Seoul Day #3

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend anyone to come visit Seoul if they want to have their shopping cravings satisfied.

I'm in love.

We went to Myeongdong the first day and that was already so so so fun; skincare and make-up shops all just next to each other. Sales assistants are also SO SO helpful and they just lure you into their stores by giving you free things. And they're really generous with their free gifts.

ANYWAY, so on day 3 it was shopping day in Hongdae!!

As I've probably mentioned before in earlier posts, Tania and I are currently staying in an apartment in Hongdae so we didn't even have to take the subway anywhere for our shopping. We just literally cross the street and we're there!

We went on a Saturday so it was a given there were going to be loads of people. But I didn't mind it a bit. I usually try to avoid crowds as much as I can but this one, this crowd I particularly loved and enjoyed. It was hectic and there were just so many people but the atmosphere was amazing and so darn youthful. Music was blasting from all corners and people would just casually carry around a huge speaker and have loud music on (I obviously enjoyed their choices of music um hello Big Bang yes all day everyday) and they would just dance. It wasn't even for money y'know, it was just for them to have fun. Which was pretty amazing, their passion just showed so much it was really awesome to see that. One corner would have some guys dancing to Big Bang and in another corner, someone would be singing to a ballad in front of a crowd of girls. It was so freakin' fun to see and hang around there.

Hongdae is a combination of Hongik (the area) and Daehakgyo (which is university in Hangeul) so as you'd imagine, there were a lot of university students around the area and it was just so happening. Ugh I loved it so much!!!

So anyway, we browsed around 'til we got to an area where it was just streets and streets of shops. All so quaint but man, beautiful clothes. It was just completely my style and ugh the window displays were so damn cool and so the outfits were all so well put-together. It was so difficult to leave a store without buying something.

And the shop assistants are just something else lah. They're so helpful and they help you coordinate your outfit. So just say, you're eyeing a top right, and they see you looking at that top, and before you know it, they bring you a skirt and a pair of pants to match with that. It's really cool how they help you out. I try my best to communicate with them with what little Korean I know (my favourite thing of the day was being complimented on how good my Hangeul was by one of the unnie's in the store!! Hehe) and if you don't speak a word of Korean, I admit that it can be quite difficult to communicate but you just figure things out along the way. Tania doesn't speak Korean so whenever she's alone with the sales assistant, I could see that it was quite difficult for one to understand the other and I would often try my best to translate and understand the other hahaha I sound like I'm such a pro, I promise you I'm not but after learning Korean for 8 months now you kinda get the gist of what they're saying (won't lie, it was kindve an amazing feeling!).

But yeah, this was shopping HEAVEN for Tania and I. I loved everything about it. The clothes were all so simple yet so so chic and just so effortless. My main thing to get whilst I'm here is pants. It's so difficult to get nice fitted pants in KL and I'm so bored with my old pair of jeans. So I'm planning to get more in the next few days hehe ugh even thinking about going shopping in Hongdae is making me so freakin excited?!?!?!

And then we found StyleNanda. To those who don't know what StyleNanda is, it's essentially the biggest embodiment of what Korean fashion currently is. It's a Korean store with just about the sickest clothes (atleast to me) and I always go on their website to see what they have in store but I don't buy them because it's quite pricey (but it's still really cool to go see how they style clothes so if you need some inspiration, go to StyleNanda now!!). They have their flagship store in Hongdae so we had to go! I didn't buy any of the clothes or accessories, but we did buy loads of 3CE things which was so so so so ace!!!! I didn't expect it to be that affordable seeing how it is still StyleNanda. But they had so many cool things and the colours were beautiful to play around. Was quite difficult to not buy everything I swatched!!!

They even had a free photobooth in store which was so much fun and no one was queueing behind us so naturally Tania and I had to take two hehe

I had so much fun shopping to be honest! I haven't had that feeling in a while because there hasn't been anything in the shops anymore, both here in KL and in the UK, that has excited me like how Hongdae has. Really really fun and I strongly recommend Seoul your next shopping destination! We then hung around Hongdae before going back to our home. Hongdae is perhaps the liveliest and most happening place I've been. It was just bursting with excitement and loud music and people dancing here and singing there and just in general, having loads of fun. The streets of Hongdae was just full with restaurants and cafe's and karaoke places and clothes shops, it was absolutely amazing!! 

