Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween: Just Another Day (Picture Heavy-ish)

Today is Halloween so I decided to wear some black and white cat ears to my classes. (Seoul is 13 hours ahead of Toronto, that's why it says 8am at the bottom) My first class was very amused at the fact that I had them on. After that class, I went back to my office to grab some material for my next class, I put the cat ears back on and started heading out the office. Then the VP sees me and starts laughing and asks me what those "things" are for and I tell him it's for Halloween. So I start heading towards my class and he stops me (the whole time laughing) and tells me that I'm violating school policy! He also said something about modelling and Korean custom. Half the time I didn't understand because his English wasn't really good, so in the end he tells me to take it off. He also talks in Korean at the same time, so all the other teachers around me could hear him. Feeling like a retard, I continue to my 3rd period class. When I get to class, I see another teacher in there, then the students start yelling out that classes have been switched. I was so clueless then I headed back to my office.
When I sat down, the VP came back to me and said thank you for taking my advice. Then he starts on again about Korean custom, school policy etc etc, while laughing at the same time. He totally made me feel like such a retard and I was so embarrassed! How was I supposed to know about this school policy? I'm foreign! I'm sure he didn't mean to make me feel like a dumbass, but you know, being a Westerner, I celebrated Halloween for fun.
I got quite pissed at him and the teacher that I was supposed to teach with for 3rd period. No one bothered to tell me about this schedule change. I shouldn't be surprised because this always happens to me. But I'm more pissed at the fact that I have to create a new lesson for next Friday for the class I just missed. @___@
Anyway, here are some more random things from today. I went to Homeplus (Korean versino of Wal-mart) to grab a couple things and had a small dinner there. I hope you all have a nice weekend!


Stuff on a stick anyone?? It's actually a flat fish cake dunked in MSG filled soup. A popular street food. For some reason, when Koreans eat these, they also get a side cup of the soup to drink! First of all, the fish cake is super peppery so I would assume the soup is, second of all, it's probably 99% MSG! Gross...

Have you ever seen so many varieties of canned tuna??? The wall is actually bigger than this.

Spiders...errr...mini crabs for ya! They cost a whopping $41-ish!



Now this is something different. This giant baby probably has meat that's bigger than my hand. Can you imagine biting into this juicy piece of guts and muscles? I think I'm gonna stick to the regular sized mussels that I order at Pickle Barrel.



Sea squirt? Note: Not my hand...it's Tim's. haha


Sea cucumbers. I thought they were still alive. Well they might be. But they look sorta dead, just floating around in that bag of watery goodness.


Waiting for the subway. This stupid station is the last stop for some of the subways, then we gotta get off and wait for the next one, so annoying!!!! We waited for 2 trains (since both weren't going any further than this station) and when we finally got it, I felt like I was in a sardine can with no ventilation.
Today's look: plain and simple/what I usually do when I'm lazy. For my face, I used the Etude House Speedy Total Mineral Base, Lavshuca Loose Powder and T'estimo blush in PK-18.
For my eyes, I used the UDPP and the Coffret D'or palette in 03, only the brown shade. I'm also using the Estee Lauder eyeshadow in Tea Biscuit as a highlighter. I lined my eyes with the Sephora Long Lasting e/l in Copper, then I put on a coat of Diorshow mascara and 2 coats of the Imju Dejavu Fiberwig.
My makeup has pretty much faded as I took this at the end of the day. I put my "face" on at 7am in the morning and most of it has lasted until 7:30pm. Most of the time I feel like I'm not using makeup at all. It doesn't seem to make much of a difference, except for the Etude Mineral Base and the Lavshuca powder.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Laneige: Pore Clear Cleansing Foam


