Travel Seoul

I lived in Seoul for 9 months as a housewife and I didn't really enjoy my time there due to lost in translation and homesickness. However, re-visiting Seoul with Baby J and friends turned out to very enjoyable. Here's what we did...
We strolled Baby J in the park. There are various parks by the rivers and many people jog, walk, play tennis, reading book, and many other activities. We saw the ducks by the river and it was first time for Baby J to see ducks up close.

Shopping!! Upscale shopping Corso Como on Apgujeong vs affordable shopping in Dongdaemun. Fantastic Korean beef, I'm not a big beef eater but I can taste quality! The Koreans carve good meet for the grill... I went into shopping craze for 3 different visitations to children's section! Its all about shopping, eating, hanging out and walking around till the wee hours. There are many 24hr restaurants, mini marts and super-late-night shopping.

For many local Koreans, or just these few Korean chaps we were with, they haven't visit the Namsan tower. Its a tourist thing and it was quite fun when you are with funny and easygoing group. We went on weekend, so there weren't any partking and there was a long queue to get on to the airconless cable car for an awful 5 minutes ride due to heat, so I highly suggest to visit any tourist place during weekdays.

Chaining locks of well wishes and loves on the gate. I had seen this display of love chains in Yellow Mountain, China, and well, that beats anything else...

Other worthwhile places to go in Seoul for the well-travelled visitors:

1. Everland Theme Park - this is fantastic for both adults and children. Ride the Express roller coaster which is touted as the Asian tallest roller coaster! Don't forget to purchase the picture outside the ride for a funny remembrance on how your face and hair look like.
2. Apgujeong Rodeo - Sit by any cafes and pay about $5 for coffee to people see. If you are lucky, you may chance upon local celebrities.
3. Nami Island - many dramas are filmed here, so walk down the memory if you are a Korean drama fan.
4. Eden Club - ever wonder where the beautiful and hip people spend their Saturday night? Eden. Wow! Back in my prime time, where I used to club, and let's just stick to Jkt, S'pore and HK, Eden Club in Ritz Carlton hotel has the most good people under one roof and on the same night. I haven't step into nightlife since I got married and due accompanying friends, that I got to sample Eden, and I was overwhelmed by the scene! Me and husband left at 1.30am and our friends told us when they left at 3.30am, there were still many people getting into the club.

I Wish...But>>> I should rather

How I had wanted Louboutin shoes since college. When the store opened in Jakarta and I spotted the nude shoes, I almost ran in to try it. Then I saw the price. Then I put them down, my excitement dampened.

Few days ago, I went into the store again, hoping it went on sale and even thought of how I will not shop anything else this month just to splurge on the nude shoes.

I'm feeling frumpty lately, with my excess weight and my lack of bother to dress up. No matter how I blow my hair and went through my wardrobe, I still have to pull up my hair so Baby J don't grab and pull, wear soft clothes so Baby J can cuddle on my chest, wear appropriate shoes so I can hold Baby J responsibly.

And it happens so that the store sold out my dream shoes. I did my ebay research but reality hits me - when to wear it and what to wear it with?

So yep, no lust-worthy heels, stick to my Crocs and other faithful flats, and instead of spending chunk of my savings on dreamy Louboutins, I should be a good mom and should just purchase the upgrade for Baby J's car seat. This month ;) Maybe next month, the nude Louboutin will be in stores...

Fabulous Vintage Dresses

1930s Worth gold sequined dress

I think this is classic couture dress that will always be glamorous. Drool...

1930s Worth black sequined dress
Another Worth dress... beautiful

1930s Lucien Lelong silk tulle dress from Vintage Textile Gallery

This reminds me a current Vera Wang Collection in white...

1930s Black Chiffon long dress $895 from Vintage Textile

1980s Vicky Tiel $1200 from Vintage Textile

I like this cobalt blue color. If one has long legs, this would be pretty. Then again, tell me a single clothing that won't look good on long-limbs ladies.

1980s Bob Mackie dress $1950 from Vintage Textile

Some ladies may pull this off but this dress can be tricky. You may end up look like as if you are going on stage to sing.

Bubble Girl

image Instyle. Dress from Botega Veneta

Image Instyle. Dress from Kai

image from Instyle. Dress from Brian Reyes

image from dvf.com

I seeing lots of dresses with bubble hemline lately. Just today, I see 5 people wearing bubbly dresses. Not that its not nice, I do in fact, own several. My favorite is Diane von Furstenberg's bubble dress as shown above. Its so easy to wear, ample space for the growing waistline, 3/4 sleeves for extra coverage for the arms and the pockets.

image left & right: Neiman Marcus
middle: fashionsing

Saved By The Petals

I love shoes! From killer heels to flats and from designer to street no-name shoes. However I dont have cute feet that seems to fit the shoes without scratching after long wear. My feet suffered from my vanity and would often be covered with plasters. But, good news for my feet - Foot Petals.

