31 August 2017

Things That Make You Go Oooooo (August 2017)

Dinosaur

My summer adventures are over and I'm feeling a little sad about it but totally inspired and refreshed at the same time. I've actually been feeling like I need some alone time to rest, recover and sort my life out so although the next few months will be pretty uneventful I'm kinda glad for the break. Be sure to keep following my blog because I'll be posting all about my adventures very soon, hopefully this months links will get you feeling as uplifted and inspired as I am.

♥ Read This If You Are Your Own Worst Critic (And You Need To Give Yourself A Break)

♥ How To Avoid Travel Burnout And Travel Healthier

♥ The Best Foods to Eat with Your Favourite Workouts

♥ On Insecurities & Body Image — How To Find The Root Of An Issue

♥ 15 Good Travel Habits To Start Doing Right Now

oristano, gatto

♥ 23 Creative Ways To Save Money That Won’t Bum You Out

♥ She Is Not Your Competition

♥ 5 Reasons Why You Should Spend More Time With Yourself

♥ 7 Things You Need to Give Up if You Want to Succeed

♥ Dear New Bloggers

dinaussáurio

♥ How To Avoid The Sunday Scareis 

♥ Birthday in Barcelona

♥ Homemade Eczema Bath Relief Melts

♥ 40 Things To Do When You Want To Get Away From The Internet

♥ How to Keep a Long-Distance Friendship Alive

Parigi - Cimitero di Montmartre

♥ In Life’s Most Important Pursuits, Your Only Competition is Yourself

♥ The Delusion of Separation: We Don’t Need to Feel So Lonely

♥ 11 Ways Get Out of Bed Faster and Have More Energy in the Morning

♥ Hong Kong in 48 Hours

♥ 4 Reasons Why Being Selfish Is Good For You





Love & Unicorns
Cate
xoxo

24 August 2017

Asian Dramas I'm Watching & Loving!

last life in the universe

Since returning from Korea I've been watching an endless amount of K-Dramas, there seems to be a new one released every week that I want to watch. One of the things I've started to realise is that I really do love watching romance dramas and maybe I am a bit of a romantic afterall because even with all the drama and tragedy they always end up making me feel really good and warm inside... it's strange how much things can change I never ever thought I'd be calling myself a romantic...

연금술사
I recently watched an interview with Young Ji (KARA) saying that she wants to marry Lee Dong Wook after seeing him in Goblin (don't we all?) and she mentioned how he's been helping her with her acting which got me curious to see what her acting is like so I stumbled across this little web drama from 2015. Young Ji (yes that's her name in the drama to) upon starting university falls in love with a guy at first sight which leads her to join a secret society who has banned dating and romance in the hope that she might get to know him a bit better. The cast are so cute and adorable and Young Ji is very funny, it's only a short drama so watching this made a nice little fun break between the more heavy dramas, so if you're looking for a giggle definitely check this one out.


여인의 향기
Lee Yeon Jae a single woman in her mid-thirties, who has spent most of her life working hard for a company who doesn't appreciate her suddenly get diagnosed with cancer and decides to live the remaining 6 months of her life without care and too the fullest. From the start I knew this drama was going to be a sad one and it was but at the same time I really enjoyed it to, I watched it for Lee Dong Wook but I stayed for Kim Sin-A who did an amazing job and made me both laugh and cry. I like to binge watch my dramas but it took me a while to finish this one because of all high emotions and the subject it dealt with but at the same time I loved the humour and the romance which was incrediably sweet, you'll definitely need tissues if you watch this!


역도요정 김복주
This is a coming of age drama about a group of young athletes training to succeed in their fields and find a healthy balance between career, love and life. After watching Scent of a Woman I was so happy to find a drama that was so much fun and light-hearted, it was such an easy watch and the cast are so sweet and funny, whilst it did deal with some heavy issues of the struggles of youth such as finding love, body image and family it was done in such a way that wasn't too heavy handed or overtly dramatic. I loved the relationship between Lee Sung-kyun and Nam Joo-hyuk, it was incredibly cute and it was nice to see the stereotypical strong protective male role reversed showing that women can be strong and protective not just emotionally but physically.


커피프린스 1호점
Coffee Prince is probably one of the most popular KDramas of all time so I probably don't even need to tell you to watch it because you probably already have. As great as Gong Yoo was in Goblin I just didn't get the hype around him and then my friend told me to watch Coffee Prince and now I totally get it and I totally get why this drama is so popular. So if you haven't got round to watching this drama (it was only released ten years ago!) then do go ahead and watch this classic.


신데렐라와 네 명의 기사
Eun Ha-Won is a high-school student who works multiple part-time jobs in order to save up money to go to college, she meets Hyun-Min a rich, arrogant, playboy who hires her to pretend to be his fiance for the night in order to ruin his grandfather's wedding but his grandfather actually find's himself so impressed with Eun Ha-Won's way of dealing with his grandsons that he hires her to move into a house with them and unite his three grandsons under the condition that she cannot date any of them. This drama isn't anything new when it comes to plot or characters but I really enjoyed it, Eun Ha-Won is so adorable and I was really rooting for her.

What series have you been watching and loving lately?
Love & Iced Americanos
Cate
xoxo

20 August 2017

Coffee & Cake Date #5: Ryan Cafe - Gangnam - Seoul - South Korea

Ryan Cafe - Gangnam - Seoul - South Korea

Kakao Friends is the most popular messaging service in Korea and although I've never used it I've seen the cute characters everywhere so I had to check out their flagship store in Gangnam and visit the cafe because I love anything cute so why not?

