Author: Jessica Moy

SEOUL ADVENTURE

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The dream of travelling to Seoul, South Korea has come true. Is this real life? Last weekend my best friend Emily and I met in Seoul to discover the city that features an abundance of palaces, food, shopping and is also a place that has a population of 10,000,000. Yup. 10 MILLION! One of our first stops was to Changgyeonggung Palace, located smack dab in the heart of Seoul. The palace was built by the 4th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty for his retiring father AND served as residence for queens and concubines. There is also an enormous garden in the back but we didn’t have time to see it. 😦 Next time. Watch my Seoul Adventure vlog below! Among sightseeing, we also went to a psychic, hung out at a dog cafe, raved in Gangnam and ate way too much street food. After an eventful weekend, we took the KTX train back to Busan. It felt good to be home since Busan is less congested, and I missed the beach (below = Haeundae). You just …

GOLD COLLAGEN LIP & EYE MASKS

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I’ve been in Busan, South Korea for almost a month. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! Among the bustle that continues to be my life, I took today off to pamper myself with Spa Splurge Collection’s Gold Collagen Under Eye Mask & Lip Mask. These lip and eye masks work to diminish fine lines and moisturize the areas where they are placed. Both are made with ingredients such as rose oil, vitamin E and gold powder (OoOoO). If I were to compare how they feel I’d say, like a slippery fish out of water.. that’s the best description I can give, you’d understand if you felt them. Both masks have a light, fresh scent and easy to apply under eyes and on lips. They felt snug when applied but I ended up lying down since they slowly slipped away as I moved. The masks felt GLORIOUS on my skin, the collagen immediately worked to make my under eyes and lips feel smoother. After 20 minutes I took both masks off. I could feel my lips and under eyes become tighter and the areas looked shiner. Overall, …

MY FIRST APARTMENT

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IS THIS HOW YOU ADULT?! I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I moved into my first apartment. I’ve been feeling ecstatic and overwhelmed but incredibly happy to live in a place that is comfortable, spacious, and has way too many beauty products in the bathroom. I don’t have a shower mat nor proper plates to eat from, but I do have two cleansers, three face masks, and five moisturizers cluttering the bathroom cabinet. #priorities Speaking of beauty products, South Korea is the EPICENTRE of beauty. Every third store on any main street is either The Face Shop, Etude, Skinfood, The Body Shop, etc. It’s beauty heaven. The day after I moved in I went into The Face Shop and bought Chia Seed Hydrating Emulsion. The store employee (bless her soul) did not speak a word of English but knew by looking at my face that I had extremely dry skin. She threw what I needed in a bag, took a hand full of free samples, chucked those in and smiled as I left. Love her. …

EPIK ORIENTATION

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I’M ALIVE! This post is dedicated to my mom who has been wondering why I haven’t written a blog post in a week. As she is one of my three dedicated readers, I thought I would get on top of it and post a life update. Here we go.. I left Toronto, Canada on February 17, arrived in Seoul, South Korea on February 18, and transferred to Busan, South Korea that evening. The plane ride was quite comfortable, but I did get a little stir crazy around the 12 hour mark.. it was a 15 hour flight total. To pass the time away I read Amy Poehler’s “Yes Please” (I recommend) and watched Aladdin, Goosebumps and a couple episodes of Friends. I attempted to sleep, but who can actually sleep on an airplane? You’re a bionic human of some sort if you can. I stayed at the Busan University of Foreign Studies for a week to attend EPIK orientation. More on that subject in my vlog below. 😉 This is the wonderful view I got to …

PEACE OUT CANADA

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I move to Busan, South Korea this week. How crazy is my life right now.. I could go on and on about about the importance of chasing after your dreams and finding yourself from outside your comfort zone but, that’s boring and frankly, you already know that mumbo jumbo. As a result, I edited a video of all my favourite vlogging moments since I started in April 2015 to remind myself of the amazing friends and family I have back in Canada and the importance of diving head first into new opportunities.. this could be the best damn thing I ever do for myself. SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!

PARIS, FRANCE

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HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FRIENDS! What better way to celebrate than with reminiscing about the time earlier this year I went to the city of loooooooove. Of course Lucerne, Switzerland was breathtaking but Paris.. oh my god. Paris redefines beauty. To give you a little bit of a backstory of why I went to Paris, a couple years ago I bought a journal at Target and it features a pretty girl dressed in white, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. When I saw it I told myself one day that girl will be me! I was going through a rough patch at this time in my life so it gave me a little bit of hope that I’m not always going to be stuck in a small suburban bubble forever. The below photo is me recreating the image from the journal. It reminds me that inspiration can come from anywhere, who knew a $9.99 notebook from Target would spark big plans. After floating on cloud nine from touring around the Eiffel Tower, I made my way …

LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND

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After our wonderful week in Italy, Switzerland was the next destination on our itinerary. The Swiss mountains weren’t the only thing that were high.. ok calm down this isn’t Amsterdam, I was referring to the food prices. They were ridiculous! For instance, I spent $35CDN on a serving of mac & cheese at a local bar. I don’t care if it was the best mac & cheese I’ve ever had with caramelized onions, apple slices and potato. That -ish broke the bank. Lucerne, Switzerland is absolutely beautiful. If you end up in visiting this scenic city I recommend going up 7,000 feet to the top of Mt. Pilatus. I went with 35 or so Australians who have never seen snow before and as a Canadian, it was a special moment to see them all run outside in excitement. The girls immediately started making snow angels and all the guys wanted to do was pee on the snow and take a picture of it. So. It took a gondola lift and cable car to get to the …

