Unboxing: Fall/Winter 2023 Haul

(Warning: This post is extremely long and photo-heavy.)

So, between my birthday, Black Friday, and the holiday sales in general, I bought a lot of stuff. Like, A LOT OF STUFF.

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max in White Titanium
Casetify MagSafe Clear Cases for iPhone 15 Pro Max by The Little Red House
(Left to right: Moon Bear with Boba, Red Panda with Leaf, and Happy Octopus with Takoyaki)
Casetify Impact Cases for iPhone 15 Pro Max by The Little Red House(Left to right: Taiyaki with Bunny, Mice with Egg Tart, and Spring Time Bunnies)
Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)
Elago AirPods Pro 2 Strawberry Ice Cream Case Cover
I traded in my old iPhone 13 Pro Max and got a new iPhone 15 Pro Max for my birthday. So obviously, I had to get cases for it. Coincidentally, Casetify was having a 30% off discount for Black Friday, so I bought not one, not two, but six phone cases. (Variety is the spice of life?) Then my colleague wanted to take advantage of a 20% off promotion at Costco on Apple products, but he needed to spend a minimum of $1,000 and all he wanted was an iPad. I figured since I would have to get USB-C adaptors for all my Lightning connectors because of the iPhone 15, it would be easier to just switch all my iPhone accessories to wireless, so I got a pair of AirPods Pro to take advantage of the discount. I actually wasn't going to get a case for it initially, but then I saw this one shaped like an ice cream bar, and that was that. 

Tiffany & Co. Return to Tiffany Silver Mini Heart Tag Stud Earrings
Also as a birthday present to myself this year (and to celebrate my work bonus), I got a pair of new Tiffany Return to Tiffany heart tag earrings to replace my really old ones from 15 years ago. There was no sale or anything. I just thought they were cute.

Fresh Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum 100ml x 2 and Sugar Lemon Eau de Parfum 30ml
Fresh Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum 100ml x 2 and Sugar Lemon Eau de Parfum 30ml
Fresh Sugar Lychee Body & Hand Wash and Body Lotion
Fresh Hesperides Grapefruit Body & Hand Wash and Body Lotion
Fresh Milk Bodycare Set: Milk Body Cleanser, Body Lotion, and Hand Cream
Fresh Tea Elixir Skin Resilience Activating Serum, Lotus Youth preserve Dream Face Cream, and Lotus Youth Preserve Eye Cream
Fresh Holiday Gift: Kombucha Facial Treatment Essence, Black Tea Advanced Age Renewal Cream, Tea Elixir Skin Resilience Activating Serum, Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment, and Soy Face Cleanser
Fresh was having a 30% off sale for Black Friday, so I decided to stock up on my favourite Sugar Lychee Eau de Parfum (I've been using this for a decade so I don't mind splurging regularly, but when it's on sale, I get 2 bottles), a smaller size of the Sugar Lemon Eau de Parfum, plus some of the body products that I would never have considered buying at full price. I also took the opportunity to get some new skincare from them because again, I find their products to be way too expensive to purchase on a regular basis, but I don't feel so guilty when they're on sale. I've used the Lotus Youth Preserve Dream Face Cream before and really liked it, but have wanted to try the Tea Elixir Resilience Activating Serum and the Lotus Youth Preserve Eye Cream for a while, so I got those, too. Because now that I'm 37, I have to PRESERVE MY YOUTH.

Shingmulnara Jeju Sparkling Water Pore Deep Cleansing Foam x 2 and Jeju Sparkling Water Power Whip Cleansing Foam x 2
Klavuu Phytoncide Mild Cleansing Foam and Ariul Apple Cider Fresh Puree Scrub Mask
Numbuzin No. 3 Skin Softening Serum, No. 4 Collagen 73% Pudding Serum, and No. 6 Deep Sleep Mask Serum

Innisfree Black Tea Youth Enhancing Ampoule and Black Tea Youth Enhancing Cream
Which is why I also bought a ton of skincare from Olive Young, because they were having a 25% off sale for Black Friday as well, and I'm basically treating this like Sephora VIB sale. (And since I don't shop at Sephora anymore, I obviously have to take advantage of their sales.) All I'm saying is, with all the money I spend on skincare, I better look like I'm 25 when I'm 40. 

LEGO Botanical Collection Wildflower Bouquet
LEGO Tranquil Garden
LEGO Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night
LEGO Hokusai - The Great Wave
Knowing my affinity for building LEGO, my friend Ronsee told me that Indigo was selling all LEGO sets at 20% off for Black Friday. I didn't even know Indigo carried LEGO sets, let alone have a sale for them, but I ended up getting four of the ones I'd been eyeing. Crazy that I could get them at Indigo on sale but LEGO itself didn't offer any discounts on these sets at all. (In fact, their Black Friday deals were absolute shit. Bless Ronsee for always looking out for me!) Anyway, at this rate, my apartment will basically become a hybrid BTS-LEGO exhibition soon.

Smoko Souffle Pancake Ambient Light
Smoko Tayto Potato Ramen Vinyl Figurine Blind Boxes
Smoko Tayto Potato Ramen Vinyl Figurine Blind Boxes(Tayto Ramen and Tayto Deluxe Ramen)
Smoko Tayto Potato Ramen Vinyl Figurine Blind Boxes(Tayto Udon and Tayto Cup Ramen)
Smoko Dim Sum Plush Keychain Blind Boxes
Smoko Dim Sum Plush Keychain Blind Boxes(Shrimp dumpling and baked bun)
Smoko Dim Sum Plush Keychain Blind Boxes(Siu mai and molten egg custard buns)
Smoko Dim Sum Plush Keychain Blind Boxes(Xiao long bao and egg tart)
Okay, so those who have been following this blog for the past few years will know that collecting figures has become one of my hobbies. (Perhaps this makes up for all the dolls and shit that I didn't play with when I was a kid because they scared the shit out of me.) Some people spend extra money on travel, some spend it on designer bags or shoes, and I spend it on figurines. (I'm basically living out my childhood dreams.) It started with BT21, but has apparently moved on to whatever the fuck is too cute to resist. Case in point, my shopping spree at Smoko because they were having a 25% off sale for Black Friday and I quite literally bought a total of 27 blind boxes. Potatoes in ramen? Dim sum plushes? HECK. YES. (Except I do feel like those blind boxes are somewhat rigged. Those potato ramen figures? I actually bought a total of 15 of them. I figured that would be enough to collect all 5 versions. Umm, I got 7 OF ONE TYPE. This is how they get you. It's like getting lottery tickets. You always buy more in hopes of winning. But at least I managed to get all 6 of those dim sum plushes.)

BT21 Mang "Hope in Love" Humidifier
BT21 Minini Monitor Figurines(Left to right: Tata, Koya, RJ, and Shooky)
BT21 Minini Monitor Figurines(Left to right: Mang, Chimmy, and Cooky)
BT21 x FRAGMENT Chimmy Graphic Hoodie(Front + Back)
BT21 x FRAGMENT Cube Keyring
Of course, I can't leave out my BT21 items. These were not on sale. They were just cute and I wanted them. (Err... Holiday presents to myself?) I was especially excited about the BT21 x FRAGMENT collection because there hasn't been a streetwear collab with BT21 since the one with Anti Social Social Club in 2018. I only really wanted the hoodies and was set to buy both Cooky and Chimmy, but the Cooky one was sold out almost immediately so I only ended up with the one. At least I got a cute keychain as a gift with it.

SUGA | Agust Tour D-Day The Final Guitar Pick Set
Jungkook GOLDEN Accessory Tray
Jungkook GOLDEN Keyring

That finally leads me to some BTS merch that I had pre-ordered and finally arrived. No sale or anything, just my standard BTS merch ordering. (They're all enlisted in the military now but that does not mean the merch stops.) And with that, my end-of-year shopping haul is complete! WHAT GOODIES WILL 2024 BRING? (Actually, I've already got a few BTS things coming for next year since I pre-ordered some stuff over the last two months... but I digress.) 

I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, and happy new year!

Unboxing: Apple iPad 10.2"

After contemplating for months, I finally bit the bullet and bought myself an iPad.

Apple iPad 10.2"
Apple iPad 10.2"

Mind you, not the new fancy ones. I didn't want to spend more than $500 on a tablet, so I bought the 9th generation iPad in silver. Realistically, I already have a 2020 MacBook Pro and an iPhone 13 Pro Max, so I didn't really need an iPad. But, you know, I just wanted to be able to stream BTS videos and K-dramas in bed or at the dining table and wanted something bigger than my phone. I mean, yes, my MacBook is technically portable but there are so many wires connected to it that I treat it more like a desktop computer and it is super tedious to remove all those wires just to have it in the kitchen for, like, an hour...

Apple iPad 10.2"
Apple iPad 10.2"
Apple iPad 10.2" Cases

Anyway, I tried finding some BTS or BT21 cases for this iPad to no avail, so I went on Amazon and found these two cases that are cute and affordable. But you know I will make up for it with BTS wallpapers.

Photolog 2021: Day 257 of 365

So, my brother, for no reason at all, gifted me a brand new 13-inch MacBook Pro before he left for NYC.

Apple 13-inch Apple M1 MacBook Pro
Apple 13-inch Apple M1 MacBook Pro
This was perfect timing because my old MacBook Pro is now six-years-old. It doesn't close properly anymore, it only has a 2-hour battery life now, and it gets so hot that I can literally burn my fingers on the power cord. But I was confused as to why he gave me a new laptop at all, as it's not my birthday or an occasion or anything. So I asked him why he just had an extra MacBook to give away and why no one wanted it. And all he said was, "It's not that no one wanted it, it's that I thought of you first." So, I guess I just have a really nice brother.

(I still don't know why he ordered a new MacBook to begin with. He showed me the receipt and everything. But I will not question any further. This laptop is beautiful.)

Photolog 2019: Day 329 of 365

Bit the bullet and got myself the new iPhone 11 Pro Max. I went into the Apple Store just to inquire, and came out with the new phone, a new mobile carrier, and a new phone plan. I decided on the 256 GB model, which seems unnecessary, but I use an intense amount of storage on my phone — it took over four hours to transfer all of my data on to my new phone. (I also got 200 GB of iCloud storage because, wow, I totally didn't back up my phone for three years and I don't have enough hard drive space on my MacBook Pro. Like, could you imagine if I lost all my BTS concert videos? I WOULD DIE.) I had the iPhone 7 Plus and was perfectly happy with it, so I just kept it because neither the iPhone 8 nor any of the X models were enough of a difference to merit upgrading. But the 11 Pro Max is... wow. It is a monster of a phone.

I got it specifically for the camera; the extra lens and new capabilities alone make this phone worth it, but I think because I upgraded from a 7 Plus, the differences seem even more impressive. I didn't even realize how shitty the screen on my old phone was until I saw this one, because the difference in clarity and colour purity is immediate. Even though the phone is physically about the same size as my 7 Plus, the screen on the 11 goes all the way to the edge so it seems extra huge, like even watching YouTube videos on it seems more cinematic. I'm still getting used to Face ID, which I'm not sure I'm a fan of yet because it doesn't recognize me when I'm lying down and that's quite annoying. But I am, overall, extremely happy with my decision to get the 11 Pro Max. Plus, the amount I got for my 7 Plus through the trade-in program paid for my Apple Care entirely, and I even got $6 to put towards something else. I get a corporate discount at Apple through my company (not on the phone, unfortunately, but it does go towards Apple Care and accessories and the like), so I also got a seafoam green silicone case (I'll use it until BTS/BT21 ones get released for the 11 Pro Max) and a wireless charging pad. I figured I'd splurge since this will likely be my phone until the iPhone 15 comes out.

(Yes, Park Jimin is my wallpaper. And he looks extra fine on this super HD screen.)

Back To Mac

Say hello to my new baby:

Yes, after three years of using a PC laptop, I finally said, "Enough of this bullshit." So, this afternoon, I settled down and splurged on a new 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro. It is beautiful inside and out; form meets function. What with the sexy aluminum casing, delectable graphics card, and dreamy quad-core processor... I am completely in love with it.