[Cosmetic & Skincare] Malaysia Beauty Store: Airish x All A-Box Skincare and Cosmetic

Isn't this just the loveliest box?! I received this PR Beauty box from All-ABox Malaysia in exchange for an honest review two weeks ago and have had some time to play around with everything in it, so I'll get to mini reviews in a bit! ^^ I do like to make in-depth reviews of skincare products though, so you can count on separate reviews for most of the items here as well. :) 

Before we delve into what's in the box, I just have to gush about how ridiculously beautiful this box is. Ahh... The fairytale theme is just awesome and makes me feel like I'm opening up a gift! I keep the nicer boxes I get from stores to reuse, and this is definitely going to be one of the boxes that's being reused as a storage box. Althea does these lovely thematic boxes as well ever holiday season, but this is lovelier, I think. :P

Anyways, a little background on All A Box Malaysia and the Airish brand. 

All A Box Malaysia

The story of All A-Box started in September 2017. It is a platform where the curators find and provide not just beauty products, but hair-products, supplements, and miscellaneous fashion and popular items sources overseas and also in Malaysia. 

The founders of All A Box Malaysia understands that the hot and humid weather here means not all beauty and skincare products are suitable to be used, so they  source brands that are more suitable here. They focus on brands from Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and others. Some of the more popular and well-known brands that they are selling include Tony Moly, Innisfree, and Nature Republic. One of their main sellers, however, is the Sparkling Skincare line, which is a fusion of technology from Korea and Philippines. They've included one of the Sparkling products in the box, which I'm really excited to be able to try out. :) 

Check Them Out Here

Airish London LTD (Airish) 

Airish London LTD (Airish), according to their about us page, "is a leading brand in the international cosmetics and beauty industry that uniquely exhibits a combination of fashion elements into a cosmetic product range." That's an odd description for a beauty product, but I can deal. They have branches in Malaysia and Indonesia, though I believe this brand is a lot more popular in Indonesia and they're expanding into the Malaysian market gradually. The makeup brand is found in 2016 and originated from London but their products are made in Korea. That threw me for a loop, definitely, because of the word 'London' in their names. XD 

Anyways, now that we've got their backgrounds out of the way, let's look at what pretty little things I get to paint my face with! ^^ 

Check Them Out Here

What's in my All A Box! :D 

The first thing I see upon opening are the two sheet masks! :D I am a huge fan of masks, so these intrigue me. I try to sheet mask at least once a week. I used to sheet mask a lot more frequently, but because the weather here in Malaysia has gone into raining season, it's too cold and humid to sheetmask as much. That said, these Images mask originate from China and are both pearl extract masks. I've actually had a fairly decent experience with masks from China. They tend to have more alcohol in their masks that makes it so that the end-result isn't so tacky, but since my skin isn't sensitive to alcohol in products, I'm fine with that. :) I can't seem to find this brand online, but I'll do a mini review on my instagram when I get to it. :) 

This white box contains a face towel. Towels are always useful. The texture for this is a bit on the harsher side though, and I kind of wish it was more colorful. XD Still, a good addition. :) 

The blue box is an All-A Box, which is another lovely addition to my collection of boxes. ^^ There's no such thing as too many boxes. ^^ Before we get to that though, let's look at the Fresh Sparkle Wipes and Airish Glow Cushion Foundation. 

The Fresh Sparkle Wipes contains 50 pieces of wipes that feels minty when applied. Apparently the main ingredient is lemon, which I'm a little iffy about since lemon on it's own is really harsh and when used incorrectly, could cause burns. I'm happy to report that the lemon content in this is fine. :) I'll do a fuller review once I've had a few more uses of this. :) 

The Airish Cushion Foundation retails for RM89 and is a water based foundation with SPF50 protection. There's 13g of product and the shade I received is natural beige. The only other shade is Natural White. Limited choices for sure, but natural beige worked pretty well for my skin. I normally wear a laneige N23, for your information. :) The coverage for this is pretty decent! I tried this on the back of my hand and it provided enough coverage to hide the veins all over my hand. It does leave somewhat of a tacky finish though, which is fine since it's only meant to be the first step of the makeup routine. :P 

Opening the All A Box blue box gives me more Airish products. Specifically, the Airish Beauteous Compact Powder. This retails for RM59, which is a decent price for a compact powder. It does look like it would last a long time since a little product goes a long way. The shade I received is Medium beige, which isn't a particularly good shade on me. It would work perfectly as a contouring powder though, so I've taken to using it for that. This goes perfectly on top of the Cushion Foundation and provides a smooth finish. 

Next is the Fancy Lady Blusher, which is RM39 in stores. I received the peach tone. It can be applied with your finger, or a regular blush. The color payoff is pretty decent and gives me a nice, healthy flush. ^^ 

My favorite thing of the lot is probably the Airish Blacky Bold Mascara. It's quite big for a mascara, but it's very light and the size allows me a better grip. It elongates my lashes perfectly and is fairly waterproof.  It gives a smooth and glossy finish and is safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers. I had this on for 5am to 10pm on a particularly long day as a bridesmaid and it was perfect throughout! No smudges, and waterproof. :D It was removable with cleansing water, though I do still find specks on it a day later, but it doesn't look like it's taken any lashes with it, which makes me happy because I have limited eyelashes and I don't want to lose any. 

Another free gift that I almost forgot is a Hyaluronic Acid Hydra Essence that comes in a really fun packaging that looks like it's a needle. :D It's just fancy packaging. There's no actual needles involved. Lol. This is meant to lift, moisturize, and replenish skin. With only 10ml of products, it won't take too long to finish it. ^^

Last is the Ice Whitening Cleanser Sparkling Skincare. This is a natural skincare that consists mainly of papaya, which has the enzyme papain that helps fade dark spots and induce skin fairness in addition to removing blemishes. The cleanser should be finished within 6 months of opening. I haven't used this long enough to see results, but will report back when I do! 

Overall, I'm really pleased with everything in the box. Airish is a new brand for me and I haven't seen it anywhere in stores. I tried to click the 'store locator' on it's official site and it didn't work, so I do believe they aren't available in brick-and-mortal stores yet. If you're interested in getting anything of theirs, do get in touch with the lovely people in All A Box! :) 

x

Kuching Fest 2018 - Must Try! Watermelon Ice Cream, PokeBowl, Crocodile Meat, and More!

One of the most look-forward to yearly events in Kuching is the Kuching Fest celebration that's held throughout the month of August. In addition to various performances, musical concerts, galleries, exhibitions and garden shows, the event is host to more than 200 food stores all congregating in a single location. The food, is, admittedly, the highlight of the event. 

The annual event is organized by Kuching South City Council and held yearly at Dewan Masyarakat along Jalan Padungan from July 27th to August 19th. This year, Kuching south City Council (MBKS) banned the use of styrofoam packs in order to encourage the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). There are a total of 287 food stalls, including 15 serving halal food in the festival in 2018. 

Getting to the location is an exercise in patience, since the issue of traffic jams has never quite been solved. Getting a parking spot is another problem altogether, though if you don't mind a little walking (especially after getting stuffed with all the different food in Kuching Fest), then it's not a problem at all. That said, I recommend using Grab if you're not into driving through traffic. If you've never used Grab before, my referral code: KUCHING2018 gets you RM3 off your first ride (which means if you live near enough to kuching fest, it might end up being a free ride. lol). I would rather just have someone drop me off at the front door for a fee than worry about getting a parking space for my car. ^^ 

I've managed to try a selection of different items in Kuching Fest this year and have opinions. OPINIONS! Lol. Here's all the things I've tried and what I thought about them! Unfortunately, I visited a bunch of these stalls during heavy rain, so I hadn't had the chance to take pictures of everything. :( Also, do bear in mind that this are just my opinions. I'm entitled to like or dislike stuff, as are you. That said, here're some of the things I tried this Kuching Fest and what I thought of them! 

1. Ice Cream

Fried Ice Cream is one of the stalls that I didn't manage to take a picture of, but Fried ice cream is, in my humble opinion, a must try item during Kuching fest! I'm not sure if it's available any other time of the year, honestly, and for RM2.50 per piece, it's a bite into nostalgia that's not to be missed for sure! It's a bread-wrapped ice cream (flavor of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate), that's deep fried. Crunchy and sizzling hot on the outside and ice-cold ice cream inside. Yum!