5 DATING TIPS TO CONSIDER OR WHATEVER

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Valentine’s Day is approaching and whether you’re a bitter Betty or look forward to receiving edible underwear from your last minute desperate-times-calls-for-desperate-measures Tinder date, the commercial day of love is going to happen, whether you like it or not. It’s been awhile since I’ve written an advice post and thought I’d give my five cents when it comes to love and relationships. First thing you should know, never come to me for dating advice. You’re probably wondering, why the heck am I reading this post then? I don’t know, you chose to be here (I’m thankful for it, love you, please don’t leave me). When it comes to sage advice, I provide insight when it comes to how to sweet talk your way to floor seats at a concert, how to use chopsticks without offending your ancestors, and (my specialty) how to look like you have your life together when you really do not.. but when it comes to “Jessica what should I do if the guy I met on Tinder who I’ve been ‘seeing’ for two months isn’t returning …

VENICE, ROME, FLORENCE ITALY

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CIAO! Happy Friday ya’ll. I’m coming at you with some of the highlights of my trip to Italy, one of my favourite countries I visited in Europe. First stop was Venice, Italy. We went to Venice the morning after New Years Eve in Ljubljana, Slovenia so hardly anyone was awake to appreciate the sinking city any time before noon. However, the endless amounts of gelato, pizza and pasta was a hangover blessing. After we filled our bellies with delicious Italian delicacies we participated in a gondola tour, a super touristy attraction but WHEN IN VENICE! I asked our gondola driver (rower?) to serenade us but he shut that down real quick. He also shouted at us to not move or else we’ll tip over. Not at all like how I pictured a lovely gondola ride in Venice but it was pretty while it lasted. After Venice, it was off to Roma. We went on a beautiful lookout of the Roman Forum, which is situated between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum. Three thousand years ago it was the …

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA

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Waking up on my last night in Budapest I felt like a new person. As I mentioned in my previous post I had a terrible cough but good sleep and a hot shower revived me! After we left beautiful Budapest we made our way to Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana [LUBE-LEE-AH-NA]. We only had 14 hours (including sleep) to spend in Ljubljana and what better date to spend one night than NEW YEARS EVE! After dinner we walked to Castle Hill and hopped on a cable car which took us up to the Ljubljana Castle, which served as both a royal residence and a military barracks over the centuries. The entire evening on New Years Eve was spectacular filled with live bands, an energetic crowd, and twinkling lights galore. At the town square we watched fireworks shoot beautifully from the castle and everywhere you walked thereafter, pyro shows lit up the sky, even as late as 4AM. New Years Eve was one of my favourite nights while in Europe. It was invigorating to be in a city that was unfamiliar, …

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

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“My house in Budapest, my hidden treasure chest, golden grand piano, my beautiful Castillo you oooooh, you, oooooh, I’d leave it all.” Love me some George Ezra. The drive from Krakow, Poland to Budapest, Hungary was a long one, around six hours with a stop in Slovakia for lunch. Eastern Europe is known for their slow service so if you sit down at any restaurant, expect to wait at least an hour for your food. I learned this the hard way. When we finally arrived in Budapest it was evening time and the city was aglow. Our first sight was of Budapest Parliament, twinkling in all its glory. The next morning I slept in, took my time to walk around the city, and SOMEHOW ended up finding a Cat Cafe. I obviously had to go in and pet all of the cute kitties. The one featured below is likely plotting my death since I stuck my camera in its face and took 100 selfies. I then walked to Heroes’ Square where I had a fantastic view …

KARLIE KLOSS INTERVIEWS BAD ASS WOMEN IN TECH

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Karlie Kloss, the six foot American supermodel who I am BFF’s with in my head (I’m also BFF’s with Selena Gomez and Wendy Williams) has created an inspiring YouTube video series I think you should see. Karlie started her own YouTube channel “Klossy” last year, which has become an obsession of mine. I love watching her vlogs about her exciting life as a model and most recently, her interviews with five women who are “inspiring CEO’s, students and bad ass entrepreneurs in tech.” She teamed up with ELLE UK to interview her first women in tech, Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe. Check it out below!

KRAKOW, POLAND

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Vienna, Austria was a magical place to spend Christmas evening and as much as I wanted to stay (re: live), I made my way to a place I never thought I’d ever travel to let alone fall in love with: Krakow, Poland. The. Food. Was. Unbelievable. If I wasn’t eating perogies of all kinds, especially ones stuffed with blueberries and strawberries and topped with icing sugar, it was my fav. I also enjoyed dark chocolate drizzled on homemade waffles, pork & potatoes and grilled cheese & cranberry sauce (see pic below). Everything was seriously drool worthy. I made my way to Wawel Castle, Poland’s version of London’s Buckingham Palace and West minster Abbey rolled into one. It is absolutely stunning. The castle was built in the 14th century as a residence of Polish kings but in the 20th century it was taken into the hands of Nazi Governor General, Hans Frank, during the German occupation of WWII. According to legend, before Wawel Castle was built it was a hill that housed a cave with a fire-breathing dragon. The dragon was known for terrorizing the city …