pinkjade316

You're very welcome!

If you're going to Seoul for the very first time and you're own your own I recommend this book, "Seoul Survival Guide" by Aaron Namba.

It's not the usual tourist/sight seeing guide book.

The book tells you about what to expect, how to travel (t-money card, where to get it etc.,), where to exchange money, what power AC adaptor to use etc., how to use the subway.

Lots of useful information.

I read this before going to Seoul, and I wasn't as scared once I got there because I knew what to expect.

Hope this helps!

Edit - Contents in the book (from Amazon):

Introduction
Before You Go
General Information
Safety & Emergencies
Pronunciation Tips
Useful Words & Phrases
Arrival / Customs
Money
Phones
Internet Access
Taxis
Subways
Buses
T-Money Prepaid Payment Cards
Food & Dining
Shopping Tips
Sightseeing Tips
Appendix A: Hangul, the Korean Writing System
Appendix B: Essential Mobile Apps
Appendix C: Useful Phone Numbers & Links
Questions & Feedback

 

I bought a "pacsafe coversafe 75" neck wallet with me when I went to Korea. I put all my cash and passport and have it hang around my neck and wore my clothes OVER it. It's out of sight but close enough for me to know that my belongings are safe. The string is special and very sturdy. Ordinary scissors cannot cut it.

Since I was living in a guesthouse, I didn't feel safe to put my passport there so I carried it with me at all times.

So if anyone is worried about carrying so much cash, you can look into this neck bag as an option

 

cotton pads and cotton swabs (q-tips).

you'll need it to apply ointment and such.

the clinic i went to, gave me some but it wasn't enough.

there is a diaso in the gangnam area and in myeongdong if anyone needs to restock.

 

It's around 6 weeks post-op now and I think my eyes are getting better and better.

Although, I did partial incision for my eyes, I'm still worried that it can be "undone" and I'm extremely careful when putting on contact lens because I'm worried that I might tug it too hard and it'll become monolid again LOL.

Ok, picture time!

http://imgur.com/uL6Guye

1: before
2: two weeks post-op
3: today! - around 6 weeks


TODAY!!!

http://imgur.com/Wg8sMXP


I didn't wear any eye makeup so hopefully this give people a better idea on how my eyes are healing.

 

Not sure what's wrong, but JW's email is: [email protected]
Their Kakao ID are: jwps and jwbeauty777
Can add both and see if they reply there.

In the beginning, I had to email JW twice before they replied to me and it took about 3 weeks.

 

If you need internet on the go, I would suggest to rent a portable wifi router (Olleh WiBro Egg) at the airport.
it's roughly $8 a day and 11th day onwards it's $4 a day (half price).

I used it to connect my phone and tablet and I took it everywhere I go (it works even in the subway!). I feel safer that i'm always connected to people on kakao and I use skype/we chat to phone back home.

As well, I use Google Maps whenever I'm lost - I look for the nearest subway station.

 

Hey!

My kaokao ID is pinkjade316

 

I would just tell your boss that you would like a two week vacation and don't tell them anything about the PS.

If you're only doing your eyes and nose, then I think most people won't notice it. They will only notice that you look "different" or more beautiful but won't exactly know or pinpoint what is different about you.

Although, I only did my eyes, once I came back home only my mom noticed it (got yelled at LOL!!). My dad, my brother AND my boyfriend didn't notice a thing. At work, a lot of people said I look "prettier" and that's it. I work in an office where majority are women.

However, if you're going to do a drastic change (i.e. V-line) then I will tell my boss/co-workers AFTERWARDS. If you tell them beforehand, they might gossip while you're away and will expect a lot when you come back. So just go and come back and see if anyone notices.

 

4th week: http://i57.tinypic.com/2n67l0g.jpg

My right eye looks great but my left eye doesn't look as nice...
I feel that my left eye's inner corner is not as "round"/even as the right.

 

I know in another forum, they block anyone who tries to view or post on their website that are from South Korea (IP address). I guess that's one way to stop clinics from posting on forums and such. But the downside is that if you're in South Korea doing a procedure and trying to update/post on forums, you will be blocked also. Unless you contact the admin beforehand.

IMO, don't believe everything you read online. Even some bloggers get sponsored or get deep discounts from certain clinics and post rave reviews for them.

Trust your instincts and go in person/consultations to see which clinic is best for you. One clinic is great for someone may not be the same for you.

 

Thanks, K Couture. if the scars gets bigger or worse, i will find a dermatologist and seek help.

You're welcome, Noods, no worries you'll be fine in Korea. I don't speak or read Korean and I was totally fine by myself. I went to visit clinics on my second day and had the surgery two days later. I was able to go sightseeing and went shopping the next day

 

Just came back from Korea and I had double eyelid and epi surgery done. Everything went great and my eyes are healing right now.

I've just passed the two weeks mark and I love my eyes so far. Of course, it's still too early and I know my eyes will continue to change shape but hopefully nothing too drastic.

My initial plan was to visit: Item, JW, Pitangui and Wonjin. Wonjin is actually a bit far from the 3 other clinics. So in the future if I was to do another surgery/consultation I will try to find ones that are cluster in the same area. The in-house translator is Emily. She's friendly and her English is very good. You can communicate with her via email or through Kakao.

Anyways, JW has 3-4 floors and has 3 main doctors. They have 4 Chinese in-house translators and 2 English translator. Emily said they have a lot of Chinese clients and that's why they have more Chinese translators than English. I arrived on time for the consultation but had to wait 40 min for the doctor because he was doing a surgery. So the whole time I was Emily and we talked a lot. She asked if I went to see other clinics and I was honest and told her yes. I even told her what other clinics I'm planning to go afterwards too. When I finally got the see the doctor (Dr. Choi), he was inside of his office waiting for me. He was very friendly and approachable. He spoke English (with an accent) but I understood him no problem.

Dr. Choi took his time and looked at my eyes, and tried to see which fold suited my eyes and face. He recommended partial incision (Item recommended this too) and epicanthoplasty. The reason (which he explained) is that since I live abroad, I won't be able to come back for touch ups if I was to do non-incisional. He kept poking my eyes with this metal instrument but he was very gentle. We even chatted for a bit, talked about Toronto. I learned that his sister lives in Toronto too. He didn't try to up sale me anything. I told him my eyes are uneven (one is bigger than the other) but this was because one side of my face is lifted higher than the other. He didn't try to say "we can fix it by doing other surgeries", instead he told me not to worry as it's normal. Everyone is not perfect if we are then we're aliens. Lol.

Although, he didn't mention this, I asked him if I needed lateral canthoplasty. Dr. Choi doctor does not specialize in lateral canthoplasty lol. There is another doctor that specialize in it and I would need to see him. Wow. I was surprised about this. They're so detail about which doctor can do what procedures. I've read online that some doctors will perform procedures even if it's not their specialty or best at it.

So when I was finished with Dr. Choi, I was escorted to another floor to see the other doctor who specializes in lateral canthoplasty. He was also waiting in his office before I arrive. This doctor understand English but did not speak it so Emily was translating the whole time. He was also very nice and patient. Again, he used this metal instrument to poke my eyes and tugged the outer corner of my eyes and stuff. My eyes are a little slanted (never noticed before lol!!) and he can lower it a little by 1-2mm to make it even/lower. And he showed me pictures of clients who has the same "problem" as me.

But! He mentioned that since I'm from Canada the standard of beauty might be different (ex. Slanted eyes is normal and may consider pretty outside of Korea). I never took this into account. I didn't want to look "white" or totally different. I just wanted my eyes to be more awake and be able to put makeup on. I took this into consideration, thanked him and left with Emily.

Emily took me to this little room to discuss about price. The price was in my opinion quite reasonable and under my budget. JW offer aftercare services such as de-swelling treatment with laser therapy and shampoo service. The price includes the two surgery - partial incision, epicanthoplasty, medicine, and aftercare service.

Item didn't offer any aftercare services when I asked them. Only to come in and remove stitches and cleaning. I was quite pleased and impressed with JW, I liked both doctors and I felt comfortable with them. The whole consultation took close to 1.5 hours. I got the impression from Item that double eyelid surgery is a minor operation and that the doctor doesn't need to invest time in it (profit wise). But at JW they paid close attention and was very detail about my eyes. Didn't feel rush or anything, they took their time even though I'm just doing two small/common procedures.

So I decided to do my surgery with them and don't bother to check out the other clinics. Not sure if this is the right decision but it was a decision I felt was the best.

My surgery was two days later and I was super nervous. My surgery actually got delayed because the patient before me decided to added one more procedure so that bumped me at a later time. However, JW offered me a free spa/facial while waiting (it felt nice!). Anyways, during the surgery I was super nervous but it didn't hurt at all. People say the injection was the worst part but honestly for me, I didn't feel anything. However, near the end whenever I felt slight pain I would go "pain" and the doctor will inject more anesthesia. I felt a bit of tugging and I could smell something burning. It didn't hurt but it was a bit uncomfortable. Overall, I would rate it 3/10 for pain. The whole procedure took longer than I expected - a little over 2 hours. During the whole time, the doctor would ask me to open and close my eyes to see if the crease was even or not. He was soooooo particular about this. He stitched and restitched my right eye at least 4 times. I actually got irritated and he said "don't worry, 5 more min. I promise". LOL!! - I was just really uncomfortable lying there not moving for 2 hours and I was starting to get really hot and sweaty. So I guess he could tell I was getting a little impatient.

So after the surgery, I was totally fine and I was able to walk myself to the recovery room. The nurse put an icepack on my eyes and waited for 20 minutes. The whole time in the recovery room, Emily was with me. It felt very nice and reassuring. I felt safe. Afterwards, I was given 2 icepacks, 5 days worth of medicine, some cotton swaps and ointment for the eyes. I was told to take the medicine on time (3 times a day) and put the ointment on my eyes 2 to 3 times a day. Emily helped me grabbed a taxi and I went back to the guesthouse.

Once I got back the guest house and looked at myself in the mirror....I was horrified. I was just not used to seeing myself all stitched up and bruised. I started to panic and thought I made a big mistake. I felt regret immediately. Honestly, I thought I was mentally strong enough but I was wrong. So no matter how much you've researched and prep yourself, you will be a little shock right after surgery. I tried to sleep but I kept having bad dreams. The next few days, I got used to looking at myself and I kept telling myself that it will get better.

In total I went back to the clinic 3 times - 1st time cleaning, 2nd time to remove the top stitches on my eyes and 3rd time remove the all the remaining stitches including the inner corner. And each time they would use the laser treatment on me to help with the swelling. Oh, I got to use their shampoo service once too.

However, the only problem I found was that I only saw the doctor ONCE after the surgery and it was on the 3rd time I went back (7th day after surgery). He came to check up on my eyes and said everything was good. I kind of wished that I saw the doctor sooner and didn't have to worry the whole time.

Before and after (2 weeks):

http://i60.tinypic.com/20tmp9v.jpg

OMG, I don't know how to resize it...

Right now, my main concern is the scarring in the inner corner of the eyes. There is a raise bump on the lower left side of my eye. Hopefully it'll smooth out...

Sorry for the low quality of the picture, I took it on my iPhone.

 

Dr. Lee and according to the website, he was a former director for Grand.

 

I just came back from Item for a consultation. However, this clinic isn't for me. The translator was Raina and she's very nice and speaks English well. She was friendly and translated everything I said. But I just couldn't connect with the doctor.

I'm doing double eyelid (partial incision) and epi.

The consultation was short but quite detailed. The manager looked at my eyes carefully and suggested what I need. After I went to the doctor, I didn't wait long for the him. The doctor came and looked at my eyes and used a toothpick to find an ideal crease on my eyelid.

He seemed nice but I just feel he wasn't detailed or paid close attention to me enough( the consultation manager was more thorough than him). It took less than 5 min with the doctor (consultation was at 10:30am). He didn't tell me what types of eyelid ceases would suit me, and he barely looked at my eyes. He used poked my eyes with a toothpick once and that's it. He just didn't seem approachable to me.

The other thing that turned me off was that he was actually in MIDDLE of a surgery. He stepped out of a surgery to do a consultation with me :O

This raised a red flag fir me. How did I know? During the whole consultation. He spoke REALLY fast during the consultation. Even as a foreigner I knew he was speaking fast. So I asked Raina if the doctor usually speak this way or is he in a hurry? It was then that Raina told me the doctor was actually in a middle of a surgery.....

Anyways their price for double eyelid and epi was reasonable.
They quoted me: 2.9 million won but after discounts it went down to 2 million won (if paid in cash).

Anyways, this is just my opinion. Of course the doctor is qualified and is able to do the surgery but I personally feel that a person has to feel comfortable with the surgeon and be able to trust them to do the surgery on your face. But in this case I just didn't feel comfortable.

Sorry if there are any typos or grammar errors. I'm typing on my iphone lol.

 

I'm in Seoul now! I just arrived last night and will go to consultations today. It's my first time here and I don't speak Korean.

Makeover if you have kakao please add me, we can meet up and keep each other company.

My kakao is pinkjade316

 

Please copy below n add yr info for update:

January 2014doudouattsu : 8 January - ?
trishul : mid Jan 2014 (12th or 18th for 2 weeks) kakaoID :ladyboss
shuong: 14 Jan - 27 Jan ( trip confirmed)
keching: 15 January - 27 January 2014 (trip confirmed)
sundaeloveCinderella123: Jan 16th - 28th (trip confirmed)
Penguin23: Jan 19-30

February - March 2014
Makeover: February 4th - March 10th
ThuyTrang: February 4th - February 12th
pinkjade316: February 10 - 23 Kakao: pinkjade316 (trip confirmed)
Mizubunnie: February 17 - ?
AnnaCrush2506: February 27 - 9 March Kakao: AnnaC2506 (trip confirmed)
April - May 2014
chicbunbun: April 21 - May 15 Kakao: chicbunbunt
hoebee May 11 - 25cinch87 May 15 - 25

 

Hello,

I'm new here but I've been browsing this forum for awhile. I'll be arriving in Korea on February 10 and leaving on the 23rd.

If anyone wants to talk to me, my kakao ID is pinkjade316.

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I'm thinking of getting my eyes done.