Korea Trip Day 4 - Daegu - Jeonju

Day 4 we set off to Maisan Provincial Park/Tapsa Temple (马耳山公园/塔寺司). A mountaineous area and a temple halfway up the hill. Pretty scenic place. Remember I once mentioned about the elders? During winter time, they enjoy climbing/travelling such places, dressed in pretty well-fited clothings and bring along a trekking stick. They believe in 吸地气, that helps in cultivating one's health condition. So by such activities, can help in them to live better and healthier. According to the tour guide, Koreans' live span generally are longer as compared to the rest. Also, the people generally are quite slim and not very obese as well (due to their habits and continual exercise). But one big problem is they enjoy drinking (and their wine are quite heavy in dosage - easily drunk kind, 酒精含量很重), so they have a common health problem that affect their liver (No. 1 health threat problem).

Trivia: Next time if you go to Korea, to remember to let the elders have the toilet first.

Why? Coz my sis had an interesting account with them and I witnessed myself. There were about 3 old ladies lining after my sis. So when my sis went to the toilet, within less than half-a-min, they were outside knocking furiously on the door (and preparing to take off their pants anytime outside). You know in Singapore is first come first go concept right? But Korea, they respect their elders as they admire those who survived through many wars (especially the North-South Korea internal war) and build up the nation so they will let them go first in due respect - so it is very common/nothing surprising in Korea. Actually the tour guide had told us earlier (otherwise we may have rebuked and faced fiery temper lor), but what we didn't expect was how outright their actions were. lol. My sis was a bit 'pekcek' and complain a bit la. ahah!

Somewhere at the hill bottom, BBQ food were sold. And they are famous in their 猪肉排骨 (a photo attached below). Pretty delicious and tender (especially in cold weather) but is rather expensive la. haha!

Anyway, we had to travel to the mountain part area first before lunch. But halfway travelling, it was drizzling, the road was pretty slippery and rockish, hence we didn't managed to climb to the top of the mountain (although I much wish I can go up there to feel the breeze and see the outlook of the area from the top). Was pretty much drenched on our way back as the drizzle got heavier.

You see the rock shape and texture? Although it looks very rough, they actually contain many useful natural minerals for people to use to make ornaments. And the shape resembles a horse's ears. The whole park has about 80 of these (big and small). Pretty tiring walk to and back the place as the whole stretch of road is long (not forgetting it is raining). You see a green tiger at one of the photos? That's is a national animal to South Korean, it is also a kind of siberian tiger family.

After about 1.5 hours at the park, about 15mins later we reached a ginseng farm. The period we went is not the best period for growing ginseng, so we didn't managed to see them.

So the tour guide told us a bit history of their ginseng - growing, quality and it is their national treasure. Because it is their national treasure, the authentic ones are not sold cheaply outside normal stores, but must be certify/authorised by the government. (We were also brought to their speciality, highly authorised by government shop to have a look at their properly packed products. Due to the high level of security, they forbid us to take snap shots of the place, so I got no photos to show.)

The black tent is to protect them from strong UV sunlight and heavy wind/rain. The growing environment of ginseng is very delicate. And once the place is for growing ginseng, at least another 15 years the place cannot be used for growing other plants. This is because, ginseng absorbs all the nutrients, therefore the land is not suitable anymore. 6-year old ginseng is at its best stage and also where they will reap them to keep/sold. Their ginseng (高丽人参) is neutral in content, so suitable for anyone of ages/body constitutent to consume. Unlike the China ones (generally heaty), and the English ones (generally cold), Korean ginseng are uniquely good/gentle and well known to many. As I have mentioned that ginseng is very delicate, therefore not all places are suitable for growing them. Usually the better ones are at the mountain side area. And the tendency of having all good and can be used ones are not many nor often (one of the reason why they are expensive), so farmers who wants to grow them need to consider whether to grow ginseng or other plants (I mentioned about the time lapse earlier on) to their best profit.

