Aug2

Hello ladies ! Well , i receive couple of messages and emails to request for more blogging updates.

I realized that my blogging frequency kinda reduced by 50% ? Instead of 4 posts a month , it dropped to 2 posts a month. Well , kinda busy these 2 months. Plus my health was not really good in a point which is also something i want to share with everyone later. I will try to share at least 4 times a week here.

Its been 2 months since we moved into a rented apartment. Life was good. Felt like home though it was rented. Lol now i worry about moving to a new place if we were not to renew our rental here next year. Because there are so much to move and pack ! I really can’t wait to apply for his PR so that we can apply for housing here , settle down and start a family.

1 more month to our ROM in SG and 2 more months to our wedding in Busan. Friends and family members will be flying over and alot of accommodation arrangement to do. MIL sold off her hotel inn and franchised a BBQ restaurant. If she still have the inn it will be quite easy to house everyone because the location was very convenient. MIL’S apartment in Busan will only be ready in 2018. Next time my family members and friends can stay there if they travel to Busan.

So do i feel excited about our wedding ? ehhh to be honest , both of us don’t feel that yet.

Because we both felt like we were married already. After work , i will come home to do the laundry , cook if i have time and if it is not too late and i do grocery shopping every sunday.

Here’s what i prepared last sunday.

Korean Ginseng Chicken and Salad ( diced apples , lettuce , chia seeds , bavarian sausage and oriental salad sauce.

Took 1 hour to boil the ginseng chicken and while it is boiling , i will prepare the salad. So took about total of 1.5 hours to prepare.

Korean ginseng chicken is pretty easy to cook. Sounds and looks difficult but very easy.

All you need is…

1) 10 cloves of garlic ( do not minced it or chop it ! )

2) Ginseng and some herbs

3) Lots of red dates , i put about 18-20 small red dates.

5) Whole chicken (washed and with head and feet removed .

I trimmed off the fats and take away some skin ( not fully ).

6) 1 teaspoon of salt

7) 1 whole onion ( chopped into half )

Firstly , i boil a pot of water and add in some kelps. Let it boil for about 15 minutes.

In another pot , i lay the seasonings ( Onions , red dates , ginseng , herbs and garlics ) at the bottom of the pot and then i will put the chicken in nicely. This is so that one side of the chicken do not get burnt. This is also so that the seasoning will not all float to the top.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt.

Turn on medium heat for about 30 minutes to cook the chicken and after that i switched to low heat for next 30 minutes.

When i switched to low heat , i will transfer the cut the ginseng chicken into 4 parts and transfer the chicken and soup into the Korean stone pot. The stone pot helps to keep soups and stews hot because it retains heat. I prefer buying the matt ones.

Because my chicken was too big and i can’t squeeze into the largest stone pot that i had, so i cooked the ginseng chicken in a normal non stick pot and transfer it to stone pot.

It is pretty easy. Just throw everything into the pot and let it boil on medium and low heat and ready to serve.

So how about the dipping sauce ?

All you need is just salt + black pepper. Yes that’s right.

Saw the little dish that is between the salad and ginseng chicken ? That is the dipping sauce.

*
Salad was pretty easy.

I bought lettuce and cut them into bite sizes. Cut green apples and diced them.

Add chia seeds and sausage.

I bought Oriental Salad Sauce from a Koryo Mart in Telok Ayer street. The sauce is very nice and im going there to buy more bottles back !

Yumms

That was our Sunday’s dinner !

Well , i have invited some friends over for dinner and BBQ. I think the main focus was my skin care and make up collection in the room.

Here’s a “view” of my daily facial care routine.

Here’s what i keep in the toilet. Didnt include my cleanser in this photo though.

But below are what i used to remove make up and apply right after my shower.