I always thought my skincare regime was simple. None of those masks, peels, extra lotion stuff etc on my face. Well, I started using masks and more exfoliators weekly now, but that's a different story.
So on with the story of my skincare items. I use Laneige. My friend introduced me to it because she said her skin seems to do well with it. So I bought a set from Sasa to try it out myself. Now, most of you probably already know, Laneige is a Korean brand I believe owned by Amore Pacific. It's sort of a high end brand as a bottle of lotion would cost around $30-35 (I can't remember). Laneige is available in many places, from drugstores to grocery stores, but this doesn't stop me from buying it.
I've been using Laneige for about 2 years and it works wonderfully with my skin. I have oily combination skin and this helps hydrate my skin enough so it won't cause an oil slick during the day. I've actually stopped using Laneige for about 5 months since I switched to Fancl, a Japanese brand. But I find that the Fancl toner and lotion leaves a sticky feeling on my skin, so I have switched back to using Laneige products. I like Laneige because the lotions absorb quickly into my skin without a sticky feeling. I also like how it makes my skin feel refreshed and hydrated without breaking out.
I used to buy the drugstore brands for my face cleanser so I never really used the Laneige facewash as I go through facewash really quickly. I thought it would be a waste of money since Laneige is kind of pricey in Toronto. However, I have started to use the facewash as it's much cheaper in Seoul.
My current facewash from Laneige is the Pore Clear Cleansing Foam, which is supposed to help "troubled pores" So if you have occasional breakouts or if your pores tend to get clogged easily this should be good for you. Recently, I've gotten a few pimples and I'm not even near the time of pms-ing. Since this face cleanser is supposed to be for "troubled pores" I'm sure it'll do me some good while I'm having these breakouts.
I got it from a drugstore here called Olive Young and it cost me about $12CAD for 180mL. It will actually last for a while. On the box, it tells you to only use 3cm of the product and mix it with a bit of water.



I like this facewash so far as I haven't gotten any breakouts from it. The product doesn't actually foam so I'm not sure why it's called a cleansing foam, but it works just as well. I usually wet my face prior to using facewash so it helps create that slight foaming action from the Laneige cleanser.
I like how there's tiny exfoliating beads and they are gentle enough for everyday use IMO. There are 2 types of exfoliators. One is clear and super tiny while the other ones are slightly larger and blue. The blue exfoliating beads should dissolve once you start massaging the product to your skin. The blue beads are really tiny, so I'm not sure if you can see them in the picture.
The product washes off with a squeaky feeling and leaves a soft floral smell. I'm not really fond of squeaky clean facewashes since it makes my face feel dry if I don't put lotion on right away. But the cleanser washes off all the nasties on my face really well, so I don't mind it as much. Did I mention it also removes makeup really well? I mean if you use eye makeup remover first if you have eye makeup on, but it works very well at removing anything else on my face.
All in all, I would buy this again. But when I'm finished using this, I'm going to test out some other Laneige face cleansers first.


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Another Day At School

This week is going by so slowly!!! I should start planning my next week's lessons but I'm just too lazy. I feel like sleeping early today, 10:30 early!
Today, I only had 3 classes out of 4. One of them was moved to another period without any notification, not surprisingly. I didn't bother going to that class because I was actually told it was moved anyway. Also, 2/3 classes today were just games because they were ahead 1 lesson. In conclusion, I only taught for about 30 minutes in total. For that class that I taught today, 15 minutes were used to discipline the kids by my co-teacher. No hitting today, only forcing them to raise their hands above their heads for 5 minutes.
Seeing how I had so much time on my hands, I decided to take a few pictures of the school. I used my Sony Ericsson K790 since I didn't buy a digital camera yet. I almost forgot I brought my cell with me, so now I can do some more picture taking, EOTDs etc...
So without further ado, I bring you my school: Wonmuk Middle School.

My horribly messy desk. I assure you, it's not always like that. Notice how I have to put my name tag on my shelf, because sometimes the students like to come bother me and they all want to know where I sit. Besides, it helps them remember my name, I hope. 99% of the time, I'm just called "teacher". One of my co-teachers (the only one I talk to outside of school) sits next to me.

Here's a panoramic view of one of the teacher's offices. This is where I have my desk and where the VP is. You see the male teacher in the middle? All the little girls go crazy over him. I usually see girls crowding around his desk. Anyone remember the first Indiana Jones in the scene where he's teaching and all the girls are looking at him dreamily? Yah, picture that.

