ALING is a Filipino term derived from the word Ale, which is the equivalent of Miss/Ms and is used before the first name of a woman.

​

NOONA 누나 (nuna) literally means older sister and is a term that male Koreans use to call a female older than them (biological or not).

​

ALING NOONA is actually run by 3 Kim Army Noonas - Christine Min-Kim, Diana Kim, and Madeleine Jeon Kim who fell in love with Korea, its food, culture, and the Bangtan Boys.

​

ALING NOONA started during the COVID-19 pandemic because of our sadness and frustration over our cancelled trip to Korea for Spring 2020. We saved up for our trip, wanted to visit new places, see the Bangtan Boys and buy the things we can only get from Korea! But since we can't leave the country and events were cancelled, we thought of just ordering online and have them shipped to "Manong Oppa" (@lifeinsouthkorea) - our partner, who is based in Busan.

​

We wanted to fill a box of goodies for ourselves and have them shipped to Manila, so we asked some friends if they wanted anything from Korea too, specifically some BTS merch. We got an overwhelming response from them including their peers who also wanted BTS merch. As freelancers, working in design, production, and events, our jobs were badly hit by the pandemic. That was when we decided to just put our love and energy to good use and offer our pasabuy and pahanap services to a wider audience.

​

Thus, ALING NOONA was born. We like to call it Tindahan ni Aling Noona (shoutout to all the E-heads fans!) What started with just buying BTS merch expanded to becoming a one-stop shop for Korean goods--- from Kpop merch, K-beauty, K-Fashion to Korean Food!

 

Aling Noona is your personal shopper in Korea!