➹ pororo generation

I think I first heard about Pororo from watching Running Man ㅋㅋㅋ. Haroro has in fact been one of my favorite players in the show. And then I encountered Pororo once again when I watched Greatest Love! That was when I realized how popular this penguin character is. There was a time when Dooly (the dinosaur character) was all the rage (cue X-Man, Star Golden Bell clips)~ and perhaps it is still quite popular these days … But it is crystal clear that it is NOW the peak of the Pororo generation!

A few weeks before I came to Seoul last fall, I encountered Pororo again via Flower Boy Ramyun! At this point, I just had to check out what all the hype is all about! As expected, there is no shortage of Pororo goodies online even for English speakers like me. Surely, there are tons more from Korean netizens! Sadly, I had no time to browse around before my trip.

Little did I know that Pororo is like all over Seoul! Well, all over Times Square at least. We went into the 24-hr eMart after midnight and marveled at the wide variety of Pororo merchandise at this supermarket! Chopsticks, lunchboxes, mugs, pencil cases and what nots. I couldn't choose what to buy for my 4-yr old nephew at that time because the choices were all overwhelmingly cute! I settled for a simple pencil case since I wasn't sure if my nephew even knows who Pororo was.

The next morning, we went into Kyobo bookstore and found Pororo books, toys and even Pororo himself in a car ㅋㅋㅋ.


I wanted to buy a book for toddlers ~ for my Hangul education and just for fun ~ so I picked this out.



The department store section in eMart is not open 24 hours so we came back to browse around after Kyobo. It was not so surprising that we found a whole section for Pororo in the Toys Department.




Pororo merchandise was even all over Incheon International Airport. This was where we found a Petty doll. Too bad it was a bit too expensive else, my friend would have bought it haha. Next time, I wouldn't mind taking home a Pororo doll myself ㅎㅎ. It was also in IIAC that we found Pororo chocolates!!!



So yeah, I gave in and bought a pack. They were sooo yummy!!! Well, it's hard to go wrong with strawberry yogurt, yes? Buying these was also a good thing since my nephew and niece are apparently huge fans of Pororo! They were so excited when I gave them the chocolates. My nephew even introduced me to all the characters on the show. It was not surprising that he even asked me to give him the Pororo book~ ah, but not yet. He wouldn't understand the Hangul characters yet haha!

Last Christmas, I decided to watch Pororo episodes in their youtube channel. Oh sooo much fun! ^^ It's such a fun way to learn simple Korean expressions. Ah scratch that ~ it's the CUTEST way to learn Korean expressions!

For my nephew's 5th birthday, I had Pororo notebooks custom made for his party! His classmates loved these so much~


Now I even downloaded the free Pororo apps on my smartphone. The camera app is also loads of fun for kids ^^.

Lastly, I just found out that this Pororo drink is also delicious (well, according to my nephew haha).


So what's all the hype on Pororo? I'm not exactly sure myself but I'm now pretty hooked in it!

➹ lotte world star avenue

No words are needed … REALLY.













I should say that we didn't know we could go inside the Star Café with our Lotte World tickets (a friend told me about this afterwards). So in fact, we missed some more picture-taking opportunities ㅜㅜ. But since we didn't know this when we were there, we walked away feeling pretty good with the eye candies above. No major heartaches though since my main biases are not Lotte endorsers, whew.

Not shown in the pictures are Bi, Choi JiWoo & Song SeungHyun.

➹ happy christmas parade at lotte world

The most wonderful time of the year is not yet over! Winter is just halfway through in most parts of the world … and the happy season gets even longer when you are inside amusement parks!




We went to Lotte World some months ago and spent an early Christmas in the theme park ㅋㅋㅋ. If Christmas + amusement parks could NOT bring out the kid in you, I believe there's something really off, my friend. That's my logical excuse for wearing a hood with kitty ears and playing like a kid on that day ~ all in the spirit of timeless fun!!!

There were too many people at the park even though we made it a point to visit on a weekday. The long line at the ticket counter was astonishing! Good thing there was a guard who directed us to the Folk Museum entrance at the 3rd floor where the ticket line was MUCH shorter. We used the KRW20,000 Korea Pass and a discount voucher so we only had to cash out about KRW10,000.

So we started the day marveling at the Christmas decorations at the indoor park. Because we took the elevator from the Folk Museum down to the ground floor, the entire indoor arena felt so small. Little did we know how many hidden attractions were tucked into the multiple levels of the indoor park ~

We didn't have a general plan nor direction so we just walked around until we found ourselves going out into the outdoor section - Magic Island. It was there that we found the rides we wanted to try out!!! AND, the HUGE crowd of teenagers waiting in line for each of the attractions. We felt a bit out of place walking amidst group after group of students excitedly and loudly chattering and running around. We didn't want to wait in line for a long time in the cold weather so we dejectedly decided to return to the cozy indoor park.





Once inside, we thought we could try some rides but the lines indoor were incredibly long too! Aside from the teens, there were also pre-schoolers walking around in groups ~ holding hands with their buddies … ahhh, toooo cute!!! My Korean friend suspects that the throng of high school and pre-school kids at the park were there for their semi-annual "picnic" (once during spring, and then again during fall). We did manage to try 2 rides ~ (1) the train from Magic Island to the indoor park and (2) Sinbad Adventure. The train ride was ok as it gave us a good view of the park … but the Sinbad one was perhaps a bit too long ㅋㅋㅋ. Or maybe I just expected everything to be cute and pretty and this one was not the least bit ~

Not to lose out, we just decided to eat as it was past noon. But then all the dining facilities were also full ~ oh yeah we had the worst timing that day. So instead of a proper meal, we went for fun amusement park food and sat on one of the benches in front of Marco's Kitchen. And that was when the highlight of my Lotte World visit happened ~ the Happy Christmas parade!!









I'm such a KID when it comes to parades ㅋㅋ. I enjoy the fun music, the colorful floats and the fun costumes! I like greeting and waving at the mascots too. Ahh, the Christmas parade was really enjoyable!






Our spot was just perfect too! We got to watch the parade while comfortably sitting at the benches ㅋㅋ. The parade also passed by twice so we had twice the amount of pictures, yay! After the parade, we figured we're pretty much done with the park. It was nice to end the visit while our spirits were really high! So we decided to head out. We passed by this indoor floral exhibit and enjoyed admiring the colorful flowers.





And then off to Star Avenue … which was another world (and another post) altogether!!

➹ lunch at school food

I was very much intrigued with School Food's concept and their take on Korean street fare. I browsed the menu on their website (www.schoolfood.co.kr) and wanted to try out soooo many delicious dishes! And then I even won a KRW 20,000 School Food voucher from the Seoul MICE promotions but sadly, it expired before we can confirm our travel dates to Seoul. Even so, I was resolved to try it out during my trip.

I was eyeing 2 locations~ Myeongdong or Garosugil. We ended up at the Myeongdong branch 서울시 중구 명동 2가 31-1 M PLAZA 5층. The interiors were simple and chic and we were easily led to an empty table by the attentive staff.

I already knew what I wanted to order but I still had fun browsing the menu. I asked my friend to choose the mari flavors for our combination platter. She selected 고추멸치, 불고기, 베이컨마늘 (Chili Anchovy, Bulgogi, and Bacon Garlic). It was served prettily like this:




They actually looked too cute to eat ㅋㅋ. The taste is ok though not very memorable. The fusion works well for the mari but I liked the traditional kimbap better ㅋㅋ. Still it was worth trying out the fusion flavors for fun!

I ordered the 치즈떡순이모둠 (Cheese Ddeokbokki, Sundae and Mandu). And the serving was huge:



The waitress kept confirming if I really wanted 치즈떡순이모둠 because it was very spicy. My spice tolerance has significantly increased since I started eating Korean food so I felt confident that I can enjoy my spicy ddeokbokki.

At first, I thought they forgot to include the cheese. But after looking closely, we figured that the cheese has already melted into the hot ddeokbokki creating a cheesy, sticky, flavorful plate. I had to try out the sauce first… and YUM! The red pepper taste is absolutely delicious! There was a burning sensation on the after taste but it was tolerable on my initial bites.

Next, I tried the sundae. I was never really much of a fan of sundae though it does taste nice. I like how it balances off the spicy flavorful ddeokbokki with its chewy glass noodles. And then of course, mandu is mandu ~ crispy yummy goodness.

At first I thought I could finish the entire plate especially since the eomuk was just too addicting! Ahhhh, but the spicy sensation builds with every bite. And indeed it was deadly spicy! My face was blushed from the heat in no time! It was cold outside but my face and tongue were burning slowly from the red sauce. I had to give up after finishing all the eomuk!

I want to go back next time and try the other fusion dishes. My Korean friend commented that the place was a bit too pricy though. Still, it was an interesting experience to taste these delightful concoctions!

➹ seoul autumn cosmetics haul

My growing love for cosmetics shopping in Seoul is now directly proportional to the growing luggage space I've had to allocate for these buys. Here's what I bought for myself on the recent trip (gave away some gifts already):






Some freebies from my purchases (except for the face masks)


This one is just a box full of cotton pads ... but the box is ehem ^^.


I used to be totally ignorant on this fascinating sub-culture until I was drawn into that Skin Food shop in Dongdaemun last 2008. I even played it safe and just picked a body essence and a cologne. I could not risk any face or hair products at that time. But I was sold with the samples they dropped into my bag and resolved to muster up my courage to try new things on my next trip.

On my next trips, I fell in love with more essences, face masks and nail polishes! I was still mildly intimidated though whenever I browse through the endless pretty selections. I couldn't decide which ones to pick and I am usually too shy to use my limited Korean to consult the salesladies.

So before I left for Seoul last autumn, I took time out to educate myself on Korean cosmetics via beauty blogs! I didn't realize how extensive the resources are on the web on cosmetic reviews. I can't pick any one favorite since these beauty blogs each has its own style and charm. Just trust your google search and click on the massive selection of "Korean cosmetic reviews"!

Reading through the bloggers' assessments and comparisons of various Korean cosmetics raised my shopping confidence for my Seoul trip. Clearly understanding which brands and products I wanted to try, and how much they would set me back, I am able to walk into most of the cosmetic stores in Myeongdong … and come out with my pretty selections! I'm definitely hyped to try them all out now!