➹ beautiful insadong

Today, I wish to go back to walking along the streets of my beloved Insadong ... one of Seoul's most charming and picturesque destinations. I talked about exploring Insadong during the Autumn of 2011 when me and my friend walked into the famous street from the Bosingak tower. This time, I was by myself and I started my walk from Angguk station. This lovely mural welcomed me when I got off the station.


I didn't really have an itinerary which is quite unbelievable with my personality. Hence, I was partially just wandering around, partially struggling to take decent photos, and all the while avoiding to do more shopping since my bags were already too full! Despite my messy state of mind, I still managed to enjoy the area. I suppose Insadong's charms were calming and intriguing at the same time so I had no choice but to immerse myself in its beauty.






I skipped breakfast that day because I had to pack my bags and check out before noon time. So my very first target was to find a restaurant for early lunch. I walked past so many food options but as I didn't do my research, I didn't know what to choose! I was also concerned of dining alone as most restaurants may not welcome a solo diner~~ Anyway, I settled for a nice looking place after ensuring that they have my favorite bibimbap.




The ceiling was so low and the lighting was quite intimate hahaha... It was not what I expected at all. But the bibimbap was good enough so I had no qualms. I wanted to finish lunch before the weekday crowd rush in so I didn't take a long time and headed out to the streets once more.

I headed into Ssamziegil which is a definite must-visit for some unique crafts and what-nots. As expected, I enjoyed going up the staircases, window shopping and just taking some photos. Too bad some stores don't allow cameras so that part was a tad bit upsetting. But I can understand the shop owners well because they do carry some interesting goods.










I probably spent a long time just hanging out at Ssamziegil ... likely because you don't really need an itinerary for that haha! Going out into the streets again was a bit daunting because there are so many inviting alleys and store fronts that I didn't plan for. I spotted this pretty gallery showing ddakji and I was deliberating paying the fee to go in ... but I was conscious of the time and ended up passing it up. Maybe next time I will plan for this walk better.



AS I walk farther from Ssamziegil, I found the cosmetic shops with the trademark Hangul names as really fascinating. Of course, the Starbucks one is quite famous by now. There aren't a lot of other cosmetic shops using Hangul names in Korea so I really thought the Insadong branches were adorable.




I wish I had a detailed plan back then so that I would have combed the area fully and enjoyed every corner of the place. But as it was my last day in the city, I was feeling sentimental, rushed and a bit burdened with leaving. I vow to return on a more relaxed state of mind and would definitely go through more of Insadong. This place has earned my approval and seems to always beckon me back. :)

➹ 딸기-holic anonymous!!!

I LOVE KOREAN STRAWBERRIES!!!
There, I said it. Since I've left Seoul, I've missed the refreshing winter chill, my Kpop boy group members, the amazing shopping, my wonderful Korean friend, the superb Korean food, and the TO-DIE-FOR STRAWBERRIES!!! ㅋㅋㅋ



You might think I'm kidding ... but I literally ate strawberries everyday during my short vacation last winter. I can't get enough of the perfectly sweet and lovely fruit. It was all I can think of eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner hehehe. Thank goodness there were a lot of vendors selling these on the streets of Myeongdong. And how convenient are these - placed in a cup with nifty toothpicks for easy snacking! I bought myself a cup which was not chocolate dipped and they were just glorious... I also bought cups which were dipped in white and regular chocolate and they were also heavenly! There were other fruit options sold in cups in Myeongdong's underground shopping but I just can't bear to buy something else. Indeed, I was thoroughly addicted.

And my sweet affair with Korean strawberries didn't end when I departed from Seoul ... I grabbed this box off a grocery in Kuala Lumpur when I visited last January ...


And I didn't even think twice when I found this box in a grocery in Hong Kong last March...



They were ... OK. Definitely incomparable with the awesome sweetness of those lovely strawberries I ate in Seoul~ but they were nice enough. I was glad I gave in to my almost involuntary urge to buy them heheh ... I just miss these strawberries so so much. No wonder I am also loving mg strawberry face mask. Aigoo...

➹ currently loving: skinfood black pomegranate cream

OK, so I made sure to buy a new night cream last December. I didn't really have anything specific in mind so I just asked the Skinfood saleslady for recommendations. I wasn't aware that they were heavily promoting their Black Pomegranate line at that time so I had to listen to her try to sell me the cream in a mix of Korean and English ㅋㅋㅋ. Somehow, I understood enough that it was the newest and nicest line, supposedly very effective moisturizer, and boasting a wonderful subtle fragrance. Sold!




I have been using the black pomegranate cream ON and OFF in the last 2 months but I only recently searched for reviews on this product. So supposedly, this line is anti-aging! The key ingredient is this black pomegranate, which is some sort of "elite fruit" (totally my own words ... that was my impression on all the publicity around this). Its "voluming" effect is targeted to address wrinkle issues. After reading all that, I then remembered seeing some elaborate launch event for this in Kuala Lumpur last January!

★ AN I.T. GIRL'S VERDICT ★
::I don't really know if I can call myself that. But heck yeah, I don't know much about this stuff and I needed a kinda disclaimer of sorts. Anyway~~~::

So of course, not knowing anything about this product meant that I didn't really have any definite expectations. I needed a night cream which makes me feel luxuriously good. The Skinfood Black Pomegranate Cream does that so I am already a happy customer.

I watched some beauty show some time ago where the "experts" were emphasizing the importance of moisturizing during sleep. My major takeaway from that show was to make sure I do not skimp on my night creams! I have to be generous with it and thoroughly enjoy the hydrating effect. Just one thing with the black pomegranate cream is that on occasions when I applied just a tad bit too much, it feels kind of oily on my face. I mean, I wish that the cream is absorbed more if I applied more ... but it seems like there is just a "threshold" to the amount I can "appropriately" apply. But anyway, this is hardly anything to cry about for sure.

As for the anti-wrinkle effect ... I don't think the cream on its own is supposed to miraculously erase anything. I'm saying that there is no drastic improvement to my super fine lines (ahem hehehe). But I am not really paying any particular attention to those. Certainly the black pomegranate effect is best achieved with a whole array of products from this line.

I did notice from other reviews that the serum is tons more interesting than this cream. If I were to really target this anti-aging solution, best to pick out the serum first and then maybe toner, cream and whatnots.

For the purpose of a simple night cream, this product does its job. The lovely scent is also perfectly relaxing. If I don't find anything else interesting, I might buy this again when my current supply runs out. So we'll see. ^^

➹ classic comfort food - korean barbecue

There is just something so amazingly comforting about Korean barbecue. Grilling yummy meat on the table, crafting your own fabulous wrap and eating a mouthful of happiness tinged with ssamjang is incomparable. Everyone deserves to have that go-to barbecue place to enjoy good food and feel somehow enlightened ㅋㅋㅋ. The world will be a much better place if we all can be at the gloriously happy state of mind after a wonderful meal of samgyupsal.











YUMMY said in so many pictures. I wish you all happy days and perfect korean barbecue moments.

➹ random: blue girl beer

While we were having a team dinner at HK, one of the sunbaenims ordered Blue Girl beer. He says it is really popular in HK and he just found out that it was actually made in Korea! So of course, I had to take a picture. I will have to try it out next time hehehe... Maybe I can train myself to be a beer person more than a soju one.