Busan : My Family in Korea

We always enjoyed our walk and coffee at Gamcheon Cultural Village.

Here are some pictures taken at Gamcheon 2 months ago.

During our last trip , we rented the traditional 1960s Korean school uniforms for KRW8,000 per set at one of the souvenir shops. They have lockers and changing rooms for your to change and keep your clothes and belongings. It comes with the cap for the boys but i think hor…my hubby head too big haha ..cannot find his size sia..LOL !

received_1398131710214715

img-20161013-wa0036-a

So we went around Gamcheon village to take pictures and mimicked some K-drama scenes lol.

His no-socks/ankle socks look damn beng lor..very funny.

20161013_141057a

Already going to my 3rd year in the financial advisory industry in a couple of months’ time. Time really flies. Im turing 31 next year ㅠ ㅠ . Going into 3rd year soon..but i have some of my friends who said these things straight into my face “Wah you go find those lonely single men lah…sure want to be your client” , “All your clients are men right ? They see you chio so want you to be your advisor what”. Seriously, i didn’t expect my friends to say these kind of things to me and only after i go into this line , then i see the true colours of some of my friends. Sometimes they say these kind of things infront of my husband , i felt that they are disrespecting him also. Actually to be honest , these group of friends are not very close friends lah.

When i heard those things for the first time , i was angry . The 2nd time i heard such stuff , i was damn sian…then third time leh, immune liao…and i just replied them ” ya lor “. There is no point to login to my clients list system and show them that infact i do up financial planning for whole families , husbands + wives , babies , children , young adults , girlfriends+boyfriends, newly weds , mummies-to-be and single ladies. And these groups form 95% of my clientele base. If people want to talk about me..then let them talk lor….the more they say and gossip , the more stupid they sound.

No matter what job or work you do, don’t get involve in politics or gossips. Stay grounded and do your part. Stay away from negativity.

These 2 weeks were very productive. I met alot of mummies-to-be and young single ladies. Met up with some mummies-to-be to do up financial planning for them and their babies. I learnt alot of things and tips from them about parenthood and things to look out for during pregnancy. All these knowledge helped me alot in my work because i get first hand tips  and get to understand their concerns. There were some unfortunate cases and some happy news. And sometimes i will share those experiences (without mentioning names or personal details of course ! ) with other clients so that they will be aware also. Few months ago , i went window shopping at those kiddo shops that sell toys , necessities etc , childcare and tuition centres to understand the cost of raising a child instead of just looking at the provided statistics. Raising a child in SG is really not cheap. Doing these kind of surveys help me alot in my future family planning. Because we do have thoughts of sending our child to Korean International School (pre-school) infuture so he/she can learn 3 languages altogether. But sending a child to an international school is really not cheap but i believe every parents want the best for their child.

Well, you must be thinking …wah Peiling haven’t even plan for a child yet and already think so far ???!!!

Actually not that we are thinking too far…but whenever we meet up with friends or his Korean friends who are mostly married with kids , they will ask us these kind of questions eg “When will you send your kids to study?” , “How are you guys going to teach your child English , Chinese and Korean at the same time” etc etc..

So when people asked us these kind of questions, of cos we will start to think and ask ourselves lor.  Tio boh ?

Nevertheless,  we will work hard for our future hand in hand. Both of us are already in our 30s and we just want stability.

20161013_140930a

Talking about stability…i believe those in mailing list were informed that i decided to stop Agneselle already. 31st Dec is the last day of sale (GOODBYE SALE $5 storewide)  and mid Jan 2017 is the last day of operation (31st Dec to 17th Jan is to clean up). It is a difficult decision but i have decided to let go.

#Smartlady #SGAhjumma #KBS 

The latest Kdrama made me laugh and teared. Not sure if you have watched Legend of the Blue Sea but Lee Minho is sooo suave in this drama. Jun Ji-hyun still look the same as she was in My Sassy Girl back in 2000.

legend_of_the_blue_sea_poster the-legend-of-the-blue-sea-is-a-2016-south-korean-television-series-starring-jun-ji-hyun-and-lee-min-ho

This OST is one of my favourite so far after the DOTS drama.

2016 was an eventful year.
Firstly we have Song Joong Ki to give a romantic start and Park Bo Gum to spice up the summer and now Lee Min Ho to end the year with a bang. Wahh ! Drama year 2016. This year is one with the few of the best dramas.