From left to right :

After shower care :
1) Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum

2) CNP Laboratory Invisible Peeling Booster

Make up removers :

3) Biore Cleansing Water

4) Biore Jelly Remover

5) Maxclinic Oil to Foam Vit C Cleanser

Well , i usually remove the make up with Jelly remover because it is very gentle and i do not need to tug with cotton pads. I use the cleansing water only if i tightline my eyes with eyeliner or remove stubborn mascara.

The oil to foam cleanser was mainly to remove the BB cushion creams. Because it changes to foam after lathering with water , it does not give that oily feel.

Because i triple cleanse my face , i will buy mild cleansers so that i wont dry out my skin.

This are my serums and creams which i kept them in basket.

Sulwhasoo Essential Water , Hera Cell Essence , Leaders Vit C Capsule Serum , Bioderma Hydrabio Serum , Hera Waterin Gel Serum and CNP Propolis Energy Ampoule.

The Sulwhasoo set was a gift from Mil’s friend who works for Amore Pacific. I actually prefer the Hera ones which i used previously compared to Sulwhasoo. Well perhaps because im still trying to get used to Sulwhasoo right now.

I switch between Bioderma and Hera’s hydrating serum. Texture are the almost similar. Hydrating effect for Bioderma is slightly better but takes a longer time to absorb than Hera.

I like the Propolis Energy Ampoule from CNP. It is good and can see the brightening effect after few days. This is my 2nd bottle already. I switch between the CNP ampoule and Leaders Vit C serum depending on what kind of hydrogel or sheet mask im putting on that day.

CNP Laboratory is a Korean brand and available in SG’s Watsons and Guardians. I suggest you go to the bigger Watsons and Guardian outlets to buy because they have a bigger range. The small outlet ones have very limited products.

You can buy them from Olive and Young in Korea. But the bottles are very heavy.

Here are my emulsions, moisturizers and overnight treatment/creams.

Overnight mask from Sulwhasoo , Anti aging treatment from HERA , Moisturizers from CNP Lab and Primera and Emulsion from Sulwhasoo. I don’t use 2 moisturizers and 2 overnight creams of cos. It will be too much on my face. My Primera moisturizer is finishing soon so im switching over to CNP after that. I use the anti aging treatment on weekends and the clarifying mask from Sulwhasoo on week days.

Of cos , not to forget your eyes !

Waterin eye serum from Hera. I love this alot ! This is my 5th or 6th stick i think in 2 years. I use this day and night.

So i guess on average i apply about 8 products each time in the day and 9 products each time at night. If i were to include my 3 steps cleansing , that will be 11 – 12 products ( excluding sheet masks ).

It really takes alot of time and discipline to do so !

If you were to ask me to review and if the products above are worth buying ?
Yes they are !
I have reviewed everything before except for the Bioderma Serum and CNP Lab products. Will do so next time round !

Sep3

14 more days before back to home in Busan.

I was pretty nervous during the trip back in Apr and this trip will even be more nervous. More and bigger things to discuss about.

But before i get tensed up and busy with more work , shall just put on a mask and relax.

Some friends said im crazy/disciplined enough to put on masks everyday because they are too lazy/tired/no time to do so.

But if you really want good skin , you really need to take are lah. Some girls go to manicure/pedicure/hair treatments monthly/fortnightly/weekly. But i do this everyday instead lah.

I switched to hydrogel masks since beginning of this year. I used to go for sheet masks and found hydrogel masks abit too troublesome. Because sometimes i will scratch or tore it with my nails. But now i got used to it and prefer hydrogel masks now. Because it doesn’t dries up as fast as sheet masks and it also fits into the corner of my eyes and nose properly.

Besides using Sulwhasoo , Hera and Cel-Dermal masks , i am also using Leaders Insolution mask. It is one of the top and best selling masks in Korea.

Compare to Sulwhasoo , Hera and Cel-Dermal , the amount or volume of serums/essences in Leaders Insolution masks are much more. Such that i can even use the excess serums from the sachets to apply on my neck , chest , shoulders and sometimes i apply it on my knee caps and elbows ( areas prone to dry skin ). Their masks are so serums/essences rich such that after i place the mask on my face , i need to pour the excess serums from the sachet onto my palm and spread it out all over my face again and the remains on my neck , chests and other body parts.