This is the teacher's lunch room. I eat pretty much the same thing as the students, maybe 2-3 more items. The main dish (the meat) is ALWAYS spicy and I hate it! I don't do spicy food.

During one of my classes today where I got them to play Boggle. I'm standing where the front is. We also have TVs in the class rooms so I make PPTs for my lessons.


The magnificent field...

And this would be my after school class. I only have 7 kids and I only need to teach 20 classes. After that, I get an extra $1000 for teaching it. Woot woot! It's just really hard to come up with lessons for this class since I don't have textbooks. I look quite horrible in the picture as I'm trying to squat down. It makes me look pregnant. I did a weee bit of photoshop on it because it was that bad hahahaha
I usually don't wear my contacts to school, so today when I did, my kids were like, "Teacher, you have 1cm layer of makeup on!!!" So cute.

Monday, October 27, 2008

School Stories

How many of you wash your hands on a daily basis??? Apparently, not everyone here does. The teachers at my school may be all nice and such, but hidden underneath them is a really gross secret: not all of them wash their hands.
I haven't noticed this until a few weeks into my teaching. I was walking towards the washroom behind one of my co-teachers who didn't notice me there. She got into the stall before me so I went to the one next to her. And being a woman, you have your monthly duties to take care of, and this echoed throughout the washroom. I was still in the stall doing my business when I hear that the teacher beside me was done by the sound of the toilet flushing. She skipped out of the stall and out the door.
Wait a minute. Something is terribly wrong here. I didn't hear any familiar sounds coming out of the tap, nor did I hear the hand dryer or any sort of drying with napkins. WTH??! I had the grossest image in my head about the door knob. Since then, I have not touched the door knob at all. The door never closes all the way so I can grab the edge of the door to open it. I have never been soooo disgusted. Oh and she's not the only teacher that does that. After that incident, I've noticed that other teachers just walk right out the door after doing their business. Eww....what if I had to shake their hand later that day!?
The strange thing is, even though 90% of them don't wash their hands, all of them have some sort of teeth brushing disease where they must brush their teeth after lunch, but not wash their hands after taking a piss?? That doesn't make sense.
Actually it isn't just the teachers at my school that do that. I've noticed many girls in the public washrooms who don't wash their hands right after taking a piss. They touch up their makeup or hair and then they wash their hands. Gross..
I am also bothered by the fact that they all say hi or nod/bow their heads to me whenever we bump into each other in the washroom. I know it's Korean politeness and such, but I just wanna take a piss!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Coffret D'or: Star Dazzling Liner


Coffret D'or is one of my favourite brands because it delivers quality for its price. I don't use any of their base makeup items, but I love their point makeup items, especially their eyeshadows.
The item I am going to review today is the Star Dazzling Liner. This was one of the first items to come out with the line when it was first launched back in December 2007. It actually reminded me of the T'estimo Shining Eyeliner. I'm sure it's the same thing since Coffret D'or had replaced T'estimo.
Prior to using the Star Dazzling Liner, I would reach for my Tiffa glittery eyeliner, which is the same color as the Coffret D'or one. I got it from Sasa for about $10CAD, but I've only used it about 5 times before I gave up on it because the glitters would come off easily. There was one time when I was out shopping that I realized one of the glitters got under my contact lens. Since then, I have not used the Tiffa, or any other glitter e/l as I was afraid it would happen again.
I actually didn't purchase the Star Dazzling Liner. I got it as a birthday present earlier this year. It sells for $25USD on Ichibankao and about $15-20USD on Adambeauty.
If any of you out there are looking for a problem free, gorgeous glittery eyeliner, this is perfect for you! I love it! I have the WT-04 shade, and I'm thinking of purchasing other colors as well.
So here's why it's so great. It's long lasting, tons of glitter from the first swipe on your eyes and it's virtually water proof! I've drawn a line on my hand and scratched at it and ran water over it, but the e/l stays put.
There's 5.2g in this tiny bottle, but a little goes a long way, as one swipe will give you tons of glitter. The brush is soft, but hard enough to draw a nice line. It also has a fine tip for easy application. You can make thin or thick lines with the brush. The liner is clear with tons of fine silver glitters.
So with that said, I love this eyeliner! I use it over my brown/black eyeliners to get that extra bit of shimmer, and it also dries quickly and stays put the whole day.
Go buy it!!!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday Feast #3

