Korea | SeoulFidtastic 2017 | Travelog

Here's another travel post! In 2017 we travelled to the land of kimchi... It's a very delayed post (almost 3 years late) but without further ado, here's what we did in...

Korea! 🇰🇷

We were there for 8 days this time and unfortunately, I didn't take many photos. I have never been the type to take many photos on trips but this time, I've taken more photos than usual. I'm just not used to snapping every moment but rather live and enjoy the moment.

I'll be just picking out some highlights to share! Who knows how long it'll take me to finish writing this post or when it'll be published. 

WanderLiews 2016 [1]: Manchester ♥︎

Holidays are great fun! Especially when it's your first time flying solo! So here is a new travel series WanderLiews where you can read all about my latest traveling adventurers!

It’s probably going to take me a long time to write what I did on my trip this year but I’ll try to complete writing it before my next holiday. By the time you get to read this, a few weeks has gone by or even another month has gone by. So without further ado, let’s begin my recap of my great adventure 2016.

Singapore - Manchester - Vienna - Salzburg - Budapest - Manchester – Singapore

For those people who know me well would probably know what a horrible flyer I am. I have motion sickness so I’m terribly sensitive to motion and thus riding in moving vehicles requires me to take some medication. The worst part is, in all my life I’ve never flown alone, this would be the first time.

So my flight was to take off early in the morning. I arrived at the airport with my parents and just waiting to board the flight made me nervous already. Thankfully I was feeling quite sleepy so I was looking forward to boarding the flight and catching up on some rest.

The first challenge I faced after leaving my parents was looking for a water cooler. I had to take my medicine and I didn’t have any water with me. The only available water cooler was situated in the priority seats section and so I carefully entered with the permission of the ground staff. I needed to take the medicine 30 minutes before whatever journey so I had to take it quickly. After awhile, they opened the gates for boarding. I wasn’t in the priority seating but the nice air steward allowed me to board.

The next challenge I faced would be getting my hand luggage up into the overheard compartment. It was a newer and bigger plane so they had compartments that were higher than usual. Oh boy, I had such a difficult time getting my luggage up there. There weren’t any flight crewmembers nearby so I thought I’d just do it myself. Obviously, the luggage was too heavy for me. Thankfully, the lady behind me offered her help and we put up the luggage together. I did ask for help for the second flight, realizing how heavy my hand luggage actually was.

Seems like I’ve faced quite a few challenges during my solo flight to Manchester but it’s not over yet. There’s this portion of air space that had pretty bad turbulence. The turbulence lasted for quite some time, from 30 minutes to maybe an hour. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad so I managed to sleep through most of it.

Most of you would probably be bored by now. This serves as like a dairy entry for me so I’m recording even the most boring part down. Bear with me for a little while longer.

Once the plane arrived in Amsterdam, I started to get worried again. I was worried I would miss the next flight plus research have shown that the Schipol Airport in big. The details are fuzzy but I do remember clearing customs quite quickly and finding the next boarding gate pretty quickly. Finally had some time to catch my breath and use my phone.

Of course, the classic shot of the plane. Was updating my parents, best friend and sister in Manchester (who was still sleeping at this point) of my whereabouts.

The second plane was much smaller than the first plane. In my opinion smaller planes are less stable and move more during take off and landing. I did not like the feeling. By this time, I was feeling rather sleepy due to the time difference and so with another motion sickness tablet, I managed to sleep during this flight. I don’t recall facing any challenges and considering it was a shorter flight, the plane didn’t ascend too high.

I arrived in Manchester about 10 in the morning UK time, totally feeling relieved I survived the 16 hour journey alone. 棒棒我真棒! While walking to the customs, I faced my next challenge. While filling out the immigration card, I realised I didn’t ask my sister for her address. So I desperately tried to connect to some wifi but no, there wasn’t any signal. Then all of a sudden I remembered a friend gave me his address and he stayed in the same block as my sister so PHEW I wrote that address down instead, then feeling very clever afterward.

Finally moving on to the more interesting part of the day!

My sister was waiting for me at the arrival hall and she laughed at me when I exited, mostly because I was struggling with them luggage. It's hard to pull or drag two at the same time, okay.

We headed to her place via Uber. Uber, seriously making life easy for us. We arrived at her apartment in about 30 to 40 minutes? It was a pretty interesting ride, looking and admiring all the different kinds of houses and just soaking in the different country feels.

I managed to take a quick shower, wash up before we headed out for some late lunch and shopping! I arrived just before lunch but it was like almost bed time back home. So I figured the only way to help me to stay awake would be to do some shopping. Let's hit the drugstores!

