Ikate,

Hotels don't normally ask for 50% upfront. You normally book by providing your credit card details (which will be bited later). Then, upon completing the reservation, they provide you with a booking reference that guarantees your booking.

I have emailed phil house and they confirmed the total price of 540000 won for 9 nights.

Rita

Remember, Phil House is NOT a hotel! Its a hostel and they also rent rooms or mini-appartments for 2-4 people. They have no daily room cleaning, no luxurious breakfast and they don't offer anything like dinner or lunch at all. You have to bring your towels to the reception to get new ones and you also have to ask there for toilet paper and powder for the washing machine.
But they have a nice community room with darts games and such and they have weekly barbeques with all the guests. The advantage is, you may be able to meet some people there, you are able to cook for yourself and wash your clothes... but its not a hotel.
I guess, I should say that because otherwise the expectations may not be met and people may be dissapointed. Honestly, I booked it mostly because it was the cheapest option for two persons (the room for two costs the same for one or two persons and about as much as a single person hotel room booking). If one wants a hotel, maybe because one travels alone, does not care about washing clothes or cooking dinner ... I am sure there are many hotels available in the city via hotels or booking or tripadvisor or whatever .com site you like.
Phil House did ask me for a 50% payment in advance as well to make my reservation fixed. I guess it depends on the time of the year though, they seem to have very few guests in winter, a few more in early spring, but much more in spring and summer. I believe you can book the rooms via some of the online portals though, in whcih case you probably could get around the advance payment, but I think direct booking was a bit cheaper.

Thank you Anjzq

I have found some really good offers on other websites, even cheaper than phil house. Not sure I will keep the booking after what you mentioned in your post!

I personally liked Phil house. I liked getting up late and having a fridge and kitchen to have breakfast at 10 or 11 am , after breakfast time was long over. I liked to bring less clothes because I could wash them. i liked that there was a supermarket right next to the house to buy ice cream and aloe drinks and the subway is 1 minute walk by foot, lots of restaurants nearby. I remember Amy liked that there are a lot of young and open minded people running and visiting the hostel - personally I was not in the mood to get to know people while i am mute, though. The BBQ they do must be great, but I missed it. Well and in the end, it was a low price option for a room for two.
Oh and while the breakfast is only sandwich with peanut butter - you cannot imagine how hard it is to actually buy sandwich bread to make those yourself if you want them - so in a way that breakfast was special

The friend who came with me did not like Phil House because it had no proper room service, the bedframes were a bit cheap, there was no good breakfast and she was cold because the blankets were to thin for her and the beds too hard. In retrospect I guess for her it was a bad choice, for me it was ok, but I am younger than she is.

I hear there are sometimes also good deals on renting a flat or appartement for 2 weeks via some online portals - also I know some people did sort of "couch surfing" to save costs - so basically its all up to the individuals expectations on how to stay. In the end one spends $8000 on the surgery, so I guess one should not try to save $200 for the hotel costs by getting an option one does not feel good about - the first week recovery period is important and one should be in a safe and clean environment one feels good about.

Thanks Anjaq

I will be travelling on my own so having a room service will be imperative, especially post surgery. In terms of slcialising, I doubt it will be possible while not being able to  speak or whisper.

regards,

Ritana

P.S. I hope Phil House does provide a wifi service?

Rita

Phil House does have free Wifi, yes.
I did not have any need for room service or therelike. They cleaned the room about 1 or 2 times a week, not daily, but to me that was not an issue. There are lots of restaurants around and a 7/11 sort of shop downstairs, I was able to go out and get food the day after surgery (there are a lot of take-out restaurants and street-kitchens), its really no problem at all. And the day before surgery, I went shopping and filled some parts in the fridge to have it ready post op. Ice cream, Aloe Drinks, bread, cheese, ham, mustard sauce, fruits... I know others who have bought veggies and whatever they need to make nice soups and such in the kitchen in the room.

In the end I might keep my booking at the phil house. After all, I'm not there on holiday.

What foods/ drinks and medication did you buy prior to surgery?

