Dog boarding for Big Dogs in Korea - 4MenDogs, Daejeon

Having a dog here in South Korea is both wonderful and challenging and delightful and frustrating all at the same time. If you have adopted/rescued/own one of the small breeds then you're life here will be infinitely easier than those of us who have larger dogs. Just to be clear, it seems that anything bigger than 10kg's is deemed big/large here. I have had lots of people back home in South Africa say to me that, "Oh, Shadow is actually quite small" and I have to remind them of the fact that the majority of dogs kept as pets (especially kept indoors) are of the maltese/Pomeranian size. When we rescued Shadow he was a measly 2kg's and we had no idea how big he was going to get. He has grown into a rather handsome and healthy 19kg (medium in Western standards) dog.

My husband and I came here to Korea with the goal of traveling to as many places as we can, and having a dog was definitely not part of the plan. We also go away a lot, although we have swopped hotels for a tent so we can now accommodate our pooch.

But, as much as our lives have had to change with him in them, we still go away on holiday and have had to find a place for him to stay. I know a lot of people feel that leaving your dog somewhere if you go away is stressful for the dog, I have to say that every-time we have picked him up from the boarding establishment he barely seems to have noticed we have been gone. We may be very lucky to have a very independent, self sufficient dog, but I think it also has a lot to do with all the training we did with him when he was younger. He sleeps in his own room (if you don't have another room here in your apartment you could section off part of your apartment or use a crate). This really helps with separation anxiety as your pup gets used to the fact that you aren't around 24/7. If you get them used to their crate they should be able to travel anywhere, and at least have their crate as a place of safety for them to retreat into if they feel scared or stressed. 

4MenDogs in Daejeon

I have done extensive research into boarding/dog hotels for my pup and the reality is I just can't justify spending a small fortune on him every-time we go away. I found that most pet sitters/hotels will charge anything from $30 - $50 a day. If I was just going away for the weekend this wouldn't be so bad, but for extended periods of time (like our vacations which are 2 - 3 weeks) this amount is just too much. I know pet sitters work hard for their money, but as it costs us close to $4000 to take a 20kg dog back to South Africa we are on a strict budget.

I was thrilled to find out about 4MenDogs in Daejeon who cater for all sizes and breed of dogs in their rather large establishment on the outskirts of the city. Shadow has stayed there twice now (once over a weekend and then for our winter break of 2 weeks). Both times he hardly acknowledged our arrival wanting to carry on playing with his friends and came back just as happy and healthy as when we dropped him off.

It has been a little difficult communicating with the people who run 4MenDogs as they don't speak much English but you can make a booking via email with a very nice English speaking lady (details posted below). We decided to visit the place before Shadow stayed the first time and two of the staff members were super helpful and had their phones out to translate any questions we had and they explained to us the schedules for the dogs. 

What I like most about 4MenDogs is that they have a number of large, outdoor enclosures in which the dogs are rotated around throughout the day. The dogs are crated overnight (so you need to supply your dog's crate...another reason to crate train them before hand so they get used to being in there and will feel safe and comfortable while in them...click here for a post on where to buy a crate online here in Korea) and then they are crated again at lunch time. 

4MenDogs are able to hold a lot of dogs as they have a big warehouse type set up where the crates are kept, as well as outdoor pens (pictured above nder the shadoe cloth) where I saw different dogs kept during my visits to drop off and pick up Shadow. They also offer training and grooming.

Another great thing about them is when we arrived the first time they put Shadow in an enclosure fenced off from the other dogs to see how he behaved and how the other dogs behaved towards him. It was noted that one male was quite aggressive to Shadow and they moved that particular dog and then put Shadow in with the other dogs. So they really are careful about placing dogs with even temperaments. This should put your mind at ease if you have a very shy dog or one who has not had much socialising with other dogs. They also separate the male and female dogs and will ask you whether your dog is fixed or not. This may be a pre-requisite for boarding. 

I did have a Korean friend phone for me to make our first booking and they had asked a lot of questions about my dog before hand. Things like whether he had stayed apart from us before, and what his eating habits are like when he is away from us as JIndos are known as being very picky eaters (Shadow did go on a 3 day hunger strike apparently when we were gone but then went back to eating normally after that). 

4MenDogs use their website (click here) to upload photographs and videos of your dog so you can see how they are doing (see pictures above). This was great and something I really appreciated being a very soppy dog mommy I missed my pup rather a lot, and seeing him having such a great time with other dogs helped put my mind at ease. 

As they don't offer a drop off/pick up service you will need to think about getting your dog there and picking them up. We have a car here in Korea and I'm not sure how anyone manages without one if they have a big dog!

I've posted the nitty gritty info & prices below. Please do have a Korean friend call them if you have any specific questions relating to 4MenDogs. This post is my personal opinion of the place, and I have been very happy with them. Please note that we, as bigger dog owners can't really be too fussy about places like 4MenDogs as there just aren't that many places that accept big dogs for longer periods of time without charging the earth. Please note, there was a recent complaint from someone that their dog contracted Canine Influenza at 4MenDogs but as a responsible dog owner you should be vaccinating/titre testing your dog annually if your dog spends time with other dogs. I hope you find this post helpful, and at the end of the day it helps you with finding a place to board your pup.

More Information from the Animal Rescue Korea Site (this information is current):

Address: 421-5 Yongsan-dong, Yuseon-gu, Daejeon.
It’s about 15 minute walk from North Daejeon IC (북대전 IC).
There is a bus of 704, 301, 918 & 5 you can take and should get off bus station 북대전IC네거리.
Pick up service available from the bus stop to the center.

Contact
For a pick up, kyungkuen@naver.com (010-2236-4004)
For further inquiry, sylvia@kepco-enc.com (not a trainer, for English communication)
You can visit your dog anytime from 09:00 am to 19:00 pm (please call ahead to give them warning)
For urgent enquiries, you can contact in advance and visit your dog anytime since at least one of 4 trainers stays at night everyday.

Price for boarding:
*Per day / More than 10 days / Per month / Normal Discounted for ARK
Small 15,000  10,000  300,000 450,000 400,000
Medium/large 20,000 10,000 300,000 500,000 450,000
*No pick up service available for boarding.