After a trip to the ginseng farm, we went to sightsee traditional winemuseum and craftworks exhibition hall (全洲传统酒博物馆及全洲工艺品博物馆). They are like those old china alleys (but much wider) and many small shops that are doing/selling similar things - handicrafts of all sorts (from paper drawing, dolls to knifes and pottery) Along the way, the guide brought us to a place whereby drawing of ascendants kings were placed, and things that were available in the era (e.g carriage, dressing rooms) were also maintained. Interesting to see their cultural aspect of life. We bought one doll back (encased in plastic rectangular container, about 50 cm high). The doll is sweet looking, very well dressed in silk material hanbok , and its pose is like dancing to happiness.

After 2 hours of walking, we headed for dinner. The dinner is very special as they have about 20 dishes to one meal, and some of them are not so commonly available or easily cooked. One of the more expensive meal in our tour package as well as in Korea. We had 3 different kind of soups, about 10 side-dishes of different flavours and the remaining are main dishes. Some of them tasted a bit unusual so some of us didn't really touch, but generally the dishes are quite nice.

After the dinner, we went back to the hotel - Jeonju Riviera Hotel. The hotel is special in the sense it has no bed at all (like in most Korean shows you will get to see it). haha. Only got very thin mattress and pillows made of green bean seed pods. This kind of hotel encourages people to sleep close to the ground so as to able 吸地气. And actually the ground is pretty warm. hoho! So in the end, we pushed the table to one side and pull the mattress close to the window area so not so stuffy. Manage to sleep quite well. Nice experience!

*Btw, before sleeping we watch their TV for relaxation and surprise to find got our Singapore 神雕侠侣 after some accidental tuning! The surprise is the show is like ages ago in Singapore, now then they show over in Korea. lol. Manage to take a snapshot of the show.

Korea Trip Day 3 - Jeju - Daegu

After an hour flight, we reached Daegu (大邱). We immediately went to Donghwa Temple (桐华寺), which is about 2 hours of coach distance from the airport.

At the entrance of the temple, got some (念过经的泉水) spring water where they allow people to consume it. There are three eggs displayed representing good wills/blessings from phoneix (Country Bird of Korea) - touching them will bring you good luck. At the right corner, one would observe a high-platform whereby a drum, a fish, a small metal banner-lookalike, and bell are placed inside. Actually they represent animals (drum), fishes (a fish), birds (small metal banner lookalike) and humans (bell). For a complete praying session, the monks/nuns have to dedicated their praying/blessings through these 4 things, in the event of allow animals, fishes, birds and humans to learn and absorb the prayers.





After taking a view at the entrance, we walked further up to the outside of the temple, where the big Buddha statue is being placed. The tour guide told us to take a look at below of Buddha's arm (see a dark patch under the Buddha's left arm, the one holding a ball?) and asked us to guess what it is. Some said a bag and others took quite a long while to look. Only I came up with the answer....bird nest! And I was correct! yeah! Under Buddhism, 放生 is very common belief/action. That's also the very reason why they didn't remove the patch (although it may does affect the Buddha statue look a bit), as they know that the birds and their eggs need to be protect/not disturbed by.

After seeing and praying to the Buddha, we walked down quite a steep fleet of steps to the park.

After the temple, we went to Jung Angro Street for shopping. Actually I got nothing much to talk about shopping coz in general their structure is like 4- 5 times of Bugis street/Bugis village. Or either is a bit like Orchard Road (but much cramper). Also in general, their standard of living is pretty high, so their goods are not that cheap as you imagined, and you cannot any-o-how go and slashed price (that you can do in China).

