A big Hello from Taiwan to my dear readers, as I am lying in bed in my Airbnb apartment writing this blog post, Would like to share with my friends and readers about this 8-day trip I took to embark on my plastic surgery journey (once again), to get some minor revisions done in view of preparations for my wedding photoshoot and dinner next year.
If you did read my older blog posts, you would have known that this isn’t my first PS job. I’ve always been pro PS so long as its not OOTT and so long as one still retains some of what he or she had, “upgrading” or enhancing one’s features to look even better is perfectly fine IMO.
People always like to ask this question, “why”?
I first wanted to get PS done b’cuz ironically I wanted to go w/o makeup or be able to put on only light make up on most days to look natural. I had round features that required me to put on full make up before looking pretty, it got really tiresome and honestly one word lah – “lazy”. Lol.
Wayyy back in 2012… before when my face was at its natural form and eyebrows were still the sky-high arched type. Haha.. But looked quite good with makeup eh?
Pardon the super messy Obasang hair. Just me trying to figure out how I would look like with parallel eyelids. If you can tell I already had double eyelids just that the inner corner of my lids was tapered, so my eyes weren’t that pretty w/o makeup on. Had to brush up loads of mascara to open those peepers.
So since I’ve already gotten my PS done, now people ask “why get revision”?
During the initial stages I didn’t have that much savings so I could only choose from the budget places to get my PS done. Could not afford high end surgeons like in SG or Seoul but didn’t wanna go to cheap clinics in Thailand either. I would say the clinics I went to were mid-ranged; once in Taiwan & once in Vietnam, for my non-incisional double eyelids and rhinoplasty procedure. After some years when my new set of features finally settled down (from all the swelling), I found that the results of my first surgeries was not what I expected and so much wanted to get them fixed once and for all. That got my heart all itching to do so, so I started to do some research on plastic surgeons once again.
Me, taken before my flight. No editing. Can tell that my left eye is smaller? I’ve had this problem since young, and if I didn’t “open” up my eyes enough I would have slightly sleepy-looking eyes. And my nose, you can’t really tell from this pic but the slope is more hooked than straight/curved – aka “yin ko bi” or “parrot’s nose”.
Same pic as the above, but I edited my left eye to let both eyes look balanced. That’s what I always had to do, so tiresome. Can’t edit my nose lah, just want it to look like a normal straight nose instead of a parrot’s beak!
Why Taiwan – Taipei this time? And how did I find Wish Clinic?
My first thought was that I wanted to get a revision done once and for all, so I would achieve the look the I wanted and not need to go under the knife again. I guess thats what everyone wants to achieve on their first PS job, but unfortunately some of us are being disappointed. No choice right? Its like a choosing game when you pick your doctor & clinic, you wouldn’t really know the outcome till you’ve tried. So first choice that came to my mind was Korea – Seoul since its like a highly raved place to get PS done, I googled for all the top PS clinics and I mass sent similar email enquiries to those clinics. At the same time, I gave Taiwan – Taipei a little thought too so I did the same; sent email enquiries to a few clinics. Wish Clinic was one of the few clinics I sent my emails out to which I found on an online forum discussing PS topics, and there was this member who shared a list of doctors popular in Taipei so I just blasted my emails away.
Why did I settle with Wish Clinic then?
After sending out all the email enquiries, I slowly gotten most of the replies. Most clinics gave me the impression that they would only give me detailed consultation in person, they only provided brief information and replies which to me was not sufficient. The only one email reply that caught my attention was from Dr Chuang (Wish Clinic), he replied in detail to each and every one of my questions. That left me a deep impression and led my interest in him to continue asking more. So there we were, going back & forth for months before I settled my mind on him as my next surgeon. Dr Chuang was really really patient with all of my queries, he replied to all my emails even though sometimes it may take 1-2 weeks to get a reply, but all my questions were answered in detail. I think I may have sent him almost 20 over emails (???).. Hahaha.. Oh yes and not to forget, of course after the first reply from Dr Chuang I went to their official website as well as their FB page (will state link at the end of blog post) to check them out and was already quite impressed since Wish Clinic’s profile and pictures looked pretty pro. But of course ultimately Dr Chuang was patient and professional in replying all of my emails, and totally understood my questions & needs. As a matter of fact, he told me exactly the problems I thought I had, great mind thinks alike! Ahah! His command of English was good too and it was a breeze to liaise with him. Read a few reviews from fellow forum members that Dr Chuang did natural jobs for them, that also helped to build my confidence in him.
Preparation for the trip; flight & accommodation booking.
Booked my round trip flight to Tao Yuan Taipei airport via Scoot economy class for approximately $300ish, excluded meals and check-in bag (since I always go on budget for solo-trips; backpack!!). I booked the flight 2 months in advance, was quite a good deal I would say. Do wait for Tuesday mornings for their promo mornings or their one-time promotional fares every bi-weekly or so. Just sign up for their newsletter to get first info on their promotions. As for accommodation, I decided to try out Airbnb for the first time. I wanted to stay close to the clinic, like walking distance so it would be convenient to visit the clinic when I had to. Because the clinic was situated in the city of Taipei, most hotels around this area was quite costly; even budget hotels cost approx SGD$100up/night. Browsed through apartments on Airbnb in this area and found a few affordable ones, ranging from SGD$70-80/night, that looked spacious enough for one, plus looks clean and nice… I had to pick a really clean looking one since most days I would stay in to rest & relax. Am rather particular about cleanliness when it comes to where I would stay cuz I super dislike cheap hotels that reek of cigarettes with dim lighting that looked like motels. Rather spend a teeny bit more for the comfort (all thanks to my OCD, aha). Sent queries to a few home owners on Airbnb and settled for one that was 8 minutes walking distance from clinic & train station to the apartment. True enough, location of the apartment was really good with lots of shops & eateries around and also photos of apartment placed on Airbnb was true to it, so were the ratings of the apartment. Pretty pleased with my stay so far.
Eh I tell you ah, I missed my flight to Taipei and I had to book a next flight but since Scoot only flies once in the day time I had to choose another airline to take me to Taipei to keep my schedule on track. Hubby helped me pick Eva Air and I didn’t even know it was the Hello Kitty plane until I checked in and received my air ticket.. HK prints!! Lol.. JTS the pictures of the flight, I know there’s many HK fans out there. ; ) Oh ya, and the price? I booked on the same morning for a one-way ticket that cost me $540!! : O
Hello Kitty printed flight ticket. I know HK fans will surely keep this for life. Ahahaha.
Before boarding my flight.. snap shot to show you HK fans… Envious not? : P
Kitty everywhere~~~
Kitty & friends printed pillow.
Headphones packed in Kitty bag.
Kitty beverage list, land evacuation instructions and disposable bag.
Kitty napkin & Japanese rice cracker+nuts.
Its quite yummy. : P
Even the toilet rolls are HK printed!
HK paper cups for gargling & toiletries. Face mist was quite refreshing.
Pardon the low lighting since it was 6:30pm in the skies. I had chicken with mashed potatoes & steamed veggies. The food is surprisingly yums. Chicken was really tender and the mash was really good!! Came with a bun, potato salad, fruits, and a small piece of chocolate cake.
The utensils were really cute. Would have packed them for a friend if I hadn’t used them. I had many friends PMed me on FB to help keep souvenirs I could get my hands on. Too bad I only received those PMs after I touched down, could have “tapao-ed” alot of little items. Hurhur.
Alcoholic beverages free flow… Had a tinge of white wine to relax myself. Well deserved since I have been a good mummy the whole of this year being a healthy pregger!
Neh, show you the chocolate cake in close. Its not the best I’ve had, but not bad overall lah for a flight dessert.
I planned for 8 days to stay in Taipei, with first day to be spent in Wulai with my Mom & relatives and the rest of the week in Taipei city area in my Airbnb apartment. Consultation & surgery with Dr Chuang on my second day in Taipei, and return to Singapore after a week just after removing stitches before my flight.
Day 1 in Taiwan – Wulai
Arrival at the airport. Mom came to pick me up.
This is one of the river views in Wulai. The river banks look really rocky bcuz there was a really bad flood in Wulai 2 months back during typhoon season. Heard from my Mom it was the worse in 100 years, even the elders living there hadn’t seen such floods. Pray for them it doesn’t come back next year.
Day 2 in Taiwan – Taipei City
Breakfast in Wulai before setting off to Taipei City to meet my Airbnb host to check-in to my apartment. My last meal before surgery since I had to fast from 9am to after surgery which ended around 8/9pm at night.
Arriving at Zhingxiao Dunhua Station exit 2, and you’re less than 2 minutes from Wish Clinic. Also approx 8 minutes to my apartment.
So this is my apartment for the week!
My bed & couch for the week.
The bathroom.
Mini kitchen space.
TV & wardrobe space.
Outside of the apartment building.
After checking into my Airbnb apartment, I quickly hurried to Wish Clinic for my appointment. Clinic was just a walk away which was really convenient. Upon arriving at Wish Clinic, I was greeted by the clinic’s friendly staffs at their reception area. Clinic was very “white” & clean since their theme was all white with simplicity.
A view from the entrance, spacious and clean-looking. Gives a very professional vibe. You can even see some certificates of Dr Chuang on the left wall.
There were a few consultation rooms beside the waiting area which were simple and nicely designed, with window films for privacy during consultation.
The waiting area.
Some iPads and iMac for patients to use while at the clinic, wifi was also provided FOC.
Selfie while waiting for Dr Chuang in the consultation room, also to capture the last of my face. Haha.
Mom came along to the appointment, she was trying to take pictures of me until the clinic’s staff walked into the room.
Okay and we got a good shot of me and a little of how the consultation room looked like. Neat & clean!
Besides visiting Wish Clinic for consultation & surgery on Day 1, my other purpose was to be video interviewed for their website on foreigner’s experience with plastic surgery as well as experience to Wish Clinic. *Do note I am not sponsored to write about Wish Clinic* in case if you are wondering. I merely agreed to do this interview since I could get a good price for the surgery and at the same time I sincerely have trust in this clinic that I would recommend to others who are interested to get PS done. So after meeting with Dr Chuang for the first time, we did a final consultation as well as Q&A time, then we prepped for the video interview. It was quite fun actually. : D
While waiting for the cameraman to set up his gear, Mommy dear was busy taking photos of her dear daughter.. Haha.
Getting briefed and prepping myself on the insides.
Ready, set, roll!
While filming…..
Sharing my experience on camera….
Reading my next question for the interview.
Thinking through what I want to say on camera and doing a quick run through in my mind.
I hope I did okay in the video interview as I was slightly nervous then. Will post up the video when its ready. After the video interview, I was briefed about the post-care treatment and got to rest in their VIP patient’s resting room while waiting for my surgery appointment in the afternoon. So I took the opportunity to take more photos of the clinic just to share. : )
This is Theresa, she’s assistant to Dr Chuang. And she explained to me all the post-treatment care and instructions. There were written instructions given as well but printed in Chinese.
Medication, saline wash, lotion/creams, hot & cold water bag, face masks, and sterile cotton buds for post-treatment care. All well prepared and packed in a nice take away box.
Patient’s resting room. For patients who would like to stay for the night. Nice & cosy room with lots of movies to keep entertained.
Clean and neat room.
Very clean bathroom.
Outside of the resting room aka Observation Room – quiet & private.
One of the corridors to other treatment rooms. Its all very quiet & private.
This was taken right after the surgery as I left the clinic. I was drowsy and all so I quickly snapped a shot to see how I looked like. Eyelids were really swollen which is normal, but for first-timers looking at such a face you’d probably think I look gross or really painful. As a matter of fact, its painless. Just felt drowsy at that time, and since eyelids were really swollen vision was abit blur too.
Back in my apartment lying on my bed, trying to do a selfie.
