Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yo!Chingo]

Between frequent bouts to the porcelain toilet god I just thought I'd share my current experience with food poisoning, and it ain't pretty. Been sick with a cold for about 3 days now...sniffling and sneezing my way to Rudolph's color of a nose and then I eat a piece of cake with creme filling Monday. YUM! It's from 1 of the 2 high falutin' french bakery's around the Incheon area so it's alright...right? WRONG!!! Tuesday morning I wake up feeling sick to my stomach and then around noon...BAAM! Looking back at the last 24-48 hours of my food consumption I can only come to 1 conclusion. It's that damn cake with the creme filling!
Buyer beware! or like in my case moocher beware!
Excuse me while I make my 10 minute porcelain run.....

[BigBlackEquus]

I have posted about this at least twice.

The last time was the rice from Outback in Itaewon, I am pretty certain. It felt like I was digesting glass.

My theory is that restaurants are trying to save money in these expensive times by not throwing away old food.

[Rteacher]

I got food poisoning in Thailand (Chiang Mai) on New Year's Eve, and I thought I might die. After eating some funky-looking bean prep that evidently had been left out to long in the Thai sun - and then not reheated hot enough - I started feeling really sick around quarter-past 11pm, and I went out almost frantically looking for a hospital - or at least a pharmacy - that was still open. Around eleven-thirty I saw someone inside a closed pharmacy at the cash register, and I kept pleading and knocking at the door until she opened it. She gave me anti-biotics for "stomach infection" and some packages of an electrolite drink mix.

...I staggered back to my hotel room (which although on a high floor resonated loudly with the over-amplified New Year's festivities below) and after I gulped down the pills, I put the electrolyte to my mouth - and it triggered the most violent vomiting of my not-so-young life (I couldn't even get to the bathroom a few feet away, and I ended up feeling obliged to tip the two maids that quickly came up two-hundred bhat each to clean the rug. (...the meal only cost me 100 bhat going down, but four times that when it came out...)

Anyway, to relate my experience to you, I found that the anti-biotics worked very quickly and well (I took two a day - after morning and evening meals - for five days) and I drank a lot of Powerade Sports drink (lemon) to replace electrolytes...Get the right medicine (and take some yogurt with acidophilis cultures to supply good bacteria the anti-biotics wipe out along with the bad stuff...)

[Bulsajo]

High-falutin' French bakeries? In Incheon?

Copain, vous êtes fou!

And the worst food poisoning I've ever had in my life came from Incheon as well- the pojang macha across from the Galaxy hotel, to be exact. Chicken assholes I believe it was.

My buddy was visiting from Kangnam and was only supposed to stay for the night but stayed two extra days as he was too afraid to attempt the 1.5 hr. subway ride home. And my room-mate couldn't even keep a glass of water down- his girlfriend gave him total shit over the incident because she thought he had simply drank too much booze.

Picture it- three guys fighting over one Western toilet all night and well into the next day. When you make it into the can you're not even sure which end is going to let loose first.

Good times, good times...

[bluelake]

Plenty of experience. My first time with it in Korea was back in '84. The warning was very strong to foreigners to not eat raw vegetables, drink any liquid that might have unboiled water (like naengmyon ice cubes), etc. I'm not exactly sure which of them I violated, but within a month of my first being in Korea, I was one sick puppy. The lady who is now my wife forced me to eat jjajangmyeon, and shortly after I ended up decorating a bush outside the house--noodles hung from it like tinsel on a Christmas tree. It took me years before I could ever eat that dish again.

I was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and was severely dehydrated; the doctor wanted to admit me to the hospital, but I declined (and survived).

Another time was probably more than a decade ago; I think it was caused by some bad kimchi (yes, it can go bad). And many others...


T

[Yo!Chingo]

Yeah, food poisoning can be some serious business and I'm still trying to figure out what I've got. Looking back it may have also been the Kimchi I ate Saturday night. Although I don't know about the incubation period(approximately 60 hours). If it was the cake, then it could have been Salmonella. If it was the Kimchi...I have a whole list of choices.
Got throught the night, obviously, but around 1am I was going to call the hospital if the vomiting wouldn't stop. I thought I was going to die! Ever reached that point where there's just nothing left inside for expelling? That was me. Pure acid! Burned my lips ( I look like someone took a hot knife and singed them), my throat, and tongue. I'm afraid to eat for the pain! Hey but I'm trying to look on the bright side! Got on the scale this morning and I'm 7pounds the lighter. Been talking about going on a diet...Silver lining!
My husband's company took him and his co-workers in his department on an all expense paid Ski gettaway for 2 days, so the poor boy hasn't been able to really enjoy himself knowing I've been miserable.

[SarcasmKills]

There was this all you can eat galbi place near my first school in Cheongju.. 8,000won all you can eat.. sounds good right?

I shat Nestle Quik for 4 days, my stomach cramped up like a hooker going through her 5th self-induced miscarriage and I turned whiter than an average neighbourhood in Connecticut...

The thing was, I worked through it for the first 3 days.. you wouldn't believe how many short assignments I would give my class to do while I made a b-line to the squat toilets in my school...

I bet the back of that far stall on the 5th floor is still stained brown.

[The Bobster]

I've been here over six years now and never had an ounce of trouble from food served in a public place. Maybe I'm lucky. I eat out a lot, perhaps 5 or 6 times a week, including takeout.

I've vomited exactly once from way too much alcohol, and a few more times traced back to (the bachelor's curse) stuff I left in the refrigerator too long and didn't notice ... I'm a far worse enemy to my stomach than Korea is, or so it seems.

(Married now, so I expect the dangers of the refrigerator to decrease.)

[Gorgias]

I got food poisoning twice here. Once was from a sort of family picnic (I suspect it was the eel), the other time was from a family Chuseok dinner. I feel it's preping the food the day before, including battered seafood that is to blame. Anyway... my advice is to vomit heavily as soon as you feel the food poisoning hitting you. Both times that was the turning point, and felt a lot better after. Good luck @Yo!Chingo, you'll fell fine in about three days-- or you'll be dead. Not being one to go to the doctor, I often wonder about that line between food poisoning you'll get over in a few days, and the kind that will kill you?

[articulate_ink]

Had it a month ago. I suspect bad sushi but it's hard to be sure. On a Thursday afternoon I felt a little bit off, digestively speaking. Had a pork cutlet and udon for dinner but they sat on my stomach like rocks. The Disgusting Symptoms commenced before I left work but I didn't begin to vomit in earnest until fairly late that night. The next day, the guy I was dating then dragged me to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with gastroenteritis, put on an IV, and prescribed a LOT of pills. I was too delirious to know what they were. This all happened in Korean, with the bf trying to translate. It cleared my system quickly enough, between the meds I was prescribed and the probiotics I took.

The idea of eating a pork cutlet still grosses me out.

[Mr. Literal]

[quote="Yo!Chingo"]I thought I was going to die! Ever reached that point where there's just nothing left inside for expelling? That was me. Pure acid! Burned my lips ( I look like someone took a hot knife and singed them), my throat, and tongue. I'm afraid to eat for the pain!/quote]

Yep, that's food poisoning. I've had it twice and when people ask what it feels like, all I can say it that you pray to die the whole time you have it. It is unlike any other pain or illness I have ever felt.

Everytime I dry-heaved, I thought that my stomach would rip from my body.

As far as eating goes, stick to a "Brat" diet for a few days: foods like bananas, jello, soup (fairly bland like chicken-n-noodle) and drink only clear liquids.

It's about 3 days of hell, but it should pass.

I feel for you.

[Faron]