Rita

I brought some codeine anti-cough medicine with me in case the ones they give me at Yeson are not strong enough, but I did only need it twice. I also brought of course my hormones (I did not stop them before surgery because it is only a short surgery and transdermal bioidentical hormones have no negative effects during a surgery according to my endocrinologist. I also brought some vitamins and minerals and an inhaler to keep my throat moistureized during the flights (planes have incredibly dry air). That thing got me probably into serious trouble at the chinese transfer stop though .
Near Phil house there is a "french" bakery that makes pretty descent sandwich bread, we bought some plus some margarine, something that probably was artificial cheese and some ham plus mustard sauce - so we could make our own breakfast even if we got up late. Those euro/american style foods are not really great and rather expensive though, so after a few days we basically exclusively ate korean foods except the breakfast. I also bought some bananas and other fruit, Aloe Vera Drinks, Ice Cream. There is that small shop downstairs in Phil house that sells some stuff and across the main street with the subway station there is a small market wuarter that has many small shops and restaurants and street kitchens. Phil House also has a map with recommended restaurants downstairs including images of what they offer for food and how much it costs.
I advise not to try to go to Euro/american style restaurants unless you dont care about the money, but a pizza seemed to run at $30 or something - so getting something like fried chicken or gimbap is probably much better choice. I would rather avoid the soups though - they often seem to be spicy and koreans seem to put weird things in the soups like octopus or some sort of sausage made from blood(?) - so we tried to stick with things that can be identified - chicken, pork chops, fish, rice, salads, gimbap ("sushi rolls")... the korean tabletop BBQ is fantastic but expensive. Beware of some of the Kimchi they give you to it though, some of them are very spicy. Make sure you show the waiters the flash card from Yeson that says "I should not eat spicy food" in Korean writings when you order

Quote from: Ritana on December 24, 2015, 12:12:28 PM
Ikate,

Hotels don't normally ask for 50% upfront. You normally book by providing your credit card details (which will be bited later). Then, upon completing the reservation, they provide you with a booking reference that guarantees your booking.

I have emailed phil house and they confirmed the total price of 540000 won for 9 nights.

Rita

Yeah, I've booked tons of hotels for business and personal travel and I am a member of four hotel rewards programs with elite status in two. I know a little about how it works.

However, as mentioned, Phil House is a hostel and B&B and a pretty small operation. I think I got good value for money though. I got a terrace, kitchenette and a full size fridge. Reminds me a bit of the navy lodge here in the states which I stay at sometimes.

Quote from: iKate on December 20, 2015, 09:38:01 PM6. They give you a full medical report and some sheets with common phrases in Korean. There is one explaining how you had surgery and are unable to speak. If your passport is male, you may encounter some hassle (I did) but it is a hit or miss. Some people encounter no hassle. Others get strip searched during layovers in China etc.

My surgery is also on January 8th and I have 4 hour layovers in China on each flight to and from the UK. Whoopee 

Oh no. From personal experience, if you travel through China, make sure you have minimal hand luggage - really only the bare neccessities. If possible, even avoid hormones and other medication. Make sure your passport is 100% ok. I know this is a bad question, but do you think there would be "anomalities" possible when they check your passport and pat you down or put you through a full body scanner? Do you have the correct gender on the passport and did you have GRS?

We spent 3 hours in the security area - thats because they let you enter China (immigration) and then funnel you to the security check again , which checks again all your hand luggage and the whole ordeal. they stumbled upon an inhalator i had with me to keep my throat moisturized and my hormone gel in my handbags which led to them shutting down the whole row of security check, all 5 of those security guys being busy with our bags and with stipping us down naked, the other passengers had to be rerouted to one of the two remaining rows and wait longer to enter the airport. They made a huge fuzz out of it...

Quote from: anjaq on December 28, 2015, 02:32:41 PM
Oh no. From personal experience, if you travel through China, make sure you have minimal hand luggage - really only the bare neccessities. If possible, even avoid hormones and other medication. Make sure your passport is 100% ok. I know this is a bad question, but do you think there would be "anomalities" possible when they check your passport and pat you down or put you through a full body scanner? Do you have the correct gender on the passport and did you have GRS?

We spent 3 hours in the security area - thats because they let you enter China (immigration) and then funnel you to the security check again , which checks again all your hand luggage and the whole ordeal. they stumbled upon an inhalator i had with me to keep my throat moisturized and my hormone gel in my handbags which led to them shutting down the whole row of security check, all 5 of those security guys being busy with our bags and with stipping us down naked, the other passengers had to be rerouted to one of the two remaining rows and wait longer to enter the airport. They made a huge fuzz out of it...

Well now I'm stressed. My UK passport now has an 'F' listed, however I have not had GRS yet, so yeah there would be a potential anomaly with any body scanner or pat down. Did you go via China on the way there and on the way back? Also was it just the inhalator and hormone gel that got their attention or was that just one of the factors?

I am sorry to stress you - its just what I experienced and I basically told myself not to go through China again if I can avoid it.

Now if you lay low, I believe it will all be fine. If you cannot change flights now - or if that is expensive now - I would advise you to really make an effort to not stick out at the security check. They do not have those "porn scanners" the TSA has, so they just rely on metal detectors and pat-downs. Make sure you have no metal on your body or clothes - no jewelry, earrings, fingerrings, piercings. If you use some device to deal with whats between your legs, make sure its metal-free. No belts either. Leave all your medication in the main luggage unless you really need it during the flight.

The items that caught their attention in my case was the inhaler, the hormone gel, a bag with 5 or 6 different pill packages (anti cough medication, hormones, thyroid pills,...), the charging station for my cellphone (battery pack) and of course my Laptop eventually (after the other stuff was already out).

I think they run the battery pack four times through the scanner and I had to explain all the pills to them, I demonstrated application of the gel eventually, but among the first things they did was to strip me down to the underwear in a separate room with a female officer in it. I did not have to undress my underwear though. The chinese woman apologized about 100 times for having to do this. Some of the guys were also uncomfortable, but apparently one of the guys who was in charge thought this is needed.

So again, maybe I am paranoid but I would travel lightly and be prepared.

On my way back, I just did bring everything I had on the flight to Korea , but I had printouts describing in chinese what the inhalator is and I had Jessies Phone Number ready so they could call her if questions come up and they could maybe communicate in some language ... Apparently they made a note about us though and at the security check they did not even ask one thing... or maybe that first incident was just a fluke.

Most people just passed the security check without any question, so I think by avoiding anything that can be interpreted as suspicious one can pass safely.

Thanks for this. I have checked the flights and it would mean losing £840 (1,150€) on the original flights and forking out an additional £1,400 (1,900€) for direct flights. If I had known this before then obviously I'd have paid the £600 or so difference and gone direct. Silly me trying to be frugal 

My main issue is my height (187cm) is going to make me stand out. My face is feminine enough (I think) and my passport photo is current and has been done post-FFS, so their recognition of me shouldn't be an issue.

I guess I'll just have to put on a relaxed smile and make sure I have absolutely no metal on me at all and then cross my fingers and hope! 

Because I have previously read about Anjaq's experience, I specifically chose to avoid China at any cost. Yes, luckily I am post-op and have F for gender on my passport but I didn't want to take any risks being delayed or himiliated by Chinese customs.

Charlotte, what hotel will you be staying in Seoul?

Rita

Quote from: Ritana on December 28, 2015, 04:13:48 PMCharlotte, what hotel will you be staying in Seoul?

We're staying in the Gangnam Artnouveau City hotel, assuming we get there 

Quote from: Charlotte_W on December 28, 2015, 04:04:15 PM
Thanks for this. I have checked the flights and it would mean losing £840 (1,150€) on the original flights and forking out an additional £1,400 (1,900€) for direct flights. If I had known this before then obviously I'd have paid the £600 or so difference and gone direct. Silly me trying to be frugal 

Well, I thought the same, trying to save money. Rebooking would have cost me more than the original flights. I considered to change booking because I was having a cold in the week before going and thought it would be better to postpone the surgery.
That sort of money is too much to spend now, I guess.

QuoteMy main issue is my height (187cm) is going to make me stand out. My face is feminine enough (I think) and my passport photo is current and has been done post-FFS, so their recognition of me shouldn't be an issue.

I guess I'll just have to put on a relaxed smile and make sure I have absolutely no metal on me at all and then cross my fingers and hope! 

I think that will work. I doubt the height is an issue - compared to the chinese officers, all europeans are tall - whats a few cm more or less
I do not think they would check you more thoroughly because they suspect you are trans, really. I doubt they have a great sense of detecting trans euro people anyways. the issue would more be that if they search you for something else they do not like, they may start to pat you down and then this would come up as an issue - I am not even sure what would happen if they DO find out that - maybe they would just accept this as long as you have valid papers and post no security issue... i have no idea.
But thats why I said - if you avoid raising any suspicion at the security check, they will just wave you through as they did on our return flight.

I think the main issue really was the inhalator (which probably to them looked like a pipe for smoking pot) and the hormone gel (which probably showed up as alcohol liquid in their scanners).

Just wondering,.Charlotte, there are plenty of
flights from the UK through space Turkey  and Rome. Any reason you chose China?

Rita

Anjaq and Katie,

What foods were you allowed to eat post surgery?

Thanks

Rita