Bargain Shopping in the Skies

Jodi and I have been planning our vacation ever since we got to Korea. But we couldn’t really decide since we didn’t know when we would actually have it. Needless to say, our plan for Japan fell through once we learned our friend Jay was not going to be in Tokyo like he had planned. So we were throwing ideas around and the idea of New Zealand came up.

Out of curiousity we look up flights. I almost choked on my coffee when I saw the prices. Then my coteacher came to my aid and I felt a WHOLE lot better once she helped me with the Korean search engine to look up tickets.

Big difference huh? You can find out more info about this site by clicking on the “Shopping in SK” tab above.

 

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Hallmark Wishes it was Here

As my favorite American holidays continue to come and go here in Korea, I have been made aware by mostly my students about the other popular modern holidays celebrated in Korea. Like I said, Hallmark wishes it was here:

11/11 Pepero day: Clever Korea to put this chocolate covered breadstick day on 11/11, since the written date resemble 4 pepero sticks. So kyopta. Of course who reaps the benefit of this holiday? Couples and students and Lotte (though the company denies creating the holiday).

Pepero sticks

02/14 Valentine’s Day: Forget everything you ever knew about this holiday. Point blank, women get chocolate for the men they like.

03/03 Samgyopsal Day: March 3rd was chosen for this holiday because samgyeopsal, which means three-layered pork in Korean, begins with the word “sam” a reference to the number 3. As one of the cheapest meats in Korea, consumers buy this especially on March 3rd as prices are cut to its lowest.

 03/14 White Day: It’s the men’s turn. They get chocolate for their sweetie. Or anything else white in color…like marshmellows.

04/14 Black Day: For those lonely ones who missed out on doing anything the rest of the time, this holiday is for you. All you single ladies, forget Beyonce’s song, go out and eat Jajangmyeon  (자장면; 짜장면) consisings of wheat noodles topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang (a salty black soybean paste), diced meat and vegetables, and sometimes also seafood. Cause that’s what I want to gorge myself on to match the blackness in my “lonely heart”. Oh Korea when will you appreciate being single?

Umm can I exchange that for dark chocolate at least?

Alluring to my Nose and Wallet

Jodi and I happened to go into one of the perfumes stores in downtown, around the corner from Buy the Book and Mr. Pizza.

I had been in need of my favorite perfume, Salvatore Ferregamo’s Incanto Heaven. We went into the store and I was able to try out the others in his line. I finally settled for trying a new one, his Incanto Charms.

The price threw me off a little, pretty close to the prices in America. While I battled between splurging, the girl next to me had selected her scent. Then she did something amazing! She chose these small empty tubes from the countertop and had the salesperson fill it with the perfume. Her would be $50 purchase was reduced to a mere $20!

So there you have, it is even better than getting the bootleg versions off the streets of Manhattan. You can get the real legit perfume for a mere $20 for 20ml!

Perfect size!

Then Jodi found Sephora’s website that let’s you know what other perfumes you may enjoy based on your fav.

My suggested perfumes

Here were some useful Korean phrases I needed: