SeoulNicole 서울니콜

K-Pop Workout Playlist: Truth. We're 11 days into the New Year. If you're like me, you're still telling yourself you've committed to a healthier lifestyle, and vowing this is the year  you'll stop eating Nutella with chopsticks at 2 am. I need to make working out as fun as possible otherwise iHate it. Listening to the right music is crucial. I narrowed down my Kpop workout playlist to these 13 songs that reflect the 4 phases of any workout: warming up, the workout, when you want to die, and cooling down. WARMING UP: Songs that put you in a good mood, and raise your energy level. "It's Me" by Kahi This is always my first song. I think I've primed my body to associate this song with exercising. In this song, Kahi exudes a subtle sensuality that I find believable and appealing. Gain and Sunmi are two others, that to me, can carry a sexy concept without it seeming forced or cheap. "Itaewon Freedom" with JYP

At Cheonjiyeon Falls (천지연폭포) I've been fortunate enough to visit Jeju Island twice, once in July of 2012 and again in December of 2013.  Jeju Island  is known as "The Hawaii of Korea" and is a popular vacation destination for Chinese & Japanese tourists, Koreans, and English teachers ^^.  A few articles on Jeju  here , here , and here . In short, Jeju is BEAUTIFUL and can be extremely affordable if you know where to go. View from the room at Hotel Good Inn. Coconut not included ^^. Jeongbang Falls Winter in Jeju, Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) in the distance. Beautiful view from the roof of Hotel Good Inn, Seogwipo Jeju On my first trip to Jeju in 2012, I was traveling alone in late July, one of the hottest weeks of the summer. On the 1 hour plane ride from Incheon to Jeju, the atmosphere on the plane was bubbly and lighthearted. On average, Koreans take the fewest amount of vacation days of all countries in the Asia-Pacific region,

Since being home (New Jersey) I've taken a bit of a break from K-Pop. I still religiously read Asian Junkie  for my daily Kpop LOLz, but overall I've been more attuned to Western music these past few months. By Western music, I pretty much mean one artist: Hozier. That time Zach Braff told me about Hozier In the summer, my friend and I went to a Q&A session in Union Square with Zach Braff the day his movie ( Wish I Was Here ) came out. The soundtrack features Hozier's Cherry Wine, and he described the way the song was recorded live - not in the traditional sense in that it was recorded at a concert - but recorded outdoors, with sounds of birds chiming in on the track. I also learned that not only was he a Hozier fan, but he loves Game of Thrones. He gave away multiple GOT action figures during the event. Hodor! Hodor? Hodor. Hey bae <3 After weeks of impromptu Hozier dance parties and listening to every performance of his I could find on YouTube, I bit