➹ 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.

➹ currently loving: skinfood black sugar strawberry mask

It's been 3 months since I came back from possibly one of the biggest cosmetics haul I've ever had~~~ But I seriously haven't had time to do much of anything about the wonderful stuff I got! So much for idolizing those uber detailed beauty blogs ㅋㅋㅋ. Anyway, I may not have the expertise nor the patience to craft nifty reviews on Korean beauty products... but I still would love to just share some notes on awesome goodies here and there. This is more for those girls who just want to gather ideas on how to fill their EXTRA suitcase while going around the shopping paradise called Seoul!

So the second thing out of my suitcase (after from my Skinfood Parsley and Mandarin Mild Foam) was this Skinfood Black Sugar Strawberry Wash Off Mask. I just finished my Black Sugar mask last December and I was giddy excited to use the next one. I immediately took a liking to it on the first night I was out on the streets of Myeongdong. Just the idea of classic black sugar (which I really love) and strawberries was enough for me to drop this into my shopping basket. I totally did not need any convincing whatsoever.



I studied the label and did my search on this product before using it (haha, yeah ofcourse I did). I was kinda surprised to find TONS of review about this product already. I really had no clue. Anyway, everything online sounded enticing and harmless enough so I just went ahead and gave it a try.



★ 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~~~::

The strawberry smell was YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!!! It smelled like strawberry yogurt icecream on your face. The texture was also not as gritty as the original black sugar concoction. I didn't worry so much about the beads being too abrasive while I massaged it into my face. Or was that just me being hypnotized by that sugary strawberry scent???



So anyway, I normally don't leave the mask on for too long. But this time, I left it on for almost minutes before washing up. Just a tip to make sure you wash up pretty well because the formula does leave some beads here and there. And alas! after washing it off, the yummy strawberry perfume lingered. My skin was also softer - an expected black sugar effect. At the same time, it was just a little brighter ^^. I knew I found my go-to mask for those nights when I just want to feel a little bit pampered. Besides, it's kindof cool to be able to enjoy the sweet strawberry feeling whenever I want right? Takes me right back to those awesome winter nights I was spoilt for choice with all the awesome strawberries sold on the streets!

➹ all night shopping itinerary at myeongdong!

Well, not really all-night... but NEARLY ㅋㅋㅋ.

Because I am helplessly obsessive compulsive, I kinda planned to NOT have any major plans during my vacation in Seoul. I had about 2 days to my (gloriously amazing) self and I wanted to just waste it away wandering around anywhere hahaha~~ Just that I had to make sure to properly complete my extensive shopping list, have a feast on street foods ... and do more shopping to fill my 45kg baggage allowance.

Hence, staying at Myeongdong was just a perfect decision. All my semi un-planned shopping are nearby so I literally can visit ALL the shops I wanted to. And in fact I did. At least twice maybe! I started off around lunch time - I had a late night watching a concert the previous day and I only crawled back into my hotel room at about 3am hahaha~~~ Anyway, I did want to stay in bed for longer but ofcourse, that would have been a waste of shopping hours. So I was off and about at about 12:30pm... with my empty stomach leading the way.

I stopped by a few clothing shops before grabbing a quick lunch at Lotteria. I thought I'd burn a LOT of my money at the WHO.A.U sale but I'm glad I held it in. After finishing my all-time favorite Lotteria shrimp burger, I was back on the streets shopping.



My high-level "non-plan" was to do all my clothes and cosmetics shopping first--> And then when I'm feeling famished, buy food for an early dinner --> then head out to the Myeongdong underground shopping center to get my final kpop stuff --> bring back the heavy stuff to the hotel --> rest and recharge --> head out for shopping part 2!





Spent some good time at SPAO and Uniqlo before hitting the small side streets. I already came from the H&M shop twice in the previous days so I had "research data" on the "sale situation" haha! Anyway, I took to the side streets and had a fill of accessories, phone cases, and memorabilia. Silk buttons FTW hahah!! I am just unable to resist they cosmetic shops so even if I already bought my "essentials" from skinfood and etude house, I still had to stop by all the other shops and pick up a mask and nail polish here and there. By the time I got to the huge 8seconds store on the major intersection, it was almost 4pm! So I made my religious walk all the way up to the Euljiro 1-ga station and then turned back craving for a shopping break!

Ofcourse, I didn't forget to go down the Myeongdong Underground shopping to re-visit my kpop stores heheh... One final set of calendars, albums and whatnots and then I'm headed out again.

So I thought I will get an early dinner and rest a while at my hotel room. Luckily, I found the tteokbokki stand on my way back. I was just happily overwhelmed with choices so I had to feast on all these amazing street food!!! I was back in my room by 6:30 and having one of the best meals ever.

Chatted with my family, took a quick rest, freshened up and then headed out again at 8pm for part 2 of my shopping day! This time, I thought I'd take it a little easy. I wanted to go back to the small shops to look again at their lovely products (ehem Artbox, Naughty Cat, Forever21 among others). And I found more accessories from the new stores being set-up on the streets. I really just wandered about at this point. I was just turning around corners when faced with the crowd of shoppers so I literally was going around in crazy circles. I overheard one salesguy telling another person how I keep coming back again and again heheh ... so they noticed huh?





Anyway, the lovely streetlights, the smell of perfectly sweet strawberries and just the winter chill were all embracing me with so much delight. I don't know how but I managed to walk around for another 2-3 hours ... until the shop doors started closing. I didn't really think it was possible but I did just fill my afternoon and night with MYEONGDONG.



Ahhh, what a lovely day that was. Of course at 11PM, I started packing my bag and realized how I bought TOO MUCH! I had to stay up until the wee mhours (2-ish?) to figure out a way to pack everything hahaha. I was bone-tired, nearly bankrupt but really just blissful. I wish to do this kind of shopping again when I come back!