A Thief

The girls in residence are very concerned about their snacks missing, especially the coveted Nutella. *Cue the angel music.* I can't blame them, the shrimp and seafood flavored chips must get dull after a while. 

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Dinner for my BEST FRIEND/LOVE

...In other news, I COOKED MY FIRST MEAL EVER. Knives, boiling water. Things got crazy. The pasta was even al dente. All for you Rachel: Pasta, cheesy garlic sauce (store brand), $5 wine, brie cheese, and $1 crackers. Girl, you're welcome. 

Call me Wolfgang, guys. 

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Hiking Sarabong Oreum

What can I say? I like sunsets. 

So after Rachel suggested we see Sarabong Park, considered one of the best places to see a sunset on Jeju, off we were navigating the buses again, (with a bit less luck I might add). Rising above eastern Jeju City are two oreums, Korean dialect for  "small volcanic mountain". The oreums {Sarabong and Byeoldobong Oreum,} are a nice, easy hike, and offer 360 degree views of Jeju City and the harbor and ferry port. 

{View of the harbor. You can see flights leaving from nearby Jeju Airport}. 

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{Below: "In more recent Jeju history, Sarabong was used by the occupying Japanese army in World War II as an underground fortress. At the top of the oreum next to the gazebo is a fenced- off entrance to one of the Japanese tunnels. The Japanese built the underground tunnels in case of invasion by the Allied forces.}" -http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=212

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 {Mokchungsa Temple: lookout place}. 

{As Americans and tourists, we get lots of free treats from Koreans. Here is a seasonal fruit native to Jeju called a gum, or persimmons in English. They look deceivingly similar to a tomato, but are fleshy and sweet}. 

 

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{After a quick, but steep hike: who doesn't want to get a quick ab workout in, right? I feel ya, girl. The park was full of strange workout gear p.s.-bars, dumbbells, and inclined planks for sit ups}. 

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{Another beautiful sunset and perfect end to a laid back Sunday}.

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Photo credit to my fabulous roommate for some of the pics :)!

Gwakji Beach & Curry Wala

Staying on the west side of Jeju this weekend, Rachel and I spent a lazy Sunday at Gwakji Beach. This beach surprisingly was not in one of Jeju's top ten. It should have been, especially at sunset. The view rivaled the sunrise views in Seongasn Ilchulbong. We mostly sun bathed {we had the entire, beautiful beach basically to ourselves}, but we also found a random, kitschy Indian place {which I'm still convinced was someone's home} to share dinner. 

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 {The pigs seemed to follow us around this weekend. Hmm..}

{This was an outdoor bathing area. The small stone structure had a women's side, and a men's side, with a small pool fed by the salt ocean in each. The area was meant to be a nude area. Luck kept rolling; we were alone and dressed}. 

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Waiting on the sunset that the west coast boasts, we headed for dinner at a random, little place called Curry Wala. The owner was from Tibet. They had excellent Indian food {vey spicy but delicious!} and he literally cooked our order on the spot from scratch in an adjoining kitchen}. He had no real items on the menu when we arrived. I am convinced it was the man's part-home. We ate vegetable curry. It was that or he "had to go the grocery store." The place was charming: sunny, eclectic, and wonderfully random.

 {The chef custom cooking our dinner. They were terrifically nice people}.

{Vegetable curry, nan, and rice. Curry was served with a cool yogurt glaze to cut the spice. I doused mine. It was delicious}. 

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We left just in time to catch the sunset, {which dipped deceivingly fast} at around 6. It was AMAZING. 

{My favorite picture}.

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