There is a ridiculous amount of ice cream selections during this year's kuching fest, including Burnt Ice Cream (Stall 211b), which is basically an outer layer of marshmellow that's scorched to perfection wrapped around a layer of peanuts and an ice cream.

There are more Watermelon Milk Ice Cream stalls than I could count. It's like everywhere I turned, there's another watermelon ice cream stall. I suppose it's a good pick-me-up for hot weather, but 2/3 of the Kuching Fest this year is dreary weather, either raining, drizzling, or thunderstorming, so I wasn't particularly keen on getting wet from the rain + ice cream. Nevertheless, it's a fun refreshment and the watermelon will counteract all the fried food items you're bound to have later on. :P Another fruit-themed ice-cream dessert I've been seeing around is Coconut Ice-Cream. At RM8.00 per piece, I deem this waaaay overpriced and since I'm not a huge fan of coconut-themed dessert that's not like, coconut water, I didn't even bother. Still, I notice their business is pretty good though, so people seem to enjoy it. 

I-stick (Stall22) caught my attention due to sheer cuteness. The ice cream deserts are all designed in a cute-sy matter that's immediately instagrammable. Not my cup of tea and hardly worth RM8 unless you're really into taking cute pictures. 

2. Cheesy Chicken 

Another food option other than watermelon ice cream that's springing up like mushroom after rain is cheesy chicken, which is deep fried chicken with a melted cheese inside the layer of chicken. There are a couple of stores that sell this and from what I've gathered from friends and family, the consensus is that the more money you pay for the chicken, the more cheese you get. If you're really a fan of chicken and cheese together, splurge a little. It's worth it! 

The stall I tried is 71, which has the cheesiest option at RM15. It's quite worth it. The cheese is super stringy inside and melted just the right amount. It's delicious, to be fair, but RM15 for flattened chicken with cheese is expensive lah. ><

3. Poke Bowl (70A) 

The only store in Kuching Fest selling something marginally healthy is the pokebowl stall that's, unfortunately, quite well-hidden. But if you're gonna try the cheese chicken from Stall 71, they're right next door! Lol. 

The colorful mixture of meat and vegetable on rice makes a full meal on it's own. I tried the braised pork, which is well-seasoned and tastes pretty good with the fresh vegetables and edamame soybean (yum!). This is a good option if you're tired of all the deep-fried monstrosities in kuching fest, or would just rather have something less unhealthy to go with all the meat-selection that you've gotten. :P The price for pork is RM9, if I remember correctly? Their price ranges from RM7 - RM10, which is probably one of the cheapest option for an actually balanced meal you'll find in kuching fest. 

I'd suggest sharing this and eating it with other meat options though! Since there's so many things to try in kuching fest. 

4. Taiwanese Sausages 

Some things never change. The selection of taiwanese sausages available in Kuching Fest is no exception. I've seen this available for years and years. I'm not a particularly big fan of mystery meat myself, but Kuching Fest calls for an exception and I managed to try a few. Still not a big fan. Lol. You'll have your options if you enjoy them, since there are multiple stores selling taiwanese sausages during the event. 

5. Souffle! 

Souffles are baked egg-based dishes that are meant to be crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. The souffles available during kuching fest are pancake souffles, which is a breakfast trend in Japan. Instead of cooking the souffles in the oven, the pancake souffles are made just the way pancakes are made, except the egg whites are beaten beforehand to soft peaks, and then folded into the pancake mixture in order to obtain the fluffy, airy, souffle-like texture. The batter deflates quickly, so it's meant to be eaten as soon as you get it.

