Los Angeles Korean Festival 2012

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile! The last couple of weeks has been crazy with my dad's birthday (family get together) and his birthday trip to Korea (helped him prepare for the trip). He left Thursday and it gave me the weekend to rest. It was really nice just staying in my pj's and not doing anything! :)

Last weekend, Los Angeles had their annual Korean Festival. I've been going almost every year since I can recall. The last time I blogged about the event was in 2010. You can check out my post if you like. I went last year as well, but I didn't stay long. The people I went with wanted to leave. I made sure I went this year with someone who has similar interest as myself. I had fun that we made it a weekend thing, we went both Saturday and Sunday. Since I had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures of the event and the food I ate. Sorry! Just imagine tons of booths from eating, selling, to crafts. I'm going to post the things I got.

Saturday, October 6:

I can't remember which booth we got the fan from. The seller saw us fanning our face with paper, and told us they have a better fan than paper. They gave us this wooden fan. I like the design and the concept of the fan, but in all honesty I wouldn't pay money for this. The quality isn't that great.

Then we went to the lotus blossom booth, and I made the pink one (right one). My friend is into crafts just like myself. We wanted to make more, but they told us we can only make one. Then the monk offered us papers if we volunteer. We ended up volunteering for couple of hours to get papers (we got green, pink, red, orange, and yellow), as well as, made the purple and flower during the time. They were kind enough they even gave us lunch.

I added the pink and purple lotus blossoms with the white one I made in 2010. It's actually hanging from my ceiling. I actually might throw the white and make a new one with the papers we got. I'm thinking yellow. What do you think?

There even had a booth from Pechanga Casino. I got a free fan (I took to work because there has been two days this summer where the a/c broke) and a key chain lighter. I'm pretty impressed with the lighter. It's extremely bright!

Then we went to Verizon booth and spun the wheel. I got a cup and pen. The pen will go to good use since I lose pens often in my purse.

I got baby samples even though I don't have babies. I'll use it on myself.

Then at the udon booth, I spun and won myself two udons. I wanted the grand prize because they had cute chopsticks with the two udons.

At the children's section, I made a topper and flower. The flower will come in handy. I can make it my next project.

The Hanmi Bank was giving out wet wipes. I put it in my bag and pull them out whenever I need one. Also if you play their baseball game, they give away a prize. You get a choice of baseball, blue, or pink pig. I wanted the blue piggie, but they ran out. They only had the pink one, but I'm still happy.

Then we got our free clay the professional made that day. The hardest part was carrying this around while it was still wet!

I picked this one because of the heart shaped top.

Sunday, October 7:

We went back Sunday for this tote. We wanted to make one on Saturday, but they closed early. You get to paint your own tote but unfortunately, it was a different design.

Other than getting the tote, we ate as well. I wished I took pictures. I need to be better. My bad!

Los Angeles Korean Festival and My Haul

I didn't have a chance to visit all four days of Los Angeles Korean Festival. I did visit Saturday and I had a blast!!! :)

I knew they had been doing this for years, but I didn't know it was their 37th year! Wow oh wow!... hehe~ I took a picture of the main stage.

The first thing we visited was the main event, bi-bim-bahp (mixed rice), that occurred at 11:30 a.m. They mixed bi-bim-bahp in that big bowl. It took more than 5 people to mix the rice!... hehe~

After they mixed the rice, they gave a bowl for the audience to taste it. I was expecting a small size but they actually gave a decent amount. It was so delicious! I had seconds... lol~ :X

After eating bi-bim-bahp, I went shopping at the vendors. Not all the vendors are for shopping, some had games and gave away free stuff.

There's another section of vendors where they sell food and have free activities. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture but I did take one of the activity. You get to paint gold on a black background. I didn't take the whole painting because it was huge, people were blocking it, and the sun was in the wrong direction... hehe~ The other side had a building with a Korean flag (in the picture is American flag).

Here's another free activity; you make flowers and/or hanging flowers. This activity was the most packed!!! It was hard to get through and there was a waiting list to make these.