Prerequisites and things to bring
* Dogs should be up to date with vaccinations.
* For a male dog, he should be neutered.
* A small bag of hard food your dog eats and things such as toys, blanket which help your dog feeling a bit at home.

Trainers
There are 4 trainers who all majored in animal training area. Mr.KWON, Gyung-geun has more than 3 years of experience in a training facility in near Seoul. Other 3 have junior level of training experience. Most of all, all of them love dogs and are passionate about training dogs.

Training Style
The trainers use positive reinforcement training techniques using clickers, treats and ball. Choke collars are used upon the request of the owner, or when the trainers deem it necessary for safety.

Payment
Payment is preferred by cash or bank transfer. You’re asked to pay it on the day your dog starts training or boarding. Please inquire the account info if needed.

Other services (Playground open from 12:00pm to 19:00pm)
You can bring your dog and use the playground everyday except for every Thursday.
It is 5,000won per person and it doesn’t matter how many dogs you bring together. The dog should be fully vaccinated and not aggressive or sick.

Klairs Creamy Concealer Natural Fit Concealer Review

Welcome to Klairs' latest addition to their makeup range. This creamy concealer was designed to be used in conjunction with their Supply BB Cream (click here for a full review) but it works wonderfully by itself or under your own choice of makeup or bb cream.

I have been a big fan of Klairs for a while now, because their products are simple (they don't test on animals!), natural and they just work. I am an especially a big fan of their Black Sugar scrub (click here). If you'd like to know more about their products and read reviews of what I have tried and tested so far then click here. I get all my Klairs products from WishTrend who are an awesome online store that deliver world wide so no matter where you are in the world you can get your hands on amazing Korean beauty products.

Klairs Creamy Concealer Natural Fit

The Klairs Creamy Concealer Natural fit is a medium coverage product that works particularly well on my normal to oily skin. It blends seamlessly into my skin with or without my favourite Velvet Skin primer from the FaceShop. It covers up redness and does an okay job of dealing with my pigmentation. I am not into heavy makeup and prefer a natural look, and that is why I love this concealer so much. When I am needing a little more coverage I use this with the Klairs Supple BB cream and top it off with a dusting of translucent powder to set my look. 

My biggest skin concern when it comes to makeup is my pigmentation. I get the odd pimple here and there (and this concealer does a great job of covering them up even with just one payer of product). I know that there aren't that many products that offer full coverage for skin issues like pigmentation so I did not expect this concealer to provide full coverage. I find the products that do offer full coverage sit very heavily on my skin and I don't want to look like a barbie doll. This is why this concealer is just right for me in that it offers medium coverage without looking cakey. 

Depending on how I'm feeling I use this concealer alone, under my Innisfree Mineral pressed powder, and under/on-top my Klairs BB Cream. It has quite a thick consistency, which I really like as you feel like the product is actually going to provide coverage rather than those more liquid concealers which get absorbed into your makeup brush too easily. I use my favourite Sigma F80 flat topped kabuki brush to blend it into my skin. 

I have swatched the concealer below and you can see it's coverage in relevance to the freckle on the right. This concealer has medium coverage that is definitely buildable. The swatch below is from 1 layer of concealer. I have a medium skin shade (Mac NW 25) and I find this shade to work very well for my skin tone. If you have very light or fair skin, this shade would be a little dark for you. I would say it wouldn't be suitable for anyone with a lighter skin tone than NC 25.

This concealer only comes in one shade, which may be frustrating for some, but I have found that is similar to the Klairs BB cream which also only comes in one shade but suits a multitude of skin tones. But do bear in mind that my skin tone is an olive shade and I wear Mac NW25.

The Ingredients list:

Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Titanium Dioxide, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Glycerin, Polysorbate 80, Silica, Sodium Hyaluronate, PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Yellow Oxide Of Iron, Dimethicone, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Bentonite, Sodium Chloride, Black Oxide Of Iron, Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Red Oxide Of Iron, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Chlorphenesin, Talc, Xanthan Gum, Centella Asiatica Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Piper Methysticum Leaf/Root/Stem Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Fragrance, Tocopheryl Acetate, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed) Seed Extract, Hibiscus Esculentus Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Hibiscus Mutabilis Flower Extract, Corchorus Olitorius Leaf Extract

You can purchase this Concealer online from WishTrend for $14.99.

If you enter this code 052313605 at check out, you can also save yourself $5!

Disclosure: I received the above products for review purposes but the opinions expressed here are 100% my own. This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission should you make a purchase using one of the links. 

Life After The Dress {Episode 21} Kristin Louw

It's been a little while since my last #LifeAfterTheDress post and I have been wanting to share Kristin's story with you for ages, so I am very happy to finally have it ready here on the blog. 

In this series I interview married women of all ages and from all walks of life and ask them real questions about their lives now, after all the glitter and sparkle of their wedding day is over.  You can read more about the other ladies I have interviewed so far by clicking here.

So grab yourself a cup of tea and get ready to be inspired by Kristin's story.

x

Q1: Please introduce yourself (age, of both yourself and your husband, where do you live, what do you do & how long have you been married for?)

My name is Kristin Louw (28), married to my husband Etienne Louw (29) for one year and seven months. We live in an apartment complex in Greenstone, Johanneburg (South Africa). My husband is a software developer and I work as Digital Marketing Services Manager for NAB Caxton. We had dated for 6.5 years when we got married. He proposed on New Year's Eve, an awesome surprise, and were engaged for just over a year before tying the knot!

Q2: Which Disney character do you feel sums you up to a ‘T’?

Probably Ariel due to her fondness for collecting things and upcyling things for a new purpose! Plus I love the seaside.

Q3: How did you and your hubby meet?

We met at university where we were each donating blood with a friend! I brought him juice & biscuits afterwards because I thought he was cute :)

Q4: Was your wedding everything you hoped it would be? Would you go back and change anything? Do you have any advice for brides-to-be?

It was the most perfect, blissful day surrounded by family & friends. The day before POURED (and I mean POURED) with rain so we were a little nervous, but after all you can't predict the weather when you set the date a year ago! But on the day itself we were blessed with blue skies and just a little drizzle that started as we did our first dance so it was kind of magical.

