It's quite interesting to see how monochromatic cars are in Korea. You can go back to my previous posts and you'll find that 90% of cars are either white, silver or black. This is especially backward considering how colorful Koreans like everything else.
Seoul has some crazy wide roads. This will become completely packed during rush hour.
The subways are just as packed as the roads.
Not sure on the exact number but there are a number of different companies that take part in Seoul's subway network. Therefore there are slight variations on the trains and stations. Whomever does line 2 is doing a good job; I find this the most intuitive way to figure out what station you're on (and where you're going).
You saw the
Social Network poster in Korean, now it's TRON. I need to see this movie.
Coex. It's Asia's largest underground mall and holds a mall and also museums, an aquarium, and an exhibition/convention center. Makes sense that the G20 was held here.
Like.
The new accent on display. Ignore that creepy backdrop.
The thing you'll first notice is that the ceilings aren't that high considering the size of the mall. I guess the fact that it's underground had an influence.
Cafe Pascucci is awesome. Go there now.
There's plenty of these "experience centers" to promote products. Samsung went a bit crazy:
This is Galaxy Zone - where you can experience the two flagship products from Samsung; the Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab.
I'm not a fan of the "Galaxy" products but I must admit, Samsung did a good job here.
Here it is. I really don't understand why Samsung constantly makes a huge effort to make Android look like iOS.
The hardware is well done. About the size of the kindle?
There's a Samsung version of every Apple accessory.
With my iPad. Here is my thought on the 7" display:
- The perfect size for reading a book. But if reading books is your key need, get a Kindle.
- Too small for comfortable web browsing and reading magazines.
- It's too large to carry without a bag and if you're going to carry it in a bag, wouldn't you want something larger?
- Some people say that the 9.7" display is too large on the iPad. However 7" definitely not the right size. Maybe 9" is.
Also, the fact that Samsung forced Android to become a tablet OS is not helping. Here are my two cents: Wait for the next version of Android if the iPad is not for you.
Aluminum vs plastic.
Thicker than the iPad but that's expected considering its size.
In addition to the Galaxy Zone, these kiosks are all over the mall - and Seoul.
iriver has many of these stores throughout Seoul.
The iriver Domino (a flash drive) is in MoMA, quite a feat.
Interesting building.
Gyeongbok palace. The palace was built in 1394 and burnt down by the Japanese when they invaded Korea. It was partly reconstructed in 1867.
The entrance.
The palace was closed recently for more reconstruction and reopened last year. Now, nearly half of the palace has been revived.
Intricate craftsmanship.
The Motorola Motoroi. It's a nice device (almost stock Android, woot!) but never got released on any of the major US carriers. In terms of specs, I believe it's similar to something like the Nexus One.
Really strange design but nevertheless cool - in a Matrix sort of way.
This is the phone I'm using right now. Why is it so bad? It's my grandmother's. There's nothing to see here but if people want, I'll post more on it.
It's strange that pay phones still exist in a country with 97.2% mobile phone penetration. Well, it's got a color screen and uses your transit card for payment so I guess this one is excused.
Typical sidewalk in Seoul.
Like Europe, orange signal lights aren't required. This is way more attractive, especially with blacked out (proper term?) headlights like the Avante (Elantra) here.
That Mustang is parked in that spot everyday. It looks so out of place in this city for some reason.
More to come (as usual). I don't know why I say this every post.