I found these foot cushion stickers from Foot Petals and they last without faltering! I tried other several brands but all seem to fail but not this particular brand. Some stick for few minutes, and after stepping out of the house, they peeled off themselves. I still have my heels with foot petals for almost 2 years and they still stick!

Moreover, with this cute tiger-print, I'm not embarrassed to take off my heels. I actually received some comments on my shoes as the person often thought its part of the shoe.

Images from footpetals and you can view more information and buy from their website.

Korean Ceremonial Robe (Hwarot)

Making the Korean ceremonial wedding dress was uncommon and my husband had indulged me to custom make one. We went to a wedding expo in Seoul and had acquired many contacts for hanbok and “hwarot”. The price of a Hwarot ranged from colossal designer prices of USD20,000 (made of silk and are hand embroidered) to cheap imitation of USD2,000 (made of satin and are machine-embroidered).

Since I’m a spoiled girl with an acquired taste of finer things, I made a living hell for my husband to hunt down a perfect “hwarot”, also known as flower robe.

I researched about the accessories to go with the Hwarot and my husband even bought me a book on Korean palace costumes.. The Hwarot was worn only by princesses during their weddings in the olden days but now many Korean brides wore Hwarot for their wedding ceremony. However, they don’t have to purchase one, as it was usually provided in the wedding reception places..

My husband is a good negotiator and he got us a great deal on my Hwarot (we didn’t spend a colossal amount on it). I was happy to get what I wanted: all silk, including the inner layer, all hand-embroidered and we even managed to get the sleeves material changed to a higher quality material too!

After making me happy with my Hwarot, my husband went for his own details. He wanted a big Dragon embroidery patch emblems on his front and back of his ‘durumagi’ –overcoat..

We also insisted to change his Durumagi’s material and the color. We saw a beautiful men’s Durumagi in black and we thought it will look cool for him to wear one too.

I was almost decided to wear the elaborate wig- the Empress wig for my wedding day.

Thankfully, I was sane enough to listen to my sisters and mother not to wear it. The explanation – the wig will make me look old.

I just loved my Korean crown! It’s called hwa-gwani and this is the traditional crown for Hwarot. It has the little details and is hand-embroidered. We proudly display in its glass box at our home now.

My husband at first preferred the modern crystal crown; he thought the crystals would stand out on the stage. My father agreed with me that this is more beautiful.

My Bridesmaids

Initially, I had thought to have only 1 maid-of-honor, my sister, and 1 bridesmaid, my cousin. I didn’t want to inconvenient any of my friends. I know it’s very tiring to be a bridesmaid as it will be a one whole day event..

Moreover, I didn’t thought I would have an elaborate wedding dress with long train. My sister did tell me in advance that she will not be carrying the train of my wedding dress. Granted.

Last minute, I casually asked my close friend if she wanted to be my bridesmaid and she said yes! Thankfully for her, I had two loveliest and patient bridesmaids to carry my train.

Bridesmaid's Dress

I was a bridesmaid once for a friend and she had custom made her bridesmaids’ dresses.. It was pretty and thoughtful of her to make the dress in such a way that we’ll be able to re-wear the dresses again in future.

However, it was in a shade of ivory and thus, a shade of a bridesmaid dress.

I borrowed her idea and I picked out beautiful Mandalay (American brand) cocktail dresses from my store’s new collection delivery. I had other choices from the same designer but it was overtly sexy and I figured my bridesmaid will have to be dressed more demurely since they have to reach down to pick my train. :) The gold dresses fitted them perfectly and I hope they’ll be able to wear them again to other parties.

The Wedding Gown

I had wanted to cut my wedding budget and had thought to buy my wedding dress off the shelf. I also went to local rental wedding dresses places to see some dresses. The prices ranged from $2,000- $4,500. Then, a mother of a close friend’s told me its bad luck to wear someone else’s wedding dress.

In the beginning, I was adamant to stick to my wedding budget and tried hard not to overspend on a dress I only get to wear once in my life. All my sisters were very flabbergasted to know my feelings towards ‘the wedding dress’ and my mother was sad finding out that I tried to cut costs on my wedding dress. She told me she would pay for my wedding dress.

After much convincing I decided to put more budget allocation on my wedding dress, I went to my friend’s wedding parlor and tried on some Vera Wang dresses. I liked the Luxe collection but I found them too expensive. My mother then told me of her wishes to see me wearing a more elaborate wedding dress (she found Vera Wang too simple for her taste).

In the end, I went to a local famous designer whom our family normally uses. We went through several designs and I told him to design me the dress with certain budget. But alas! It went much over the budget due to my desire to use only the best of materials.

Oh! The shoes in front...Hmm... they are one of those mistakes I made when I was in my Bridezilla's mode. I wanted to look taller during my big day so I custom-made these 13cm tall platforms. They are hideous and I kept telling the photographers to be careful not to the shoes in our pictures.