After staying in Hapjeong for a few nights, I finally packed up all of my things and moved to another area that's near to Gyeongbokgung station 경복궁 역 (subway line 3).

The reason behind this move was because I wanted to experience living in a different area during my days in Seoul. I thought I would move to Myeongdong/Gangnam at first but once I saw this Airbnb (by chance), I knew that Gyeongbokgung was the right decision. Because, I got to stay in a traditional Korean house (hanok). 

Thursday, December 27, 2018


Exactly a year ago (on 18 Dec 2017), as I was about to go to sleep, a message came through my phone.

"Jonghyun...", the message was sent by Melanie from Canada.

The next thing that I remember is bawling my eyes out throughout the whole night till the break of dawn.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018


Last Saturday, I attended the Butterfly Project and Althea Korea's Christmas party at Chubbee Cloud

I believe that the stars aligned themselves specially for me because I had always wanted to collaborate with the Butterfly Project and Althea Korea because they do a lot of Korean products collaboration with bloggers and my Korean obsession by now ain't something new anymore. On top of that, Chubbee Cloud had always been on my to-go-cafe list ever since I stumbled upon it on Instagram. 

Monday, December 17, 2018


South Korea is a place where you'll find yourself falling into an uncontrollable shopping spree without knowing because everything's so cute and rather cheap! 

However, I was quite surprised that after going to all those hit places like Gangnam, HongDae, Insadong and IkseondongEwha and Sinchon, I hadn't done much damage, yet!

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

8 years ago, I was forced to watch a Korean drama while I was on a school bus by my junior, Victoria. I was trying to take a nap while she pestered me to watch the show with her and insisted that I should open my eyes immediately because..."the lead actor is cute and he plays the guitar!"


Little did I know, that moment would get me so hooked on that drama, titled "You've Fallen For Me 넌 내게 반했어", which is also known as "Heartstrings". It's a youth melodrama with 15 episodes about dreams, friendship and dreams of a bunch of students from a performing arts college.

Sunday, November 18, 2018

I can't believe that in a blink of eye we are preparing for Christmas. 1.5 months left till the end of 2018! How shocking~ It was like yesterday when I was just watching the NYE fireworks from my balcony. 


Not too long ago, I went to G Hotel Kelawai for a food review on their set lunch (read here). FYI, I personally went back to Spoon Cafe with my family and friends for a few times and paid out of our own pockets. So it's safe to say that I'm a genuine advocate for their set lunch offer! Just read that blog post to find out more!  

When G Hotel extended another invitation for me to attend their Christmas buffet review, I was elated! This time, the venue was different. It's at G Hotel Gurney instead.

Friday, November 16, 2018

I recently wrote a blog post 'Being Alone VS Feeling Lonely'. I wrote it purely as a braindump because I was frustrated at so people telling me that being alone is equivalent to being anti-social. To my surprise, that blog post was very well received. So I thought, instead of just posting about traveling and eating, I shall publish different topics like this more frequently too - deeper shit and personal.  


For those who know me, I'm quite a pen and paper person despite having my hands glued to my phone or laptop most of the time. I have this weird obsession of needing to write my to do lists, game plans, life goals, motivational quotes in my journal, random scrap papers or post it notes. It's like...if it's digital, it's invalid; if it's physical and tangible, it's valid and it needs my attention!

Monday, November 5, 2018


I'll start this blog post with a vlog that I compiled from my Snapchat snippets of my day trip to Nami Island. Still, read through this blog post for more information...and more photos! KEKE!

Friday, November 2, 2018

I was going through my photos on my computer the other day and I realized that I completely forgot to blog about The House of Dior exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (in Melbourne, Australia) that I went to this time last year.


I bet people who are into fashion and couture wouldn't have missed it. Too bad this exhibition's no longer at NGV anymore but my blog post is here to stay :p

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

I feel like it's been quite some time since I last penned my personal thoughts here. So I thought instead of doing another entry for my 가자 Korea Diary series, I should do something different to spice things up a little.


Monday, October 15, 2018


Before I get into the main content of this blog post, let's start with a little bit of background story, shall we?

For those who have been following my 가자 Korea Diary series, the name Jung YongHwa isn't something new anymore. He's my biggest celebrity crush since 8 years ago (still counting) - the lead singer of a band named CN BLUE. 

