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Korea Finds

Wednesday, April 13, 2016


I can't believe my Korea trip is over! I can still remember when Tracy and I booked for our flights during travel fair season, scored cheap accommodation with #SunAirbnb's promo, and finally when we acquired our visa right after Holy Week!

I wanted to do my usual per-day travel blog posts, but for now, shopping post muna while I enjoy my hibernation mode and my bed.

Living in Myeongdong is both a blessing and a curse: More shopping = More gastos! 


I have to be honest, at first I can't help but compare Korea with my Japan travel from last year (also during Spring). But now I realized how, although with the similarities (cherry blossoms, cool climate, and amazing train system) these two countries are different and both beautiful in their own ways.

Almost all Korean malls have cute and creative window and mall displays:


Spotted packs of Cebu Dried Mangoes in one of their groceries:


First, I realized I have lesser gastos in Korea compared to Japan! Maybe it's because we only stayed in Seoul, while traveled to different cities via Shinkansen while in Japan. Other than that, food and shopping are fairly affordable in Korea.

Cute "Photo Zone" in Doota! Mall Dongdaemun's restroom. Hi Tracy!


But since we fell in love with Korean beauty products and independent clothing brands, we always drop by their malls or street markets EVERYDAY just to check what's new.

No regrets, though! Sharing some of my fun finds during our 8-day stay in the land of K-Dramas and K-Pop:

1) MAKEUP! I usually get the ones by set with free items. In this photo are lippies (matte, satin, lip and cheek tint) that I got for less than Php 300 each!

One of my favorite discovery: A Color Lip Pencil from A'Pieu. They cater to younger market, with its cut packaging and "Lovely Twenties" tagline. Mukha syang NARS, but cheaper (also below Php 300!). 

Sayang onti lang ang shade available, napansin ko din most lippies nila ORANGE or hot pink tone... Wasn't able to find tipong neutral shades like Kylie Lip Kit's.

2) Little Prince! Saw several Little Prince themed stationery and jewelry in Korea! I got crazy lalo na when we went to Petite France, a mini village that features this well-loved story. They have a small souvenir shop where we spent about an hour or so.

These are notebooks, pens set, and a cute post card.

A stall in Dongdaemun Design Plaza also sells cute Little Prince merch:


3) Cheap Sneaks! Just like in Taiwan, Korea has ABC Mart that sells legit sneakers and other footwear at discounted price. Saw 2 stores in our area in Myeongdong.

These Adidas sneakers at Php 2,760 only:

I bought the white Chuck2 for 75,000 Won only (or Php 3,000), compared to the Php 4,000+ SRP here! Also got my tax refund, so it's even less than 3k.

4) Random headpiece. The DMZ military cap is a souvenir from visiting North and South Korea's boundary, while the "A" cap is a just because purchase - pansin kasi namin uso sa kanila yun plain cap with small design sa gitna. Meanwhile, the cat's ears headband was an Everland purchase. I wore this the whole time we were at the theme park, except when we rode to T-Express of course!

5) Pastels! My wardrobe color palette widened while in Korea. Every store highlighted Spring's pastel colors, mostly a certain shade of powder pink.


Medyo mahal ang clothes nila, but if you look hard enough you'll see mga discounted racks. We also went around the popular Dongdaemun market where we saw 10,000 Won tops, or asa Php 400 lang (eto na cheapest that I saw there).


Alice in Wonderland collab! Ganda ng styling!

Cute tan backpack na uso sa Korea that we bought in Ewha Women's University's street market.


Pastels / Rose Quartz obsession!






6) Knick-knacks, like these cute printed socks from Myeongdong. I bought a lot for selling, hehe:


Inside Dongdaemun Design Plaze are small shops with cute items and displays! Nakakabaliw!





Bought these two cute world maps: yun isa watercolor, while the other one is a unique, round map.


7) Lotte Chocolates (Ghana bars!) were our life saver during long commutes. I also purchased DMZ Soybean Chocolate just to try.


8) Korea is equal to authentic Ginseng and Kimchi! Bought these for mom and dad:




9) Skincare products! Scored cheap face masks and tubes of hand cream with cute packaging design. 

Before sleeping, the Korean way, haha.


Grabe ang obsession nila sa skincare, ANG DAMING OPTIONS! Funny pa is sunod-sunod ang stores nila sa Myeongdong, like more than 3 ata ang Face Shop, Nature Republic, and Etude House sa Myeongdong palang!


What I love about purchasing skincare products in Korea is that they freely give away a lot of samples, feel mo sulit ang bili mo! Here are just some of the items I acquired for free, yun iba ginamit ko na.

10) Lastly, I had a blast trying Korea's street foods in our area in Myeongdong. It's a hit and miss thing, but here are some that I enjoyed trying:

Tall icecream na hindi mabilis matunaw (I got the mango + yogurt combination):

Baked cheese:

Not exactly bought in the street, but I also tried the best cheese tarts ever in Lotte Department Store! These melt-in-your-mouth goodies are from BAKE.

The best part in shopping in Korea is their hassle-free tax refund! I just kept the receipt with all the instructions till we reached the airport. I think they have a minimum amount per purchase to avail the refund (30,000 Won), and they only have participating stores that gives tax refunds.

Mine's my Converse sneakers from ABC Mart:

We easily spotted the kiosk machines before checking-in, and were assisted in scanning our receipts and passports. We then received a new receipt that we scanned again at the second floor, near Gate 27-28 after check-in. 

It seems complicated, but it's easy naman to ask when you're in the airport na. Just have your receipt, passport and your purchase (to be sure) on-hand. For more information, click HERE.
 

Warm up palang to, haha! Excited to share more of my Korea stories, but it's time to celebrate dad's birthday! I miss Korea's cool weather, but there is still no place like home. 
For now, follow #koreanagon on Instagram! :)

4 comments

  1. Ang tagal pala natin sa Little Prince shop? Haha. And about sa earbands sa Everland, wala ka sa akin. Suot ko sya sa train kasi nalimutan kong tanggalin. Mga 2 stations after ko lang narealize na nasa leeg ko pa sya. Hehe.

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    1. Hahahaha di ko napansin! Sayang sana suot mo padin sa ride heheheh :D

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  2. I love korean fashion so much and that color palette!!! ugh!! can't wait to visit this December!

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