Young & Vibrant Hyehwa 혜화 In Seoul

All thanks to a friend who brought us to Hyehwa for a tasty traditional dinner that I came to know of vibrant area filled with university students.

You see, Hyehwa station located on Line 2 is situated near to Hyehwa University. And of course it's filled with life and energy.

I didn't have the chance to shop around as much as I wanted to. All I could do was to snap away while taking a stroll after dinner.

I was told that the there's a few theaters in the area. Perhaps, you can get a clear picture of what this little charming area is all about from these 2 blogs here and here.

I'll just let my pictures speak for themselves.

Strangely, a lot of fortune telling tents littered the streets. I would think that at this age, you'd think you can conquer the world and have no need of fortune telling to guide you through life.

I particularly love this building below with the huge glass doors. It adds such romance to a cool Srping night in Seoul. 

Makes me miss Seoul so....

I'm definitely heading back to get myself acquainted with this lovely place the next time I'm back in Seoul.

Hyehwa station is just 1 stop away from Dongdaemun station. Take Exit 2 and just soak up the energy as you step out! ;) 

Charming Samcheong-dong in Seoul, Korea

I've been wanting to visit Samcheong-dong since my 1st trip to Korea this year, yet I didn't find the time to do so. I was told that it is a charming area with nice cafes, restaurants and lovely shops scattered along the street. 

Bukchon Hanok Village and some palaces are also located in the same area. 

Somehow, I managed to venture there by squeezing out some time at night. Sadly, it was dark and I couldn't see the beauty of the many artistic and interesting buildings in their full glory. It was enough though to see that the shops have their own distinctive character and unique charm. 

It's also interesting to see new and old traditional buildings side by side and how they seem to sit so well together. 

And if you walk into the alleys, you'll discover more shops. It made me feel like I was on a treasure hunt.

With the many cool cafes and restaurants around, we easily found a Korean restaurants for dinner.

I asked for the recommended dishes and was told that we have to try their Traditional Korean Meal. And oh, what a spread it was!

I must say it was really 맛있어요 (delicious)!

The rice was prepared in a special way; it was served with oysters! So good that I could even eat it on its own, 진짜요 (really)! I had a really hearty meal that night in Samcheong-dong. =)

One of the shops I really love there was Accessory Kitchen. I bought myself a ring and a scarf from there as keepsake.

If I were to visualize what my ICING Accessories would look if we were to have a retail store of our own. This would be very close to it. Moreover, the brand colour is green! In almost the same shade as ICING's and it's my favourite colour! Yipee!

The only drawback about Samcheong-dong is the slight difficulty in locating it. We were walking for a while not knowing whether we were on the right track or not. Thankfully, the directions given by a passer-by was easy to follow.

If you exit from Exit 1 of Anguk station (green circle in map), just turn your right and walk straight all the way. In about 5 mins, Gwanghwamun Gate will come into sight. Once you see it, just turn to your right and walk for another 5 - 10mins.

At the end of Samcheong-dong gil, the road will split into 2 and just keep to the right one (follow the purple arrow) that'll lead you into Samcheong-dong.

 I've also uploaded how the view of Gwanghwamun Gate looks like from the 2 streets that intersect. If you want a clearer map, just drop me a note here.

On a positive note, there's many art galleries and interesting shops from Anguk Station to Samcheong-dong.

It's indeed one of life's little pleasures to enjoy a a cool autumn night, appreciating artistic creations as I take a stroll down the streets. 

Best Website To Learn Korean - **Talk To Me In Korean**

I discover an online gem recently: www.TalkToMeInKorean.com

This website is not like the usual language website. It's more interactive, engaging and interesting to listen to the lessons. Best of all, the lessons are free! 

I really love how easy it is to navigate and how well laid out the pages are. And the graphics and pictures are so nice!! It's cute and makes me want to surf the site.

The lessons are clear and easy to follow through. With the workbook exercise, you can monitor how well you've learnt after each audio lesson. The teachers welcome questions and feedback too.

I'm so happy my fellow forumers introduced this website to me and I just want to share with everyone out there who is learning Korean. Take a look for yourself! And if you're happy with what you can gain from them, do donate. I think they truly deserve it!

감사합니다 to the awesome people at TalkToMeInKorean.com! =)

Too Cool For School Skincare & Make Up from Korea; Love it love it love it!!

When I discovered Too Cool For School in Myeongdong, I fell in love with it almost instantly.

