Jeju Airport Dec 30th 2007 Snow, snow and snow...

Today was suppose to be the first "snow" experience for S. Our flight was schedule to leave Jeju around 9.30am in the morning and immediate head up to the ski mountain where we would spend a night. We got up for breakfast at ~6am and was told that we just missed seeing snow as it snowed for a while earlier.

After quick breakfast, we head off to the airport. As we approach the airport we notice that the sky was quite dark. It seems like they are expecting snow thunderstorm and the incoming flight and outgoing flights have been suspended! What the $#%#&$.... Thoughout my travelling years, this is the first time I see so many cancelled flights on the board.

While our tour guide sort out the flights, we decided to walk around and take some pictures.


Pic 1 : Flight cancellations...


Pic 2: Jeju airport

Not long after that , it started to snow. For S, it was very exciting as it was her first experience . For me, it's starting to sink in that we might be stuck here longer then expected. Instead we should be arriving at our ski resort around lunch time enjoying the facilities...


Pic 3 : It started to snow..

Pic 4 : Snow covering the cars.

Pic 5 : Jeju airport souvenir stalls

Pic 6 : More souvenir stalls at Jeju Airport

Pic 7: They sell fishes here as well. Not very cheap though

Pic 8: B&L resting since we woke up almost at 5am. Time now is around 8am.

Pic 9 : Had drinks and some snacks at Lotteria

After around 1 hour of snow, it stop but the airspace was still close. We were told that even if the flights were allow to fly, they will first ferry the earlier passengers and there is only a few planes operating. Eventually Korean air sent bigger planes from Seoul to pick up the passengers here. We were told that our flight might be move to 3.30pm. Since we had this, our tour agent decided to bring us out for sightseeing and lunch.

We ended up going to a museum nearby. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed inside and this is the only picture I have.

Pic 10 : Muzeum entrance

Spend around 1 1/2 hours here and after that we were brought to a shop nearby the airport to Korean Ginseng Chicken for Lunch. I had to say, this is one of the best korean ginseng chicken I have ever had.

Pic 11 : Korean Ginseng Chicken shop

Pic 12 : Posing for a group picture

When we go back at 2pm, we were told that we could not get on the 3.30pm flight. I was so pissed off then that I wanted to speak to their manager and came across this scene. For the fact that I could not speak fluent korean and they probably will not understand my complain, all I could do is watch our tour guide negotiating with them.

Pic 13 : Everybody rushing to confirm their flight

Finally we got some positive news and we have manage to secure our seat for the 8pm flight. Though the flight to Seoul is ~1 hour, we have wasted a lot of precious time spending at this airport. This would be the longer time I have spend in an airport.

Pic 14 : Finally, having sandwiches while waiting to board the plane

Pic 15 : After almost 12 hours at the airport, we are finally at the boarding gate

We could not be happier when the plane took off from the runway. Now we could start to picture the ski resort but unfortunately the whole day have been wasted. Stay tune on my next post on what we have missed out on the ski slopes.