Since it was Good Friday, there weren't many bus services available, rather there weren't many of those magic buses available. Magic buses are literally those buses with a wizard on it, they charge a flat rate of £1.50 to travel anywhere. If I'm not wrong.

Back to the topic! We walked all the way while my sister gave like a quick tour of the place. We stopped by parts of my sister's school.

This is some part of her school. I took it for the pretty yellow flowers across the street. I think they're daffodils?

Of course, had to stop for a touristy shot as well. Nothing like taking photos like tourists. We had to wait for the other people to finish taking a photo first before I awkwardly walked over to stand.

According to my sister, the weather was considered pretty good. It was raining or something like that the day before. It's no surprise that the weather in the UK isn't always bright and sunny.

When we finally got to Moose Cafe, it was full so we had to wait for awhile. What did we do? Primark! Just went window shopping a bit. I think we headed back before the time they gave us and thankfully someone left at the same time, so we got a table.

I had Eggs Benedict and Caramel Macchiato. I was worried the coffee would be bitter like how it was in Boston but thankfully it tasted so good! It had like whipped cream on the top so it had this creamy taste to it and at same time it still had the fragrant coffee smell and taste. I don't know how to explain it, it was just really good. Even the Eggs Benedict was delicious. It was really a good first meal!

During lunch, the tiredness slowly sunk in. It was bed time or rather past bedtime back home so if it weren't for the coffee and the excitement of going shopping, I would've probably not lasted the afternoon.

We headed to drugstores, Superdrug and Boots and I got some things. Then went around the town area. I don't remember we shopped at Primark on the first day. I think it was on the second day.

For dinner we went to a Chinese restaurant. I didn't managed or rather remember to take photos but we had some chicken and salted egg tofu which was rather unique tasting.

By night time I was feeling even more cold, we dropped off the shopping before heading out again with a scarf. The winds were really no joke! I didn't expect it to be so cold. Nonetheless it was refreshing. Hehe.

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That's it for the first day of our great adventure! Check back again for day 2 and more! Day 1 and 2 shouldn't be that interesting (plus was preoccupied with worrying about other stuff) but wait till we get to Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest! Oh boy, the adventure  really begins!

UK Drugstore Haul ♥︎

Compared to others, I would think that my hauls are generally quite small. Getting more than three items is pretty much considered a haul already. I don't really get a lot of stuff at one time but with all the little purchases, it does add up. Teehee.

I got all these products from two different drugstores, Boots and Superdrug. Personally, I feel like Superdrug has more options, plus my sister is a member at Superdrug so it made more sense to shop there. Then again, if it weren't for the membership, both Boots and Superdrug has quite regular sales. Sales like '3 for the price of 2' or something like that. I can't remember the exact terms they use. It doesn't matter how they call it, sale is sale!

Let's jump right into what I got! 😊

I realised I bought products for the face, probably because I already have enough items for eyes and lips 😝

• L'oreal Le Blush 163 Nectarine
• L'oreal Glam Bronze Mono 00 Blonde Sun

I got these items on the first day I was in Manchester. Yes, we went shopping on the first day. My sister brought me to a really big Boots outlet in the Manchester town and we got these items along with the Rimmel foundation which I will talk about next.

Decided to put these two items together because I got them together. If I'm not wrong I got them using the '2+1' sale. I can't really remember what they meant, probably it meant getting the cheapest item for free. My sister got a gloss to make it three items.

I knew I had to get the blush after seeing it on one of Zoella's videos (Boots Haul, if I'm not wrong). It's a peachy pink shade that surprisingly really suits my skin tone very well. I wore it on the second day in Manchester and it looked really quite fabulous 😍

I got the bronzer because, well, ever since I've added contouring into my daily makeup routine, it doesn't feel the same without it. I really like this bronzer for it's matte finish and it does look quite natural. The Korean contouring is usually on the natural and faint side compared to the western contouring. (Probably will do a post on my bronzers in the near future too)

The bronzer was a little bit troublesome though. I didn't check it when I got it, just took it and went to pay. When I got back and opened it, the powder was everywhere. It was cracked! I didn't drop it or do anything to it. So I brought it back to Boots the next day and did an exchange. The sales lady didn't look too happy but she did the exchange for me nonetheless 😊 It was a good experience though, experience of shopping overseas.

• Rimmel Match Perfection 200 Soft Beige

Once again I saw this product on one of Zoella's video and personally I don't have any liquid foundations. I've always used BB Creams or cushion foundations. Thought I'd give it a shot since Rimmel isn't too expensive.

