The New Millennium Nutmeg

The New Millennium Nutmeg is the oldest nutmeg tree in Korea. The tree is more than 800 years old and is located in the Bija-rim forest, Jeju Do island.

Hyeopja Smoke Mound

Near the All In House on Jeju Do island (South Korea) you can find the Hyeopja Smoke Mound. Smoke mounds were used as a kind of communications network to deliver messages around the island. There are 38 smoke mounds on Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. During the day or evening smoke was used to warn of enemy invasions and emergencies. When it was cloudy or rainy, the mound keeper had to ran in order to deliver the news.

The view around the smoke mound.

All In House, Jeju Do Island, South Korea

One of the first sights we visited on the island of Jeju Do is the coastline near the All In House, located near Seopjikoji (Gosung-ri, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-city).

The All in House is South Korea’s first drama memorial for the popular TV miniseries, ‘All In’ (2003). The house is located on the east part of the island.

Larger map

All In House, South Korea

Garden All In House

 
You can take a walk along the coastline.

Flying to Seoul and Jeju-do, South Korea

This year started good with a Finnair flight Amsterdam – Helsinki – Seoul. It was the first time I flew with Finnair and it was a very pleasant experience. The crew was friendly, modern airplanes and the Helsinki Airport was small and easy to move around.

The Finnair entertainment system apparently uses Linux as its operating system.

During the flight you can select the view from a forward camera, or a downward camera. This was the first time I could see a take off and landing just like the pilot sees it!

 

We approached Seoul from the north west. You can see the island of Jeju-do (or Cheju) further down south.

 

Arrival at Incheon Airport

Getting around the airport is easy. All signs are also in English and many of the younger Korean people like to talk English.

Welcome to Seoul!

Seoul was actually just a stopover. We arrived in the morning at Incheon Airport, took a train to Gimp Airport and boarded a Jinair flight to Jeju-do. The entire trip took about 24 hours…

Train station near Incheon Airport

Before we boarded the plain to Jeju-do we ate some lunch

 

Example dishes at Jeju-do Airport

My first Korean food at Gimp Airport

At Jeju-do we ate one the local specialties: Okdomi

Okdomi
It is a ubiquitous and tasty a local fish that is semi-dried before grilled and has a gourmet taste.

 

Korean Coca Cola

Standard South Korean side dishes: kimchi, bean sprouts, spinach, and other stuff

Outside the restaurant: preparing cabbage for kimchi

Cabbage for kimchi

We ate the fish at the Bada Yechan Restaurant in Jeju-do.

South Korean Toilet Traveller’s Guide

South Koreans like their technological gadgets and have apparently changed their toilets into gadgets too.

South Korean Toilet
Of course the seat is heated, but let’s take a look at the control panel.

South Korean Toilet Control Panel
I had no idea what the buttons did. There was no instruction manual! I pressed the blue button – a little nozzle pushed out from the back of the bowl to the front and happily sprayed water upwards. Closing the lid does not stop this (there is still room for improvement in the user interface…). Luckily the red button does what you expect – stop the water flow and retract the nozzle.
To prevent further accidents I left the other buttons untouched…
Back home I found out this toilet is a DoBiDos bidet. It is the Daelim DB-752NA, one of the bestsellers of the Korean firm Dobidos (www.dobidos.co.kr).
This is what the buttons do:
Top Button Group from left to right (low / medium / high setting):
Set Water Temp, Seat Temp, Econo function (set water and seat temperature to the lowest setting)
Coloured Button Group
Red – Stop
Blue – Wash function
Green – Bidet function
Grey – Dry function
Three Button Group right hand side
Move nozzle Front / Back
Middle button starts an automatic nozzle movement front-back giving a massage effect.
Lower Right Button Group
Set water pressure for the Wash and Bidet function

Konglish in South Korea

During my trip in South Korea I encountered some funny usage of the English language. This is called Konglish.

“To prevent losing your belongings, please do not put your personal items on a shelf. We apologize for any convenience”
Written on an airport luggage cart.


“Please, Keep out this room except for the responsible staff because it is the area preparing for housekeeping the rooms”
Sign placed outside a housekeeping room in a hotel in Seoul


“Present Food Coupon, Exchange Spoon”
Instructions in a restaurant


“If you have any inconvenience items, Please call near Staff”
Found on the wall in a toilet


“Description of the tree is available under or next to a tree. Will be reading a lot of help”
In a Bonsai park


“Have a feeling fine day”
In a train station


“Please don’t go up”
Sign on a hill of a Bonsai park


“Moving Forward”
Sign explaining the route through a Bonsai park


“We love having you here”
We are glad we are here too.


South Korea Seoul Toilet Instruction. No English text here, but still very funny.