Belated Birthday Gift and New Toy

Yes, yes, my birthday was over a month ago but I decided to get myself a late birthday gift. I like to treat myself since so far, no one will ever love me like I love me, haha, and I'd rather spoil myself instead of waiting around expecting someone else to do it. =P So after much debate, I gave in and got myself my first DSLR, the Canon EOS Rebel T4i (with 18-135mm EF-S IS STM Lens). Yay!!

(Camera images from Amazon)

N Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain

Ahh we've come at last to the final post about my trip to Seoul! (Not counting hauls, keke.) This is a continuation of my very long day from my last post. Even though I didn't get to visit a hanok village in Seoul, I did get to see a few traditional houses simply by walking around Jongno.

Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul

Hul~...I'm nearing the end of my Seoul trip posts. I did a lot on my last Sunday there so I've broken it into separate posts. This is a continuation of my day after visiting all of those K-pop entertainment headquarters. I met up with a friend in Jongno or "Bell Street." I liked this area of Seoul because it's rather traditional looking, with small, quaint streets and has a lot of traditional architecture as well as Buchon Hanok Village 북촌한옥마을 (traditional Korean houses). I was a little disappointed I didn't get to visit Buchon (too much time spent visiting K-pop headquarters) but I did visit Changdeokgung Palace 창덕궁.

First stop though was food! Of course I'd been in the mood for KBBQ, especially Samgyupsal 삼겹살, which is basically thick slices of Korean pork belly (like bacon).

Nanta Show and Cherry Blossoms in Hongdae

After having so much fun catching Key's "Catch Me If You Can" musical, I decided to see another show while I was in Seoul. This time I made my way to to the Hongdae Nanta Theater. Nanta is a very popular South Korean musical that has a simple plot and is basically an entertaining performance using cooking instruments like cutting boards and knives to create the rhythms and music. It's mostly non-verbal and is supposedly comparable to Blue Man Group.

Korean Musical, Kpop and Random Hauls in Seoul

While I was in Seoul, I got to watch the Korean production of the Broadway musical, "Catch Me If You Can" ("?? ? ?? ? ?"), starring Key from SHINee. *squeals* Okay okay, admittedly Key's not one of my favorites from my favorite group, but it was still cool that I could watch him perform live. Basically, see him in person and hear him sing live!

The musical took place at Blue Square, Samsung Card Hall, in Hannam-dong, Seoul.

San Francisco Weekend Trip

Earlier this month I'd visited San Francisco to hang out with some friends, including May, Cat, D, and I also got to meet Lulu. I'd already been to SF a few times within the past year, so all I really wanted to do was just hang out, and of course, eat. I must warn you that this post is extremely picture heavy, especially with pictures of food! You might not want to read this if your stomach's empty, keke.

I stayed in downtown at the Marriott Marquis, which is a very convenient location. Just a quick walk away from Sephora, H&M, and Sephora! However, I didn't do any shopping this time. I got lucky and received a free upgrade to a corner room on the 30th floor. I love city views so I was very happy.

Here's the view from my window. SF was having a warm and sunny weekend while I was there.

Sinchon and Edae (Ewha Woman's University)

To me, the coolest places to hang out around Seoul are near the universities. This might sound odd if you are past your college years, but these districts are young, vibrant, and fashionable with a down-to-earth vibe. My kind of atmosphere.

There are several university neighborhoods but I started with Sinchon or Sinchon-dong 신촌동 and Edae 이대 (short for Ewha Woman's University 이화여자대학교). They are very close to each other, just one subway stop away, and Sinchon is also a subway stop away from Hongdae (short for Hongik University 홍익대학교, sort of like how we say So Cal for Southern California; if you don't know, Koreans love to shorten terms to make one word), but I'll talk about Hongdae in another post. Sinchon is also very close to Yonsei University, Sogang University and Myongji University.

Edae is very quaint, cute, trendy and most importantly, affordable! That's to be expected, since it's near a women's university. You don't have to worry about getting ripped off here if you're immediately pinpointed as a tourist. Sales people are also not pushy, and I felt I didn't stand out so much since in this area, since I could easily pass for a student or professor (in other words, foreigner doesn't necessarily equal tourist, as it does in tourist hot spots like Myeongdong). I didn't walk around the campus but I certainly did take a walk down "fashion street."

see, I told you Dunkin' Donuts is everywhere in Seoul!

Bongeunsa Temple and Cherry Blossoms in Yeouido

I meet up with friends and we visited Bongeunsa 봉근사, a Buddist temple in Gangnam 강남 and across from COEX Mall. A little back history: It was built in 794, reconstructed in 1498, mostly destroyed by fire in 1939 and then later in the Korean War in the early 1950s. Now it has been mostly restored and is a large tourist destination spot.

