Arrived early at this port this morning. Jeju (or Cheju) is an island south of the Korean peninsula. It is the largest island of S. Korea with a population of 560,000, with half of them living in the city of Jeju. Because of its natural beauty, it has become a tourist destination. Last year more than 6 million tourists visited this island. Many call it the Hawaii of Korea. It has a busy airport with flights arriving and departing about every 6 minutes.
In the middle of the island is Hallasan National Park with its volcano, Sanjumburi Crater and huge lava tubes. It is this area that makes it a UNESCO Heritage Site. Because of the volcano, most of the island is made up of porous rock. This makes it difficult to grow rice because when it rains, the water goes through the rock and is not retained on the land. It does provide the island with wonderful mineral water, however.
There is a lot to see and do on this island, but we had such a short time, we had to make a choice. So, we went to the Nanta performance.
On the way, we drove through the city and saw streets lined with cherry blossoms and Korean lanterns.
Nanta was first performed in Korea in 1997 and has since been performed around the world. It was the first Asian show to stage an off-Broadway musical in 2004.
It is a non-verbal performance based on the rhythms of “samullori” (traditional Korean percussion instruments). It is about 4 cooks who have one hour to prepare a wedding banquet. While cooking they turn all kinds of kitchen items into percussion instruments like pots, pans, knives, chopping boards, water bottles, and even each other!
The stage set up with cooking stations. We couldn’t take pictures during the performance.
It is a comedy that has the audience laughing and cheering. There is audience participation as well. It lasted 1 1/2 hours and was so well worth seeing. We were only sorry they didn’t have a DVD to sell so we could share this fun event with everyone.
We had time for a quick shop at a Duty Free store. It was either high end name brand items or junky souvenirs. We passed. At the terminal we picked up a Korean t-shirt, some “rock people” and their special chocolate candy filled with tangerine filling from their local Hagyul tangerine trees. The thing with the rock people is this: there are authentic “harubang” stones on this island that resemble Norway’s famed trolls. The name loosely translates “stone grandfather” and the figures are believed to harbor ancestral spirits which bring you good luck. So, they make these little rock people who are supposed to do the same!
Had a grilled burger back on board the ship as we sailed off for Japan. Read, did the computer, and relaxed before dinner at 6:30 with Craig and Diane in the Italian restaurant on the Lido deck. Great discussion of the life of the crew.
Went to the ship’s entertainment, Jeff Trachta. He sang and did impressions and it was a fun show. Getting ready for our first day in Japan tomorrow!
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