Aside from the fact that my boobs look deformed from the way I'm holding my bag, doesn't that ice cream look absolutely disgusting?! It's like something from a sewer. But this shit is probably the best thing I've eaten from Mcd's. (excluding the iced HK milk tea from HK , that would be my favourite drink)
Picture a cup with some crushed oreo on the bottom, soft serve vanilla ice cream from an ice cream truck, topped off with 2 shots of espresso. This is like silky heaven in my mouth. The McD ice cream here tastes so different from the N. American ones. It actually tastes like ice cream from an ice cream truck. Deeeelish! Totally worth my $2.00 haha.
I hope everyone has a good weekend!
To those that are having tough a time right now, believe in yourself and you can overcome anything. If that doesn't work, then my best medicine for you is to do some shopping and play some Soul Calibur 2! It always works for me.




Appetizer
If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?
Well, since I'm living and teaching in Seoul under a one year contract, that would make my continent Asia haha. So I choose Asia!

Soup
Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?
Internet Explorer. But whenever I use Tim's Macbook, I use Firefox, which I don't really like. I'm too used to IE.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country?
Umm.. 2??? I know that Canada came from a Native American word that meant town haha. Back in the day, we like to trade fur. But seriously, who really knows THAT much about their own country history? I think I know more about American history than Canadian history. I took the US history course and dropped the CAD history course because it was so fracking boring, and now I regret it because the unis that I'm applying for to get my BEd strongly recommends or requires the CAD history credit. Darn it!!

Main Course
Finish this sentence: Love is…
...unpredictable

Dessert
Have you ever been in or near a tornado?
Nope! Unless those simulators in Universal Studios and science centers count!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Maquillage Forming Shiny Eyes and Blush Application

Here's a link for the eyeshadow and blush application of Maquillage's Mode Mix collection. The tutorial is slightly different from the way the Maquillage package teaches you.
For those of you who are familiar with Taiwanese magazines, or you understand Mandarin, this is perfect for you. It is from a popular beauty magazine in Taiwan called FG magazine, or Fashion Guide. Oh I wish how my Chinese my fluent. I can barely understand Mandarin and my reading and writing skills are bum! If it was in Cantonese then I'd understand what they're saying.
This tutorial teaches you how to apply the Forming Shiny Eyes in #55, the darker pink and brown shades as well as the Designing Cheek color. Enjoy!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Maquillage: Forming Shiny Eyes #52

Today, I bring you the Maquillage Forming Shiny Eyes from the Mode Mix collection.
I've never used Maquillage before, but after reading the reviews about this eyeshadow from Fuzkittie and Cuttibebe, I thought I should give it a try.
On Adambeauty, I they sold it for $28CAD plus and extra $2 for international shipping. However, there were a few annoyances that prevented me from buying it. I wanted to purchase this on Adambeauty, but for some reason PayPal wouldn't accept my credit card. Most likely it's because I put down a Korean address for a Canadian credit card. Also, since the Canadian dollar is so crummy, after the exchange from USD to CAD, it came up to about $36 @__@. I went earlier to find it at the Lotte Department store and they sold it for 40 000won, so roughly $36CAD, the same as if I bought it from Adambeauty.
I actually thought it was kind of expensive, considering how small the palette is, but I still got it because I didn't want it to be discontinued when Maquillage comes out with a spring/summer line.
After all these minor rants, I must say that this e/s is absolutely perfect. It's sitting way up there with my Coffret D'or palettes. I originally wanted to purchase #53, the lighter pink and brown palette, but the Lotte Dept store was sold out and I got #52 instead.
At first I thought the colors wouldn't go together. I mean think about it, pale pink highlighter shade, gold and purple? But I was wrong! They go beautifully together!



I think it's quite small compared to my Coffret D'or palette, but it packs a good punch. I like how it's got 2 layers in it to prevent the shades from mixing together. On the bottom, there is a little drawer with the brush. I was kind of annoyed at how the plastic seemed kind of cheap, nevertheless, the quality of the shadows make up for it.
At first I thought the shades went on quite sheer, but layering always does the job. I love the texture of the highlighter shade. It's like a silky cream and it goes on sheer but leaves some gorgeous shimmers on my eyes.




I followed the instructions on the box. I used the pink highlighter up to my brows, the gold shade all over my lids, and the purple shade halfway up my eyelid. Then I used the gold shade the blend everything in. The pictures don't show the colors that well, but believe me, it's got some good pigmentation to it. The colors also appear exactly how they look when you apply it. I also used my MAC fluidline in Blitz and Glitz and my DejaVu Fiberwig.
This shadow has some great lasting power. I used my UDPP and Lavshuca loose powder on my lids. It lasted for a good 6-8 hours or so before I did a touch up. It wasn't super humid the day I used it, but I'd imagine it'll still be just as good since high end Japanese makeup has yet to disappoint me. Of course the colors appear a lot more vibrant in real life.
I'm loving the Maquillage Mode Mix palettes so much that I think I'm going to shell out another $36 for it. But this time I'm going to get #53.


It kinda sucks that you can't see the shadows, but it's there. I'm just not good with taking pictures.

Friday, October 17, 2008

TGIF: Friday Feast Time!

Seafood fried rice with Ja Jang sauce anyone?? Koreans apparently love this sauce. I always thought it was a Korean food, but it's actually Chinese.

Yay! I'm so happy it's Friday, that means tomorrow I can go do some major makeup browsing while Tim is teaching is Saturday class. I'm going to the Lotte Department store, which is only 1 subway station away from me. Its location is really odd. It's at a subway station called Cheongnyangni and it's kinda ghetto looking with open street grocery stores and the most horrible smell of street grocery markets you could imagine, then suddenly around the corner you see Lotte Department store out of no where. If they sell Maquillage at that location, I might have to sneak in a few purchases when I'm supposed to be saving money.
Here's another Friday Feast. Again, I got the idea from Aya, so I must give her credit.

Appetizer
When was the last time you had your hair cut/trimmed?
About 2 weeks ago and they did the opposite of what I told them. I told the hairstylist to make sure my bangs are slightly below my eyebrows, but they cut it above my eyebrows. They also cut it too short! ARGH! That's what I get for not knowing how to speak Korean.

Soup
Name one thing you miss about being a child.
I didn't have to worry about anything. No people drama, work stresses, thinking about what I should do with my life.

Salad
Pick one: butter, margarine, olive oil.
Butter, because it just tastes better. However, if it's for cooking neither of these. I use peanut oil or corn oil. I only use butter when I feel like it'll fit the taste of whatever I make.

Main Course
If you could learn another language, which one would you pick, and why?
Well I'm already Chinese, but I'd like to perfect that language first before anything else. Hmm..other than Chinese, I would like to learn Japanese. I love Japanese cosmetics and skincare, so I'm sure it'll come in handy if I go to Japan one day to shop!

Dessert
Finish this sentence: In 5 years I expect to be…
Teaching at a highschool, although it's not a really high paying job, I'm sure I'll enjoy it more than most other jobs I might do, like working at some office.
I also expect to have moved out to my own place, possibly be married and taking out my corgi and daschund out for a walk.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Something To Look Forward To

AHH!!! Fuzkittie is having a contest with some fab prizes, so of course I'm going to enter it! The only downside for me is that 3/4 of my wardrobe is back home in Toronto. I barely brought anything with me to Seoul and my clothing collection here is quite mini. I don't have all my shoes, bags and other accessories with me *sigh* However, on the plus side, I only have to use 5 pieces of clothing so it'll be quite interesting to see what I can come up with.
Oh Miss Fuz, you are so generous with your prizes!
This weekend I hope to drag Tim with me to the Lotte or Shinsegae Department store (it's similar to Holt Renfrew in Canada). I want to go back to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me, whether or not they sold Lunasol at the Kanebo counter. OOOoohh I'm so excited!! I know that there is also a Shiseido counter and I've seen Maquillage there, but I haven't had a chance to take a look.
I'm also uber happy that Adam Beauty (see the side list) ships to Seoul, which means I can do some makeup shopping! Yay! I just hate transferring money back home because the rate is so crummy...services fees..etc
Anyway, during my weekend, I took a trip with my school district and the teachers to some palace in Suwon. I must admit it was very boring at the palace. Picture some walls built on a sandy piece of land. The only exciting part was I learned how to use a bow and arrow but my aim is shits!!
On Sunday, I went searching for this Chinatown in Seoul. Took an hour and a half subway ride to get there. I was utterly disappointed. It was so small, a lack of real Chinese food and it was built on some hilly roads! Oh well, I'm just looking forward to planning a trip to Hong Kong in January so I can finally have some real Chinese food.