These are lovely desserts and worth a try if you're not keen on making them at home on your own! About RM10 for ~2 piece of souffle pancakes with a flavor of your choosing, which isn't too expensive. :) If you're an adventurer, this recipe worked pretty well for me! :) 

6. Dragon Beard Candy 

This is another item that I don't see very often outside of Kuching Fest, and it's something that I always pick up whenever I go. :) The stall 193, has a few selections of filling for the candy. I'm normally a huge fan of sugary deserts and dragon beard candy, which is a handmade traditional art in China, a type of pulled candylike taffy that's flossy-delicate and melt-in-your-mouth delicious is... just not. I'm not sure if it's because the pack that I bought has been sitting out for a while, or if my expectations were too high, but eating the candy is a chore, which isn't how eating sugar-based desserts is supposed to go. :( Major disappointment. 

7. Crocodile Meat 

One of the biggest attraction this Kuching Fest is the Crocodile Meat stuffed in a bun. It sells like hotcakes and the customer service here is quite bad. Lol. You could wait here for half an hour and not get anything, which is what happened to a few of my friends during the kuching fest. If you're not keen on waiting and really really want to try Crocodile meat, Juniper, which, if is linked to the stall anyways, sells Crocodile Chop in their restaurant. :) The meat has a fish-like texture and a chicken-like taste with a gamey aftertaste that lingers in your mouth. It's probably due to the fact that the crocodile sourced are wild. I'm personally not a fan but I'm sensitve to gamey aftertastes of wild meat, so maybe you'll like it. It's just like, my opinion, man. 

Regardless, it's worth a try if you're in it for the wow-factor, and the smaller serving (RM10 for 3 pieces) is a good thing in the sense that the flavors added can probably cover the taste, but don't go into it expecting something life-changingly delicious. >< 

8. Miscellanous 

No Kuching fest outing is complete without trying all the little things available. The whole point is to gouge on unhealthy stuff you normally won't get your hands on. Leave all plans of dieting at the gate please. Lol. The deep fried Oreos available in Auntie E's Sweet Treats (Stall 130B) are well worth a look. There's also Enoki Golden Mushroom, both of which are near the front gate. ^^

You can also get your hands on plenty of skewered meat, even more ice cream treats, and all the dessert. Like, legit. All. The. Desserts. 

I went to Kuching Fest more times than I can count this year and couldn't even try like, a fraction of a fraction of what they have to offer. My overall opinion on it is surprisingly okay lah. If you go early enough, (5pm-6pm), you can avoid all the crowd that comes after. Then again, half the fun of these events is the crowd ofo people. ^^ 

I'm the first to admit there are way too many ice-cream stores this kuching fest. The grab driver that dropped me off was a representative for Nestle and he had 30+ clients. There's way, way too many and I wonder if they were profitable. 

With almost 300 stores, it's surprising to note that there's a startling lack of variety unless you do your research and really know what to look for (half the fun of kuching fest is to be surprised though!) Hopefully, we get more variety when Kuching Fest returns next year. :) 

[Lifestyle] Malaysia Subscription Box: Cubecrate November Box Featuring King's Cookiers, PSLove, & PlasyWalsy&Co

Price: RM35/RM44 for Sabah/Sarawak

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by cubecrate.com) 

Verdict: 7/10

Repurchase: NA

Cubecrate is a surprise subscription box that costs RM35 per month and includes a variety of locally sourced products ranging from beauty to decor and handmade items that you wouldn't think to try out on your own. For three months, the subscription is RM90. They also have a wine subscription if you're into fine wine, personalized boxes for a loved one, or an entire team of people, and many other options. ^^

Subscribe With Cubecrate Here.

Disclaimer: I received this box in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, as usual. ^^ You can also check out: 

2016: October's Box, November's Box, December's Box

2017: January's Box, February's Box, March's Box, April's Box, May's Box, June Box, July's Box, August's Box, September's Box, October's Box

November's Box

Cubecrate's November box went back to the roots of cubecrate, introducing two new local brands to the box while bringing back a brand that we've only seen once. 

PS Love Company

The pslove company has innovated a 100% natural and portable heating patch that heats up almost like magic, providing effective and quick relief. I've tried their NeckHeat pack before and it does go as warm as the MenstruHeat pad, but is still hot enough that the skin might get burned a little with constant use.

I've tried their MenstruHeat pack which is aimed for ladies who feel abdominal pain during that time of the month. Their product, MenstruHeat, has won awards and is one of their top selling products. 