It's a make up and skincare brand that carries a range of funky and experimentation products. Looking good should be fun like this!

I simply love it! The packaging is fun and the make up is really good to use. It's has an art school concept and the products are comfortably priced if you want to buy them as gifts too.

The red Art Class Lip Crayon on the bottom left of the picture is a red lip gloss that glides easily on my lips and the colour come out strong too. You can take a look at the other shade here. It's the best red "lipstick" I've found so far. Because it's a gloss, it's real easy to apply unlike the usual red lipstick; you won't need to worry about lining your lips etc.

The Rolly Doll is a handy perfume roll that smells oh-la-la~~

Well, you gotta check it out yourself if you're heading to Myeondong. The shop is numbered 23 on the map above. It's cute and it's cool...

Hotel Skypark Myeongdong 1 Seoul Review

Seoul's Hotel Skypark Myeong-Dong 1 is a really interesting hotel and it's easy to locate. The nearest exit from the subway is Exit 6. Just walk down the street after exiting Exit 6 and turn left on the first turn you come to. The hotel is right next to the retail store SPAO. Map can be found here.

I find Hotel Skypark Myeongdong 1 interesting because the hotel entrance is small and the lobby is actually situated on the 11th floor!

From the street, it's seems uninteresting but when the lift opens up to the lobby on the 11th floor, you can see that it's a pretty neat hotel that utilizes whatever small space it has.

The weighing machine at the lobby is a plus point too. The lobby decor gives me a retro chic feel.

The hotel is pretty new and there's several nice Japanese drawings hung around. 

One of the niceties is this outdoor roof garden. I spent a few nights here drinking and chatting while enjoying Seoul's cool autumn air. **Bliss**

When I first checked into my room, I was pleasantly surprised that there's a small space decorated by Etude House that allows you to try on their nail polishes for free. Cute right?

The room is a little small, just like those of Japan's hotels but the hotel's superb location more than made up for it. 

Even the toilet is small and the shower space is from where the shower curtains are to the other end of the wall (ie. half of the small bathroom) But the presence of the bidet is great! There's pressure, water temperature and even angle controls.

As you can probably tell, the hotel has some ongoing promotions with Etude House and it was a bonus to me that hotel guests get to enjoy a one time 10% off for Etude House purchase. Just head to the reception and ask for the coupon if you want one.

Overall, I really enjoyed staying at Hotel Skypark Myeong-Dong 1 because of its excellent location. It's so close to the train exit and the shopping street is right at its door step. Lotteria is right opposite too in case you get hungry at night.

There's even a supermarket to the left of the hotel. It's about 700m away. If you don't mind the space, this hotel will be perfect. I had a really comfortable stay there and find it value for money. I'm going to stay here again when I next go back to Seoul! 

Fishpond.com.sg Review; Great Place To Get Cheap Korean Books

Since I am learning Korean, I thought it's important to get myself a Korean-English dictionary and a handy phrasebook. The choices of Korean Language books is really limited in Singapore, so, I went online instead.

I stumbled upon the website www.fishpond.com.sg and was happy to know that I can readily get the books at a fraction of the price from local bookstores. And best of all, shipping is free too!

I chose these 2 books at less than $10 each! To try out the fast shipping service, I added $3.81 to the Lonely Planet Phrasebook. 

This is the order and delivery timeline:

14 September  - Ordered 2 books (Collins Dictionary & Lonely Planet Phrasebook)

22 September  - Lonely Planet Phrasebook delivered (paid $3.81 extra for fast shipping)

3 October        - Collins Dictionary delivered (normal free shipping)

It was stated when ordering that it'll take only 3 days for fast shipping of the Lonely Planet Phrasebook but it took close to a week instead. Hence, if you don't need the books urgently, I think it's more worth it to just wait for about a week more.

I'll give this website a rating of 7/10.

+ Points:

• Cheap books
• Reliable website
• Easy to navigate
• Accurate order tracking
• There's an additional order history page that'll inform you of the estimated shipping and arrival dates. The date here is very accurate. Oddly enough, even the Lonely Planet Phrasebook was estimated to arrive later than on the ordering page.
• Step by step order tracking
• As seen below, you can track your orders step by step

- Points:

• Hard to reach Customer Service; you can only email them
• Product title description was not clear; the Collins Dictionary turned out surprisingly small. It was more of a pocket dictionary and I just realised that I've missed out the "compact, portable format" description. 
• Limited range of books

Overall, I'm happy and will shop with www.fishpond.com.sg again.

