dor3mi Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi everyone, I've been reading the forum for some time now and it's been very informative. I've finally booked my ticket and is on my way to making this a reality. I've read a lot about finding the right surgeon etc but didn't see a dedicated thread about finding the right accommodation and preparing for PS in Seoul...Since this is my first trip to Seoul, I have some questions and hope we can start a great thread for everyone as well. -Where should one stay when getting PS in Seoul? -How far is Sinsadong to Apgujeong (walking distance, taxi and subway wise)? -How should one carry money? Traveler check? I'm not feeling very safe carrying a large amount of cash on me -Any tips for foreigner? Wifi connectivity, Phone etc. Anything info that may be helpful is greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudbusting Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Others can add on to this. This is just what I know -Where should one stay when getting PS in Seoul?* Depends on your budget, how many people you are travelling with and how comfortable you'd like to be. I'm going to use airbnb to rent an entire apartment because I'm going with a few people and we prefer to cook most of our meals. Some people will stay with a "host mom" off airbnb and sleep in a shared room or small single room while being cared for/serviced by the host mom who is also sometimes a translator as well. There are others who will stay at a hotel in order to be as close to the chosen clinic as possible. Where you should stay really depends on your personal needs and budget. -How far is Sinsadong to Apgujeong (walking distance, taxi and subway wise)? Google maps should be able to give you an accurate answer to this question. -How should one carry money? Traveler check? I'm not feeling very safe carrying a large amount of cash on me Cash or credit card. Cash is often preferred for a 10% off "tax free" discount. I think someone on this forum mentioned using a Pacsafe travel pouch that holds your passport/cash/cards and has a neck strap. If worn under clothing, it can be a somewhat discreet and safe way to carry cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dor3mi Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Thanks for sharing cloudbusting! Do you have any recommendation for a "host mom" off airbnb? I'm currently looking for some place to stay and would greatly appreciated. Do you know if traveler check is a good option? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudbusting Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 No, sorry- I don't know of any host moms. If you search/read through this forum, you will stumble across some info. You may encounter difficulties cashing traveler's checks. Often banks charge a fee to cash them, the cashing process may be lengthy or many banks won't even accept them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackchocolate Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Helpful infor. Thank you so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-couture Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 stay close to ure surgerical clinic. Your clinic should have a list of hotels nearby which they are affiliated with. If your chosen clinic books the hotel on their list for you, you can get up to 40% off per night. Seoul is very spread out, and while Sinsadong and Apgujeong are pretty much the same area, you can forget about walking. Taxi are cheap. $4-5 to take u each way you need to go in gangnam. By that i mean to and from the hotel and clinic. Most clinics have a driver pick up service too if you have already booked ure surgery with them carry only a bit of cash. Make your other payments using credit card. Pay for your surgery with credit card. You not only get the best exchange rates with ure card, u also get rewards. Contrary to popular belief, i found that most clinics do not charge a surcharge when paying with credit card. The 10% tax on plastic surgery is mandatory. While some clinics may take cash and so you don't have to pay the tax, most will not do it. This is especially so with clincis where there are more than one surgeons because payment is made not directly to the clinic but to the individual surgeon's account who you have your procedure with. In my case i had 2 surgeons working on my procedure. So i had to split 2 seperate payments one for each surgeon's account despite them both being from the same clinic. Also, alot of clinics will subsidize most of the 10% tax on plastic surgery in the price they charge you so don't worry about that. Get a data simcard with eg (every green mobile) at Incheon airport. The store is Gs25 convenience store that sells it. Not all Gs25 convenience stores sell them btw so be sure to get it from the airport. Its cheap. Some hotels also sell it. If your hotel doesnt offer free wifi for u to connect to ure laptop, check to see if there is an ollehwifi signal. If there is, go down to any convenience store and purchae a kt wifi prepaid card for 1 day. This gives u 24 hours worth of internet connection for a mere 3 US dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-couture Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 opps double posted sorry. i dunno how to delete or i edit lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dor3mi Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Wow- thanks for the info K Couture. Do you know what a good credit card to use? I'm looking for one that doesn't charge foreign transaction fee and it seems that Chase Sapphire and Barclay credit card. This is my first trip abroad from the US so I'm not sure. Also is there a better option than using credit card? I would like to use some of my cash for the surgery but is hesitant about bringing a large amount of cash. Plus I've heard the exchange rate isn't as good. Do you know if there is a good debit card to use abroad, esp in Seoul? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-couture Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I used my visa and mastercard for this surgery. I did not get charged the 4% credit card surcharge nor was i charged the 10% tax on cosmetic procedures. It was rather subsidized in the total like i mentioned. If you rather you can also use a via debit card. I would only use cash for ure shopping and food etc. Credit card always has the best rates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitalic Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I'm staying in a guest house near Sinsa and it's 900,000 krw per month, so about 30,000 krw per day. It's really new and quite nice. The room is pretty small, but it has a fridge, washing machine and a comfy bathroom inside. Everything is really new and they have free noodles, rice, eggs, kimchi, tea, coffee etc in the kitchen. The owners are also super nice and helpful. It's called Polaris guest house. Right behind Young Dong hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitalic Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 On the 10% VAT, I found that I was able to pressure my clinics to waive the VAT for me when paying with a card. They'll insist on charging it, but I just said I could only pay with a card and that I could only pay X amount and they accepted that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitalic Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 For phones and connectivity, I found it super convenient to order an EG sim card in advance from here http://www.egsimcard.co.kr/ and then just pick it up from Incheon. The data rates are reasonable and it's been so useful to have 3G. There's also free wifi in lots of areas, but I think you can use some of the Wifi networks only if you have a working korean SIM in your phone. Not sure. For navigating around, I found it super helpful to use Daum maps on my smartphone. Google maps sucks in Korea. I learned hangul in about 2 hours and I learned how to use the app. I then copy pasted korean addresses into the app and got directions to everywhere I went. Use an app called jihachul for the subway if you have an iPhone. Super easy to use and gives you very good directions. There's also an app called visit korea. It's pretty helpful in listing stuff that's nearby: dept stores, hypermarkets, other POIs etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitalic Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I'm a good walker and walking from Sinsa to Apgujeong is not a problem. It takes me about 30 mins I think, but taking the subway between the two is super fast and easy as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maiq Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Thank you Vitalic, that is super helpful! Just a quick question, how much data do you think is reasonable for a 2 week stay? Also, is it like a constantly topping up service or paying fixed price for a certain amount of data? How much did you pay for 1GB of data, or 500MB? I feel quite strange on the EG website that regardless of the data option I choose the price of the sim is the same for some reason?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-couture Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 maiq just download the EG app and top up with your credit card. I basically used the app to split my voice balance and data balance. So since the 4th of May ive had 16 dollars worth of data which is slightly over 1gb. I currently have 800mb left. So i imagine it will last you a long time for basic google searching and kakao chatting n facebook functions. U can also top up at the convenience store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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