Met up with the KBS girls 2 weeks ago . #KBS stands for Korean Boyfriends and Spouses. It is made up of a group of Singaporean wives with Korean husbands/fiances. The group is slowly expanding and we are having our first Xmas party in 3 weeks’ time. Every gathering is full of exciting and interesting topics. Im so glad to learn from the girls and also to share from my part. Glad to know that we are always giving each other support whether in SG or KR.

1479307252869

1.5 months after my wedding in Korean liao but there are alot of people asking me how is my married life. And any difference ?

Well , i will say it just got busier and also more responsibility. Being a working wife is not easy and i really 佩服 those who did it for many years. Holding 2 positions both outside and at home is not an easy task.

My day start quite early. 730am wake up to prepare breakfast and shower to prep for work , keep the laundry and set the washing machine timer for the next batch of laundry. Back at home in the evening ( if i have no evening appt ) to cook , wash up , mop and vacuum the floor. I think the whole thing ended about 930pm before i can take a break. Then i turn in at 12am after finishing up some work. Saturday morning was spent making brunch before i go for my Korean class and back home to cook dinner or go for appt. On Sunday , it is “toilet washing” day and another round of mass vacuum and mopping and grocery shopping.

So that sums up what i do at home when i don’t have any appointments , prospecting or at roadshows and on weekends.

Last week , i cooked Japchae for my hubby’s softball team’s bbq night. Took me 3 hours to prep and cook because our wok is too small so i have to do in batches. Woke up at 6am to prepare it before i go for appointment with my client and then to Korean class at 1pm. Then back home again in the afternoon to recook again to heat up. To cook a large tray is alot of work esp for Japchae. Easy to cook but alot of work to do. Alot of cutting , alot of frying and mixing.

Click HERE for the Jap Chae receipe i shared back in August.

 20161126_173826

I also made some kimchi. This kimchi was fermented for 3 weeks.

20161126_174108

Im glad it tasted good because hubby secretly “kope” a bowl of Jap chae and kimchi. He knows i will nag at him if i find him eating away after i cooked. No wonder keeps getting lesser and lesser and i have to cook more again.

And also , i received this question alot ” Do you control the finances in the family ? Did Ryunjae give you ALL his salary ?”.

Well , many asked me this question was because it is a Korean culture where the husband gives all his salary to his wife. The wife is the one who manages the finance in the family. And she will give her husband some allowance (either monthly/weekly/daily). Kinda opposite from the traditional chinese culture and modern culture these days.

Firstly , im not a Korean so my thinking is abit different. Thus we tweak it abit. I think that he is old enough and a mature man who can handle his own finances. Plus he is not someone who spends on alcohol , branded stuff , shopping or even gadgets. To be honest , he spends most of his time at home to watch baseball matches. So i guess one thing that cost $$ every month is probably mobile data. Because he is forever using his phone to watch baseball matches/news/political news/webtoons.

But also being his financial adviser , i get him to open 2 accounts. 1 for saving and 1 for expenses. So every month first day , he will do a standing instruction to transfer a fix amount into the expenses account. That account pay for his food , transport and leisure activities. Whereas premiums for the insurances and saving plans which he signed with me and also rental of our place will be deducted from his saving account instead. Our grocery shopping also come from that expenses account.

He trusted me and he knows im a saver and i am better at investing and saving money to help him to manage his wealth. He gave me his ATM card since i manage the finances and he just have his credit card for emergency use.

This method is very useful. The saving rate increases too. Of cos there are some other tips i shared with him and my clients too.

Talking about saving money , it is time for #Smartlady topic.

Most of my clients are families, ladies or young couples or newly weds. And most of the ladies have problem with savings because they shop alot online. Online shopping can be very sinful and addictive. Because i was a victim also. So now i limit myself as in not how much i can cart out each time but when can i shop.

I shop only in June and year end Nov/Dec. Reason is because there will be alot of sales everywhere and somehow the nicest designs are out during summer or spring which is more suitable for SG’s weather. I shop more in Taobao recently. Most of my buys are less than SGD30 except for the coats which cost about SGD50. And i only buy when i need something and i mean i really need it.  I buy things but i don’t spend money anyhow.

Yup , so i actually went on a “shopping drought” from Jan to May and June to October. The only thing i bought was skincare in between because i CANNOT live without my daily skincare routine. But i don’t anyhow buy lah. I make sure im left with half a month supply before i buy a new bottle. And also before i buy , i will ask for samples to test out and see if is suitable for my skin before i buy the full product.