You definitely need to try Leaders Insolution if you do not know the brand yet. I knew about this brand a year ago but only get to try their products (serums) this year’s April when i went to Korea. It is hard to find their products and so far i can only get it online from Hyundai mall or CJmall website. I wonder where Oppa’s mum get them from. It is hard to find them in the market.

Here are some of my favourites.

I usually go for brightening , collagen/lifting, whitening and hydration masks.

I will get 1-2 pieces for wrinkles. Ha…i probably need more of these in 5 years time.

This premium mask is pretty good and i love the smell. It is hard to find it even online.
I need to ask Oppa’s mum where she buys all her make up stuff. She told me ladies there buy masks in cartons and not in pieces. Lol. Because they use it so often . The last time , she bought a huge carton of masks for me ( about 100 over pieces ) . My whole luggage was filled with masks. But heh…i love the masks !

Just added some stuff from Hyundai mall , CJmall and Lotte mall’s website and can’t wait to ship them to Oppa’s house.

Going to bring an empty hand carry luggage there to bring back all my skincare and make up stuff.

Have a good weekend !

Aug26

Grr…i must find a time to go to River Valley to fix my Olympus camera. The shutter jammed and totally cannot work 😦 And my Korea trip is just 20 days away. Got to make do with my phone camera and hope i can get my camera back before my trip. Supposed to blog some new K-dishes too but all the pics were gone 😦 Arghhhh…

Last week , i went out with the Oppas , their wives/gfs for dinner at 2D1N and then we went down to Kream Beer bar for drinks. Pretty nice and cool place. A good place to chill out and bar snacks.

Because i am not a good drinker , i ordered the small glass and awww..the glass came with cute mustache print.

We ordered “Jwi-po”쥐포 which is a kind of BBQ fish snack. Pretty addictive !

And some cheese sticks to go with our beer.

This is not a place for dinner but a good place to hang out with your friends or colleagues for beer and some bar snacks.

And a week plus ago , i went to one of my old hair stylist at Raffles place. When i was working at One Raffles Quay back in 2009 – 2011 , i always go to her to get my hair cut , dyed , washed and blow !

Now i got a nice layered hair cut. She is the only one i go to whenever im at Raffles Place.

I had laser toning session done at Aeon Medical and Aesthetics Centre too ! Face is now clear and nice. You should try the new Hydra Facial. It helps to hydrate your skin for a more radiant shine.

You can call the clinic at 6733 2002 for an appointment if you are interested and keen in Korean aesthetics . Dr Kim and his staff are Koreans but they speak fluent English. Dr Kim speaks good American English.

I am going for another session of BBL laser to remove the remaining freckles on my cheeks which i blogged about it HERE before. I cannot remember the price of the removal but it is pretty affordable because it was charged by per shot of BBL laser.

Abit busy with work and serious reading lately. Lack of sleep and my eyelids were so swollen and high that they looked like i just had surgery done. Hate swollen eyelids but i love the prominent double eyelids. Ironic isn’t it.
Fortunately , i am pretty strict and stringent with my skincare routine. I will hydrate my skin properly on days when im very tired. Because tiredness can cause the skin to be abit dry at times. I also keep a facial mist in the office because of the air con.

I had some new Korean facial masks and supposed to take pictures of the packaging but my camera spoilt and i threw the packaging away already 😦 Gotta wait till i go to Oppa’s house and take pictures of the mask packs again.

I can’t wait for my next Korea trip. It is going to be very exciting because this time im going to learn more about the history. We are going to visit the ancient capital of Silla Dynasty – Gyeongju. I am bugging oppa for a countryside Hanok stay experience. A city girl like me never stay at the countryside before mah…so i want to go and stay for 2 days 1 night as an experience. Also , i had added quite abit of skincare products into my shopping cart and waiting for a week before my trip to buy and send it to Oppa’s mum house and i can collect it when i go there. Stocking up on my HERA skincare produts and UV Mist cushions too ! But im trying out other brands’ serums because Hera doesn’t have a wide range of serums.

Here’s something i added into my online shopping cart from Hyundai Mall site.

I am only interested in the serum ( the one in the middle ) from LEADERS. I really like the LEADERS Vita C Serum , LEADERS, Cell-Derma and AHC masks which Oppa’s mother bought for me. Can’t wait for her to introduce me more skincare products which i cannot get in SG. She is really very good at these and can even buy them in bulks and have it delivered to her home.

So many things to look forward too..My work , Korea trip and more !!

Im waiting for Summer sale and all the 1+1 deal before i click the BUY button.

Though i am abit busy lately , i will still make up some time to blog here at least once or twice a week with new updates on K- beauty and K-food.

Busan : Shop Eat Sleep

Apr13

Another update on my trip to my boyfriend’s hometown in Busan , South Korea.

Every morning , i woke up to the view of Seomyeon shopping and medical street.

The other side is the view of mountains. The air was so fresh and the breeze was abit chilly though cos it was end of Winter and it was really cold. Freezing at 8 degrees and sleeping on heated bed every night. As you can see the trees were bare from the winter chill.

So in the previous post , i blogged about shopping at Seomyeon shopping and medical street.

How to get there ?
Take the MRT and stop at Seomyeon station and when you come out from the gantry , you will be greeted with lotsa fashion shops and beauty shops like Innisfree , VDL , Clio Professional , It’s skin , Etude house , The face shop , Nature republic , Espoir , Holika Holika , Aritaum etc etc. Whatever brands you can think of that are Korean. The salesgirls in the clothing shops are not very friendly to foreigners. So it will be good if you can speak abit of Korean. And if you can speak and understand Korean , they will also be very aggressive in pushing their sales. Oppa and i spoke in English abit and the salesgirl wasn’t that friendly and i was not allowed to try the top. When we switched to speaking in Korean , the attitude changed. Suddenly become friendly.

You will see staircases at the sides , go up and and it is the street level filled with more beauty and fashion shops. The shops at street level are bigger but scattered everywhere. So it will be troublesome for you to compare prices, colours , sizes or whatever you need to compare and hesitate about. If you shop underground , the beauty shops are side by side or just opposite each other. So it is easy to move around the different brands and get everything one shot. There are more fashion shops underground than at street level.

We went on a trip to Oppa’s University with his mother. Yup , we were greeted with this beautiful beach/view which is just right in front of his faculty block. I was told this is the place where campus couples usually go on quiet dates and students have picnic here in summer.

Imagine sitting here and reading your school notes. Weather was pretty good that afternoon before it suddenly turned soooo cold at night. Checked the weather forecast and it was supposed to be cooling (18-23 degrees celsius ) instead of cold and windy. So I brought bandage and skater skirts , dresses , stockings and high waisted pants to be paired with crop knit tops but i ended up have to buy a new top and new pair of jeans because it was too cold. To be in fashion or keep myself warm ? I prefer to be more practical and that was to keep myself warm. So i borrowed the puffer coat from Oppa’s mother. I only brought a trench coat , denim crop jacket and a biker rider jacket.

This is a great place for photoshoot. Found lotsa secret places for photoshoot and if only it was summer , i could have done my shoots here.

I got my top from TOP 10 and jeans from one of the shops at Seomyeon underground shopping strip for only KRW 29,000. There are alot shops selling ripped jeans in Seomyeon. I wanted to get more but i don’t wear jeans in SG and it will be waste of money to buy all the colours i want to even though they are so pretty and chic ! So , i only got one pair. Im wearing size M . Their sizing are reallly small. I even wear size 28 for some Korean jeans.

The view was beautiful and noon sun was great before the weather turns cold late afternoon.

