Jeonju 전주 Living: November 2014

23 Nov 2014

An afternoon in Muju

Now that we are nearing the end of autumn, warm days are far and few. Fortunately for us, we were blessed with a lovely warm sunny day when Dean, myself and a couple of friends decided to take a trip to the town of Muju. Muju is a popular ski destination in winter, and so we were eager to pay it a visit to check it out before ski season starts. We were also hoping to catch the last colours of autumn but the trees were already turning brown. We didn’t do any planning and were sort of expecting to arrive in the town and that the ski resort would be obvious. However, we arrived to a somewhat sleepy town with no sign of anything that would suggest it would offer skiing. We have since learnt that where you ski is Muju Resort and not Muju town. Two separate places. The bus to Muju from Jeonju takes 2 hours and costs 9000won one way (longer and more expensive than we were expecting). When we arrived we grabbed some lunch and decided to go exploring some of the mountains instead of travelling further to find the skiing area.

The town was really quite and I think the locals were a bit surprised to see a group of foreigners wondering the quiet streets. We followed a trail to the top of a small mountain and got some beautiful views of the surrounding rural areas.

I was a bit lazy with taking photos but here a few snaps.

Muju isn’t exactly the most exciting place to visit but it was nice to go on a short hike in the warm weather. When the ski season opens, I hope we will make some frequent trips to the resort for some skiing.

12 Nov 2014

DIY gold animal jars

Last weekend I joined a great group of girls for a #DIYDaysInKorea meet up (read more here). It was a lovely afternoon filled with lots of DIYing and yummy things. Now that the weather is cooling down, I think I will be spending more time indoors so it has got me thinking that it's a perfect opportunity for me to be a little creative.

For my first "project", I made gold animals jars, simple yet effective. They are really cute and perfect for storing all my nuts and seeds in. I took my inspiration from a few Pinterest posts and I am really pleased with how they turned out.

What you need:

-plastic animals (these are really easy and cheap to find, I got some at Daiso and some at another stationery store)
-glass jars
-glue (I started using a glue gun but then found that superglue actually worked better)
-spray paint (really easy and cheap to find here in Korea)

How to:

I recommend giving the animals a coat of paint before you stick them to the lids so you can get in those hard to reach places once glued. Make sure to spray them from a distance so that the paint is even. Allow them a few hours to dry properly before sticking them to the lids of the jars. Then, allow time for the glue to set. Once the glue has set you can spray the animals and lids, making sure you cover everything nice and evenly. You might want to do a few coats, depending on how well the spray paint covers. Again, leave for a few hours to dry.

I love my new jars and I think I might have to find some more things that can be stored in jars. I am going to keep my eyes out for some pastel coloured spray paint and some more cute figurines.

4 Nov 2014

Colours of fall in Korea: Naejangsan National Park

On the first week of November we took a trip to Naejangsan National Park to see the bright colourful leaves on the trees. Coming from South Africa, where we don’t see too much of a dramatic change in autumn, I was really excited. My Korean rough guide book had also rated an autumn trip to Naejangsan as one of the top 25 things to do in Korea, and luckily it is relatively close to Jeonju. Unfortunately the weekend we planned to go was miserable, rainy and foggy, but we still decided to go as we thought the crowds would less (not true by the way). The temperatures have dropped a lot here already in Korea and it has been rather chilly.

To get there we had to catch a bus to Jeongeup which takes about an hour and then a 40 minute city bus to the National Park. Luckily we managed to squeeze ourselves onto the bus as it was absolutely packed and definitely not the most pleasant trip standing on top of people the whole way. We had an eventful trip there as when we got to Jeongeup and were waiting for the next bus, we spotted a small little puppy running in the road and avoiding cars. Of course we rushed to pick him up while everyone watched and did nothing. The puppy, a Jindo, must have been about 10 weeks and was cold and lost. We spent the next hour trying to find his home with no one being interested in helping us except for some people who wanted to try claim him. One thing that always breaks my heart in Korea, is the treatment of animals and Dean and I would have taken him home in a flash if it were not for the exorbitant cost to send him to South Africa. Luckily we eventually found his home, where we spotted some more puppies and he must have wondered off through the open gate. No one even noticed.

Once we got to the park we had to wind our way up to the actual entrance past the colourful stalls selling some strange things, blaring music and dancing ajummas. I don’t think we were quite prepared for the chaos and thousands of people. Literally there were thousands and thousands of people. I guess like all outdoor or “natural” activities, we should have expected it. The entrance cost to the park is 3000won. From there we walked up through the park to a lake and a temple, taking in the amazing colours. They really were beautiful and impressive. There is an option to catch a cable car to the top of one of the peaks, but there was a really long line and because of the mist we didn’t think it would be worth it.

Despite the hordes of people, a trip to Naejangsan was definitely worth it. The colours and sites were breath taking and unlike anything I have ever seen. Although the sky wasn’t blue, the mistiness gave a somewhat magical feel and I am glad we decided to go.