Beauty in Korea

Today I’ve had a fairly cruisy day. I started it off with an exercise class then came home to work the rest of the day away.
At the exercise class Mel, the lady who runs it, said that we should aim to do 5 hours of exercise per week. God, I'm only doing 2 and that feels like a lot! At this stage I figure two is better than none and I'll work my way up to five eventually. :/ Just have to stay motivated!!

Yesterday was the GFRA morning tea and this week  Leigh held it and talked to us all about where to get specific beauty treatments in Geoje. It was really informative as I’ve wanted to get a facial over here but the communication barriers have held me back. Geoje actually has every type of procedure you can imagine, from botox to laser to mud baths. It shouldn’t really have surprised me as South Korea is an industry leader in beauty and cosmetics but I honestly never knew we had so much here on this little island. It also surprised me as all of it is so cheap, especially compared to Australia. I figured as most other things here are comparable in price to back home then the beauty industry would be too, I was happily proved wrong.

I think I’m going to go get an organic facial next week so I’ll let you know how that goes. I did however buy an organic exfoliating peel yesterday that Leigh swears by. I tried it out last night and it was great. Honestly, that girl knows her products! (It’s called Green Apple Facial Peel for sensitive skin by Juice).

After the morning tea we all went for lunch as usual, this time we choose Buona Cucina. We all ordered the most AMAZING pizza’s and the service was great too. I’m glad that it’s in Okpo though as I think I’d be eating it far too often if it was closer to home. Yumm!

Write soon xx

Safety - Korean Style!

Well today is without a doubt the prettiest day I’ve seen in Geoje. The sun is shining and the sky is bright blue in every direction. It’s so nice to see blue sky when we’ve had so much grey lately. It’s super hot though, and the heat is oppressive. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much prefer the heat than the cold and I’ve experienced extreme heat back in Australia but over here it’s all consuming. Still such a pretty day though! You can tell it’s hot when they have the aircon on in the gym. I’ve started taking a kickboxing/aerobics class every Tuesday and Thursday and we aren’t allowed the aircon on unless it’s seriously hot. Today was our lucky day and the first time we’ve had aircon. It was a nice change. Usually it’s so hot in there it feels like a sauna by the end of the class and it’s like a two for one – exercise class plus detox J

We’ve had window cleaners at our apartments the last two days and it’s crazy the way they do it over here. Literally they are hanging by ropes, no harnesses, no safety equipment. Some are even wearing thongs. It’s crazy!! Here’s a few pics.

We had a nice weekend too, it was quiet and relaxing. On Friday night we met up with Ian and Sarah for dinner and a few drinks. We always have such a good time with them. I see Sarah most days and she has me in hysterics a lot of the time but when you get Ian and Sarah together it’s like our very own comedy act. They’ve known each other since they were thirteen and they bounce off each other in the most natural way. I hope Adrian and I are like that one day. It’s really sweet (and funny) to watch.

Saturday night we had a date night and Adrian took me to the movies (if you asked Adrian he wouldn’t call it something as romantic as a date, just that he wanted to see a movie and thought it’d be good to see it on Saturday together). Men! J We saw Batman and it was pretty good as far as batman movies go. I love going to the cinema - movie munchies and a tub of popcorn…yum!

Write soon xx  

Jimmy's Night Out

Well last night the jimmy’s had their very first outing. We had a work dinner to attend at the Samsung Hotel. It’s a really flash venue as far as Geoje goes and although the dress code was smart casual I was not going to pass up an opportunity to wear my new heels!

It was a really nice night, great company, great food (especially the dessert!), great heels…and sore feet. I haven’t worn heels for almost a year and standing around in extremely high heels for over an hour really killed me. I used to wear heels ALL the time. Honestly, I’d wear them all day at work and then again if I went out at night dancing. And they never bothered me. Now I wear them for an hour and I feel crippled with pain. What has happened to me!?! I think I’ve become unconditioned and I’m going to have to fix that problem, asap! I’m going to practice wearing them around the house until I feel comfortable in them again. And plus there could be worse things in life than walking around my apartment in a cute pair of jimmys right?!

Write soon xx

Excuses, excuses, excuses!!

Okay, okay I know I’ve been a TERRIBLE blogger lately BUT I’d like to give you the following three excuses, ahem I mean reasons… J

Firstly look at this face.

