30 June 2018

Things That Make You Go Oooooo (June 2018)

Pastel Beach...

Wow I can't believe we're over halfway through the year, June is over and so is my trip back to the UK. It's been nice to be back and see old friends, clear out my old room and just hang out with my family and my dog but I can't wait to go back to Thailand and build my new life in Bangkok. I hope everyone is well and treating themselves good, summer is here so enjoy the nice weather and get outside and enjoy some fresh air as much as you can and if it's rainy here are a few links you can enjoy to relax your mind...

♥ Learning From Negative Emotions

♥ This Practice Will Help You Identify The Root Of Your Anxiety

♥ How to Fall Asleep in Under 5 Minutes

♥ New Orleans, Louisiana Travel Guide

♥ 5 Ways I've Eliminated Stress From My Life

河津櫻 河津桜 Kawazuzakura

♥ The Pursuit of Loneliness: How I chose a Life of Solitude

♥ NYC Guide: My Favourite Spots in Brooklyn

♥ 5 Ways You're Wasting Your Time

♥ How to Live to Be 100

♥ We Can’t Run from Ourselves and 6 Other Lessons from Living Abroad

amigurumis

♥ Top 10 Things You Must Do In Dubrovnik

♥ Breaking Down 3 Simple Meditation Styles

♥ How to Up Your Nerd Fashion & Where To Find Your Gear

♥ Here Are 4 Things You Need To Be Doing To Combat Stress

♥ 5 Ways to Tell You're Making the Wrong Decision

Untitled

♥ When Negative Thoughts Keep You Down: How to Break the Addiction

♥ 5 Tips For Sleeping Well When You Have Anxiety

♥ My Guide to North Queensland

♥ How I Turned Fear and Anxiety into Joy and Fulfillment

♥ My Proactive 8-Part Plan for Beating Anxiety and Negativity





Love & Lavender
Cate
xoxo

28 June 2018

Sporty Summer Wishlist from Zaful


Summer is here, everyone is outside enjoying the warm weather and talking about the World Cup and although admittedly I'm not the biggest sports fan I do like the fashion so I thought I would check out my favourite online store ZAFUL to find some cute sporty outfits to wear.



What are your favourite sports to watch or play?
Love & Rainbows
Cate
xoxo


Use code " ZFbunny " for all order with over 25USD save 3USD ( 3 time limited )
Use code "ZFbunny" for all order with over 50USD save 6USD( 3 time limited )
Use code "ZFbunny" for all order with over 100USD save 12USD ( 3 time limited )

25 June 2018

#OOTD: Pink Pool Style

Style Nanda Pink Pool Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul

There's just something about being in Seoul that brings out the fashionista in me. Seoul is such a trendy place with everyone dressed on point and everywhere being so damn aesthetic, I mean literally every cafe or store you walk in has some sort of unique theme or concept which brings in the Instagram crowd all trying to get those stylish selfies and honestly I just love how extra it all is. Style Nanda is one of my favourite stores in Korea but it's not the clothes or even the make-up that make it a must stop for me it's the stores themselves and how gosh darn beautifully they are.

Style Nanda Pink Pool Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul

Style Nanda has a few stores in Seoul and whilst I love the Pink Hotel/Pink Pool Cafe in Myeongdong this store in Hongdae has to be my new favourite because they've gone even more extra and built an actual pool in there! Luckily we happened to be there on a quiet day because I heard it gets really crowded so we had the whole pool section to ourselves and I was having one of those rare moments where I was really feeling myself so it was the perfect excuse to get some outfit shots. Maybe it's because just before going up to the cafe I spent quite a bit of time playing around with all the 3CE make-up there but damn, this place kinda makes me look good!

Style Nanda Pink Pool Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul

But seriously, I think it's important to celebrate those days you feel good in your own skin and not be ashamed of it because we spend far too much time hating on ourselves and nitpicking at our flaws. I'm no model and I never will be but it's perfectly fine to have those moments where you feel fierce as hell like you should be on the cover of a damn magazine, so ignore the haters, take cute selfies and give sometime in your life to celebrate the awesomeness that is you because there is NOBODY else in this world like you!

What is one thing that makes you feel fierce?
Love & Love
Cate
xoxo


Outfit Details
Love hat - Twinkledeals
♥ Hoodie - Spao Korea
♥ Skirt - Putumayo
♥ Boots - Dr Martens x Hello Kitty


20 June 2018

Moon Bird Does Think of Only The Moon - Traditional Teahouse - Seoul

Moon Bird Does Think Of Only The Moon - Insadong - Seoul - South Korea (TeaHouse)

Insadong is the place to go to if you're looking to experience the more traditional side of Seoul. While there are a plethora of traditional restaurants, tea houses and stores selling all sorts of handicrafts and souvenirs on the main street the most interesting places can be found down the small back alleys, one of these places being the beautifully named tea house, Moon Bird Does Think of Only The Moon.

Moon Bird Does Think Of Only The Moon - Insadong - Seoul - South Korea (TeaHouse)

I say this every time but I really can't stress enough how you must visit a traditional tea house when in Korea, the cosy atmosphere, the smell of brewing herbs and graffiti covered walls are something you can only experience in Korea. I could seriously spend the whole day just relaxing in a tea house. It was a bitterly cold winter's day when we visited this tea house and what was really lovely was that they had already put out blankets and hot water bottles for the customers to warm themselves up with, I could have fallen asleep right then and there it was so wonderful and cosy.

Moon Bird Does Think Of Only The Moon - Insadong - Seoul - South Korea (TeaHouse)

Yujacha tea is one of my favourites and I always make sure to order it when I'm in Korea (as well as bring a jar or two home of it) and the sweet warm citrus flavour is the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold day. We also ordered some deep fried mochi which came covered in icing sugar and a sweet and chilli sauce on the side to dip them in and the also gave us some traditional rice cakes as an extra treat, one of my favourite things about Korea is how they always give you extra treats as service.

Moon Bird Does Think Of Only The Moon - Insadong - Seoul - South Korea (TeaHouse)

Whilst enjoying our hot drinks we took in the atmosphere, reading all the little love notes left by past customers some of which came from far away countries and some left by guest who visited almost a decade past, of course we made sure to leave our mark to and I hope one day we can go back there and find those little memoirs we left of our amazing trip to Seoul.

Where would you love to visit in Korea?
Love & Tea
Cate
xoxo


Psssst if you want to see more awesome cafes from around the world you can click the button below, buy me a coffee, get treats & a shoutout on my next post



15 June 2018

Asian Dramas I'm Watching & Loving!

The red one..

Honestly, I haven't had a lot of time for TV lately and it's one of the reasons I skipped posting last month as I tend to want to finish watching a bunch of dramas instead of just posting one or two that I've seen or that I'm in the middle of unless it's really good and I just can't contain my excitement! Also I'm kinda cheating this month as I'm including a couple movies but honestly they needed to be included because they're the best things I've seen in a long time and I just can't stop thinking about them and life and how touched they made me feel! But... hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to give myself enough downtime so I can chill out and catch up on dramas because I'm really missing having them in my life...

더 패키지
Yoon So-So, a travel guide, leads a group of Korean tourists on a package tour in France. Each of them have their own back stories but after a time find themselves developing close relationships with each other. I became aware of this drama because JB and Jackson of GOT7 were part of the OST and it was such a beautiful song I had to see what the drama was all about. This was honestly such a beautiful drama, the backdrop of France worked to well to tell the stories of these people on this package holiday and I actually learned quite a bit about France in the process, even though I've been there many times after watching this I really want to go back! This series is essentially about love and all the different aspects of relationships, falling in and out love, marriage, death, career, family and it's both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It wasn't cheesy or overly dramatic it was very real and relatable. I really enjoyed all the characters, their diverse stories and how their lives all connected in some way, and of course all the humour that was thrown in on the way as they find themselves in some quite amusing situations during their trip. I'd definitely recommend this drama if you're looking for something to relax to in the evenings as it was a nice easy watch, all the stories are very easy to follow without being too overwhelming and the romance was very sweet, you'll definitely be wanting to visit France after watching this series.


아이언맨
Joo Hong-bin a rich CEO, with a heightened sense of smell and an angry attitude develops a supernatural ability where by his anger and mental anguish manifest itself as knives sprouting from his body. He meets Son Se-dong, a kindhearted girl who smells just like his lost love and as she becomes more involved in his life he learns how to deal with his anguish and new found power. It's been over a year since Lee Dong Wook has been in a drama and after m Goblin adventures I just really missed seeing him so I thought I would give this drama a try as the story sounded interesting. I really wanted to love this drama but I just felt like something was lacking, I did love Lee Dong Wook and his assistant but the female lead and the kid I found slightly annoying because they spent half the series doing nothing by cry and it was that really annoying, fake loud cry which just reminded me of all those times when I was a kid my brother would do it to get what he wanted, but I digress and by the end of the series they did kinda grow on me. I probably wouldn't watch this again though but I'm happy I got to see Lee Dong Wook in another drama because he always does such a great job.

青丘狐传说
The story revolves around the good foxes of Qing Qiu and follows several main characters and their individual stories which link together to form the plot which was adapted from six tales from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio: "Feng San Niang", "A Xiu", "Ying Ning", "Hu Si Xiang Gong", "Chang Ting" and "Heng Niang". This drama is just visually stunning and whilst I did enjoy it I didn't really get into it as much as the last Chinese drama I watched, Ice Fantasy which was excellent! I found each of the stories quite similar and predictable, the whole forbidden love thing is a genre I find quite tiresome and cliched now as it just appears in so many dramas, but it wasn't completely cliched the fact that they were fox spirits and had their own unique history and customs did make it a little bit more interesting to watch and the characters were really cute however none of them really shone out to me but visually this series was just amazing and a real treat for the eyes, the sets, the costumes, the movement was just beautiful! So if you're into Asian fantasy and period dramas then maybe check this one out.

신과함께-죄와 벌
A firefighter dies saving the life of a young girl and is guided into the afterlife to take on 7 different trails which judge how he has lived his life, with 3 guardians to defend him he has 49 days to prove he lead an honest lawful life and is worthy to be to reincarnated. Have you ever watched a movie that really changed you? Really made you question the way you live your life? Really made you want to become a better person? To live your life to the fullest? THIS is that movie!! Firstly I just want to say the visuals in this movie are beautiful and I loved how they presented the different realms of the afterlife and the guardians of those realms. I've seen a lot of these types of movies and they can either be overtly cheesy or overtly preachy and this was neither of those things and although the protagonist is presented as some sort of saint you see in reality he isn't, he's just like the rest of us, he has his reason for living his life and making the choices he did. The guardians were amazing to and so passionate and emotional, I loved the head reaper the most his journey was so interesting which I won't say too much about so just go watch it! This movie really made me think and really made me question the consequences of some of my actions and if they really were justified and on the other hand if I should really blame myself for things that I couldn't really change or control but wow I can't wait to see the second part of this movie which is going to be released very soon!!

7번방의 선물
Yong-Goo a mentally disabled man lives a simple but happy life with his young daughter Ye-Seung but one day he's falsely accused of murder and sent to jail where he shares a cell with five other inmates who work together with his daughter to prove his innocence. I'm throwing in another movie this month because this one really needs to be mentioned to and while I'm sure many people have seen or at least heard about this movie, I only found it recently when it popped up in my recommends list as a comedy.... While yes it is really funny and has some really heartwarming moments it's also possibly one of the saddest movies I've ever seen! The ending had me in tears, I cried hard and I cried ugly and I couldn't stop thinking about it for days. Normally it's only dog movies that affect me like that (Marley, Hachi etc.) but wow this movie really touched me deep. I loved all the characters, the little girl was so cute and the father I had so much love for. Seriously, I kinda feel bad mentioning this movie to you all because you are guaranteed to cry but wow it's such a beautiful movie and it moved me so much I couldn't not mention it, so please do go check it out if you haven't already!


What series have you been enjoying recently?
Love & Dandelions
Cate
xoxo

10 June 2018

Exploring Incheon - South Korea

Incheon - South Korea

Previous visits to Korea have never seen me leave Seoul even though there's just so much of the country I want to explore I always end up staying in Seoul as I just feel so comfortable there but as I had a longer stay on my last trip to Korea I thought I should probably get out of the city for a day or two so Nami was on first the list and after deciding against spending a cold day in Everland we thought we would check out Incheon instead, mostly because of KDrama related reasons but we made sure to explore some of the city's most famous sites while we were there to starting with a stop in Chinatown.

Incheon - South Korea

Incheon - South Korea

Incheon - South Korea

Incheon's Chinatown is the biggest in Korea and rates high as one of the places you have to visit. Through the big Chinese arches it was a steep uphill walk to explore Chinatown, and unfortunately during my visit a lot of the shops were closed for the holidays but I wasn't there to shop I was there for the food so I made sure to pick up some of my fave street food snacks whilst I was there and of course try their most famous dish Jajangmyeon which is noodles in a black bean sauce which is actually one of my fave Chinese dishes but the Korean version tastes quite different and not as good in my opinion but strangely enough I found the addition of onions really delicious which is really unusual for me as I normally detest onions in my food but for some reason they taste really good in Korea. So after filling my stomach in Chinatown it was time to do more exploring and right next door to Chinatown is just the cutest place, Fairy Tale Village.

Incheon - South Korea

Incheon - South Korea

Incheon - South Korea

Fairy Tale Village is just the cutest place and the most surprising find, I actually never heard of it before and just happened to see a sign for it whilst in Chinatown and decided to check it out, out of curiosity. The whole area is full of super cute pastel and magical themed restaurants and shops, with paintings of your favourite storybook characters adorning all the walls and buildings, sadly as with Chinatown a lot of the shops and cafes were closed for the holidays but there was still so many cute things to see, each alley was like a having a mini adventure and had I not already filled my tummy up in Chinatown I would have totally tried out some of the cute desserts they had in the cafes there.

Incheon - South Korea

Incheon seemed to have a more relaxed, traditional, laid back vibe than Seoul and there's lot's of really interesting places to visit so I'd definitely like to go back and see more of the city one day, it's the perfect place to go to if you're looking for a little break from Seoul life and it's only an hour away on the train. So if you want to see more of what I got up to in Icheon then be sure to check out my Goblin filming locations post for more cute places to see, my favourite bookshop and one of the best views of the city!

What places would you like to visit in Korea?
Love & Pandas
Cate
xoxo


05 June 2018

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

Dogs are a guaranteed mood booster and nothing makes me happier than puppy kisses and cuddles. I love dogs so much and the one thing I miss the most when I travel is my Nan's dog Russ, and as much as I'd love to have my own pupper in my life, with all the travelling and craziness there's just sadly no way I could commit to having one, so dog cafes are a real life saver for me and my go to place whenever I'm feeling a bit sad or lonely

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

Clouds in the Sky is a dog cafe in Hongdae just down the street from the Style Nanda flagship store. The first time I tried to visit it was closed but luckily on my second trip to the area I noticed doggies in the window which meant it was open so I just had to go in for some much needed puppy love.

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

Pretty much as soon as I walked in I was mobbed by dogs of all sizes giving me the barks, sniffs and kisses, it was so overwhelming but in the best possible way. Dogs seriously make me so happy and the whole time I was there I couldn't stop smiling, the dogs were all so affectionate and playful towards me wanting cuddles, pats, kisses and some even decided to fall asleep in my lap, I was in DOG HEAVEN!

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

I'll admit I have a soft spot for huskies and corgis (Russ is part corgi so I'm bias) so I spent most of the time trying to get their attention even though the tiny poodles kept wanting to play with me the most, and of course I made sure to gave them all the cuddles to, I can't say no to a dog in need of love no matter what as all dogs are beautiful in my eyes.

Clouds in the Sky - Dog Cafe - Hongdae - Seoul - South Korea

To play with the dogs all you have to do is buy a drink there, my Americano was about $8 which honestly isn't that bad considering a lot of cafes in Seoul charge around the same price and they don't have cute dogs to play with so it's definitely worth it as the dogs were all so cute and playful and gave me so much love, I'll definitely be back there the next time I'm in Korea!

Where do you go to de-stress? Don't forget to enter my KBeauty giveaway!
Love & Puppies
Cate
xoxo

Psssst if you want to see more awesome cafes from around the world you can click the button below, buy me a coffee, get treats & a shoutout on my next post



01 June 2018

Korean Make-up & Beauty Sample Giveaway!!


Korean beauty products have saved my skin! I've been a huge fan of Korean beauty products for the longest time but it's only in the past few years I've become really obsessed with it and started learning more about different brands and what ingredients actually make a difference to my skin. Now I'm living in Thailand I have easier access to all my favourite brands and can actually test them in store before I buy so for this months giveaway I wanted to share the love and give all of you an opportunity to test out some of my fave Korean beauty products and brands.


 ♥ The Prizes ♥ 


Most of the these are sample sized so perfect for testing out and I've also included a full sized cushion from The Face Shop because no Korean beauty routine is complete without one, I for one am pretty obsessed with using cushions and have multiple ones! So if you want to be in with the chance of winning this beauty loot be sure to check out the widget below for details on how to enter.



What's your make-up or skincare must have?
Good Luck
Cate
xoxo


*Contains affiliate links