The Adventures of Team Daniels: Time To Celebr8!

We rolled out the red carpet for our 8th grade graduate and planned activities specifically that he would enjoy.

Daddy and Lijee were checking out the planes while waiting in the Busan airport.

We played a rousing game of I Spy while waiting.

We made it! This dude found a face mask sometime between when we were here in January and now.

It was evening when we finally got situated and ventured out. We went to check out a waterfall, but it was already closed for the day. We discovered a park along the way.

~~Seobok Park~~

I love this big guy's trail along the wall. There were a lot snails, and Eli gave them all names. We found Teacup, Gary, Larry, Sheila, and Flower, just to name a few.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Or something like that.

Zekers has always been a little monkey.

That's me under the bridge.

The white leaves on this plant were unique.

We were the only ones in the garden. It was very peaceful.

It was right along the ocean so we enjoyed the sounds of the waves crashing against the beach and the water splashing into the pond below the waterfall.

We stayed in Seogwipo City on the southern border. From the park we didn't have far to drive to check out Oedolgae /way-DUL-gay/ Rock. The clouds below Hallasan Mountain were cool.

~~Oedolgae Rock~~

The name Oedolgae means lone rock pillar. About 120,000 years ago Hallasan Volcano erupted, forming these rocks along the coast. This was once connected, but wave erosion wore it away over the years, and now it is a sea stack. It is 20m tall and 7-10m in diameter.

There are a couple stories behind this rock. One is about a war general who disguised the rock as a giant general to scare off his Mongolian enemies. They say the Mongolinas were so terrified of the big standing general that they committed suicide, so sometimes it is called Janggunbawi Rock, meaning 'General Rock.'

Another legend says that an old woman was waiting for her husband to return from sea. He never came back and she turned to stone, or a lonely rock. You can see her hair at the top and her mouth open calling for him.

Regardless of the different folktales, it is very pretty.

~~swimming~~

Who doesn't love the hotel pool?

We played an exciting game of Marco Polo and the Silent game where you try to sneak across while the chaser has their back turned.

One afternoon the kids and I made up a synchronized swimming routine. Two of us were more excited about that than the other two, but they were good sports and participated.

~~Jeongbang Waterfall~~

Our second try at the waterfall was successful.

Jeongbangpokpo Falls are 23m high and 10m wide. It is the only waterfall in Asia that falls right into the ocean. It is listed as one of the top 10 Scenic Wonders of Jeju Island.

The legend of Seobul claims a servant named Seobul, sent by a Chinese emperor, came to Hallasan Mountain in search of an elixir plant that promised eternal life. He never found the elixir, but did find this waterfall. It is claimed that he carved 'Seobulgwagi' on the cliff, kinda like modern day 'Trish was here', but it is no longer visible. One site says that the name Seogwipo was derived from that story, meaning 'Seobul headed back west.'

~~diving~~

We went right around the corner from the waterfall to a local dive shop. We found a place called Big Blue 33 that let all of us do an intro dive. This was the kids' first dive. First we donned wet suits. Getting them on was no easy feat. We did a lot of pulling and grunting and more pulling. This shot cracks me up because it looks like Abe has on a low-rise blouse.

The weather was overcast, threatening rain all day. Instead of a boat dive we just entered from the shore. Kinda fun because I have never done that before. We entered the water just around the corner from the waterfall. You can see it in the distance.

The dive shop took pics for us, which was cool. I have never had my picture taken whilst diving. I didn't realize that your face doesn't look that great when the regulator is in your mouth.

Eli

Abe

Daisy

Zeke

Trish

They took a 'family' pic, but Eli wasn't down yet.

We dove a lot on our honeymoon, so diving always reminds me of our wedding.

We stumbled across this while walking to a restaurant. It reminds me of something my Mom would have in her yard.

Korean chicken bbq. This guy did all the cooking for us, though.

