Busan Korea

Back to work today and i really miss the autumn weather in Korea.

Imagine clear blue sky accompanied with a nice breeze and the air was very fresh especially at the mountains in the day.

The haze condition in SG is getting worst. It was bad before i left and even after 2 weeks , it got even worse. My nose itches and i kept on coughing whenever im outdoors.

This post is going to be lengthy one with my personal thoughts , 2 good news to share and also continued updates on my Korea trip.

A couple of my friends who have been following my blog and instagram asked me why haven’t i been updating my social media platforms as often and why have i not even started snapchat ?

To be honest , i really enjoyed my trip this time without considering so much about taking pictures just to update on my social media accounts. I don’t want to keep thinking about what pictures or visuals to update on my instagram page or other social media platforms. I don’t want to spend time arranging the food nicely on the table for visual purposes. I just snap a simple pic and enjoy eating the food while it is hot and nice.  I want my blog to stay true where i jot down all my daily life and memories. I can be abit blunt sometimes but they were straight from my heart and mind..

I want to keep the pictures for memories and document my travels , food i ate , places i have been to and share genuine reviews and tips with people. Sometimes , i even flip back my past posts to refer to when i need to and read my old posts with my bf. Because i forgot how to get to that place or what brand , what address or how it looks like after awhile.

Now that i am turning 30 next year , i just want my life to be simple. Enjoy time with my love ones , document and share my travel experiences , beauty and make-up journeys. I enjoying sharing and exchanging tips and feedbacks with readers too. Just simple and sweet.  It is also time for me to settle down.

I know i have some regular and long time readers of my blog who have read about the ups and downs that happened in my life. And i am also glad to have their support. It was really touching to receive their emails with words of encouragement during my down times. During my down times , i was in no mood or in any good condition to reply anyone even though i read their messages because i wish to be alone. But i do felt touched by their words even though i didn’t express it out. And also i made friends with my readers and even customers. Like i said , it is time for me to settle down , so i have 2 good news to share with you especially with people who were there for me and always encouraging me.

First good news is….

Oppa and i are already planning for our wedding in Sept 2016.  We are looking for photo studios to shoot our pre-wedding photos in Seoul or Busan and also to look for wedding venue in Busan. Whereas in SG , we are looking for a venue for the ROM ( + event styling and catering ). The main wedding will be in Busan. Planning to do pre-wedding shoot in Spring 2016. It will be nice because of the cherry blossoms.

I will be tailoring my own hanbok for the wedding on my next Korea trip. I am thinking of pastel tones ( Ivory top with Peach/Pink bottom skirting).

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It will be a Korean + SG wedding. The ROM in SG will be a small affair. We ever thought of holding it on a yacht with a few of our close knit relatives actually because he was a ship navigation 2nd officer, has license to operate a ship vessel and he loves the sea. We were also considering holding it at a nice cafe or somewhere with a touch of nature because i love gardens and flowers and the budget is more affordable.

Here is one of my shortlisted venue in Busan. Something garden-ish.

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For 2 years , this man has never made me worried and he really takes good care of me. He supports me in whatever i do and he understands my fear and bad experiences with trust in relationships so he always assures me.  He feels and thinks that it is the responsibility of the man to take care of his woman and his family.

After going through ups and downs in my life and in relationships , i know what i want in a marriage. I only hope for a happy and simple marriage life. Just need someone to be there for me and to be there for me for life and our family. It has been my dream marriage since young which is to have a happy family with my kids and a dog.

I will document down my planning process and hopefully to share and exchange tips with fellow readers who are in SG-KOR relationships or weddings. If you ever held a SG-KOR wedding , please drop me an email at peonykissblog@gmail.com.

Thank you !

Life and work have been exciting and challenging for me these few months. If you were wondering what am I studying for and what industry did I venture into ,

Well, Here comes the 2nd good news !

I am embarking in the Financial Planning career.

I have always been interested in the Finance industry since graduating from SIM with majors in Banking and Finance.

For 3 years, I worked for a Private Bank and I am happy to be back into the finance industry once again. To be back, it is something that I have always wanted to do. And this time, I will be at the front line happy at crossing lives and getting in touch with people at the same time.

So from now instead of just blogging about my make-up and skincare reviews and Korea travels , i will share some of my financial planning work experiences and financial matters too.

If you have any questions or need any suggestions or opinions regarding financial matters , beauty and skincare , you can email at peonykissblog@gmail.com

So what about AE ? I guess this will be what most people will be curious about. It is still running by my family as usual. There were a lot of shifting and moving to a new office for the past 2 months but you can expect a new collection this coming Sunday ( previews are up on facebook page ).