Aside from the funky scent, I think it's pretty good! It has pretty good (medium to full) coverage which I really fancy.

It's of a pretty thick texture, more creamy than liquid, and because of that, I prefer using a brush to apply it. Using my fingers would make it feel thick and the application will not be as even as compared to a brush.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with this foundation! Although at times it does feel a little thick, after patting it down with my hands and applying powder, it does feel better. The only downside is that it has SPF20... I wouldn't wear this on a day when I've to be outdoors. The sun here is crazyyyy.

Also, I quite like that they have a large range of shades. I'm in the middle and actually towards the lighter side. I thought I'd be a Sand or something but I'm still in the Beige range. I'm not that tan. Yippee!

An extra interesting point, I used to think the testers at drugstores in SG were badly maintained until I shopped overseas, I realised, all the testers are badly maintain 😣  I guess it's not easy to keep an eye on all the testing counters.

• Real Techniques Expert Face Brush 

This is a new brush I got that I absolutely love! I first saw this on one of Weylie's videos and it really did a good job blending out her foundation. I first saw it on the first day at Superdrug but didn't get until we returned from our holiday. It retailed for £8 which converts to about $16. In the end I got it because it costs more in Singapore so I thought, why not. Plus I'd totally regret it when I came back.

So far I've been using this brush to apply the Rimmel foundation above and it really does do a good job! Unlike applying the product using sponge or fingers, I think using a brush like this would apply liquid foundations more evenly. I like how it doesn't absorb the foundation thus providing a pretty good coverage, making it seem that I have good complexion.

• Maybelline Baby Skin Cool Rose

I wasn't intending on getting this product but there was the 3 for 2 offer for Maybelline products.... I've heard that the blue tube one, Pore Eraser, is pretty good but since they have that in Singapore, I decided against it. Since sometimes I feel like I look quite sleepy, I got the Instant Fatigue Blur one. The colour is similar to my Etude House Face Blur one but the texture is more watery than that. It does make my skin look brighter and thus livelier?

It actually appears a little pinkish but after applying in on the face, it's no longer visible. So far I have been using this product in small amounts but I'll probably need to apply more to see how it works. Will definitely update you guys then.

• Maybelline Instant Anti-Age The Eraser Eye Nude

Wow, that's a really long name. This product is highly raved about! This is the product that I was planning to get as they don't have it in Singapore (some people have said to have seen it in town now). On the first day in Manchester when we went to the drugstore, the Maybelline section didn't have this product at all. I was totally disappointed! I thought it was sold out and left the shop totally heartbroken.

Thankfully when we returned from our travels, it was fully restocked! Maybe this is a new packaging or something but it doesn't matter, I was happy to get my hands on it!

When I first tried it out in Manchester, I kept twisting it but the product wouldn't come out. I gave up and decided to wait until I got back to use it. As seen in the swatch above, it looks rather light but it isn't too bad after blending it out as it doubles up as a highlighter as well.

I like using it for my dark circles because of the brightening effects, it really makes it less obvious. Plus, it doesn't feel sticky or thick which most concealers feel like after you put them on. I also use this to highlight my forehead and my nose bridge. Definitely recommend this product 👍🏻

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In fact, my hauls are quite mini compared to other people. I really just buy what I (think I) need so that I don't overspend and end up with things that I won't use. Nonetheless, if you're there to shop and are more adventurous with makeup products, I'm sure there are a lot of more products that you can get and try out. It's really nice to have a drugstore. Watsons doesn't count as a drugstore because their prices are quite high since all the products are imported.

That brings me to this end of this rather long UK Drugstore Haul post! It took me a few days to type this whole post out. Of course, I was distracted in between... Anyway, hope this post was useful for those who are traveling to the UK ☺

Daehanminguk 2014 Day 9 ♥︎

20th June 2014.
Daegwanllyeong Sheep Farm. Gangnam. 

It's going to take quite some time before I actually finish documenting this Korea trip. Hopefully it would be before my next Korea trip whenever that may be. Maybe with the next trip, I should try to do daily posts, so that I wouldn't have so much backlog to clear.

Anyway, moving on! This was the first day of traveling around Korea without Vaneh and LT.. Just the two of us.. On this day, we met up with our Korean friend Joohee! We planned to go to a sheep farm and she wanted to come along. And oh boy were we glad to have her with us because it was definitely so much easier getting to the sheep farm with her around and she was a great guide! We had no worries when we were going around with her ♥

We woke up early that day and headed out to meet Joohee. I think we went to Dong Seoul Bus Terminal at Gangbyeon Station. We meet Joohee at Gangbyeon and she brought us to the bus terminal. Unfortunately, we didn't take any photos of the bus terminal or the bus ride. Nonetheless, it was a pretty new experience since I've not been on a long distance bus in Korea before.