Clothes were all so cheap also, at the 20,000W - 40,000W mark (roughly RM80-120 at the most!) for really really quality clothes you can't and won't find here in KL. Think Telawi minus the stairs and much much more variety. And the shop assistants are just daebak (Korean for 'awesome) ; if you see a top, they'll immediately pull out the same one only in 2 different colours or they'll bring you a pair of pants or skirt to match the top with. You can't typically try out clothes on though however most of em are in free sizes (even pants) so it may be difficult for those who have weird sizing. You still gotta ask if they have it in S, M or L. And they aren't as English friendly as one would think, they'd welcome you in Korean and once you start spurting out basic Korean shopping phrases you found online, they'll just go ahead and converse with you in full Korean so if you can't speak, just don't speak hahaha. 

Hongdae was a dreammmmmm and we were already planning on going again seeing how we live just so nearby!

xx

Seoul Day #2

Day 2 was a touristy day for us. Tania went online to find a tour bus for us and apparently there weren't any open top ones like how they usually have in other places. This was a closed top... and with no audio guide.... and the tour guide was Korean... and spoke in Korean... to the Koreans onboard.
There were some other foreigners but very little - most of the ones on board the bus were locals.

We stopped first at Deoksugung palace and it was blazing hot! We walked around and took some photos - there weren't too many people so it was nice. Kinda reminded me of the walks around botanical garden in Penang when I was small.

Then we went to have lunch because we were starving. One thing though, if you're a foreigner, I think it's a little bit difficult to find good food? I'm not really the biggest fan of Korean food and seeing how a lot of their meals centre around meat and pork (and vegetables), it was quite difficult to get ahold of decent food. I said this to Tania the other day, shopping is so much easier for a tourist than eating here. They don't really try to speak English in restaurants and cafes as they might be in shops where there'd be more tourists. As much as I love Seoul and everything it offers, I can't wait to eat nasi again in KL hahaha

After lunching, we continued with the tour. The tour bus came every 25 minutes (right on time, guys, no delay at all! Not even a minute!); some buses had audio guides and some didn't so it really just depends on your luck. The audio guides were meh so I didn't even bother. We then hopped off at Itaewon, apparently known to be where most expats reside. It was a quiet day though we thought. The shops along the street were really cool though but we didn't get anything because we promised each other to save up for the next day.

We went around but left shortly after for the next stop; Namsan Tower!!

We were excited for this because it's such a big tourist place and I've known about this place because it's been featured in a lot of fun variety shows (ahem EXO Showtime and Running Man) so it was cool to be there.

We had to walk up a REALLY steep hill to get there. The tour bus didn't stop at the cable car station so  while some people had the luxury to get to the top using the cable car, we had to walk. I was panting and we had to take a second to collect ourselves hahaha how UNFIT

After taking loads of photos with love locks, we got on the tour bus again. We had to pay 9000W for that and it was a good experience to get a 360 view of essentially Seoul city! Beaut.

Went to the gift shop and Tania got some things and we came across this! 

Big Bang bears!!!! How cute I can't even. Angry looking bears!!! Look at that damn GD cutie bear. Literally CUTIE BEARS!!

We finished the tour and went for dinner. Decided on finally eating some Korean food and we just went into a random Korean restaurant... and settled for ramyeon.

Guys, it's just Maggi served in a fancy bowl. Watching all the Koreans crave for this macam lah sedap gila je kan tengok dorang makan sedap pulak. I mean, it IS good but it's not something I'd consider to eat in a nice decent restaurant. To be fair, they served telur also...

...

Ugh have they not heard of LAKSA?!?!?!?! That'll blow their minds.

It's half past 2 am and Tania is sleeping next to me and it's raining outside. YES!!! Raining!!!! We've been quite blessed to have nice weather this few days in Seoul, albeit hot as heck but I mean, at least it's not raining. Give me the heat anytime over rain especially during a holiday like this!!

