JYJ Showcase!

Fangirl-time! Well, semi-fangirly, I'm not a crazy fangirl haha ^^ So, I've been a DBSK fan since 2004, and they've never performed in Singapore T_T I can't remember how many petitions and fan projects I've participated in hoping they'd be able to come. Anyway, after 6 long years, they finally came, as JYJ!

No, I wasn't able to get ANY photos of them at the airport cos there were mobs of crazier fangirls haha.

My ticket~ Block AA1, Row B, Seat 14. Basically it's two rows from the side of the stage, at the end near the backstage area. Bad cos I was 2 seats away from where the usher was standing so no sneaky fancam-ing, but good cos I had a good view of the stairs where the boys went up and down the stage. And I was only 7m away from where they stood! Jaejoong looks flawless even when he's tired. Poor boys must be exhausted doing 3 showcases in 3 days! Plus all the press cons they had to attend and flying here and there. Hope they rested well after!

Since the airport was one stop away from the Expo where the showcase was gonna be held, I figured I'd just go there to wait. I was within the first 5 people in the queue till late-arriving friends of the people in front of me cut and sat with their earlier-arriving friends. I guess it didn't bother me much cos tickets were seated anyway haha. I was there at 2:30pm, the doors were supposed to open at 6:30pm but only opened at 8pm. So I was 7m from stage and at the side where they go on/off stage, so I saw them a lot! And they looked/moved over to my side a lot too ♥ Showcase ended up starting at 9. But totally didn't mind, I had quite a good view!


One picture right after entering the venue. Anyway, who needs pictures/videos when they were right in front of me! The boys are really a lot better live and in person ♥ Their voices were so good, some of the time I was just closing my eyes and listening to them sing. But of course since finally they were standing in front of me after soooo many years I had to stare...and stare and their awe-inspiring presences. Yuchun was totally rocking the long tied-up hair! And he was super smiley despite looking tired. And he is such a sweet-talker hehe. They had a talk session and Micky was the only one answering in English. His English speaking-voice is soooo hot ♥ the translator was lousy though, could so obviously tell he didn't translate very well. They were sitting host,YC, JJ, JS, translator, so JaeChun soulmate moments! Chun was like Jae's private translator haha while Junsu was stuck with the translator. And Chun kept pushing Jae to answer qns. For intros Jaejoong was like 'How are you? I am JJ!' in English. So cutee ♥♥ Then he switched to Korean haha! They didn't sell the photobook or lightsticks like in the Seoul showcase :( Just CDs/posters. 찾았다 and Empty were amazing ♥♥♥ Their vocals never cease to amaze me, which is why I can go on and on watching their concert DVDs just cos their live voices sound better than their recorded ones. Actually everything was great, just seeing them so close and hearing their voices live! ♥♥♥ すごく感動した。 They never cease to amaze me with their sincerity and their effort, despite seeming really tired, they still gave it their all and put on a great performance. Their love for their fans is amazing and I'm really proud of them for having the courage to stand up for their dreams.

I don't think i could ever bring myself to scream for anyone else, not enough history. Bigbang maybe, Shinhwa maybe, FT Island probably not, SNSD probably not. But DBSK always and forever definitely yes ♥♥

Jaejoong had huuge eyebags but his skin was flawless, my heart skipped a (ok like 500000) beats when he was facing my side dancing/singing the Empty remix ♥♥♥ Why does he always look so good? While dancing the Empty remix on my side he really was looking at the crowd, looking at the faces of the fans who came to see them. After all these years he's still the same ^^ He was a bit quiet though so they must be really tired. Poor guys. Out of Junsu's outfit I like the last one most haha. It was the most casual/un-costumey. Cos for the opening, which Jae and Micky were wearing white suits (which they totally rocked), Junsu was wearing a...white frilly halter :/ But he was really cute when he talked, though the translator and MC made the atmosphere weird :/ Chun was wearing a black baggy thing that ended up falling to one side and exposing his left shoulder hehe.

However I must say that the organization/management of the showcase was really bad. Feel really bad for the boys as well. I know a lot of people were unhappy with ticketing issues and how they had a 60-40 sectioning of VIP tickets to local and international fans? What country does that!! I thought the whole point of bringing in an artist into your country was so locals could have access to see them. Plus the delay of transport and unprofessional translator and delays of everything and etc. Well, I do have a lot of complaints about the organization but everyone else is of pretty much the same opinion so I shalln't be repetitive ^^

Anyway, they were selling the CDs, they had 100 copies of the luxury edition and being one of the first few in line I was able to get one~ They were it for $90 and a bundle of luxury+normal for $100 so I got the bundle, got two posters too.