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

I am an avid fan of Korean and Japanese skincare products. In my skincare routine, there's only 1 product that's not from a Korean or Japanese brand. 


Founded in 2016 and finally launched in 2018, SEKA is a Japanese beauty brand that focuses on using traditional fermentation concept in helping skin rejuvenation.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

G Hotel is a prestigious hotel in Penang (Malaysia) that's located right next to my favourite shopping mall Gurney Plaza. For those who don't know, I am a sucker for really modern and stylish interior, especially those with black, grey and white tones - that's why I love G Hotel!

For those who don't know (including myself until recently), G Hotel is actually made up of 2 separate entities - G Hotel Gurney and G Hotel Kelawai.


Not too long ago, I was invited by Rachael to be her +1 to attend a food review at G Hotel Kelawai's Spoon Cafe to test out their new set lunch menu.

Sunday, August 19, 2018



On this day, I got to catch up with Nini who had her day off from school. We used to be in the same college and dorm and also we were both part of the Melbourne University's Korean Students' Society's committee. I passed the baton to her as the instructor of the K-Pop dance class because I preferred to handle paperwork as a Treasurer at that point :P

Tuesday, August 14, 2018


I don't own a lot of accessories for my hands. What you are seeing in this photo are basically the things that I own for my hands - a pandora bracelet with only 3 charms to keep it minimal, a white gold diamond ring from my mom for my 21st birthday and a silver friendship ring from Pandora. 

Sunday, August 5, 2018

I am the worst when it comes to choosing a gift. Don’t get me wrong, I usually end up getting a very meaningful and irreplaceable gift for someone but the process of picking a gift drives me nuts. 

For my mom’s birthday, every year I’d just ask her straight-up if there’s something that she would like to have just to make sure I get her something practical. For my friends, we made a deal to not get one another gifts just to save up for gift shopping problem and that works best for everyone.


That being said, I still love the joy of giving presents once in a blue moon. In my opinion, there is something about gifting without a specific occasion that brings more surprise and joy. My all time go-to gift choice is definitely a personalized item. I love it when a gift has the ability to remind the receiver of a good memory that we both share or has more meaning than just being a material item. Most importantly, a duplicate is hard to be found. My 21st birthday present was a handmade photo album from my closest friends and I love it a lot. In my opinion, things like that are a thousand times more precious regardless of their price tags. 

Thursday, July 26, 2018

For once, I am not taking forever to write a new blog post for this 가자 Korea Diary series. For the previous posts which I have their links down below, I had friends with me. This was the very first day I headed out on my very own - throwback to 29 Octover 2017 (Sunday). I was nervous, anxious and excited. After getting my banana milk (necessity of life) from a grocery shop outside of my Airbnb, I took off.

Meanwhile, here are the previous posts from the series if you haven't caught up!

가자 Korea Diary Part 1: Post Kimchiland Thoughts & Reasons Why I Love Korea
가자 Korea Diary Part 2: Preparation Tips for Korea
가자 Korea Diary Part 3: First Night in Korea - My Airbnb @ Hapjeong & Dinner @ HongDae
가자 Korea Diary Part 4: The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince @ HongDae
가자 Korea Diary Part 5: Traditional Side of Seoul with the Koreans - Ikseondong, Gyeongbukgong, Insadong, Cheonggyecheon


First time taking the subway all by myself and I spotted B1A4's photo. Next up would be to hunt for a CN Blue or Yong Hwa oppa one. Surprisingly, I made it to Ewha Womans University 이화 여자 대학교 (이대) by taking the green line #2 without getting lost.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Finally, here's my 가자 Korea Diary Part 5! Writing these posts gives me mixed feelings! The photos bring back all the good memories to me but going through the whole chunk of shots and having to pick out the decent ones and then edit them - that's a lot more work than it seems. Although I have to admit, I love the final outcome of every ME-LOVE-KOREA posts. Even if there's nobody reading my blog today, I believe I'd still do it for myself! The Korea tourism organisation should hire me to work for them because I shower so much love on Kimchiland! 


