Electronics shopping in Seoul

Written by admin on July 11, 2008 – 2:46 pm -

I often receive queries if there is an equivalent of Radio Shack in Seoul or South Korea for that matter. Radio Shack is an electronics and parts store that is available throughout the continental U.S. and a few other countries. In fact there was an official Radio Shack store in Makati located at the car park near SM. 

Even with the prevalence of internet shopping, I often want to see and touch the goods that I purchase so above is a google earth photo of Yongsan and I’ve labeled the buildings with a short description of what’s where over there.

A - IPark Mall

      1F - Camera’s / Navigation / Gadgets
      2F - Home Appliances
      3F - Home Appliances
      4F - Computers  Console games (Xbox, PS2, PS3, Nintendo)
      5F - Computers / Musical Instruments / Pro Audio and DJ Equipment
      6F - Home Appliances / Computers

B - ET Land 

      B   - Electronic Parts / Tools / Test and Measuring Equipment
      1F - Home Appliances (LCD TV’s, Washing Machines / Recliners / Vacuum Cleaners / Heaters)
      2F - Camera’s / Mobile Phones / Gadgets / Hifi Audio and Home Theater )
      3F - Computers
      4F - Computers
      5F - Food Court / Console Games (XBox, PS2, PS3, Nintendo) / Hobby Shops 

C - Mobile phones / Tools

D - Computers / Peripherals / Cables

E - Tools / Lighting Fixtures / CCTV 

F - Lighting Fixtures

Lastly Yongsan RC, where they sell remote control vehicles such as cars / planes and helicopters. The staff are really nice and friendly.

So how do you get there? Find your way to Yongsan subway station and you should be right smack in the middle of the iPark Mall.

Other places that sell gadgets, electronics and hobby shops :

Technomart Gangbyeon (Gangbyeon) Subway Line 2
Technomart Sindorim (Sindorim) Subway Line 2
Kukje Electronics Center (Seocho) 

I will update this post as more information is gathered.

 

 


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Posted in Hobbies, Seoul, Shopping, Tech | 1 Comment »

Is it safe in Seoul?

Written by admin on July 2, 2008 – 8:36 am -

I would have to say that Seoul is one of the safest cities to travel or live in.  So safe in fact that my kids go to the mall with their friends without any adult supervision as early as eleven years old, something that I wouldn’t let them do in Los Angeles.

One of the reasons could be that the city is practically blanketed in both private and goverment CCTV’s (Closed Circuit Television). I’m pretty sure that the cops won’t drop down on you the instant a thief is spotted but more importantly it serves as a deterrent to a would be criminal as there would now be evidence to aid the authorities in apprehending him or her.

The other reasons could be because of the constant patrols of cops through the city streets and more importantly because you can’t own a gun. Heck even the police only carry at .22 cal, a gun thats probably got as much stopping power as a BB gun. I can recall asking my colleagues if bank robberies occur in South Korea and he said rarely. I just thought to myself that it wasn’t because of all the CCTV’s but probably because you would have to cart off a whole truck load of cash to make it worthwhile.

So the next time you’re in Seoul always remember that Big Brother is watching!

 

 

 


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Posted in Living, Seoul | 1 Comment »

Food Court survival

Written by admin on June 25, 2008 – 5:56 pm -

When we first arrived in Seoul in what seems like eons ago, we often had our meals at western restaurants. We didn’t have a choice at the time since only restaurants like TGI Fridays and Outback provided bilingual menus. This resulted in a very dramatic increase of our food expenditure compared to Singapore where we had previously lived.

This time around I put my back into learning how to read Korean so that I would be able to read the menus of Korean restaurants, something that I couldn’t be bothered with five years ago. I also conditioned myself not to crave for Western or Filipino meals and snacks.

Ordering at most food courts in South Korea is different from those in United States or the Philippines, though there are some places that are like what we are used to such as the COEX or the Technomart Food Court. You normally place your order at the cashier who handles everything for the entire food court. Behind the cashier is a board showing all the food stalls with their offerings, the caveat is that most food courts have their menu boards in Korean, so being able to read Korean will definitely come in handy at this stage. If you don’t read Korean most cashiers are usually kind enough to help you through the process especially if they are not that busy.

