Fun times in Jeju Island – Alive Museum, Teddy Bear Museum

While I’m sorting through the glorious pictures of beaches, majestic volcano peaks and mysterious lava caves let me keep you entertained with some funny and light-hearted pictures of some of the attractions we went during our Air Asia X trip.

The Teddy Bear Museum is a popular attraction. Great hang out venue for couples, families and well, just about anyone who has a thing for teddy bears. I’m more on the nature side of things, and would probably spend all my days hiking, cycling, running, swimming on the beach and then pig out crazily on Jeju pigs; but it is understandable that a media trip should cover all aspects of a place; for we are not only writing for ourselves, but for all our readers as well.
Besides, I know there some of you who are teddy bear crazy! 🙂

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Alighting from our tour bus I took a look at the facade and decided that hey, it’s a small building. This tour shouldn’t take too long, I consoled myself.

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Boy was I wrong.
Situated in the southern part of Jeju and within the Jungmun Tourist Complex, just opposite Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum and Starbucks (yes there are Starbucks in Jeju), Teddy Bear Museum is popular with families; both local and foreigners and also attracts tourists from around the world, particularly from the neighboring country of China.
While the entrance is at ground level, it in fact the top floor of the museum, from which the rest of the museum below can be explored, accessible by both stairs and lifts.

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The museum’s well-ordered interior is organized into 3 principal themes. The first is HISTORY, where we see historical events are chronicled using Teddy bears. For example; the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

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The China’s terra-cotta soldiers.

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The Coronation of the Queen.

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Charlie Chaplin.

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At war.

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Amundsen’s Antarctic Exploration (1911).

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Within this area there are teddy bear “impersonators“, from the likes of Jordan to Tarzan and Jane to Marilyn Monroe.

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Next we viewed places, events or situations depicted with teddies.
Here’s Disneyland.

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A wedding.

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In Korean town.

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Boxing teddies!

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A fashion show. With some teddy ‘tais-tais’. 🙂

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A traditional Korean Wedding.

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And lots more. Basically all these are in a glass cases and visitors walks around viewing and taking pictures.

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Here’s a little trivia; just in case you didn’t know.
The Teddy bear is named after the 26th President of the United States of America Theodore Roosevelt. In 1902, Roosevelt was out bear-hunting one day in Mississippi, when, having failed to capture a bear, he was invited to shoot a bear cub that had been caught up by his attendants and tied to a tree.
Roosevelt declined, claiming it would be unsportsmanlike. Subsequently the story served as the subject for a political cartoon drawn by Clifford K. Berryman entitled “Drawing the Line in Mississsippi”, which in turn inspired Morris Michtom, a Russian Jewish immigrant to create a stuffed bear cub that he then called “Teddy’s bear” – because Theodore’s nickname was Teddy.

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The second exhibit is called The Art, where the figures of works of art such as the Mona Lisa, the Thinker, and the Kiss, are recast in Teddy bear form.

Auguste Rodin’s – The Thinker.

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Van Gogh’s Self Portrait.

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The Mona Lisa.

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The creation of Adam and Eve.

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Feeling bored yet? No? Yes?
Stay with me. I’m almost done!

Ok, here’s something to spice things up.

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Awake? 😀
I personally find this a bit ‘out of place’ within this kids-friendly exhibition space!

Moving on, a small space within the museum showed a touch of commercialization. Leading global consumer brands and popular television shows also find representation in the exhibit. Here’s the Swarovski Teddy Bear.

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And the Gold Teddy Bear.

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Coming out of the exhibition, the museum also offers a rest area where visitors can shop for gifts at the souvenir store or grab a bite to eat at Lotteria, a nationwide fast-food chain.

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Heart shaped shrimp nuggets anyone? 😀

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And what do you know, dear PSY is here too!

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As much as it is a museum centered on ‘toy teddies’, Teddy Bear Museum does concern itself with real-life animals issues such as pandas. 

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Moving outside, there is Teddy’s Forest, where one can take a stroll to enjoy the outdoors while viewing the different Teddy bear life-size bronze statutes.

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At certain times of the day, a GIANT, (and I mean really HUGE) teddy will ‘appear’ and move about a bit accompanied by loud background music.

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It is very popular though personally I find it freaky.

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I walked further to the garden and saw this un-teddy like chimpanzee on a tree!