The front of the box, it really looks and feels luxurious~ ♥

The backs, embossed lettering and tracklist ♥

One of the posters happily up on my wall, the other's safely kept away for emergency ^^

Contents of the luxury edition! Comes with a photobook, 16 good quality glossy photo cards, a T-shirt and of course the CD, in the pretty black 25cm x 25cm box.

Luxury ed with normal ed (made in Singapore, not the Korean normal ed T_T)

The small poster they were selling with the lightstick at the venue. I have two of these, one's a backup in case of emergencies! Hehe and a GG lookalike ♥ If you realized, this is a backdated post ^^ Cos JYJ only started tweeting after BKK/SG/KL showcase. And GG only started appearing in Jae's tweets after. I got my GG lookalike from Gmarket!

Tiramisus ~ ♥♥

Yumyumyum, tiramisu is one of my absolute favorite desserts! So while in Italy this summer, I must've had it at least once every day/other day! But sadly after we left Italy and head west to France and Spain, no more tiramisus for me T_T

Tiramisu from a cafe near our hotel in Rome, a bit dry? I think it was 5euros?

Dinner at Monaco, 7-8euros? But it was good (: Not overly creamy, enough cake and rum.

7.50eurods I think? But it's too creamy for my liking/not enough cake.

Pompi tiramisu from Rome! Pompi, il Regno del Tiramisu, Pompi - the King of Tiramisu. The cafe/bar, Pompi, is near Re di Roma station, and serves mostly desserts. The prices are reasonable, around 4euros each? The tiramisu comes in a 300g serving and mmmmm it's heavenly! I love this type of tiramisu texture!

Closeup of Pompi's tiramisu!

They also have a strawberry tiramisu! Using strawberries instead of coffee. Great as well but I prefer traditional coffee tiramisu (: They also have a banana one I believe?

Tiramisu from a geleteria near the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. 4.50euro. Not that great, for one I hate whipped cream, and secondly the cake was too dry.

Ice cream tiramisu from Roma Termini station. 3euro?

Wonderful tiramisu from an eatery in Venice! It was great! It was part of a set lunch, which was also delicious and very worth it.

First tiramisu we had in Rome, across the street from the monument of Vittorio Emanuele. 5euros? Comes in a chocolate coated waffle.

Not from Rome but tiramisu from Bakerzin in Singapore. Dry, small serving.

Tiramisu from Cova (Italian eatery in Singapore).

Tiramisu from Dome (Singapore). Didn't taste like tiramisu though :/

Tiramisu from Gusttimo (Italian eatery from Korea), heavenly! Left side is the tiramisu cake, and right side is tiramisu icecream.

Shop display in Florence.

Pastry display in Venice.

Another in Venice.

Oh-so-wonderful Laduree macarons in Monaco! So flavorful and perfecttexture. 7.5euros for 4.

A cute porcupine cake in Barcelona haha.

Gmarket Tips 1 - Gaccount

Just like how most major shops have loyalty programs/points cards/member privileges etc, Gmarket has mileage, gcash, credit points etc. And basically that's what the components of the Gaccount are for. This post shall try to help explain their differences and how you can use them optimally (: Other than credit/debit cards and Paypal, you can use cash balance to pay for your orders, but how do you get cash in your cash balance? Through exchanging Gstamps, mileage and coupons! ♥

So when you go to "My Gmarket" and preview your Gaccount, it will look something like this. Cash is cash balance, it's like online stored credit. Ultimately, all of the rest (Gstamp, mileage, gift certs, Gcash) can be converted to cash balance for you to use. So, now onto the part to how you actually go about getting mileage and Gstamps ♥

♥ HOW TO GET MILEAGE
Some sellers have products which give you mileage as soon as the order is completed. It's sort of like a reward. Usually, it'll be listed beside the product under "special offer".

Otherwise, the other way to get mileage is to write a review after receiving your items from an order.


After you've received your order, go to My Gmarket>>Shopping List>>Overseas Orders. You should click the "Item Received" button as shown above.


