After horse riding we went to the Teddy Bear Museum, the world’s largest museum that is wholly dedicated to Teddy Bears. This is one of my favourite parts of the tour. The Teddy Bear Museum exhibits everything about Teddy Bears. I wish I had more time to look at each individual displays and also to shop.
My favourite place was the Teddy Bear souvenir shop where I can buy some souvenirs for myself and my family members. I bought 2 very cute teddy bears, postcards, magnet and notebooks. My hubby also bought me the limited edition Teddy Bear Alfred which was featured in the Korean TV drama “Princess Hours/ Goong”. The Teddy Bear museum was also featured in “Princess Hours.
The museum gallery is segmented into three sections, the History Hall, the Art Hall and the Project Exhibition Hall. At the History Hall, you can see the 100- year history of teddy bears including famous scenes, popular teddy bears of different eras, and antique teddy bears. In the project exhibit hall you can meet teddy bears grouped to suit the theme of each exhibition. At the museum garden, you can meet the marvelous teddy bear sculptures and models which is a great site to see and take pictures. We took a lot of pictures and I couldn’t resist taking pictures of all the displays.
One of my favourite Teddy Bear was the Louis Vuitton Bear which was the most successful charity auction bear and had raised US$193 000 in Monaco which went to abused children around the world.
We then proceeded to the Cheongjeyeon Waterfall, also known as the ‘Pond of God’. It is one of the three most famous waterfalls on Jeju Island, and receives a large number of tourists to get their picture taken with the waterfalls in the background. We passed by a “Fountain of Five Blessing” on the way to the Waterfall and everyone started picking the blessing of their choice and throwing a coin inside hoping that their wish would come true. At 22 m in height and 12 min width, the waterfall tumbles down to the pond to produce awe-inspiring scenery.
Our next stop was the Mysterious Road, where we can witness the phenomenon of a vehicle moving up a slope with its engine turned off! This is a result of an optical illusion in which the lower part looks higher because of its surrounding environment. Some of the guys in our tour group were very fascinated with the phenomenon and were standing by the road trying to figure out how it happened. The rest of us girls were busy eating the yummy fish cakes, fried crab stick with fish cakes and drinking hot soup at a food stall near the road. We were also able to see Mt. Hallasan from the Mysterious Road and take beautiful pictures with Mt. Hallasan in the background. Mt. Hallasan was featured in the TV drama “My Lovely Samsoon” in the touching scene in which Sam-soon walked up Mt. Hallasan in the rain to find Sam-sik waiting for her. Designated as a National Park in 1970, there are 368 parasitic mountains called "Ohreum(peaks)" around Mt. Hallasan.
Our last stop for the day was Yongduam (Dragon Head Rock), an unusual lava formation and it was getting dark and windy when we reached. Our tour guide told us the story of how the rock came about. It was said that a dragon living in the Dragon Kingdom had wanted to ascend to heaven, but it was not an easy thing to do. Realizing that he could be a real dragon with a precious pearl of the mountain god of Halla, the dragon stole the precious pearl from the god and successfully descended to the valley of Yongyeon. However, he was discovered and shot by the god’s arrow while flying. He landed on the beach where he turned into petrified stone, crying and wreathing with agony and a grudge. Located 200 meters south of Yongyeon at Hancheon River, Yongduam is a well-known symbol of Jeju tourism.
We had a mini imperial dinner to end the day and I especially like the fried fish and red bean rice. I feel so healthy eating in Korea as all the meals comes with lot of vegetables and kimchi and our tour guide told us that Koreans do not eat a lot of meat. We had vegetables (cabbage, mushroom, tofu etc.) for BBQ and also steamboats. I do not really eat a lot of vegetable at home but the vegetable dishes that I ate in Korea were so yummy that I promised myself that I would make an effort to eat less fried and unhealthy food when I go home.
Once back to our hotel, another couple (Ryan and Rain), hubby and I decided to go shopping together at the shops nearby and we chanced upon “The Face Shop” and “Skin Food”. The guys decided to seek refuge at Dunkin Donuts while we girls shop for beauty products at both shops. Before leaving for Korea I had gone to “The Face Shop” to check out the prices and the shop in Korea was selling the same item for half the price as compared to in Singapore!
Rain and I were really shopping like crazy and we were lucky that the salesgirl in “The Face Shop” was able to speak Chinese and recommended lot of stuff for us. We ended up spending close to $160+ each on beauty products. We also bought lot of nice cosmetics in “Skin Food” but face some communication difficulties as the sales stuff could not speak Chinese and only little English. We rely on hand gestures and were still able to get great buys. We also got lot of free samples from both shops without having to ask for it and gifts.
We were quite hungry with all the shopping and bought chocolate milk, donuts and coffee back to our hotel for supper.
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