We mostly followed Joohee to the bus but the destination was displayed clearly on the front of the bus as well. You would need a little bit of knowledge of the Korean language unfortunately. We were traveling to 횡계 which was the last stop on the bus route. It was a pretty comfortable bus and it was around an hour and a half. I ended up sleeping through the journey. Traveling is tiring. Haha.

 The Daewanlleong Sheep Farm was some distance, roughly 10 minutes away from the 횡계 bus terminal so we had to take a taxi there. There were a few taxis waiting by the side so we easily got one. Joohee took the taxi drivers calling card so we could call him to pick us back to the bus terminal.

The ride to the sheep farm was rather bumpy as we were going uphill. It was located probably on a hill or higher land, however it's called and it was drizzling! It was colder than we expected and everything appeared foggy.

We didn't expect weather like that since it was summer! But I think this location probably had a different weather from Seoul. I'm not familiar with Korea's geography so I can't further comment.

Joohee searched for places to go for lunch but due to the weather, we decided to just eat where we were at. It was like a food court like dining area and it was warm inside! We ordered something simple but it was good too. Bulgogi!

We had a quick lunch before heading to the Daegwanllyeong Sheep Farm. We had to walk a little to get to the farm. Once we walked past the signage, it was quite a distance before we got to the ticketing counter. We purchased the tickets and they gave us coupons which we could use to redeem the sheep's food to feed them. We had to walk more before getting to see the sheep.

It was still drizzling so we used an umbrella most of the time during our visit. We didn't expect the cold weather so I think I was wearing shorts. The raindrops wasn't the usual kind but a little of the misty kind so our legs were wet, thus making it colder.

The farm was really big and there was grass everywhere! It was pretty refreshing since the view was different from Seoul and it was something we couldn't see back home.

When we got to the place where all the sheep were kept, we didn't hesitate to getting down to feeding them. We exchanged our coupons for a basket of sheep fodder.

It's not a very big basket but enough to last for awhile. Joohee and my sister got a basket each while I saved my coupon for later on. I didn't end up feeding the sheep though, gave the basket to my sister who fed the sheep continuously while I snapped photos.

A really nicely woven spider web! Taken by my sister. Thankfully the spider was no where in sight.

The little lambs were kept in one pen together so we headed over to feed them but the bigger ones would literally snatch the food from us. They would prop themselves on top of the tiny ones and reach for the food. Not nice, no snatching.

After feeding, we took a walk around the farm. There were sheep grazing on the other side as well. It was really quite a pretty sight. The area was big and the sheep were just scattered everywhere. 

Some people brought their baskets over to this side to feed the sheep but we already used up our fodder so we just walked around. I was quite amused by the little sheep droppings that decorated the field. Teehee. So typical of me. 

Just as we stopped to admire the sheep and take some selfies, a sneaky little fella escaped from under the fence, crawled under the board walk and popped his head out to have his own little feast before going back under the fence. It was like a free performance for the people who were around that area. I did snap some shots but I can't locate the photos... But here's a selfie of us!

We headed back the same way we came and it was really much better to have Joohee around! It would have been difficult to get to and from the sheep farm but we would probably have gotten lost a bit more.

We arrived back in Seoul in the evening and we went to Gangnam. I can't really remember how we got to Gangnam but we most likely took the subway.

Up till now, I find Gangnam confusing. It's really hard to get around as every turn and every alley are quite similar and after turning into smaller road, it's hard to find your way back to the main road. During this trip, we've been to Gangnam twice and both times Joohee brought us around. I think if we went by ourselves, we would have to ask for directions or use Google maps.

Anyway, Joohee brought us to eat Korean BBQ and oh boy, I love makchang (pig intestines)!!

Doesn't it look good? Ughhh... Why don't they have this at local Korean BBQ restaurants? I can only eat this in Korea...

It was my sister's first time eating this and of course she loved it. I think we ordered an extra serving at the end because she wanted more. It's seriously one of my must have meals in Korea. They should really bring makchang into Singapore. Also, since this was a restaurant that Joohee frequented, she managed to get service from the restaurant ahjumma. Hehehe. 'Service' is the best. 

What is 'service'?
'Service' is basically something that you get for free when you visit a place often. At some places you can request for 'service' to be given to you provided you've really been to this place enough for the owners to recognise you.