Monday, October 13, 2008

Lavshuca: Loose Powder


Today I introduce you to my bestest friend: Lavshuca Loose Powder in Lucent. Lavshuca is a sub brand of Kanebo and it is an inexpensive drugstore brand. I love Lavshuca because it has such a princessy feel to it and it's just so darned cute.
This is what I've been everyday since last December after I read it on Rouge Deluxe's page. It's a nice translucent setting powder that lasts all day and gives me fresh looking skin. I don't like to use foundation so this is perfect for me.
I got this on Adam Beauty for I think $24(?) it's kind of pricey for a drugstore item. I purchased a refill of it a few months ago since I'm running low. I got the new one at Watson's in Hong Kong for about $20. For this price, it lasts a long time. I just need to put a light dusting of this powder on and I'm ready to go.
The Lavshuca Loose powder is a translucent beige color with a slight hint of shimmer. It doesn't have super noticable shimmer on your face however, so there isn't anything to worry about. I find the slight shimmer helps to brighten up my face, but it mainly appears matte.I really like this powder because it helps control the oil on my face, since I have oily skin. It also does a very good job at disguising pores which I love and it helps to slightly even out my skin. I just wished that it had just some sun protection in it.
Inside, it has a sifter, which is nice because I won't get powder everywhere. The puff that comes with this powder is so soft and it picks up the right amount of product. I just hold the puff in the container, turn it upside down and shake a few times to get the perfect amount. The only problem is if I try to use it to spread the product like using a brush, it tends to make my face look flaky, even though I have oily skin. Strange huh. So as long as I stick to pressing the powder then it's fine.
If there was a compact version of this I would definately pounce on it because the case is quite inconvenient to carry out with me. But the powder does last the whole day so I don't really need to worry.

Wandering Around the Museum Garden


Thursday, October 9, 2008

Laneige: Snow Magic Box Eyeshadow

Yay! My Laneige eyeshadow palette finally came along with a bunch of samples! Half of them are in Korean so I have no clue what to do with it.


When I first saw this palette online, I thought to myself, "I must have it!" as it was so pretty and elegant. When it came in the mail, it was wrapped in bubble wrap and as soon as I opened it, my finger prints got all over the pretty silver case. It was bound to happen and it's not like I'm going to wear gloves everytime I touch the case.
For some odd reason it didn't come with a box, only the instructions and the actual palette. I purchased it for about $8.00 less than retail so that's ok.