Til next post!

xx

If you've been to Seoul, please do tell us of good places to eat because we are hungry hahaha

Seoul Day #1

I. CAN'T. BELIEVE. I. AM. IN. SEOUL!!!!!!!!

MATE.

Y'all know by now that I have been completely immersing myself in Korean culture; music, movies, dramas, TV shows, celebrities (everyone from singers, actresses to comedians and sportsmen), language, way of life, skincare, EVERYTHING.

So Tania and I have been planning on coming to Seoul since early this year. We got around to buying the flight tickets just before Raya and settled the accommodation rather quickly.

So before we know it, we're here in blazing hot SoKo!!!! Man, it's hot. We knew it was going to be hot, but didn't know to this extent. I think it's cause I'm so used to having air conditioner everywhere I go, so the heat here is ridicccccc.

Once we've settled in our accommodation, we got ready to leave for Myeongdong. The first thing we bought was at this über cute shop just right beneath us called 'Butter'. Has the cutest things from cooking utensils to selfie sticks. So we bought fans because it was too hot to bear and the ventilation system for the subway is crazy.

Yes, you read that right, 12000W which would mean less than RM40 ok what the that is cheap for a cute top!!!!! 

We were walking along Myeongdong and came across this clothes shop that lead to a downstairs area and lo and behold, it was this hidden gem of a clothes store. I was so rambang mata, and there were relatively cheap!! I feel like I should get nice clothes whilst I'm here because the choices are endless! It's so difficult to get nice clothes in KL because you mainly only rely on mainstream stores like Zara and Topshop and they're so boring now. We left the store empty handed because we felt like we spent a lot on skincare before that so decided to leave this for another day. Y'know, give some time for our wallets to breathe a little.

My trusty fan. Seoul is sooooo humid and a lot of people (including men) were fanning themselves so Tania and I got one for ourselves too. Mine's banana patterned and ain't it the cutest darn thing.

It's only been one day in for us but I'm already so inspired, fashion wise! They dress so so so so so simply, like t-shirt with culottes but they carry it off so well! Most of their shops are right up my alley as they carry a lot of clothes that mainly cater to the Korean fashion taste and it's so damn spot on! Can't wait to go see more of Korean fashion stores !!!! And spend a bomb !!!!!! (sorry Mum you had to know what was coming, this was a given)

We had dinner at a buffet somewhere on like a 4th floor of a building and we could see the streets of Myeongdong from our view which was ace!

After dinner, we just headed home because we were SO exhausted from all the walking. We are currently residing in an apartment in Hongdae so it's quite a distance to go to Myeongdong but man, worth the walk (and pain that follows after).

Myeongdong was so awesome, I absolutely loved it!!! Can't wait to go again hehe

xx

#seoulsisters

Anyeong! 

District 21

I'm ACHING.

I slept late and woke up real early (according to me) for today's outing to District 21.

For those who don't know what District 21 is, it's basically an indoor extreme park in IOI City Mall. A friend of mine posted a photo of it on Instagram and I just had to find out what it was really because it looked so cool!!

So my friends and I organised a trip there. Fairly easy, you don't have to do any kind of reservations and bookings of sorts (like how you probably would for Jumpstreet). Seeing how we went on a Monday, there wasn't that big of a crowd which we appreciated because we didn't have to wait in line for most of the things there. We started on the trampolines but after """warming up""" (read : panting), we went on the Tubby Ride which is basically when you get into a tube and you're pushed down a big slide. That was fun but we only went on it once. We then went for the Sky Trail.

...

This is where I questioned myself out loud, "WHY AM I DOING THIS!!!!!!"

It's essentially a rope course only high up in the air and made out of various levels of difficulty. My arms and legs started to lose out ON THE FIRST LEVEL. I had to steady myself before going on. You really have to be mentally strong also to go on this.

I had my phone kept in the safe and so did all of my friends so we didn't and couldn't take photos of the trail from above. There were shortcuts so I took the shortcut because I was just too out of it to continue the journey.

