Seoul 🇰🇷

Dear Dayre,

Hello from Seoul! 🇰🇷 It's my second night here already and I thought I'd do a quick recap while everything is still fresh in my head! 🤗 It's 2am now though so this isn't gonna be a super long update – Need to sleep soonish for more activities ahead!

My flight departed from T3 at 8.05am and I had a last breakfast with YZ at Yakun. Can't go wrong with eggs & toast, never ever 😊 I had the steamed bread this time which i'm starting to like over the toasted one cos it's so soft & fluffy!

Always a good way to fly.

It was a pretty good flight, caught some shut eye, watched The BFG (awwww it was a really sweet movie, I've nearly forgotten the storyline) and even got some work done ✅ Much efficient!!

Chicken bulgogi thingy which I found normal-ish but yeah airplane food was decent!

Better still, I had two seats to myself, and that made it so much more comfortable and convenient whoop. Can go toilet any time and even sleep across two seats!! #win

I was trying to get a picture of myself by myself on the plane but…. Wasn't working out too well but this looks rather artistic so I like it still 😂

The plane finally touched down after six hours and man I felt so stiff after the flight! Age is catching up with me 😭

I was to meet Tams and Sam at Seoul Station so I took the KTX express from the airport that goes directly all the way to Seoul Station!

I got annoyed cos after purchasing my ticket from the counter, I realised that it's cheaper to get it from the vending machine?! It's 8000 won vs 7500 won so that's not a lot but still……

Don't make the same mistake as me alright 😆

You get a receipt with your seat number so it's reserved seating!

The journey from Incheon to Seoul Station takes roughly 45 mins so hardworking ole me had a good time editing photos for the upcoming collections yay.

Unfortunately, I still have quite a pile of work on my shoulders so that means i'm gonna be working while on vacay! It's not too bad a thing because I still feel so much relaxed here and I'm really having a good time ❤

Shag face from the lack of sleep and long flight 😵

Day 1 in Seoul 🇰🇷

I arrived at Seoul Station just before the sun set for the day, around 5.45PM! The days are rather short due to it being winter season and sunlight ends early. It starts to get real cold once the sun is down and the chilly wind comes coursing through the streets, brrrrrr.

Real happy to see Tams and adam, I haven't seen them for a year! Tammi is my secondary school friend who now resides in Sydney for most of the time, so we only get to catch up once in a very blue moon 🙁 So glad I made the decision to join them for a week in Seoul!!!

Our AirBnb a seven minutes walk away from Seoul Station. It's nothing fancy, but basic amenities all in and it's quite spacious and comfortable! 👍🏻

After resting for a bit, Tammi and I left the apartment to go for dinner across the road before we headed over to the huge Lotte Mart next to Seoul Station to shop!

It was -4 and totally freezing!! I had on my Heattech, a pair of black jeggings, a knit sweater, a snood and my coat, and it was just enough to keep me warm, save for my fingers!

Beef bulgogi for 7000 won! Quite decent but it was nothing to shout about.

First meal upon touching down!

Wasn't that hungry cos I did grab a melon milk and a sandwich from the airport but the warm stew was so comforting.

We spent at least two hours at Lotte Mart cuz it was sooo huge!

And I went absolutely nuts when I saw the huge strawberries 🍓 selling for just 6900 won! Ended up buying two boxes of strawbies to try – a smaller box and then another larger box that was 11900. Both were good so I'm definitely having as many strawberries as I can during my one week stay 😂 It's so impossible to find sweet strawberries in Singapore and certainly not at these prices!

Our shopping loot from Lotte Mart being packed unceremoniously into a cardboard box because they don't provide plastic carriers. Everyone does this whole cardboard packing thing and it's hilarious to watch 😂

We bought all sorts of nonsense, ranging from my strawberries to makeup cleansing wipes, fabric freshener (best buy ever), honey butter chips, other random snacks and I can't remember what else 😂

There's so much you can buy, the super mart is so huge!

There's also a whole lot of sampling to be done at the mart especially in the fruits section so it was actually very very fun 😂 I sampled cherries, pomegranate seeds and also instant noodles! Fun!!

We walked back to the apartment with the cardboard box full of our random groceries in my arms and my fingers nearly fell off from being so cold and frozen 😂 It was already 9 plus when we got back so after attacking my strawbies for supper and getting abit more work done, I called it a night! 😴

Day 2 in Seoul 🇰🇷

All of us slept in late and it felt so good to not rush to get up in the morning! I only washed up at 11am and we took our time to get ready to leave the apartment.

My "breakfast" – Those incredibly juicy and sweet strawberries! Japanese and Korean strawberries are the bestest of the best.

Game face on!

Thank goodness for my lash extensions from Graceous because they just look so good and save my makeup time by tons! 😘

Cold temperatures and the low humidity also means good hair day plus makeup stays on!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

And after much serious contemplation, I finally decided to brave the cold in this leather on leather ensemble!

Heattech ultra warm from Uniqlo, a turtleneck sweater from Warehouse, leather jacket and leather pencil skirt from Zara, and the snood @zuanqing got me from F21 in the US!

Also wearing leather booties from Zara that I took a risk on because of the tall stacked heels – I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to last the day in those but phew, I survived! 🙌🏻

My tiny little bag fits my Olympus E-PL8, another lens, a pouch for my money and cards, mobile charger and wifi device!!