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Further exploration revealed the ‘Teddy Bear Republic’, which sadly looked rather forlorn and neglected.

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But of course I couldn’t resist a picture with the ‘vintage’ car.

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Other than Jeju Island, there are Teddy Bear museums in Seoul on Nam-san, Seorak in Gangwon-do, Gyeongju (all Korea) and Hawaii as well.
Crazy isn’t it, with so many teddy bear museums just in Korea alone. I guess it’s due to the very “kawaii” culture here?

Anyhow, that’s it. Everything there is about the Teddy Bear Museum.
Like what you see? Then perhaps the Teddy Bear Museum is a suitable place for you!

HOW TO GET HERE:
Directions: At the airport, take Bus 600 to Jungmun, Yeomiji Entrance.
From the bus stop, walk straight south for 400 meters.
Address: Saekdal-dong 2889, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea
Phone: +82 64 738 7600
Time: 9 a.m.-8 p.m. daily
FEE: ₩7,000 ($6) for adults, ₩6,000 ($5) for kids
Great for families, travelers with kids. And if you’re a kid yourself. 😀

Note:
There are tons of museums on Jeju Island.
Green Tea Museum, Glass Museum, Jeju World Seashell Museum, Trick Art Museum, Alive Museum, Teddy Museum, Chocolate Museum, Jeju Museum of Contemporary Art, Jeju Folklore and Natural History Museum, and the list goes on.
So come rain or shine, there’s plenty to do on this unspoiled beautiful island. While I’m all for the sunshine, beach and sporty activities; those seeking cultural and heritage enlightenment or just pure silly fun need not worry because there’s something for everyone on Jeju! 😀

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

*This wonderful experience was part of our itinerary during our Jeju media familiarization trip organized by AirAsia X. Thank you AAX!

* AirAsia X flies 7 times a week from Seoul, Korea to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* AirAsia X flies 4 times a week from Busan, Korea to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

FLIGHT SCHEDULE FOR KUALA LUMPUR- SEOUL, KOREA

Flights From

Departure/ Arrival

Flight No.

Frequency

Kuala Lumpur to Seoul

08:50/16:10

01:45/08:20

D7 0504

D7 0506

1,3,5

2,4,6,7

Seoul to Kuala Lumpur

17:35/23:20

09:35/15:20

D7 0505

D7 0507

1,3,5

2,4,6,7

  • 1- Monday, 2- Tuesday, 3- Wednesday, 4- Thursday, 5- Friday, 6-Saturday, 7-Sunday

FLIGHT SCHEDULE FOR KUALA LUMPUR- BUSAN, KOREA

Flights From

Departure/ Arrival

Flight No.

Frequency

Kuala Lumpur to Busan

08:30 / 15:45

D7 512

4,7

Busan to Kuala Lumpur

17:00 / 22:20

D7 513

4,7

Kuala Lumpur to Busan

01:15/08:30

D7 518

1,5

Busan to Kuala Lumpur

10:35/15:55

D7 519

1,5

Days: 1-Monday, 4- Thursday, 5- Friday, 7- Sunday

This Post Has 11 Comments

  1. wow, i love teddy bears, so this would be totally fun for me! really creative exhibition, and your pics are the perfect way to evoke the cheerfulness of this place! 😀

  2. Greg

    Well, at least it wasn’t just toys on display. Some of them like you mentioned depicted history and world concerns which serves to be educational.

  3. Brenna

    I love teddies! Would you believe that I have all my teddies from my childhood stil with me?

  4. cleffairy

    Wahhh, I’m a big sucker for teddy bears. Used to filled my bedroom with them as a child, and I still sleep with stuffed toys. =.=

  5. Cal

    I don’t know how adults get excited with teddies. Or minions. Or kitties

  6. KJ Lim

    I know some people (friends above the age of 25, FEMALE of course) who would totally dig this. And I’m not going to step in here ever.

  7. Genji

    Ok the ALIVE one looks much my kind of “fun”.
    Anyhow looking forward to the lava caves.

  8. george

    Will you be returning to Jeju anytime soon – say this year?
    Jeju Island is such a photogenic place. Both landscape and portrait will be captured beautifully here.

  9. Victoria

    The teddies are cute! So did you buy any teddies home? The souvenir stores should have teddy bears in many sizes right?

  10. Riel

    The teddies are so cute, I am very impressed with the one who came up with the idea to build a teddy bear museum.

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