You will be led to a page where you can rate the delivery/price/service for that item and after you hit submit, you get 1% of the price of that item as your mileage. Mileage can be converted to Gcash, which can then be converted to cash balance. (See "Converting to Cash Balance" section below)

♥ HOW TO GET GSTAMPS
Like mileage, you can get these through products which give you Gstamps, or get them through writing reviews.


After you click the "Item Received" button and rated the service etc, there will be a pop-up asking you whether you want to write a review.


Write one and you will get 1 or 2 Gstamps (depending on price of item) for completing and submitting it. Do note that you can only get the Gstamp reward for writing reviews up to a maximum of 10/day.

And if you order alot from the same item page, sadly you can only write one review even if you get like 10 different hair accessories. (Eg picking different options but all from this page) Saaad right? Actually a pop-up will appear saying you can only write 1/week for the same item, but after clicking any "Item Received" button, the status of "On Overseas Delivery" will change to "Completed" for all items in the order after 5~6days so you can't get any mileage/gstamps after that. After the status becomes Completed the Item Received buttons will disappear.


Gstamps can be exchanged for coupons, which you can use to offset amounts in orders. You can also use them to participate in draws for coupons, however the chances of winning don't seem very high! And when you participate in draws you use up your Gstamps, even if you don't win. So though you need more for exchanging than drawing, at least you're sure you get the coupon! ♥

♥ GCASH
You convert this to cash balance to top up overseas shipping fees if the actual weight of your package is greater than the estimated weight. You can use GCash converted from Cash Balance or from mileage (can only be done in denominations of 10,000won), or if you don't have any, use credit card/Paypal to pay for the extra shipping costs. Gmarket will not ship your package until you have done so. (unless the top-up amount is less than 3,000won) If you don't have much use for the GCash, or if you find that your package's actual weight is never over the estimated, you can always exchange GCash for Cash Balance. Note that 5% is deducted as a processing fee when you convert GCash to Cash Balance.

**Right now, May 2011, you're no longer able to purchase Gcash. You can still convert mileage to Gcash then to Cash Balance though. If you need to pay extra shipping, you can do so by paying directly from Cash Balance, or by CC/PayPal, whichever you used to pay for the original order**

♥ CONVERTING TO CASH BALANCE
When you log on to your GAccount (My Gmarket>>Gaccount), it will look something like the above. You can change mileage to Gcash only in denominations of 10,000 mileage. You can then change Gcash to Cash Balance, though they deduct 5% as a processing fee. You want to end up accumulating them and changing everything to cash balance as only then can you use that to pay for your orders.

**I don't know if it's even possible to do for overseas users, but note that you are not allowed to buy Gcash with credit card to convert to cash balance to withdraw to your bank or something like that! Also, they charge a USD35 processing fee to transfer cash balance to your bank account. So don't try to do illegal money laundering!**

♥ COUPONS
Sometimes, there are coupons being offered so to check what's available go to My Gmarket>>Preview of Gaccount>>Coupons. You will see a pop-up like above listing all the coupons available to you.


To see what it's applicable for click "Details" A pop-up like above will appear. Click go to go to the seller's page (: The one shown above is a 20% off for Amore Pacific (Laneige amongst other stuff). To use it, when you're on the item page, click the coupong box shown beside the price. If there are applicable coupons they will be selectable on the pop-up. click "Apply Discount". (See picture below, click to enlarge)

For this one, see the checked box? It means that it is only available for domestic shipping within Korea and can't be used for overseas shipping so remember to check when you're shopping! I'm just using this item for an example of how to apply coupons ^^.

♥ CREDIT POINTS
You can't exchange this for anything, it's more of a reputation/credibility system. When you first sign up for an account you get 5 credit points. With each item you order you get 1 point. When you cancel an item/order points get deducted. If you get below a certain number of points (negative 20 as of Jan 2011) you're not allowed to shop on Gmarket anymore. You lose credit points if you cancel orders without real reason or return items which aren't defective. However, if sellers can't produce the item and they cancel the order you also lose credit points. Depending on which "reason" the seller picks. This has happened over 5 times already :(


If you get above 50 and earned at least 5 points in the 3 months you become a VIP. They announce on the first day of each month. To know if you are one, you will see a crown logo when you first go to the My Gmarket, on the top bar it'll say "Welcome username" *crown logo* "VIP customer". As a VIP customer you get special discount coupons sometimes and can return items for free? *Haven't experience returning items yet*

So in January 2011, Gmarket updated their VIP system. There are now 5 ranks of membership: New, Silver, Gold, VIP and SVIP. The requirements to become VIP are still the same.