I celebrated Chu Seok ( Korea Thanksgiving Day ) on 27th Sept with Oppa and his family. And that was when i met some of his extended family members. I spent the day in the kitchen helping his mother with the food and to serve the guests. It was a tiring day because the cooking and preparing started as early as 5am. All ended after lunch time and all of us knocked out till evening.

Because Oppa’s dad passed away more than 10 years ago , his relatives will come over to pay respect to his father on Thanksgiving Day. It is the day where Koreans pay respect to their ancestors and family members who passed away. Only the men will be paying respect and the women in the kitchen. Men must be dressed formally in suits , pants and shirts. Managed to snap a pic secretly while preparing to serve lunch.

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After the lunch , i helped his mother to clear up before i KOed.

Next day , Jinjae oppa took leave and drove us to a small own near Ulsan for the famous and popular beef BBQ. It is an hour drive from Busan. I just realized that the best food are located at the countryside. Cheap and good.

Supposedly to go to Gyeongju this Sept but Oppa has to renew his driving license because he has not driven for 10 years. So he has to attend a 2 day course and take the driving test again. So we shall bring the Gyeongju trip to next year.

Busan itself is so big. Went there 2 times and stayed there for 1 month in total but i have not been to every corner of Busan or even the outskirts of Busan.

It was a fun car ride chit chatting with each other and Ommoni is happy to have her 2 sons by her side and traveling with her. The BBQ place was so popular that we have to wait for 30 minutes. You can wait at the shelter near the pond.

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Saw GDragon and other celebs wearing the Seoul Olympic 1988 cap before. So when i saw it while shopping at a fashion concept shop , i have to get it ! It is the last piece too. He also wore one in the latest Big Bang US world tours concert held few days ago.

2014 MAMA Kpop G.Dragon Taeyang Good boy 1983 Seoul Olympic Snapback Hat performed

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I looked at what caps the celebs wear whenever i watch Running Man , Infinity Challenge , Returns of superman or any other variety shows because their caps are all so nice. The HALYANG cap which Kang Gary from Running Man is often seen in is a hot item too. Can see many places selling it when i was shopping in Busan.

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Look who joined us that day ? The youngest in the family , Bomi !

We have to hide her in the bag when seated in the restaurant. But she managed to sneak out after smelling the BBQ beef.

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While waiting , we went to buy the Hae Bbang ( custard bread ) which is quite a popular snack in this town.

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My bf and his bro.

They are my 2 big pillars and bodyguards.

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Jinjae oppa is such a good cook ! The pastas and food he cooked are so great.

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First time trying Samjang soup and it tasted so nice ! I want to learn to cook this !

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After our hearty meal , we drove to this big field which was just 5 minutes away from our lunch place. Popular hangout with the locals. Weather was perfect , grass were green and clean and you can see many families having picnic and chilling out on the field. Ulju is a town in the city of Ulsan located at the easternmost of South Korea.

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The first place to see the first sunrise of the year in Ulsan (below)

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2nd largest mailbox in the world and you can post your postcards and receive them a year later.

I don’t know is it the angle or my flat hair…why i looks so bah bah here ?

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Back to Busan after our trip to Ulju in Ulsan.

We went to cafe street which is just opposite our house. This cafe street is Busan’s version of Dempsey hill + Holland Village + Haji Lane. Alot of concept cafes here and the prices are affordable and cheap.

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You can find many interesting cafes with unique decors and concepts.

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Fans of lobster rolls can enjoy lobster rolls at only KRW 15,000 with fries. Wanted to try this but it was full house. Saw the rolls from the window and they looked so delicious with generous servings of thick juicy lobsters.

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We settled for pizzas.

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This big pizza is only KRW 15,000. So huge and we struggle to finish it. Bread and side dishes are free flow. You can toast your own bread at the “SELF” corner. “SELF” in Korea means self-service.

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After our pizzas , it is time for dessert. Saw a promotion and this strawberry ice cream bingsu cost only KRW 3,900.

So yummy with generous servings for strawberries and raspberries.

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After which , we went for our favourite bubble tea – Bubble Pong.

It is located across the road from NC Shopping mall’s Lotteria.

My favourite bubble tea place and i have it almost everyday.

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Served in a cute little bottle which you can bring home if you order the large size.

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That’s how we ended our day 10 !

Just started using some of the new skincare products i bought from Korea. Loving it and shall review it soon.