My advice to brides to be would be to a.) BREATHE and b.) Enjoy every second - from the time you get engaged to the moment you through that bouquet and jet off on honeymoon. It really does go by extremely fast, especially the big day itself. Take the time to catch your breath, take in your surroundings and soak up the moment. When else will you ever have all the people that you love in one room again? But at the end of it all, even if your wedding was not the "flawless day" you imagined, just remember it's one day in a long lifetime of days and every day of marriage can be better than the last.

Another piece of advice that I would perhaps give to my pre-married self would be to take a local honeymoon! Firstly, nowhere is more beautiful than our own country, but you can save yourself the jet lag, 25 hour travel time and extra money. While we went on honeymoon to Thailand and we both really did enjoy it, both my husband & I agreed afterwards that overseas travel is all about adventure & exploring, whereas honeymoon is a time to really just relax, sleep and enjoy your first weeks as husband & wife while recovering from the race to the wedding.

Q5: Has ‘life after the dress’ been as you imagined it would be?

It's been weird & wonderful - what I expected & not (in a good way). My husband & I did not live together before we were married so there was a lot to get used to. While we did bicker a little at first, we soon found our groove and it has been lovely overall. We love not having to balance our schedules and make arrangements to see each other - you just wake up and decide what you want to do together that day! It's like having a sleep over every day with your best friend.

Q6: What do you think makes marriage work?

We give each other space to our own person, but always remember that we are two parts of the same whole at the end of the day. I think faith, trust, love and appreciation are key ingredients that make marriage work. Plus a good healthy dose of patience! Ultimately however, I think a marriage with God as the foundation is the most important thing to making it work.

Q7: What have you learnt about yourself since being married?

I quite like baking, which my husband does not complain about! ;)

Q8: If you could describe your marriage in 3 words, what would they be?

Adventure, honesty, laughter

Q9: Do you have any pearls of wisdom you would like to share with my readers about being married? Perhaps something some wise person once told you, or something you’ve learnt the hard way?

I was once told that marriage is not 50/50. It's 100/100, and if you both give it your all every day, you will never run out as you will always balance & refuel each other.

Also, marriage is a triangle with you and your partner on the bottom corners & God at the top. The closer you grow to God, the closer you will ultimately grow to each other :)

I hope you have been enjoying this series as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.

If you would like to be featured here on the blog, you can drop me an email using the contact form above or leave me a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you!

Banting Friendly Dinner Ideas: Salmon, Spinach & Mushrooms

After our recent trip to Borneo (where the slabs of Cadbury's chocolate gave me a shove right off the Banting bandwagon) I am back on track again thanks to meals like this one that Farmboy put together. It's quick and simple to prepare and doesn't require anything too fancy (you could substitute the salmon steaks for any fish and sub the blue cheese for whatever you have in your fridge) but the flavors would then change.

These flavours blended together perfectly and made for a very yummy meal.

Directions

1. Place a pot of water on the boil and steam your spinach.

2. Fry the fish in a blob of butter and roughly chopped garlic until cooked through.

While your fish is frying in the pan, heat up your oven & place button mushrooms onto a tray with chunks of cheese on top of each mushroom. Place into the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted 

Serve your salmon with a slice of lemon &  topped with the spinach (and don't forget to drizzle the garlic butter sauce from the frying pan over your spinach).

Innisfree Eco Science Cream {Review}

The Eco Science range is an anti ageing line of products from one of Korea's natural skincare brands, Innisfree. It's no secret that I love Innisfree and spend an unhealthy amount of time in there (my Instagram feed is proof to my obsession with this brand!). This is my second purchase of the Eco Science Cream, which I just love. 

This cream is enriched with natural anti-ageing active ingredients from marine plants and botanical extracts from Jeju Island and is said to 'regenerate skin and provide nutrients for a self-protective skin'. As I am going into my late twenties, I have started to notice a few extra lines (I am going to call these laugh lines and say they are from squinting with my camera and not because I am getting old!). I had heard only good things about the Eco Science range of products which are aimed at ageing skin.

In Korea, most skincare lines will carry a cream & a lotion (which is sometimes referred to as an emulsifier). Lotions/Emulsifiers are very light moisturisers which would best suit skin in summer, or very oily skin due to the lighter texture. These are usually water based. Creams on the other hand are have a much thicker texture and are used in winter, or for those with dry to very dry skin. During Winter this was my go to moisturiser which saved my skin from the harsh winds and snow, as well as the indoor heating which can wreck havoc on your skin. I now use this every other evening as my night cream, or when I feel like my skin is thirtsy.

The light grey coloured cream has a thick texture and comes in a round, white tub. The tub is filled with cream (80ml of product) so no sneaky packaging has been used to give the appearance of more product. I always get so cross when I open up a cream and see half the bottle is purely packaging, this is so wasteful (financially and environmentally!). Luckily for us, Innisfree is all about being ECO friendly and is great with their packaging (their boxes are even all printed with soy ink!).

The texture of the cream when applied to your skin is sticky, and depending on how dry your skin is, it might take a little while for the product to sink in. I have found that in summer it takes a long time for it to sink into my skin. This can be a bit annoying as I sometimes feel like I am leaving residue on my pillow. This is why I would recommend it for winter or for anyone with very dry skin.

Whenever I wake up after using this the night before my skin is incredibly smooth and plump and feels firmer to the touch. I have also been using this with the Eco Science Eye Cream (this is my favorite eye cream...review to come soon) and most recently with the Eco Science Skin toner (review to come soon).

I recently purchased the Whitening Pore Cream (review to come soon) and use it interchangeable at night with this one.

If you're wondering where a cream fits into your beauty regime, it's broken down on the side of the box:

Cleanser- Skin (toner) - Lotion  - serum - wrinkle spot essence/recover spot essence - eye cream - cream 

The Korean skincare regime is extensive, with most women using a serum, essence, lotion AND cream every day. I simply don't have the time and use a cleanser, toner, cream and eye cream with a suncream during the day. I will be doing a breakdown of my current summer skincare regime soon.

I am on my second tub of this cream (it comes in a 80ml tub) and will definitely be repurchasing more when winter comes. It is on the pricier side at W28 000, but I try and stock up when Innisfree has their monthly 20% - 50% sales. Also, 80ml of product lasts me over 3 months so it's definitely worth the price for the amount of uses you get out of each tub.

