Osulloc Tea Museum and Innisfree Jeju House

12 November 2022

After two consecutive days of hiking the Jeju Olle Trails (Route #6 and Route #10) on the southern coast of Jeju, my plan for our last day was to explore the Western side of Jeju on a chartered taxi tour.

Osulloc Tea Museum and the Innisfree Jeju House were not high on my list of places to visit in Jeju. But since both are co-located on the western side of Jeju and they are “on the way” to the Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road, I added them into our itinerary.

After checking out from BK Hotel in Seogwipo, we took about an hour to drive to Osulloc Tea Museum. On the way, our driver cum guide explained that Innisfree and Osulloc are both owned by a large conglomerate group called the Amorepacific Group and it is larger than Samsung in terms of market capitalisation.

Wow, I never know that cosmetic is such a big business in Korea! BTW, Innisfree is a Korean beauty brand that sources most of their ingredients from Jeju Island.

Giant teacups decorated with green plants at the entrance.

We alighted along a road next to a field and garden at the entrance of Osilloc. The museum and shops are located on top of a small hill. Annabelle who was in crutches sat and relaxed in the garden with some companions while the rest went up the hill to explore the place.

The museum seemed to be closed as there were renovations going on. We went to the retail area only. Here, souvenir hunters can buy tea and tea-related products. Although we bought some stuff at the store, there was nothing much else to see or do at Osulloc.

Shopping at Osulloc Tea Museum.

We went to explore the Innisfree Jeju House, located 100 meters down a forested pathway. 

The first thing that caught my eye was the tea terraces next to Innisfree Jeju House.

I came, I see and I shoot the tea terraces.

After a short photo shoot at the tea terraces, we went to check out the Innisfree Jeju House. There are some activities that visitors could do inside. I saw signs on participating in a soap making workshop or making your own customised facemask that is suited to your skin type.

Both were not my cup of tea.

While the ladies in my group went to check out and buy the beauty products, I went to check out the menu in the cafe. Actually, many of the beauty products in Korea are sold to men as well, but I am not a user of such products.

The cafe inside Innisfree Jeju House is much nicer than the cafe at Osulloc. There are tropical plants and ferns hanging from the tall ceilings. The tall glass walls allowed natural light to filter in and we could also see the tea terraces from inside the cafe. However, the food items sold are very pricey and looked more like an art form than food. 

Hallasan Cake for 15,000 KWR. Hallasan is a dormant volcano, so I hoped those white stuff is snow, not lava.

Milk Iced Cream Latte, Milk Iced Cream and various tea drinks.

I settled on something simple, like a nice pot of hot tea.

It was nice to have a drink at the cafe, overlooking the tea terraces. But I would not make a trip to this place just for the cafe.

We did not lingered too long as we have much of the Western Jeju to see.

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Scenic drive along the Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road

12 November 2022

The western coast of Jeju has some of the most scenic coastal roads, starting from Suwolbong Peak and going north towards Hyeopjae Beach.

It was only a short drive from Osulloc Tea Museum to reach the western coast of Jeju. One of the optional attractions I had in my itinerary was Suwolbong Peak. Suwolbong Peak is a small oreum located in Gosan-ri, the westernmost point of Jeju Island. Rising 77 meters above sea level and ocean-facing, one could get a panoramic view of the Jeju countryside as well as good views of Chagwi-do (island) and the windmill coastal road.

Since we were already behind schedule, I told Mr Won to skip this place and bring us to Chagwi Port where I hoped we could see sights of squids hanged out to dry near the port. However, there were none to be seen. Mr Won explained that it was drizzling this morning and no fisherman would dry squid in wet weather. 

There were a row of stalls selling dried squid. One of the stall owners offered me a piece of dried squid to try. The dried squid tasted quite nice. She toasted some more of the dried squid and also some dried fish on a charcoal stove for all of us to try. The toasted dried fish and squid tasted even better after toasting. So good that everyone, including Mr Won, bought some.

The stall owner told us that her husband owns a fishing boat and these dried fish and cuttlefish were caught by her husband.

Happy customers and even happier stall owner.

Dried squid and dried fish for sale. 

From Chagwi Port, we drove northwards towards the Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road. We chanced upon some squid hanging out to dry at Yongsu-hang (Yongsu port)!

Mr Won made a quick stop for those interested to go snap some photos.

Rows of squid drying in the sun. Chagwido could be seen in between the rows of drying squid.