After visiting his University , Oppa’s mother drove us to Gamcheon Cultural Village.

It is like Italy’s Cinque Terre where you see colourful houses on the mountains and cliffs overlooking the sea.

Gamcheon Cultural Village is just like Korea’s own version of Cinque Terre.

Over here , you can get to enjoy cool and breezy view. And also learn more about Korean’s way of living back in the 1960s and when it is still not a developed country.

There are alot of phototaking points where you can go up to the roof tops to take picture and enjoy the view. If you are hungry , you can grab abite at the cafes or road side stalls selling hotdogs , spicy rice cakes and grab a cup of coffee if you feel cold.

Roof top on one of the cafes where you can write love notes and pin it on the railings.

Everyone was queuing up to take picture with this statue. I was on of those who queued for it too lol.

It ain’t scary as you think it is to sit here and take a picture with this little guy !

Oppa’s mother was feeling abit tired and cold after the long drive and walk . So we stopped by one of the cafes to have a coffee. There are alot of French themed cafes here. I realized that alot of Korean cafes are very French themed. Eg. the interior designs and music they played in the cafes.

You can buy sovenirs in the cafes but i think they are too expensive and over priced.

After Gamcheon Cultural Village , we went to Nampo-dong shopping street.

How to get there ?

Nampodong Station (Busan Subway Line 1) .

You can put Gamcheon Cultural Village , Nampo-dong shopping street and famous Jalgachi fish market all in one day. Because Gamcheon Cultural Village is just 10 minutes drive away from Nampo-dong and Jalgachi fish market is just next to Nampo-doing shopping street. So you can have lunch at Gamcheon Cultural Village or light snacks there , shop at Nampo-dong and then dinner at Jalgachi fish market. Also a super huge Lotte Departmental Store is located at Nampo-dong. You can do all of them in a day.

Oppa wanted eat Ho-ddok ( which is a kind of pastry ). So we queued for the famous one. There is a street in Nampo-dong which was lined up with alot of Tarot cards reading stalls and street food stalls. You know those you see in K-dramas. Where they had street food in a plastic sheet covered stalls.

Lotte Department Store Gwangbok is just next to Nampo-dong shopping street. Nearest MRT is Nampodong station , Exit 10.

The world’s largest indoor musical water fountain and the rooftop park, which is the largest in Korea and it offers a great view of the entire city of Busan.

Fyi , Lotte and Shinsaegae departmental stores close at 8pm. So you need to plan your shopping. Street shops don’t close that early and usually before 11 pm.

Street food galore. Street food can fill your tummies and there is no need to go to restaurants or cafes. So many things to eat and so many varieties of local food at Nampo-dong street. You can also visit Busan Tower located at Nampo-dong.

After the street food street is the shopping stretch.

Somewhere along this shopping belt in Gwangbok-dong , you can see an escalator and it leads you to Busan Tower. I have been there 2 years ago so i didn’t go this time. It is the Busan’s version of Seoul Tower. Kinda similar.

How to get to Gwang-bok dong ?

Take MRT to Nampodong station , Exit 1.

So in fact , you can drop off at Nampo-dong station and shop at Lotte , Gwangbok-dong and Nampo-dong shopping stretch. These 3 places are connected. So connected that you don’t know if you are at Nampo-dong or Gwangbok-dong lol.

And after that you can walk to Jalgachi market from Nampo-dong for dinner and go back to your hotel via Jalgachi station.

Difference between Nampo-dong/Gwangbok-dong and Seomyeon shopping stretch is that in Nampo-dong/Gwangbok-dong you can find more bigger brand names like MLB , New balance , Adidas boutiques etc and the shops are bigger whereas in Seomyeon , you can find more local designers and smaller fashion shops. Of cos , the ones in Seomyeon are cheaper than Nampo-dong/Gwangbok-dong. But for beauty brands , all outlets sell same things lah.