The Lonely Planet phrasebook has proven to be very useful and easy to read. As for the Collins Dictionary, I like that it is a 2 way  dictionary with  examples of phrases on words usage.

Well, looking on the bright side, I can carry this handy dictionary everywhere I go now! I just hope that my eyesight will not deteriorate because of it! ;)

ETUDE HOUSE Collagen Moistfull Essence & Sunblocks Review

Remember those beauty products I bought from Seoul earlier this year? I finally got a chance to try them out and review them now.

One of my best buys is the above Etude House Collagen Moistfull Essence retailing at 15,000KRW in Korea.

Yes, you've guessed it! The reason why I like it is because at this extremely low price, I can still get a quality product that's effective. It's selling at about 40+SGD here but cost me less than 20SGD. The texture is a little sticky but it moisturize well and smells lovely. Sometimes, I use this essence before my moisturiser. Other times, I even use it on its own!

I've been trying out all kinds of sunblock and none has been satisfactory so far. Mainly, It's because I dislike the thick and slightly oily texture of sunblocks. And I prefer those with SPF50 and above. 

So far, Etude House Sun Power Cotton Touch with SPF50+ meets my expectations. It's meant to give a cottony finish with its thick and powdery texture. For starters, you may find it a little hard to apply and even out the thick sunblock. The trick is to thinly layer it on so that you won't look pasty with a purplish tinge to your skin.

Somehow, I think the purple tinge will play a part in toning down yellow skin tone. I think this sunblock is great and indeed less oily than most SPF50+ sunblocks in the market. By the way, I have combination skin.

As for the other Sun Toner Water Jelly SPF30 in the bottom half of the picture, the texture is similar to many other sunblocks and feels a little sticky to me. After application, I need to let it settle for at least 15 mins before putting on my foundation. I was attracted to this the Sun Toner Water Jelly because of its "Water Jelly" description. Also, all Etude House sunblocks were having a 1 for 1 promotion in Korea in mid June this year.

How cheap can they get??!! Heh!

Where To Buy Korean Keyboard Stickers in Singapore

From my previous post, some of you may know that I am studying Korean now. Of course, I not only want to speak and read the language, I want to write it as well.

So, I had to get Korean keyboard stickers to start my Korean language practice on my laptop.

I intended to get my stickers from a US seller at ebay. But after adding the postage, it was more logical to get it from a Singapore seller at $1-2 more and who can deliver them much faster. 

I chose the transparent stickers with orange letters and am satisfied with the service of the seller. If you're interested to purchase Korean keyboard stickers ere in Singapore, you can email Jayson at imjayson@hotmail.com. The sticker details can be found here.

I combined my purchase with 2 other friends and got a bulk discount too. Just email Jayson to find out more, he responds fast and is a very helpful and responsible seller.

You'll only need to to go the Control Panel on your computer, add the Korean language bar in the Regional and Language folder after sticking on your new stickers to be able to type away in Korean.

Now, I can! =)

Where To Learn Korean In Singapore? Which Korean School Is Good?

My title says it all. I read that...

• Singapore Korean School is good but the location is bad
• NUS Extension (known as NEX) is very structured but super ex
• Cambridge School of Education is good and not so ex but really basic

And I narrowed it down to the Community Centres which seems good enough but I didn't get to find much feedback on it.

Help help! Any recommendations and reviews to share? I just want to converse and write/email in basic Korean.

Tasty Snack From Korea

I was back in Seoul just 2 weeks ago and my friend simply love Dr You's snacks. I must say the prawn crackers is really not bad. If you are going to Seoul, do give it a try. It is easily available from Family Mart, 7 Eleven or other major supermarkets.

It goes well with beer and make a good snack on the road.

And of course I bought my favourite Korean Black Raspberry Wine from the DFS inside Incheon Airport again.

Instead of the above, I bought the cheaper alternative from another DFS shop. It comes packed in 200ml x 5 bottles, making it easier to drink or to give away as a small gift.

Moreover, if you buy 2 boxes, you can get a 5% discount from the 22USD/box. For 3 boxes and above, it'll be a 10% discount. 

But... I prefer the bottle I bought from my April 2011 trip. The wine doesn't taste so acidic and has a fuller body. For about $30 more, I think it's definitely more worth its price! It's a perfect family drink that even old folks like! ;)