After the visit to the Jeju film site (or Southernland Park), we went to another filming site. Unfortunately, due to the typhoon earlier, which strike Jeju rather rather hard, some parts of the set were badly damaged. I wonder if they have been repaired?
This was one of the most exciting scene…the Kyukku match. It was the first time we saw BYJ aka Dam Deok on horseback, galloping at full speed and the match was truly exciting. ^^
Watch the Kyukku match here
You know all these exciting scenes on horseback…it’s really not easy to do them and do them well. Think everyone suffered. BYJ himself fell off the horse in this scene. You can watch it here.
I wonder how many extras they used for this scene because the place is really quite big. Actually, hehe! the seats don’t look very stable or comfortable to me.
The King (Dam Deok’s father) was sitting above in the covered red section, with Ho Gar Ryeo and Ki Ha nearby….
Look so grand hor…I wish I was an extra in this scene…sigh…
Remember the scene when Suzini confronted Ho Gae’s team about the metal in the stick? That was filmed just behind the big stadium…and look what we found there lying on the field, abandoned…
When Ki Ha saw Dam Deok and Suzini chatting away on this bridge, she commented that she had never seen him smile like that. I guess it’s a sign of how things would be.
Of course, there is nothing really that special about this little bridge…but it has a rather sweet and rustic feel to it and the scenery was beautiful…it had lots of those lu wei surrounding it. Good for whispering sweet nothings on Valentine’s day. Wahahaha!
After this, we made our way to the famous Teddy Bear museum. Now, I’m not a huge fan of teddy bears…but if you are ever in Jeju, you should visit it at least once. There are lots and lots of teddy bears in ther, .depicting different types of scenes. I went there the previous year, and so therefore decided to skip it this time. Here are some photos I took back then… ^^
Quite cute right?
But really, most of us went to the Teddy Bear museum because of one reason only…the Goong bears and….Alfred. ^^
Bring back memories?
Of course, some of the girls went to the museum because of Goong S (hehe! you know who you are…), because that drama also got bears….which didn’t interest me, I’m afraid. And here’s a pic of the museum shop, when you can buy your own Alfred bear. I remember it was all the rage that year. But no, I didn’t buy one. Told you I’m not a huge fan of teddy bears.
So whilst the rest went exploring the Teddy Bear museum, a small group of us went to eat. It actually took a while because we had gone towards what we thought was a large mall, with nice little cafes. But when we climbed up the steps, we found the mall was shut. I wonder if it’s due to lack of business. Frankly, I think Jeju is probably only crowded during holidays and weekends. So we did an about-turn and went back nearer to the museum, where I remembered there was a cluster of restaurants. I had lunch with bb and friends there the last time and found the food quite ok. Oh…there is a shop there amongst the restaurants…selling touristy things like Korean foodstuff and Korean stars memorabilia. But hor…they aren’t cheap. Maybe because the shop thinks it has got a captive audience as there are no other shops around. But I think, if you really want to get such things, they are cheaper in Myeongdong.
We had quite a nice lunch before rushing back to the bus. Actually, we seemed to be rushing back the bus most of the time. Hehe!
On the bus, Manager An told us that the next day would be the last day of filming and BYJ would be there. He wanted to know if we would like to go to Hwaseong, which was where they were filming. But of course, it would mean forking out money for an air tix back to Seoul, as well as foregoing the whole day program- a visit to Wando Island and Bosung tea plantation. It was too big a change, we had to check with the rest of the girls on tour.
So an emergency meeting was held when we reached Daeyoo land. We had to be sure that everyone knew of the big changes involved, as well as the possibility that we will probably only catch a glimpse of The Man himself, and it could mean waiting the whole day…just like the first day.
But we should have known better…it was an unanimous decision within 10 minutes…we will all change our plans and go back to the mainland, for that one-in-a-million chance of seeing him. ^^
Decision made…we continued with our journey at Daeyoo land. What is this place? Well…that’s where they get all the horses for the drama and not just for ‘Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi’, but also for many others like ‘Jumong’.
A framed poster of TWSSG.
Lots and lots of horses…
But which one was his?
Jessica managed to take photo of this cute doggie at Daeyoo land. Hehe! Reminds me of the dog in ‘Thank You’.
Jeju island is also known for its tangerines and you simply cannot go Jeju without visiting a tangerine farm and experience the pleasure of plucking your own tangerines. Though I think most of us didn’t finish eating ‘our’ tangerines. But it sure was fun. hehe!