Ryan Cafe - Gangnam - Seoul - South Korea

When at the Ryan Cafe you have to get yourself a Ryan cupcake, although they did have cakes themed around the other characters I have a soft spot for Ryan so I just had to. I'm always a little dubious of theme cafe food as you find more effort goes into presentation than taste but I was pleasantly surprised by this cupcake as it was super soft and fluffy and not too sweet, I pretty much devoured the whole thing in a minute but if I ever go back I'll definitely have to try the other character cupcakes, it was such a cute place definitely worth a visit!

Ryan Cafe - Gangnam - Seoul - South Korea

คนเกาหลีชอบKakaoมากกวาLine ฉันไม่เคยใช้Kakaoแต่คิดว่าน่ารัก มีคาเฟ่ของKakaoที่กังนัมชื่อRyan Cafe Ryanเป็นสิงโต ฉันชอบRyanที่สุดและสั่งคัพเค้กหน้าเหมือนRyanรสช็อกโกแลต คัพเค้กนิ่มๆและไม่หวานมาก อร่อยมากและอยากสั่งอีกแต่วาอิ่มแล้ว

What is your favourite cute café?
Love & Lions
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





09 August 2017

Bongeunsa Temple (Seoul) - 봉은사 (서울)

Bongeunsa Temple - Gangnam - Seoul South Korea

Being in a big fast paced city with all people, traffic, noise and general busyness can be a bit overwhelming at times but thankfully Seoul has many places where you can just get away from it all and enjoy some quiet alone time, Bongeunsa Temple is definitely one of those places.

Bongeunsa Temple - Gangnam - Seoul South Korea

Bongeunsa Temple is not secluded by any means it's in Gangnam directly across the road from COEX which is one of the biggest and most popular shopping malls in South Korea but it's still surprisingly quiet and a lot of people visit there just to relax and enjoy the calming atmosphere. I visited there twice during my stay and although it's a popular tourist destination they're were no crowds and I was able to explore the temple grounds completely on my own.

Bongeunsa Temple - Gangnam - Seoul South Korea

One of the main attractions of Bongeunsa is the colourful rainbow lanterns that decorate the grounds of the temple, they're so pretty, one of the things I love most about temples in Asia is just how bright and colourful they can be. It was extremely calming to watch these lanterns gently blowing in the wind, the smell of incense in the air while the monks were chanting their daily prayers.

Bongeunsa Temple - Gangnam - Seoul South Korea

Bongeunsa also offers a temple stay program where you can stay overnight in the temple and enjoy a traditional monastic meal, tea ceremony, meditate, make prayer beads and learn all about the traditional Korean Buddhist monk way of life from the actual monks living there. I've stayed in temples in Thailand but I'm really interested to see how it differs in Korea so if I ever go back a temple stay is something I will definitely look into doing.

Bongeunsa Temple - Gangnam - Seoul South Korea

เวลาไปเที่ยวเกาหลีไปหาวัดบองอุนซา บองอุนซาอยู่ในกังนัมCOEXช้อปปิ้งมอลล์เพื่อง่ายต่อการเยี่ยมชม วัดเงียบดีเพราะว่าไม่มีคนเยอะและสวยมากมีสีสดใส นักท่องเที่ยวนอนอยู่ในวัดได้และไปทำสมาธิกินอาหารเจและคุยเกี่ยวกับศาสนา ถ้าอยากนั่งเฉยๆมีอารมณ์ดีไปหาวัดบองอุนซา


What are some places you like to visit for a break from city life?
Love & Incense
Cate
xoxo

05 August 2017

Mini Birthday Wishlist


August is my birthday month and I was thinking it's about time I treat myself to something special although there are many things I would love to have (HotToysHotToysHotToysLEGO!) I'm trying to only spend my money on things I can actually make use out of and save some money for more nerdy adventures but sometimes you just need to #TreatYoSelf so here are a few things I've seen recently which would make an awesome birthday treat.


 Nuyu Wonder Woman Warrior Crop & Leggings - I've been a bit lazy when it comes to exercise recently but I really want to get back into it as I've found daily exercise really helps me both mentally and psychically feel good so what better way to motivate me than some awesome work-out gear themed around the even more awesome strong, warrior babe Wonder Woman.


 Klairs Skincare - If you've been watching my YouTube videos you'll know I'm really into Korean skincare and I've heard so many great things about this brand and would love to try a few of their products, my skin has changed so much since I moved to Thailand so I've had to completely change my routine so I'm always on the lookout for new products to test out.


 Agent Carter Crossbody Satchel Bag -  Agent Carter is such a big inspiration to me and I'm still so sad about the cancelling of her show and also Civil War... one of the things I loved about Peggy was her style and I think this bag not only is a great representation of that but her to as it's so classy, cute and super functional to.


 Unicorn Make-up Brushes - How adorable are these make-up brushes? Even the case they come in is super pretty to! I really need to get myself some new make-up brushes and these would just be perfect.


♥ Sorry I'm Busy Sailor Moon Pouch - Usagi is like my spirit animal and I adore this design so much, life is all about food and fun and this just embodies that completely, I love it!


How do you like to treat yourself on your birthday ?
Love & Strawberry Soda
Cate
xoxo


If you're feeling generous I do have an Amazon Wishlist or you can treat me to a "Cup of Coffee" but don't feel like you have to, birthdays are more than the gifts you receive they're about spending time with the people you love, reflecting on life and enjoying the ride.