Jongmyo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Seoul

If you love going to all the historical places in the world, you should not miss out Jongmyo Shrine. After all, it is a UNESCO Heritage Site. One thing that you need to take note before you are visiting Jongmyo Shrine. is that you can only visit the shrine with a guided tour. Meaning to say, you have to check the guided tour timing before coming here to avoid disappointment. You can check the timing here. 

We left our hotel, Prince Hotel Myeongdong, a bit late and hence, missed out the timing for English guided tour and the next one was available one hour later. Unwilling to wait under the hot sun for another hour, we decided to join the Chinese guided tour, despite Noona's zero ability to understand simple Chinese, let alone the more complicated one. Anyway, Noona's friend can understand Chinese at a higher comprehension level than hers, so yeah, at least the tour guide will not be so offended. XD

Once you have entered Jongmyo Shrine., you will see that there is an elevated path in the middle of the road. Don't walk on that path! The path is especially built to bring dead people for funeral. It's not used for the same purpose in the modern days but still no one would be willing to walk on the path which is associated with death. 

As the weather was pretty hot that day, everyone feels relieved when the tour guide brought us to an exhibition hall because it is equipped with an air-conditioner. Inside the exhibition hall, visitors will be shown a short documentary about ritual ceremony called Jongmyo Jaerye which is performed in Jongmyo Shrine.. The replica of the altar and the incense burner are also installed next to the exhibition hall for easier illustration purpose. 

The next two smaller rooms beside the exhibition hall shows the ceremonial robe which was worn by the Crown Prince and the King. The Crown Prince wore the red robe. 

While the King wore the black robe. 

The ceremony here is known to be the oldest complete ceremony in the world and it was carried out in obedience to the king's order. During the Joseon Dynasty, the ceremony was held when the season changes and the twelfth month of the lunar year. However it was stopped when the Japanese colonial invaded Korea. The ceremony was also designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site for its well-preserved ancient customs. Currently, the ceremony is actually re-enacted on the first Sunday of May. If you visit Jongmyo Shrine. in summer, you can see and feel the harmony between the ceremonial site and the blue sky. A lot of hotels in Seoul gives out great discount too in the summer. In addition, nowadays a lot of airline companies give flights deal too like Qatar Airlines and Etihad Airways. 

The area shaded under the roof is actually the place where the cremation ashes of deceased kings and queens are kept. Each shelf is numbered according and visitors can read the name of each kings and queens on the information tablet. 

This is how it looks like from closer look. Surprisingly, the shelf is kept by each big wooden door. Another keeping site has been built at the other side because this one is too full. It's not a wonder since Joseon dynasty lasts for pretty long. 

Steal Seolhyun's Look: Black and White World

This is the first time Noona has heard a Korean fashion brand called Mindbridge. Seolhyun is the latest muse of Mindbridge and oh boy, she executes the monochromatic black and white style perfectly. Up to the point Noona feels like buying all those clothes that Seolhyun is wearing for the pictorial session. 

Noona thinks the black coat from Mindbridge is really cool and cute too with those three white donkey at one side of the coat. The three donkeys black coat costs 79,900 KRW (USD 64) at Mindbridge's website. 

To achieve the black and white monochromatic look, Seolhyun wears the white shirt beneath the three donkeys black coat. Mindbridge offers a tons of white tops for you to select from but Noona particularly likes this half-length sleeves white shirt. It costs 48,900 KRW (USD 39.60) on the website.

You can easily find a pair of black pants anywhere in the world, but if you are looking for something unique, Mindbridge has a leather patch black pants. The leather patch are sewed on the knees part. It looks pretty cool, isn't it? And the best part is, it is currently on sale from 79,900 KRW to 29,000 KRW (USD 23.50). 

The funny thing is, Noona could not find the pair of shoes that Seolhyun is wearing on Mindbridge's website. But no worries, Dr Martens sells a pair of shiny oxford shoes just like what Seolhyun is wearing at the price of USD 79.99. 

5 Best Clothes to Wear When You Have Nothing to Wear

The following sentence has surely popped by into our mind, no matter how old we are, where we are, and what we are doing. 

Thankfully, there are certain fashion combination which does not die easily from the keep-on-changing fashion industry. Let's call them versatile items? Hahaha. Here are the 5 best clothes to wear when you have nothing to wear: 

1. Jeans and T-shirt

This style works best for all of us who seem to have too many T-shirts in the closet. XD

2. Striped Top + Short Denim

3. Little Black Dress

When you think you have gained a bit of waistline but still want to look hot, it's time to go the black route. 

4. Floral Dress

Can easily pair the floral dress with coat if looking for a new way to wear one. 