Simple explanation of what the term service means. I think some Koreans do just ask for the service, I'm not sure if I would dare to do the same though. You can ask for 'service' at the noraebang (karaoke) too. They would add an extra hour for free.

In Korea, people like to eat so definitely after dinner, we went for dessert! The dessert place was in Gangnam too. I'm not sure how we got there but I do remember the name of the cafe! It's Lga! We had the coolest bingsoo ever! We waited for about half an hour or more for our dessert, felt like it was the longest wait ever!

The view from our seat. The cafe was full inside so we chose an outdoor seat but since the weather is cool at night, it still felt like there was air-con. I think the cafe culture is very prominent in Korea. We were sitting at a cafe and across the streets there were a few other cafes.

Finally, our melon bingsoo arrived!

The same bingsoo from two different angles. It's seriously as big as it looks! It came with a side of red bean, which went really well with the ice shavings. Yummy ☺

It started drizzling just as we were about to finish our dessert. And oh boy, the journey back to our guest house was really shocking. Didn't expect so many people to board the train. Even when the train was full, people would still push their way in. We were trapped, literally, being the shorties amongst the relatively taller Koreans. Had to hold onto my sister's hand to make sure we wouldn't get separated. I guess that's Gangnam for you. It's always crowded no matter what time of the day.

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So that's how our 9th day in Korea went! The highlight of every holiday definitely has to be eating good food. Hehehe.

I know it took me forever to blog about this trip and I've still about 5 days left to write about. Do stay tuned and hope there were some useful information for those planning to visit Korea too. 

Daehanminguk 2014 Day 8 ♥︎

19th June 2014.

Busan!

Haeundae Market, Haeundae Beach. 

Paused blogging about my 2014 Korea trip for some time and I think it's time I continued writing about our trip. Details are really hazy by now! As to exactly what time we woke up and stuff like that, I can't recall them anymore, much to my disappointment. Despite that, most of the details are still fresh in my mind as though the trip was happened recently.

Also, this Korea trip post would be the first one since I've changed my blog URL. Previously it was almostkoreanme and therefore you would also notice the change in the watermark for the photos. Do not fret, it will not affect the content or anything else. The old posts are still around too, just with a different URL.

Moving on! On day 8 on our trip in Korea, we left Seoul for a day trip to Busan!! It was also Vaneh and LT's last day in Korea.

I don't remember how early we woke up but it was early. Since the train from Seoul to Busan would take about 2.5 hours, we didn't want to waste any time. Many of you would probably be thinking why didn't we just spend a few days in Busan? I'll go into details at the end of the post ^^

So anyway, regarding the KTX tickets, the original pricing would be quite costly so we did some calculations and decided on getting the student day pass. It was a more tedious process but it would allow us unlimited amounts of tickets purchase within the day! Since we were travelling once in the morning (Seoul to Busan) and once more at night (Busan to Seoul), it was something like a two for the price of one ticket.

I would really recommend you to do some research on all the possible ticket prices before going on the trip. I think it would really help you to save some money. Just an extra note: Korea has a lot of different discount coupons available for tourist so do take some time to check out all of them before your trip. 

Moving back to the KTX! It was a pretty interesting experience. The only train that we take often in Singapore is the MRT and that's just like a subway. So it's a new experience taking a long distance train and it travels within the same country!

The exterior of the KTX train!

The car number and seat number will be printed out on your ticket so not to worry. Besides the cars are connected so even if you do board the wrong car, you can search for the correct car on board. I didn't see the train conductors around much but I think they should be around to assist you if you're unable to find the car and seat. 

The interior of the KTX train! It reminds me of a bus. It's quite similar to that.

The seats were pretty comfortable. That's important especially if you're travelling for a few hours. I usually fall asleep quite quickly on moving vehicles so it wasn't a surprise that I slept through most of the journey. 

If you looked closely in the photo, you would've noticed that the seats are facing different directions. I think they do allow passengers to specify which direction they want to face. It's especially important to those passengers with motion sickness >.< 

Do note that they don't serve food on the KTX. You can bring your own food or buy from them. However, I would think the food they're selling would cost more than food from a convenience store.

Also, the announcements in the KTX are in both Korean and English so it shouldn't be a problem for tourists. They will play the announcement before arriving at each stop so it'll give you time to prepare as the train only stops for a few minutes at each stop. 

After resting in the train (and freaking out about the news that Baekhyun and Taeyeon were dating), we finally arrived in Busan! 

We walked out of the KTX station and headed to the Busan subway station that wasn't too far away. We were able to use our transport card from Seoul so it was convenient. It took us around 40 minutes to arrive at Haeundae station. There were maps upon leaving the subway station so it wasn't too difficult making our way around. 

We found the Haeundae market quickly! And it looked like those markets we often see in Korean dramas and variety programs. Since Busan was near the sea, it was seafood galore! The fish were all laid down and arranged nicely on the table. 

For a market, you would notice that it's pretty clean and not like the local wet markets. Maybe because it's located outdoors so there's more ventilation. Also, there isn't any pungent fish smell too!

Surprisingly for a tourist location, there wasn't any crowd. There weren't many people around in fact. Maybe we went during a non-peak period. Or everyone was enjoying their summer holidays elsewhere. It wasn't too difficult to get around the area since it was pretty much one straight route.

Looking for food places wouldn't be difficult as well. The restaurants would slowly increase as you continue walking. There were restaurants side by side and with a similar menu even! So it was pretty competitive. The ahjummas would stand outside their shop asking in various languages if you wanted to come in to eat. We checked out the menus to a few restaurants before we went inside.

We were looking for a 회 (raw fish) restaurant but sadly, it didn't seem like they served that. So instead we settled for eel.

Apparently eel is popular in Busan. Since it's really fresh. The literally like kill the eel only when you've placed your order.

This photo was taken by my sister. I was quite grossed out by the process so I stayed inside the restaurant watching our bags. My sister even took a video of the process! The eel was squirming around on the cutting board as the ahjumma was cutting it up...

Moving on to the less grosser part...

Always generous with their side dishes (ban chan)! 

The ahjummas set up the table nicely and they helped us with cooking the eel. So basically, the eel was still wriggling when they placed it on the foil over the stove. Seemed like I was the only one bothered by the wriggling eel. My sister and friends went ahead and ate it after it was cooked but I couldn't bring myself to just pick a piece up and eat it. 

The finished product! The one on of the left side was eel cooked with the red pepper sauce and the one on the right was just seasoned with pepper and salt.

I preferred the one with the sauce as it masked the fishy taste of the eel. I'm not really a fan of seafood so I wouldn't really enjoy a dish like that. However, some of you might actually enjoy this, like my friends did. They said it tasted like chicken! It's actually a good experience trying something new like this. I'm glad I tried it although I didn't enjoy it.

After lunch, we headed to the beach! It wasn't too far from our lunch area and we didn't have difficulty finding the beach. I can't remember the exact route we took but it shouldn't be that difficult since we managed to find it rather easily.

Comparing it to local beaches, I would say the Haeundae Beach is quite large. It's a straight stretch so it does look quite nice from wherever you're standing.

A panorama shot from where we stood at the 'entrance' to the beach. Of course, what do tourists do at tourist destinations? Take photos of course!

Since Vaneh brought her selfie stick, we were fooling around with it.

She had the bluetooth remote so we just snapped away.

I spy my sister and LT in the distance! There were little umbrellas set up around the beach which I thought was kind of cute especially if you're a beach goer, it's so convenient!

Here's Vaneh taking a selfie! Hehe. Thought I'd feature everyone in this post!

You would have noticed that we're all wearing long sleeves in these photos. The sea breeze was surprisingly cold. Once we got to the beach, we took out our cardigans and looked like obvious tourists being the only ones on the beach wrapped up. Everyone else wore swimsuits or tees and shorts. We really did find it cold though. Haha.

We continued walking around the area, nothing much to see but we just enjoyed the cool air and scenery. I think we left the area around 5ish in the evening and took the subway back to the train station.

We arrived at Busan station rather early, way before our train back to Seoul. Since we've purchased the student day pass, we went to the counter to ask if we could change our tickets. We managed to get on an earlier train. Of course, we slept throughout the train ride back too. We arrived back in Seoul past dinner and I can't remember what we had for dinner. We must have been too hungry because none of us took photos of what we ate. Haha.

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As mentioned earlier on in the post, there were many reasons as to why we decided to just go to Busan for a day. We were discussing before the trip and decided that it would cost too much to stay in Busan for a few days. And if we decided to go to Busan for a few nights, it would also mean that we would need to consider additional costs for the lodging there. The guest house in Seoul had a discount promotion if you stayed there for 14 days straight. Also, if we decided on a day trip, we could get the student day pass which would be way cheaper as well.

