After being crowned as Miss Singapore Global Beauty Queen 2013 last year, I was given the opportunity to represent Singapore in the 26th World Miss University Pageant February this year, which took place in South Korea. And here's my little journey of 3 weeks in Korea.

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Shopping at dongdaemum! Its very similiar to 313@Somerset in Singapore. The unique thing is that most apparels shops on the first level are owned by local Korean designers, which is what you don't see in Singapore. We rarely have shops owned by local designers in larger malls. Really excited to go shopping, cause makeup in Korea is so much cheaper than that in Singapore. And you know me, hehe. ;)

But I ended up buying mostly presents and all for my friends/family instead. Kind me.

So, if you have received my prezzie, you'll know you mean something to me. Hehe.

Me and my darling in front of the main entrance! <3

Camwhoring with Miss Taiwan while waiting for our lunch to be done! Sorry for the bad lighting though. Couldn't find an area with good lighting in the restaurant and we were too lazy and tired to move, so yeap.

Me, my darling, Miss El Salvador and Miss Korea.

Another pic with a man photobombing us from behind. HAHA.

My lunch for that day! This was really good, I swear. So so so so yumz. Some of the ladies were really not used to the food in Korea and they were starving ): 

My beautiful ladies and I! (:

Miss Indonesia, me and Miss South Africa with our coffee!

Me and my lovelies. 

Miss Ukraine looks so sexy here;P 

Okay, I have to say that I love this pic. <3<3<3 

My baby, Miss Portugal, and I on our way to the hotel where we are going to have our Welcoming Night Party! (: 

Me and my latinas, sorry for the blurry picture! The bus was really shaky and the fact that we sat at the back of the bus just made everything even worse.

My darling Miss Paraguay and I. She only speaks spanish, so yeap, there was A LOT of difficulty trying to communicate with her, but she's so fun to be with! 

Love love love this picture. Somehow, the colours of our gowns look really good together.

Here's the link to the video of our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijFE_1A_2cQ">Welcoming Night</a> :)

While waiting for the welcoming party to start! (:

Me and one of the emcees! She looks so gorgeous, doesn't she :)

#selfie 

Yeap, there's always time for a selfie.

Miss Paraguay and I on our way back to out hotels. Didn't manage to snap any photo during the welcoming party as I was busy enjoying the amazing performances that all the other ladies prepared for the talent show segment on the welcoming night. Honestly, I have to say that I am rather ashamed that I didn't prepare well enough for the talent show, because all of them did so well! Their performances were unbelievable. Some danced, some sang, some played traditional instruments from their home countries. And please, don't ask what I did, I'm not very proud of it. But I did my best, so... *a pat on my back* 

Kisses from Korea *blows flying kisses*

The next morning at the hotel lobby with Miss Nicaragua! She's so bubbly and you can never get bored talking to her!

Miss Russia and I (:

Me, Miss Poland, Miss Wales, and Miss New Zealand!

My beautiful latina, Miss Mexico, and I!

Miss Malaysia and I! (:

With the birthday girl, Miss Zimbabwe! <3

My lunch for that day! A signature Korean dish, Bibimbap! Yumzz. 

Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). 

Miss Thailand and I (:

A birthday kiss for the birthday girl :*

Another photo with my lovely.

Arrived at the Silk Palace that evening and had our dinner there. The food was really good hehe. Yeap, I really felt like I went there for a holiday instead of going for a pageant. Big big 'thank you's to the WMU committee for this amazing trip heheh.

Me and the beautiful owner of the Silk Palace

Some of the traditional hanboks on display. Aren't they gorgeous! ;)

Introducing to you, Miss Paraguay. HAHAHAHA.

안녕하세요, 제 이름은 클로이와 나는 싱가포르에서 오전.

(Translation: Hello, my name is Chloe and I am from Singapore)

Okay, yes. I used Google Translate. 

With Mingoo, one of the chaperones, and the orange peel I pinned onto his shirt HAHA.

Birthday surprise for Miss Zimbabwe! (: She was so touched haha!

Arrived in Hwacheon the next day. This was where we had our finals for World Miss University 2014! They were having this annual festival, Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. Hwacheong, the virtually untouched region, is known as the first area in Korea that freezes over in winter, where the river is covered with a thick layer of ice. Visitors can try out ice fishing, and those who are brave enough can try to catch mountain trout with their bare hands. But, let me warn you, it was negative thirteen to negative fifteen at that point of time when I was there in Korea. So you can imagine how cold it was then. 

As well as fun activities and performances, there is also an exhibition of ice sculptures (that took 20 weeks to prepare). Trust me, this place is really popular, this festival took place over a period of about a month or so, but you see crowds and crowds of people there everyday. The ladies and I have been to the festival quite a few times during our stay in Hwacheon as it was pretty near to where we were staying and of course, thanks to the committee, we had one day free to enjoy the activities at the festival. but that was after the finals, of course. We had our schedule packed with activities and rehearsals all the way til the finals, needless to say.

One of the activities at the festival! There were fishes (mountain trout, i suppose) in the pool of water, and participants were required to attire in t-shirts and shorts while taking part in this activity. What they were supposed to do is basically catch fishes with their bare hands within a limited duration. It sounds pretty easy uh? But, nope. Think again. Imagine wearing a thin layer of clothing that doesn't even keep you warm from the cold, and catching fishes in a pool of water of negative temperatures when you can barely feel your hands. Easy? Definitely not. And I really admire those people who dared to challenge themselves in this activity.

Deborah looks so cute here! Haha!

The view is spectacular. You can NEVER see this in Singapore. 

As you can see, I have the WMU office behind me!

Signed on this huge wall of words of encouragement and lovely messages from all the ladies of the previous batches of WMU.

Yes, my handwriting is really ugly, just ignore it. It was hard writing at the side where it was so high up on the wall (it was almost full!).

FOOD heheh. 

Cutest piece of potato ever.

Mi latinas <3 Yo los extraño mucho :'(

My bestest roomie ever!! <3

I miss her so much. I miss dancing to Pitbull, Kesha, and other Spanish songs in our rooms at the end of every tiring but fulfilling day at the beginning of the camp. I miss learning salsa from her. I miss the way she tells me 'Feel like a Victoria Secrets model and walk like a bitch', before she cat-walks across our hotel room in her heels. (Yes, we wore heels in our rooms. Swag. HAHA no just kidding.) I miss doing makeup at the small dressing table in our room with her. I miss how we put on our gowns one by one just to make a mental plan of what to wear on which day etc. And end up messing up our entire hotel room. I miss how we go crazy over Starbucks, it was like we've never drank Starbucks in a million years. And this list goes on and on. 

I was really sad after moving to Hwacheon from Seoul as we had to change our roommates in our new pensions where we will be staying in threes. The last thing I ever wanted to happen was to part with her. Sigh pie. But nonetheless, I am extremely thankful to be allocated in a pension with my two darlings Miss Portugal and Miss Philippines. They were so fun to be with too!!

Here's a kiss to my baby. The loveliest girl <3

Chloe