Who is CityGirlSearching?

I recently wrote this blog post and asked readers what it is they want to see more of here on the blog. One of the comments was from Nihaad (who blogs over here) and she said she'd like to know a little more about me and the journey I took to get where I am right now. I don't usually share very personal posts on my blog, as I often think that no one really wants to hear the day to day ramblings of yet another blogger, but her comment made me think. Since it was still churning over in my mind a week later I have decided to start doing a few more personal posts, thrown in amongst the beauty reviews and travel guides.

I'd love to hear from you as to whether this is something you want to read more of, and as always look forward to your comments below. 

The girl behind the brand

I am a 27 year old South African living and teaching English in South Korea with my husband and rescue pup, Shadow the Jindo. In 2009, just before graduating from Rhodes University with a BA in English Literature & Industrial Psychology, I met this farmboy.  He was everything I was not, and considering I had a long term boyfriend at the time, I was simply not interested. Fast forward a few months, while making T-shirts together for a non-profit charity group we were both a part of, and I felt myself falling head over heels for this barefoot free spirit. You can read the full story here.

After dating for 5 months we left South Africa in search of a little adventure in South Korea.

Packed and ready for our first trip to Korea.

We were both unemployed, and wanted to see more of the world and so when TeachKorea did a presentation at our University we both dove straight in, competed our application forms and started the long process of moving to Korea. In February 2010 we boarded a plane and began our first year of teaching in Daejeon, one of the biggest cities in South Korea. We did lots of traveling (Cambodia, Jeju Island and The Phillipines) and spent a very interesting year learning a lot about ourselves and of course each other as we navigated the sometimes difficult waters of life in a foreign country. Towards the end of our one year contract, Farmboy was feeling under an immense amount of pressure to have concrete answers for friends and family with their constant bombardment of "What next?" "When are you going to get a real job?" and "What are you going to do when you get back to South Africa?". We knew everyone meant well with their questions but it didn't help our worries about the future.

The first 6 months back in South Africa were really hard. Farmboy had by then been out of University (having graduated with his BSC Honors in Biology & Environmental Science) for 3 years, meaning he was 3 years behind his classmates in the job sphere. We were living with my mom in Joburg (alternating between visits to his family farm in KZN). I was loving being back home, being brought tea in bed by my mom and being able to catch up with her after being gone for such a long time. But it wasn't real. We were living in a bubble, a very happy bubble for me and a very frustrating bubble for Farmboy. We had some money saved from Korea, but not much as we had really wanted to travel and experience as much as possible while in Korea and so there were financial pressures too. To give you an idea, in 2010 a first time English teacher in Korea with no experience (with a TEFL certificate) was paid R18 000 a month and was given a rent free apartment. We both had no loans to pay off and the cost of living was relatively inexpensive. But, holidays cost money, eating out costs money (when you miss home and the comfort of home cooked food and you realise you have no problem spending R200 a person for a curry that tastes a little bit like home). As we lived on the outskirts of a big city it took us an hour to get into the main areas where the shops and restaurants were and so we were also spending a lot of money on taxis. And then let's not forget the amazing fashion, stationery and makeup products Korea is so well known for. After a year, Farmboy had R40 000 saved and I had R75 000. I had more saved than him because he always paid whenever we went out for dinner (such a gentleman).  This may sound like a lot of money, and it was when it was all clumped together. But when rent costs R4 000, food costs R4 000 and petrol costs another R2 000 that money isn't going to go very far. We also needed to buy Farmboy a car. We chalked up our time in Korea to fun and adventure, and not as a saving year abroad.

Then there was the pressure we were feeling regarding marriage. We had both gone full circle with our feelings towards marriage (at first I had no desire to get married and he wanted us to take our relationship seriously and commit to one another, this changed when we got back and I wanted to start thinking about marriage and he was wanting to wait until we were both settled with steady jobs). During this time I had been for numerous interviews with companies wanting to take complete advantage of me and my skills in blogging and social media. After a few freelance social media positions and a short, horrible 6 week stint as a wedding & conference coordinator, I decided to do my Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching in Pietermaritzburg. Farmboy had at this time finally secured a great job in Pietermaritzburg and had moved there to work on the oil pipe line between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. He moved in with his grandparents in August 2011, and I followed in November that year, moving into a tiny one bedroom flat. 

Life went on, I was studying and Farmboys job allowed him a lot of flexibility. It was mostly field work and when he had done what he needed to do he could go home so it meant we were able to spend a lot of time together which was great.

We got engaged in May 2012 and were married on his family dairy farm in September that year. You can see more photographs from our wedding here. After the wedding and an incredible honeymoon in Greece (click here) we returned to 'normal' life in Pietermaritzburg. We were happy about the life we had begun together, but I was feeling antsy.

So many of my friends at the time were wanting to start a family and I just wanted to hop on a plane and experience strange things again. Korea began to creep up into our conversations more and more. But by this time Farmboy had gotten a great job in Hillcrest at a really awesome Environmental agency and had been traveling all over Africa (he was doing Environmental Impact Assessments on mining sites) and as awesome as it was for him, we were apart for weeks at a time. I had also found a great temporary teaching post that I was hoping would become permanent. But a few weeks after starting my job, I was told the school could no longer offer me a permanent post and it hit me exactly where it was that I wanted to go next. Farmboy and I then made the difficult decision to pack up our lives again, and start the process to return to Korea.

As we already had a years experience in Korea it wasn't long before a couple post was offered to us. We thought we would have had more time but by April 2013 we had to make a definite decision and decided to accept the contracts for Korea. Our jobs started in June and so Farmboy gave his notice, we spent our last month visiting family and friends in KZN and Joburg and finally boarded a plane bound for Korea (again) on the 23rd June. 

Korea round 2!

We have loved our second time here in Korea because it has been so different from before. We are now in a tiny town out in the countryside, we are earning a bit more and our family got a little bigger last year when we rescued Shadow from the side of the road. 

Our goal this second time around has been to spend 3 years trying to reach our saving goal. We have just started our third year and with that money we hope to either buy a house somewhere, or to put it away for our children's education. There are lots of options for us for when we return home next year, but right now instead of worrying about them, we are trying to enjoy our last year of complete freedom.

