Young Gu’s American style restaurant, Jeju, South Korea

November 14, 2008 by David Holmes · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Places to Eat

Decent western food at decent prices
Story and photo by David Holmes

Folks, in Jeju it’s is no secret that American style family restaurants are few and far between. There is unquestionably a culinary void that is often pseudo-serviced by the occasional Western-style Korean restaurants (also known as “fusion cuisine”). You know the scenario: a restaurant looks deceptively good from the outside, but the menu tells a different tale: It speaks of candied yam pizzas, cream cheese stuffed crust, a garnish of sweet pickles and the inexorable side plate of kimchi. Or perhaps you are more familiar with the seafood pastas, complimented by the time-honored California “looks too good to be true” rolls unexpectedly stuffed with sweet mayonnaise, kiwi sauce, pickled garlic and fish and who knows what else. That being said, however, there is a plethora of delicious Western-style restaurants on the island, and Young Gu’s, located in Shin Jeju, is one of them.

Tags: , JEJU, SOUTH KOREA, western style

Jeju’s Shamans

November 11, 2008 by Brian Miller · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Jeju & Korean Culture

Shaman

Jeju’s mythical past still alive and well
Story and photo by Brian Miller

For many in Jeju, this island is a haunted place. It’s home to 18,000 gods, and nearly every rock, tree, mountain, pond and home is claimed by one kind of spirit or another. If you want to communicate with these spirits and gods, you can either visit one of the island’s many shrines, or contact a simbang. The ‘simbang’ (or shaman) is a man endowed with supernatural powers. He’s a conduit between gods and humans who uses his psychic abilities to transmit messages between this world and the next. They perform in ceremonies called 굿 or “gut” (pronounced like “good” with a hard d). There are three levels of simbang. The first level simbangs mainly do manual chores at guts while learning the skills required to perform ceremonies. Once they’ve graduated to the second level, a simbang will be allowed to perform minor guts, but is most often found performing music at the major ceremonies. The greatest of them has attained all the supernatural powers of a simbang. One such man is Kim Yun Su, a simbang of the highest order who lives here in Jeju and can often be found leading major guts on the island.

Tags: event, gut, JEJU, shamen, SOUTH KOREA

Alddreu Airfield harbors occupation memories, Jeju, South Korea

November 8, 2008 by Jim Saunders · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Jeju & Korean Culture, Things to See

Pastoral present belies airfield’s dark past
Story and photo by Jim Saunders

Winding down the window of the car, we shouted across to the farmer tending her field in the late afternoon sun. “Which way to Alddreu Airfield?” we asked. Straightening up a little and turning to look at us: “You’re in it!” came the reply. “And, to see the hangers, you have to keep following this road straight!” she added while waving the tool in her hand a little. We looked around slightly incredulously. Fields of crops stretched in every direction with only Sanbangsan standing tall in the near distance. We started off again down the single track road in amongst the fields with dried mud kicking up from our car’s tires. A few minutes later, the first of the remaining structures from the airfield appeared- reinforced, concrete aircraft hangers, overgrown with long grass swirling in the light breeze.