In my 8 years of loving Kdramas, I realized that my Fan Girling Love Language is buying merch. Official, unofficial, you name it. I express how much I love a show by buying things that remind me of its amazing storyline and characters.
My recent "haul" is from the Kdrama Lovely Runner starring Byeon Woo-seok as Ryu Sun-jae and Kim Hye-yoon as Im Sol. I am so IN LOVE with this Kdrama. Episode 1 palang, it had an impact na on me especially as a fan girl. I realized how much you can "stan" a group even though it means not seeing them live because adulting gets in the way. Grabe, she has to go to a job opportunity! I like how she prioritized that, sobrang responsible fan girling! Then even though she lost her ticket on the way back to the venue, she still stayed outside, very Patron Saint of Team Labas.. And then waved her light stick up in the air, hand on her heart. Huhu! I felt that.
Key takeaway: Not seeing your faves does not mean you're less of a fan.
But anyway, sharing some of the merch I got for my "Lovely Runner Era". :) Again, just a reminder that not having all the merch does not make you less of a fan, too! :) Enjoy lang, and no to toxic fan girling!
I recently purchased a BTS / BT21 / TINYTAN mystery box from a Korean shop via Shopee. They call their clearance sale gimmick "FILL A BOX"--and it's one of the few things that excite me at the moment lol.
Because pandemic happened, we waited for our 2020 official 4th Generation ASTRO membership box to arrive for almost a year. In fact, they haven't released a 2021 5th Generation ASTRO Membership recruitment yet, which I find very considerate.
Anyway, my box arrived around late last year directly from South Korea to my doorstep via DHL. They were updating us the whole time via autogenerated emails.
The actual membership box was placed inside a courier's heavy duty box, so to my relief, the whole thing came in perfect condition.
In love with this concept! Felt like I was accepted in my dream school, hehe!
One of the precious contents in this box is the membership card!
PERKS
There are concert and fan meetings perks that come from being an official AROHA member, but I think I only maximized it during ASTRO's online concert (2020 ASTRO Live On WWW" On-tact Concert). They gave discounted ticket price for members. This year, I think there will be more member advantages for the 2021 ASTRO AROHA Festival: Be Mine. Super looking forward to this!
HOW TO ORDER? PRICE?
The published membership fee is only KRW 30,000, which is about Php 1300+ only. This is without the international and local shipping fee pa.
In my case, since I asked for application assistance from a local fan group (I applied with ASTRO Philippines), I ended up paying Php 2700 in total. This is easier for me because I don't have to worry about shipping, converting KRW to PHP, and understanding the mechanics. But of course, you can order directly via Melon.
WHAT'S INSIDE THE BOX?
The main course for me in being a member is receiving a box filled with 100% official ASTRO merch! Sharing to you the beautiful contents of this well-thought-out Kpop membership kit!
High quality plastic folders with all 6 members:
Complete Photo Cards in a small envelope (Group, Solo, Units)
Stickers inside a clear pouch (Photos of members, their doodles, etc)
They have this din on my 3rd gen box, letter from ASTRO in accordion, back-to-back postcard:
ASTRO member profiles in school registration format:
And items to complete the ASTRO University theme:
A clipboard:
A notebook style photobook:
My favorite, a very useful ASTRO University canvass tote! (button pin not included)
Used some of the stickers, OT6 photocard and Cha Eun Woo's ID photo to decorate my clear phone case:
I really love the concept of this membership box, and I find most of the inclusions useful. Excited for what they will come up with for AROHA's 5th generation membership!
I recently shared one of my current collections, which is BT21 TATA!
I started collecting BT21 TATA, or BTS Kim Taehyung (V)'s character with Line Friends in Korea, back in 2018. I started with unofficial merch. Then, through my travels in Japan, Korea, and even Taiwan, I was able to purchase at least one small item in the official store for every trip.
I didn't notice that it accumulated to this through the years!
I also took advantage of collaboration collections (such as with Innisfree, Vice Cosmetics, Dunkin Donuts Korea, etc), and when Line Friends opened its official store in Manila, I was also able to conveniently buy more official BT21 TATA!
Now that we're always at home, I was able to appreciate how I have these things that make me happy right in my room! I was able to get more BT21 TATA online. They have an official Play Line Friends store in Lazada, but I also saw online toy stores selling BT21. And of course, you can also check out the pasabuy Instagram shops reselling items from Korea.
For links and other details, watch the video of my full BT21 TATA collection here:
I finally bought my own Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus BTS Edition!
I was stopping myself from making any big purchases, but I was also thinking of these limited edition releases for daysss now.
Finally, when the earbuds were available again online, I took the plunge!
Here's an unboxing of my biggest BTS purchase to date. Hoping to get my hands on the phone next!
The packaging is so nice! It has a matte and very luxurious feel to it. The box is also bigger than usual for Samsung earbuds packaging, but it contains a case aside from the actual earbuds. It looks like the box of a phone. They filled the packaging with with lots of BTS references, including BTS purple logo, 7 purple hearts, stars, and the words I believe in your Galaxy.
Here's how the main charging case of the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ looks like. It's in metallic silver, with the logo of Samsung and BTS in front.
The extra case for the case (lol) is a bit matte. It has the words "I Purple You" inside, and a purple heart on the other side. They are easy to attach with a snap on the bottom part, and sticky tape on the upper part. But a bit harder to remove for bottom part.
Ang ganda sobra! You can also attach a keychain or lanyard on the case. Battery life is also good. I've been using it since I got it last Friday, and haven't charged it since (today's a Sunday).
More BTS details: Purple BTS logo and purple heart on the earbuds itself:
You will also get these matte photo cards with your earbuds, all the BTS members wearing the Galaxy Buds+. I tried to take my photo with same pose but nvm haha!
It's my first time to use a Samsung Galaxy Buds+, and pairing it with my iPhone was a bit of a challenge compared to my other airpods from before. I've tried JBL, RealMe, and Joyroom where you simply open the bluetooth and auto-connect.
For the Samsung buds, my iPhone did not easily recognize it until I downloaded the Galaxy Buds app--thankfully available for ios users.
How to pair iPhone with a Samsung Galaxy Buds+
1. Must be an iPhone 7 or later unit.
2. Turn on your bluetooth.
3. Download the Galaxy Buds app.
4. Wear your earbuds, then navigate the Galaxy Buds app to connect phone and earbuds.
5. You'll only be doing this once. Later on, I just open and wear my buds, and connect it to my phone via bluetooth.
Galaxy Buds App + Touch Controls
You can still use the app for other Samsung Galaxy Buds+ modifications, including Ambient Sound, Equalizer, Touch Controls, and Find My Earbuds features.
For the touch controls, single tap to pause or play your music, double tap: to skip to next track or answer/end a call.
Where To Buy BTS x Samsung Galaxy Buds+ in Philippines
I bought mine online via Samsung Philippines' official page in Shopee. You can check if it's the official page as it's the one with the red check next to its shop logo. Samsung Philippines also has a Lazada page and website.
I got my BTS x Samsung Galaxy Buds+ for Php 9000+, including the shipping fee. The good thing with Shopee is that it's easy to refund your money in case the item did not arrive or if you're not satisfied with the unit. Thankfully, everything arrived in good condition, and packed well in a brown box and bubble wrap.
One thing I regret though is that they are also selling this same thing in Weverse with a free BTS edition of Samsung's Wireless Charging Pad (also in violet). But it's so hard for me to shop overseas the past months, so I guess I still got a good deal. Right now the BTS x Samsung Galaxy Buds+ listing in Shopee is already soldout!
Since I always wear my old airpods at home whenever I workout, listen to music as I was the dishes (hehehe), or meditate in the morning via Youtube guide, I've been using my BTS x Samsung Galaxy Buds+ every single day. Love this purchase, and will use it well!
I cannot deny that a Line Friends store can be considered a tourist attraction when you visit Korea. Most of the people I know who went to Myeongdong or Itaewon will drop by this playful store to have their photos taken with the giant BROWN character plushie that welcomes the guests to come inside. There was a time that even Incheon International Airport has a giant Brown bear photo area at the departure area! Lagi pinipilahan ang Line Friends!
Aside from the cute characters of this popular Korean messaging app, they also carry Kpop group BTS BT21 original merch--some stores even have BT21 cafes!
I think I have unboxed 2 official Astro merchandise, but this 3rd one is even more special because it's a surprise from my best friend. He bought all the Cha Eun Woo Just One 10 Minute merch right after I took a screenshot and sent photos of them in our friends' Facebook group chat!
I had no plans of buying these official merch since I already have the Astro light stick to use during the show, plus the VVIP ticket that I bought for Cha Eun Woo's first fan meeting already created a hole in my pocket. So imagine my surprise when @paultheprguy showed a screenshot of his purchase from Global Interpark! THANK YOU!
Have you ever joined an official Kpop fan group?
Honestly, I never thought I'll come this far, haha, but just for the Korean boy group Astro, I found myself paying to enter an official fan club late last year. And like all Kpop groups, the boy band has a nickname for their fans. I can officially call myself an Aroha for the whole 2019!
If you are updated with my Instagram Stories (@anagon), you'll know how crazy I am with online shopping. I buy my groceries online, shop for most of my clothes online, and even purchase random stuff online, haha! Fellow homebodies, I'm sure a lot of you can relate! 😁
Aside from my favorite Kbeauty app Althea Korea, one of my favorite shopping apps is Shopee. Just because Shopee offers almost all the things that I need--not just from beauty or fashion finds, but LAHAT TALAGA! Haha!
I'm sharing here some of my recent acquisitions, and yep, these are all from my Shopee shopping streak. Feel free to share to me your own Shopee Wishlist in the comment box below! ❤ I'm planning on having monthly giveaways, and might get ideas for next prizes from actual readers of this blog hehehe.
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