What visitor to Jeju hasn’t marvelled at the mysteries and origins of Dolhareubang with their big eyes, round bellies, and secretive grins? In my first few weeks walking around the Island, I never felt like I was truly alone - volcanic rock “Grandfather Stones” peeked out of the grass on the side of roads and stood watch at the foot of bridges and doorways.

With established supermarket chains such as Emart and the brand new Sammoo Healand Organic Centre providing broader organic choices, Jeju Life devotes some space to investigating our options on the Island. We profile Greenville Organic Supermarkets.

With three stores dotted across the Island, the Greenville Organic Supermarkets offer relatively convenient places to purchase organic products. Carrying a wide-ranging (though incomplete) inventory there is a good selection with one or two more unique items found stowed away in its recesses. We visited the Nohyeong and Gu-Jeju locations.

The open smile and warm eyes belonged to Myeong Gwan Ok (명관옥) as she greeted me on arrival at Yae Ji Won (예지원) in Bomok Village, not far from Seogwipo’s city centre. Visits to Seoul have kept Gwan Ok very busy during the last month or so. A couple of weeks ago time allowed her to share knowledge about her craft with me. Gwan Ok calls her craft Hanji Art Craft and if translated literally, one would be saying Korean paper art craft: A craft that uses paper made from the Mulberry tree.

English Plus Foreign Language Bookstore is one of - if not - the best place for English language and teaching materials on the island. The prices may not be as low as the internet. But for convenience and walk-in purchases it does rather well.

It is located in Shin Jeju, ABOVE English Book Town.

Along with its wide range of teaching materials are a number of bookcases dedicated to English language novels. There’s also a case of Lonely Planet guidebooks and books to help with Korean study.

Korean drama on a grand scale, “Taewangsasingi”, has been on TV screens since mid September. Starring Korean wave actor Bae Yong-joon as Gwanggaeto the Great (391-413) it follows the life of Gwanggaeto and his reign. A reign that establishes the Goguryeo kingdom as a dominant power on the Korean peninsular. The drama itself is a twenty four part mix of history and fantasy with movie extravagance for the small screen.