5. Blouse + Smart Pants

How about embracing those urban career woman style? Sneakers are allowed after office hours, after all. =P

Jumbo Korean Bingsu at Caffe Bene, Vivo City

Noona was getting very excited when she heard that Caffe Bene, a popular coffee chain from South Korea, has finally landed in Singapore. To be exact, at level 2 of Vivo City. When Noona and her friend visited Caffe Bene, they were not receiving any customers because they had problem with their ordering and payment system. Noona thought they should just go on with manual way of ordering and keying payment but they chose to close the place for a while. Oh well, we came back around two hours later and they were back in business. Thankfully. 

Caffe Bene serves mostly coffee, Korean bingsu, waffles and toasts. You can check out the display of those main dishes that Caffe Bene serves in their cafe. 

Noona's friend refused to share that jumbo glass of Korean bingsu so we ended up ordering waffle which is served with a scoop of gelato (you can choose two but of course with additional cost). We chose dark chocolate gelato for the ice cream. The gelato and waffle taste so so. Nothing too fantastic about it. 

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On the other hand, the garlic & cheese bread taste pretty yummy. You don't get sick of eating too much cheese and the combination of the cheese topping and the garlic toast works pretty well together. 

On another visit to Caffe Bene with Noona's cousin, he agreed to share the jumbo Korean bingsu. Noona let him choose the flavor (as he will do most of the eating in the event that Noona gave up on eating anymore ice). He chose Green Tea Bingsu and on top of the bingsu, the server will throw in a lot of toppings like red bean and almond nuts. To complete the look, a big dollop of whipped cream (not ice cream unfortunately) are put on top of everything. Surprisingly we can finish the jumbo bingsu (Noona supposes because after all, this is mainly made from ice and ice equals water?). The toppings, the whipped cream and the green tea shaved ice taste pretty good when it is mixed. And this is a good dessert to share if you have a lot of things to talk about as you will not be able to finish this bingsu in a short time. XD

Thanks Steve for fulfilling the curiosity of his greedy cousin. 

Steal Krystal's Look from Giordano: Polka Dot and Stripes

Giordano, an international fashion brand, has worked together with Krystal for their latest Spring collection recently. Giordano is known for its basic style and yet, it seems that 2016 is the year to go back to basic (without compromising style, of course). After all, basic does not have to be boring. Noona loves in particular how Krystal mixes the polka dot cardigan and stripes top. Who says that pattern cannot go together?

The good thing about Giordano is that this fashion brand is very affordable and they have a lot of color choice for one particular item. The polka dot cardigan that Krystal wears is available in 15 different colors. The cardigan costs USD 24.17.

Noona really really likes the top that Krystal wears. The striped top is available in 8 different patterns and it costs only USD 13.62. 

How about the denim pants? The denim pants come in 5 different color and it costs USD 40.38. 

The whole look costs less than USD 100, my goodness. Isn't this considered a good deal? 

Kkul Dak, the yummy honey chicken from Korea

Kkul Dak (which literally translates into Honey Chicken) is a popular honey chicken joint in Korea and now, it has landed in Singapore. The CEO of the business is only 27 years old, oh my gawd. Kinda makes Noona wonder what went wrong in her life because she did not have any business in her name after passing the age of 27. XD

Okay, rather being depressed with her life, Noona will just focus on the chicken. The yummy honey chicken to be exact. Kkul Dak offers two type of honey chicken. For a start, there is the original honey chicken which taste kinda sweet because well, the sauce is made from honey. 

While the other flavor has an extra kick in its flavor because it's spicy honey chicken. You can ask for a taste prior to ordering. After tasting the two flavours, Noona personally prefers the spicy honey chicken. The spiciness level is still acceptable because it is not as spicy as those ma la pepper which can make you cry. 

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Kkul Dak also sells rice and japchae (re: Korean stir fried vermicelli). It has the combo or rice + kimchi + honey chicken however, Kkul Dak did not sell a combo of japchae + honey chicken. 

So Noona has to order both japchae and the honey chicken separately and hence, the bill comes at a higher price. However, the combination of japchae and spicy honey chicken is wonderful. The japchae is savoury in flavour and yet it mixes well with the spicy and sweet honey chicken. Portion wise, Kkul Dak is pretty generous with the japchae too. 

You can find Kkul Dak outlet at basement level of Plaza Singapura. 

Steal Sandara's Edgy Look for Penshoppe

Sandara has become more and more famous in the Philippines especially after her fashion endorsement deal with Philippines brand called Penshoppe. Sandara is always known for her photogenic flair and Noona thinks Penshoppe's decision to get her to endorse their products really works for them in a positive way. For instance, Noona has never heard of the brand before until Sandara become its face. The style that Noona particularly like is actually not new and she thinks the style was featured for the fall last season but utilitarian jacket can last forever just like denim. So, why don't we take a look at Sandara's edgy look for Penshoppe?