Living in Korea isn't always as easy and glamorous as it looks in my photographs. It's hard being on this side of the world when family members are sick and when grandparents pass away. It's hard being here when it seems like our classmates are making such huge successes of themselves out in the corporate or 'real world'. It's also hard being away from everything you have ever known as normal (food, ways of doing things, ways of solving problems) and it's hard being in a country where very few people can understand what you are saying. 

It's hard being a young adult in this day and age, with jobs being so hard to come by and so many people trying to start their own businesses. Not all of us will be successful entrepreneurs and not all of us are able to (or want to) be like the people who live those idyllic lives on Instagram.  I often put so much pressure on myself to have a super successful blog, to have a million followers on all my social media platforms, to be that person who becomes a great success over night. But this is just not real. I am okay with being a teacher when we go back, being a farmers wife or just having a regular job (okay this is still something I am making peace with but I know that in my heart of hearts it doesn't matter what job I do, and someone has to do the 'normal' jobs...if no one worked in banks, hospitals, schools, kitchens and restaurants the world just wouldn't work). 

Social media only shows us the best of the best, the highlights of peoples lives and those highlights are mostly (if not all) staged and styled. We have to asses our own priorities and be honest with ourselves about what makes us happy. We have to learn to be completely accepting of ourselves and who we are . I want to be someone whose day doesn't depend on how many likes and followers I have. I want to stop letting social media dictate my mood. I do believe it is possible to lead a balanced life with Facebook & Instagram as a part of it. I don't believe we have to get rid of it all to be truly happy, but I do believe there has to be a balance. I still have a way to go with getting that balance right, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Right now I am in a bit of a funny head space with this blog (wanting to take it full time but not really having any particular focus for it). I know people read my blog and think that I have got everything figured out but really, I'm just like most of you; a young woman trying to carve a space out in this world.

Writing this blog makes me happy.

Taking pretty photographs makes me happy.

And having people I don't know comment and email me to tell to say they found something helpful or felt inspired by something makes me feel like all the effort and time I put into this space is absolutely worth it.

That's why I blog. 

Where are you right now in your life? Do you have blog, what are some of the reasons you blog and some of the reasons you keep on blogging? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Sometimes we just need to hear that someone is going through something similar to realise that what we are feeling is completely normal. 

Farmboy and I have traveled to so many incredible places because Korea has given us the opportunity to save as well as travel. We have met so many like minded people and are grateful for what we have here. We may go through feelings of frustration and anxiety about the future (just live every other person!) but we have each other (and Shadow) and we have our faith in God that everything will work out. His plan may be different from ours, but whatever it is, it will better than anything we can imagine for ourselves. 

Henco & Marilize {Engagement}

Henco & Marilize are fellow South African English teachers here in South Korea. They have just recently returned to Korea from their whirl wind trip back home for their wedding.

I was so thrilled when they contacted me to ask if I would capture this special time in their lives, and I had a lot of fun with them throughout the afternoon.

Marilize and Henco love and adventure, and can often be found in their car road tripping around Korea. We decided to include that in their photographs, starting in Buan and then continuing through Byeonsan National park and ending off at a secluded beach near Gyeokpo on the South West coast.

Thank you for picking me Henco & Marilize. I know your lives together will always be filled with love, laughter and adventure. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and road trips together.

For any photographers who may be interested, these photographs were all shot on my Nikon d700 with 24 -70mm 2.8 & 50mm 1.4 prime lens.

Enjoy!

x

If you're here in Korea and are looking for a photographer, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I do all sorts of shoots (pets, portraits, engagements, wedding, family, maternity and newborn). You can see more of my other work by hovering over the Photography Menu bar above. 

Microchipping your dog in Korea

A microchip is a small device (about the size of a grain of rice) which is implanted in your pets skin. There are no batteries, no tracking technology and no radiation involved. The chip is implanted under the skin between the shoulder blades and contains all your information (phone number, address etc). The needle used is a bit bigger than those used for vaccinations, and so some people prefer to have their pet microchipped while their pet is undergoing another anaesthetic operation (such as neutering) to avoid any unnecessary pain. However, most pets tolerate the procedure with little or no reaction (Shadow included).

Once your pet has a micro chip, your vet will then scan the chip and load your personal info onto a data system, thereby registering you as the owner. South Korea is clamping down on dog owners, imposing heavy fines of up to KRW 1million on unregistered dog. So many pets are abandoned in Korea (after they loose their puppy cuteness or when their irresponsible owners realise how expensive it can be to own a pet) registering the pet allows those owners to be traced. 

There are three methods of registering your dog in Korea;

• an embedded RFID chip (Radio Frequency Identification)
• an electronic tag
• or an ordinary dog tag

Microchipping your dog in Korea is a very simple process. The only thing you need to research is what kind of micro chip is used in your home country, or the country you plan on taking your pet to when you leave Korea.  Different countries have different chips/scanners, and so depending on where you will be taking your dog when you leave Korea, you need to keep this in mind. As Shadow will be returning with us to South Africa, we needed to make sure his micro chip was an ISO (International Standard Organisation) either ISO 11784 and ISO 11785. South Africa, Canada, Europe & South Korea are countries that I know have 15 digit ISO chip and so getting your pet chipped here will mean they will be able to be scanned in those countries. I have been told by my local vet that I will be able to change my information and address easily when I get back to South Africa as currently Shadow has been registered with my address & phone number here in Korea. In most countries, pet microchips adhere to ISO to promote compatibility between chips and scanners (this refers to the 15 digit ISO chip I mentioned before). In the US, however, there are three different types of chips other than the international standard. Click here for more info on the different chips and scanners.

South Africa (our home country) have a very strict import policy with animals and as such, pets have to be microchipped. For travel to the US, I have read that your dog doesn't have to be chipped (do check with your travel agent to be sure). Also, having your dog chipped and registered here (or any country) just gives you peace of mind, knowing that if they get lost for any reason, they have a much higher chance of being returned to you. A lot of dogs are able to get loose of their collars, and so there is a chance that an electronic tag on a collar could get lost.