They brought us aprons. We thought maybe it was just the messy Americans that they cooked for and gave bibs to, but it was everyone.

'One ssam, one mouth.' While it feels a little like you're lacking manners, you're expected to shove the whole thing in your mouth with one bite.

~~sea walking~~

We started the day with the breakfast of champs. The kids have a goal of eating McDonald's on every vacation and as many countries as possible. They presently have dominated the Golden Arches in 5 countries.

We had a bit of a time finding Haman Seawalking. The 'store' was at the end of the pier in this little shack.

These wet suits went on so much easier than the ones from diving. The water was absolutely freezing; it almost took my breath away, even with the suit. The boys did not use one and I don't know how they handled it.

It was a bizarre experience. These are the helmets that just slide on your head and sit on your shoulders.

The instructor was in the water with the helmet on and we got in without a helmet. They told the kids to grab on to the instructor's head.

Then you just go underwater with the instructor.

Both Abe and I went together with the ~~dive master~~ sea walk master.

The helmets are super heavy, so they work as a weight belt to keep you down there.

There is a small tube attached to the helmet which pipes in air.

I always assumed there was a tight seal around the helmet. I was wrong. That thing just rests on your shoulders. It's like when you put a bottle upside down in water and the air gets trapped underneath.

You could even put your hand under the helmet. I reached up to squeeze my nose to equalize the pressure.

The guy brought down what the kids thought were hot dogs and fed the fish with them. He even picked up a shell and gave it to Zeke.

It was definitely a unique experience and I'm glad we did it. Not nearly as fun as diving, but it was fun to try.

~~Jungman Beach~~

We stopped by a beach on the way home. The beach is down below the cliff.

See all those dots on the water? Those are surfers. As soon as we were dodging boards in the parking lot we discovered that Jungman Beach is the surfing beach.

Daddy and Daisy are entering the cold water.

That is the look of cold water assaulting your body.

Cold or not, it's still the beach!

There are my boys in the circle.

Post beach treat!

~~Cheonjiyeon Falls~~

Even the hareubangs are masked up.

Along with the hareubang stone statues, you see many of the women carrying mulheobeoks, or water jars. The women of Jeju Island of old were tough ladies. Many years ago the women had to carry the fresh spring water for the family in heavy clay jugs tied by mulguedeoks, or baskets made of bamboo specifically to carry the mulheobeoks, to their backs. Apparently these water jugs were also used as a musical instrument at festivals. I'm guessing they had different pitches according to the size or how full they were. The rhythm created was called Heobeok Jangdan.

This orange ball, called the Golden Magic Peral, is a present from the dragon of Cheonjiyeon. Legend says there was a beautiful girl from the village of Seogwipo whom all the guys had a crush on. When she turned 19 she married a man from a neighboring village. This left many of the admirers heartbroken. One in particular took it rather hard; he had plans to harm the girl as she was passing by the Cheonjiyeon Fall. Just as he was about to act, a dragon suddenly appeared from the fall, snatched him and vanished in the sky. In the man's place was a golden magic pearl. The girl took the pearl home and it was handed down through the generations as a family treasure. The family became prosperous through the generations to come.

The sign reads, 'Rub the golden magic pearl and make a wish: you might become prosperous and thrive like the one in the legend.' Clearly the Daniels are headed for some good fortune!

I don't even think they planned their twinning posture.

There are a couple little falls along the walk before the big one.

The Daddy and his little girl.

That's Zekers swinging from the tree branch.

That's also Zekers sitting on top of a stone.

The name Cheonjiyeon means 'the sky connected with the land.' This fall is 22m high and 12m wide. Apparently there are Giant Mottled Eels in the water, but they are nocturnal and we did not see any.

We snuck away from the kids and snuck a kiss.

They were not impressed (with our kiss or the falls).

The rock at the bottom of the falls was made from volcanic ash and is pretty soft. The falling water has created a 20m lake in the soft rock. Legend has it that the holy dragon from the earlier story lived in the basin.

Nerd alert: I thought this little tree was cool,

and this big tree at the top left.

There is a lot of basalt rock on Jeju Island, which was formed as lava from Mt. Halla cooled. There are many rock fences on the island built to protect the houses and gardens from the strong winds blowing from the sea. Long ago the people wished their family's good health and wealth by making a mound of these stones and rock fences around a huge stone or an old tree. It is said your wishes will come true when if you put a small rock on the mound of stones.

~~more swimming~~

~~girls' night~~

Daisy and I snuck away on a little date to Starbucks. Just a little girl time.

~~haenyeo~~
Jeju is known for its women free divers, called haenyeo. Remember when I said the women were tough ladies? For centuries the women of Jeju were bringing home the bacon and frying it up in the pan. Women divers have been diving into the cold waters, going down sometimes as far as 10m (30 feet), holding their breath for several minutes. While down there they use a knife to stab conch, abalone, octopus, and mollusks, among other creatures, and grab some kim (seaweed).

These haenyeo were diving right beside where we went scuba diving a couple days before.

Here one lady is, bringing in some of the haul from the morning.

This is some of the fresh sea food for sale.

~~Seogwipo Submarine~~
A week before we left, rain was predicted everyday of our trip. We were super happy that it only rained on arrival day and the last day. Fear not! We're like honey badger; honey badger don't care and neither does DanFam5.

The Saeyeongyo Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that connects Seogwipo Port and Bird Island. It was made to resemble a Tewu, which is a traditional flat wooden boat of Jejudo Island.

Here we are, boarding the passenger ferry at Seogwipo Port.

The ferry took us on a short ride to Munseom Island, where we boarded the sub.

In 2007 the two captains were certified by the Guiness Book of World Records for being the longest serving submarine captains in the world. They have been at this for over 25 years.

The ferry took us to a floating sea platform to enter the sub. It is currently the world's largest touring submarine with 26 porthole windows.

There were two manholes to enter. It look like a giant toilet cover.

Down we go! This was live footage of us from the outside going down.

The diver show consisted of this guy feeding the fish outside our window.

We saw a shipwreck 40m deep. This was the bottom of the boat and the barnacles growing on it.

We also saw a Coral Garden.

This is a view of the submarine from under the water.

We had lunch at KFC. Even the Colonel had on haenyeo diving gear. His chubby little tummy made me laugh.

~~Chocolate Land~~

It may have been a rainy day, but we had Chocolate Land!

Zeke and Daisy opted for the macaron class, while Lijee and I waited for chocolate school.

The macarons were already made, but they got to add flavors to the inside.

m&m posers.

It may look like Eli is sitting sweetly by this cute teddy bear. He was actually punching it but I happened to catch an image that looks like he's innoocent.

Why bother taking down the tree?

Daddy bought a spot in chocolate school for himself, but he gave his to Zeke and Daisy to share.

First we put our chocolates into a pan.

Then we got a larger pan of hot water to melt it.

Then we started piping it into molds.

I had white and they had dark, so we did some mixing.

We cleaned out the sleeve to the very last drop. Duh.

We popped them out after they cooled.

A masterpiece!

There is a tiny museum inside. Eli stared at this chocolate creation for a minute and whispered, "Look Mom. It's Jesus."

They claim this is the world's first chocolate mold. Not sure how one can be sure of that, but at least we do know it's a really, really old mold.

Next we hopped right around the corner to
Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

That Ripley dude got to lead a fun life and see some crazy stuff.

If you sat just right this big moose and native tribal guy would say something to you about pooping your pants. Maybe because it would scare the poop out of you??

This picture was made from toast.

This picture is made of the words of the Gospel of Mark.

~~more swimming~~

~~Dynamic Maze~~
On the way to the airport we stopped by the Dynamic Maze. It's like an escape room, but with physical activities and a little thinking and analyzing.