses have large stone walls around them to block out the wind. The island is very clean because its a tourist destination, they want to keep the island looking pretty! the fences overall give a unique look of organization and cleanliness. I dropped my Choco Pie on the ground from Estella, knowing the island was clean I picked it up and ate it without second thoughts! Tonight I'm heading back to Seoul for the last day of my journey, can't believe how fast time is flying!

From Seoul we took an hour and 20 min plane ride to beautiful Jeju Island which is located on the South Korea Sea, Jeju island is the southern most point of South Korea. Jeju Island is a volcanic Island, dominated by the Halla mountain, the island was created entirely from volcanic eruptions 2 million years ago.

It is customary in South Korea to respect your elders, and to bow 45 degrees when meeting someone for the first time, if you know the person a hand shake will do, seniors always must be bowed to. We headed over to a famous area on the island called the "Ghost Road," what makes this road unique is that if you place anything that rolls, such as a car, on the bottom of the road it will roll up the road defying gravity. the reason for this phenomenon is due to the lack of horizon in the area, it makes the road seem to me angled upwards, but in reality it goes down, which is why objects roll.

At night we went to a local bar and drank some "Soju" which is Korea's famous alcoholic beverage, its a liquor traditionally made from rice, clear in colour and the alcohol content is between 20-45%. It cost us 3000 Won (Won is the Korean currency) which is about 3 Canadian dollars, to purchase a 300mL bottle of Soju.

I began flirting a girl with local I saw sitting alone, unfortunately my Korean didn't impress her and she turned down my offer for some night boogie. I retired to my room alone, but feeling great thanks to the Soju! Maybe I'll get lucky the next day, and we can boogie down all night long.

http://www.jeju.go.kr/

In North America when you hear the word "sauna" you think of the rooms with all the steam that are hard to breath and see in which are good for the skin. In Korea, "Sauna" is a large complex which is full several floors and rooms which have different temperatures and environments. Some examples are the salt room, which is full of salt crystals you can lay and rub on. The jewel-fire room has heated jewels which produce good aromas. the ice room has walls covered in dry ice along pipes, everything is made of ice including chairs and shoes, this room is used to cool off after you've been in a hot room. The gold-powder room has a lot of gold dust which is used for facial massages. The stone room has many heated stones which are used for massaging. The bamboo room has bamboo you can rub along your body to relieve muscles. The complex is full of entertainment such as, karaoke, Xbox, internet, television, food. There are also many "Rabbit rooms" which you crawl under, inside is a little cave chamber which fits one person, the room is full of a special lighting that is good for the skin, you can sleep inside for as long as you want, as long as you pay of course. 1 pass costs around 10-15 dollars and is good for 24 hours, some of the services costs extra though, as well as food. There are public bath areas, women and men are separate, you can take a bath after you're done at the saunas. there's workout rooms underground with gyms, swimming, golf, and many other kinds of sports. These saunas are very well known and famous, they attract many family's, friends, and couples to relax, meet, and hang out. Couples are separated though because teenagers were caught doing naughty things which I want to do to a certain flight attendant at Korean Air on a regular basis... now it is illegal for couples to be together inside the rooms. The sauna we went to was called Seoul leisure 24 hr, and it's located in Estella's hometown so she hooked me up with her pretty and sexy friends, another jackpot! Her friend "Hyunyoung Song" was the hottest of all, if I ever move here she better be single! I spent 1 night and 2 days at this jjim jil bang, now I'm ready to hit the road and experience more of South Korea!

What movement! Myung-dong is a town inside Seoul which is famous for its shopping and nightlife. Its the 9th most expensive place in the world to rent space, many celebrities are seen shopping here as well. This place has it all! from eye wear to sushi to coffee to even plastic surgery! we stopped at a local Korean restaurant to dine. I couldn't believe the various Korean foods there were too try out, it all looked so good! During the walk I dropped my glasses and they were quickly trampled, thankfully there's an eye wear store near by hehe! One interesting fact I discovered was Korean toast, Koreans re-invented it and there's a big chain of stores called "Isaac Toast" which has their own menu and it was selected as the best food in Korea voted by tourists from North America. As the sun set and night came the street completely changed, the streets were busier and all the lights and sounds were amazing, I recommend coming at night! There are lots of events which are held on the streets such as parades, and store promotional events where people on the street participate in a fun and interactive way, and can win free samples! One thing to note though is that these streets are very crowded, Seoul has a population of 10 million people and at night time your going to be bumping into people which is a big change from Canada. I checked out a karaoke bar as well and sang some Guns N Roses on stage, rockin!