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.
No comments:
Post a Comment