Level 2. Que Super Mario Music.

Another quarter has come to it's abrupt end.

Yeah, it felt like it passed so quickly. I guess compared to the last quarter, we were learning SO MUCH more that I barely had the time to catch up with my reviews when we had to jump right into the next topic. But, nonetheless, it was fun and I felt like I was actually progressing in terms of the language. It was quite challenging, as I guess I've figured out that during the exams, as much as I would like to make up my own stuff with the grammar we've learnt, the way for me to get good grades is to basically remember on a rough basis the previous work we've done and use most of that stuff during the speaking and writing tests as that has more grammar points and will get us the grade.

Nonetheless, I am happy and absolutely proud to say that I passed Level 2 with almost rainbow colors (though it most definitely can be better, with A LOT LESS silly mistakes, my biggest downfall SIGH)

On a new note though, the reason why I've been pre-occupied and not blogging is also because I've been home searching. 

a really cool room of one of the houses I visited

Yes, I've spent a good 2 full weeks (while studying for midterms and very quickly finals) looking for a place, and by golly, that process takes SO LONG. I would look at soooo many places in one day, literally spend 4 hours with agents looking at places, walking and looking at potential places only to get shown places that are WAY out of budget and not worth it at all. And I'm not just talking 10,20 bucks more. This is 200 bucks more. Sigh, hard selling it man. 

On some days, when I had dance practice that ends at 3.30,
it was out the door again knocking on real estate agent's doors for places. 

a really cool rooftop of one of the over budget yet too small places

With the help of another friend, we finally found a place! It was at the price range we were looking for and is much much closer to both our schools (major plus! it's a short walk to the stations but it's about the same really)

And so.....

The packing is almost complete, as we move out completely tomorrow. 

I've been gradually packing to kinda get ahead as I know I'm a procrastinator, and the last thing I want is to have a last minute scramble. So I've already started the day of dance rehearsals (I'm in Dance Club and we were performing for the closing ceremony).

during dance rehearsal

We'd danced and rehearsed so many times that by the time I was done moving that day I was dead tired. 

Round 1 of packing

with the help of my 친구 (friends from China)
if only you could see the hills we had to brave and the oceans of sweat..

the much needed post move break, Gongcha! (:

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.

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*

And so we've come to the last league of the moving process.

We (my roommate Sun & I) officially move in tomorrow.

Feeling: Exhausted & Stoked. 

K-K-K-Kosvogue!

Hello dear readers (or whoever who has either stumbled upon this & especially to you who have been loyally checking up on this blog, hello! *waves with big grin*)!

So yes, it is true, I have been MIA. Because well, for obvious reasons. I'm no longer in Korea.. (for now!) And yes, I had a bunch of stuff that were supposed to be reviewed by someone, but however, due to some unfortunate circumstances, I was in the end, unable to retrieve his comments regarding the products ):

But! Life goes on, and moving on, there's a place I, after lots of searching and swimming through the internet, and combing through things, have visited personally and am glad to report back to you with joy (uh, this is a service in Malaysia run by Koreans) of a hair salon that'll give you instantaneously gorgeous K-celebrity status? May I also add, before we go on, that THIS is definitely not paid. I wasn't, am not, and will not be paid for this, unless they see this and wanna give me another free service, then heck yes, I'll take it hahaha but no, really, I'm not paid. I just decided that it'd be nice to get the word out, cause I mean, really, who doesn't want beautiful luscious hair despite all the coloring and perming? 

It all started out actually when I saw the newspaper article about their services, and how they use all natural products, my mom and I were so taken! So, just to give you a rough idea of our (mom's and mine) hair, its pretty coarse, naturally so. And we have a problem, we love red hair. Okay mom for obvious reasons of white hair and red being the easiest to cover them up (she does look good with it tho) and me, cause well, I've just been so fascinated by it and in the last four years, the color has been within that range.

Red

red

reddd

RED

Red. Okay we get it.

Even in my latest hair venture the dude, without me even asking, just threw in red on my hurrs! RED! 

Ha. See?

But anyway, yeah, so from all the crazy coloring (even when I was letting my hair recover, I had it colored brown or something, so all the coloring and stuff really killed it), my hair was just at a ghastly state. Awfully dry, damaged hair. And being someone who really enjoys Korean entertainment, I've always been super fascinated by how despite all the hair altercations, they still have smooth silky hair (like, come on! what is thisss!). The answer to my question finally answered on a small piece of ad in the papers: Hair Coating! 

In my best understanding from the owner of the place (which may also be perhaps incorrect but this is the most I caught from our conversation), hair coating, as the name suggests, is basically putting an additional layer of protein on your hair (and fixing the damaged bits of your hair cuticles) so that instead of your hair taking ALL the beating, the protein is your hair's stuntman haha, taking your hair's place while it undergoes a recovery from the treatment. Multitasking say whuuuut! 

It's a crazy long process of washing, cleaning (deep into the hair), absorbing (your hair does, not you) of the treatments, straightening, trimming, and some ironing out the rest. But honestly, after I left, I was just smiling like a crazy lady cause my hair was the smoothest it's been since I can remember... 

 
Dead hair, "New" hair haha

I mean, really, how great is that? And on top of that, you can do whatever you want with your hair after. But I mean, naturally, it's always highly recommended that we let the treatment sit in for a bit before we go crazy with it again, cause I mean, really, you spend so much money, only to have it all gone by being too overexcited with wanting to color it and stuff. Waste of money, no?

Here are the really sweet owners, who by the way have it all thought out like whaaa!

I was served drinks of my choice, some good snacks that I was too shy to touch haha, and they even had a stand for whatever you're reading so it's propped up to ease reading, without the usual bend that hurts your back so badly. They're really nice and efficient, though the price tag may be on the slightly higher side, you can be rest assured that you're in good hands (quite literally).

They even showed me their products that uhm, seriously is so organic and free of chemicals you can eat it and is safe for everyone in the family to use, I mean, COME ON HOW COOL IS THAT!! Nyam nyam, oh just eating my shampoo. 

For those of you who are interested in the home supplies for your hairs thats safe for babies, grandparents, and everyone else, here's a photo of it and it may just help yaaaa (:

A number of these things were also used during the process of my treatment (: 

All natural and so goooooood smells good too.

Anyway, here are some important details:
It's called Kosvogue, located at Sunway Giza, it's upstairs kind of to the corner, so explore a bit. Or find Lot B-16-1, cause clearly I suck at giving directions cause I can't remember what it was near. I'm SORRY!

And I know this isn't Korea related but if you're in KL, and are in search of a fixer up-er, you know where to go. I definitely thought it was really good. Though my treatment was just ONE of the many the salon offers, you should definitely talk to them to figure out which one works best for your hair, cause like I said, my hair was dead. Again, it's slightly more on the expensive side, but it's really good if you're planning on killing your hair, preventing the need to chop all of your hair off from bleaching, coloring, and perming, cause haha I know I'm guilty of putting my hair through all that haha.

Anyhooties, I hope this post fulfills something, cause I'm up at 3.30am with a rumbling tummy writing this cause it's been a while... Sorryyyyyyy ): And I really wanted to share this with you guys! (: I hope you guys do drop by their store for a visit cause I really liked their service and I'm sure you'll feel like a million bucks during and after (:

Samcheongdong!

Forgive my negligence!

I have been so busy, not necessarily in the way I had initially intended but busy nevertheless!

But yesterday I was lucky enough to have been able to go out to Samcheong-dong for some R&R and to do a little shopping. If you're wondering how to get there, it's really simple, just get on the Subway (Orange Line 3) and get off at Anguk. Exit 1 is where you wanna get off. If you get out and see the Jongno Police Station across the street, you're on the right track. Turn right once you get out the exit and you'll pass and Starbucks at one point (which will be on your right) and Olive Young on the corner. At some point you'll see (on your right) the entrance to the area (it'll be pretty crowded) so follow the crowd and keep walking. As you walk, you'll see street vendors selling little trinkets and things then as you walk, you'll start to see little cafes and small eateries  as the road kinda gets narrower.

As I was starving by the time I got there, I went into the first shop that caught my attention. It was upstairs and I had no idea what it was so I sat down and was given this menu. Then I saw the price and could not stomach it. So I left and I ended up here

Meok-shui-don-na

it had SBS on it so I guessed it was good?

Who knew, it was Toppokki made for sharing. Goddamn. 

But I was fucking hungry and toooo lazy to leave again so here's what I got:

Seafood and Beef Toppoki with Ramyeon, Fish Cake, and Eggs.

I think Emma'd agree wimme on this. 

Sad to say the least, I couldn't finish it completely. Dude, it was made for 2 or more! I finished the important ingredients though haha (like the fish cakes, seafood, meat, as much of the eggs as I could, and the veges). I felt like a boss eating it all on my own though ;) hehe. The couple that sat next to me didn't even finish HALF. Watching their figures maybe?

But of course all of that was followed by some walking around and shopping! Gotta sweat it all out. And sweat I did. Everyone did, in fact. It was hot and humid so of course beads of sweat would at definitely make its way at least to your neck. ANYWAY, enough about sweat.

Most of the things on sale were pretty cheap. 

Those pink ones remind me of the ones I had at Soka.

interesting name. Koreans really have a quirky sense of humor when it comes to setting up shop names

The shoes were on sale approx 20,000-30,000 on sale. Didn't bother looking at the non sale items.

I usually do not (or pretty much can't so why bother) roll that way.

My last stop was this vintage store to pick up some stuff I couldn't pay for the night before (we dropped by for a few seconds and I picked out a dress and a skirt) 

most of their stuff in the vintage store was 10,000 ₩ aka approx USD9/RM30

Seriously in love with this place.

In the end, my hauls for the day were:

a ton of jewelry I was too lazy to take photos of 

vintage skirt and dress 

from Retro Vintage

& these beauties from I ♥ Flat

They remind me of my late grandma. 

She only wore these kinds of shoes.

Here are some other shots of the shoes I thought you'd appreciate..

the insoles are pretty soft +1

the sole is pretty sturdy looking. When I wear them the bottom of my feet feel protected +1

not bad for 25,000₩ won't you say?

okay. Let's sum it all up.

My advice from this trip:

1. BRING CASH! This applies to whenever you leave your hotel room (ESPECIALLY if you're going shopping at places that isn't a mall). I mean unless money is no biggy and you don't mind getting charged at least an extra 10% with every purchase. Then in that case, don't. But realistically speaking, why pay that extra when you can pay for whats on the price tag alone?

2. When it comes to food, unless you have a pitless cove for a stomach, I'd suggest bringing a friend. As mentioned with the toppokki, I had to eat it all by myself and was not able to devour all the yummy desserts that tempted me and called my name like mermaids at sea. Pretty much everything except the chicken skewers (which I could not try cause broke as fuck and not hungry partially cause of the thin wallet) were made for sharing

3. Food aside, here's why bringing a friend/another person would be good: One, as mentioned above, sharing, less binging, more variety. Two, second opinions when it comes to shopping cause dude, most of the things there are so cheap/on sale that you literally wanna buy everything and it'll make you go broke in 5 seconds, not even kidding. Lucky for me, I had a small wallet, aka small-ass-budget so I had to control my own spending. Three, the photo taking! If, like me, you're vain (nothing wrong with that) and enjoy being in front of the camera, then your friend would do much much help. Vice versa. Win. Mother-fcukin-WIN. 

4. This point is quite important so remember this well: There is a small drink stall next to the restaurant Flora. You won't miss it. It has fruits in a cup on display and it's pretty red/pinkish on the inside. Take note of this place. You do not. I repeat DO NOT wanna buy anything from there. Heres why: I paid almost USD4 for a tea that didn't even have milk, honey OR sugar in it. I was not offered any condiments and the sad pathetic part of it all was when I asked for some milk, she told me that she'll only put in a little after showing me a sour face and then pretending to be confused. Trust me, you're not missing out on much if you're opting out of this place. With the money you're paying for "traditional Korean tea" (it was stuff you can make at home cause all you need to do is add hot water), you could probably save that money, add a couple more dollars for a sit in nice ice cold cuppa or shaved ice in an AC-ed (or heated depending on the season you're in) cafe that's round the corner. Seriously, refrain from that stall! You're not missing out on much.

5. When you reach Flora, you'll think you're at the end. But you're not. So cross the street, keep walking (follow the crowd) and go up to the Bukchon village (especially during sunset you don't wanna miss the view) and just slow walk. Its really chill and you get to people watch from an elevated view. It's like watching a live dollhouse! 

Like the escaping teddy...

I promise. 

And if you're feeling hungry by then, there's a ton of restaurants/cafes for you to pick from too!

Alright, I feel like I've regurgitated too much. Hope you took at least one thing away from this! :)

Watch out for my next post! I sense a coffee one coming! :) YAY!

I'm out.