The Snow Magic Box is certainly different from the usual palettes I purchase. The case has 2 swivel layers in it. In order to get to the brushes and the colors, you just turn the layers to get to it. I'm not too fond of this idea though. Sometimes the brushes kind of move around and there's a possibility that they will get caught while you turn the layers. The swivel also got slightly loose which annoyed me. Also, if you try to get to the colors by holding the cover to turn it, there's a chance that your nail could scratch the eyeshadows. One good thing about the case is that on the corner that attaches all the layers, there is a dangly silver snowflake, very cute.
The palette includes 3 mini brushes, with sponge tip applicators and brushes. I think the brush parts do horrible job at picking up shadow. The sponge tips, including the sponge tip liner brush, works a lot better. The sponge tip e/l applicator is not very effective. Since the tip is quite pointed, it digs into the shadow very easily, even with a gently touch and on a side angle. I sort of have some brown e/s bits rolling around the rest of the palette.
The eyeshadows look gorgeous, it's nice for an icy look. I have to admit the quality of the shadows didn't impress me.
First the silverish white shade has a lot of chunky glitter. It is also very hard and it's very difficult to pick anything up, with the brush or the sponge tip applicators. I've noticed that the glitters kind of get everywhere so I have to be careful with application. I also had to swipe it many times before I got enough on the applicators. The light blue shade and the brown liner shade is much better than the silverish white shade. It is more soft and glides on more smoothly, however, it isn't very shimmery. You're actually supposed to use the silverish white shade to add some glitter to the light blue shade. I find that it's hard to get the glitter ontop of the blue eyeshadow without getting glitter everywhere or rubbing off all the blue.
The shadows go on sheer to medium. I had to layer on the shades 2 times to get the right amount of color. The staying power isn't that good. Even though I used the UDPP, the shadows still faded a bit. Mind you, I put my makeup on at 7:00am and it lasted until about 6:00pm. I still did a touch up or two just to ensure the color was still vibrant.

Overall, I think it's a nice palette to get that icy look. Was it worth my money? Not really. But this is my first Laneige makeup item, so I had to give it a try sooner or later. Also, for about $22CAD, I could have added $3 extra to get the Coffret D'or palettes which work much better than the Snow Magic Box. However, I don't have access to CoD here so I have to wait until I go on a trip to Hong Kong to puchase them.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sunday Tour: Pictures!

So my weekend wasn't THAT boring. I thought my Saturday would be wasted, but I went to see, or attempt to see fireworks for Korea's birthday celebration. I only managed to see about 15 seconds worth of fireworks before I got so fed up with having to bump shoulders and arms with strangers. I swear it was a tidal wave of people as far as the eye can see, and you can't really decide where you wanna walk because people would push you in certain directions.
On Sunday night I went with Tim to this man made river thing in Seoul called Cheonggyecheon. It's actually in the middle of downtown Seoul. During the day it was quite boring, but at night you can take such gorgeous pictures. Of course I'm no good with the camera, so Tim set the settings and I just snapped like 5 lol.
I noticed that there are a lot of drunk people just lying around anywhere that looks comfortable to them. A cart or the subway station perhaps? I didn't take pictures of Saturday because it was waaay too crowded, so I leave you with a few Sunday pictures.
Of course I did some shopping. I bought 3 long sleeve tees for $10, pants and a couple more shirts and all I spent was $50 in total. Woot!





Somewhere in Myeong Dong near the man made river. So random.



Nap time in the subway.

The strange cone during the night.



I like the effect that the camera can take, it makes the running stream look like ice.



Saturday, October 4, 2008

Wasted Saturday

The title of the blog basically tells you what I'm feeling. This morning I went out to lunch with Tim and walked him to the subway station. He had an afternoon English class to teach for 3 hours so I've been sitting around on my arse for 4 hours. I'm supposed to be doing my after school class lessons, which I did, but not much. I finished almost 3 lessons. This is harder than I thought since I have to make up the lessons myself. But I think I'm going to get lazy soon and do half of the class time as a lesson and the other half as movie watching. Hey, I'm allowed to do whatever I want, and I don't want to talk for 1.5 hours.
I finally bought a new pair of shoes that fit me, woot woot! It cost $35, not what I expected to spend on shoes, but it was the only pair that had soft material and it fit my wide nasty foot. It's just a wee bit too long, but it's nothing that an insole can't correct. Please excuse the ugly floor as I couldn't choose what my apartment looked like. It's actually quite funny, the floor is not real wood. Instead, it's a large sticker that has an ugly brown wood texture on it.




I also bought a striped long sleeve Tee for $12 that's long enough to cover my bum, so I could wear some stockings underneth. But if I bend down then everyone can see my ass. Don't cha love the image...
When Tim comes home in about 5 minutes, I'm hoping to drag him to do some more clothes shopping at a new place. He told me to think of where to go and what to do, and I did. Shopping!

Here's some nice reading material for you in case you get bored like me. Don't worry, it's nothing dirty. Just some important things that every girl needs to know. Enjoy!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Friday Feast!