While Noona never match short with utilitarian jacket before, she thinks this style is not bad and workable for us, normal people. For the utilitarian jacket, you can go for Factorie's florence anorak (which Noona managed to find in Zalora) which comes with a hoodie, front pockets and waist drawstring for better cutting. The anorak costs USD 55.30 at Zalora.

Alternatively, you can also choose Kikideli's polka dot parka. Don't get scared by the words "polka dot" because the pattern is only for the inner part of the hoodie. The parka costs USD 33 at Zalora. 

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For the inside, you can go for something which looks like what Sandara park is wearing for her photoshoot. The Hut's ivory rope top comes pretty close enough and it costs USD 93 at www.thehut.com.

If you prefer a shorter top, how about an abstract printed boxy top by Definitions Definitions. The idea here basically is to have something with printed pattern because the utilitarian jacket usually plain without any pattern. The printed boxy top only costs USD 13, oh my gawd.

Sandara paired the whole look with a pair of acid washed short. Abercombie & Fitch's High Rise Shorts may just do the trick and it costs only USD 19 on its website. 

If you prefer your short not to be fully washed in acid, you can opt for a pair of short from River Island instead. Its light acid wash distressed ruby denim shorts costs twice more compared to the A&F's pair though at USD 43.

Steal Nicole's Look: Denim Overall

It has been a while since the last time Noona heard news about Nicole but it seems that the lady is doing pretty well currently promoting solo. Her latest pictorial with K-Wave shows a different side of her because as far as Noona remembers, Nicole usually has shorter hair back then when she was active with KARA. Oh my, can't believe that KARA is just a memory now since the group has disbanded recently. But nothing good can be gained by lingering in the past so let's all move forward and discuss the latest fashion adopted by Nicole. 

Nicole is spotted wearing denim overall and brown top. Simple stuff and yet it works well with her long wavy brown hair.

The good thing about denim overall is, well, you can just wear anything under it. A plain top, a patterned top, whatever you'd like. Urban Outfitters offers a denim overall at a lighter shade from the one that Nicole wears at the price of USD 129. 

If you prefer the black denim overall, you can buy one at Topshop now. The good thing about Topshop is they have two sizes for its denim sub-brand, Moto. Regular and Petite. So shorter girl like Noona does not have to cut her trousers or overalls if she goes for the Petite size. The black denim overall is currently on sale at the price of USD 45. 

Now, let's discuss the inside top. Noona thinks basic tees will be enough to do the style and they are great because they don't cost much.  The contrast collar striped loose t-shirt from Romwe only costs USD11.50. 

Or if you want to play with the top a bit, you can opt for the turtleneck too. Boohoo currently sells the tia turtle neck rib knit short sleeve jumper at the price of USD 20. 

And now, let's talk about the shoes. Nicole does not really show her sneakers in the pictorial but we can see a glimpse of gold under the denim overalls. Noona thinks a pair of gold sneakers works well with the overall style too and she found two great options for the sneakers. The first one comes from Keds and the pair costs USD 54. 

While the second one comes from Converse and it really BLINGS because it is made from sequins. The Chuck Taylor All Star sequin sneakers costs USD 61 at mytheresa.com.

Jeongseon Sky Walk

Ever since the launch of Korail's Jeongseon Arirang A-Train on 22 January 2015, Jeongseon county has become a popular travel destination these days. Jeongseon town is characterised by high mountains that surround the village's valley floor. The region offers unpolluted mountain air, twisty roads and scenic landscape view of the mountains. If you are looking for a thrilling experience in Jeongseon, you should make your way to Arii Hills, near Byeongbangsan Mountain. This is because there is an attraction called the Sky Walk which allows you to see the scenery of the mountain from the see-through floor. 

After paying the admission fee of KRW 40,000 (USD 33), you will be given a pair of shoes cover which you must wear while walking on the see through glass floor. It is quite nerve-wracking really especially if you are scared of height.  

Jeongseon Sky Walk is actually a U-shaped observation platform with a see-through floor that is built off the side of a cliff. The view from the observation platform is really amazing so you should really try to conquer your fear if you have one. Hahaha. 

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Jeongseon area is really full of green mountains. Both on my right and left side, I can see beautiful mountains covered in greens. Pleasing to the eyes I have to say. 

By the way, if walking on a see through glass observation platform is nothing to you, you may want to know that there is a zip wire that offers you a thrilling experience of flying through the sky at speeds of up to 70 to 100 km per hour. Bungee in the mountain anyone?

Due to its popularity, it is recommended to make reservations for the observation platform beforehand. You can visit the official website of the Arii Hills here.