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One of the highlights of my trip to South Korea’s Jeju Island in October 2019 was the Jeju Folk Village, a restored commercial village. It is quite the perfect showcase of what life was like in the past. The thatch houses were an eye-opener. We were also lucky to spot certain period artefacts.

But what surprised my family and I the most was the fact that the guide that took us around could speak fluent Indonesian, having lived in Jakarta for a long time. Many words in our Standard Malaysian Malay Language find its roots in the Indonesian Language. The funniest part was when he was explaining about the horses, which play an important part in Jeju Island’s history. He actually mentioned ‘kuda betina’ & ‘kuda jantan’ (female + male horse).

Many who have watched the period drama ‘Jewel in the Palace’ (Dae Jang Geum in Korean or Da Chang Jin in Standard Chinese) would enjoy and appreciate coming here. What’s interesting is that the theme song ‘Onara’ for the drama was sung in ancient Korean, something that barely anyone practices or uses today.

The guide, in his 70s, was also kind enough to let us try out some juices that can tell us the state of our body condition, whether we were having digestive issues, were we were worn out, whether we were having headaches and everything else. He does it based on what you can taste.

I remember buying a bottle of horse oil cream and some other products from the guide, who was also selling them.

Perhaps it’s time for me to re-watch ‘Jewel in the Palace’.