It was so susah for me personally because it requires a lot of strength and balancing and telling yourself to chill the f*ck out and don't panic. And the fear of falling was very prominent throughout the whole course. I wanted to kiss the ground when I finally went down. Very scary lah actually now that I think about it!! I don't know, I'm not particularly afraid of heights but I can't lie I was a bit shaken when I got down. Hahahaha I am so drama lah but really, my hands were trembling when I finished the course!

After that, we took the option of free falling. Yes. Free falling. Albeit a short distance, it was still free falling. Damn, that was no joke!!!!! I've always wanted to bungee jump and all that (because deep deep deep inside hidden somewhere way too deep for me and you, I am very ambitious and adventurous) (continue laughing elsewhere please not on this blog don't be RUDE!!!) but man, this was like a bungee jump taster and DAMN man.

I might have to rethink on being adventurous.

Anyway, so we moved on to the rock climbing area. That. Was. Difficult. Even the boys found it difficult, okay! By then, my arms were already so so so so so so lenguh I COULDN'T HOLD ON PROPERLY to anything.

So I skipped out on this one other ride... a ride that I don't even know how to describe so I shan't.

I'll end the post here because I am ridiculously so tired. Waking up so early and then exhausting myself doing this!!! Fun nevertheless but what a damn workout. And I did the least!!!!! That's a given since I'm the least athletic person in any group of people you give me lah to be perfectly honest.

Fun times with my mates > any pain.

xx

Bang

I. Can't. Believe. I. Just. Missed. Out. On. A. Big. Bang. Concert.

...

...

...

Dare I say biggest regret of 2015?!?!?!?!

I didn't go because I found out about it so late and when I wanted to nab tickets for myself, the """affordable""" ones ran out. Ugh! I really would've gone if I had known about it earlier.

I mean, watching Taeyang and GD and TOP and Seungri and Daesung perform to Bang Bang Bang live?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I'm done. UGH. Should have just spent the money, I'm 22, why do I need to save anyway?!?!?!

... I kid.

But Big Bang though.

So to ease the pain, I've been listening to lots of Big Bang. Their new tunes are just ace; I love them but if I had to choose a favourite it's definitely Bang Bang Bang and If You. The former a real party song, I can imagine the whole stadium going crazy with this; and the latter a really slow ballad with such emotional lyrics. Man, that song. So heavy but so beautifully written, produced and sung. I can cry just out of the blue when that song is on!!

Music is very subjective, and each to their own. Some people love heavy metal and some people love jazz. That's the best thing about music; it's so universal, there's always something for everyone. I've been listening to only Korean songs these past few months and not because I'm so biased towards their music. They are genuinely great tunes and so catchy also.

So here are some of the songs I have been loving so far. Before entering the dark world of K-Pop, I only ever imagined K-Pop to be bubble gum pop with lots of synchronised dancing, completely oblivious to the fact that Korean musicians are very very much capable of producing quality music. Here are some of my latest favourites. Hope you give them a listen!!

GD's 'Who You' in this playlist isn't the actual original version but it's more or less the same, it has just been edited here and there. Go on Spotify if you want to listen to the original version. 



Anyeong!!

xx

Salam Aidilfitri '15

Selamat Hari Raya, everyone!! 

Raya is easily my favourite time of year, surpassing my birthday even! Since birth basically, I've been coming to Penang to celebrate Raya every year and with that, we are also held captive at home by our grandparents and they feed us 'til we're nice and round for KL. Kind of like a Hansel & Gretel situation. 

Only we're not being eaten alive. And Mak Tok and Pak Tok are not witches; they're actually the kindest people you'll come across.

Besides eating and playing Avalon/Monopoly Deal, we're just bumming around the house because we're all so damn spoiled when we get to Penang. SO spoiled. How are we not when all 10 of us (the grandchildren, I mean) are our grandparents pride and joy?!?!?! Hehe

So anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful wonderful Raya ahead of you. Spend this time with your family, asking for forgiveness and kosong-kosong!

I, myself, would like to maaf zahir dan batin sincerely and genuinely to everyone who might have been hurt or offended by my words and/or action.

