Adventures in Asia

Do I have time to watch a Korean drama? No. Do I have slightly more time recently than usual? Yes. Was this one worth it? YES. I had a few reservations about “I Am Not a Robot” (2017) at the beginning. First, I wasn’t a fan of the shorter episodes (30 minutes each) and didn’t recognize the channel, and thus thought it might be a cable show – which didn’t seem promising. Second, it was clearly a rich-guy-falls-for-poor-girl story, which is a bland trope in dramaland. However, it was recommended as “cute” by a friend and ranked highly online, so I decided to give it a shot. I quickly discovered that though the episodes are shorter, there are 32 of them, which allows for 16 hours of drama, which is a normal season. Also, the acting was excellent and overall quality of the drama certainly wasn’t lacking. As for the trope, I’ll dive in to that later. The story is something like this… Kim Min Kyu is a wealthy, successful chairman of a financial company with ...

In case you didn’t know, Korean skincare and beauty products are AMAZING. They’re generally affordable, and they work. Since moving to Asia, I’ve slowly stopped bringing over or importing my American go-tos and have discovered more and more Korean (and other Asian) products that I prefer way more! Here are my current Top 10. (Note: I purchased all of these myself, except for one gift from my husband, and currently own and use all products pictured. None are sponsored.) (Another Note: I've included links for those brands that have English websites [click on the brand name]. Many of these products can also be found on Amazon or other third-party sellers.)     TONYMOLY : I’m Real Sheet Masks (South Korea) While I've enjoyed every mask I've tried from TonyMoly, I’m obsessed with these two in particular from the “I’m Real” line: Avocado for Nutrition and Rice for Clear Skin. As someone with an ongoing struggle with adult acne, this rice mask calm...