I have the habit of putting everything into cart but never cart out. Because some of the items in the cart i know that i added them in on impulse lol..so i wont check out. Only when i need an item ( eg my bag tore recently ) so i bo bian have to buy one.

A client of mine has problem saving because she spend about $2k a month on clothes online so she decided to do up a saving plan with me. It is not easy to ask someone to “quit” one thing totally but i encouraged her to slowly cut down bit by bit. It worked. She see her savings increases and it gave her the courage to make more effort to save more besides saving in a saving plan. It is all about discipline. Save it at somewhere you don’t see it. Out of sight , out of mind and you will not think of spending.

If you want to shop and buy clothes without spending alot of moolah,  you can try Taobao.  I got some work wear for 2017. Well , i have only 5-7 sets of work clothes and have been wearing same thing for the past 8 months. Some of them started furring because i wear them at least twice a week. It is always that same ribbed top with culottes/skirts or the simple black dress. Time for a change lol. You know you need it when your male client asked why you always wear same clothes to meet him. Just kidding lol. But he really did said that.

Here are some work clothes which i got at less than RMB35 (SGD7) and the quality was really a surprise.

The skirt cost only RMB29 which is approx SGD 6.

1054364465

Back pic of pencil skirt at RMB 29 (SGD 6)

1212506391

Bag to store my documents/files/ipad for work – RMB 33 (SGD 6.50)

20161202_145320

Stripe skirt (got the black and white one) for RMB 25 (SGD 5).

2143421671

Here’s what i got at less than RMB 99 (SGD 20)

RMB 99 (SGD 20)

824121449

RMB 89 (SGD 18). Getting this for a wedding dinner.

2094528203

Got the silver pair at RMB 88 (SGD 18). Because i have to walk alot during roadshows or at work , my feet sweat alot and i have to change my shoes every 3 months. So i won’t really spend alot on shoes. Probably a $20-$30 pair which can last me for 3 months at least.

1692407577

Got this work dress at RMB 99 (SGD 20). Saw some shops in FEP selling this at $229 and heng ah i found this on Taobao when i was swiping taobao app before i sleep.

1579054657

Travelling to Korea in winter and need a winter coat. So i got this at RMB 198 (SGD 40) .

Seriously , this coat is really damn thick. Inside has quilted paddings and really good quality. This shop sell coats that are supplied to Korea.

2014219152

I am very taken back by the quality of the Taobao stuff i got. I got all the above for SGD 145 only and shipping was RMB 105 (SGD 20 partly because of the heavy coat and shoe box). So add up to $165. Shipping per item is an average of SGD $2.00 only. These stuff will last me for next 1 year.

Lol…i think im quite kiam..i wont cart out anything more than RMB 200 (SGD 40)  for coats and RMB 100 (SGD 20) for dresses/skirts/tops.

Go for SALES , Go for CHEAPER alternatives and CONTROL your spending.

Sometimes i will ask my clients to go home and open their wardrobe, ask them what are they going to do to those that they don’t intend to wear anymore and how many times have they worn per piece in their wardrobe ? How many pieces were bought and ended up sitting there in the wardrobe doing nothing ? How many pieces of clothes (don’t count number of bags of clothes but count the number of pieces !) did they donate off to salvation army or throw away during CNY spring cleaning ?

You can buy clothes that you like. But THINK and CONTROL before you buy. Do you really need it ? Is it on impulse ? How long will you wear ? Save for bigger things in life. Save for your future.

What is your dream ? Do you have one ?

I have mine and let me share with you.

My hubby and i are saving for our house. We are waiting for his PR application and we want to have a house of our own. We want to have kids and give them good education and life. That is why we are both working really hard at work and giving our best. He works hard for his company and i work hard , take care and protect all my clients. I protect my clients as in not “protective” adviser who scared other people poach my clients. I believe my sincerity is one thing that won them over and i will help them in anything even anything outside the finance scope which is why my clients trusted me and we are like friends. I treat them as friends and not just clients. And we all do our best for our friends.

Do you have a dream or a goal ? Save and work hards towards your goal or dream and im sure you will achieve it !

#Smartlady

20161113_230929

This week was an eventful week. I had a day surgery and scopes done for my stomach and colon , my client who was pregnant was hospitalized due to appendix infection and due for surgery, a friend was diagnosed with an illness , a friend’s dad suddenly fainted and was pronounced brain dead and a friend’s toddler had cancer.

Since i started this insurance and finance profession early last year , most of my clients…i would say about 2 out of 5 have medical issues. My clients are between 1yo to 40yo (youngest is newborn). Hence some of them have issues getting life insurances and i have to fight for their cases so that they can have the optimal insurance coverage.

My surgery and day ward cost about $4000+ (all claimable by Integrated Shield Plan with my Private Insurer) and i have not included the post surgery follow up.

I should have went to see the doctor in August but because of my work and wedding preps , i dragged on and somehow it worsened. So i decided to make the call and get my doctor appointment fixed and tell myself i have to go no matter what. Took a day off and just go. I went to the hospital alone. Surgery took 45 mins and everything went fine.

If you feel something is not right , go for medical check and if you have not done the check for many years , go for it. Also , if you have not gotten your Private Insurer hospital plan done up , better go for it. If you have not done up your life insurance or beef it up , go for it. Don’t take the risk alone. Diverse the risk to your insurer.

A friend of mine did not go for the plan and the other had partial coverage and only went for the main plan with Prudential (paid by medisave only). They were both diagnosed with conditions and because of the size of the hospital bill , they procrastinated and did not want to go ahead further with the checks and their response to me was “just wait and see first how is it”. The concern of the bill size came before their health.

Some felt that they spend that $700 a year on hospital plan or $2k on a life insurance but if he only claim $4000 from hospital plan , it is “bo hua” ( Not worthy ). And if no claim made , even more “bo hua”. It is not about value worthy but to have financial safety net because your life is more valuable and time with your love ones are more precious.

Insurance is not about “profiting” from an illness that drains our body energy, drains your bank account , takes time away and burden your family. Frankly speaking nobody likes or wants to make a claim. No insurance agents are happy to that their client is making a claim. Not because they are lazy to process the claim or they find it troublesome. But because sometimes friendship are forged and nobody will feel happy to know that their friend is sick.

Not all insurance agents are salesman-ish. There are good and reliable ones who are really passionate in helping people to do planning with integrity and sincerity. Give those you meet a chance , if you are not convinced with them , then don’t meet the 2nd time. You may not know you will meet a good and proper advisor or maybe even made a good friend who will change your life. Give yourself options and give others a chance. If you are in financial trouble because of an illness, your family can only help that much , your friends will only visit you in the hospital with flowers and fruits and only your private insurer can solve your problem and buy time for your to spend with your family.

So here is something i want to share : Don’t take TIME for granted. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t wait for things to happen and it will be too late.

These words are not just from me who is an financial consultant or your next door insurance agent but from a normal human being just like you who is also somebody’s wife, somebody’s daughter and somebody’s friend.

Go for your medical checks if you need to and have to , don’t wait. Mai tu liao !

Also another update , went for review and i have to go for a fortnightly therapy which costs $600 every 2 weeks till im cleared from condition. Fortunately , all claimable from insurance. Even you don’t have financial issues , don’t work just to pay for your hospital expenses. Don’t wait till something happen and then go and get it then it is too late. This kind of things happened to some of my clients. Speak to someone if you have to and if you have no one to turn to and want to ask me questions, feel free to email me anytime peonykissblog@gmail.com .

Speaking of health issues , my hubs and i are planning for children probably next year. Going for gynae check ups first.

Anything i should look out for ? Care to share ? Can email me peonykissblog@gmail.com.

Thank you !

∆˜≈‰≈◊¿Ã∫Ì4x6-HUN_1528

2 more months to our ROM in SG and 3 more months to our ROM in Korea. Time really flies. Been very busy lately and my meal timing were kinda screwed. Last week was a packed with full of meetings , meeting new people and also preparing for the big day ( final discussion for the ROM in SG ). Everything is sort of settled thanks for recommendations from friends. And also i am addicted to scrolling Taobao right now. Alot of wedding decors and ornaments that are so cheap and nice. Instead of renting , i can buy them at $5 , use them for my ROM and bring home to decorate my place. They even have the cutest guest book at $6.

And i just chanced upon another wedding song which i really like. Was thinking of using this for march-in song and the other song by Huk-Gak to be sung by my bro-in-law’s friend who is our live band.

This is my tentative  choice for march-in song .