MenstruHeat will heat up on its own within 5-10 minutes, providing the pain relief and comfort needed without side effects. It reminds me of another menstrual heating pad that I've tried. It's sold for RM7.60 each on their site and I've tried it in April's box a while back! 

PS Love: Website | Instagram

The King Cookies

The King's Cookies is a new brand in more ways than one. It's not just new to cubecrate, it's new in such a way that the brand hasn't even started it's social media accounts yet, or any way to purchase this other than to call the number included in the box. 

The cookies are a little sweet for my taste, but pretty good! The packaging is beautifully done, but it's a big package and I kind of hope that they've included included the ingredients there. There's a card with a phone number included in the pack for orders. ^^ Cubecrate's also able to provide more if you're keen on trying them.

Palsy Walsy Candles

Upon opening the box, I caught a strong whiff of vanilla, which turned out to be caused by this little thing! This is Palsy Walsy's Cream on cake candle and it smells like vanilla! They launched only recently and in conjunction with their launching, they are offering free shipping for every purchase of 2 handmade candles. XD

There's 26 fragrances to choose from, from flowers to fruity scents, cookies, and coffee. Each candle is being sold for RM34 on Carousell and are significantly bigger than the bottle included here, which will surely last longer. :) 

Palsy Walsy Candles: Carousell | Instagram

Overall Impression

I've a soft spot for PsLove and am impressed cubecrate managed to find two new brands to introduce in this month's box. It's not easy to be able to source new brands every month, even more to convince them to join in the subscription box. If you know anyone who's trying to start their own business, selling their new brands, let them know if they're keen on joining Cubecrate. :) It's a good way to have different people introduced to the new brands. 

Subscribe With Cubecrate Here.

Price: RM35/RM44 for Sabah/Sarawak

(Given a free in exchange for an honest review by cubecrate.com) 

Verdict: 7/10

Repurchase: NA

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/

And Like my Facebook page? :D https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianBeautyHaul/

[Lifestyle - Travelling With Triba-East] Day 5 - 6: Vivaldi Park Ski World And Back To Kuching

How time flies when you're having fun. However, by the fifth day of the trip, I was starting to feel a little exhausted. At first I thought it was just my period being annoying, but it turns out I ate something that gave me stomach flu. :( That means the last two days for the trip was both exhausting and a total blur. 

As luck would have it, TribaEast, which had arranged majority of the trip for me, had planned for the skiing trip to be on the last full day in Korea. The trip was RM300 per person paid to TribaEast, so I paid a total of RM600 for the both of us prior to the trip. It was only when we were on the resort that we were told that the amount did not cover for the skii lifts, which cost and addiitonal 55,000won, adding a whooping 110,000won to our skiing expenses. That's an additional RM400+, so the skiing was actually RM500 per person and more than RM1000 for two of us. If I had known in advance how fucking expensive this was going to be, I would've gladly chosen to opt for the Seoul Everland park instead, which is RM138 per person. 

Honestly, I'm still quite pissed about this additional payment, since I was under the impression that payment to Tribaeast would cover the whole day. Evidently, they did not see the need for skii lifts since we could just play with skiing... on a small slope? For a whole day? Jesus. As you can tell, it really soured the experience, expecially since we were down to our last 150,000won and thankfully, had just enough to cover our trip back to the airport.

The rest of my experience had been good though, as you can see here: 

How To Plan a 6-Day Personalized, Budget-Friendly Tour To Seoul, Korea

Day 1: From Kuching, Malaysia To Myeong-Dong, Korea With Public Transportations

Day 2: Christmas Village, Snow Sled, & Strawberry Farm, Seoul, Korea

Day 3: Petite France & Nami Islance 

Day 4: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong, Noryangjin Fish Market, Dongdaemun Design Plaza

As you can probably guess based on the track record we had so far, the day started really bright and early! The tour bus that TribaEast had arranged for us picked us up at the meeting point before the sun had even risen and we were both understandably groggy. Add that to the fact that the people leading the tour spoke almost exclusively in Cantonese makes for two very lost tourists (me & my bf).

Still, we were determined to make the most of the trip! First, they drove us to a skii-rental station where we were all geared up with the appropriate, and super fancy outfits!