Hope you enjoyed the lengthy read of what we did on our 8th day in Korea! I'll probably try to finish blogging about this trip before I go on my 2016 Korea Trip! Yes! I'm planning to visit Korea again in 2016. Haven't decided where to go but most likely Seoul to see the Cherry Blossoms and maybe outside of Seoul for a Hanok stay. Planning to do more sightseeing than before.

So till then, do check out my previous posts from my Korea Trip 2014 and stay tuned for posts on day 9 to 14!

Beauty Observations In Korea ♥︎

Another blog post on Korea! I hope you're not bored of me talking about Korea just yet! There are still many things to talk about and share. It's been about a almost a year since we went to Korea! I've already forgotten most of what we saw and did there but I'll try my best to write my observations down for those who are interested :)

So let's get started! What I saw in Korea about fashion, hair and makeup!

Fashion

In terms of fashion, Korean people are quite fashionable! But that's a fact that most people already know. I'm, unfortunately, not really a fashionable person. I don't keep up with trends and I wear whatever looks nice and comfortable. So I think my sister had more fun shopping there than I did.

It was summer when we were there so everyone was in their summer outfits. I saw loads of people wearing denim shorts, cropped or baggy tops, plaid or patterned shirts with folded up sleeves, sun dresses and high waisted or normal patterned skirts!

I think at that point in time, patterned skirts were the trend, so even when we went shopping, those skirts were placed near the entrance and they costed more. My sister managed to get a few as most were quite expensive and we decided they were over priced. I think the prices of clothing in Korea really follows the trend. So if it's currently popular, it'll cost more.

We went to places like Dongdaemun where it's known for cheap clothing but honestly, we were very disappointed. We did our shopping elsewhere. As long as there were nice clothes and something that catches our interest we would go there.

Hair

With regards to hair, Korean people in general, they have really nice hair styles. Maybe they've just got really good hair stylists at their hair salons so no matter which hair salon they go to, they'll have really nice hair!

I noticed quite a variety of different hair styles. Long hair, short hair, curly hair, straight hair... but there was one thing that was really common... they really liked having bangs. Sure, there were people with long fringe but there were more than a handful of people spotted with bangs. Their bangs always looked so perfect and curled so nicely.

Something else that stood out was the hair colour. I think it was common for them to have variations of dark brown hair. I didn't see many with light brown or blonde hair. Then again, this is based on my memory and it's a little fuzzy now... 

Makeup

Korean girls (and some guys) are generally pretty good at applying makeup! Although it may seem they apply thick and heavy makeup, the concept they are going for is the natural look.

I noticed many girls using brown eyeshadows and have their eyeliner drawn pretty thinly. It looks like they have no makeup on. They have very nice and neat straight eyebrows as well. Natural looking makeup makes it seem like it's natural beauty and at the same time it covers all flaws.

For the lips, gradient lips is still the trend in Korea. It just makes the lips slightly coloured so it's not too bright or overpowering but it's just nice to add some colour to the face. And of course, it's very natural.

As for eyebrows, really needless to say, straight brows are in. Everyone is sporting straight and thick eyebrows. Straight and thick eyebrows makes you look younger and with eyebrow gels or mascaras, you can have your eyebrows match your hair colour. Well, I wouldn't be surprised what kind of makeup product would come out next since Korea's makeup industry is doing pretty well.

Plastic Surgery

This didn't come as a surprise. I mean when people mention Korea, they would think of Korean dramas, Kpop but also plastic surgery. I think plastic surgery might even be the first thing that people think about actually. Haha.

Back in 2012, I didn't see many post surgery patients walking around but this time round, we saw so many! It's actually quite scary at times. It's rude to stare but you can't help not staring especially since the patients' faces are bruised green and blue and there are blood clots here and there. Yes, they are just walking around without any bandages or masks to hide their faces.

Of course, over the years, definitely there would be an increase in patients with more publicity and more good reviews regarding Korean plastic surgery clinics.

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Well, there. That was some of my observations I made during my trip in Korea last June. It's based on what I can remember and purely my own opinions. Thanks for reading through all that! Haha.

To conclude, I've come to realise that Korea generally puts a lot of focus and emphasis on outward appearances and beauty. Not just for females but it's for males too. I mean the fact that your outward appearance can determine whether you can get a job or not, I mean that speaks volumes right? And also the fact that there is a plastic surgery program to help people improve their lives proves even more how much Koreans focus on beauty.

It's not wrong to want to look pretty on the outside but most importantly, what is on the inside matters most! :)

Daehanminguk 2014 Day 7 ♥︎

18th June 2014.
Myeongdong, Sukira (KBS Building). 

Details of our trip are starting to get sketchy by now but I'll try my best to give an accurate recount of what we did and also to provide useful tips and advice!