The SVIP welcome banner looks like this:

♥ NEW ♥

Just joined, no purchase record within the last 3 months.
Benefit: One time 10% off coupon (max discount of 10,000won)

♥ SILVER ♥

Credit points obtained over the last 3 months: 1
Benefits (per month): 3% off coupon (max discount of 10,000won), 1 free return coupon

♥ GOLD ♥

Credit points obtained over the last 3 months: over 2
Benefits (per month): 5% off coupon (max discount of 10,000won), 2 free return coupons

♥ VIP ♥

Total credit points: over 50
Credit points obtained over the last 3 months: over 5
Benefits (per month): 1,000won off 10,000won coupon, 7% off coupon (max discount of 10,000won), 3 free return coupons

♥ SVIP ♥

Total credit points: over 50
Credit points obtained over the last 3 months: over 30
Benefits (per month): 2,000won off 10,000won coupon, 10% off coupon (max discount of 10,000won), 4 free return coupons

♥ NOTE THAT:

-♥ Membership levels for the current month are based on the credit point data of the previous month. (eg If you're currently VIP and buy 50 items in Jan, you won't get SVIP status till Feb.)
-♥ The issuing of Gstamps is only available for the first upgrade to the level. They must be used within 1 month from the date of issue. (ie you can only claim the Gstamps once per upgrade.)
-♥ Discount coupons expire 2 weeks after they are issued.

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So that's it for the first of the tips series. Hope it helped! Yes it does seem long and complicated at first but it's really not! I hope this encourages you to write reviews after getting products because 1) it lets future buyers know more about the product (whether it's good/bad and lets them see comments from other buyers like YOU who actually bought the item before!) so that they can have more information before they go about buying it and 2) you can get Gstamps and mileage to accumulate and exchange! ♥ ♥ Do feel free to ask if you've any questions and I'll try to help if I can! ♥

Korean masks so far

Masking, masking, masking, oh how I love doing it ♥ Fun to do and moisture session for skin :D I regularly use masks, both sheet and washoff! For regular sheetmasking, I guess I'm not very particular about the mask, as long as it softens, brightens and doesn't cause any skin irritations. (none so far thankfully). And most also as long as the essence isn't so runny that I can't sit and use the laptop without the essence dripping down my neck. If it doesn't meet these criteria I probably won't purchase again. Of course, nice scents are an added bonus! :D

I love Korean sheet masks (: Not only are they easy on the pocket, they're also of top notch quality and you can be sure that (well, most of the time) they don't compromise on it! So these were some masks hauled from Gmarket a few weeks ago. After using them nearly everyday, it's time to do a review! Most of these are Purederm masks, from the seller purederm on Gmarket. The VOV washoff masks are from the seller Blue Ocean.

Clockwise from top left: Aloe, Cucumber, Strawberry, Rose, Tomato.

First up, these were the five kinds of "regular" line sheet masks I picked, received 10 of each. (You can pick out of their many different varieties, but they give you 10 of each. So you can order max 10 varieties, you can order just 5 types but 2x10=20 of each, but you can't pick 20 types and ask for 5 of each! )

Generally I love cucumber and aloe masks because at least from all the brands I've tried before they seem to hydrate and soothe/fix my skin when I have the occasional zit/dehydration lines/pick zits too much haha. So for normal days I don't really use them, more so for when I need "fixing".

The tomato has a unique smell. It's not sweet or fruity or citrussy, and I guess some would hate it. It's not pungent or smelly or chemical-reeking in any way, but it's different from anything I've ever smelt before and I like kind of it though! In general they moisturize and make my skin softer so no complaints. No irritations or breakouts experienced either! These have a generous amount of essence in them, 23ml, but it doesn't drip off your face like some lousy brand ones do, so kudos to them.

These are the 3 washoff gel masks I got: Tomato Yogurt, Aloe, Strawberry Yogurt. The strawberry one is exceptionally yummy smelling! They come in a box of 15. Directions: Spread pack evenly on face while avoiding eyes and mouth areas. Leave on for 5~10mins then rinse off with warm water.