All vets will be able to chip your dog. I live in a very small 'rural' town and my vet was able to do it for me quickly and effectively, and all with his very limited English and my even more limited Korean. As I live in a small town, the cost of veterinary services is much cheaper than the bigger cities here in Korea. Micro chipping and registering cost me W25 000 (about $25) but W40 000 ($40) seems to be the going rate in bigger cities. The actual procedure was very quick. It just involves a needle and the chip is implanted into the base of the neck, just below the skin. The needle was large though, that was a bit scary, but it was over in a few seconds and Shadow didn't even notice anything afterwards. Afterwards I was given a certificate as well as a few copies of his 15 digit chip number. It was so easy to do and I can't urge pet owners, especially those here in Korea, to get one done for your pet. I have also heard of people who have ordered their own chip from the US and then simply asked their vet to insert it for them. You are then able to configure the chip to your home address in the US. That option might appeal to you if you are leaving the country soon and know where you are going to be living when you get back home. As we will still be in Korea for at least another year I need to have my Korean address and phone number set up on my dogs chip.

Have you had any experience microchipping your pet? Please leave me a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

Borneo Through Photographs

For the last summer holidays Farmboy and I headed to Borneo. Before researching for our trip I didn't know too much about the island (did you know that Borneo is actually the second largest island in the world and is made up of 3 countries; Malaysia, Indonesia & Brunei). Along our travels we had a wonderful taxi driver who spent the hour we had with him telling us tales of pirates, folklore and other stories relating to the history of the Island.

We spent time in 3 different cities in Malaysia Borneo and their surrounding towns, all of which were very different from each other. We explored the concrete jungle of Kuching, the rain forests and lake surrounding Bantang Ai National Park and scuba dived amongst the reefs of Mabul Island. It was one of the most diverse travel adventures we have had and I look forward to sharing more with you about this incredible place.

I will be doing a full travel guide soon, but in the mean time here are a few photographs from our trip. 

Enjoy x

Kuching & Semonghoh Nature Reserve

Bantang Ai Lake & Visit to a Traditional Longhouse

Jungle Trek around Bantang Ai Lake & Rasa Risa Orangatun Rehabilitation Centre in Kota Kinabalu

Floating Palace in Kota Kinabalu & Mabul Island, Sabah.

Inspirational Instagram Profiles

Instagram has been my favourite social media platform for a while now. When I first started I was following all sorts of random people. As the months went by I realised just how powerful Instagram is as a networking tool and I began to look for fellow creatives in my field (lifestyle/travel/beauty bloggers) to follow and I've built real friendships with a lot of them. I even collaborated with someone I met via Instagram on this Boho Bridal styled Wedding shoot (click here to see my photographs). 

A basic search will turn up loads of interesting new brands and people to follow, but I'm not so much interested in the huge corporations as I am the smaller business owners and creatives. I find the people who are in the same boat as I am, trying to take our blogs and businesses out into this big bad world and so much more real, more genuine, and ultimately so much more likely to spend time following you back or commenting and actively engaging in your work. I'm not sure about you but I know that I'd rather have 100 engaging followers than 100 000 fans who simply follow without knowing a single things about who the person is behind my brand. 

I find that the more relatable creatives I follow, the more I am inspired to create better content for my own feed and more my blog. Are there any Instagram profiles you absolutely love? Share them with me in the comments below. Even better than that, share your own profile below and I'll pop by and say hello. 

Here is small list of some of my current favourite profiles on Instagram, simply click each image to find them on Instagram.

Enjoy!

Fall For DIY

A Bubbly Life

Annings

Nicole Dianne

Dunne With Style

Hello everyone! Welcome back, I have a few questions for you.

Dear readers, thank you for coming back to visit after the last 2 weeks of silence here on the blog. Farmboy and I have just got back from a wonderful trip to Borneo (lots of travel information and photographs to come soon) and I have started work again today. Farmboy and I both teach English here in South Korea in a small town called Buan near the West Coast of Korea. 

If you're new to the blog then click here to find out more about what it is I write about. I've also laid out all the categories of my blog in a helpful way so don't miss out on my previous posts.

I have lots to share with you over the coming weeks but I would love to know from you what you would like to see more of here on the blog.

Are you wanting to read more in the lines of travel guides? Would you like to see more recipes? More makeup reviews? More personal posts about life here in Korea? Would you like me to make more videos (click here to visit my Youtube channel and see the videos I've done so far)?

I really do love blogging but for me what I love even more is providing useful information and content for you, and so you telling me what you'd like to see more of helps me to keep on creating.

I hope you all have a wonderful start to your week and that your Monday helps you start the week off with a bang!

AFK for the next 16 days!

AFK (away from keyboard) - hubby would be so proud to see me using his gaming lingo to describe the next 2 and a bit weeks of holiday. The Huttons (ie Farmboy & CityGirl) are off super early tomorrow morning to make our way to the airport.

As per usual we are cramming a million things into one day starting with:

An early drive to Daejeon to drop off #ShadowTheJindo at the boarding kennels > hide car somewhere where we won't incur huge fines or have our wheels clamped > race to the airport bus and hopefully get 2 tickers before they are sold out > head to the airport to make our afternoon flight to Kuala Lumpur and then onto Borneo, Malaysia.

While we are away you might want to pop by and visit me on Instagram (@roxyhutton) where I will surely be posting lots of photographs of our travels:

Or you can look through these travel posts and travel guides to help you plan your next holiday...the world is your oyster!

Water Lilies in Korea

Every month new flowers bloom here in Korea, each as unique and distinctive as the changing seasons. As this is our last year here in South Korea I am hoping to be able to capture them all with my camera.

July brings with it humidity such that I have never experienced before (I have been told Dubai is worse though so I won't complain too much) but with that humidity comes the beautiful water lilies. These photographs were taken just outside my town at around 5h30am, with one the last one being an extra special photograph of my pup, #ShadowTheJindo. 

As much as I hate spiders, they were all over the lilies and I felt I just had to include at least one of them. I'm sorry if it makes you jump!

Enjoy 

x

What's your favorite flower here in Korea? 

Things to do & places to stay in Seoul, South Korea

We had friends out from South Africa recently and spent a wonderful weekend with them in Seoul. Farmboy and I have been to Seoul numerous times (click here to see other posts with things to do in this vibrant city) but there is always more to see and do in Korea's capital.

We found a wonderful apartment on AirBnb called SeoulSketch (click here to make a booking) and stayed there for 2 nights. The apartment was clean and spacious with 2 double beds, a kitchen, living room area and bathroom.

It was perfect for 4 people and was situated only a 5 minute walk from the Gyeongbokgung Palace Subway Station.

We spent our first evening wondering around Hongdae (Hongik University Subway Line) and doing some late night shopping. The stores only close around 10/11pm and restaurants are usually open till even later. 

Saturday morning we spent walking around Samcheon-dong which is the very artsy neighbourhood surrounding Gyeongbokgung Palace. The Buckcheon Hanok Village (a traditional Korean folk village) is also right next to the palace, so you can definitely spend a good number of hours strolling around, taking photographs and eating your fill of great food. 

We spent the morning wondering around Samcheon-dong, and then headed to Myeong-dong for some more shopping in the afternoon. There are also dog & cat cafes in Myeong-dong (click here to read more about these interesting cafes) which are a fun way to spend a few hours. 

After an afternoon nap we got showered and all dressed up for a night out at Club Ocatagon, one of the famous super clubs in Gangnam. Entrance for Octagon was W10 000 before 11pm (after which it jumps up to W30 000 per person) and includes a drink. Make sure to bring ID (you must be over the age of 19) and they ask EVERYONE! Never in my life did I think I would be asked for ID at the ripe old age of 27, but I was, along with every other person in line.

Saturday morning was spent at Suji's in Itaewon for brunch (click here for a full review). Suji's is our absolute favourite place for breakfast/lunch in Seoul. Most restaurants and cafes in Seoul only open at 10am making eating more of a brunch than a breakfast.

Then it was back to Yongsan station to catch the train to take us home. You can book train tickets In English online through the Korail website using your Korean/International credit card or Korean debit card.

Do you have any other recommendations of places to see and things to do in Seoul? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

The Philippines Travel Guide: El Nido

Farmboy and I spent two weeks in the Philippines over the December holidays in 2010. Even though that was a few years ago, the following information is still relevant and all the links have been updated to help you in planning your trip. We spent a total of 5 days in Puerto Princess (click here) at the start and end of our trip, and the rest of the time we spent in El Nido.

I have been told that there are now direst flights to El Nido, but when we were there we had to take a 7 hour mini van trip. That trip was pretty horrendous as we were packed into a van with a number of other people and it was terribly uncomfortable. But it was cheap and that was the idea. We hadn't booked any accommodation before arriving, and so spent the first few hours walking from place to place in search of a room. We spent one awful night at a place on the beach called Spider Pension (AVOID AT ALL COSTS!) which consisted of a dingy room, hole in the floor for a toilet and cockroaches and flies everywhere. After that awful experience we set off early the next morning in search of anything better. We eventually found some newly build cottages set off the main road and part of Rosanna's Pension. Clean and cheap it was the perfect place to base ourselves for 3 nights. From there the restaurants and cafes were a short walk into the main part of town.

We ate a lot of our meals at Art Cafe; a wonderful laid back spot that served great food and drinks all day.

As it was the holiday period and it seemed most of the nicer places were fully booked but we eventually found a place with 2 double beds and air-conditioning. Although El Nido at the time was running on generators which turned off in the middle of the day and the middle of the night, something to keep in mind if you need to charge things or plan to have a hot shower at a particular time. We managed fine though and barely noticed the power outages. 

El Nido itself is gorgeous. When we were there it was still very undiscovered, with only a few restaurants and cafes. I think there is much more variety now, but friends have told us it is still magical and not over crowded like Boracay. From El Nido you can take boats out for the day to hundreds of different islands and spend the day seeing no one. Pure Bliss! 

We booked a 3 day 2 night island hopping tour with Tao which was both incredible and disastrous at the same time. Incredible because of the sights, but disastrous as we were served pork which had not been kept cold and gave us all food poisoning...not something you want when spending the day on a boat traveling from island to island. Even though we were all rather queasy throughout the trip, it was an incredible experience. It costs us at that time about $250 per person for all meals, boat rides and accommodation in basic local lodging.

Once back in El Nido it was New Years eve and we welcomed the new year in the woven basket pods surrounding The Alternative restaurant. We then spent 2 days hiring scooters and traveling around El Nido where there are more beautiful beaches to discover, our favourite being Nacpan Beach. Hiring scooters is a great way to avoid the crowds and it's very inexpensive too.

After our fill of beaches we headed back to Puerto Princessa by the local public bus for our final night.  We spent it the one and only 'fancy' hotel we could find, for some well deserved luxury (at the time it was $65 for a room for 4 people for the night). We did some last minute shopping at the pearl markets, and finally headed back to the bustling metropolis of Manila, and finally home to Korea.

USEFUL TRAVEL INFO FOR THE PHILIPPINES

• 30 day visa free entry for citizens of South African, USA, UK, New Zealand, Australia (and a number of other countries...click here for more info).
• Pack an emergency medicine kit. As this was only our second trip to Asia, none of us had packed the basic supplies like flu/stomach cramps/pain pills. After the food poisoning I went and got full on flu and just had to live through it for the last 4 days of our holiday...make sure to pack some nose spray/decongestants to help with any flu symptoms you may have. Rather be safe than sorry!
• Use travel apps like Orbitz to book hotels/hostels if you can (they often give discounts for using the app and you can score some great deals!)
• Pack a travel towel/cotton sarong that you can wet at night and sleep under if you don't have airconditioning. This will help keep you cool if you only have a fan in your room (and this will especially help you sleep at night if you have no fan/electricity).
• Buy a waterproof bag to store your valuables in when going on boat rides. At the very least have a few spare ziplock bags handy to store passports and cash in, just in case your bags get wet.

Do you have any recommendations of things to do and see in Puerto Princessa? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

How to Plan your own Murder Mystery Party

I organised a Murder Mystery party for Farmboys birthday and it went so well that I thought I'd share some details on it in case you too want to host one. I hadn't been to a murder mystery party before, and so really had no idea where to even begin. I started off getting in touch with a girl here in Korea who holds an annual murder mystery event, and she was so incredibly kind. She gave me all the info I needed to get started, as well as as sample character bio's. Her event is the larger end of the scale, with up to 40 people attending. As I only had 22 guest, things were a little easier. You can buy complete party kits online, and there are loads and loads of free printable goodies on Pinterest, but to really save time I followed an awesome plan I found online, put together by Nick Breen (click here).

Nick lays out an entire scenario, characters, backstories & email templates so all the hard work is done. Then it's just up to you to send out characters to your guests and hope they all dress up! I would also suggest asking a friend to help you if you aren't the creative type. I had the help of a very talented friend, Kim, who helped me in creating more characters and their backstories. Thank you Kimmie! I couldn't have done it without you!

Thank you for all the help Kim! Photo taken by Ian Bethune

I used Facebook to create an event for the party, and from there was able to send out group messages (I'm sure theses were terribly annoying at times) but they helped to let guests know what was going on, as well as to send reminders for things like directions, starting times & pre-ordering food.

The hardest part of the entire planning process was making sure I didn't send the wrong character information to the wrong person! I sent out a message 3 weeks before with the basic details of the event (time, place & theme) using the following template adapted from Nick Breens site:

You are all guests at an upscale casino in Las Vegas. You have very rare tickets to the best night of excitement on the strip; the famous Elvis Impersonator. It's 8 o'clock and everyone has gathered into the swanky casino bar for the star performer, the best Elvis Impersonator of all time. 
As the show starts, a gunshot echoes throughout the bar. The curtain comes up, and Elvis goes down. The casino's bar doors slam shut and everyone in the bar is now a suspect.

You are requested at the party to determine which of our friends is the murderer. Throughout the night you can talk to any of the suspects to see who they are and to determine if they are the murderer. One person will be the murderer, if you are not the murderer, you can try and trick everyone into believing you are, or you can simply hunt for the murderer.

I will be giving everyone attending a short character backstory. I encourage you to develop your character as much as you want. I have given you a lot of room to be creative with your character. The more you shape your characters backstory, the more believable it will be. Some of the character backstories that I will provide you with will contain clues which you must tell everyone else at the party. Piece together enough clues and you may find the murderer.

In order to guess who the murderer is, you must answer the following three questions;

1. Who Murdered Elvis
2. How did they murder Elvis
3. Why did they murder Elvis.

Each person will be allowed two guesses throughout the evening. All guesses will be made publicly. The first person to correctly guess these three questions will get a prize.  I will be sending out your character information next week so you can prepare a costume etc.  It should be a lot of fun! 

I had 22 guests and so had to create a few more characters than those suggested by Nick Breen on his blog. If you do this, you need to make sure the new character stores tie in with the existing ones. I also suggest creating one or two extra characters in case you have a few unexpected guests. You can make these character roles minor, so that if they aren't in the plot the story still makes sense.

Then I sent out the characters 2 weeks before the event, and a few final reminders in the last week.

I asked Dave (the owner of the Jeonju Diner in Jeonju) if we could host the event at his restaurant. I also asked very nicely if he would be our Elvis too. He was very gracious and went all out in preparation for his role as the murdered showman. It was fantastic.

I was thrilled to see that most people really got into character, and their costumes were great. I had asked guests to start arriving at from 7pm with the aim of the game starting at 8. I did this to make sure that everyone had arrived by the start of the event. If you do this, make sure to let people know they should not be in character until the game starts otherwise you will have people guessing and chatting about their characters, and possibly even solving the mystery before all your guests even arrive! On that note, to keep a real air of mystery, remind your guests to keep their characters secret until the actual party.

I really had a great time, and I think so did everyone else. It was a wonderful change from the usual dinner and drinks shenanigans, and it was great fun hunting for clues and sending people off onto the wrong trail in their hunt for the murderer. 

Let me know if you host your own Murder Mystery party. I'd love to hear how it goes as well as if you have any tips or advice for making things even better.

A Winnie The Pooh Baby Shower

One of my dear friends from university will soon be having a baby boy here in Korea. This is both a very exciting and scary time for her, being so far from friends and family back in South Africa. Even though it may seem incredibly daunting to some people, Vicky and her husband have done everything they need to stay up to date with how things work here when it comes to giving birth, and have an amazing support system, made up of new friends who have all come together to help in any way they can. Her friends threw her a very surprise baby shower a few weekends ago, and I was able to be part of the surprise, and to capture a few photographs of the special day. Everything was organised and put together so beautifully, and the Winnie the Pooh theme was just so cute. 

Vicky, you are so brave and so strong. I admire you more than words can say and I can't wait to meet your baby boy.

x 

For any soon to be moms here in Korea, there are a whole number of really great Facebook support groups created by fellow expat moms. Let me know in the comments section below if you would like me to put you in touch with them.

Makeup Lesson Ideas - Teaching English in Korea

Its the last week before my school breaks up for the summer holidays and all my students (and the teachers) are tired and ready for the break. I teach at an all girls middle school here in Korea, and the students are under a lot of pressure right throughout the year in anticipation of their final high school exams. Instead of simply watching movies with my students in the last few days leading up the end of the semester, I have been doing a very fun (minimal prep) lesson on makeup. I thought my girls would enjoy the lesson, but I didn't realise just how much they would get into it, as each of my classes this week have requested this lesson. I had initially only planned on doing it with my oldest students, but as each class has asked to do it, I simply modified the power point with slightly easier vocabulary for the younger students.

Here are the links to download both lessons (the higher level & the lower level) as well as a PPT with the documents to print out. I was passed on this lesson by a friend, and am not the original creator but have since modified it to suit my students). Feel free to download and edit these lessons for your students:

There are 4 parts to the entire lesson and you can use it to cover 2 lessons if needed. I have only had time to cover the first 2 parts of the lesson so far as my girls have really gotten into the colouring in part.

Breakdown of the Lesson:

1. Vocabulary for the parts of the face (students can label the parts of the face with Korean translations)

2. Makeup Vocabulary: go through the names of each makeup product and the verbs used for each product (adjust for lower level students)

3. Students design their own makeup for their 'face'

4. Listening activity: print out an image of your face (or any person) and instruct he students on how to apply the makeup. This is always lots of fun seeing whether they listen to your instructions or not.

*You can swop steps 3 & 4 around as step 3 takes the longest time

I hope you find this useful! Please do let me know if you use this lesson in your class and how it goes in the comments below.