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 »

Surprise gift

Written by admin on May 23, 2008 – 7:49 am -

It was my birthday a few weeks ago and my kids surprised me with a gift today. After arriving home from watching Indiana Jones today I proceeded straight to my desk and there I found a gift wrapped box. The funny thing is that I called my kids about noon telling them to meet me at the COEX where we would watch Indiana Jones 4. What I didn’t know at the time was that my son was already at the COEX buying me the gift, so he rush back home to pick his younger brother up to return to the COEX to meet me. 

When my kids arrived here about a month ago they noticed that I was using my mobile phone as an alarm clock and that there were no clocks at home so they both decided to get me an iPod speaker alarm clock. The Ozaki iMini functions as an FM radio, iPod speaker and charger, and alarm clock. You can set the alarm to trigger a bell, FM radio or your play your iPod at a preset time. Sound quality from its two speakers on both sides of the cube are decent but don’t expect any chest thumping bass from it. The best thing I like about this speaker is that I don’t have to take my iPod out of its case to hook it up.


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Posted in Randomness, Shopping, Tech | No Comments »

Magazines too expensive???

Written by admin on May 19, 2008 – 12:54 pm -

If you’re like me, one of the items in my checklist when I move to a new country is to scope out the local bookstores. In South Korea, english magazines are difficult to find and very expensive if you do find them, almost twice the cover price at best. I know there are sources for free magazines but this is beyond the scope of my blog entry.

An alternative exists, a good one too especially if you move a lot since you download the magazines and store them on your computer or laptop. They’re called digital magazines from Zinio. A proprietary reader is available free for download from Zinio’s website for both Mac OS and Windows. Exactly the same right down to those irritating subscriptiion cards that fall out as you read them.

I discovered Zinio 6 years ago when I got sick of paying the exhorbitant prices of my favorite magazines in Seoul. The choice of magazine titles have expanded over the years and its safe to say that after all these years they’ll be staying for good. Some magazines are available for free so that you can test and see for yourself if Zinio is for you.

I’m sure that other people especially those living in western countries can find a lot of reasons why this product would not appeal to them but for those of us who live in places where foreign magazines are not readily available then this solution is a godsend. For me, the price was one of the major reasons that sealed the deal. For example a single issue of Popular Mechanics is about USD 5.99, in Seoul is cost about W10,000, a whole year’s digital subscription from Zinio is USD 7.99 and single issues are USD 1.99.

Check them out at Zinio.com


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Posted in Seoul, Shopping | No Comments »

San Mig in Seoul

Written by admin on May 9, 2008 – 1:16 pm -

Not really a beer drinker but there’s something about seeing a brown bottle of San Miguel beer in a foreign supermarket that makes you think about home. It makes me think about how much potential for global marketing our other products have. We’ve got a lot of unique brands such as Selecta Ice Cream and Sarsi which is way better than any sarsaparilla I’ve tasted when I was working in New Zealand or Australia. But at 2600 Won (USD 2.60) ouch!!!


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Muji in Korea

Written by admin on March 2, 2008 – 8:00 pm -

While wandering around the TechnoMart (Gangbyeon) I chanced upon Muji. Muji carries a whole line of products from stationery to clothing but I am personally more interested in their home furnishing products which reminds me of IKEA with a Japanese touch to it. If you’re looking to redecorate, furnish or just plain organize your apartment it would be a good idea to check them out. More information at their homepage.  


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