My MUA was settled. Wendy from Lushlashh will be my make up artist and also having my lashes done at Lushlashh. I really like her work and patience. The lashes she did for me are always so natural. I always go for K-style lashes which was supposed to be “no-make-up-or-lash-extensions look” . There is a vast difference between Kstyle lashes and Jap style lashes. Japanese one are more vavavoom and glamourous looking. But it doesn’t suit me and i don’t like to look too over.

The lashes Wendy did for me are so natural that some people i spoke to asked if they are my real lashes or i had extensions done. They cannot see the difference when they look at me face to face. But from the side view , you can see that it is longer. Im not sure what kind curls i go for because i ask her to replicate the one i did in Korea. She has my details. So if you want the natural looking K-lashes , just tell her you read my blog and wanted the same set as mine. If you are worried that if it will look too natural as if you have nothing on and you think it is “waste of money” ? You don’t need to worry about it because you can see a difference before and after. Btw i also always go for one which make my eyes look like im wearing an eyeliner when i am not. Anyways , she has my history and data. You can tell her that you want the lashes that Peiling did. Lushlashh is located at level 2 of Arcade Shopping Centre at Raffles Place.

Here are some of the lash extensions i have done.

C360_2016-04-29-12-05-46-533 C360_2016-04-29-12-05-36-352 MYXJ_20160301115228_save

And as for my hair , Joanne at Hair Affairs Chevron House will dye for me . I went to her before my Pre-wedding shoot trip to get my hair dyed to a nice violet red colour. It looks sooo nice and my MIL also said it was a good choice of colour. My readers will get some discounts if you mention my name. Btw , i paid for these services and these are not adverts. If you read my blog long enough , i have stopped doing adverts for 2-3 years and all are based on my persona experiences and reviews. Anyway you have to call to book appointment. She starts work as early as 8am. I went at 8am before and the salon was filled with bankers and tai tais who wake up early to wash and curl their hair to prepare for work at 9am. I don’t think i will do that man. I would rather sleep more. She has been in the line for more than 30 years and her banker clients followed her for more than 20 years.

Here are some hair inspirations i have got. I am tempted to my dye my hair again before my trip to Korea for my wedding.

I don’t know to do RED…

edbfcaf3fb88883489c452e949730ded 3961fd9139264900a1e68f66e9d2485a 16a0c0ed925ece7b6a7a376368cd68de 9fd3811a780d875263da54a8ad50a4aa

or this colour…

20160703_150756

I wanted to do this kind of curls.

16a0c0ed925ece7b6a7a376368cd68de

But because at that time my hair was badly damaged and i really want to have healthier hair so that i can perm in October in Korea…plus my recent diving trip made my hair worst…soooo….

I went to find Joanne to cut all the bad split ends off and now i have shoulder length hair. Hair ends are healthier now and easier to manage. So now i just need to wait for it to grow, maintain my hair …then hopefully i can perm.

C360_2016-06-24-12-41-57-352_mr1466744637444

Done with #Kbeauty and now with #SGAHJUMMA

I cooked Carbonara Ramyeon on sat night. Oppa is away for biz trip in Europe and back only next week. I wanted to cook Andong Jjimddak but it will be too much for one person to eat. So , it is Carbonara Ramyeon for tonight.

DSC03338A

Korea is an instant food heaven. Alot of instant food and some are claimed to be healthy choice. Well …my bro-in-law never uses the seasoning packs. He used the Korean shrimp sauce, pepper flakes and soya sauce to make his own ramyeon seasoning. Healthier this way because msg in the seasoning packs are not really good for health. This is something i want to learn from him when he comes in Sept.

My kitchen cupboard with instant noodles. Something i don’t really like and only cook if i got no choice or too lazy to go out to buy food.

DSC03329A

Here is the recipe. To be honest , it is recommended to use SHIN Rammyeon. But i was too lazy to walk 10 mins out just to buy a packet of ramen so i used whatever is the closest to Shin Ramyeon that i had at home.

DSC03331A

1 pack of Hi-Lo low fat milk (200ml).

DSC03332A

Mozzarella Cheese.

DSC03330A

Boil 400ml of water at high heat. If you do not have a measuring cup , empty the milk from the carton into a cup and use the empty carton to fill with water to measure since the milk carton is 200ml.

Once the water boiled , add in the ramyeon and the seasoning packs for about 3 minutes.

