Chasing waterfalls

I'm not done talking about Jeju yet, so I hope you're not tired of hearing about it. We jam-packed all the fun we possibly could into our short stay on the island, and I'm not about to leave anything out!

One of the many attractions that can be found on the tiny island is the "Mysterious Road." It's one of those "I need to see it for myself" type places. That's because it's a short stretch of road upon which one can apparently roll uphill while the car is in neutral. Or you can pour water on the road and watch it flow uphill. Mind = blown.

They see us rollin.' They hatin'.

We could not figure it out. How was it really possible that we were rolling UP the hill? And that the water appeared to flow up? We roamed around to look at the place from every angle. We watched other people do the same. We scratched our heads and told ourselves that it was impossible for water or cars to roll uphill. Then finally we resolved to tell ourselves, "it's an optical illusion" so we could get on to other things. 

The stone statues that sit and laugh at tourists who think they are rolling up a hill

But before we leave, I'm going to sit on this pig and think one more time about rolling up a hill.
And about how cute little babies and piglets are just leeches in disguise.

We knew we didn't want to leave Jeju without seeing at least one waterfall. After all, the island is littered with them, but you still need make an actual effort to get close enough to take a picture of one.

We wear Ray Bans and babies. Like a boss.

That's the way water is supposed to flow on planet Earth!

So we made our way to Cheonjiyeon Falls. It was pretty. Then we bought a souvenir, felt festive, and left. 

What the duck.

Our souvenirs of choice. Perfect for the plane ride too.
Jk, we just got miniature versions of these bad boys.

One last stop before leaving Jeju: the beach! Even though we stayed in a beachfront hotel, the beaches in Jeju weren't exactly the frolic-on-the-shore type. I guess the island was a little too volcanic for that business. But the views were still good, and the weather was still nice. 

Nothing like a happy baby at the beach! Lol.

There was a little sand to stroll on, but that was about it. This was the type of beach where it was best to keep our sandals on and not go in the water. There were certainly people out there splashing in the waves, but since the water temperature was colder than 90 degrees, I decided I would freeze to death in it if I went further than toe deep. So we just stuck to the shore and looked at our month-old baby until he started screeching at us.

Her face has Jeju written all over it!

Sweet view while sitting on lounge chairs on the roof of our hotel, sipping on overpriced beverages

It was a nice little getaway, despite having our little velociraptor with us. But how else were we going to figure out how best to travel with an infant? I mean, the obvious choice was to take a weekend vacation to a tropical island with him. The internet can give loads of advice on the matter, but we thought it would be best to get out and do that dirty work ourselves!

NSFW

I get it; my first Jeju post from the other day was kind of...vanilla. Could have been on any other lame ole blog in the world. You practically fell asleep trying to stay interested. It reminded you of trying to read a Toni Morrison novel when you were in high school, and you still don't even know who that is, even though you always draw that card when you play Cards Against Humanity.

Okay, I'll make it up to you.

But I have to ease you into it. Seriously, I have some XXX rated stuff I'm about to get to. You can't just scroll right into that, in case you actually are at work. So I'm going to start off nice and talk about this one time we hiked up a mountain in Jeju.

Seongsan Ilchulbong. Hehe, that's a funny name.

Seongsan Ilchulbong was a nice, easy family-friendly hike. Only took about 45 minutes total, and it was all paved or on steps. We could have done without the sweltering heat, but overall, it was a worthwhile trip for the views of the greener parts of the volcanic island.

It's like a vortex of stairs around these parts!

Just blending in...dont' want to look like a tourist today.

Taking another moment to act like a local

Lots of black, rocky beaches around here. Hawaii-ish island? Not so much.

So that was fun. Both that hike and that portion of this blog post.

Now on to the juicy stuff.

No, really. It's going to get ridiculous on here. Because Jeju Island has a place called Love Land. And it is a sexual theme park. I never knew there was an interest for this sort of place. That is, until I heard about it, and then I was interested.

The park features dozens of exhibits displaying humans in various sexual positions, as well as sexual organs in a variety of presentations. Go ahead and scroll at your own risk. The pictures speak for themselves.

And there ya have it...how we're going to save ourselves from having an actual conversation about "the birds and the bees" with our son!

Don't ever let PSL season pass you by

That's right...despite the fact that I posted exactly zero updates on this blog during the month of September, I haven't missed the season of overpriced cinnamon and sugar flavored everything. You may have been under the impression that I haven't done enough to post about recent adventures, but quite the opposite has been the case actually. I don't know...there's something about having a baby that just makes you about 1000 times busier than you were in your previous life. Funny how that happens. And by funny, I mean not funny.

So I'll get to those updates in a moment.

But first, this:

Our little muffin top is 2 months old! And I can't omit Sadie, our Dog on Roof, who is 3 years old. And just for the record, no, we did not have a dog birthday party. She's still being grounded for that time she got arrested.

So back to where we started...our adventures! In September we went to Jeju Island. It's a little land mass off the south tip of South Korea. They say it's like the Hawaii of Korea, but in my opinion, it was more like the rest of Korea with a little tropical vibe. And it was a nice quick trip; just a 45 minute flight from Incheon and we were there. It took longer to get to and from the airports than it actually took to fly!

The first thing we did when we got there was rent this Smurf car.

Might as well put a neon sign on top of it that says "TOURIST"

The car was not designed with tall people or babies in mind. Or luggage. Or comfort.

I guess this guy looks comfortable enough anyway.
His car seat claimed most of the back seat. At least someone got leg room!

But soon enough we were off to the Manjanggul Cave and Lava Tube. It's a cool, dark, and dreary place; not warmer than 70 degrees even though it was in the 90's outside. But definitely worth the trip to check this UNESCO site off our list.

Party of 3, headed to explore the underworld

Lava flow lines on the walls

Lava flow lines on the floor 

The big, big pile of lava at the end of a 1-km walk.
Aka, the crown jewel of this cave exploration.

Right near the entrance of the cave was a super fun looking hedge maze. What was not super fun looking were all the seriously inbred looking cats near said maze. But we forged on, knowing that we had to complete the challenge.

Have you ever made it through a hedge maze? Perhaps the corn maze is more your style? Cats or none, these things are all too tricky!

We found a bridge! Not at the exit yet, but it's a glorious bridge
and we can see all the hedges from way up here.

We made it to the bell! That means we made it all the way through!
No prize for winning though. Just the satisfaction of ringing a bell for everyone in the land to hear.

Our day would not have been complete without trying some of the delicious mandarin juice of Jeju. This stuff was everywhere around Jeju. It was served cold and icy, and contained plenty of sugar to get our bodies prepped for the upcoming season of PSL's and subsequent diabetic coma. Thanks for the carbs, Korea, you've made our day so fresh!