After your order is placed and punched in, the cashier hands you your receipt with a queue number on it, which is flashed on a screen when your order is ready to be picked up.

Food Court

If you’re with your friends or colleagues it would be a good idea to learn this phrase : 맛있게 드세요 - Maske Juseyo, which is the Korean equivalent of Bon Appetite.


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Posted in Living, Seoul | 2 Comments »

Korean Mobile Phones 101

Written by admin on June 5, 2008 – 5:19 pm -

One of the most frustrating things for a newcomer to South Korea is getting a mobile phone and services.  Majority of the foreigners are confused as to why their mobile phones from their home countries do not work in South Korea. The simple answer is that South Korea operates their mobile phones on the less universal CDMA as opposed to GSM which was adopted as a standard by most countries in Europe, Asia, and The Americas.

To make matters worse, the Korean CDMA frequencies differ from its North American counterparts. Korea operates in the 800 Mhz and 1800 Mhz band while North American CDMA providers such as Verizon and Sprint are on 850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz. The frequency differences do not pose much of a problem since majority of the new CDMA phone are multiband just like its GSM cousins. The problem lies in the fact that most CDMA phones until recently lack a SIM card. A CDMA phone has to be programmed at a service provider or phone dealer in order to get service.

The silverlining is that South Korean mobile phone operators SK Telecom and KTF have both adopted the the 3G UMTS WCDMA standard. So as not to get too geeky, this new standard is set to replace GSM. KTF and SK Telecom have been actively promoting 3G for the past few months which are branded as Show and T Service respectively.

This now allows foreign phones (Nokia, Ericsson, Palm Treos, HTC, Blackberries etc.) with global roaming activated from their foreign mobile phone providers to be used in Korea. The caveat is that your phone should be  3G WCDMA/HSDPA capable and you must be on a post-paid account with your provider. Why does it have to be a post paid account? Because pre-paid global roaming works a little differently. It’s based on a call back system. For example to call when roaming on a pre-paid account you dial a special prefix and the phone you want to call. You then hang up and wait for your phone to ring and upon picking up, the party you called will be on the other line and that doesn’t work in South Korea.

What about the rest of us who live in The ROK?

Now that South Korea is on the same page as the rest of the world as far as mobile phone standards, all we have to do is to buy a sim card from either SK Telecom or KTF and plug it into our foreign mobile phones right? Not quite, up until early this year the sim cards were locked to particular phone even within the same company, meaning it was not possible to take out the sim card out of your phone and put it into another phone. Even phones from the same Korean providers were sim locked, for example if I have an SK 3G phone with a sim and I decide to purchase a new phone from SK, it isn’t possible to just transfer my sim from the old phone to the new one.  

The good news is that SK Telecom and KTF announced early this year that sim locks and phone locks would be disabled within their respective companies in the first half of 2008. Before the year ends we can expect to be able to swap SK Telecom sim cards and KTF cards, meaning no more SK or KTF specific phones.

Why am I so excited about all these developments, because I prefer PDA phones and smart phones of which I have little to choose from in South Korea, also because majority of mobile phone dealers are not keen on doing business with foreigners. When the time comes that all locks are removed then I can theoretically plug in an SK or KTF sim into a 3G Nokia, 3G Palm Treo or the much anticipated 3G iPhone which is rumored to be announced in the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) this Monday. The removal of all the locks also opens up the possibility of having a pre-paid sim just like other countries. I’m sure that most expats and tourists will love to be able to use their own cell phones by buying a prepaid sim at the airport.
 


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Posted in Seoul | 3 Comments »

iPhone coming soon???

Written by admin on June 5, 2008 – 2:15 pm -

Softbank Mobile Corp., a mobile phone provider in Japan has announced the they have reached an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Japan later on this year. Softbank is a 3G only provider thus strengthening the rumors of the release of a 3G capable iPhone at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference kicking of in San Francisco this Monday.

On the home front there was news last year that KTF will be bringing in the iPhone to South Korea but things have been quite since. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.


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Posted in Seoul, Tech | No Comments »
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