You can’t possibly be disappointed that I haven’t been blogging when my first reason is because of this gorgeous little fluff ball. Her name is Pip and we puppy-sat her for almost three weeks. She was only 6 weeks old when we started looking after her and it was a full time job so when I wasn’t running around after her and getting cute little puppy cuddles I was being quite the hermit. Adrian and I did go to the movies once to see Snow White (it was great by the way) and we also went to a wine and cheese night with his colleagues. It was a fun night and I loved the cheese, still haven’t acquired the taste for wine. One day I’m sure my tastebuds will grow up!

 My second excuse is because straight after we gave Pip back to Ian and Sarah I finally started working. Just from home on my laptop for the same company I was working for back in Australia. I work between 20-30 hours a week and I love it because it helps me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile over here, not just spending my days socialising. So between working, going for ladies coffee on Wednesdays and doing the groceries etc I put blogging on the back burner. After staring at the computer for work the last thing I felt like doing was sitting in front of it again to write the blog. Sorry!

Thirdly my final (and best) reason is because of NEW YORK, NEW YOooorrrk!!! (And yes I do sing that every time I say it). As soon as we found out New York was a possibility I was singing Frankie Baby as soon as I woke and usually a line or two before falling asleep at night. Tip: downside to having that song in your head when you’re going to bed is that is makes you WAY too excited to sleep and you find that you just sing it over, and over, and over again in your head…or at least that’s what happened to me. Poor Adrian had to put up with my tone-deaf singing and my extreme excitedness (yes I just made that word up) for a whole week. Every time I sang I would tell him I was serenading him but really it was an involuntary outburst brought on by thoughts of all we could do in New York (New Yoooorkkk). Ahem. And yes there were sometimes the occasional dances that went along with the song. And before you judge, I’m sure you’d do the same thing if you were in my situation and had dreamed about going to New York ever since you watched the first episode of SATC.

We ended up going to NY for three days and then Houston for another three. It was a whirlwind trip but oh so worth it.

Our first day in NY was action packed. We started out doing the Statue of Liberty cruise. It was amazing and because we were on the first cruise we had the boat to ourselves on the return leg. It seems not many people are awake and seeing the sights at 9am on a Saturday. Afterwards we walked to Wall Street and then Ground Zero, and then we caught the subway to Carries steps. Adrian was a great sport and took photos of me on the steps. I was so happy my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Around the corner is Magnolia Bakery which is also featured in SATC, we just took a quick photo there and hopped back on the subway to go to Times Square.

We had lunch at Hard Rock and each had their signature cocktail – it was SO strong I felt tipsy after the first sip!! J We walked around times square and did a bit of shopping and then walked to the shopping district and our first stop was Manolo Blahnik! No need to go on and on (I could easily but I’ll spare you). Let’s just say I think I was in my own little heaven, surrounded by Manolo’s and then actually being able to buy a pair. Swoon! There was another lady in the shop who bought 9, yes nine, pairs and said she’d have her concierge come back to pick them up. Wow!!

I can only imagine what her closet must look like!

We walked around a few other shops and stopped by Tiffany & Co. I wish I could say I bought something but honestly the piece I had in mind wasn’t as spectacular as what it looked on the website, and considering a had just bought a pair on Manolo’s I figured I could pass on the T&C. We did however have a quick look at wedding bands (hey while in rome) and the sales assistant kindly cleaned my ring.

We walked back to the hotel and put our feet up for a while then went to an amazing restaurant at the bottom of Rockefellers centre. The food was delicious but after spending the whole day walking around in 37 degree heat we were knackered and went home to bed.

Sunday we were up early again for another action packed day. We started off by visiting the rockerfellers centre – the views were spectacular. Next time we’re going to go back at night, the city literally sparkles at night and paired with the breathtaking views from the top of the rock, I think it’d be great to see. It was well worth going during the day too though.

We walked up to central park afterwards and took a horse and carriage ride through the park. It was really nice and a really relaxing way to break up the day. Afterwards we strolled through the park and then stopped for a drink at the Boathouse. It’s the restaurant in the middle of the park that’s been featured in a few movies. It’s really pretty there.

We then hit the shops which was great fun for me, not so much fun for Adrian though but he was a pretty good sport about it. We also stopped by New York Public Library but it was closed so we could only get a picture of the front. I’d love to go back next time but we’ll just have to make sure not to do it on a Sunday.

New York was honestly such a blast and I hated leaving. I had that same thought when we left Houston too. We only spent three days in each city but I really loved the time I spent in both places. I found myself thinking ‘why couldn’t we have been posted here!’. It would’ve been so great to live in the states for 18 months, which was what we originally thought was going to happen. BUT I can’t dwell on it and there are worse places then South Korea to be posted and really we are so fortunate to be in this situation at all, regardless of where we are. I think I’m just suffering from post-holiday blues! I think no matter where we live we’ll always see the bad things about a place when we’re in that frame of mind.

Write soon xx

Dinner at Seoga & Cook

Tonight we met up with Brent, Dave and Christine for dinner at Seoga & Cook in Okpo. It’s been recommended by quite a few people and it’s the one place that you have to book in advance or you won’t get a table. Adrian and I picked Brent up on our way to Okpo and I might have (ok, I did!) say to turn left instead of right and we ended up in some tiny village miles from anywhere. In my defence it’s always nice to explore new areas J We got there in the end, a few (ok, 15) minutes late. The food was incredible though and the restaurant was really pretty. The only downside is that they didn’t have a dessert menu; I’m finding that a lot over 

here actually L Christine and I didn’t let that stop us though and after dinner

we went to the café down stairs and ordered dessert. I may have (ok, did)  

ordered three desserts for myself but when you’ve been dessert starved for

as long as I have you’d do the same thing! J

Think I’ll be rolling to bed tonight after gorging all my dinner and desserts.

J J J

  

Write soon x

Oedo Island & POW Tour

It’s a public holiday over here today and one of the companies that helps with relocations, Coens, has organised a day trip around the Geoje. Our first stop was Oedo (pronounced way-dough) Island, which is a 30 minute ferry ride away. The ferry trip in itself is spectacular as it meanders through the cliffs and offers some amazing views. The captain also has a running commentary pointing out all the sights along the way; it’s unfortunate but understandable that it’s all in Korean as I would’ve loved to have known what he was saying. I think the tour would be worthwhile doing again once we know the language. 

We arrive at Oedo and have one hour to explore the island and meet back at the dock to get the ferry again. Oedo is quite literally breathtaking. Not only because it’s steep to walk up and quite hard work but also because of the gorgeous gardens and beautiful views. The island is fairly big and with only one hour to see it we had to walk fast and stop for photos very quickly. By the end of it I was exhausted and looking forward to the seated 30 minute ferry ride home but it was well worth it. The gardens were so beautifully manicured and put together and I loved the statues. 

My favourite painting is the Birth of Venus by Botticelli and they had a statue of her in the main garden. It was beautiful. I could’ve spent hours relaxing in those gardens. They had an ice cream vendor on site and I would’ve loved to have bought a cone and sat myself down on the grass and enjoyed the view and the sunshine. Next time we go to Oedo we’re going to spend the whole day J

After our ferry ride back to Geoje we take a short bus trip to pebble beach. The beach itself was very ordinary; I think Adrian and I are spoilt and snobbish when it comes to beaches as not many can compare the beautiful ones we take for granted back home. We actually didn’t even take any photos there. Our final stop was the Geoje POW camp. It was good and I’m glad we ticked it off the list but as everything was in Korean again we didn’t really know what we were looking at.

It was interesting and sad all the same.

I think it’s safe to say that visiting Oedo was our favourite part of the tour 

and we’ll definitely be going there again.

Going to put my feet up now J

 

Write soon xx

Tongyeong

We decided to go for a 30 minute drive to a neighbouring island, Tongyeong today. It has three big shopping centres that stock the widest range of items at the cheapest prices. We just went to Lotte Mart, the second biggest of the three and were pleasantly surprised at how great it was. It reminded us a lot of Kmart and Target back home and also had a woolworths-esque grocery store. We picked up two cushions to match our curtains in the living room. At the moment our living room consists of silver and white wallpaper, cream couch, cream, brown and red rug, green curtains and hot pink and brown cushions. Coordinating colours isn’t one of their strong points! J

After we’d done all of our grocery shopping we went to the counter to pay and someone had nicked one of our cushions! We couldn’t believe it! In a country that doesn’t even have contents insurance because people are so trustworthy someone had rummaged through our trolley while our backs were turned and taken our cushion! We couldn’t very well get one so for the moment we’re stuck with our hot pink and brown ones L

Write soon xx