Can’t wait for my Korea trip next week ! But i still gotta work even though im overseas and wifi accessibility is very important for me. So every time when i go to Korea, i will rent the Wifi egg from SK or KT telecom. Well , if i remember correctly , SK doesn’t cover whole of Korea. Only certain cities and you may experience weak signals in some cities. So incase you are renting the Wifi egg, check for the coverage in the cities that you are going to before you rent it. You can see Sroaming , KT or SK websites for information. Click HERE for  KT’s Olleh wibro estimated pricing and coverage.

So before going to Korea, i will jot down my shopping list and also pack my luggage at least 1 week before my trip.

I ever blogged about it HERE .

I have not been blogging much about Korean skincare or cosmetics for the past 6 months. That was because i have stocked up enough and still using them. The products im using now (95% are from HERA are working well on my skin so im still using them ). I have blogged about them before. I have some new products which im buying. I was given some samples and i love it so much that i have to buy the full size.

Alot of people have been asking me about Hera and other Korean beauty brands and i realized that when i review them , i usually review all together and group them under the tag “Korean Make Up” or sometimes i forgot to tag. I will try to review each product one by one and tag them under the individual brands instead so that it is easier for anyone to refer to . YAY ? You can see individual brand tags at the side bar now. But because of memory size constraint , some pictures cannot be viewed. And some requested for me to redo a blogpost. I will do a summary of the basic HERA products im currently using when i have the time maybe this sunday morning.

Now it comes to packing my luggage.

I prefer to travel light. Especially im going to stock up a year supply of skincare products from Korea.

Well , heres what i packed for my upcoming trip !

When traveling during cold season like spring , autumn or winter , we need thick jackets, thermal wears , boots etc. They can be very heavy and you definitely want to travel light if you plan to shop ALOT.

Good thing about traveling in Spring , Autumn and Winter is that there is nothing much to buy and if you are traveling to Korea, you probably can only buy tonnes of skincare ! LOL can save money ! I only changed SGD600 to KRW for this trip lol.

 I love those kind of thermal wears which you can easily buy from any Korean boutiques for KRA 14,000 t0 KRW 25,000. I got some of them during season sales at KRW 9,900 !!

Not only do they keep you warm and are light weight, they do make you look good too. I realized Korean fashion styles are either very very tight clothings or very very baggy clothings. There is no in between. I love their skinny jeans because they are super tight and nice. But the sizing super small. I wear their size 28 even though im a ZARA size 34. I was like WTF ! IM FAT but chey….it’s their sizing issues not mine.

Here are some that i bought during season sale or in Spring/Autumn (picture below) , i just pair them with stockings and booties or boots thats all. They are durable and im still keeping them even after 2 years. You can hand wash them so there is no need to spend on laundry services. You can mix and match them with skirts , stockings or pants. When wearing skirt , i tuck it in.

If you travel often and prefer to travel during cold seasons and you happen to visit Korea, then you should stock up trendy basic pieces from there (like the ones i got below ) because they are so cheap. Even angora knits and fleece leather leggings are priced at KRW 19,000 – KRW 30,000 only. Don’t expect to wear them in SG. I tried it before…IT WAS SOO BAD AND HOT TO DEATH. I ended up with heat rashes. These pieces will look good with booties , walker heels or peep toe boots.

I don’t know if it is their photoshop skill , but the model’s body is too perfect.

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Leggings. It is a chore to layer and layer of pants or thick and heavy jeans. That’s why i prefer to wear leatherette leggings. Fashionable and also there are some that comes with fleece inner layers to keep you warm while still looking good and fashionable. Hehe..i have a total of 6 pairs. 2 normal ones without any fleece for spring , 2 pairs with thin layer of fleece for Autumn and 2 pairs with thick furry fleece for winter for sub-zero degrees. They are light weight, easy to pack and i bought them at only KRW 9,900 except for the winter ones at KRW 13,900 probably because of the thicker fleece layers. I can roll them and put in my handbag. Save space. I do not need to put on so many layer of pants when the weather turns cold because the fleece inner layer is enough to keep me warm.

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Fleece layer to keep you warm

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Trench coat. Their fabric seems much lighter than the ones i got from Zara and yet still keep me warm.

Trench coats are cheap if you buy them off season. I got this wool trench coat for only KRW 49,000. They kept me warm during my work trips and holidays. Cheap, nice and light. One problem is sizing. Their clothes are mostly FREE size..they are either too big or fits me nicely. Only the jeans are too small for me.

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So if you are running out of clothing for cold season , just pack 2 sets over and get the rest there instead.

Shoes and hats.

Just buy from there. More variety , cheaper and nicer. Especially their sneakers and sport shoes. I love their range of sport shoes and sneakers. Sadly , i don’t really wear them out often so i don’t buy them.