Best of Purederm! Clockwise from top left: Raspberry Collagen, Chamomile Collagen, Lavender Collagen, Illuminating Arbutin, Jung-an Korean Herb. These five are from the "premium" line, meaning that the sheet for this is alot thinner than that of the regular line. What this means is that less essence is absorbed by/stuck to the sheet and more can be absorbed by your skin instead (: It also means the feeling of wearing the masks is now really really lightweight, truly like a second skin!

While regular sheet masks look white on your face (the cotton sheet), this one is made of pulp so fine it's a bit transparent on your face! Really love using these as they make the experience of masking feel greater! With normal masks sometimes I feel like I can't smile or move my face due to the thickness of the mask sheet, but with these I don't have that problem anymore! ♥

IMO, these are better than the regular line, they really really make skin feel softer after use. The lavender has an awesomely soothing lavender smell, perfect for wearing the mask to sleep as the scent is absolutely heavenly! The arbutin one really brightens and softens skin after usage, you can always see the difference after you take off the mask, go try it! The camomile has a somewhat calming effect on my skin, noticed reduced/disappearance of redness (if any) after use.


Instructions and ingredients list in English on the back of the Illuminating Arbutin and Jung-an masks. Purederm masks can be kept up to 3 years from the date of manufacturing, and as you can see the seller gives quite recently produced ones so no worries of old stock!

Collagen eyezone patches, says to be "enriched with collagen, green tea extract and tropical fruits to provide intensive hydration and diminish signs of aging, reduce eye puffiness and dark circles". These are under-eye masks in the shape of kidney beans? They come in packs of 30 (15 pairs) in a resealable blue ziplock bag. I use these while studying late at night or days after I've stayed up late, they really do seem to reduce the appearance of my fatigued eyes and even brighten them. They're actually quite huge in size, so they stretch from near the bridge of my nose to the ends of my cheekbone!

The package says to leave on for 15~20min but I usually just leave them on till they dry up and fall off or till I remember to remove them haha. Good eco-friendly packaging rather than having individual packaging for each pair, but sometimes they're so stuck together that they're hard to separate when I want to take out one piece ^^

VOV washoff mask pack in Volcanic Powder, I absolutely love this! It really clears up my skin after use, and makes my skin brighter and even gives a glow! ♥ It has a slight scent, not really chemical and not unpleasant. Something like salad? I don't know, but I kind of like it!

VOV washoff mask pack in 17 Cereals. Effects are similar to that of Volcanic Powder but to a lesser extent for me. However it does makes my skin softer than the Volcanic Powder one does. Has a scent too, different from the Volcanic Powder one but not unpleasant either. If I had to choose between the two I'd pick the Volcanic Powder!


Etude House masks! First of all I have to say I really love the packaging! Clockwise from top left: Moistfull, Green Tea, O2 White, Pomegrenate. Okay, I used to quite love the moistfull ones. You can't purchase these individually, they're only given as freebies sadly. They really moisturize skin deeply. So I use these for "fixing" skin only too, when I have really dry skin or when dehydration lines start to show. Or after staying up multiple nights cramming for exams. And cos I've got a limited number of them and they can't be purchased, I use them sparingly too ^^ Why I say used to is because the essence does leave a rather sticky feeling after use, so that's something I can't really stand anymore. So now I use the Neutrogena Deep Hydrating Masks if I really need deeper moisturizing. The O2 White ones really do not really whiten, more like brighten. Like the moistfull, these are also freebies only. I somewhat enjoy using these too, but sparingly as well. The Pomegrenate and Green Tea are so-so, they smell quite nice too, so they're alright for everyday/non-special need usage. However at $2 a pop I'd rather use Purederm or Chungjungmiin!

So that's it for my masks post so far :D Yes I have a ton of them, Chungjungmiin, My Beauty Diary, Purederm, Etude, The Face Shop, Lioele, Hermius, Dermal and Skin Food for sheet masks, VOV, Purederm and The Body Shop for washoffs. For washoffs my absolute favorites are The Body Shop Honey Oat and Seaweed Clay ones! Yummy and effective! ♥ What about you, do you mask often? Which ones are your favorites?~

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HOW TO ORDER

Since I frequently get emails asking how to order from purederm, figured I'd just add it here:
On the page itself, it doesn't really matter what you put in that blank box in the options. It most likely cannot fit all your choices anyway. What you have to do is just add the item to the cart, and when you check out, there'll be a "note to seller" section. Search for the box for purederm. In that box, write down which masks you want and how many of each (: