October 13,

I awoke five minutes before an alarm at 0640. We got around and set out walking by 0710. We went back close to the airport to pick up our car rental. We arrived just at 0750. The guy asked for our Passports and International Driver’s Licenses(IDL’s). The Passports and our US Driver’s Licenses are current, but the IDL’s had expired in 2023. No one has ever looked at those dates. He actually would not rent us a car. HUMM!! Maybe this is for the best if he is looking at the stamped date… Anyway, we left and Jeff was trying to figure out what we could do. He did have the wherewithal to quickly cancel the car at 2 minutes until eight so we get half our money back on the whole fiasco.

We regrouped and stopped at a Subway. We shared a Cheese, Omelet and Ham sandwich. It cost us 5,100 KRW or $3.56. We left when he found a scooter rental place. We walked there, and tried to rent a scooter for just today – the next couple of days call for rain. We started the process, but the rental place wanted $67 for one’s rental!!! That was double what the car was supposed to have cost… well that did not happen either! So Jeff found a local bus that went to the east side of the island. We had to take advantage of the sunny day we had been blessed with – it may be our only one.

Jeff found the bus station and we walked there. We bought a T-card that they use on the buses on Jeju, charged it with 10,000 KRW or $6.98 and caught the next bus. The lady who sold us the card told us which gate the bus would pull in. We boarded by 0920 and took the bus basically an hour (24 km) to a nice stop on the coast at a village and a London Bagel Museum. At 1030, we talked to my sister from some shade on the shore which was black volcanic rock dotted with many Seagulls and Herons. Then we went into the Bagel Shop, bought, and shared a Cinnamon Pecan Bagel with a small Maple Pecan Cream Cheese. It was tasty but overpriced! When we finished we talked with Jeff’s sister, her husband, and one of their sons.

It was noon by now so we decided to go back to our place in Jeju City. The buses just take so long. We caught the next bus back, arriving about an hour later. It amazes me how tired you can get just sitting. Anyway, we relaxed. I blogged and Jeff edited.

By 1600 we went out for supper. Jeff had found a highly rated Black Pork place, called Aging Master. Black Pork is something this island is known for… it’s also known for seafood – which we intend to try – and for horse meat, to – well eat. Hummm… I do not need to eat horse – AGAIN. I had some in Mongolia, and once is enough. Anyway, we ordered the Black Pork Combo for Two (540g or 1.19 pounds) of Black Pork Belly and Black Pork Tenderloin. Of course, we had the free sides – seven of them: pickle spear slices, pickled onions, garlic cloves, Kimchi, mashed potato with a dollop of horseradish, a pickled chili “thing” and some pickled leaves. We also both had a plate with small bits of wasabi, a spicy pepper flakes, and a bit of spicy fish sauce. Then came the meat with a thick onion slice, pumpkin slices, green beans/peas(?) and grape tomatoes. The server cut the pork belly, and tenderloin(with a pair from the kitchen shears) and started us on cooking it there at our table. He dished up the first few pieces of the tenderloin to us and then left us at it. It was great and a fun experience. We did not feel overly stuffed in the amount of food – just stuffed. Jeff had a beer and I had a Nine Tailed Fox Soju, a Korean alcohol beverage. Our meal price came to 76,000 KRW, or $52.97! Wowza, they are proud of their black pork!! But we left happy!

We went back to our place and I finished the blog, which we posted. I thought we did justice to our first full day on Jeju, despite a couple of setbacks!