I just feel some of their winter clothings and accessories are not too bad la. haha. Faceshop is the one I truly recommend you to ask your colleagues/friends to buy from if they do go to Korea. It can be as cheap as 60% of our local price or even lesser than that. And definitely much more variety as well (that only available in Korea). You see even their students can afford them (that shows how affordable the stuffs are) and that day we went to the shop which happens to have some promotion going on...you see the queue you really got the urge to buy a lot more. The ladies in my tour group went crazy over the face masks. lol. Faceshop is also famous coz they use natural resources (fruits/vegetables) to make the products, so it is safer and neutral to asian skin texture.

After giving us about an hour of shopping time, we set off to Spa Valley (AQUA World - 温泉水世界) for rejuvenating oneslef and enjoy a fun-filled time at its water park. Very advance looker system they had - by using magnetic and coding watch to tap on the destinated locker that the particular watch is allocated to. They still got shoe locker and clothes locker separately.

Imagine soaking in hot spring water at the different kinds of bade pools, spa facilities and sanuas...Shuangness ar! hoho. We also tried the Doctor Fish Spa (a thermal spring filled with tiny fishes that thrive in hot water and it is said to be therapetic for those with skin aliments). Heard one time Doctor Fish Spa is about S$25 for 30mins, so it is not that cheap if it isn't a tour package. Quite unique experience, initially a bit ticklish, but after about a min or two get used to it. Quite a lot of fishes came to my side, and my mom joked that I got too much dead skin at my foot la. muahaha! Also there is an outdoor spa, but hor, no one in the right mind will go there la...coz super cold leh. Althought outdoor spa also got hot/warm water (about 40 degree celscius and above) but the distance you walk from inside to outside will make you feel the cold air rushing in, cold till you shiver type. lol.

The soaking in spa itself is quite cool, except the process of changing and taking off one's swimwear "unbelieavable". We were quite shocked to see that the ladies are very open...in the sense, they practically stripped in the changing room, x-posed throughout leh (without undies as well la). -_-'''. To them in a very very common practice/habit so they gave us weird expression when they saw us still quite dressed. *alamak*. And their 'free' towel is at most enough to cover the face la. hoho! So we all did halving lor - meaning quick but part by part undressing: upper half undressed (bottom half still dressed) and vice versa next. We also only rinse briefing and hope to get back to the hotel as soon as possible to bathe throughly. :P Why we only rinse briefing is because their shower room does not have those door-locked type, just those pull-away curtain lining lor, so people can just barged in as they like. -_-'''

After the interesting spa experience, we head to a dinner meal - Ginseng Chicken Soup (with rice/noodles) and then to Daegu Iner-Burgo Hotel for a good night rest. The ginseng chicken soup is pretty filling (coz they put in a small-sized full chicken into each bowl for per person consumption) and quite tasty, also able to keep one warm and the tonics benefit the body. The ginseng they used are neutral to body, regardless if you are hot/cold body constitute. More about Korean ginseng info will be mentioned in my next post.

Korea Trip Day 2 - Jeju Island (part 2)

Previously, I mentioned that Jeju Folk Village (济洲民俗村) is the place where the famous show 大长今 fliming took place...the village consists on huts, animal farm and vegetation farm. There is also a 大长今 mini-museum. Jeju Folk Village's area is quite big, i think about 1.5 times of Jurong Bird Park. The ship is like a 'weapon' to last time army, that's why it is being placed right at the entrance, to represent protection of the area. Among the photo, you would see a black pig right? This is the famous 黑毛猪 (remembered I mentioned about the delicious bbq pork meal in my previous post?). Only the fur/outside part is black, but internally is the same as normal pig. The pig you see is only for 'display set' (coz only got 2 of them in a small sty) like how previously olden days people will keep and rear. There are actual farms to keep many of them.

Here's an interesting fact. Actually beside the sty, is where people do all their "business", and directly below is an hole linkage, for "business" to flow out and after that those pig would eat them up (as part of their main dishes) lor. wahaha! Also, notice the symbolic figure again?