Unless you’re ready to lug your tangerines around with you on your holiday (and they are heavy), it’s probably better to share, which was what the 4 of us did. They go by weight hor…though I’ve forgotten how much it cost. Oh, yes, you pay to pluck your own tangerines, just like what I did for plucking apples during my first trip. But it was fun lor. Think someone was saying that they charge tourists more than locals…not sure if it’s true but it’s still very cheap lah. The guide said that the tangerines were not as sweet this time but it still tasted pretty good to me. Very juicy. ^^
Anyone remember this show- My Girl? Hehe! Lee Dae Hee (now seen in the drama, ‘Robbers’) was picking all the tangerines in Lee Dong Wook’s place and selling them. I love Lee Jun Ki in this drama. He’s so cool with his longish hair and ear-rings.
This is ‘free service’ by the owners of the farm. It’s absolutely delicious in the cold weather. Roasted sweet potatoes.
Satisfied with our bags of tangerines, we made our way back to Park BOF Jeju again. Some of the girls had ‘taken’ photos with Bae Yong Joon the day before but it didn’t turn out very well. Of course not with the real, live person lah. You can digitally ‘plant’ yourself next to selected photos of him. Like the Chinese saying goes: “No fish, prawn also good.” Some turned out quite well but a couple was a little weird lor…especially the one where BYJ was in his Dam Deok armour…and then you have a woman in make-up, modern clothes and handbag ‘standing’ next to him.
Anyway, whilst waiting, some went to do more shopping in the shop, whilst the rest of us went photo snapping. Took this outside Park BOF….nice hor…
By then, it was dinner time, and we were hungry, the cold weather didn’t help. Mgr An brought us to this place- Joy World. Of course Bae Yong Joon related lah.
Remember these photos whilst he was filming in Jeju?
These photos were taken from bb’s blog and I believe she had blogged about it sometime back. But honestly, I have no idea where the post is…so you will just have to be nice and ask her. Essentially, it’s an All-Terrain-Vehicle (or ATV) activity. You ride on what looks like a small army truck or tractor (to me anyway) and drive around the fields etc. Definitely thrilling for guys. I’m sure he must have had fun. And of course the shop proudly displayed his photos, framed and unframed, all over the place. They even displayed the gear he wore in a locked glass cupboard. I don’t blame them…there wouldn’t be anything left of the suit if it was left in the open.
And the proudly displayed framed, autographed photo of Bae Yong Joon, greeting one and all who entered the shop. There were quite a few smaller ones inside the shop, hung on the wall, from the ceiling and displayed on the shelf. Like I said, all over the shop.
Besides all these feast on the eyes…we also had a real feast- shabu-shabu…yummy..
There was much laughter and eating and drinking during the dinner. Both the dinners at Jeju Island weren’t very expensive though I can’t remember much how much they cost now. Think they were about 15,000won. And oh, you can also buy some chocolates from Joyworld. They have some unusual ones like orange chocolate, grape chocolate etc. The orange chocolate was quite good, and make nice gifts.
Think my only complain about the place was the fact that the toilet was outside. Think of the toilets inside the Singapore zoo, with the open concept. Of course, this toilet was not so open lah…but hor…in winter…it’s no joke because you can still feel the wind ‘kissing’ your butt. So you can imagine I did it in double quick time.
As we were leaving Jeju the next morning, we all opted for an early night…so no karaoke that night. But there was one last site to visit. Remember I said that BYJ and the production crew used to stay at Hanhwa Resort? The resort used to be packed with fans whenever he was around and they would all lined up in the morning downstairs, waiting for him to leave the hotel to go to the filming site. This was where he would appear…the staff exit (the white door). Of course, his appearance was always preceded by the various managers (I believe Mr Shin was one of them…but no Mr Yang). I was standing amongst the small bushes/ flowers near the door the other time, in the rain. ^^
I remembered when I last stayed there the year before, some of the Japanese fans lined up at 3am in the morning….and this was a daily night scene. They also know how to ‘chope’ places lor..hehe!
He stayed in 2 rooms on the top floor, which at that time, was out of bounds to all outsiders.
If I remembered correctly, according to Manager An. Room 501 was his room and Room 502 was his gym. Apparently, no one was allowed up (not even his managers and bodyguards) without his permission. This guy really likes his privacy. But we’ve heard that quite often, he would have friends and the PD over for a drink in his room. ^^
I was so tempted to sign on the wall, ‘tiffany was here’. Wahaha!
Anyway, after this, we all go back to our rooms to pack, for the next day would be a long, and hopefully exciting day.
Apology for being so slow in my blogging nowadays but it’s been quite happening in my personal life and I’ve been struggling to find the time and energy to write. Doesn’t help that I sleep really early nowadays so I’m afraid it’s going to be slow plodding for awhile. ^^
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