Vivaldi Park Ski World is an hour away from Seoul. It has a total of 12 slopes and 10 lifts, including gondola, with a maximum occupancy of 20,000 people.

Different slopes are available for visitors for different levels, with beginner's incline with only 5 degrees and 9*, to a maximum of 28* for experts!

Since we weren't allowed to bring our belongings with us while we were skiing, we had to rent a locker as well. I would defintiely suggest paying for the locker, since losing your stuff is never worth saving that extra bit of money. :) The whole place is quite packed, and its easy to lose sight of your items when you're up the slope.

The tour that we joined included a mini introduction to not fall on your ass butt immediately as you step on the skiing boards. I swear, this is one of those things that's a lot harder than it looks, but it certainly has a steep learning curve. By the end of thirty minutes of painstakingly hiking uphill in too-heavy skiing equipments, we decided to ditch the beginner's class and make our ways up the skii lift.

It's a long, long, long queue up, and a short trip down. The queue is simply ridiculous, since we were there during the weekend. That means we spent half an hour to an hour lining up to get on the lift, and then ski down in all of five minutes. Rinse. Repeat.  When we were there, there were students who could bypass the queueing altogether, which made the lines even slower! I hated that.

By day 5, I wasn't feeling at all fine already. Everything was sore. This is compounded by the fact that in the middle of showering the previous day, the hot water disappeared. That means I was showering with cold water. In winter. Fuck that. 

My wonderful bf and waited with me in between each downward skii so I could rest a little, then resume skiing. It's a long, long, long queue up, and a short trip down. The queue is simply ridiculous, since we were there during the weekend. That means we spent half an hour to an hour lining up to get on the lift, and then ski down in all of five minutes. Rinse. Repeat.  When we were there, there were students who could bypass the queueing altogether, which made the lines even slower! I hated that.

We had fun though! It was just exhausting since I wasn't feeling my best. Thankfully, the horrible symptoms of stomach flu only started presenting itself after we returned from the trip, which was to say I spent the night in the bathroom. T.T  We managed to see this adorable mascot on the walk back though! ^^

My bf decided to have a Mc.Donalds dinner since they serve bacon with their meals! ^^ He loved it. The buns were more fresh than we're used to back hom, and bacon is delicious. We also ran across this silly thing on the way back. Hehe.

Unfortunately, the night was spent vomitting and basically just getting rid of everything in my stomach, which was awful. My bf was perfectly fine, but I was pretty much dying. Lol. We made our way back exactly the way we arrived, via train, since there was a toilet in the train that I knew I could use, and I didn't want to subject the poor bus to that.

We managed to get our hands on some pills to help with my stomach cramps and problems, which I took on the flight back and tried my best not puke my lungs out. :(

Nothing I took made me feel better, and I was sick and vomiting for an entire week after I returned from the trip, occasionally getting up to drink some water. 

What a way to end a holiday. It wasn't the best resolution, but that's the way life is. Messy, imperfect, and occasionally well, shit happens.

I had a good experience though, and it gave me this amazing picture that I'm really in love with. 

Most of the trip was planned with the help of Triba-East Travels, which I really appreciate. I'd love to plan my next trip wtih them as well. :) They have deals locally, in Malaysia, as well as in other countries, such as Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, and China.

Book Your Tour With Triba-East Travels Here

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/ And Like my Facebook page? :D https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianBeautyHaul/

[Lifestyle - Travelling With Triba-East] Day 3: Petite-France & Nami Island

Day 3 is another day of exploration! However, we only had 2 things on the agenda for the day, which is Petite-France, and Nami Island, two picturique destinations that promised a lot of beautiful pictures. If you haven't read already, here's the rest of my trip that was planned in conjunction with Triba-East Travels.:

How To Plan a 6-Day Personalized, Budget-Friendly Tour To Seoul, Korea

Day 1: From Kuching, Malaysia To Myeong-Dong, Korea With Public Transportations

Day 2: Christmas Village, Snow Sled, & Strawberry Farm, Seoul, Korea

Today's trip was sponsored by James, who was certain we would enjoy the trip with a tour group that they're affiliated with! 

