T.O.P Korea - Part 1

As I've written before, I won the T.O.P Girl 2013 competition held by The Faceshop... By winning I got various prizes, and one of it includes a 3-days-trip to Korea. After the long wait and a lot of preparation, it's finally June 30th... the day to fly to Kimchi land finally came.

I had Mba Inge from The Faceshop and Mba Maria from Cosmo Girl together on the trip with me. I was actually quite nervous the trip would turn into a deadly silent journey due to the age differences, but both of them were very nice and funny, I actually had a great time talking and spending the trip with them :)

Our flight was at 5:45 am and we flew with Singapore airlines. The flight from Jakarta to Singapore took 3 hours. The best thing about early morning flight is the view you get to see while you're up in the air. I had the chance to look at the sunrise from the airplane window and it was b-e-a-u-tiful. The gorgeous color of the burning sun is breathtaking... It made all the waking up early worth it.

After we landed in Changi, we walked straight to the connecting flight to Incheon, Korea. Oh yes, my bum was numb. But God bless the inflight meals and entertainment services. Okay, question... Am I the only who loves that bread they serve on airplanes? I mean the bread and the butter is loveeeee.. Anyone else like them as much as I do? Anyway, I had really delicious meal on board and I had the chance to watch 'The Croods', 'The Werewolf Boy' and Warm Bodies' while we were up on the air.

*A little commentary on 'Warm Bodies', it's definitely a movie with a ridiculous story, but Nicholas Hoult is such an eyecandy and the soundtracks & scores of the movie is really good. Featuring songs from Jimmy Cliff, Feist, Bon Iver, Guns N' Roses, M83 and many more. Go get the songs!*

We arrived in Incheon at around 5 PM. It was really gooooooood to be breathing Korean air again. My first visit to Korea, was back in October 2011. It's been more than a year, I really missed Korea and its beauty.

 I was literally smiling from ear to ear the moment we stepped out of the airplane. I was really happy to stand in the Korean immigration queueing line again, I was so thrilled when I picked up my luggage from the baggage handling machine and on top of all that... I was really really happy to be able to use my Korean skills again. I needed to put it to practice again.

Outside the arrival gate, one of The Faceshop part time worker has been waiting for us. She was holding that welcome board, I was actually sort of shocked. I've traveled quite a lot, but never once I had anyone holding a welcome board for me. Haha.

But when I thought welcome board was already shocking enough, we had photographers and videographers following us, recording and taking photos of us. Few people were staring, and truthfully it was quite uncomfortable. Or maybe it was uncomfortable because my hair was a mess and I was totally freaking out on how it would come out in the photos? I'm not sure.

After taking individual and group shots per country, we headed to the bus and went to the hotel. I sat next to the T.O.P Girl from China, Yanruo. She's so cute and very nice. We both talked on why we joined the competition, our interest in K-Pop, who was our bias, favorite K-Drama, etc until we reached the hotel.

The Plaza Hotel Seoul is located right in front of the City Hall (서울광장), this was the hotel we were staying in. I was told that the T.O.P Girls were going to be sleeping as roommates, but turns out I had a single bed room, so I had to sleep alone.

The Plaza Hotel Seoul gave really great service. The staff who took me to my room was definitely a great staff. He saw my board and asked which part of Indonesia I came from, and I explained to him that I'm currently living in Jakarta but my hometown is in Bali. And he told me stories about his Indonesian friend, and how he would love to visit Bali someday. He also asked me what Faceshop is, and what event is going on. He was bubbly and kind, thank you for that... (note: his English was pretty good for a Korean; claps for The Plaza Hotel Seoul HRD Manager)

The room was also very nice, although I would prefer it even more if I had gotten the other side of the building, so I can get a view of the City Hall... But I was too happy upon receiving the welcome gifts The Faceshop had prepared for me in the room, I couldn't complain about anything else :)

The Faceshop had prepared:

• Pomegranate & avocado mask sheets
• Rice Water Bright Cleansing Foam
• White Secret Body Travel Kit (incl. Bright capsule body wash, Whitening body essence and Brightening body scrub)
• Chia Seed Sebum Control Special Kit (incl. Sebum control moisture cream, Watery lotion and Watery toner)
• Chia Seed Moisture - Holding Seed Cream
• Natural Sun AQ Super White Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA+++
• 2 Face it Power Perfection BB Cream

and my two personal favorites: Lovely Me:ex Pure My Lips lipgloss & Raspberry Roots Sleeping Mask!! Thank you The Faceshop!

Along with the gifts, there was also an invitation to The Faceshop's 10th Anniversary dinner... 

"Welcome to Korea!
We are happy to welcome you to THEFACESHOP
in the special year of 10th anniversary.

We hope you enjoy your stay
with us and get to know more
about our brand with our special programs.

An unforgettable night is waiting ahead of you!

See you there." 

Yes, it is an invitation to the dinner where, we, T.O.P Girls, will be crowned by The Faceshop's brand ambassador and Asia's Smiling Prince, Kim Hyun Joong, himself. But, stories on the second day will go to the next post! 

After settling in my room and bathing, I decided to eat dinner with Kak Noven, my brother from another mother (and another father also, lol). I decided to eat in Hongdae area, 'cause I missed Hongdae way too much! And we decided to eat Korean BBQ, so we chose 푸드카페 (홍대점) and... boy did we ate a lot!! We called mom while we were eating, and she wishes she was in Korea with us... well mom, it's about time you buy a ticket for a family trip to Korea *fingers crossed*

* * *

After dinner, Kak Noven took me back to the hotel and I went straight to bed. The long flight was very tiring, and we had to wake up early tomorrow for the F/W products launching, followed with the anniversary dinner which will be hold until 11 PM. So, I think early snoozing would be the wisest decision.

That would be all on the first day of this exciting 3 days trip to Korea with The Faceshop. Let me just take time to thank the Good Lord for this amazing opportunity given to me. I am humbled to be trusted as T.O.P Girl, despite the many areas I am lacking in. And I am very grateful for this chance to visit Korea again (in fact, for free this time!). The excitement has just begun, more posts coming on the other 2 days! Please visit my blog for more stories~

P.S: *Out of all the travel I have done, never once I wore heels. But mom made sure I didn't bring my dirty sneakers with me on this trip. So I paired my Dust black skinny jeans and a top I bought in Bangkok (which I also wore on the photo I applied for this competition) with a Montego Bay Club wedges. If any of you would like to buy a footwear that has heels to make your petite body a little taller, but you want comfort and you prefer something not too flashy but still fashionable... I suggest you head to Payless and buy this pair of wedges! I wore it not only during the flight but also through out my 3 days trip in Korea and I personally think it's really comfortable.*

xo, Chrisya S.