If I'm not wrong, this was the day we tried to locate Eunhyuk's cafe, then known as Tous Les Jours. Unfortunately, we arrived in the area but it was too near closing time so we decided to hop into a cab and head to Yeouido for Sukira instead.

I don't think we did very much on Day 7. We basically blocked out this day to just well... Shop. What's a holiday without shopping right? Hahaha. So since we stayed opposite Myeongdong, we spent the bulk of the day combing their streets and emptying our pockets.

We probably started the day out late since we stayed out pretty late the day before, waiting outside the SM Building. If you've not read about our experience, do check it out!

As we started our shopping trip around Myeongdong, we stopped at Olive Young first! This I remember clearly because Olive Young was having a sale! Olive Young is something like a drugstore and in a local context, it's like Watsons. Sadly, I didn't manage to get anything there. But of course, I went crazy at the other road shop brands like Etude House, The Face Shop, Innisfree, etc.

We went back across the street to the side where we were staying on. In front of the subway entrance, there's this Korean restaurant that serves food at a pretty decent price. We ate here the most I think. Of course, we had Macs a couple of times too.

My all time favourite Jjajangmyeon!

Mandu!

Tangsuyok! Which is just sweet and sour pork.

After lunch, we headed to Lotte Young Plaza. It's a new mall that is catered for the younger crowd. It's actually a departmental store I think but selling more... well... fashionable stuff. We went there basically for the SM Popup Store and also StyleNanda.

Address: 81, Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 서울특별시 중구 남대문로 81 (소공동)

Yes, we did quite a lot of damage at the SM Pop Up store. I can't remember what we got exactly but we spent quite some time there deciding what to get. Of course, we were happy with our purchases. Hehehe.

We then headed up to StyleNanda to check out their 3CE makeup products. We ended up getting a few items as well. You can check out the items I got and my thoughts on them here.

After leaving Lotte Young Plaza, the 4 of us decided to spilt up and do our own shopping around Myeongdong. I think we spent about an hour or so combing the streets and buying whatever we needed to buy. I went with my sister so we got some gifts for friends and family. And as usual, my sister got some stuff for herself on my tab. Hahaha. That's what older sisters do don't they? They pay for your things.

We met back at the guest house to drop off our things before heading to Macs for dinner! Macs tastes good everywhere!

I usually make it a point to try Macs in whatever country I visit, to like see the difference. In Korea, they have really good coke and fries. Hahaha. It's interesting how the coke is served in a plastic cup. So you have to empty the cup at the counter and separate out your trash for I'm guessing recycling purposes.

After dinner... Here comes the interesting part of our day!

We planned to drop by Eunhyuk's cafe Tous Les Jours before going to Sukira. Since my sister was a fan of Eunhyuk, it was kind of a must visit place.

Address: Digital-ro 26-Gil Street, Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul. High End Building, Uunderground 5B1 Floor, No. 105

We took the subway and alighted at Guro Digital Complex station and when we got out of the station... We were feeling pretty lost. It was almost 9pm and we were no where near the cafe, plus the street was rather quiet as well. So we googled for the closing time of TLJ and sure enough, it closes at 9pm!

We stood by the roadside deciding whether we should continue to look for the cafe and try our luck, maybe it would still be open. Eventually, we decided to just catch a cab and head to the KBS Building because we definitely wouldn't make it in time before the closing time. We still needed to walk for some time from the subway station.

Address: 13, Yeouigongwon-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 서울특별시 영등포구 여의공원로 13 (여의도동)

If you aren't taking cab, you can alight at the National Assembly Station and walk for about 15 minutes before arriving at the KBS Building. I've tried walking from Yeouido Station back in 2012 and it's definitely a further walk!

Usually if there are special guests then I think there would be a need to book a spot beforehand. Back in 2012, we were there waiting since about 5pm. There were already spots booked from the night before. I guess after the years, fans slowly stopped coming frequently and there weren't many fans gathered too.

So upon our arrival at the open studio radio, we managed to find a spot at the bench right at the back. It was good enough to see what was happening on the inside. I think we stayed all the way till the end of Sukira and we got to see Ryeowook leaving as well. He would exit by the lift lobby so fans would gather there to see him leave. I remembered a fan even brought her graduation gown in hopes that Ryeowook would congratulate her. Unfortunately he didn't. He seemed quite tired too.

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That concludes our 7th day in Korea! Taking forever to complete blogging about our Korea trip but I'll try to finish it soon! Do stay tuned for posts on the remaining 7 days of our trip!