The Big(ger) City

I've been told that Jeju city is like many other Korean cities, but since I have not visited any other Korean city besides Seogwipo (which is more like a town, because its not as condensed), I don't really have anything to compare it with. That being said, my first leisurely experience in the big city on the island was fun and entertaining.

Normally it takes anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour to get to the city by car. If you go by bus, you can add another 15-20 minutes to the length of the trip, depending on which route you take. At around one o'clock in the afternoon, we (my fellow teacher Serena and I) took a bus from just outside downtown Seogwipo en route to Jeju city. The bus was of decent size, it wasn't very packed, but I don't think the engineers had foreigners in mind when they designed the legroom.



We took the mountain route, which I've been told is shorter, however, it has its drawbacks, it is a very windy and curvy road and not for those who easily get carsick. Luckily I am not as easily stirred, so after about a 50 minute ride or so, we arrived in the heart of Jeju city, just outside City Hall. The street (I'm not sure of its name) is the main street in the city and most things you want or need can be found within a stone's throw of it.



From here, we met up with our fellow colleagues and friends and proceeded towards the theatre to catch a matinee show. I was very excited for this, as I am an avid film/movie goer and have been wanting to see the new James Bond film, which was not playing in Seogwipo for some unknown reason (I was incredibly disappointed when I went to the Lotte Cinema 7 in Seogwipo and found that is wasn't playing).

We had an hour or so to kill in the theatre so we decided to waste a few hundred won on some arcade games. I must have spent 3,000 won or so on this one crane game...it was the worst. They make you believe that you can actually win a prize of stuffed animal proportions, but the crane claw doesn't actually have enough power to hold on to anything for longer than a millisecond. My friend/colleague Paul, the other native English speaker, and I played some sort of airship shooter game for a few minutes, but after being blown apart one too many times by enemy laser blasts I decided to give it a rest. The girls were doing much better in their endeavors, and managed to at least get their time's worth of won spent.



After finally winning some candy at this sort of rock/paper/scissors electronic light game (I had no idea how it really worked, but I won regardless), we decided to grab some concessions before the film. I was amazed at how much cheaper the popcorn combos were here, and so was Paul...



For only a fraction of the price it is back home, I finally felt like I was getting what I paid for in terms of some popcorn and a soda. The film I think was a bit too long, but overall it met 007 standards with enough explosions and hand-to-hand combat to satisfy any action film fan. I also saw a preview for the newest Studio Ghibli film (Hayao Miyazaki, famous animation filmmaker from Japan), which got me really excited. My new goal is to learn Hangul so that I can read the Korean subtitles when it comes out...most likely I'll just end up downloading it though.

Next on the agenda was to get some food, and since it was very cool out that day with the wind blowing hard, we thought that something spicy would help warm us up. The answer? Fire chicken...



When it comes to spicy food I consider myself to be at an intermediate level and even perhaps on the verge of an advanced level, but this was definitely a worthy test. It turns out that the rice cake noodles, that were served with the chicken, were hotter, but nonetheless, the chicken was still spicy and delicious. Once your tongue goes numb its really not so bad, I just wish there was milk served with the meal.



With a few glasses of Bakbunja (pronounced Bach-boon-ja, it is a wine made from wild berries and is very sweet) we were quite satisfied and it was time to move onto some more fun. We went out into the street and wandered around the shops looking for something that caught our eye.



With the girls leading the way I knew we would end up someplace interesting. What we walked into was a photo store/shop, not your regular kind of course, as nothing so far seems "regular" in Korea.

You know those booths in the mall that you used to go into with your date when you were like 14, well it was a store full of those, and it even provided a range of suitable hats. I was partial to the Donald Duck hat, but settled on some sort of dog/puppy hat and went into the booth. With everyone in a different and unique hat, we posed for the camera several times in similar childish fashion.

After you get your picture taken you can even decorate it in a kind of photo editing program using these touch screen pens. I didn't get the chance to add stars or hearts, or whatever the options were, but I was probably better off leaving it to the professionals. We printed out our fantastically designed photos and decided to continue on our adventure into the city (I'll upload some pictures when I can get the chance to scan them).



We opted for some more refreshments and walked into a nearby restaurant. What I thought was very interesting is that on every table in the restaurant, and something that is common in many Korean restaurants, are these ringer buttons. All you have to do is simply press the button and a waiter/waitress will quickly come to your table and get you whatever is that you ask of them. How awesome is that, no more waiting for someone to walk by and grab their attention!



Another interesting beverage we had that evening was some yogurt flavoured Soju. It doesn't sound like the most appetizing drink, but it reminded me of a Pina Colada, and was delicious. Its served in this very puzzling looking glass. The center is hollowed out and a few ice cubes are placed on the inside, to cool the Soju down quicker I suppose.



Our next stop was another arcade...and again I fell victim to the crane game. I think this one was even worse than the last one though. I decided to take out my frustrations on a shooting game which I did fairly well in. Paul complimented me on my skills and even referred to me as "Rambo" at one point. I very much doubted that, but thought that my skills were more than adequate to beat the game.

We left the arcade and passed by a shooting gallery game, Paul suggested I try my skill out on some actual targets. I started off the round with a fury hitting every target with only one shot, as I got into the third and fourth round however, my breathing was disrupting my aim and I got careless. I scored 2200 points, but apparently you need to score 2600 to even win anything, those things are always scaled way too high.

Moving on, we left the gallery and thought that some baseball would be fun. There was a batting cage nearby so we stopped to hit a few balls. Again I saw some people around this interesting soccer ball kicking game, who were trying their best to demolish this ball. I decided to give it a "kick"...

(Disclaimer: Paul swears quite a bit in this video)



After satisfying my ego by gaining the highest score of evening, we all ventured into a nearby place that had dart boards available. The bonus was that first time customers had the chance to win their meal/drinks by scoring with three darts each. We didn't do so well and thus had to pay for everything...too bad.

We played a few rounds of darts and then spent the rest of the night sharing stories. It was a good night of fun and games, but Serena and I had to be off back to our places in Seogwipo. The last bus leaves Jeju city at around 9:30 pm, but since it was much later than that, we had to grab a taxi. It wasn't that unreasonable either, it is usually between 20-25,000 won for a trip in a cab from one city to the other.

For my first time in the city, I was very happy at how everything turned out and hope that I'll be going back someday soon.