Quite a feat for a tiny-looking bag. It's actually a special camera bag made by Olympus! Love how sleek it looks.

First coffee run of the day! Hazelnut latte for me that cost 4500 won. It tasted good and was especially soothing in the cold cold weather!

☝🏻 What my caption says.

Weather was cold but sunny at the same time and I felt so refreshed and happy after a good sleep!! Sigh I love holidays. (Who doesn't?)

Off from Seoul Station to Ewha Women's University!

Wasn't too difficult at all, I find Seoul's train system very similar to Singapore's so it's easy to navigate!

You can catch a glimpse of my pretty booties too! 😻

I started shopping right from the train station! These touch sensitive gloves cost me only 3000 won! They work quite well too and feel all soft and snuggly while keeping my fingers protected from the freezing cold!

The first street food stall we found sold this – Hoddeok!

Korean sweet pancake with caramelised sugar filling 😋 It was very good fresh from the pan! Loved the soft doughy bun!

Attempted some OOTD taking hehe because it was getting really cold and I wanted to layer on another jacket 😅 The price of vanity……

Tams bought a nice backpack for just 10,000 won at Ewha! I also bought a pink knit dress and a cream coloured turtleneck for 10,000 won each 🤗

Although I told myself I wasn't going to spend too much on beauty products (I mean, I have so many I already can't finish using them??) but I allowed myself to buy stuff that I knew I would use, like BB cushions 🙊

Got these shades from a shop around Ewha for 15000 won, quite a reasonable price I suppose!

Dinner at Hongdae! We asked for recommendations while shopping at Etude House and the staff recommended this bbq place that was super good!

For 39000 won, you get 1.2kg of assorted beef meat that would easily feed four pax!

I was SUPER impressed with the value for money and price point! The quality of the meat was also very decent. Our total bill added up to around 47,000 won, which is hardly $20 per pax!

It's the second restaurant to the left of MCM at Hongdae with a fake plant on the foyer!

Just some of the stuff I bought 😂😂😂

IOPE BB cushion (32,000 won?)
Spare cushion puffs (on sale! 1000 won each)
Innisfree Green Tea Cleansing Water, Mineral Mist, BB Cushion & Sheet masks (everything for less than 50,000 won i believe)

Also bought a hair ampoule from Aritaum to try 😬

I'm not sure if my cash will last me seven days; I changed 1000 sing dollars and I'm down to less than 600,000 won, or roughly 700 sing 😂

Quite pleased with my purchases so far though so we'll see 🙊 I really don't need to get very much in terms of skincare but i'm planning to drop by 3CE and Sulwhasoo! Those'll cost me a pretty penny.

Gotta make sure my money lasts for the next 5-6 days! 😂

It's also 3.20AM and time for bed! Will carry on my updates soon! 😘 Good night y'all!

READY FOR DAY 3!!!

This is the fabric freshener. Smells awesome!!

Wearing new knit dress and cream turtleneck that I bought yesterday for 20,000 won in total!! 🤗

不知死 still wear my heeled booties cos they go best with this outfit 😢 If I bust my knee or die walking I really 活该

Strolling around Garuso-gil area today!

YAY TO THIS PAIR OF GLASSES?

Love the tortoiseshell and gold hardware!!

OR THISSSS

Ok think i'm going for these 😂

Funky eye testing 😂

DONEEEE! ❤❤❤

Commercial Break!

We've got a mini launch with restocks and new designs coming up tonight on #thevelvetdolls!

Those asking about Summer Romance, Arianna and Midsummer's Night – Our three popular bridesmaids series, our restocks will be available tonight! 🤗🤗🤗

Also, Kylee Culottes Jumpsuit in Wine and Grey extras from BO will be launched tonight as well!

For new arrivals, I'm super in love with this really really pretty contrast lining lace cheongsam dress! Love how the mandarin button is in a contrasting color too ❤❤❤

We have it in Navy, White and Wine! All three colors are gorgeous. Sizes S-L 😊

Gerra V-Neck Shirtdress is also coming in a new color tonight especially for Spring! 🌸🌸🌸

Love the shade of dusty pink. It's damn nice!

Me kept it too 😅 Gerra V-Neck Shirtdress is free size! Color is slightly warmer (closer to studio photo above ☝🏻)

Grab these restocked items fast cos we have limited sizes left for some colors! 😅

Tonight 8.30PM on www.thevelvetdolls.sg!

I'm at LINE cafe now and the whole shop and cafe is just oozing LINE cuteness! 🐻🐰

YAY new arrivals + restocks are in on www.thevelvetdolls.sg! ❤❤❤

Cony soft serve from LINE cafe!! 3800 won 🤗

Soooo cute and it was yummy too!!

This was cute but it was like $50! Rather pricey for a laptop case so I gave it a miss.

Garuso-gil is really quite pretty in the evening 😻 We barely covered the area because the two of them stepped into one shop (Jaju – a homeware shop somewhat like Muji) and BAM 💥 It was like more than an hour spent inside 😂😂😂

We will probably return to Garuso-gil tomorrow!!

That super cute Skinfood van there 😻 AIYOHHHH

OK folks, I really need to get work done so updates till here for today!

LOVE MY NEW GLASSES ❤❤❤ Had a mini scare when I accidentally sat on it (or rather my knee did) and it got bent horribly but PHEW it bent back easily and looks good as new 😅

WORK TIME TA-TA!!!