For someone who's not even Buddhist I took tons of pictures. Perhaps I was just overly eager to share and also it was a beautiful day. It finally felt like spring!

Spring flowers and cherry blossoms along the road, just outside of Gangnam Station 강남 역

Myeongdong, Korean Beauty Shopping Mecca

Myeongdong 명동 is a must if you want to shop, especially for Korean skin care and cosmetics! I loved it so much, I went there several times during my trip, kekeke (and I still didn't get to go into every store!).

It is very touristy so there's usually a sea of people. The only time I saw it clearing out was at 10pm, closing time. Its being such a popular tourist destination means you will see and hear a lot of foreigners and in some shops (but not all) the sales assistants speak English, Japanese, and Chinese. (Truthfully I'd only encountered two who spoke fluent English; a sales girl in Nature Republic and in Etude House.) Koreans spoke to me in everything...I found it a bit interesting that they had no clue what ethnicity I am. In my mind, I'd thought Asians could distinguish other Asians, especially if they live in Asia, but apparently that wasn't the case, at least in my experience. They seemed to just randomly guess any Asian ethnicity including Thai, Japanese, Filipino and Chinese. (I was very surprised when one asked me if I was Vietnamese!)

Anyways, on with the pics!

I liked to enter from the Myeongdong exit on the subway near Migliore, a Korean department store.

Kpop idols are much loved in Seoul and you can find their ads and endorsements plastered everywhere and anywhere, but I'll have to do a separate post on that. Here's a huge 4minute endorsement for Shoemarker. (I like 4minute a lot, by the way; that is I like listening to their songs but don't know who's who aside from Hyuna.)

Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace

I did the touristy thing and visited Gwanghwamun 광화문 Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace 경복궁 in downtown Seoul. We started by walking from Cheonggyecheon 청계천 stream. This is a very popular spot so you may have seen it in Korean dramas (such as Iris!).

Korea Trip: Settling into Seoul

Yes, finally! My Korea trip post...the first of many, hehe. I'd been wanting to go to Seoul for the past two years and this spring, I decided to just go and make it happen! (Sometimes I am impulsive like that.) Waiting and trying to plan it with people, and match our schedules and budgets...well that obviously didn't get me anywhere over the past two years so I went ahead and traveled on my own for the first time to a foreign country. The cons of traveling alone are rather obvious, I'm sure, even down to minute matters like having someone to take your picture or take a picture with you, but overall I'm very glad I did it because it was a great life experience for me. I definitely learned a lot.

Getting there was a bit of an ordeal. I boarded my plane and was all ready to go, when the captain announced there was a mechanical problem and we had to wait for an engineer to fix it. Waiting, waiting...then the new announcement was that we had to de-plane and quickly head down the terminal to use another plane. Thennn we had the wait at the new gate for another hour...two hours...first because they were prepping the plane, then because they needed to find a new crew due to labor union laws of work hours...they gave us meal vouchers for lunch...and after I had lunch, I saw everyone standing in a longggg line...to rebook! *exasperated sigh* SO I stood in line for another hour or two, and luckily I was able to take the evening flight through Korean Air instead, but I had to wait a few more hours than that. I'm not kidding when I say I spent over 12 hours at LAX, ugh! I got another meal voucher, had cake and coffee for dinner, haha, and because of the delay, I missed my first night in Korea (waste of hotel fare, *sigh*).

Nevertheless I was quite happy to land in Incheon the next morning and headed to my hotel in Yeoksam-dong 역삼동, which is one train stop or a short walk to Gangnam 강남. After showering and resting, I met up with a high school friend who lives in Korea. We walked around Gangnam a bit and then had kbbq in Sinsa-dong 신사동. Of course, Korean barbeque in Korea is a must!

Japanese Kit Kats and Narita Airport Pics

Okay, here's really the last of my Tokyo trip pics. ^_^

It was a bit rainy before I left. Not heavy storms but just a light drizzle. It seems a bit odd at first to see so many people using their umbrellas but after walking around a bit, I realized you have to or else eventually you do start to get very wet and your clothes will start to soak too. What I like about Tokyo (and Seoul too) is that so many people walk in the rain and so you always see a parade of colorful umbrellas (in the U.S./LA/SoCal, people like me are always driving and black is the preferred umbrella color, haha).

view from my hotel room

Randomly Roaming in Tokyo

Here are the last of my photos from my short Tokyo trip. I'm sorry I couldn't post sooner but better late than never, right? Actually, wait, I still have pics from the airport, but you can do without those, right? keke If not, I'll post them next time when I announce the Natural Radiance giveaway winner!

