Checklist

CHECKLIST FOR YOUR TRIP 

STEP 1: BOOK YOUR FLIGHT 
When do you want to travel?The price of your flight will depend on when you want to travel to Seoul.

Winter - Dec to Feb (Lunar New Year tends to fall in Feb)

Spring - March to May  (March and April tend to have dusts storms to buy dusk masks)

Summer - June to August 

Autumn - Sept to Nov (Chuseok fall  harvest)

*Note that July to August is monsoon season in Seoul though so bring your umbrella!

Great video that explains Seoul's weather on a month to month basis with temperatures and descriptions.
[Seoulistic Weather Video]

Public Holidays In Seoul: Check to see if your flight dates over lap with any public holidays because businesses will be closed! [Public Holidays for South Korea]

STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR ACCOMODATION

Hotels in Seoul
Hotels in Seoul range anywhere from $45USD to $300USD. When doing surgery in Seoul, I recommend you pick something relatively close to the plastic surgeons you intend to consult with. A $45 USD place is likely to be a hostel or an accommodation that does not provide security for your belongings nor provide you with your own private room. On average, a private hotel room will start from $50USD per night but may not include a safety deposit box. Only rooms around the $100USD mark will have a safety deposit box. You can also check with the hospital you're interested in if they have any discounted hotel rooms.

AirBnB in Seoul

This is the cheaper option when it comes to having a longer stay in Seoul. Rooms start from $35USD and can get expensive depending on what you plan to rent. AirBnB however can offer you a more secure type of stay if the place meets the following requirements:

-The place you rent is shared ONLY with the AirBnB host

-You have a key to your room 

-The residence has a keycard entry/intercom/passcode entry into the building

-You are renting out the entire place for private use 

-There is no housekeeping services

*Do note that if you choose to stay at an AirBnB, please make sure that the host does not offer translator services at premium prices because there has been many cases where a patient is deceptively pushed into doing more surgeries than initially wanted or unknowingly pays higher prices to cover the host's commission.

STEP 3: Research, Research, Research!

The first thing to do is to ask yourself what is it that you REALLY want done. As you read up different types of surgeries available, and speak to others on forums, it is easy to become insecure about other parts of the face or body. Plastic surgery in Korea may be a lot cheaper than in Western Countries but don't fall trapped into disliking other areas of you that never bothered you in the first place. There's a saying "The search for perfection in beauty is never ending". 

So you have decided to have double eyelid surgery (DES)! You will still need to decide whether or not you want:

-a parallel or a tapered crease

-the incisional method, non-incisional, or partial-incision method

-do you really need ptosis correction?

-the approximate height of your crease

-whether epicanthoplasty is something you want

-whether lateral canthoplasty is an option

Hospitals You Are Interested In

There are many plastic surgeries to choose from when you are in Seoul. The list is seemingly endless. Some are popular only among foreigners and thus carry a high price tag and some are popular only among locals with or without the high price tag. I have visited a total of 7 clinics prior to choosing my surgeon and I detail each consultation on this blog! 

Surgeons With Credibility

While you shortlist a  handful of hospitals, make sure to take note of which surgeon you intend to see. A surgeon who is apt at rhinoplasty may not be apt at double eyelid surgery (DES). You may want to look for ATLEAST 4 of the following:

-Surgeon has graduated from the top 5 Korean Universities

-Surgeon is a member of the Korean Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (KSAPS)

-Surgeon has had plastic surgery experience for a minimum of 15 years

-Surgeon speaks English

-Surgeon has good reviews on forums or has won awards

-Surgeon has attended international conferences for plastic surgeons

-Surgeon has written thesis and shows specialization in Ophthalmoplasty / Des

-Surgeon is patient with you, listens, understands you, checks to see if he understands you

-Surgeon is hands on during your consult and touches your face to "check" what the options are

STEP 4: ORGANISE YOUR CONSULTATIONS

No doubt you will find yourself with a long list of hospitals that seem to interest you. My advice is to shorten your list down to a handful may that be no more than 5. The length of your stay will dictate how many consultations you can make. It is advisable to schedule 3-4 consultations for a day and allow atleast 1.5 to 2 hours at each hospital to include travel time, waiting time, and actual consultation time. You will likely be in and out of most consultations relatively quickly which will give you ample time to walk into surrounding plastic surgery clinics within the area.

Making Contact

Once you have culled your list to at least 3 priority consults, it is time to contact the hospitals you would like to visit.

BY EMAIL: Start by creating an generic email consisting of your surgical background, what you'd like to achieve, and personal photos. State the date and approximate time you would like to come in and if possible, which surgeon you would like to have for your consult. Change your receiver details, consultation times, and surgeon details accordingly. Note that some hospitals are not good at replying emails because they do not have a designated translator to read your text. Some hospitals are better at being contacted using app chats mentioned below.

BY APP CHAT: You can alternatively use a web chat app such as Kakao, Line ID, or WeChat to contact these plastic surgeries as many of them cater for this method of contact.

BY PHONE: Most hospitals who have an English website will provide you with a contact number designated for foreigners. My korean neighbour had made some calls for me using these telephone numbers and the consultants on the other end either a) were shocked that he could speak Korean or b) did not want to speak to him and requested that I, the foreigner, call back on my own!! 

YOUR AIM of making contact is to established a designated time for you to go in and speak to the surgeon of your choice so that you can find out if the two of you have the same understanding of your goals and so you can get a good feel of the surgeon. Price quotes given during this process are usually inflated and do not reflect the actual price post consult. You ultimately want to find a surgeon who does not rush you, makes you feel comfortable, answers your questions, has the same foresight of what you want your end result to be. All in all, you could just contact them to secure a consultation time.

STEP 5: PACK

What You Need

-plane ticket

-passport

-phone

-sunglasses +/- reading glasses which you wont use if you get rhinoplasty

-a hat/cap to shade your area of surgery from the sun

-enough clothes (undies,socks,tops,bottoms) you could bring  less if you plan to shop!

-at least one warm jacket for evenings/winter

-comfortable walking shoes!!

-money (see more in FAQ)

-entertainment (book,music,tablet,etc)

-hair ties (to pull your hair back and away from your eyes)

-selfie stick (i forgot mine and had to buy one there!)

Things You Could Bring or Buy There 

-cottonbuds

-eyedrops

-kelocote

-pumpkin juice

-an extra pillow if you accommodation does not have enough. This is so you can sleep at a 45degree angle to help reduce swelling.

STEP 6: CHOOSE YOUR METHOD OF WIFI

You can find free wifi in most places listed below:

-Subway Stations

-Your Accomodation: Guestshouses, AirBnB accomodation, Hotels

-Cafes like Cafe Pascucci, Krispy Kreme, Caffe Bene, Holly's Coffee, etc

*If a password is needed, ask a friendly cafe staff who will be happy to help

Website of generic passwords for certain places like Starbucks, taxis, etc:

or check to see if the password is listed here: [Seoulistic Public Wifi PW List]

Korean Sim Card Wifi
You can find free wifi in most places however if you would like to be connected more easily and frequently, you may decide to purchase a Korean Sim Card called EG Sim. Initially I thought this was the best option and I had pre-purchased a sim from overseas. I got to Korea and picked it up at the airport and for a week tried to get it to work with the slow help of their customer service. In the end I gave up and went to their HQ in Insadong but the ladies working there were EXTREMELY RUDE, IMPOLITE and one of them blatantly refused to help. I insisted on ringing their English help center and luckily I got through (as usually you are on hold for ages). The man on the line apologised on behalf of the ladies and even admitted that they were not happy to help me. In the end, after much waste of time, I am now waiting for my refund. I absolutely would not recommend EG sim though you can try other carriers!! 

A pocket wifi will require you to leave a deposit + pay a rental fee. You will need to pick it up from the airport.

http://www.wifi-korea.com/index.html

http://www.skroaming.com/en/rent/modem.asp

http://roaming.kt.com/renewal/eng/wibro/rental.asp 

http://www.sroaming.com/eng/Product/Product_PocketWiFi.asp

STEP 7: CHECK AGAIN
Make sure you've got everything you need or want... such as my selfie stick I left at home lol.

STEP 8: ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT

Most of us will have very long flights to Seoul. Make sure you are well rested, on time, and relax as much as you can on the plane with a book or some form of entertainment you've brought along.

STEP 9: CHECK IN

I took a bus from Icheon Airport to the area of my stay in Apugjeong. You can find several bus ticketing booths as soon as you exit declarations and there are a row of counters before you exit the building where you can buy your bus ticket. My ticket from Icheon to Apujeong cost me $10,000krw and it was approxilately a 1hour 20 minute+ drive during traffic at 3pm. When I got off at my appointed stop, I then took a taxi to the exact location for convenience. Make sure you have the address written down in Korean or the very least in the English version.

STEP 10: GO TO YOUR CONSULTATIONS

Since you have likely short listed several consultations, try your best to make all of them. I had scheduled my consults all for Tuesday and since I had time on Monday, I walked into a plastic surgery clinic that the taxi drove by. It seems like many clinics will accept walk in consultations so don’t be afraid to go in and meet with as many surgeons as you like.

STEP 11: SELECT YOUR SURGEON 

I had a total of 7 different consultations before I narrowed my list down to two. Initially I had short listed 4 clinics however all of them proved to be inadequate one way or another. Since I had met so many surgeons, I could pick the top 2 which made me feel the most comfortable and who I felt was charging me what I thought a reasonable price. In addition to this, I felt like the surgeons got along with me and was willing to cater to what I wanted. I discussed this with my Kakao group and had a second consultation with my top two picks the following day. After that I had decided on what I felt was the best! MVP! You can view my decision process and reasoning in this blog as well.

STEP 12: BEFORE SURGERY

Before surgery, I was asked to get dressed, wash my face, take photos, put my things away, and I was off to meet the surgeon for “designing”. Dr. Seo was very thorough with his work which made me feel confident. He looked, he drew, he checked, and then checked again. I was then escorted to the top floor and asked to put my belongings into a private room with a locker. This then became my personal recovery room.

STEP 13: DURING SURGERY

After leaving my belongings in my personal recovery room, I was escorted to the surgery room which looked very cozy, clean, and pleasant. I was strapped in, and IV drip was given to me, heart rate monitor was attached, and blankets with a hole for my face was placed snug around face. The nurses prepared all of this prior to the anesthesiologist entering. I don’t recall when I was given sedation and I genuinely believe the anesthesiologist must be a ninja! I did not feel any pain during surgery and at one point where I felt a “thug” on my skin and shrugged, Dr. Seo immediately said “mm… More LA”. There was music playing in the background and I remember moving my finger like a maestro just to expand some energy. It was comfortable and not scary. When the operation lights went off, I was told to open my eyes, then told to close them, and the operation lights came back on. This was repeated atleast 8 times.

STEP 14: AFTER SURGERY

I woke up in a shared recovery room feeling very parched. I rang for the nurse since there was a call button next to me. She gave me water then ushered me into my personal recovery room. I was told not to lie down or go back to sleep. I tried my best to listen to orders despite feeling soooo groggy and within 5 minutes I started feeling more awake. I think grabbing your phone from your locker and getting online to your kakao group and taking selfies helps to pass the time. While waiting here you also have an IV drip placed into your arm. My MVP consultant then came in after to explain medication and post op care. I went into surgery at 11pm on the dot and left for home at 6pm.

The rest of the evening was spent in my room resting but not sleeping. When I did go to bed at 10pm, I was waking up every 2 hours from the discomfort of sleeping aeroplane mode style… However I do believe that this may be what helped me with my quick deswelling since I was sleeping very upright despite how uncomfortable I was for the first two nights.

*Things I believe helped me with deswelling*:

-Sleeping as high up right or 45degrees at the very least for the first 2-3 nights.

-On second day of surgery, I went out for a walk at night

-On third day of surgery and every day since, I went out for walks, and explored Seoul which lasted all day.

-I drank a box of 30x pumpkin juice packets and A LOT of water.

-I kept my diet clean and without much salts and greasy foods.

-I was given vitamin and deswelling IV drips post op.

STEP 15: HAVE FUN IN KOREA

While being stuck in the Apujeong area, it is easy to think that there is not much to do in Korea or not much to enjoy. Truth is that once you start going out to explore what Seoul has to offer, the more you will enjoy your time post op and it will take your mind off the swelling and all the walking will help you deswell at the same time! I have written reviews of places I visited in this blog!