Like I've said before, Raya is my favourite time of year so I hope it is also for you!

Makan banyak-banyak, guys! Ketupat rendang lemang datang sekali setahun! 

xx

Number 76

Just had my first Number 76 experience! For those who don't know what Number 76 is, it's a hair salon renowned for its hair colouring services. And I did just that. I booked an appointment via online and asked for their senior director, Amy to help me out since Sarah told me she was good. I went for the one in Bangsar 2 which is situated behind Nirwana so it's facing the residential area near the Pos Malaysia. There are many other locations; there's two in Bangsar alone and in Publika, Mid Valley and Starhill if I'm not mistaken. Most, if not all, of the hairstylists have their own Instagram account associated with Number 76 so they mainly upload photos of their work on clients. It's a great way of finding your ideal hair colour, really. Just search hashtag 'number76' and you'll just find random stylists' from different branches.

So anyway!

I really really love the outcome of my hair colour. I previously coloured my hair with my usual hairdresser in OU but one thing led to another and well, let's just say, I wasn't really happy with the end result. It looked a bit off and did not suit my skin colour at all! So I waited for a few weeks before I went for another hair colouring session.

A good friend of mine, Sarah, went to do her hair there and I felt like I needed a change of scenery hahaha so I decided to just colour my hair at Number 76. I mean, might as well, right? Seeing how Raya is just 'round the corner, I wanted to change my hair.

I decided to just go back to being dark haired. Being adventurous with my hair has never been in my favour so I wanted to just play safe.

Consultation with Amy literally took what? 3 minutes? I just told her I wanted to go dark and with a tinge of an ash brown undertone. She didn't personally colour my hair for me but it didn't really matter, to be honest. It's just hair colouring and I assume the requirements to work in a well-known salon would be quite high so I just entrusted my hair to them. Berserah kinda thing. Hahaha

I really did not feel the 2 hours go by. It was so sekejap! Maybe I had a book to accompany me but reallly, it was very easy and quick and I didn't have to go through any sort of steamer or that heater thing that circles your head about a hundred times over. My hair was just wet with dye and just that. Nothing else.

Shortly after, I just followed the girl to wash my hair and that was it.

A fairly simple process but I love my hair now! It's very natural and it blends easily. The ash brown I asked for is very subtle and you won't probably see it under low-lighting but that was I wanted. I didn't want to have an obvious ash colour because like I said, I just wanted to go back to being dark-haired. I just wanted to try out the ash so as to not have my hair looking too flat.

AND I got a 20% discount so it worked out cheaper than at my old hairdresser's place. Man, I love myself a good discount. And I got a member card which I think just collects points (?) and you just redeem that for your next visit.

I'm not being asked to blog about my experience whatsoever, by the way. I just really like my hair colour now hahaha

xx

EDIT : So it's been about almost 3 weeks since I coloured my hair and it has definitely turun colour. It's now not the colour as pictured in photo above; it's gone a bit brown now. Kinda like my previous colour only not so obvious. Such a pity though (and I'm quite annoyed and disappointed) because I really liked the colour in the picture!!!!!!!! 

EDIT #2 : I'm a month in with my new dark hair colour (from a different hairdresser!) and it's still the same colour as the first day I had it done. Which is bloody brilliant. And I've been washing my hair every single day! It hasn't faded one bit! 

I don't know if this applies to the rest of Number 76's customers but the hair colour I got from them, although beautiful at first, faded way too quickly and way too easily! And I followed exactly what the hairdresser at 76 told me to do which was to use proper hair treatment for coloured hair. I swear, this hair colour didn't even last 3 weeks on me! Taught me a good lesson; to always stick to what's good for you! Sorry Number 76, really wanted to like you but after having my hair recoloured by my ol' trusty hairdresser, I have to be the unpopular minority to not like the quality of your hair colouring! 

Azam Turns 22!

(Cardigan from Urban Outfitters, camisole from H&M, pants from Mimpikita and heels from Charles and Keith which I bought on the day of the dinner itself 'cause I left my one good pair in Bristol lol)

I've just come to the sound conclusion that no matter how I pose in photos or no matter how I dress, I can't seem to appear tall at all in photos. Give up!