In my blog post for my previous trip, I made a comment that there were no flies seen on the drying squid or cuttlefish in Jeju. This time, I spotted some flies.

Try to spot the flies on this row of squid.

Continuing on, we drove along another coastal road with rainbow colours painted on stone markers. This is now quite a common sight in Jeju.

Another rainbow coastal road in Jeju.

First view of the Sinchang wind turbines.

We soon caught sight of the wind turbines at Sinchang. I remembered I came by this way with Mr Won 11 years ago. During those days, wind turbines were a rare sight. Now with the push for sustainable energy, it is good to see more and more of these wind turbines being installed all over the place.

We made a stop so we could get a closer look at these wind turbines. While Annabelle stayed close to the van with her leg in a plaster cast, the rest of us took a walk down a walkway towards a lighthouse and some wind turbines.

Walkway to some wind turbines and a lighthouse.

We could walk right up to some of the wind turbines and feel the power of those blades rotating slowly above us.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Quite an experience standing right beneath these gigantic blades.

This place is likely to be windy all year round and would be extremely cold in autumn or winter, with the wind chill factor. We were lucky that it was a rather warm and comfortable day in November.

Looking back at the path we took to the lighthouse and Won Dam.

There is a walkway that is half submerged in water. This is actually a stone wall or dam built in the intertidal zone for the local villagers to catch fish trapped inside the dam at low tide. It is built just high enough to be submerged during high tide.

A walkway on top of a dam that is half submerged at high tide.

Signage explaining the purpose of Won Dam.

Most adventurous guy in our group checking out Won Dam.

A few of my travelling companions actually took off their shoes to walk on the half submerged dam.

After some fun at the wind turbines, we continued our scenic drive to Hyeopjae Beach where it was time for lunch.

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Black Pork Gomtang Lunch at Hyeopjae Ondajung

12 November 2022

We arrived at Hyeopjae after doing a scenic drive along the Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road. There are a few attractions in Hyeopjae such as Hallim Park and of course Hyeopjae Beach, with views of Biyangdo island.

We skipped all the attractions in Hyeopjae and told our driver, Mr Won, to bring us straight to Hyeopjae Ondajung (협재온다정) restaurant for lunch. I learnt of this restaurant from watching a YouTube video posted by Korean actress Jung So Min. This restaurant specialises in Black Pork Gomtang (rice soup) and I could tell that So Min enjoyed her meal very much.

Mr Won had not been to this restaurant before. He used the address I gave him in Naver map and the GPS in his car to bring us to a small single-storey house with a green roof that looked like the restaurant I saw in Naver map. However, a banner outside the house advertised a restaurant serving Chinese food!

Is this Ondajung?

And that threw me off and I thought that we had come to the wrong place or the restaurant had been sold to another owner that now serves Chinese food.

After a few minutes of wandering around looking for another house with a green roof, I came to the conclusion that Mr Won’s GPS was correct.

We stepped into the “Chinese” restaurant and discovered that this was indeed Ondajung! Apparently, the owner of Ondajung is also the owner of the Chinese Bistro and is doing some advertising for that bistro at Ondajung.

The restaurant is like a small house and there are only a couple of tables. Our group practically filled the whole dining area.

The staff does not speak English. It was a good thing we came with Mr Won. The menu is all in Korean but this is a restaurant with a very simple menu.

Menu posted on the wall. There is no English version.

Besides Black Pork Gomtang in a regular 10,000 KRW portion and a larger 14,000 KRW portion, the menu included the Cod Roe (저염명란) and Pork Dumplings (고기만두).

Larger size Black Pork Gomtang for 14,000 KWR.

Pork Dumplings for 6,000 KWR.

The Gomtang is served with thinly sliced pork in light pork broth and rice. It was fun peeling off the pork slices one by one, adding a little of the spicy sauce and then eating it on the spoon with some rice and broth. The pork was nicely cooked and it tasted best with a little of the spicy sauce that was provided. If only more of this sauce had been served, the meal would be perfect.

Paper thin slices of pork in the gomtang.

The broth was light, not salty and definitely no gamey pork smell. The broth was almost like the broth in a samyetang and was truly a comfort food after a morning exploring the windswept Jeju coast.

Everyone also agreed that the pork dumplings were very good too.

All happy after a satisfying meal. 

After the meal, I asked Mr Won (being a Jeju resident) how he rates the food from 1 to 10. He gave a thumbs-up and a perfect 10.

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Aewol Handam Coastal Trail from Gwakji Beach to Aewol Cafe Street

12 November 2022

One of the best places for a short walk near Hyeopjae was the coastal stretch between Gwakji Gwamul Beach and Handam Village in Aewol. This 1.2 km trail is known as the Handam Coastal Trail or Gwakji Gwamul Beach Trail. 

Gwakji Gwamul Beach to Handam Beach, where many of Aewol’s famous cafes are located.

This is a popular walking trail along the coast which connects Gwakji Beach, a seaside destination popular with families and surfers to the trendy northwestern town of Aewol, with its many hot cafes and restaurants.

We started our walk at Gwakji Beach. Since Annabelle could not walk with us with her injured foot, our taxi driver Mr Won drove Jude and her to Aewol for an early coffee break. 

My friend exploring the beach at the start point. The water is cold.

Handam Coastal Trail

The course is practically flat and well paved so we could just enjoy the stroll without spending much energy. This trail is part of the Jeju Olle Trail 15B and there are Olle ribbons and trail markers seen along this trail.

Blue and orange Olle ribbons seen along this trail.

Zoomed in view of Aewol Cafe Street from the Handam Coastal Trail.

After a 30 minutes stroll, we could see Aewol. Aewol Cafe Street is a little area in Handam Village which is just full of cafes that caters to those who wants to kill some time with a drink and a great view. Also, with the love of selfies and instagram posts, many Jeju cafes catered to those needs as well.

We met up with Annabelle and Jude at Aewol. They went to the A Twosome Place cafe with Mr Won since it was more accessible for Annabelle while the rest went to explore Aewol Cafe Street.

Aewol was crowded on this day, being a Saturday. Koreans absolutely love their cafe culture and they do it so well. For a population of only 700,000 in Jeju, there are more cafes than I would have expected. A lot of the business comes from visitors from mainland Korea and tourists.

There are some famous cafes located here.

The Bomnal Cafe was popular because it was featured in a MBC K-drama called Warm and Cozy in 2015. This cafe appeared as the restaurant 'Maendorong Ttottot' in that drama. In addition to Warm and Cozy, the 2013 K-drama Goddess of Marriage also featured the Bomnal Cafe in its pilot episode.

This cafe did not permit entry unless we buy a coffee each. We were put off by the arrogance and attitude.

We went to check out other cafes. After all, there are plenty to choose from. We took a walk along the Aewol Coastal Road that leads to more cafes.

View of Bomnal Cafe from the Aewol Coastal Trail.

We stopped by the popular Knotted Cafe. This cafe sells all sorts of donuts and croissants.

Menu at Knotted Cafe.

Cafe Knotted was crowded. There were many family groups with toddlers. All the outdoor seats were occupied and the indoor environment was too warm and stuffy for us. No go.

We finally stopped at Monsant Cafe. This is another famous cafe. The one owned by Bigbang’s G-Dragon. Monsant has outdoor seatings under the shade of palm trees by the sea and that hits the spot. They got our business.

Aewol cafes are a good place to relax and watch the sunset.

Outdoor seating at Monsant Cafe in Aewol.

Mr Won has already set our expectations that the famous cafes in Aewol are expensive compared to regular cafe chains like the Twosome Place. Monsant Cafe sells cheese cakes, mushroom pie and all sorts of ades, plus coffee.

My wife and I ordered a mud pie and lime grapefruit ade to share.

After our coffee break at Monsant Cafe, we met up with the rest of the group again at A Twosome Place.

Our accommodation for the night was at Starlight Glamping. We made a stop at a BHC Chicken store in Aewol to buy the famous Korean Fried Chicken for our dinner at the glamping site. BHC Chicken or “Better & Happier Choice” is one of most popular Korean Fried Chicken chains, having opened over 1,000 stores since 2004.

While waiting for our chickens to be fried (20 minutes we were told), Mr Won drove us to the coast where we saw our last Jeju lighthouses and the sunset.

Many Koreans were fishing on the breakwater and tetrapods.

Innovative way to set up a shelter with a car.

As the sun sets, we knew that all good things would come to an end. This was our last evening in Jeju.

Each couple took turns to take photos with our driver cum guide, Mr Won, who had taken good care of us and shown us his beloved homeland for the past week.

Thank you Mr Won. Till we meet again.

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