This was my simple hotel room. Is this what a college dorm single looks like? Wouldn't know since I didn't dorm. This is actually probably smaller, haha. It was very small but I'd expected that so I wasn't surprised. These kinds of rooms really are made for small people though. When I stood in the tiny bathroom, I could touch the ceiling with my hands and I'm only 5'1.5" (155 cm.)!

Play Time in Tokyo

Hiyee everyone!! I've decided I have so much to post from my trip and since NicNic posted recently about our meet up, I shall start from the end to the beginning! (Her sense of time makes more sense than mine, but just enjoy it anyway, will you?)

Me in my hotel room, feeling all refreshed and ready to go out and about! Yes, my hair got very long since I'd wanted to cut it but a friend told me to get it done for cheap in Korea and I did not find any convenient hair salons where I felt comfortable enough to take the risk (not all salons are cheap, some are expensive, and not all speak English obviously and I am rather picky about my bangs).

OPI Muppets Collection "Excuse Moi" & Random Update

Happy spring, everyone!! I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable St. Paddy's Day. I saw tons of green eyeshadow looks and green nail polishes...but why no green lippies or blushers?! kekeke just kidding. Well I'm actually wearing green nail polish right now but did not take any pics yet, so I will have to be late (story of my life). =\ I really like the color green and it makes me think of spring and new beginnings, so I will probably update my blog to have a fresh look!

OPI is my favorite nail polish brand (although I've yet tried any of the higher end or more expensive brands like Chanel, NARS, butter LONDON, etc.) and dominates my nail polish collection (which is now well over 50 bottles, eek!). "Excuse Moi" was from the 2011 Muppets Collection, I think around the holidays or just before New Year's. It is an ultra glittery pink which makes me squeal like a teenage girl, hahaha. While it looked a bit dark in the bottle and I wasn't sure if it was more reddish than pink, it turned out to be a lovely medium-dark pink. There was a bit of a gradient effect on my nails and I would def use it again for that purpose. The only downfall is that it chipped very quickly (whereas some of the other OPI glitter polishes I have definitely last longer).

"Excuse Moi"from the OPI Muppets Collection

Random Hauls and Upcoming Spring Plans

It's been a while since I've done just a random update, hasn't it? Do you think my blog is boring now?! Wahhh tell the truth. =X

Well spring is just around the corner and for me, I always think of new beginnings. Also guess what? I'll be visiting Seoul and Tokyo next month! Chyeahhhh baby! I've been wanting to go to Korea and Japan for what feels like forever now, but have always had to put it off. This time, I'm just going to do it, like the big (reckless) dreamer that I am.

Today is also the one-year anniversary of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. I am lucky that none of my friends and their families in Japan were harmed at the time, though so many others were not as fortunate.

I remember my friends and I were able to donate through Tabento?, a sushi restaurant which offered free sushi for donations (so instead of paying for our meal, the money we put it was donated to the Japan earthquake relief funds).

sushi, one of my life's true loves

Weekend Getaway in San Francisco - Day 2

Waking up in SF was something like this...

Korilakkuma, my "comfort" item keke

Weekend Getaway in San Francisco - Day 1

Heylo, heylo!!

Was I really in SF (San Francisco) two weeks ago?  Feels almost like it couldn't have been that long ago already and yet also feels like another lifetime ago too. =X

I only stayed for a weekend, from Friday early afternoon until Sunday evening, which I thought would be a nice, long weekend but once I was there, I realized it wasn't long enough.  I'll definitely be back again soon.

I took a lot of pictures so I'll have to break this post into three, one for each day.

Day 1. Friday

just touched down at SFO (iPhone pic)

Happy Lunar New Year!!

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!! Lucky year of the wabbit...or cat if you're Vietnamese! Did you celebrate? To tell you the truth, I didn't really. haha Fail for one of my New Year's Resolutions, right? Well, I did take Friday off, I saw my family last week and will probably see them again later this week, and I went to eat in Little Saigon because I was craving Vietnamese food.

By the way, I am hooked on the Instagram app! Instant filters...so dope! I only wish for more filters hehe. The pics below are from Friday, shared on my Instagram.

I was craving for bánh bèo...freshly steamed rice cakes with shrimp and mung bean paste, a childhood fav of mine...

Sunday Fun Day and Inglot Cosmetics

Rainy Sunday this week but last Sunday was such a beautiful day, I had to take advantage of it and go with the flow. I met up with a friend at The Camp in Costa Mesa for lunch at Native Foods, a vegan cafe (yup, my vegetarian days are going so well I'm actually doing twice a week now).