This was on Monday night for Azam's birthday surprise! His birthday was in June but he was still in the UK then so we pushed it forward to July 6th.

How cute gambar sekolah hahahaha I love me friends and it's always always so fun meeting them up for lunch/dinner once in a while, I need to soak all of our outings properly because we're all going to be quite busy quite near in the future and I can't come to terms yet that we're all adults now and no more going back and forth from college to home anymore brb crying the Han river I mean can you imagine when we're all married with family??? How else are we going to meet up like this anymore ????????? BRB crying the Han river again


xx

Future

I realised the other day that by this September, I'll have to already start my third year of degree and then after that, I'm coming back home to work.

And I kinda have to figure out what I want to do.

I think a huge huge part of me really wants to work in fashion. I feel that I have the passion and motivation and drive to work in the fashion industry. I don't think I'd fit well anywhere else, to be honest.

Fashion has been something that I've loved since small. I may not appear to be someone who does but I really do appreciate fashion and all it offers since I was young. It has been that one 'constant' for me. I've had phases of likes here and there but fashion has been throughout my life so far.

I didn't take a degree in a fashion related course only because I think (and know) my dad would have objected to it. Fashion is still not as prominent here in Malaysia than it is elsewhere so I tried to understand that from a parent's point of view and I totally get where he might be coming from.

So I took a degree in business. I don't regret taking business because for me, that is my ultimate goal. I want to set up a fashion business in the future and make a living out of it. Like I said, I don't think I fit anywhere else.

My rough estimated plan therefore would be to start work doing fashion, whether it's part of a buying department, the styling department, or anything else in between. Once I've done that and earned a somewhat stable pay, I might want to take the risk and start a business in fashion. Obviously, one thing pops in mind and that is to launch my own brand of RTW. Typing this out and even thinking of it makes me really giddy because I hope I don't sound arrogant nor do I sound too ambitious, but I can imagine myself being in that position where I get to design clothes and be involved in every aspect of a fashion business as the director of a brand. It's been a lifelong dream of mine so I really hope that it pulls through for me.

But again, that's looking waaaaay ahead in the future. Right now, I'm just thinking what to have for buka later.

xx

June Favourites

Hi!

Been slacking with my Monthly Favourites posts. Only because I am a huge creature of habit. I don't usually mix it up, let it be the make-up products I use or the TV shows I watch. I tend to stick to the same thing for a long, long time.

Like how I don't change my handbags or shoes. The shoes I currently wear are a pair of sandals and it's the ONE pair of shoes I wear to a birthday dinner, to the mall and to the bazaar Ramadhan. I. Don't. Change. It. Up.

So my 'favourites' tend to be quite repetitive in nature so sometimes I don't have anything much interesting to update this blog with.

In terms of things, I have been religiously using Garnier's Micellar Water. It removes allllll make-up so easily and so comfortably also. You know how when you use make-up remover wipes, it can get a bit harsh on your skin because you have to wipe so aggressively to get all make-up off (or is this just me...). And even then, not all make-up is removed! It comes in a rather generous amount so I love it. I bought mine in the UK and I've not gone to any local shops to see if they had it here but I doubt it has arrived yet seeing how it's relatively still new in the UK.

Other than that, I've been using the same things over and over and loving the same things over and over so there isn't much to say in a Favourites post.

-

Tania and I have been planning on going somewhere exciting for months now and we've finally confirmed it. We're going end of this month and I'm sooooo giddy and I. CANNOT. WAIT. I'll definitely put several videos together, kinda like a vlog series or something like that just for the fun of it and have it uploaded here. Should be fun 'cause it's been ages since I edited a video! Cannot wait lah really, we were already counting the days like months ago tbh !

Puasa has been going well for me, alhamdulillah. My sleeping pattern is just all over the place and it's beyond help now haha I'm just going to go with the flow now since I'm on summer break anyway. I've been enjoying home so much and I'm reminded day after day why I love home and how blessed I am to be me.

Hope Ramadhan is going great and smooth for everyone reading!

xx