Sunday 24 August 2014
My honest shopping guide to London on Alvinology
Hi people, my latest travel writing piece has been published on Alvinology: The Honest Shopping Guide to London. It is not your typical travel guide to a city - in fact, it is a mix of practical advice when it comes to shopping in London with some handy tips about how to make the most of your trip to London when it comes to buying something meaningful and memorable, rather than the usual crap that most tourists get. Indeed, when a friend from Singapore came to visit me, I got the chance to see exactly just what kind of overpriced crap he bought whilst in town whilst he was packing to leave and I was like, "I can't believe you paid that much for it..." (I had to censor myself, I couldn't actually say that...)
It's not so much an anti-shopping article per se, rather, it is me appealing to your common sense - that it is better to spend a lot of money on something that you will treasure for years to come, than to buy a lot of cheap stuff that you will throw away within a few months. I actually do enjoy the process of shopping but living in a central London flat means that I have to be fairly selective as to what I buy - quality vs quality as I simply don't have the space to horde stuff that I will never use. Some of it may be common sense but other tips may not be obvious at all. I'd be interested to hear what you think. So please do have a read of the article please and let me know if you like it, thank you for reading!
The points that you made in general seems somewhat alike to what I would say about Japan, and well, for South Korea though, I would say that number 1 is totally different. South Korea is well-known for relatively cheap and good-quality grooming products and fashion items, and I myself have to say that being conversant in Korean and familiar with the delivery (speed delivery in fact) culture of mailing and internet ordering in South Korea, you can actually get addicted more so than in any other country in the world. The fourth tip which you gave about buying British products in the UK is similar to what I would say about living or traveling in South Korea: BUY KOREAN PRODUCTS. Korea is actually well-known for its cosmetics and toiletries, and the prices are sometimes only 1 third of what you pay in western and Japanese stores and department stores! That also explains why South Koreans have very good skin and hair, and also a good FASHION SENSE!
ReplyDeleteHi Kev, thanks for your comment. Where are you now? Japan/Korea? Cos I probably am heading to Japan/Korea in 2015 - food and shopping - I can't wait. And I will get right back to studying Korean after my trip to Tunisia (currently studying Arabic).
DeleteOh and I will study Japanese too.
I am actually in my last day in South Korea, and going through some bittersweet moments as I ready myself to leave. I have to admit that as a person, over the years, the majority of the quality friendships that I have made are still in Canada and then South Korea, and well, although some friends are elsewhere in the world such as Taiwan, I doubt that I have had any friends worthy of mention back in Singapore. As for Japan, I do not feel much for it sadly, even after leaving it, and do not feel much of a need to study Japanese as much as I made some friends there. I was aching to leave it after 2 years to be honest. I am actually better at Korean much more than any other foreign language, and sometimes even feel that I have greater affinity with the Koreans than others.
DeleteI still have no idea what my dates are for JP/KR, so I will drop you a line when I know - but it looks like you're going back to Canada?
DeleteI am going to be Down Under actually. I guess that a few more years down the road, I am going down "the road of no return" to return that red passport to the Singapore consulate or embassy in Canberra LOL. About Japan, and South Korea, I actually know the former relatively well, but the latter more so because I speak the language and have many friends there. Am not sure if I will get back there once I become an Australian citizen, but it is possible, and if I marry a Korean or Korean-Australian/Canadian wife, that probably makes it easier too.
DeleteLIFT I can pass you my old Japanese books if you need them. I'm way beyond the stage of learning from books now.
ReplyDeleteHiya, thanks for the offer. One step at a time - I am still struggling away with Arabic, I actually do have some Japanese text books as well myself! I am also in the process of completing basic Korean at the same time and whilst nothing is confirmed at this stage (ie. I have no booked the air ticket), the intention is to do the big Japan + Korea trip soon and call me strange, but I love nothing more than being forced to study a foreign language when going on holiday. It's like my friends are telling me, "you already speak French, that's enough for Tunisia, it's an ex French colony and it's very French speaking, you don't need to learn Arabic" but I'm like yeah but learning Arabic is fun, trying to speak Arabic is fun.
DeleteBut more to the point, I'm sure when I do visit Japan, if I do speak some Japanese, it would be useful as I am sure I will encounter Japanese people who don't speak any English.
About the Japanese, you can be sure though that even if they do not know any English, they will do their best to help you. I know this enough based on personal experience after having lived a few years there.
DeleteI totally agree about spending money on experience rather than crappy souvenirs. When we were in Mexico last time, I bought rosaries for my sisters and sils. My son bought a bracelet. That was it. We spent less than $50.00. If not for the rosaries from the Basilica of Guadalupe, I would have spent less than $5.00 on just the bracelet. We spent money on water sports and food instead. My son swam with the dolphins, went surfing, parasailing, and jet-skiing. You are so right when you said you do no need to buy British only in Britain. Hello, online shopping! Here's my philosophy, if you have money, you can shop for almost anything from anywhere these days. However, I can't buy the experience of the place from my laptop. Some shopping is fine, but I'd rather be exploring the city.
ReplyDeleteI am looking at what to buy in Tunisia at the moment and I realize that the things that I really like are either a) already available in London where I live and/or b) available via the internet (hence I don't need to go to Tunisia to get) and/or c) not really Tunisian products (but Italian or Turkish etc products). Gonna travel v light then, since it's gonna be hot there.
DeleteYou need Neutrogena SPF 110. It's the highest I have come across. Rumors has it there is SPF 150 on the market. Probably in Japan/Korea as the women there take pride in being fair.
ReplyDeleteYes I will - I peeled so badly from the sun burn in Greece and I don't intend to have a repeat of that. Tunisia will be a welcome change, it was about 15 degrees in London and rained non-stop all day today. It is going to be weather similar to Singapore when I get there. Some dry weather would be nice.
DeleteBut also, please check out my latest article about Tunisian love rats and let me know what you think - am I too harsh? A woman's POV would be much welcomed, thanks.
Just checked, it's currently 12 degrees. Some English summer eh?
DeleteYou need to re-apply sunblock every few moments of exposure, such as 30 minutes, or after perspiration and so on. Basically, the level of sunscreen protection factor is not as important as the duration for which you have it on your skin. That is, SPF 30--the level recommended by dermatologists--which is re-applied constantly is better than SPF110 which is applied only once.
DeleteThe sunscreens in Korea are actually much better than some of the sunscreens in Europe, although I recall Vichy having some rather good ones. I use the sunscreens from this Korean brand, O'Hui, which are somewhat more expensive than normal mass market brands, but they work relatively well at SPF 50 and PA+++. The PA+++ is in fact much more important because it protects from inner DNA damage.
Delete12 degrees is too cold for summer even for someone like me who likes grey skies and cool weather. Around 20 is ok. It was blazing hot this afternoon when my son had his tennis tournament. I did not stay and drove home to nap. You need a sun hat for Tunisia. I noticed you did not wear hats in Greece.
ReplyDelete