We walked further in to Gwangbok-dong.

We ordered Woo-Jing-Or-Tuee Kim ( Squid tempura ) , Korean pancake and Spicy Rice Cake ( Ddok-bokk-i )

Sooo nice !

Korean pancake with spring onion.

Shop and eat . Shop and eat. Because the street food carts were all lined up infront of the fashion shops.
It turned windy and cold so suddenly (8 degrees and im feeling so cold in my outfit ) ,. so the only comfort was to keep eating and drinking the free flow of Oh-Muk (fish cake) soup to keep my body warm. Busan is famous for their Oh-Muk ( Fish cake ) . You should buy them home or eat at the road side stall.

We were standing at the stall eating the street food for dinner and i don’t wanna leave because i felt so warm eating and drinking the hot soup.

Street food are very cheap. We ate so much and spent less than KRW 10,000

Jalgachi Fish Market at night.

So cold lor…i cannot take the cold and just want to go to the nearest Lotteria for a cup of hot coffee.

So we just rushed through a small stretch of Jalgachi fish market , walked back to Nampodong for final dose of Oh-Muk Soup before we head back to our home in Seomyeon via Nampodong station.

I bought alot of beauty products and make up when i shopped at Seomyeon which is just opposite our house. Last post , i blogged about the A.H.C (Korean professional skincare line) which was widely used in aesthetic clinics.
This post , gonna blog about a new serum i bought from Iope and a Leaders Vitamin C serum Oppa’s mother bought for me.

I heard about this brand called Leaders before but i don’t have the chance to try it because it is sooo hard to find. You can buy their masks in SG but not their serums , creams or cleansers etc.

This brand was created by dermatologists from Seoul University.

I tried this serum and i love it . Easily absorbed and after applying the serum , i can apply my emulsion , moisturiser and creams without worrying that it will make my skin oily. It comes with capsule beads which contains high concentration of Vit C. I have been using this for a week already ! I saw that there is a slight improvement in my skin tone. With this Vitamin C serum and other products im using , i think it makes my skin tone looks better and brighter. This is not easily available online and Oppa’s mother bought from the HOME SHOPPING TV program. Lol. That is her favourite TV channel. I tried to find it in Gmarket but it is not available.

Iope Moistgen Serum Skin Hydration.

I tried the samples before i bought this full size bottle. Some times you must be thick skin abit and ask for samples before you buy the full size bottles. I always ask for samples to try first so that im sure the product suits my skin condition before i spend money and buy. If im not wrong it is about KRW 49,900. Lol. I threw away the boxes and can’t remember the price.

What i like about this is that it is not oily and easily absorbed. Im currently using this and Hera’s Waterin Serum. I switched Hera’s Waterin Serum to night because the texture is more sticky than Iope’s. I find it easier to apply make up if i used the Iope one. Hera’s Waterin Serum is good and really hydrating too.

I had my Eyelashes done at Seomyeon eyelash extension studio.

I walked around Seomyeon and all the eyelash extension shops there are having promotion of KRW 30,000 which is approx SGD 35 only. I did it 3 weeks ago and the eyelashes are still very dense till today and i am happy with the results. Usually the ones i did in SG all dropped off within 2 weeks. But the one i did in Korea are still going on strong and dense even at the 3rd week. I took pictures with my HP but i have problem transferring them to the lap top to post it here. Once i have resolved this problem , i will post a picture for you all to see.

The shop i went to was called Magic Face. They do not have any website. I just chanced upon it and read from naver blogs and reviews from other Koreans. You can go to any beauty shops in Seomyeon to ask for the price and usually outside the shop , they will hang a banner or poster if there are any promotions. Seriously you should get it done in Korea instead if you are there for holiday because it is so cheap ! I had eyelash permed and extensions done for total of KRW 50,000 ! I checked with my Korean girlfriends. For eyelash extensions , usually it is only KRW 30,000 even in places like Seoul . It should not be more than KRW 50,000.