From Kraze Burger in Seoul. Look at that mega pickle. Which I picked out.

I saw this on Irodori's blog (Aya) and I thought it'd be something fun to do since I'm on a bit of a makeup shopping break. Nothing here is really appealing to me. Paul and Joe isn't avaliable, sadly. I really want to get the new eye makeup for the Neige collection, but by the time I go to Hong Kong in January(hopefully) it'll be gone!!
Tim was so amazed at my makeup because he didn't know I had that much. I only brought half of my makeup with me to Seoul. He was going through it reading the names and he kept laughing at the MAC gel liner name: Blitz and Glitz.
Anyway, here's the lil survey.

Appetizer
What is the weather like today where you live? Earlier today it was 24 degrees and I think I was the only person wearing a tank. I'm in Seoul and everyone thinks it's cold right now. How odd. I believe it's about 19 degrees now.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you? Arr..8? If I don't get accepted into teachers college then I'm sorta screwed. I need something to support my shopping craze!

Salad
What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.? Nothing. I live in a box with Tim and it didn't come with any sort of coverings, not even a rod. I hate waking up 10 minutes before my alarm goes off because of the sunlight!

Main Course
Name something that instantly cheers you up. Any sort of sweets. Mainly ice cream, cake or candy.

Dessert
How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning? Never do. I have my alarm next to my head back in Toronto, and I usually hit it right before the second ring even starts. Here, I have to get up and search for my mini alarm.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Etude House: Lovely Cookie Blusher

Here's another Etude House product! It's one of the cheapest makeup here that I like, so everytime I buy some more cosmetics, it's Etude House.
Today I bring you the Lovely Cookie Blusher in Sugar Pink 04. I think it cost about about $6.00CAD and even though it's so cheap, it sucks!!
Before I tell you why I think it sucks, I'll tell you what I like about it. The case is cute. It's a circular dome and inside it comes with a white fluffy puff that has a pink ribbon on top. That's about all I can say about this blush.
So here's why I don't like it. There is a lack of pigment, I have to swipe it on about 3-4 times before I notice any color. There isn't that much noticable shimmer either, unless you're aboue an inch away from my face. I do prefer a wee bit more shimmer. I don't use the puff since I prefer a brush, however it is a nice addition. The blush doesn't have much staying power. By lunch time, probably all of it has already faded. Even the Lavshuca blushes are better than this one. I've read many reviews that the Lavshuca one stinks, but it works better on me than the Etude House one. *sigh* Good thing it only cost me $6, otherwise I'd be bitching about it constantly.



Sitting on my Arse

So this week I only had one day of teaching, but 2/4 classes were cancelled because the teachers wanted to do a review for the midterms. From Tuesday till Thursday it was midterms and I had nothing to do but sit there from 8:30am until 4:30pm. Today I left earlier because tomorrow is another Korean holiday.
Just from sitting there for 3 days, I could just watch my stomach grow bigger and bigger after each lunch. Man, those Koreans really love their rice. Rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No wonder I'm starting to gain some weight. Gyms are not really popular from what I've noticed, and people think you're retarded if you go jogging outside. So that means I'm going to try to cut down my rice intake as much as possible.
I hate planning lessons. The textbooks that I have doesn't make any sense. The chapters are so random. For example, my grade 7 textbook has a chapter about clothes, and then it also talks about what kind of task you think is difficult and how do you solve it. WTH??? So I basically had to make a whole lesson of teaching my kids how to buy clothes and incorporate that difficult task page into it. I don't think my kids will notice it anyway because 3/4 of the time they don't even listen to me.
I showed 2 of my classes this commercial, which is about why you should learn English. Only a few students understood it while I was laughing by myself.

I wish I could blog while I'm at work. The school has blocked some websites and Blogspot is one of them. I can only read entries, but not read/write comments or add a new post.
After all this annoyingness this week, there was 1 good thing that came out of it. My co-teacher helped me order the new(sorta) Laneige LE Snow Magic Box Crystal eyeshadow set. I got it for $22, about $8 cheaper than retail. Good enough for me, because my Coffret D'or eyeshadows cost me about $25 each.