In Part 4, I wrote that I went to the 1st Shop of Coffee Prince @ HongDae because I had a 1-2 hours to kill. When the meeting time was nearing, I headed back to HongDae's subway exit 8 to wait for Eunjee. Guess what I found! 


♥♥♥ HUBBY ♥♥♥ I feel like I am living the excitement from that day as I typed this blog post even this was from 9 months ago!

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

What's that one beauty item that you can't live without? Lipstick? Eyeliner? Mascara?

My answer will be perfume! 

Most of the time, I don't wear any makeup but I don't really feel comfortable leaving the house without a few sprays of perfume. I don't do it to impress anyone but myself! 


When Evogue New York reached out to me for this collaboration, I was elated.

Friday, July 6, 2018

Cafes are everywhere - that's definitely one similarity that both Penang and Melbourne share. It's one big blessing for me because I love going to cafes...and because I miss Melbourne so much! 


Since its establishment in 1997, San Francisco (SF) Coffee has opened over 40 outlets in Malaysia but there was never one up in the North until last week!

Monday, July 2, 2018

Yay, finally here's Part 4 which pretty much sums up what I did on my first day in Korea. 

If you haven't read the previous blog posts, here are the links:
가자 Korea Diary 2: Preparation Tips for Korea
가자 Korea Diary 3: First Night In Korea - My Airbnb @ Hapjeong & Dinner @ HongDae


If you read my Part 3 blog post, you'd know that I did a stupid mistake so I ended up spending my first night in Seoul without makeup on my face. To start the journey, yeap, I finally had makeup on!

Tuesday, June 19, 2018


A few months ago, when I was out with some friends, they mentioned a restaurant with a really funny name: What The Duck.

"What's that?", I asked. They laughed at me saying that I was missing out big time on this cheap and good place. 

Thursday, May 31, 2018

It's the weekend of Mothers' Day and my bestie finally had her weekend off. As she drove 1 hour back to Penang island to celebrate Mothers' Day with her family at night, we decided to have a catchup after lunch. 


Sunday, May 20, 2018

I know I have delayed this for half a year but this time I'm back for real to continue the rest of my Korea trip blog entries.

Before I proceed with Part 3, which is this entry that you are reading. Here are Part 1 and Part 2:
가자 Korea Diary 1: Post Kimchiland Thoughts & Reasons Why I Love Korea
가자 Korea Diary 2: Preparation Tips for Korea



Tuesday, April 24, 2018

After living 6 years in Melbourne on my own, I am now back in Penang. 



I miss my room and my apartment in Melbourne so much though. Not really getting used to the heat here T_T

Friday, April 20, 2018

6 years ago, I spent my 18th birthday on the plane alone to Melbourne. I had a backpack that was half of my size with my laptop in it and a freaking electric guitar on one shoulder. I nearly killed myself as I walked through the long airport hallway. At 18, I would never have a second thought about anything. I thought wearing graphic tees and denim all the time was cool. I had this horrible haircut. Guitars and Korean dramas were the life of me.
 
 
I'm 24 this year and I'm the complete opposite from the 18-year-old me who just got to Melbourne. Even a small little handbag weighs a tonne on my shoulder (god knows how did I handle the guitar and laptop back then) and I am no longer as innocently courageous as before. As I am typing this, I am sitting in the middle of my super messy room waiting for a buyer to pick up my unwanted piece of furniture. The reason for my departure is because I haven't gotten the Australian Permanent Residency visa's invitation from the Australia government, so I'll have to go back and wait offshore.  

Monday, April 9, 2018

When I was young, I used to imagine how much I would've achieved and learnt at the age of 24 because that's when my mom had me. Little did I know that quarter life crisis would hit me so badly.


I have nothing figured out - not a bunch of savings to buy my own apartment and I see making my bed, having a clean desk and doing my laundry as "milestones" of life...On top of that, the biggest questions are "should I wash my hair today" and "what should I eat for the next meal".

Despite all of these, I feel that I do have some lessons that I learn which are worth sharing.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Not going to lie, I am still wrapping my head around the fact that I am turning 24 in 41 days and it is 2018 now.


Here's the time where everyone started to come up with all those Facebook memories and Instagram best photos...I am still keeping it old school by writing it on my blog. Or to play the game more seriously, I may somehow copy this blog post into my diary if I feel like it.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

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