Add the entire pack of 200ml of hi-lo milk. Let it boil for 2 minutes and add a handful of mozzarella cheese. How much cheese you want is up to you. I like cheese and like my noodles to be slightly sticky with cheese so i added ALOT. Stir.

DSC03335A

Once done , you can serve it in a bowl.

Easy and shiok ! I paired with seaweed chicken seaweed and Kimchi ! Oh and a cup of cold Yuzu drink.

DSC03340A

Hope you enjoyed it. Very simple. Just need 15 minutes and you get Carbonara Ramyeon.

Now that we are living on our own , which means alot of bills and groceries to do. For Oppa, he has been living on his own for years but for me this is the first time i moved out. I paid utilities and bills at my own home but now that i moved out , there are more to pay. Being a financial planner and a financial planner in our house , i am in charge of the utilities and expenses. I record and keep receipts and limit groceries shopping to $50 a week. I have been buying so many things from Korea websites and mart now that i find buying all the necessities in SG are so expensive. When i travel to Korea , i will buy everything there and bring over. Now that we need some things urgently and i went to the supermarkets to buy and got shock at the price. In Korea i can buy 3 good shampoos for $10 and here 1 good one for more than $10. My work schedules are pretty tight. I start my day early and ended my day late which means that i can’t go to local market in the day time and so i depended alot on 24hr supermarkets. You must be wondering why now then i realized that things are expensive in SG. Not that i now then realized , i realized it long ago but just that im not used to buying my daily necessities in SG yet except for food.

#SMARTLADY

Here was what i got from Gmarket.

Yes whatever number of sanitary pads here you see is just 10,900won which is about SGD 13.

If you have used Korean pads before you will know the difference. Some of my friends even asked me to buy a carton for them and ship to SG for them when im in Korea. They are made of cotton and really damn comfy. Better than those nylon netting ones that are commonly used.

Screen Shot 2016-07-03 at 3.34.34 PM

I think these 2 “towers” of pads can last me 2 years i guess. Some people said im getting to “ahjumma” ..because i cooked , i cleaned my own house and i do grocery shopping. Those who said that are mostly singles. Married women i met and know and are working mums or wives like me do not agree that  we are “ahjumma” just because we are more careful with how we spend and just because we clean the house and not hiring a maid to do so and go to the markets to do grocery shopping. This is our responsibility as a wife. Even though we are working and we can afford to spend doesn’t mean we have to spend what we have. Cash is still KING. We are not stingy ..we are careful with our monies and how we handle them. I handle the monies at home. Oppa is a saver but im a super saver so im the one in charge. I planned our saving plans , insurances and monthly expenses. He can see an increase in his savings after i did his planning.

Also i want to add that i really pei fu those working mums. Some of them can work and take care of the house for years. I just started for 2 months and im quite drained. I reached home after 8pm everyday because of appointments . Once i reached home , i will clean the house abit and do the laundry before i shower and sleep. And i wake up at 745am everyday to make breakfast before i prepare for work. Tired ?..yes..but i will not complain…

Now im learning to cook more dishes and more healthier choices. Diet and life style is what caused alot of young people these days to fall sick or diagnosed with illnesses. Some of my clients are so young and already diagnosed with illnesses. Some are young parents. When i met them and did planning for them i also felt very heart pain.

Take a break if you need to. Health is everything.

Alot of joys this week also..some of my friends and clients gave birth. And i feel excited planning for the little ones. I dont know when but we are thinking of trying for kids maybe next year.

Times flies…it is 430pm now and i need to pack my bag for my team trip to Kukup in JB.

Have a good weekend !

Busan : My Wedding in Korea

Exactly a month ago ! Ahh wanna turn back time.

HUN_2327

And in 3 months’ time , it will be our ROM in SG. And in 4 months’ time , our wedding in Korea.

This Sept , my brother-in-law will be coming over and attend the ROM because Omma just opened her new franchise Korean BBQ restaurant in Busan. Wanted to franchise a popular Bingsoo brand but quota for outlets in Busan was full.

Brother-in-law is a very cool guy and took care of me and pamper me alot though he is a year older than me.

Im kinda pretty set with the ROM location , catering and now just looking and researching for location/wedding styling. Im doing a cozy and intimate ROM ceremony for my family members.

Actually i drafted quite a few blog posts. Blog posts which i drafted while on my way to work or appointments with clients. Because each and every meeting , i meet new people and different people in different circumstances. But i didn’t publish them because they are too many and all in 1-2 paragraphs. It is good to see that more women are coming out to do their own financial planning and investments instead of depending and rely fully on their husbands. I have a quite a number of ladies clients who wanted to do up savings and CPF-investments for themselves and their children.

Readers who followed my blog for very long knows about my story , my life and my work.

I graduated in 2009 and then had a bank job before i took 2 years break and now i am back in the finance planning industry. I plan alot for young working adults and people who are planning or just started a family. I guess it is because i am also going through the same phase as them ( getting married and starting a family soon ) and that’s why i can relate better to them and understand what are they going through.

And since i started , i had alot of clients who had underwriting issues. Which means they have certain health conditions and getting insurances and saving plans maybe a problem. Last week was a busy week fighting a case for a client who had a history of intestinal disorder. Hopefully , he will be able to get coverage.

Next week going to be another busy week for me. I want to do well and strong in family planning. I enjoy planning for young people and also people who are planning to start a family or they had a family already. When i see them with their kids , i can imagine myself having one hahaha. I love kids and hope i can have a daughter and son.

And now im starting to do up financial planning for some of my readers and family. Time flies, some of them read my blog since their JC/Uni days and now they are having a family and asked me to do up financial planning for them.

As i grew older , my readers also grew old with me. Even though we have not met , but they have emailed me to ask about financial planning. I felt really touched because even though we have not met before , they trusted me and my sincerity. Usually meet ups with my reader-turned-clients can take up to 2 hours because there are so much to catch up and know about each other. One of them read my blog when she was studying in JC and now she is married with a baby.

Time really flies man…

Some of my friends asked if i ever thought of names for my babies infuture ?

Hmm yes i do.

For girls , i prefer names like ..

Ha-neul , Ae Ra , Na-eul , Hye-min , Hyo-rin , Na-Ra , Eunji , Yoon-ji , Ji-min , Ye-min , Hyeon-Mi

For boys , i prefer names like …

Min-Ho , Joong-min , Soo-Hyun , Hyun-Joon , Hyun-min , Jae-Joon , Won-Bin , Joong-Ho

Bold ones are my favourites.

Oh btw i just started using PONY’s make up.
If you do not know , Pony is a famous Korean youtuber make up artist. She came up with her own make up line.

I love this palette so much ! The colours are soooooo nice and subtle. It helps to brighten up the eyes without making it look too much or too over !

20160606_211439A 20160606_211501A 20160606_211510-A

Can’t really remember how much was it because i bought it during an event sale at a new opening of a drugstore. I find Pony make up line (Pony Effect) are pretty expensive. But i must say that her choice of colours and quality for eyeshadows are pretty good. I haven’t tried her foundation yet but maybe next trip. There was an event sale at a new opening so everything was snapped up very fast. I can’t even find the foundation colour that suits my skin tone because it was out of stock 😦

Realized that the Smart Lady post was published in “private mode” which i usually put when i drafts my posts.

Well , April was another busy month for me..preparing for my wedding photo shoot and preparations and my work.

I am leaving for Busan on Wednesday and my shoot will be on 2nd May. Well , i will be helping my bro with the translation at his photo shot on 29th April. This trip gonna be a busy trip. Because there are alot of things to settle. The first place im going to after i touched down is to go to the hanbok tailor shop and bridal shop to try my dresses and tailor made my hanbok. And the list goes on like meeting the planner and my wedding hall..and the food tasting is on Sunday. So many things to settle within 10 days. This time will be a short trip because Mr Shin went back for few days in March and he cannot use up his leave. He needs to take leave again in Oct for our wedding.

Well back to Smart lady.

This month , i met alot of ladies and some of them became my clients and quite a number of them are young adults and middle aged ladies.

2 of them are very young ..26 and 27 years old respectively. They looked very healthy and happy but no one knows that they contracted an illness ( 1 of the critical illnesses ). One had lupus and another had brain tumor. They had looked for me because they wanted help with their life insurances and savings.

Going to the end of first year of my profession, i have encountered clients with Lupus , high blood pressure , hypertension , high cholesterol , fatty liver , intestinal obstruction, chronic fatigue syndrome and other health issues/disorders.
And they are all under 35 years old and the youngest is 26 years old. One of them told me that she regretted not speaking to any financial advisers to do up any insurance planning because she thinks that if she can live up to 25 years without any health issues , there should not be problem. But last year, she was diagnosed with a critical illness that makes her want to relook into her insurance and financial planning. She is only 26 years old this year.