Even though neither of us was fans of taking a billion pictures of ourselves with different backgrounds, we got into the mood and explored everywhere in Petite-France, which had so many quaint buildings and beautiful trinkets and historical furniture setting that we couldn't help but be swept up by it as well.

Every single place in the tourist attraction is worth a picture.

There's statues and armored guards. There's even a giant puppet that made me wonder if it'll come alive with the right motivation.

And fake wings for you to try on (though not literally)

At the end of it all is a quick presenation by puppeteers, who gave us an entertaining show that only needed music to tell their story. 

It left everyone entertained, but also ready to move on to the next destination: Nami Island.

Nami Island is one of those places where people would insist you go to, if only for the sake of saying you've gone. I'm glad I went, but it's not one of those places I would bother revisiting. Unfortunately, I'm not a big enough fan of Korean Dramas to want to experience their shooting destinations as much. Perhaps we went during the wrong season, but the scenery was a dull brown and barren land that bored me just a tad. Would I suggest you go? Maybe not during the dead of winter, when all the trees are dead and it's too cold to enjoy the scenic views.

The journey was interesting though! We had to go on a boat in order to get there, which required us to go through an 'immigration' check. There's no actual checkpoint though. XD I suppose you'd only get stopped if you looked super suspicious!

The island itself was one picture-worthy area after another, with plenty of opportunities for romantic memories. This would be the perfect setting for your wedding pictures!

If you're keen, you can actually rent one of their houses here on Nami Island.

Prices are a little steep though. If I remember correctly, it can go to more than 200,000won per night.

We searched high and low for something to eat, and then finally settled on Bento meals, which costs 11,500won for the both of us. 

It was barely enough to fill us though, so we looked for more things to eat. I decided I needed more vegetables in my life, and erm... corn is a type of vegetable right? He opted for a hotdog bun. The corn was 3000 won and the hotdog bun was 2500won. Neither tasted any good. If you're planning a trip to Nami Island, I would suggest packing some snacks along with you. There's a disapproving aunty sitting behind me while my bf fed me his hotdog bun. Lol.

Reenergized by the food, we continued our journey around Nami Island.

Fans of Winter Sonata would be able to recognize this route. Imagine snow and leaves and when things weren't so barren. XD

It was cold enough that there were ice sculpturs that didn't quite melt completely, but not so cold that it wasn't melting at all. Most of the sculptures were unrecognizisable, but erm... it's the thought that counds I suppose?

I wish this igloo was big enough to climb into. 

The decorations were adorable though~ ^^ 

We returned to the tour bus early, since we ran out of pictures to take at Nami Island. There's actually a SkyLine Zip Wire that you could try out that's within walking distance of the tour bus! 

If I'm not mistaken, this takes you directly into Nami Island. Lol. What an entrance that would be!

We managed to return back to Myeong-Dong way before the sun had set, which gave us plenty of time to do whatever we want (And eat whatever we want).

We decided to try and find our way to the Myeong=Dong Cathedral since guidebooks said it's worth a visit. After a million wrong turns, we managed to find our way! And the sun hasn't even set yet! Yay~ 

The view of the church at night is even more beautiful than it is in the sunlight. The flowers are set aglow. I imagine it's even prettier late at night, but we were already feeling quite exhausted from all the walking we've done.

By day 3, we had started to grow tired of the street food, so we decided to stop by the quiant eatery near our place that James and Jonathan had brought us to the first night. We ordered bimbimbap and a noodle pork stew that cost 12,000. These ridiculously huge bowls! Honestly, everything' s cheaper once you've wandered out of the hustle and bustle of the touristy part of Myeong-Dong. 

We also got some souvenirs (samyang noodles) from a stationary store (Alpha) of all places. Lol.

For dessert, we opened up the pack of strawberries we picked earlier, accompanied by a glass of soju. ^^

Afterwards I slapped on a sheetmask and called it a day. ^^

Total purchases: 59,350won - RM231

Tour was curtesy of James and Triba-East Travels. 

Book Your Tour With Triba-East Travels Here

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/ And Like my Facebook page? :D https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianBeautyHaul/