Shopping: Anysize.co.kr - Haul and Reivew

Well hello there, it's been a very long time since I've posted on this site. Unfortunately my inherent laziness directly interferes with my blogging output.

What has brought me back you ask, well I just did some shopping on a new plus size clothing website here in Korea and really wanted to share and do a review. Shopping for plus size clothing can be a nightmare in Korea. They just don't have that much and a lot of what they do have is tailored towards much older women.

I tend to do most of my shopping from overseas. My favorite being Dorthy Perkins from the UK. I also have recently used ASOS. I do find I don't like a lot of the stuff on ASOS which is why I have never used it before but I recently got three nice pieces from there so it's one I have to keep an eye on for when something good pops up.

The problem with shopping from overseas is that you have to watch how much you spend. You can import up to 150,000 won worth of personal shopping without having to pay any duty on it. However if you go over this customs will hold your parcel and make you pay the duty + processing + the cost of them holding it in their warehouse (so it goes up everyday). It can be an expensive lesson and it can also be hard to sort out if you don't speak Korean.

I do a lot of my shopping online, I've slowly been expanding the sites that I use and am now pretty comfortable using most Korean sites. I mostly buy beauty items but I really wanted some new t-shirts the other day and so I decided to have a proper look on Naver for some plus size sites. There are a lot of options and I checked out many of them. Most of them just mean they go up to the L or and XL in Korean size or that they are Free sizing which does not help much.

I finally stumbled across this one called Anysize and it looked promising. It's been around since 2003 and they seem to make their own clothing. I quickly had a look at the sizing chart and low and behold they have sizes L and 1XL thought to 5XL and the measurements looked like they were actually big sizes too. The prices were quite reasonable so I went ahead and joined up. You get a 10,000 won coupon for signing up too and I used that discount off my order.

I selected a range of options and I decided based on the measurements I was about a 3XL as I am around a size 22 to 24 in British sizes. But being not quite sure what I would be getting and also just because I was curious I decided to get a few different sizes. So I got some 3XL, 4XL and even one 5XL. I figured if they were too big I can always wear them as PJs.

I ordered and paid by direct deposit on the 13th of May and I got immediate messages on my phone to say they had received my order and then after I paid to say that they had received that and my goods would be out to me shortly. I then had a message the next day to say it had been sent. It was a holiday on Saturday so I'm not sure if I would have gotten it any earlier but it arrived on the 16th of May so I was pretty happy with that.

It comes in a lovely pink parcel and I do like that the name is Anysize which sounds much better than some of the other plus size brands I have seen like 'She's Big' or some such variation.

I got a selection of T-shirts which is one of the main things that I wanted. Then I also grabbed a pair of long shorts, a lacy tunic and a hooded short-sleeved cardigan. I figured I should add at least one bottom to check out the sizing. I am really bad at guessing my size for bottoms.

One other thing to note is that some of the bigger sized items in 4XL and 5XL have an extra cost. 

Moria Cardigan

26,900 won, Black, 3XL

This black knit cardigan was one of the first ones I saw and I love cardigans of all shapes and sizes. It also comes in Beige. This one is hooded with short sleeves so it looked great for the summer. It's quite stiff but hopefully it softens up after its washed a few times. The fit on this one is fine for the 3XL but there is not a lot of give. It's just a hanging one so I don't need to do it up or anything, if it was one that I wanted to do up at the front I might have liked to go up a size.

Paul Tee

15,900 won, Khaki 3XL, Charcoal 5XL(+5,000 won)

I got two of these as they were quite a good price and I wanted to see how big the 5XL was. The 3XL in this one is nice and roomy, it's bigger than the Animal Tee that I got which was also a 3XL. So the 5XL is very big on me and so it will be my new pajama top. They are quite soft and comfortable and have little holes all over them so will need something on underneath them for wearing out of the house.

Go Go Go Tee

7,900 won Orange, 4XL

There was not much choice on this one, It was mostly sold out. I actually wanted the black one but they only had large left and even for the orange there was only a choice of 4XL or 5XL. The 4XL is fine for size, it's roomy but not too big so I think the 3XL would have been another one that would be a little on the snug side.

Pattern Tee

8,900 won, White, 4XL

I'm not sure what the name of this one translates too so I just called it a Pattern Tee. It comes in either White or Charcoal. This has quite large sizing, I got the 4XL and I'm not sure if that was just to try it or if there were no 3XLs. I don't usually go for white as I am really messy but this one was really pretty. I think I could have gone with a 3XL in this one but it's fine.

Animal Tee

9,900 won, Ivory, 3XL

I could not find this one on the site again and I remember there were not many sizes or colors left when I got mine. It may have sold out now. I am glad I got mine however as it is very cute. This one is a 3XL but runs a lot smaller than the other 3XL I got. It still fits but just not as much room left over.

Pency Blouse

28,900, Black, 3XL

This is a pretty tunic type blouse that you can wear over a singlet or something. It's a sheer lace with rose patterns on it. I really like it and I have some bright colored singlets that I think it will look nice over top of. It's quite roomy and I would not have wanted to go up any sizes with this one.

Veneto Pants

24,900 won, black, 5XL(+5,000)

I got the biggest size in these as I was not sure what to get. They have an elastic waist band so I figured it would be fine. And they are, they fit well and are very lightweight. Holding them up the material is very fine so it looks a bit see through. I will have to remember to wear black underwear when wearing these. I think they will be nice and airy for teaching in the classroom over summer.

Overall Thoughts on the Shopping Experience:

Site - I liked the site a lot. It was easy to use and set out cleanly. Every thing was easy to find and they had size guides on all the items so you could check the measurements. They also had cleaning tips along with the sizing too. Even though it is in Korean I found it pretty easy to use and my Korean is limited. If you get your friend or co-teacher to sign you up then you should be able to shop easily on this site. If your Korean is a bit better and you have signed up for these type of sites before then it will be easy to sign up yourself. It took me about 10 minutes or so.

The site has easy navigation to different types of clothing via a bar across the top which is in English, they have the categories Tops, Outer, Shirt & Blouse, Knit & Cardigan, Ops & Skirt, Leggings, Training. They also seem to have sales and specials on a lot so be sure to check those out.

As far as I can see they only carry women's clothing.


Clothes - I was really impressed with the selection that they had. There are not just older mature styles but lots of younger stuff also. Maybe not really young but young enough for me. The clothing quality seems very good and the prices were very competitive. I will definitely be shopping here again and it seems like it will soon become my go-to place. 

If you are looking to check out Anysize they do have physical stores too, I think they may also be available at Lotte Department Stores.

The also have a mini shop on Gmarket but it does not seem to have the whole range, the few I looked at only went up to 3XL. They do have a big selection just search for 애니시이즈.

These are the links to their social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anisize2003/
Instagram: @anysize_5xl
Blog Naver: http://blog.naver.com/hjdkt33

Goyang Immigration Office

It is that time of year again when I had to go and renew my visa. 

It's the first time I have had to do it here in Ilsan however I had been to the immigration office when I first moved here. Whenever you move you have to register your new address within about two weeks of moving. The immigration office has moved since then so I though I would do this post and show the new location and how to get there. I did notice online that there is not a lot of information about the Goyang Immigration Office, I am not sure if I was searching the wrong name or what but luckily the Facebook community had some information on the change of address. It was a bit confusing as the office has not moved far, it is basically just opposite a few blocks of where it used to be.

The Goyang Immigration Office is nowhere near as busy as the Suwon one, I find that you don't really need to make an appointment and the waiting time was about 5 to 10 minutes (not hours like in Suwon), so that was nice.

When you get to the office you can take a form and fill it out (you can also download these from the Immigration website to make things quicker if you like), make sure you get your revenue stamps* and then get a ticket number (for the queue) from the machine just inside the main doors. It's a big touch screen computer (you can't miss it) and you want the middle option (residence) if you are renewing your visa or for basically any such visa processes.

Getting There:
The Goyang Immigration office is located on the orange line (number 6) at Hwajeong Station.

At Hwajeong Station come out of Exit 4, cross the road opposite you (so you are outside Yankee Candle and then turn left and walk up the street a little bit until you come to an alley on your right.

View as you come out of Exit 4 (Hwajeong Station)

Go through this little side street

Go through this side street and turn towards your left when you come out - you will now be able to see the building you need. It's the big grey new building on the corner.

When you come out of the side street (the grey building is your destination)

 

Cross the road - there is a crossing right as you come out of the alley. Walk to your left up and to the grey building, you will go past the parking entrance (pictured above) but the foot entrance is up further round the corner.

So keep walking to the corner and then round it to your right. Walk on a bit until you come to the entrance.

Main Entrance of Goyang Immigration Office (Level 5)

The Immigration office is on the 5th floor, go in the main doors and cross the lobby toward the reception desk and the elevators are off to the left of the reception desk.

Come out of the elevator and this will be on your left.

On the fifth floor when you come out of the elevators turn to your left and you will see the sign on the wall in the picture above, walk to that and you will be in another corridor and you need to go to your left again. From there you can see the office, it is on the right and has a big blue sign above the doors so you can't miss it.

What to Take:
There is also a few changes to what you need to take with you. It's quite a rigmarole if you don't know what you need. Lucky for me my school is a rather large company and has been through it all before so they gave me all the documents when I re-signed my contract. If you have all your documents then the process is really quite easy and only takes a few minutes.

Once they have confirmed all your documents they stamp the back of your ARC (Alien Residence Card) with the new date of your visa. They do it right there while you wait, it only takes a very short time and you can be on your way.

This is a list of all the things I needed, I know that some branches take more and some take less but this is what my school advised me of:

-Copy of contract (don't give them your original as you don't get this stuff back)
-Copy of passport
-Copy of ARC (Alien Residence Card)
-Copy of the school's Business Certificate
-Copy of the school's registration
-Copy of your housing contract (should have the same address as on your ARC card)
-a list of the teacher's at your school - the number of Korean Teachers, Native Teachers, classrooms and students at the school
-a timetable of the teachers at your school
-revenue stamp*

*Revenue Stamps - these are the payment for your visa and need to be obtained before you get to the desk to hand in your documents. They look like a postage stamp and usually you will be reimbursed the amount for these by your school so make sure you get a receipt). 

There will be a desk somewhere nearby the main area that sell these stamps. At the Goyang Immigration Office it is a door off to the right (of the main office and waiting area) that you go through that leads into a another room, the desk you need is the first one as you head into to the room almost directly in front of you a little off to the left. 

These desks only take cash so make sure you take some money with you, some branches might have ATM machines but I would not bet on it. Also note that the price has gone up, for me it was 30,000 won the last two times I have renewed my visa but this time it was 60,000 won. I have heard that the price depends on your country so it is something you should check before you go so that you have enough cash to cover it.

Further Information:
If you are not sure about what you need (or where to go if you live in a different area) then you can call the hotline - 1345 and follow the directions for English (or they do have options in other languages too) and you can ask any questions. They are very helpful.

Also the website for Korean Immigration can be found here. You can download application forms from here.

Pizza Hut - Getting Pizza Delivered in Korea

I did a post a while back about getting McDonalds delivered in Korea, they have an English site so it is super easy even if you are not so good at reading Korean (like me). I was recently speaking with a friend who told me that he was getting Pizza Hut delivered, I did not realize that they had an English site so was happy to learn about this. I am actually not really a fan of Pizza - well not western pizza, I do like the original ones with the really flat bread and just basic tomato, basil and cheese but every now and then it's nice to have something easy delivered like this.

It is super easy to do, much easier than the McDonalds site I think (at least for registering) however I did think it was interesting that the choices are limited on the English site, if you look on the Korean version then there are more options available for sides and things (perhaps it is a work in progress as I did find out it is pretty new). You can find the English order website here.

I know that you can get other pizza's delivered of course, pizza delivery is a thriving business all over the world however this is the only one I have tried so far. I ordered for the first time on Monday night just gone and it all worked out fine, you have to register by putting in your name and phone number - they will then message you a code which you enter back at the site. You then enter your address which is mostly from drop-down menus so very easy, you can either choose your building name from a list or you can write it in yourself - mine was already listed so I just used that and then there is one more free-form address line so I put my apartment number here. 

My pizza came in about 20 minutes so everything worked out well, the website is very basic and it is pretty easy to follow. I did also find this youTube video about ordering with this new English site so if you want to check it out from the blog 'Kyle Living in Korea' the link to the video is here.