These meetings made me thought alot about life and that is to be happy , cherish everyone around you and be kind.

Because unexpected things may happen and they can come crushing down on you all at once. I thought i was a strong person having to go through alot in my life but these ladies are stronger than me. Even though they are down with illnesses , they are still cheerful and kind. And of cos there are times when they feel sad. They told me ” I was so crushed when the doctor told me the news..of so many people in this world why me ? why am i the one ? ” . It took them a long time to accept it and in order not to make their parents feel sad and people around them feeling sad for me , they try to live happily as if nothing happen. Going through treatment is expensive and tedious and draining but they still do it because they want to live and be with their love ones as long as they can.

And last few days , i have met up with some middle aged ladies who are in their 40s and 50s.

Some are housewives doing part time jobs and some have worked for a long time.

The housewives work part time hoping to earn their keep and savings. But they told me ended up the monies they saved were used to provide the best for their children and help their husband financially ( when they are out of job , retrenched or having financial issues with their businesses ). They gave up alot for their families. They told me how they wish they can have their own keep to pamper themselves and how they wish there are better access and vehicles to help them grow their savings in the past. Some of their husband control the finances even though the wife is the decision maker. We spoke alot and i also learnt alot from their life experiences. Learning from people’s real life experiences helped me to do better financial planning for other clients.

It is good for woman to earn their own keeps. We only live once, not only do we have to live for others but for ourselves too. Take some time to learn on investments and saving methods , earn and grow your own wealth. There are many avenues available..seek advices and help if you need to. And pamper yourself once in a while.

I guess im gonna stop here and continue more on Smart Lady in next few posts.

Gonna pack for my Busan trip ! Will post my Korea pictures !

I’ve been blogging about snippets of my life , K-beauty ( My Korean beauty buys ) and K-travel ( my trips to Korea ). These are the few things i really enjoyed sharing. Not only do i get to share , my readers do email me to share with me more too. Now , im sharing wedding preparation tips (K-wedding) and financial stuff with some readers.

There’s a chinese saying that goes ” there is only lazy woman in this world , there is no ugly woman “.

A woman not only have to learn how to take care of her appearances ( no need to be too pretty but at last look presentable and clean ) but also take care of her own finances. Since young , people have been telling me that a woman should keep her own 私房錢 ( “secret” account ) without the man knowing and you should not let the man know how much do you have. In the event if something bad happened , you have something to fall back on.Hmmm…i wouldn’t say it is wrong. But of cos , you need to learn how to keep the funds properly and let it accumulate smartly. Also, that “secret” stash of funds is not just for you. It can be used during emergency needs for your family. It is always good to have some cash with you so that you are at least “financially secured”. But you have to do it smartly.

Now that i am in the financial planning industry , i met and also planned the finances and savings for people from all walks of life. Last week was a busy week for me and im happy to know how my clients accepted me to plan for a big part of their life.

In this industry , facing rejections and objections are common.

But i decided to be positive about it. Instead of looking at rejections and objections , i look at it positively at how some people accepted me to plan a big part of their life. That is what that keeps me going.  Having worked in a private bank serving the high net worth and seeing how they actually grow their wealth before , i used the knowledge i learnt and share it with some of my prospects.

Last week , i met a client of mine who is a 22 year old student to help him plan his savings and finances. Most students at that age will be spending their allowances at cafes , clubbing etc. But he told me that he regretted not starting his savings plan during army days. Because during army , he doesn’t spend and saved most of his monies in the bank which generate very minimal interest. He wanted to do something for his future with his savings and allowances. The trust he had in me for his savings first head start motivated me to do it well for him.  I can say that i am a disciplined saver and there are certain things and methods which i only share with my clients and prospects. So i won’t elaborate more in my blog

Btw , he is single. Lol. If i know any good 22 year girl i will definitely introduce to him. Because he is very sincere and far sighted. Already planning for his future now.

20151015_191612

-Coffee , talks and planning with a young client-

I will name the subject of the financial posts in my blog as “Smart Lady” .

Not only must a lady know how to take care of her appearances but also know how to manage their finances.
If you know how to manage your own finances  you can help out your other half with their finances too.

If you need any second opinions or any questions on K-beauty , K-travel or financial matters , feel free to email me at peonykissblog@gmail.com .