Here's the flower I got to make. I love it so much!... hehe~ I'm so into paper flowers. I have quite a few at home. :)

Since the activity was so packed, I didn't want to move to the other table to make this. I asked them if I can take it home to make and they said okay. I wanted pink and green, but I'm thankful they just gave me anything... hehe~ :) I took this picture after I glued the papers. For that reason, I didn't pull the green leaves down yet... hehe~ ;)

The last activity I visited was the stamping. The gentleman was holding my artwork and the lady was holding my flower... hehe~

Here's my first artwork the kind gentleman was holding... hehe~ This is my favorite out of the two I did! :)

This is my second artwork. It's such a cute character!

After visiting all the vendors, we went to the parade that occurred at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Here's a Korean marching band.

Here's the female dancers dancing with the rope. It was gorgeous!

Here's the last picture I'm going to share about the parade. There were more than these... hehe~ :P  They were performing a tak kwon do stunt; chopping the wooden block.

Now for my haul and freebies... hehe~

I came home with this huge, free bag from Verizon. I had my haul and all the goodies I got inside.

These are some of the free stuff. On the left is the free catalog mentioning the event and the important people of Los Angeles. I got 5 free fans. I gave all of them away except for the one with the black handle. That was my favorite one!... hehe~ I got some ginger candies which I gave to my dad, and some pen and pencils.

Here's some more freebies clockwise from top left; car CD holder, some wooden chair toy, squeezable golf ball, thermal band-aid that smells bad (lol~), travel tag that lights up, plastic light-up game, key chain that lights up and other (whistle and direction), and army style key chain holder that you put around your neck (the last two are in the middle.). Please excuse my explanation!... lol~ :P

I also got a free poster that I got to choose. Of course I choose the Korean drama I recently fell in love with, Baking Kim Tak Goo... hehe~ :)

Now for what I have bought...

At one vendor, I bought some beauty products... hehe~ :X I bought Princess BB cream ($10 originally $25), Cosline eyeshadow ($2.50), and Cosline sheet mask ($2). It should have come out to $14.50, but they only charged me for $12... woo hoo~ It's like I got the eyeshadows for free!!! :) I will review these products later.

From the same vendor, they gave me these samples for free.

Inside it has a toner and lotion for acne-prone skin. Since I can't use it, I will give them away... hehe~

At another vendor, I bought hair accessories and a bracelet.

Pink felt hair clip. It's so gorgeous and it was the last one they had.

Pink fuzzy hair pin. I gave this one to my niece. It looks adorable on her! :)

Brown fuzzy hair pin.

Gray fuzzy hair pin. I think I've recently been into flower hair accessories... lol~ :X

Blue beaded bracelet. It's very simple and classic looking at least for me... hehe~ They were all $1 each.

The last vendor I got the cutest thing... hehe~

A cute 3D Hello Kitty key chain. It's really heavy!... hehe~ The Hello Kitty is full of white crystals. The picture does not do justice!!! The best part it was 50% off. I got it for $7.25 originally $14.50.

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the freebies. I got the freebies from the Los Angeles Korean Festival. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Fruity Lashes Giveaway Prize, Kim Tak Goo, and Los Angeles Korean Festival

Fruity Lashes had a giveaway and gave away 5 wonderful prizes. How nice of her!!! I won her 5th prize... woo hoo~ It came in Monday the day of my Father's birthday, and he wasn't the only one who received something... hehe~

She included more than I expected!

It had sample perfumes.

She included some skin care samples. I can't wait to try out Skin MD. I remember when people had giveaways for these. I was hoping I would win one so I can try this product out... hehe~ It's all good I got a sample now. :)

She also included a Watsons sheet mask. I have heard of this brand and read people's reviews. I can't wait to try this myself... wheee~

Lastly, she included some candies. They were delicious! It didn't even last a day... hehe~ :X Now for the prizes I won.

Urban Decay lipgloss in Lust. This will be my second lipgloss from this line. My first one was in Quiver.

I compared the colors of the lipglosses. The one on the left is Lust and Quiver on the right.

Kanebo sample skin care line; cleanser, toner, and lotion. It came in a cute, plastic container. I can't wait to try this out... wheee~

It's been two weeks since this drama ended, and I really miss watching it!... wahhh~ :( I usually don't mention Korean dramas, but I really do recommend this.

"Baking, Kim Tak Goo"

If you have the opportunity, I recommend watching it. It has 30 episodes and ended with a high rating of 49%. That's pretty high! ;)

I mentioned in my past post about the Los Angeles Korean Festival this weekend starting tonight, September 30th. They finally updated their website with the schedule. I'm so excited!!! :)

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are given to me as a winning prize. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.

Credit: Soompi

Folica Haul, Buxon Mascara, and Los Angeles Korean Festival

End of August, I received my Folica haul. I wanted to post this haul as soon as I received it to make sure I receive it before mentioning about the glitch on their website. The day I received it, they fixed the glitch *sigh*. :/ Sorry, my bad! Anyways, to my haul.

I bought three Batiste Dry Shampoo (I will review these later), it was a package deal, and received a free, mini Solia 1/2" flat iron. That's where the glitch was. You're suppose to buy $50 worth of products to get the mini flat iron, but it worked out with $11 worth of products. :/

I was really excited to receive the mini, flat iron! I've always wanted one to take for traveling or on days when I only want to do my bangs... hehe~

In the box, it came with the mini flat iron, one hand glove, and an instruction. I've used it couple of times and think it's about time I review it... hehe~

Product Review: Solia 1/2" Mini Styling Iron

Where can you purchase this: anywhere they sell Solia brand, but I got it from Folica
Price: free, it's worth $40

Made in PRC

Information on top: Only 6" inches long. The Solia mini styling iron utilizes a unique concave/convex plate technology that offers you styling versatility from a sleek straight look to flips and curls for the ultimate frizz-free style.
My thoughts: Even though I knew it was suppose to be "MINI," I didn't expect it to be that small... lol~ :X It's the size of a hand or at least my hand... lol~ :P It's really cute to be honest, because of the size. Other than the size, the next thing I looked for was the on/off button and temperature adjustment. This doesn't have temperature adjustment. It heats up to the maximum of 400 degree Fahrenheit/200 degree Celsius. The last thing I tend to look for is the end of where the cord is. I hate any styling tools that can get tangle from styling your hair. Thankfully, this has a turn around cord where it shouldn't get tangles... hehe~

When I opened the box, what really excited me was the hand glove! All the flat irons I have/had didn't come with a hand glove. I had to deal with the heat very cautiously... hehe~ Now that I have a hand glove, I can use this with my other styling tools... yippie~ :)

I finally gave it a try and thought it was decent!

Before:

Here's how my bangs/top layer of my hair looked. I have super straight hair, but I have a tendency to tie my hair from the heat... hehe~ :P

After:

Look hot straight it is now!... wheee~

Pros:
* Solia; a great name brand.
* Mini size to take for traveling, and good for short hair and bangs.
* Comes with a hand glove.
* It straightens pretty decently.

Cons:
* Only comes with one temperature; 400 degree Fahrenheit/200 degree Celsius.
* Doesn't come with a bag to put your flat iron in.

Would I buy this again: Yes.
Rating:  4/5 Tobey's Paws


This past week I visited Sephora inside JCPenny. They are giving out free, good size Buxon Mascara in Blackest Black.

I will review this later... hehe~ You need a coupon to get this freebie. ;)

I'm going to end this post with the Los Angeles Korean Festival coming this weekend. It starts Thursday, September 30th with Kim Yuna (Olympic, female ice skating champion) opening. The concert ends with Wonder Girls closing on Saturday, October 2nd. My favorite is the fair with yummy, delicious food and Korea products for cheap (both Saturday and Sunday)... hehe~ You can get more information on their website and Facebook. I hope for the people who are around LA, you can join. It's a fun event!... hehe~ :)

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post are bought with my own money except for the Solia Mini flat iron, gift with purchase, and Buxom Mascara, freebie from Sephora inside JCPenny. I am not affiliated with any company nor getting paid to advertise any products. This post is written with my honest opinion.