I can't believe we are already on the day of departure! So sad. The day started with one last round of US-time work calls/emails -- I did sleep in all the way to 6am today though...adjusting just in time to start the trip back to California 😂. We did some last minute rearranging of purchases without our respective checked baggage/carry-on luggage to confirm how much space we had left for additional purchases -- conclusion: not much!
We didn't have a ton planned for today given our flights in the evening -- Y and H wanted to hit up one last shopping mecca: Gotomall underground shopping center. Luckily the very first restaurant we saw upon entering Gotomall was a gimbap shop! This was something we had been wanting to do all trip. We got orders of the fish roe, bulgolgi, and spicy pork. Happy to report that all three were DELICIOUS. This ranks very high on the list of culinary satisfaction moments for the trip.
Each piece was packed with meat and veggies -- very little rice around the sides. All the veggies were shredded too so each bite was such a nice melding of the ingredients.
With full bellies, we embarked on the shopping. I have to say it was a little overwhelming. It reminded me a lot of Xiushuijie (Silk Market) in Beijing circa 2008 - I'll have to visit again next trip to Beijing to see how that has changed.
If/when we come back for a family vacation, I think Baba would stay home and L and R would spend an entire day here. Okay maybe Baba would have to come just to keep watch of all the shopping bags.
I hear that H and Y didn't even get to explore much beyond the first 500 meters or so -- but they both report that we should have started our clothes shopping here. The prices were lower here than anywhere else we went this trip. Next time we will know better!
While they were shopping, I decided last minute to accompany V on a visit to this Chinese medicine/herbal diet supplement medi-clinic (Vyneherb) to round out my K-beauty research trip. Turned out to be very informative/comprehensive!
The interior of the office was very impressive too -- very new and high-end looking. You had to take off your shoes upon entering so you wouldn't stuff up their white floor. 😆
I did this skin scanning thing where they had me stick my head into this tunnel and then took pictures from three sides using three different types of camera filters to gauge my moisture levels, soil levels, bacteria, pore sizing and shape, wrinkles, age spots, and redness.
The results were a little surprising -- I am doing fairly well on age spots and wrinkles and moisture, my biggest problem seemed to be elasticity (so lack of collagen!) and drooping in my smile lines area. I have more oil in my T zone area (all over the nose and a little on my forehead). And my pores are a little large, particularly around my forehead and nose and mouth. So I guess I'll focus on cleaning my T zone and use more of those wrinkle strips around my mouth. They recommended some massaging exercises for my face and said to really spend a longer time massaging in serums and moisturizers so they take effect. My best result was sun damage! I'm above average by 7 points there 😆 -- all the sunscreen use is working!
We also did a body scan where they put these sensors on our ankles and wrists to measure BMI, visceral fat, etc.
My results here were good for internal health (visceral fat, cholesterol, diabetes risk, etc)...though they said ideally I would weigh 10 pounds less. Sigh, I guess I knew that too.
As with the other clinic we visited on this trip, there were a LOT of staff involved - someone to consult about the body stuff, someone else for the skin stuff, and then prep people, actual doctors, etc -- this clinic had very few customers (V's friend is a friend of the head doctor - this seems like a trend -- maybe there are so many clinics and doctors that everyone in Korea is good friends with at least one head doctor 😆).
We both decided to try out this body sculpting/muscle building treatment. Then for weight loss, they basically had two options: serum shots or supplements. V opted for the diet suppression supplements while I went for the serum.
First we did the machines -- I have seen this advertised in the states as well -- basically the machines target your muscles to make them feel like they got workouts -- it uses radio frequency pulses and sort of jiggles all your muscles through these bands.
I was low on time so I couldn't do the sauna portion where you flush out your impurities -- so I moved on to the serum injection -- so I have to be honest, when they were describing the treatment during the consultation, I didn't actually understand that they were injections -- because the way it was described, I thought it was a bunch of little pricks -- like a series of acupuncture needles (they DO keep referring to themselves as based in Eastern/Chinese medicine!) -- not like individual shots where they inject chemicals. Well...I was mistaken. The consultant lady also had assured me that it wouldn't really hurt and they don't even bother with local anesthesia because of that...well...that was incorrect as well. Turns out she just has a very high personal pain tolerance level -- actually maybe all Koreans do since they're more used to doing these treatments every year? Because for this newbie, I have to report that it actually hurt quite a bit! But after she did the first shot and I realized this, I also only had like 20 minutes left before we had to leave to go to the airport so didn't really time to stop for anesthesia (also I'm not really sure they could have offered anesthesia anyhow, not being connected with a hospital like the ID clinic). At least the sting wore off after a couple minutes, but the whole process was way more painful than Ulthera. I asked them to focus on my upper back -- they did keep emphasizing how they were injecting 100% natural ingredients instead of steroids and more foreign supplements that are common in the Western lipolysis, so it was much more healthy for the body. If you are interested in visiting, they do have English and Mandarin language capabilities.
V on the other hand opted out of the injections and instead left with a TON of supplements.
We will both have to report back in a few months to see how they our respective methods worked!
So this rounded out my K-beauty research experiences for the trip -- truly down to the wire -- went directly from the Medispa to the airport. We all came with small suitcases inside most empty big suitcases and left with both filled to the max.
Such a great trip! The tax refund process was fairly straightforward...note that the windows will give you USD but the exchange rate is not great. The machine kiosks will only give you won, unless you're a Chinese national, in which case they'll give it back to your wechat or alipay. If you visit the tax refund in Myeongdong (apparently next to the Nike store?) you can get it back on your card (which I didn't know until I got home). Oh well - I guess I have cash ready for the next trip!
Farewell Seoul -- we had an amazing time. General thoughts and tips to follow in final post!
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