Regarding their huts, the more the wooden stills that support their huts, the richer the family is. Also their wooden front (x-shaped) doors can also represent whether the lady in the house is a widower or not. Represented by a hankerchief placed at the wooden door. They also displayed an artifical horse milling (whereby a horse instead of a human are used to move the stone grind machine).

Anyway, this village would be nice for those who like to experience non-city lifestyle (rather greenery), coz no tall buildings, no cars/vehicles are allowed to park within certain circumference of the village. Before we left for the place, my parents bought two jars of jam, that are made of natural fruit sources. Quite cute the packaging (but forget to take the photos of them).

As we travelled to the next destination, the tour guide told us that among the Korean artistes, only two has never went for cosmetic surgery. Guess who? One of them, is mentioned here (在戏里面的灵魂人物. And she acted in《火花》). the other is the one acted in 天国的阶梯, as the bad sister/lady who loves 权相宇 to no avail (the same lady is actually a very bright student in real life as well). Think you would know which two I am referring to ba. haha! But generally, the rest have done a bit of cosmetic surgery, especially in Korea, beauty is sought after as well as highly maintained (but their good skin texture helps them to look at least pleasant and clean). Erm, we forget to ask how much their cosmetic surgery is....wahaha!

The next stop was at the Teddy Bear Museum (泰迪熊博物馆). It was a three-level building with an outside garden. The teddy bears were designed in different materials and of different theme (different culture and countries). One of the photos I took was the famous korea ou xiang ju 宫's 4 famous bears (representing the leading roles). At the ground level was where some of the bear dolls were sold. We bought two: one boy with golf dressing, the other girl with maiden dressing...although some dolls were pretty much expensive (especially those with special clothings on them). Some keychains/bags/pencil boxes were sold as well.

The most expensive bear was named as LV Bear. The funny thing is...I didn't managed to see the bear lor! (wondering where they placed?) So only able to show through the pamphlet that was given to tourists (see the 1st pamphlet bottom ride handside). It is most expensive not only because of the leather material, but it is an auctioned bear for charity purpose.

1st phamplet side:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/TeddyBearMuseum_1.jpg
2nd phamplet side:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j241/hippo1985_photos/personal/TeddyBearMuseum_2.jpg

The last place we went before the day ends is called the Mysterious Road (奇幻山坡).

Whoa...really mysterious until I can't feel it. -_-'''. According to the tour guide, when one is on the Mysterious Road, will experience the strange phenomenon of going uphill when one's vehicle's engine is turned off. So she let us all stand in the middle of the road to test out the phenomenon. She told us to walk up the road for a certain distance, then turn around and walk down, returning the same distance moved. But hor, I did the same thing about 4 times, but can't really feel the difference leh. (the host joked that if we can't feel, then need to see doctor le. ha!)

She wanted to show us also by pouring water on the road and observe the water flow. But it is too late at night (6pm already 乌漆漆) to perform the task, so in the end didn't do it.

The Mysterious Road looks like any normal down-slope road (with repeat pattern waves down the path for about 2km), but certain part of it has an unusual phenomenon. This phenomenon also caused some drivers to be "blurred", so much so they actually slow down while driving past that particular portion. It is because of human's eye parallel view (especially when the lights shone on the road, will affecting your sight as though your eyes are viewing into different plane levels, where theorectically is not so.) A bit hard to descibe here how the Mysterious Road looks like, coz I forget to bring down my camera la. (Actually I thought why on earth the guide bought us to some wulu place, coz it doesn't seems to me got any buiding/significant signs at all. Was complaining to my sis in fact that she bought us down to shiver and I can't feel what she wanted us to feel. haiz.) hoho!

So after that "Mysterious" Road, we returned to our Hotel for a good night rest! Coz next day we will travel back to mainland - to Daegu by an hour flight + an hour of coach travelling before reaching a temple, that was claimed as 很仙灵, by many Koreans. One of their established temples as well, coz there is a very big park surrounding it. I will mentioned more about their habits (especially their elders) in my next update.