천국의 계단

Getting to Muuido Island

It took us about 1 hour 20 minutes to travel from Hoegi to Incheon station. When we arrived at Incheon, we dropped by the tourist information centre, located just outside the station, to collect a map of Incheon and to confirm the way to Muuido Island (무의도-舞衣島). We boarded the bus no. 306 bound for Eulwangri Beach which is in Yeongjondo Island. Yeongjondo Island is the same island which Incheon International Airport is located.

The bus ride took about 1 hour. We manage to catch some sleep along the way. We alighted at Geojampo's T-junction. From there, we walked about 1km to get to the bridge that connects Yeongjondo Island and Jamjindo Island. The above sign was erected at the start-end of the bridge. It showed that we had to walk another 1.9km to get to the Jamjindo jetty where we would take our ferry to Muuido Island.

The above picture was taken on the bridge leading to Jamjindo Island. The road seemed to stretch to the horizon but it was not as long as thought.

It was low tide then and long stretch of mudflat was exposed. Groups of people were seen digging and filling their bucket with oysters, mussels and other mollusks. If you are into eating fresh mollusks, this is the place to come at low tide when you can eat all the mollusks you want and better still they are free. I went down to the mudflat to take a walk while waiting for the ferry.

The ferry could carry both people and vehicles. A round-trip ticket cost us 2,000won (S$3.30). It took only 5 minutes to cross the water between Jamjindo Island and Muuido Island. Upon landing at Muuido Island, we paid 1,000won for the bus to take us to Hanagae Beach. At the entrance to the Hanagae Beach we paid another 2,000won to gain entry. That was the first time I paid to get to a beach.

The House in "Stairway to Heaven"

Frankly, I never watch a single episode of the Korean drama "Stairway to Heaven". So when I was looking at the house, that appeared in the drama, all I can say is that it is indeed beautiful. I guess many people will like to live in such a house and I am no exception. Besides that, no storyline ran through my mind then so I cannot write about any special feeling.








Hanagae Beach

Hanagae Beach is famous because it is the filming site for "Stairway to Heaven". I especially like the large span of mudflat revealed during low tide. The unobstructed view and empty space make a day at the beach stress-free. The mudflat at Hanagae Beach kinda of remind me of a scene in Il Mare when the lead actor was playing solo football on a mudflat like that. It gave a sense of loneliness multiply many times by the large span of mudflat.




Chinatown in Incheon

When we arrived back at Incheon station, we visited the Chinatown located just opposite of the station. I felt there was an over-exaggeration of the "Chinese-ness" in the building and the goods sold on the street to the extent that the Chinatown looked so "un-Chinese". At least that was what I felt. I can now empathise with the Malaysia Chinese when they strongly opposed to the government plan to set up a Chinatown in Malaysia.




Yongsan Electronics Market

Yongsan Electronics Mart is like Funan IT Mall in Singapore but much bigger. We were there that evening to buy electronics dictionary. This gadget is almost indispensable when it comes to learning Korean. I always have my e-dictionary in front of me during lesson.

The GPS Navigator for car seems to be a hot-selling electronics gadget in Korea if the advertisement space they are given is anything to show. Cool gadget. Singapore should really look into developing such gadget for the Singapore and Malaysia roads. Time to get rid of those cumbersome street directorys.

There is no Nokia or Sony Ericsson handphones here but they definitely have more handphone designs in Korea. One floor in Yongsan is just dedicated to selling handphones.